The flash of black sped through the forest, blowing everything away in its sight. It was moving at such a high speed that any and everything that it came into contact with was blown apart on contact. The figure showed no signs of slowing down as it continued to move, leaping from branch to branch with elegance.
The figure was none other than Namikaze Minako.
Though she would usually be shouting from joy from the speed she was moving at, the young huntress was currently in deep thought due to the discoveries she had made over the past week.
The first thing she had tested after becoming a Mana Construct was the similarity in the uses compared to Chakra, and to her surprise the methods of control was almost the same, except that hand seals weren't necessary, something she was quite happy about as it was a needless hindrance during combat.
However, she had found an annoying setback along the way.
***
Few days ago…
"Perhaps you should try reinforcing something else, say your sword for example," Kurama suggested as she watched Minako testing her strength against the poor trees in the area. Needless to say, she had almost cleared an entire section of the forest, leaving uprooted trees with fist marks in her wake.
Minako's fox ears perked up as she heard the suggestion. Nodding slightly, she brought out [Yami] and attempted to reinforce it like she usually would with Chakra. Unsurprisingly, the reinforcement went through without a hitch, but something felt odd about the sword afterwards. It was almost as if the reinforcement was disappearing faster than usual.
It was common knowledge that strengthening things outside the human body could not be permanent, as any reinforcements done to objects would fade after a few days. No one had a concrete idea as to why, but most simply called it a law of nature, most likely due to their own laziness.
The reinforcement she had just cast however was disappearing far too rapidly, to the point where it would most likely completely disappear by the end of the hour.
"What the…" She muttered in shock as she felt the mana within [Yami] fade away.
"This feeling… It's almost like something is rejecting your reinforcement…" Kurama commented, equally interested in what was occurring.
"Something is interfering with it?" She asked, hoping for an answer.
"Yes… something like that, though it doesn't seem like someone else trying to sabotage you. It feels more as if… the world itself is rejecting your reinforcement." Kurama replied, though her tone suggested that not even she really knew what was happening.
"I see…"
***
After another few days of testing, she finally concluded that any external use of Mana deteriorated rapidly, almost as if the act was being rejected by the world itself. It was quite an annoying drawback, but not something she couldn't handle as fortunately her style of fighting didn't require many external uses of Chakra if any at all unlike many of those who relied on puppetry.
Alright, let's get the next test going… She thought as she held Yami in her hands, though to an observer it would appear as if she was holding nothing. Though one could clearly tell that she was gripping something, empty space took the place of the black and red sword she usually wielded.
It was the effect of the first limiter which she discovered during the past week. [Yami] held a total of four limiters, the second and third being extremely destructive in nature if used to their fullest potential whilst the fourth, according to Kurama, had the potential to be the most deadly attack currently in the Elemental Nations, including everything the tailed beast had seen in her life, Sage of Six Paths included.
Though she was proud of the fact that she possessed such an attack, it was a problem that there was currently no possible way for her to unleash it.
She had made leaps and bounds in the Sage Arts since becoming a Mana Construct. Though she initially believed that the path was locked to her forever due to no longer possessing chakra, she found that interacting with mana in the air was far simpler than chakra, meaning that techniques commonly used in Sage Arts could be converted into a useable form with Mana.
Only in the morning did she finally manage to succeed in a method to use the mana in the air to power her attacks.
Her more destructive attacks such as Phoebus Catastrophe (which to her delight, she found could finally pull off) required extremely high amounts of mana to actually pull off, and the amount within her body whilst enough, would lead her completely exhausted. Thanks to Kurama's help she had found a method within her vast pool of knowledge to use the chakra in the air to power jutsus instead of the chakra within the body.
The technique was not an easy one, and only useable by those extremely knowledgeable about the uses of chakra and were familiar with their own chakra networks. Since her entire body used to be made of chakra, she was more than qualified in terms of knowledge.
The process, whilst difficult due to her utilizing mana instead of chakra, allowed her to convert chakra in her vicinity to mana (a process she had mastered over the past week by familiarising herself with it) and using that mana to directly power her large scale attacks instead of using the mana within her own body.
