"You think holding more swords makes you my match?"
Momochi Zabuza sneered as he took in Yoru's three-headed, six-armed form, bristling with blades. Just an upper-level jonin, no matter how flashy—if this guy lasted three moves, he'd be impressed.
"Breath of Wind!"
Yoru's aura surged, faint markings appearing on his face.
"Huh?" Zabuza's smirk faltered as he sensed the sudden danger.
"Die!"
Zabuza swung the Executioner's Blade in a brutal downward slash.
Yoru's sword formation countered flawlessly—the lower heavy blade intercepted the strike, mid-level twin swords aimed for Zabuza's wrists and joints, while the upper longsword thrust toward his spine.
CLANG!
The sheer force of Zabuza's strike nearly sent Yoru flying. Even with his enhanced strength and chakra control, Yoru was overpowered.
No wonder this guy could slash a Tailed Beast Ball. Zabuza's raw power is monstrous.
"Mist Teleportation!"
Zabuza barely dodged the triple assault, his instincts saving him. If not for the Executioner's Blade's brute force creating an opening, he'd have already been disarmed.
"His taijutsu surpasses Hōzuki Gengetsu's."
Yoru's gaze sharpened, but fear never touched him.
Zabuza might seem stronger than the Mist's "Ghost," but he lacked Gengetsu's Hydrification Technique and the Hiramekarei's versatility. The Executioner's Blade was formidable, but not insurmountable.
"Again!"
Zabuza tested Yoru's defenses with another slash, only to find himself facing a porcupine of steel—no gaps, no weaknesses. Without his blade's overwhelming force, he'd have lost already.
Realizing pure swordsmanship wouldn't work, Zabuza retreated, planting the Executioner's Blade into the ground as his hands flew through seals.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
The already thick fog condensed into an impenetrable shroud.
"Eight vital points: throat, spine, lungs, liver, carotid, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart."
Zabuza's voice echoed like a specter's whisper.
"Which will you choose, White Blood Demon?"
"Heh."
Yoru smirked. His sonic radar rendered the mist useless—he saw everything. Still, he feigned vigilance, deliberately leaving an opening.
"DIE!"
Zabuza lunged from the fog with Mist Teleportation—straight into Yoru's trap.
"Shit—!"
Too late, Zabuza realized his mistake.
"Breath of Wind, Fifth Form: Schools of Dancing Blades!"
Six swords became a whirlwind of steel. The lower heavy blade locked onto the Executioner's Blade, the upper longsword nearly took Zabuza's eyes, and the twin mid-level swords twisted his wrists—wrenching the massive blade from his grip!
Instead of pressing the attack, Yoru spat the longsword into his mouth, freed his hands for seals, and slammed a suppression formula onto the Executioner's Blade, sealing its summoning tags.
Then—more hand signs.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
The fog thickened to near-liquid density, corrosive and suffocating. Now Zabuza was the one blinded, his hearing muffled, his stolen blade useless.
"Eight vital points: throat, spine, lungs, liver, carotid, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart."
Yoru's voice now whispered through the mist.
"Which will you choose, Momochi Zabuza?"
Silent Killing—Zabuza's own specialty—turned against him.
WHOOSH—
Yoru's Mist Teleportation flashed.
BLOOD FONTANED.
Six blades carved through Zabuza's body. Even his frantic dodging left him shredded—deep gashes across his vitals. Only his elite taijutsu kept him in one piece.
Yet Zabuza wasn't done.
"Blood Clotting Technique!"
His wounds sealed shut through sheer will, a forbidden art of blood manipulation.
"Impossible! No one outdoes me in Silent Killing!"
Zabuza panted, disbelief warring with pain. Even in Kirigakure, he was the undisputed master of this technique. How could a Leaf ninja surpass him?
But the evidence dripped from his body.
"Retreat!"
Fear flickered in Zabuza's eyes for the first time. Without the Executioner's Blade, facing the White Blood Demon was suicide.
Hearing Hoshigaki Kisame's manic laughter nearby, Zabuza bolted toward it like a lifeline.
"Kisame! Handle this bastard—I'm spent!"
Yoru let him run.
Instead, he lodged the Executioner's Blade into an armored puppet's grip.
POWER SURGED.
Though not as potent as the Hiramekarei, the puppet now rivaled elite jonin.
The tide had turned—one Mist swordsman crippled, one new elite fighter for Konoha.
"Zabuzaaa~ Can't even handle a little jonin? Did last night's fun leave you too weak to hold your sword?!"
Kisame mocked between clashes with the Hiramekarei-wielding puppet. But seeing Zabuza's bloodied state—blade missing—he stopped playing around.
Then Yoru arrived, the Executioner's Blade puppet at his side.
"Give it back!"
Zabuza formed seals—Summoning Jutsu!
Nothing.
"Pathetic. Can't even call your own sword? Let me show you how it's done!"
Kisame disengaged, hands flashing. But unlike Zabuza, he wasn't foolish enough to summon a sealed blade.
His target? The Hiramekarei in the puppet's grasp.
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