Footfalls echoed through the darkness of the labyrinth, resounding off the straight stone walls. The stone walls glimmered with dripping water, collected from the ceiling. The high skylight allowed faint, murky light through, striking the earth in a cold manner.

Mizuki proceeded cautiously along the corridor. His hand rested against the sword at his side. They've stopped moving. Then, are they trying to take me off guard? He glanced around. For now, I should move with an eye to security. His eyes widened as he saw the chain wrapping around the floor of the corridor. A smirk crossed his lips. A tripwire. Sasuke, then. Of those three, she's undoubtedly the most skilled. This should mean that I'm lucky at the moment. I can take command of one of the Uchiha as a weapon. He stepped forward over the chain confidently. A caltrop pierced through Mizuki's sandal.

Mizuki screamed in pain. He twisted to one side, his sword slashing toward the open tunnel beside him. The cut passed directly in front of Sasuke, brushing along the edge of her black jacket.

Sasuke took one pace backward. Her hand spilled the flask along the ground, allowing water onto the ground. Water covered the floor of the corridor, along with a set of caltrops disguised by the darkness of the corridor and a makeshift camouflage of rubble and small pieces of debris.

Mizuki gritted his teeth. He cut again, his sword slashing toward the open corridor.

Sasuke ducked downward, rolling one pace forward under the sweep of the blade. Her hand drove into the ground. Lightning crackled across the water.

Mizuki roared. Lightning crackled across his white hair, rushing through the gap in his sandal up his body. He choked back a breath, his hands clenching as the lightning struck them.

Sasuke turned and fled deeper into the labyrinth. Her sandals' pace echoed through the corridor. Clearly he's a good swordsman, though I learned that much from Kōju. He can move and react to my attacks. I wasn't expecting that in this situation. He may have lost the techniques of a shinobi, but he still thinks like one. When he fights someone, he moves in immediate reaction to their movements.

Mizuki spat on the ground. The injured flesh healed rapidly, green light dancing across the flesh. He ran deeper into the labyrinth, chasing after the footfalls.

If what Kōju told me earlier is true, this guy isn't going to die as easily as a lightning technique. I can't lay any more traps, but there are things I can do at a distance that he can't. Seemingly he lost the use of shinobi techniques, and thus he can't use that technique. Sasuke glanced over her shoulder for a brief second, her ears pricking at the sound of footfalls. Her eyebrows furrowed. He's still not dead? That is disturbing. Her hand drew back. Lightning crackled across the tips of her fingers. Fine.

Shouting loudly, Mizuki rushed forward in a charge of motion. The sword slashed toward Sasuke's waist, moving in a swaying arc.

Sasuke stepped backward. The air pressure of the strike cut into her stomach, leaving a lurid red line. She glanced downward for a brief second before returning her gaze to Mizuki. Her eyes narrowed. And he's strong, too. He's every bit as much of a sword user as Kōju said he was. This is probably going to take a while. It's less than ideal, but I can't complain about it either. She slammed her palm into the ground. Needles of lightning pierced up through the opened sandal.

Mizuki gritted his teeth. "That paltry amount of electricity won't do a damn thing!" he shouted, his fingers unclenching after a long moment of explosion. The flesh regenerated in a wave of green light.

Sasuke lunged forward. Her hands formed the Tiger seal rapidly. "Flame Style: Flowering Blossom Technique!" Flames engulfed Mizuki's body, rushing upward and consuming the flesh.

"That cannot end me either," Mizuki stated. His tongue sparked briefly, pieces falling off the flesh, before regenerating fully. "Are you tired? Struggling with death

Sasuke gritted her teeth. It's impossible to beat him using fire or lightning. Kōju already tried earth. That leaves two possibilities. Wind, or water. She glanced downward. I can't do wind, so water seems like my best bet. Her hands clapped together rapidly, forming a series of seals. She leapt backward, her hands moving in the same pattern as she moved backward.

Mizuki's eyebrows furrowed. This stance—it is unfamiliar to me. A Water Style technique, surely. But what else took place? Is this technique something unfamiliar?

"Water Style: Imperial Water Dragon Bullet!" Sasuke shouted. I can probably drown him, even if it is a little risky. An enormous dragon, swelled-up with water and power, spat out an enormous bullet which engulfed Mizuki's body.

Mizuki caught his breath, his body shaking. He raised the sword, his stance defensive. I recognize this much. But I can't die from drowning. There's nothing that can result in my death from here.

"Water Style: Water Prison Technique!" Sasuke charged forward, reaching a location directly beside Mizuki. She held out her hand. The water gathered into a cage, swelling up around Mizuki's body.

Mizuki swung the sword rapidly. His arms carried water behind them, sending chaotic ripples through the surface of the water.

It's fine. There's no sword in existence capable of cutting that prison— Sasuke thought to herself, her body shaking.

The water collapsed to the ground as the sword arced through it. The far tip of the sword brushed across Sasuke's body. Breathing heavily, Mizuki emerged from the water prison. "I don't understand," he stated clearly.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. She jumped backward, putting more distance between herself and the blade.

"You fighting for Hidden Leaf I can at least somewhat comprehend." Mizuki stepped forward. His eyes narrowed. "You fighting for the people who failed to protect the Uchiha—though it is strange, I can at least grasp why you do it. But why fight for the jinchūriki—"

Sasuke disappeared in a flash of white light. The flash of white light passed along the corridor and through an opening on Mizuki's side.