The experiment had proven to be a success, and whilst it took her a few seconds more to prepare and cast, almost completely subverted the mana costs.
The problem with [Yami] 's fourth limiter, was that the activation cost was higher than that of the concentration of chakra that existed in the air, meaning that even with her almost cheat-like technique, there was no possible way to use it unless she found a way to create mana or chakra.
The first limiter had the effect of completely concealing [Yami]. Length, width, size, form and even the pressure it exhibited was concealed. She had tried to bring her hands close to the blade, but surprisingly she couldn't touch the blade itself, almost as if being stopped by a wall of air.
Kurama, who was far more educated in the sciences of the world, hypothesized through observation that the phenomenon was made possible through compressed air, though even the tailed beast couldn't further as she had never really paid attention to the wonders of the world as some curious humans had.
Used normally, it proved to be extremely effective as the compressed air surrounding the blade made for sharper cuts whilst the magical energy that was also constantly present increased its overall damage output.
What she wasn't prepared for however, was what would happen if she released it. The first time she had done so without preparing herself, she was sent propelling backwards at almost the speed of sound, knocking her out for a minute or two.
As the magical energy and air around the sword was released, it was also accompanied by an extremely powerful gale which blew any and everything away, though unfortunately it was a one-use attack possible only whilst releasing what she now liked to call [Invisible Air] .
Now back to the present, she had been attempting to use the magical burst accompanied by the releasing of [Invisible Air] in different fashions.
Whilst moving at a speed beyond that of sound, she held [Yami] at her waist and pointed behind her as she steadied herself. The releasing of [Invisible Air] did not require any verbal incantations nor cast time, meaning that it could also be used to catch an enemy off-guard.
…KAI!' She shouted within her mind to pull the mental trigger, and at the same time her figure which could still be tracked by mid to high level jonins completely disappeared, or at least seemed to. If one were to look carefully around a second later, they would see her skidding along the forest floor almost a kilometer away.
WHAAT THHHHHEEEE FUUUUU—She was cut off from her thoughts as she crashed straight into the side of a fairly large hill at a speed three times that of the speed of sound. A loud explosion echoed as a cloud of dust covered the area. As it cleared, one could see a man sized hole running deep into the rocky side of the hill. Minako swiftly emerged from the hole whilst coughing since there was a chance that the little cave she had accidently dug for herself could collapse in on itself.
"That… was SPEED!" Kurama said accompanied by a joyful cheer not long afterwards. It seemed that the tailed beast had enjoyed the experience quite a lot.
Riiiiiight… Minako sweatdropped whilst dusting off her dress after one final cough. After realising that the releasing of [Invisible Air] created a powerful gale that could be used as an attack, she theorized that it could also technically be used as a tool for a short burst of speed, inspired by the first accident she had with the ability.
She had NOT expected to go three times faster in an instant, even though it was only for a moment. It was clear to her that she was not ready to control the burst of speed whilst moving, meaning she could only use it whilst stationary for now. Leaving the thoughts for now, she began to walk slowly towards the direction of Tazuna's house.
"Do it again!" Kurama demanded.
"SHUT IT, DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT HURT!" She shouted back mentally.
"Boooo little missy can't handle a litt—" The tailed beast began before being interrupted by an ominous presence.
The temperature dropped by a few degrees as Minako's forced smile seemed to twitch.
"...Call…! Missy…?" she stammered, temperature dropping as she echoed each and every word.
"Ahahaha… yeah I have something to do, bye bye!" Kurama cut off the connection in a hurry to save herself before Minako could get a hold on her, causing the girl to sigh in frustration as the presence from earlier disappeared.
It seemed that she was quite close to her destination from the beginning, and to her surprise she could already see Tazuna's house from where she was, though something seemed off. It felt a little too… rowdy.
As she got close however, she could smell a few entities that most certainly weren't her family's. She immediately got up onto a tree for a better view, and her eyes narrowed as she saw what seemed to be a dozen thugs or so attempting to get past Yoshina's protective seals, though Minako knew that they would not be successful as her sister's seals were on the level of masters by now.
