Chunin Exam Arc: Mountain Maze – Momochi Zabuza

Zabuza caught sight of Kisame right as the older boy plunged a sword through a girl which enamored him. His eyes fixated on the sword as the blood dripped from it as Kisame drew it back.

He wanted a sword to cut down fools too.

He kept his distance. There was no reason for them to fight. Not now. From the gossip of some of his peers, Kisame was a lot like him. He had taken the village's motto seriously and gave no hesitation regardless of the opponent. Being from the same village didn't matter to them. It was what they were trained to do after all, and the village was in disarray.

Whether it was wise wasn't a question. The strong lived. That's all there was to it. One against one. One against a dozen. One against a graduating class. One against the world. Strength mattered. Skills mattered. Competency mattered.

And that's what the chunin exam was. A display of talent and strength. A demonstration of worth.

He already proved himself to the village. He was in the middle of proving himself to the country. It only made sense to prove himself to the world.

Being allowed better missions when he became chunin was also a bonus. There was no end of missions in Kirigakure, so the rank parameters were more loose than other villages which suited him just fine. The Land of Water was an opportunistic state. Greed and paranoia aplenty. A land where your enemies could even be your friends and family. He was just another cog taking advantage of the structure. Better than being beaten down by it.

Zabuza was smart enough to know a match up against Kisame would prove more problematic than most fools participating.

Plus, he wanted a chance to watch Kisame's sword skills again.

The next person he came across was another matter. A Kumo-nin produced steam with a ninjutsu. Zabuza's chakra levels haven't quite gotten to the point where he could continuously use his mist technique. The endless water in the Land of Water ensured that his techniques were simple, easily explained away by the common person, and used minimal chakra.

"Next time you shouldn't fight on your enemy's turf." The body fell against the cold floor. "Not that you have a next time."

Zabuza didn't understand. The adults always made a big deal of these competitions. Much like Kiri used to make a big deal out of their academy graduation test. If they wanted to be astounded by something, it should be by something worth it.

There had to be at least a few others that would at least be worthy of being here.

Zabuza took the scroll. Look at that. It was red. Now all he needed was to find the victory room.

He continued through the cave. He descended another seven levels before he came across someone else. Well the back of a person.

Zabuza saw the back of her frame. Shorter than him and with silver hair. His eyes narrowed as she walked into the cavern wall. Not against it, in or through it. He kept a look out on the walls anticipating her or anyone else coming out of the walls now.

He wondered who came up with a jutsu like that or how it even worked. Not that he could replicate it. His affinity was water through and through.

He brought his kunai up in preparation for a confrontation that never happened. He eventually lowered his arm as he took one last look around.

She was strange. Zabuza had caught her looking his way more than once since their arrival. He was used to people looking at him at this point, but she kept a neutral, analytical look while she judged him.

Better than some of the fools he came with. If they didn't want to be in his proximity, he didn't understand why they came. Considering how easy everything had been so far, perhaps he merely overestimated what the tournament had to offer.

She was around his age, so he could only wonder what kind of feats she accomplished to be recognized and nominated. A part of him wanted to compete with her for that reason, but some battles weren't ones you reckless walked into. The same reason he hadn't fought Kisame earlier.

Zabuza may be talented, but he wasn't mindlessly arrogant. There was still a lot of room for growth. Fighting those stronger was part of cultivating that strength, no one ever became stronger by only fighting battles they knew they could effortlessly win, but that was in contained environments. Something he didn't think wise in an open exam.

He hoped she would make it through to the next if only to see what she could do.