(Happy Halloween To My Awesome Readers who are still reading this dead story 👻)
Just as Kubikiribōchō neared Sora's head, he instinctively put his hand between his head and one of the Seven Swords of the Mist.
"That's a bad idea, oh?" Zabuza noticed chakra coalescing in front of the redhead's hand.
A Rasengan intercepted the sword and pushed it back slightly.
Sora weaved hand seals with his right hand.
"Not so fast," Zabuza's right hand was pushed back as his sword clashed with the Rasengan, pushing it away.
He kicked toward Sora's right hand.
Zabuza's leg, covered in green chakra, met Sora's chakra-infused palm.
Sora had used a Gale Palm at the last moment, propelling himself backward before the leg could make contact.
While in midair, Sora quickly weaved hand seals, and so did Zabuza.
A Water Dragon surged from the lake below, threatening to swallow Sora, who was flying through the air.
Sora pressed both hands together, one palm over the other, and created an Odama Rasengan, which collided with the Water Dragon.
All of this occurred in less than three seconds, and only three people were able to follow the rapid exchange.
"Not bad, kid. It seems you aren't all talk," Zabuza said, flickering across the lake's surface, now directly below where Sora was falling, and thrusting his sword upward.
The Water Dragon dissipated, as did the Rasengan Sora had created.
The sword sped toward Sora's head, as he was upside down.
'Hmm, should I use a kunai to block, or not?' Sora internally wondered while the sword's tip neared his head.
'Nah.' He released a burst of chakra from his head, altering his body orientation. Instead of staying vertical, he slanted in midair, moving his head away from the sword.
Sasera yawned, still using her chakra to stick to Sora's head.
This felt more like a test for a summoner in one of the Great Sage Lands.
Sora weaved more hand signs.
He had already used a shape-shifting jutsu just before forming the Rasengan to deal with the Water Dragon, making his hands more dexterous as he focused on that part.
The idea had come to him a few hours ago, and he had briefly tested it.
By doing so, he could increase his hand-seal speed.
Zabuza swung his sword again, but Sora had already completed the seals. He stretched out his hand to touch the lake's surface, which was only a few inches away from him.
So was the sword, still only inches away.
The water quickly rose and formed a rectangular sheet.
"Water Mirror Technique."
Another Zabuza appeared in the reflection, neutralizing the original's attack.
"I thought so. You're a water-elemental," Zabuza affirmed, pulling his hand back and weaving more hand seals.
As the water mirror dissipated, falling back into the lake, a red flash shot toward Zabuza at high speed.
Zabuza stopped his hand seals midway and used his sword to intercept.
Metal clashed against metal.
A kunai met Kubikiribōchō.
The kunai was sliced like butter, just as Sora had expected.
So was Sora's hand.
But then Sora poofed out of existence in an explosion.
"A clone?" Zabuza muttered, instinctively leaping backwards.
A Water Dragon surged from below, once again threatening to engulf him.
Zabuza thrust Kubikiribōchō downward, clashing with the dragon.
This time, he overpowered the dragon but released chakra from his head to tilt it midair.
A concentrated senbon passed through the space where his head had been.
"Tch," Zabuza heard someone mutter.
Zabuza weaved more hand seals.
Five dragons rose from the lake, heading straight toward him.
In response, Zabuza spewed out water, which formed five water clones, each wielding its own Kubikiribōchō. They easily overpowered the dragons.
Though the water clone's Kubikiribōchō wouldn't be as powerful as the original, a shadow clone's sword would come the closest to the real thing.
Zabuza continued weaving hand seals.
Just as he landed on the water, he placed his hand on the surface.
A Water Prison formed around him, protecting him from hundreds of kunai flying toward him, each attached to an explosive tag.
"Tch, what a devious brat," Zabuza smirked.
It had been a long time since someone had kept him on his toes using only Water-style jutsu.
"I think that's enough to test him, right?" Kakashi's voice rang out, causing Zabuza to glance outside the water prison.
Kakashi stood there with his book, his eyes on the text rather than the battlefield.
"Yeah, Konoha really can produce monsters," Zabuza said, dissipating his Water Prison.
"It is what it is," Kakashi shrugged.
"Anyway, we'll discuss the plan in the Mist," Zabuza suggested, and Kakashi shrugged, seemingly unconcerned about entering another Hidden Village.
"Damn, that was something," Sora said as he emerged from the water.
"I didn't even see what happened," Ino admitted honestly.
"Yeah, he really came at you out of nowhere. I would've thought it was an ambush if Kakashi hadn't stayed so calm," Shikamaru added.
"Let's eat fish today," Choji said, munching on his chips.
"Yeah," Sora agreed.
***
The group of eight set off on a ship bound for the Mist.
It took them seven days to reach their destination due to bad weather.
"I'm bored," Ino said, sitting on the bed, flailing her legs.
"I'm hungry," Choji replied, sipping on a drink and staring out the window.
To an outsider, Choji's expression might have seemed nostalgic or even sorrowful, as if he were lost in thought while gazing at the view.
But in reality, he was simply searching for big fish outside the window.
"I see," Shikamaru said, staring at the shogi board, which hadn't been changed from its initial configuration.
"What are you doing?" Ino asked, getting up from the bed and peeking over Shikamaru's shoulder at the board.
"Playing against myself."
"I don't see that."
"I'm doing it in my mind."
"So why look at the board?"
"It gives me a break when I get distracted by other tasks. It kind of helps with visualization. I don't have to remember each piece's position on my mental board because I'm offloading it onto the actual board."
"Oh, like when we take in a lot of information and write it down so we don't forget, but this is like an advanced version?" Ino hummed thoughtfully.
"Yeah."
"I see."
"Do you want to play?" Shikamaru tilted his head slightly, glancing at Ino out of the corner of his eye, her head just above his shoulder.
"Nah, last time you defeated me in three moves."
"So, you're giving up like that?" Shikamaru asked, amused.
"Nah. If I really wanted to beat you, I'd first take on a battle where I had at least a 40% chance of winning, then refine my skills until I could reach your level—if that's even possible," Ino explained her thought process.
"Fine. I'll play in such a way that you'll face a constant level of challenge throughout the match," Shikamaru smirked.
"Wait, you can do that? How? Doesn't that require knowing my skill level? I don't think you have enough data points to calculate that. Or do you have a method?" Ino eyed Shikamaru suspiciously.
"Nah, I don't. So, I'll just make some basic moves, and gauge how you play, and in the first match, you'll only feel the difficulty toward the end. In later matches, you'll feel it throughout."
"Sounds good. That should keep me entertained for the next few hours." Ino sat opposite Shikamaru and made her first move.
"Yeah, but unfortunately, we have to leave the ship," Shikamaru complained, making his move.
"You really need an excuse to skip anything physical or anything that requires effort but isn't interesting to you."
"You should look at yourself before pointing fingers," Shikamaru smirked.
"I guess I should. Then again, aren't all humans like that?" Ino smirked back.
"They are. It's all about prioritization."
"Really? What's your priority?" Ino asked, twirling her bangs with one hand.
"I guess I'd either do mindfulness or something that makes my brain work a little."
"Oh, like mindfulness—do you mean sleeping or watching clouds? I've noticed that you sleep the least out of all of us. That would shock a third person."
"Whoa, so you noticed. When did you figure that out?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, surprised by her observation.
"You don't seem that surprised. Did you predict I'd deduce that? How far is this from your expectations?"
"It's three months earlier than I expected, but if we count the time that's passed here, then my predictions aren't too far off," Shikamaru chuckled.
***
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