Looking closer, she could see Tazuna and Tsunami along with her son Inari through the window at the front, looking at the thugs with worry.
So it's started… she thought. Through deduction, she could conclude that her siblings and Kushina were fighting at the bridge if thugs were sent to Tazuna's house. She would need to get there fast.
Without wasting a moment, she began a swift run up. Though she couldn't move at full speed during a duel do to the disorientation it would cause without absolute perfect control, she could still utilize her extremely high mobility to engage for a swift kill.
If the enemy had no honour, then she would show none to them.
She began to accelerate as she took step after step after equipping her [Dress of the Lily], transforming into a blur after leaping forward on the first step. The thugs didn't even know what hit them even after their heads separated from their bodies, each and every one of them lifelessly dropping in an instant.
Common thugs usually grew up in civilian areas with little to know knowledge of chakra and its uses. There were a rare few who managed to learn how to control basic amounts through sheer luck, but most were simple brutes who had less combat potential than graduate genins.
Though it was a fact that they were still living creatures. She might not be a human anymore, but she was a huntress and a swordswoman with honor at heart, and she gave anything and anyone, regardless of who or what they were, swift and painless deaths.
Flicking her blade to the side, blood splattered on the grass as she looked back towards the window, where Tazuna was watching. Tsunami and Inari were nowhere to be seen, understandable as they most likely had never seen such a brutal act before.
Giving the seals a check, she gave Tazuna one last nod before leaping towards the direction of the bridge with a burst of speed.
***
Zabuza was not very pleased.
He had been expecting the girl to show up when he revealed himself on the bridge, but instead found that she just happened to be separated from the rest of her team for the moment, and instead he was to deal with the wife of the current Hokage.
Not to be disrespectful, but the matchup was heavily in his favour simply due to the fact that he was a kenjutsu user who possessed one of the greatest swords on the elemental nations whilst she was a taijutsu specialist. Whilst chakra could allow a taijutsu specialist to fight with a kenjutsu user, he still had far more range and versatility, along with the fact that his sword was far more potent than the mundane blades used by most, forcing the red-headed Uzumaki to invest more chakra into making sure she wasn't amputated by his strikes.
She was certainly a strong fighter, but this was a won match for him in the long run, even now the woman in front of him seemed to be tired from chakra use, even though it wasn't shown on her face. Due to his years spent mastering the arts of silent assassination, he was one of few who could understand their opponents simply by observing very simple things such as muscle movement, twitching, posture and even breathing patterns.
The problem however, was Haku's side. The two genins proved themselves to be extremely capable, one being a borderline Seal-master, whilst the other seemed to have the brute strength of a Bijuu. The two were actively using their tailed beast chakra and were pressuring Haku hard, he needed to end it fast.
But before he could do anything however, a flash of white struck the middle of the bridge, surprising all the fighters. As the dust cleared, the girl he had been waiting for was standing in the middle of a small crater.
Great… he thought with annoyance. They were already troublesome with only three people, but now with the addition of the wildcard, chances for victory without sacrifices was low, VERY low.
Their eyes met, but he could feel fire in them this time, something he couldn't feel before. Last time, she was simply a girl with a sword, but now it felt like he was in front of a warrior. Something felt off as well about the signature he was getting. It felt like chakra but… it was different.
He shook his get to get rid of the unnecessary thoughts. Over thinking things before a fight was a formula for demise.
The girl looked over to the Hokage's wife, Kushina, if he recalled correctly. The older woman looked conflicted for a moment, but let out a resigned sigh after seeing the determined look on the girl's face. She retreated back to the end of the bridge to observe, whilst the girl took her place, eyes still locked onto him.
A moment of silence passed between the two, until she opened her mouth. "Shall we continue this?" She asked, a smirk present on her face.
"Before we begin, what changed? You seem to have… changed." He asked back. It was a simple probe for information that most wouldn't answer, but the two were no longer fighting as shinobi, but as wielders of the sword.
"The most I can tell you is a breakthrough, though you can find out about the rest yourself." She replied, bringing her hand up next to her as if she was holding a sword in the empty hands of hers.
He raised an eyebrow in surprise, "And where did your sword go?"
