"Zabuza... W-Why you son of a!" Jūzō shouted, feeling Zabuza pull his sword out from his body, quickly taking a step back to avoid Jūzō's desperate swing with his own blade.
"You should have seen this coming Jūzō. The time of the old seven swordsmen is over!" Zabuza shouted, quickly closing the distance between them and kicking Jūzō in the chest, sending him flying into a tree.
Jūzō's back hit the tree trunk hard, knocking the wind from him and causing him to spit blood up from his mouth, feeling the wound in his chest bleeding more and more.
"Darn it all... I didn't think I would go out like this." Jūzō said to himself as his vision was starting to blur, feeling that his heart had been damaged by the strike.
With the last of his strength, Jūzō looked to his sword that was stuck in the ground, watching as Zabuza grabbed the hilt and pulled it out, claiming it as his own.
"Such is the nature of the bloody mist..." Jūzō said to himself knowing his time was up.
"There is only one way for this sword to truly become mine," Zabuza said, looking over to Jūzō, who had already excepted his fate.
With one smooth motion, Zabuza suddenly appeared next to Jūzō and with a single swing of his arm he took Jūzō's head off, making the motion of his attack effortless as he took him out, letting his blood soak the blade and ground below.
Kujira watched the whole thing from a distance, unsure what was happening. Both of them had been wearing the same black cloak with red clouds. However, they had started fighting among themselves for whatever reason, giving Kujira time to rush over to his teammates and make sure they were okay.
"Chika, Rokuro!" He shouted as he rushed to their side.
Both of them were still alive for the time being, however, they had been injured by Jūzō and were in bad condition.
Kujira looked over to Zabuza as he cut Jūzō's head from his shoulders, laughing as he did it.
"I have been waiting a long time for this, and finally the time has come!" Zabuza said as he watched his old mentor's body drop to the ground, remembering all of the blood and sweat it had taken to get to this point.
It all started once Zabuza had come face to face with Fuyōna again, after encountering the three brats and their sensei, Kaga who had easily been dealt with. His arch-rival Fuyōna had turned up to save the day, showing him just how outclassed he was again.
For whatever reason Fuyōna had allowed Zabuza to live and get away, seeming to spare him, rather than destroy him with his overwhelming power.
After that last encounter, he had sworn he would do whatever it takes to become strong enough to defeat him, doing everything within his own power to acheive more strength.
"Arggh!" Zabuza roared as he punched the wall with all of his might.
"How does he keep getting stronger..."
"Always surpassing me and leaving me in the dust." He said, clenching his fist in rage.
Zabuza was alone now seeing that his men had been defeated and captured by Fuyōna.
"All of this was for nothing... All of my training wasted." He said, sitting down on one of the chairs inside his base, staring at the ceiling as he tried to keep his anger and disappointment in check.
Slowly he leaned forwards, placing his head in his hands before he sighed, seeming to regain his composure.
"I need to become stronger... By any means." He said, feeling a new surge of motivation washing over him, knowing he was prepared to do whatever it took to become stronger.
The months went by for Zabuza, training as hard as he could and taking on as many rouge A and S rank missions for whoever was hiring in the underworld of the shinobi world, giving him an infamous reputation and an S rank rating in the bingo book with a large reward.
It didn't matter to him who he faced, or what the mission was, all that mattered now was becoming stronger and continuing to gain all of the power he could to achieve his goal.
Time continued to pass as Zabuza travelled the world, working wherever the wind took him as he search for a way to become stronger.
Several times he had encountered trackers or hunters from other villages, being recognised for his bounty, but each time he had defeated them, proving to himself he was becoming stronger and stronger with each kill.
More time passed and Zabuza had just finished an assassination mission, taking out three S-rank shinobi bodyguards and five A rank alone, cashing in his reward and gaining even more infamy. His quest for power had led him to become strong indeed, however, he still knew in his heart it would not be enough.
Suddenly his path was blocked by three cloaked figures standing on the road before him, with the one in the middle speaking.
"You there, are you Zabuza Momochi, formally of the mist village?" A man with orange hair and piercings around his face asked, seeming to have appeared in the middle of the road that Zabuza had been walking down.
Zabuza was wearing a black body suit with his blue arm and shin protectors, keeping his face covered with bandages without his headband on, something he had forsaken a long time ago.
