Chapter 67: Against Mei Terumi
Arc: Kirigakure's Civil War
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto, please support the original work.
The wind blew and along with it came the gloomy, cold, and damp air of Kirigakure. The air reeked of blood and it stung one's skin as it carried slight bits of residual chakra.
In this field of unrest, three figures stood. Two were on a team, while one of them was alone as she faced off the latter. She was wearing a long blue dress that went just below her knees and her hair a spiky auburn, reaching all the way behind her hips. Her hair flowed like a slumbering dragon amidst the eerie mist, and she stared at her opponent with her vibrant green eyes.
In front of her was Zabuza, and he closed his eyes as he took a deep breath.
SIIII—
With the breath he took, he inhaled the moist air as his chakra cheered in excitement, preparing themselves to perform a familiar jutsu.
When Zabuza opened his eyes again, his chakra silently invaded the air and the mist around them thickened.
Mei Terumi, the woman opposite Zabuza, narrowed her eyes when she saw the mist engulfing Zabuza and her. She also saw the boy beside Zabuza vanish in the mist and although she could hear the boy's footsteps, she couldn't sense his chakra.
The same went for when she tried to sense Zabuza's chakra.
"Water Release: Hiding in Mist Jutsu," Zabuza said and his voice echoed throughout the mist. Mei couldn't even tell if Zabuza's voice came from in front, behind, or to her sides. She even felt inclined to look up, though she knew that it was redundant.
"As expected of Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Mist and an expert of Silent Killing, as well as Hiding in Mist Jutsu," Mei applauded with a smile etched on her face. She waited, yet she didn't get a reply from her "talking partner."
"How rude. Don't you know how to be a gentleman? The first rule is to never leave a woman hanging," Mei clicked her tongue. Despite this, she discreetly canceled her kekkei genkai, which she readied on the occasion the Zabuza was brave enough to speak out.
With Zabuza remaining hidden, Mei could only look for another opportunity. She was a ninja who focused on destruction. Her kekkei genkai said it all.
"Boil Release," and "Lava Release."
"Hmm," Mei hummed as she looked around. Then, she stretched her chakra and tried to penetrate the mist. Her chakra penetrated the chakra-laced mist like a hot knife through butter, but she still has to search for her target like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Just as she was busy trying to locate Zabuza, a massive blade silently appeared above her head, quickly falling down to try and split her in half. Suddenly, Mei smiled and her chakra roared into action. "Boil Release: Acid Mist Jutsu," Mei said as she looked up and spat a stream of white mist through her mouth.
The Kubikiribocho, which was descending like a boulder, suddenly halted and before the white mist could lick its blade, Zabuza lifted it and jumped back. Mei looked back, her smile thickening as she saw Zabuza's faint figure slowly disappearing.
"You are silent in your steps, but I react faster than you can strike. I wonder who will win in the end, Zabuza," Mei taunted and licked her lips. "That was a close one. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be," she added.
WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH!
Suddenly, Mei heard something behind her as she leisurely turned to her back. When she saw dozens of ice needles rushing toward her, she smiled and crossed her arms. "It's sad," she said as the needles came closer to her, though they never met their mark.
SZZZZ!
They all melted in the acidic mist before they could even graze Mei's fair skin.
'Is he from the Yuki clan?' Mei thought. She recognized the Ice Release as she once had a friend from the Yuki clan. Though, that friend of hers had long passed on during a mission.
"Zabuza, you're with a kekkei genkai user? I suppose it's not that surprising," Mei surmised when she suddenly remembered a long-forgotten memory.
'Is the boy the same as the boy from all those years ago?' Mei knew that Zabuza took in a child once. He said he would raise the child to become the ultimate weapon, but Mei never heard of the child ever since. She thought that the child had died, but now she was seeing him alive and well…
"Well, it's not like it'll change a thing," Mei chuckled as she spoke ambiguously. With eyes curved like crescent moons, Mei looked toward the location of the ice senbons and took a deep breath.
"Lava Release: Lava Stream Jutsu!"
After muttering the jutsu's name, Mei spat out a thick and viscous stream of lava. The lava traveled in a straight line and penetrated the mist.
CHRRK—SHRRR!
Just as she was preoccupied with maintaining the lava stream, an ice mirror formed behind her and a figure appeared on the ice mirror. It was Haku.
Haku leaned forward, his body popping out of the mirror when Mei suddenly turned toward him, her lips still puckered as lava kept coming out of her mouth. Haku squinted his eyes and swore that she saw Mei smirking as she used her jutsu.
When Haku saw the stream of hot, molten lava shooting toward him, he leaned back into the mirror and canceled his jutsu. His figure vanished from the ice mirror just in time as the lava struck it.
BANG! SHATTER…
WOOSH! WOOSH!
Since his attempt to kill Mei silently failed, Haku decided to shower Mei with a rain of ice senbons. Mei didn't mind as there was still white mist around her.
SHZZZ…
The ice senbons melted as they entered the white smoke, but the senbons kept coming as if the user had infinite chakra.
'Where the hell is he?' Mei was baffled. It would be one thing if the senbons were coming from one direction. The tricky part, it rained senbons everywhere around her and it was as if Haku had formed a dozen of clones to throw ice senbons at her.
'Well, he has to run out of chakra at some point,' Mei smiled and waited. Sure enough, the ice senbons began to thin out, and after they stopped, a water dragon replaced them. "Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu," Zabuza's voice echoed inside the chakra-laced mist.
"Oh? The water dragon. A classic," Mei chuckled and weaved her chakra around her mouth and lungs once again. "Lava Release: Lava Stream Jutsu!"
Mei once again spat out a stream of lava. Only this time, the stream of lava was thicker and faster.
ROAAR!
The water dragon roared as it hurled toward Mei, though it clashed against Mei's lava instead.
SHHHH!
The Water Dragon was helpless against lava as it evaporated in seconds. After canceling her jutsu, Mei waited for the next attack.
She waited and waited until she could hear her heartbeat from the silence that ensued.
"Huh?"
When she saw the mist thinning out and revealing nobody behind it, she raised her brow.
"They escaped?" Mei frowned and stretched out her chakra to sense everything around her. She wasn't the best sensor, but she was good enough to sense people's chakra signatures from a good distance.
Sure enough, she sensed Zabuza and Haku's chakra signature bolting out of the battlefield.
After sensing Zabuza running away like his feet were on fire, Mei felt like laughing. "The prideful Zabuza Momochi ran away on his own accord. Amusing," Mei chuckled and turned around to leave.
She didn't think to chase after the duo. She never planned to do that from the start.
She was just playing around to stave off her boredom.
As Zabuza and Haku fled, Naruto and Hinata were still stuck in the middle of a swarm.
A swarm of mist ninjas.
And in the forefront was Yagura, who was relentless in chasing after him.
As they hid, Naruto chuckled. Each second that passed was beneficial to him.
Because after every second, his chakra reserve recovered at an extreme rate.
"Yagura. Let's play again soon," Naruto chuckled and kept walking. He and Hinata had changed their disguise once again, and right now, they were a couple once again and Hinata was carrying a "baby" in her arms.
The baby cried out, and they entered an alleyway afterward.
Just as they do so, Yagura landed on where they once were. Yagura looked around, his instincts telling him that something was wrong but his mind not knowing what his guts were trying to tell.
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