"Right in these hands."
He stared at the empty space being held by the girl, and as he concentrated he could smell a small, but noticeable trace of blood in what seemed to be the air she was holding.
The sword is invisible now… I see. He concluded as he got into a stance of his own.
"Momochi Zabuza, former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist." He declared with confidence
"Minako, just Minako. Swordsman, huntress, and what you would know as the Kyuubi." She declared with no hint of fear, her glowing eyes sharpening even further.
He didn't flinch nor show any reaction to the last title. It did not matter who he opponent was, even if it was a god. As long as it wielded a sword and had honor, it was no more than his equal on the stage of the duel.
Without another word, the two moved.
***
Minako used her reinforced speed to take Zabuza by surprise, as he was most likely still used to her old level of speed, and it worked splendidly. He barely had time to block as she sent a slash at his chest, sparks flying as her blade clashed with the monstrous blade he wielded. The exchange lasted for a moment before her opponent directed [Yami] away from himself and attempted to get on the offensive himself, though she wouldn't fall for the same trap twice.
Twisting herself on her heels, she narrowly avoided the strike meant to decapitate her and smashed the pommel of her sword against his arm, causing him to wince slightly, though not much as he had reinforced his defenses his chakra beforehand.
He sent a kick at her chest as she brought her sword down to block, though the force still sent her flying into the air even though she sustained no damage. Using the small time window as an opportunity, she swiftly summoned her bow and aimed it towards Zabuza whilst she was still descending upside down. Even under such firing conditions, Kurama corrected any errors she had in her aim, allowing her to accurately target her opponent's heart at an impossible angle.
A normal person would have scoffed at her actions and charged her, but Zabuza was no such man. He was a trained nin who was one of the best swordsman in the elemental nations, the amount of battles he had lived through ensured that his instincts were far sharper than most. He dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding her arrows before dashing towards her landing area.
Re-summoning [Yami], She barely blocked Zabuza in time as he used her lack of footing to his advantage. With a small shout, she pushed Zabuza away and landed a fair distance away, resetting the fight completely.
Through the short exchange, a few things were clear. The first was that she was definitely faster and stronger in her current state, but Zabuza had the advantage of experience, skill and sharper instincts. Even though her first strike should have been too fast for a human to react to, the man had raised his monstrous sword to block without even knowing that she was attacking. He must have been in countless battles to death to possess such strong survival instincts and intuition.
"It's basically a cheat!" She internally shouted in frustration.
"Yes… the person with the completely overpowered gear along with the strength and speed beyond that of humans along with a never before seen energy source is calling someone else a cheat…" Kurama deadpanned whilst working on deciphering Zabuza's attack pattern.
"…" She remained silent, too prideful to admit that the tailed beast was correct. Kurama chuckled in victory as she saw Minako pout slightly.
Though there was something that Zabuza could not beat her at no matter what he did, and that was stamina. Even though he was a shinobi, one of the top tier ones at that, he could still get tired if he used too much chakra, and currently she was forcing him to use far more than he normally used just so he could keep up with her enhanced strength and speed. If this were to go on for much longer, he wouldn't last.
She tightly grasped [Yami] before leaping off towards Zabuza again, ground under her buckling under each step. She increased the weight of [Yami] by 60x, a weight that she could handle with her body as a Mana Construct. Each attack of hers increasing in intensity as Zabuza miraculously countered. As the exchanges continued, Zabuza switched from parrying to simply redirecting her strikes, switching their roles completely from the last time they had fought.
At the same time, a genuine smile found itself on Minako's face. It was perhaps the first ever fight she had to last so long, against such a skilled opponent too. All her sparring matches with Itachi and Sasuke ended too fast either because her opponent was too strong or too inexperienced, and it had dulled the excitement she first felt when wielding a sword.
Her first fight with Zabuza was more not one she could take any luxury in, as she was rather weak compared to her current self and her family's lives were at stake.
Now, however, she was far stronger than before and her family was not in any immediate danger as far as she could tell. For the first time in several years, she finally felt the thrill of the battle as a disturbing laugh escaped her lips as she and her opponent darted past each other, blades colliding.