"Who's asking?" Zabuza asked, taking in the appearance of the man, seeing that he was wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it. The man wasn't alone either, standing beside a man that Zabuza recognised as one of the Sanin of the hidden leaf village.
"My, my... I can smell the bloodlust coming from this one." Orochimaru said, licking his lips with his snake-like tongue while looking Zabuza up and down.
Kakuzu was also with them, taking a good look at Zabuza and then at the bingo book he was holding in his arm.
"Zabuza, that's him." He said.
"You have a rather large bounty on your head." Kakuzu then said, closing the book in his hand and placing it into his cloak.
"I don't know who you two are, but what's one of the leafs Sanin want with me?" Zabuza said, knowing this could turn into a fight.
"We are looking for strong shinobi who have forsaken their village to join our cause." Pain said, lifting his hand ever so slightly.
Zabuza snorted in response, noticing the head bands they wore with the scratch through the symbol.
"The only thing I want is more power, so unless you can offer me that, I suggest you get out of my way," Zabuza said, not seeming interested.
Orochimaru smiled, liking the look on his face before Pain spoke.
"Our organisation can offer you many things, power being one of them, if that is what you wish." Pain said with strong determination in his words.
Zabuza didn't react to his words and instead dropped his bag, slowly reaching for his sword.
"Prove it." He said, taking the hilt of his blade.
Pain kept a straight face, looking at Kakuzu.
"Defeat him and you may keep his bounty." He said, getting a smile from behind his mask.
"My pleasure," Kakuzu said stepping forwards as he got ready for a fight.
Zabuza smiled and slowly drew his sword a little from its sheath that was on the back of his hips, keeping a low stance.
"I'll make this quick," Kakuzu said, getting ready to place his hands together and make a hand sign.
"Too slow!" Zabuza said as four water clones suddenly appeared around Kakuzu, taking him by surprise as they each grabbed one of his limbs to restrain him.
"What the, when did you!" Kakuzu said, surprised as he struggled to break free.
Suddenly Zabuza used his sword to pierce straight through Kakuzu's heart, having appeared behind him in an instant, using a back thrust going under his armpit not even face his opponent.
"ARCH!" Kakuzu yelled, feeling the pain as the sword ripped through his chest before he dropped to his knees.
The clones all let go at the same time and turned back to water with Zabuza standing to his full height before he flicked the blood from his sword and placed it back in its sheath.
"My, my, that was certainly quick," Orochimaru said, keeping his arms crossed over his chest while he watched in amusement.
Pain also watched, not seeming worried that Zabuza had just stabbed Kakuzu through the heart, something that Zabuza clocked onto before his instincts kicked in, causing him to quickly jump into the air, avoiding a sudden attack from Kakuzu.
"What in the hell?" Zabuza said, not sure what was going on.
Kakuzu slowly stood back up as all of the threads in his body started to pulse through and around his body, forcing him to stand back up.
"You son of a bitch..." Kakuzu said as a sudden large monster was forced out of his body before it started to rot and die next to him.
"What in the hell is that jutsu? I'm sure I pierced his heart." Zabuza said, holding the handle of his sword in a defensive stance as he watched the monstrous sight.
Kakuzu was pissed now and was about to get serious when Pain suddenly stepped in, forcing him to stand down.
"That is enough Kakuzu." He said, not having to say anything else as Kakuzu backed down, knowing his place.
"Hmm... What's wrong? I thought you said this would be easy." Zabuza said, taunting Kakuzu as he stepped back, joining Orochimaru on the sidelines.
"My Kakuzu, I didn't think he would get the dro on you so easily. Orochimaru said, also taunting him.
"I will be your next opponent." Pain said, getting Zabuza's attention.
"Is that right," Zabuza said, clutching the hilt of his sword tight.
"However, if you lose, you will join us." Pain then said.
"If I lose eh? What if I refuse." Zabuza then said, not liking the fact this guy was acting so confident.
"If you still refuse, then you will meet your end." Pain said, simply and bluntly.
Zabuza took a low stance, getting serious after Pain's words, not liking the fact that he thought he could threaten him and get away with it.
"I'll show you," Zabuza said, drawing his sword before he disappeared, moving at high speeds before he appeared behind Pain.
