"Karin, you can do better than that. Show me your skills."
Karin's face cringed with anger. Her chakra chains flew through the air, chasing after her target, who sunk himself into the ground quickly.
He reappeared, popping up right in front of her, sighing and crossing his arms. "You almost had me. The moment you can strike me before I get away, the moment I know you're ready."
"I know that! God!" Karin said, pulling her glasses from her face and peering with angry eyes. "Let's just do it again."
"This game of whack-a-mole is such a bore when you can't touch me," Zetsu sighed, sinking into the ground and popping up a few yards away.
"I'm going to get you this time," Karin said angrily. She screamed and clenched her fists, her red hair flying as she took off, darting around her target, circling around him and trying to make him lose his sight on her.
Zetsu stood still, crossing his arms and prepping for her chains to shoot through the air. I'm going to see what you can do this time, he thought. Prove to me that I was right in choosing you.
Karin, now behind him, released a chain through her stomach. Throwing it up into the air, she smashed it down into the ground. She plowed it quickly through the dirt, gliding it through the earth. It popped up underneath his body.
Zetsu, expecting to be struck through the air, was caught off guard as Karin's chain struck up through the ground and clamped around his leg. Trying to escape, he pulled his leg away, fighting the chain that had grabbed him. It's no use, he thought. I can't escape the same type of chain that once held the nine-tailed fox.
Karin thrusted her other chain through the air, wrapped it around his stomach, tightening it around him. She picked him up and held him up in the air, pulling him directly in front of her.
"Well?" Karin asked. "How was that?"
Zetsu felt her breath on him as he was held in front of her, encapsulated in her chains. "You finally managed to use technique," he muttered, not wanting to admit defeat.
"Excuse me?" Karin shrieked, her face scrunched up in anger, her eyes huge behind her glasses. "Who has who wrapped up in chains? I could crush every muscle in your body right now."
"That's exactly why we need you, Karin," Zetsu smiled. "You've come a long way in your training through these years. Combined with your sensory and healing powers, you're now a super-weapon."
"You don't need to tell me that," Karin huffed, releasing Zetsu in midair and watching him fall to the ground.
"That temper of yours got tiring fifteen years ago," Zetsu muttered, rubbing his head and standing back up.
"We've only been training like this for ten," Karin said, confused.
"I know. You've been bothering people for much longer," Zetsu remarked.
Karin's angered flared up again, but she ignored him, crossing her arms and looking away. "Well? What now? I've finally got you."
"We've got to contact Kabuto," Zetsu said. "We've got to see how he's progressing with our little Shin experiment. But it's going to be a big move for me to make an appearance in that dimension. I want you to remind me what you're taijutsu skills look like first."
"Fine, come at me," Karin offered. "I'd love to smack you around a little more."
Zetsu sunk into the ground, popping up quickly behind her, throwing a punch toward her head. Without turning around, Karin tilted her head just enough to avoid the attack. Zetsu threw another punch, and another, Karin moving to avoid each one.
She turned around, throwing a kick toward his stomach, but he moved just enough to avoid it. She threw a punch toward his face, which he bent to avoid. She punched furiously, gaining speed and momentum as Zetsu barely moved to avoid her fists.
Come on, I know you can do better than that, he thought. He sunk into the ground, disappearing momentarily, before popping up behind her once more. Zetsu thrust his fist at her neck, while Karin snatched his wrist, and kicked him backwards in the stomach.
Zetsu cringed at the hit, as Karin turned around and stared. "I could sense exactly where your chakra was this time. It's like I can feel your chakra moving in your body before you actually do the movements… I don't even need to look at you. My eyes are meaningless when my sensory skills can fully predict your movements."
"Congrats on that," Zetsu replied, still staring at the temporary mark in his stomach and looking less than pleased. "Not like your eyesight is anything to brag about, anyway," he proclaimed, reaching out to touch her glasses. He removed them, staring at her eyes.
Karin, flustered and embarrassed, blushed and snatched them back from him, planting them back on her face."So, what now?"
"I think you're ready. It'd be nice to test your skills on a taijutsu master, but I suppose we don't have access to that here."
Karin peered at him over her glasses, a look of disappointment crossing her face.
"There's no denying that you're ready for this," Zetsu said, sensing her disappointment. "With the skills you just showed me and the Shins on our side, we're going to be a super weapon against any challengers. Besides, all I have to do is anger you and you show me your potential," he said, a grin across his face.
Karin glared at him, opening her mouth to say something, when suddenly, her expression fell. Her mouth fell open, and her eyes widened as she stared off in space. "I sense a chakra. It's coming this way."
"In this dimension? People can't just come into this dimension," Zetsu asked, surprised. "Well, are you going to stand there like that forever? Who is it?"
"It's.. It's.. Sasuke-kun."