"Oh dear…" Kurama sweat dropped, afraid at the prospects of Minako becoming a battle junky.
Focused on his sword entirely, Minako let her eyes wander from Zabuza's feet. Seeing the opportunity, he lifted it slightly to trip her.
"Under you!" Kurama called, but it was just a little too late. She attempted to jump over his foot, but the pointed end of her solleret got caught, causing her to fall forwards. Zabuza didn't waste a moment as he raised his sword, intending to end the match. It was a very common tactic, but to find such a small opening on her end and utilizing it to his advantage in the small time frame he had was an ability that deserved respect.
Time seemed to slow down for her as her thought processes sped up, assessing the situation and finding the best method to escape her predicament. A fraction of a second passed, but to her it seemed more like a minute. Time sped up again, as she watched the butcher knife come down, aiming to decapitate her.
"HA!" With a shout, she spun a full 180 degree mid air, a feat that defied all logic. With her right hand, she grasped the sharp end of Zabuza's sword before it could separate her head, and used it to launch herself into the air, dragging Zabuza to the floor at the same time. She landed on the construction crane as she looked down at Zabuza, who performed a role before getting back onto his feet.
Seeing the blood on the end of his sword, she looked down at her own right hand, the one she had used to block the attack. Even though the gauntlet was of highest quality and could protect her even from A-rank jutsu's, Zabuza's swing was meant to end the duel, and therefore contained much power. She could see that his sword had managed to cut through her gauntlet, almost completely severing hand through the palm. In fact, half of her hand was simply dangling from the cut, just barely attached to her body through a small amount of skin.
However, the pain she felt was minimal, it was numb than painful to be honest. Her sense of pain had dulled severely after becoming a Chakra Construct, something that was even further enhanced after becoming a Mana Construct. Currently, she would most likely only feel what could be described as pain if her body was grinded to pieces.
"Minako!" She heard Kushina shout with worry, with a trace of confusion as to why she didn't look so worried. It was revealed a moment later however as her injury was ingulfed in a what seemed to be red and dark light. The air in the area dispersed as her hand began to stitch itself together, causing Zabuza and Kushina to gape in astonishment, though Naruto and Yoshina were too focused on their fight to notice what was happening.
[Yoru: Dreamless Utopia] was a manifestation of her will to live and the tailed beast's immortality, it was the key to her bijuu-like regeneration, which could heal even fatal wounds (though she wasn't very eager to test its full capabilities. Despite the fact that she felt little to no pain, injuring and mangling herself was not a pleasant experience).
As the light faded, her deformed hand that had almost been cut in two was as good as new, even the cut on her gauntlet seemed to have vanished.
She stared down at Zabuza, whose expression seemed to be a mix between irritation and annoyance (both pretty much the same thing anyways). She certainly could relate, if she had managed to get in a such a blow only to have it heal effortlessly, she too would most likely have been pissed off.
The two were cut from their little staring contest however, as the sound of a body hitting the floor registered. The two looked to the side, where her siblings were standing next to a girlish boy—something she most likely would have mistaken if not for her sense of smell. The boy had a hole where his heart was, and looking closely he could see Naruto shaking slightly with his left hand drenched in blood, possibly frozen in shock from the act of killing someone directly for the first time.
The light in the boy's eyes dulled as she stared up at Zabuza, who's eyes were widened from shock, from the ground. "Zabuza… sama…" He said as she tried to raise a hand towards the swordsman, "Was I… useful… in the end…?" He asked softly with a smile on his face, before his raised arm dropped lifelessly.
Silence ensued as Zabuza stared at the boy's body, a myriad of emotions flashing across his face, most prominent being disappointment and sadness, but under that was an emotion that he was attempting to hide desperately, something possibly only she picked up.
Pain.
"It's over Zabuza." She said confidently, using his disorientation to her advantage. Whilst it may be seen by some as disrespect for the dead, they entered the fight knowing that there was a high chance this was how it would turn out, yet the two missing nin did not turn around. They came prepared to die, and she would not disrespect their spirits.