"Your mine!" He said, raising his sword for the attack.
"A clone." Pain said, not even moving as Zabuza's body suddenly burst into water, confirming that it had been a bluff attack as four other water clones appeared from all sides, preparing to thrust their swords into pain's body.
"Not bad..." Pain said before he opened his eyes, using his almighty push to propel Zabuza's clones away with the invisible force, blasting them so hard that they burst into the water on impact.
"The real one is above." Pain then said, looking up as Zabuza came crashing down, slashing his sword as hard as he could.
Pain took a simple step back and dodged his attack with ease, watching as Zabuza quickly dashed forwards to attack again, not wasting any time.
"Relentless..." Pain said, slowly lifting his hand into the air, getting a smile from both kakuzu and Orochimaru.
"Here it comes..." Orochimaru said, having already experienced the power of Pain's rinnegan.
"Almighty push." Pain said, using the power of his eyes to blast Zabuza with an impressive amount of force, knocking him flying back into the ground, crashing hard against it.
"It's over." Pain said, seeing Zabuza's body lead on the ground seeming to be knocked out.
Suddenly his body burst into smoke, showing a broken log in his place.
"A substitution!" Orochimaru said in surprise.
"I don't know what jutsu that is, but I won't give you time to use it on me!" Zabuza shouted from a distance, as a thick and heavy mist started to set in around them, blurring their vision as it grew even thicker.
"The hidden mist jutsu," Kakuzu said, having seen it before.
Pain almost smiled, seeing that even though he had only seen him use his almighty push once, he was able to adapt to it and not take the chance by attacking head-on himself.
"Impressive." Pain then said, using his other senses to try and track Zabuza as his rinnegan was unable to see through the mist.
"Zabuza is an expert in the silent killing technique, as a former Anbu squad leader of the hidden mist, his technique is quite infamous in the underworld," Kakuzu said, having read up on their target in the bingo book.
"Still, it won't be enough against him," Orochimaru said, already knowing the outcome of this fight.
Pain looked around in the mist, not being able to see a thing as it grew thicker and thicker, being boosted by Zabuza's chakra.
"I may not be able to see, but it will not be enough to defeat me." Pain said, waiting for Zabuza to show himself, knowing he was too impulsive not to attack.
Zabuza was waiting in one of the trees nearby, using his training in the mist jutsu to track Pain's location.
"I don't know what jutsu he used, but he was able to repel everything around him at the same time without so much as lifting a finger... I can't get close to him without a distraction after he uses that jutsu, that's when I should attack." He thought, planning his attack in his mind before he chose to move.
"Water dragon justu," Zabuza said in his head again, not giving anything away as he made the hand signs, casting the jutsu to attack with from a distance.
"If I use the water dragon to blast him with, I can see if his jutsu is strong enough to stop it or not," Zabuza said, quickly moving from the spot he had launched the jutsu.
Pain heard the water dragon coming from the distance and lifted his hand, blasting it out of the air and forcing the water to explode all around, stopping it in its tracks.
"A wasted effort." Pain said, not seeing the point in it.
However, Zabuza had predicted this and used the water that had now spread around pain's feet, using it to create more water clones that surrounded pain in silence.
"Now, secret assassination clone technique," Zabuza said, using all four of his clones to attack at the same time, forcing Pain to jump into the air and avoid the attacks.
"I knew it!" Zabuza said, seeming to have confirmed his thoughts about Pain only being able to use his jutsu once every so often.
Zabuza used his clones to attack again, following him into the air as they tried to skewer him with their swords, only to be blasted away by another burst of invisible force.
"5 seconds... It took him five seconds to use that jutsu again." Zabuza said, wanting to test his theory again before he attacked with everything he had.
"I grow tired of these games." Pain said as he landed back onto the ground.
"Is that right?" Zabuza said, not revealing his location as his voice echoed.
"Let's see how you handle this one. Water style, triple water dragon bullet!" Zabuza said, created three small water dragons that attacked from different sides at the same time, threatening to rip through pain's body.
However, once again pain used his almighty push to stop the small water dragons, blasting them away as if they were nothing.
"Now!" Zabuza said, suddenly appearing out of the surrounding water on the ground, lifting his sword as he got ready to slice clean through pain's body.