Mizuki's eyes widened. He glanced over his shoulder, staring toward the figure behind him.

Sasuke's hand, crackling with lightning, cut into Mizuki's neck. "You talk too much," she stated flatly. "I'd consider asking you for information, but you're a damn idiot. It's unlikely you'd be told anything of any importance, regardless of the circumstances." Her eyes narrowed.

Mizuki glanced downward at Sasuke's hand piercing through his neck. His brow furrowed. "This does hurt a little bit. Perhaps if you were able to behead me I might die." He paused, his eyes narrowing. "Then again, the force required is probably beyond you." He studied his arm. "My flesh is tougher and stronger than it used to be. This must be the power of 'the soul', I suppose."

Sasuke's hand stopped midway through Mizuki's neck. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. So his bones are too tough to cut through this way. He's not joking about the increased toughness of his body. An ordinary person would have been cut through already, like this. Green light surrounded Mizuki's neck. Slowly, flesh pushed back Sasuke's hand. Flickering backward again, Sasuke reappeared at the end of the corridor, backed by her set of caltrops and the water dousing the ground. I don't have much chakra left. I can probably use one more technique at most. Her eyes narrowed. Compared to the pair I usually work with, I tire out way too easily. Something to consider for later, I guess.

"I must know. Before you die in this place, I must come to understand it." Green light surrounded the wound on Mizuki's neck. "I have to come to understand how it is that you survived it all for that person's sake." She's presently too fast for me. I can't outpace her or escape her grasp right now. If she's successfully distracted I have a higher chance at outpacing her.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "He is who he is. He doesn't try to lie or deceive you about that. That's good enough for me. He's not a liar like you. Go to your death with that knowledge." Her eyes narrowed. "Go on ahead of everyone else."

Mizuki snorted. "Go to my death? It's already been proven that you can't kill me. Not like this." He raised his sword in the air. "I am shinigami! Immortal. I can never be killed so long as I carry this blade!" He raised the sword in the air. "I am as far distant from an arrogant blind human, defiant of the world, as you are, as the worms crawling in the dirt—"

"I already said you talk too much. Are you deaf?" Sasuke's crimson eyes narrowed. "I haven't been able to call up this kind of emotion in years." Flickering light surrounded her hand, crackling like lightning sparked from a wheel's gathering.

Mizuki's brow furrowed. Another Chidori? She's already seen that technique doesn't work. His eyes narrowed. It's possible that she's attempting Raikiri, but the chances against that are relatively high. She used up quite a lot of chakra. If it was the brat we were talking about, then certainly I could see it. But she doesn't have that much to begin with. I know, as her tutor. And the Chidori isn't a light technique, anyway. A Raikiri still probably couldn't decapitate me, and besides that it takes a while to set up. She's made the right decision only using Chidori. But, unfortunately, at my level, that kind of power is too minimal to make a difference in the outcome of our battle. She made the right decision by prolonging the battle with Chidori. But here is where this battle ends. Mizuki sighed heavily. You can't make it further than this. This is as close as you come to the truth behind Hakubo.

Sasuke raised her hand in the air. "You've stolen my family's legacy and tried to kill my friend. This would actually make the third time you've tried to kill him. I should probably be more forgiving, but I'm not that type of person." She drew back her hand. The color of the light changed, gathering into lightning. "I'll put a dead guy like you in your grave, once and for all." Her lips curled upward.

Mizuki drew in a shaking breath. His eyes widened. This technique is strange. I don't recognize it. Physically it looks like a Chidori, but in every other respect it's not like one at all. The color of the lightning is wrong.

"What's the matter? You're looking all pale, and you've finally shut up." Sasuke's lips curled upward. "Are you scared?" Her eyes narrowed. "I've already stated I have no reason to keep you alive. So bearing that in mind, you must be afraid of the death you've escaped for so long."

Mizuki gulped tightly. His hand tightened on the sword, adjusting his grip to a more rigid stance.

"Well, I can't blame you. Faced with a technique this strange, I'd be scared too." Sasuke lunged forward, a blur forming around her body as she rushed forward in a beat of motion. "Chidori: Ikigai."

What is she doing? She must have some stratagem, or is moving with no intent at all. Mizuki raised his sword. Even with the Sanzengan, it should be impossible to dodge an attack from this close range and hit me with that attack of hers. He pointed his sword toward Sasuke's side. This is probably my best chance to actually hit her. And if the attack misses, I should have an opening. A smirk crossed his lips. You made a mistake. If you were going to go for that, you should have tried Raikiri to begin with. What you're doing now is no different from that. It's idiotic. But, well, it's not as though you could have killed me to begin with.

Sasuke gritted her teeth. I've still got some time to decide, but continuing on my current path is risky. Should I take the hit and hope this attack works, or just go in for a straight blow? She ran forward, her footsteps pounding across the ground. If this fails I'm probably dead anyway, but I still have to make the decision here and now. Take him out, or risk missing, even if both end up with my dying? Which of those two should I go for? Her eyes narrowed. I've still got a second or two to make a decision here.

The footfalls darted forward. The echoes passed through the corridor. The pair's shadows cast along the wall, frozen in the moment of battle.

A/N: I'll be continuing Side Arcs at some point in the (near)ish future. Thanks for reading.