"You underestimate my power." He replied immediately before leaping towards her, most likely affected by the death of his accomplice. For a regular person, such an act would have counted as insane, but a shinobi could leap hundreds of meters into the air if they put their all into it.
That however, was Zabuza's one and final mistake.
Since Zabuza could no longer dodge in the state he was in, she positioned [Yami] behind her, facing the opposite direction of Zabuza. Though she couldn't handle the burst of speed whilst moving at full speeds, it was a different story if she was stationary.
As [Invisible Air] was released, a violent gale assaulted the area as Minako's shot forward like a comet. Zabuza's eyes widened as he realized his mistake, but it was already too late. In not even a fraction of a second, Minako was already in front of him, [Yami] shining in all its glory and no longer hidden.
"It's… OVER!" She yelled as their blades met mid air. The momentum from her attack immediately overpowered Zabuza's sword, cutting right through it. The sword continued on its path, cutting right across Zabuza's chest as her momentum forced her to continue towards the ground, shaking the very foundations of the bridge as she landed.
***
He had lost…
Yes. He, Zabuza Momochi, had lost.
It was a strange feeling, something he hadn't experienced for a very, very long time. In a line of work where losing meant death, he couldn't afford to lose.
Yet he had allowed his emotions to get the better of him, and he had lost in the end.
He stood at the center of the bridge, blood pouring from the slash wound that went from his shoulder all the way to his waist. He coughed out blood as his beloved sword dropped to the ground with a clang.
As a child he had been searching for someone who he could die in the arms of, but it seemed that his wish would not be granted. He would die alone, forgotten, like all his predecessors.
His thoughts were interrupted as slow clapping came from across the bridge. Figures emerged from the mist one by one, dozens of not hundreds of them, yet he couldn't even detect a genin's worth of chakra from the crowd.
"To think the famed silent killer would not even be able to handle a brat, perhaps your fame was misplaced, Zabuza." The leader of the crowd said with an irritatingly arrogant smirk. He was an old man in a black suit, glasses covering his eyes with wild hair. His stature was not that of a fighter, and wrinkled skin showed that he most likely could not even hold himself against a child. An army of thugs was behind him, all holding makeshifts weapons of different kinds including clubs, hammers and some even swords, though not ones of high quality.
The hokage's wife and his children stood between Minako and the Gatou's gang. Zabuza knew that even one of them was enough to mop it up, and thus didn't take action himself.
He ignored them, and instead looked towards the girl he had lost to. Yes, she was strong, too strong for a genin, yet he knew that she was just a young girl. No matter how confident, no matter how strong and no matter how inhumane she seemed to be, she was still just a little girl, and he had lost to her.
He sighed as he walked over to Haku, staring at his partner's lifeless eyes as he picked his feminine body up from the ground. He could feel the gaze of the girl, Minako, she called herself, analyzing him as he walked over towards the side of the bridge, blood still pouring out of his wound.
As he arrived, he slowly sat down, supporting himself against the rail ran along the sides of the bridge. This was where he would die in the end, his dream unfulfilled whilst knowing he had lost to a child.
"Are you really satisfied?" He heard Minako ask. He glanced over, life slowly leaving his eyes as he began to succumb to his wound.
He scoffed, "No, but that wouldn't change anything, now would it? My only wish was to die in the arms of a loved one, yet even that seems impossible…" He replied, his last few words being barely more than a whisper, though the girl seemed to have picked it up regardless.
His eyebrows rose slightly in surprise as he heard the girl chuckle.
"Is my wish so funny to you?" He asked with a hint of anger in his voice. Who was she to question what he wanted?
The girl shook her head, "No, not at all… You're really dense, aren't you?"
"What do yo—" He began before he was cut off as the glowing sword in the girl's hands vanished as a white bow took its place, the one she had used to take one of his arms.
"Kurama often says I'm the dense one, but it seems that you're even more stupid than me…" She continued as an arrow materialised in her hand.
Gatou seemed to have noticed too, "What are you all doing, GET HER!" The man yelled as the hundreds of men behind him started to move.