Pain was impressed that Zabuza had figured out his five-second delay between the use of his jutsu, knowing it was not something that many people knew at all.
However, that didn't matter now, as he had been forced to react with his full power, wanting to show Zabuza who he was dealing with.
"Your fighting style is indeed ruthless and impressive, but still, you are no match for the power of god!" Pain shouted, suddenly blasting the entire area around him with what seemed like explosives.
"Argh!" Zabuza yelled, being hit by one of the blasts and being forced to retreat.
"What the hell is this!" Zabuza said, hearing the sounds of what seemed like more people join Pain.
"Time to be rid of this mist." Pain said, suddenly using his almighty push at such a strength that it was able to blast the very air around him, causing the mist in the air to vanish with it and Zabuza to be hit even from his safe distance.
"W-What is this power!" Zabuza said, feeling his body be hit hard by the invisible force, sending him crashing towards the ground without being able to move.
"it's over..." Orochimaru said, watching the battle carefully from a safe distance, seeing that all of the six paths of pain now stood with Tendo, showing their full might to all that could see them.
Zabuza was about to crash to the ground, when a sudden sensation gripped him, seeming to pull him through the air towards pain without being able to do a thing about it.
"What is this!" He shouted, feeling the grip of Pain's hand around his throat as he grabbed him and slammed him into the ground.
"This fight is over, Zabuza." Pain said before he released Zabuza, showing him the full power of the paths of Pain as they all stood over him.
"This power... This is the power I want..." Zabuza said to himself before slowly giving way to the darkness as he fell unconscious, having survived a battle with Pain and not knowing how much of an achievement it actually was.
Zabuza's memory skipped forwards a little after that battle, having been forced to join the ranks of the Akatsuki, where he was introduced to the rest of the group at that time, as well as being told the rules and goals of the organisation.
What he had not expected was that two of the other members were both people he already knew.
"Well, I'll be damned, if it isn't Zabuza himself," Kisame said, giving him a sharp smile.
Zabuza kept a straight face at his greeting.
"Didn't expect to see you here Kisame." He said, trying to remember the last time he had seen the monster.
"Zabuza... That name rings a bell." Jūzō said, stepping into the light and revealing himself.
"Jūzō Biwa, you too eh?" Zabuza said, seeing that both the Samehada and executioner's blade were here.
Jūzō smiled as his memory clicked, suddenly realizing who Zabuza was.
"That's right, I remember you now," Jūzō said walking over to him.
"It's been a long time, demon of the mist," Jūzō said, seeming to give him a compliment.
"Alright, this is Zabuza. He will be joining us as of today." Pain said, seeing that he already knew two members of their team.
"Jūzō, you will pair with Zabuza since you seem to know him already." Pain said, getting a nod from Jūzō who didn't argue.
"Everyone else you know your roles, now head out and do gods will." Pain said, dismissing them before he vanished.
"Alright kid, looks like you are with me." Jūzō said, taking another look at Zabuza.
Zabuza simply nodded his head, following Jūzō without complaint.
"Lead the way."
Zabuza's memory faded out as he looked at Jūzō's head on the ground, seeing that it had stopped rolling now.
"My first step to getting my power has begun by taking this sword." He said, taking a good look at his new blade, soaked with the blood of its previous owner.
Zabuza then turned his attention to the three mist-brats who Jūzō had been toying with long enough for him to take him out without a problem.
"I guess I'll finish you off," Zabuza said, giving Kujira a cold stare as he tossed his sword over his shoulder.
Kujira looked at Chika and then Rukuro, seeing that neither of them could fight now, knowing it was up to him to hold Zabuza off if he wanted to save them.
However, the sight of Zabuza, who had been called the demon of the mist walking towards him after having so easily killed Jūzō, one of the seven ninja swordsmen, had caused his body to freeze, not being able to move as the fear set in.
"I-I can't do this..." He said, seeing the demon aura coming from Zabuza as he slowly walked over to him.
Zabuza could see that his prey was frozen in fear, also seeing that the other two had been hurt badly and were out of it. He stopped dead in front of Kujira, looking down at him as he towered over him.
"Time to die, kid."
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That's the end of this chapter!
I hope you enjoyed it, and as always thank you for your support. Have a great day!