Minako didn't seem to be affected though, as she continued to nock the arrow. Zabuza gasped in surprise as he literally felt the chakra in the air disappearing—no, it didn't disappear, the chakra in the air was being converted into something else? He was never one for academics, and all his knowledge on Chakra was earned through experience, so he could only comprehend what was happening through what he knew.
The energy in the air was then absorbed into the bow, the gold markings on it beginning to glow as a result. sparks crackled from the arrow as the projectile was enveloped in a white light. The small sparks of electricity gradually turned into lightning that randomly struck the nearby area, though all of them missed him and the girl's team. Her nine tails behind her stiffened as if an electric shock ran through them as the ominous glow in her eyes brightened.
The girl aimed the bow upwards as she began to speak words that sent chills down his spine. Words filled with power, words that signaled victory.
"For I am Light bathed in Darkness…"
[PHOEBUS CATASTROPHE]
The arrow which seemed more like a spear of light flew upwards at a speed surpassing anything he had ever seen. The force from the shot itself was enough to blow away all debris in her surroundings as the crater under her seemed to deepen, though just by a small amount. Gatou's men stopped dead in their tracks as even they, who barely knew anything about chakra, could feel the power that was washing over them. Unlike the usual sound produced by an arrow being shot, this arrow literally went off with a bang that could potentially leave people deaf if they were too close. The Hokage's wife and her children were still in their combat stances, but their eyes were glued to the arrow that was travelling at a speed even he was having trouble tracking. The surrounding clouds dispersed as the arrow pierced right through, disappearing into the sky.
A moment passed, and nothing happened. He could hear some of Gatou's men beginning to open their mouths in ridicule the girl, but Zabuza continued to watch with wide eyes as the lifeless sky lit up. The thugs, including Gatou covered their eyes as the light was too strong for them whilst others kept on watching, as if entranced.
"Is this the light you were searching for, Zabuza?" A distorted voice asked. He snapped his neck to the source, but was surprised to see that it came from the girl, Minako. His mind wasn't in the right places due to the blood loss, but even he could tell that this was not a little girl talking anymore.
It was a tailed beast.
He didn't answer, but instead raised his head just in time to see a pillar of light descend from the skies on where Gatou and his men were standing. It let out a screeching sound that would most certainly have annoyed him if not for the fact that he was on death's door.
It was bright.
A little too bright, almost like an embrace.
Unconsciously, his left hand lifted itself from the ground and held itself out towards the pillar of light, like he was yearning for it.
It was a strange feeling, a feeling of familiarity and something he hadn't experienced in a very, very long time.
Love.
Not love in a romantic sense, but just very simple love that could have been between any two people. Between friends, between siblings, between father and son, mother and daughter.
But why was this light so relaxing? He had searched far and beyond in hopes to die one day in the arms of a loved one, yet found no answer, but in front of him was the very light that he was searching for!
"The light isn't what you're looking for, look further." Minako said from besides him, and he listened.
He looked further, to find out why it felt so familiar. He who had never experienced love in any form, was familiar with it? Impossible!
Yet, as he searched, in a small corner of his mind, he found a memory.
It was buried deep in his consciousness, a memory that he wouldn't recall no matter how hard he tried, but it resonated within his mind.
***
Several years ago…
"Tou-san, what are we doing today?" Haku asked as he caught a fish with a spear of ice that he had created.
Zabuza, who was observing from behind, blinked in surprise.
"Tou-san?" He asked
Haku, who had realised his mistake, swiftly covered his mouth, dropping his spear of ice in the process as the skewered fish was swept up by the stream.
"Zabuza-sama, I m-meant u-uh…" He stuttered, unable to formulate a response.
"Don't worry about it," Zabuza told him, causing the girlish boy to look up in surprise.
"I will allow it just this once." He added, a huge smile appearing on Haku's face as he did, eyes sparkling with light he had never seen in the boy.
***
Yes…
I see now…
The light in Haku's eyes, it was the same.
He chuckled as he looked down at Haku who had passed on, his body lying in his hands. Brushing his hair aside slightly, Zabuza saw a content smile on the dead boy's face. A similar smile made its way under the bandages that covered his mouth as he rested his chin on top of the boy's head.
"To think… my wish… was right in front of me… all this time…" He said as his vision blurred. Death was catching up with him fast, but he didn't care anymore. His wish had been fulfilled, and he could die the way he wanted.
"Hey, little girl…" He called weakly. Even under the screeching sound of the pillar of light, he knew that the girl could still hear him.
"Thank… You…"
And he died, in the hands of a loved one.
***
"Since when were you so good at reading people?" Minako asked, surprised that Kurama could figure out Zabuza completely in the short time they had together.
"I'm thousands upon thousands of years old, I've seen all kinds of people, countless whom were like him." The tailed beast replied without going into much detail.
"…Thank you for that."
"It was the right thing to do… You taught me that."
Minako inwardly smiled, celebrating the fact that he managed to change Kurama from a human-hating fox to one who could at least respect others.
Zabuza, despite being a swordsman and missing nin, was just a lost man without a purpose. Everyone deserved a satisfying end, no matter who they were, and Zabuza was just one such man. She was glad that she, or technically Kurama, managed to atleast give him peace in death.
She was broke out of her thoughts however, as the pillar of light dissipated. Despite Phoebus Catastrophe's main attack looking like a beam of light, it was in fact thousands, if not millions of needle thin projectiles that rained upon an area continuously.
When she had first tested it out, she found an aria was the best way of bringing out the full potential of her attacks, and with the help of Kurama and countless hours of trial and error, she had finally settled upon the first line. At least she was satisfied with it in the end.
Looking forward, she wasn't surprised to find the section of the bridge missing, essentially splitting the entire structure in half. Gatou and his men had no chance, and were most certainly dead, though no one would ever find a trace of them.
Suddenly, she remembered an important part of the technique which she had completely forgotten about when she used Phoebus Catastrophe.
"Oh shit…" She cursed, surprising her team who still seemed to be in awe, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
"Yoshina, Defense seal on 10m radius, quick!" She yelled, breaking her sister out of her stupor. Though the girl didn't seem to know what was happening, she followed the instructions nonetheless due to the tone of her voice.
A barrier engulfed the four of them as a projectile descended from the clouds. If one were to look carefully, they would see the original arrow that she fired to activate Phoebus Catastrophe.
Like a comet, it shot down in a line straight into the hole in the middle of the bridge before striking the water. A moment later, a loud explosion sounded under the bridge, shaking the structure itself as the waves in the sea fluctuated violently.
A minute passed before it all died down, finally allowing Yoshina to dispel the barrier that had kept them safe from the large waves created from the explosion.
Sweat dripped down her back as she felt three piercing gazes. Though she admitted that using Phoebus Catastrophe on a bridge under construction was not a sound idea, it was the only way she could convey her thoughts to Zabuza at the time.
Besides, it was Kurama's idea anyway!
"HEY!"
"So will you be explaining just what in the HELL that was, or do we have to beat it out of you?" Kushina asked as she cracked her knuckles, an ominous aura escaping her that promised pain.
"You're… paying… for… repair…" Yoshina added, one hand pointing to the gap that now existed between the two sides of the bridge.
"WOW, you really are my sister after all, show me how you do that when we get ho—GAH!" He began before he was pinned to the floor by Kushina, who began to lecture him on issues of subtlety.
Minako sweat dropped.
"Uhh, weren't they going to interrogate me a second ago, and did they seriously just forget that we're in the middle of a bridge that might collapse soon if we don't do something?" she asked Kurama, completely clueless as to what she should do in such a situation
"I swear, all Uzumaki's are strange in their own ways…" Kurama replied whilst reminiscing about her time in her former containers.
Minako sighed as she looked behind her towards where Zabuza was.
His eyes were closed as his chin rested on the girlish boy's head, arms to his side. She was surprised however, to see the boy's arms circled around Zabuza's limp body even in death. Looking carefully, she could see a smile on both Zabuza and the boy's faces, though Zabuza's was slightly harder to make out under the bandage. She smiled in satisfaction and she looked back at her mother and siblings, for she knew that the two would meet again, somewhere far away.
For death was simply the next great adventure, after all.
"Hey, you stole that one off from my memories"
"Shut it."