Chunin Exam Arc: Mountain Maze - Momochi Zabuza

Zabuza's eyes glimmered. He was enamored at the sight of Kisame plunging a sword through a Kumo girl. His eyes fixated on the sword as Kisame drew it back. The blood that dribbled down and dripped from the tip of the blade.

Kirigakure was known for their swordsman and swordsmanship. It had been a passing thought of his. To take up the sword and beat Kiri at their game in that regard too. However, swords were big and carrying it around sounded like a pain practically even if he thought using large weaponry was making a statement in of itself.

Watching Kisame made Zabuza want to explore the possibility again. It wasn't anything fancy, something standard, thin and long, but he couldn't help admire the technique and the ease it took down foes. It was as if the weapon had a voice that was calling out to him.

Zabuza kept his distance despite his admiration. There was no reason to approach. Not now. It would only end in a fight. Unlike many of the others, it would have been a fight where he didn't know the outcome. He had heard Kisame was someone who could break odds. Someone who wouldn't hesitate regardless of the opponent. Zabuza knew others had eyes on Kisame like they did on him, except Kisame's attention wasn't drawn because of a singular event which meant his skills stood out amongst a crowd even without a moniker.

Kisame was better off. Zabuza hated how people thought of his nickname as some sort of origin story. It was stupid, and people rarely listened to him if he tried to explain otherwise.

Kiri didn't care. They cared that the strong lived. One against one. One against a dozen. One against a graduating class. One against the world. Strength mattered. Skills mattered. Competency mattered. It didn't matter if it was your enemy or your peer, it all came down to strength.

Not that these damned exams were anything different. Zabuza felt like a captured animal put on display. Not to the point of feeling caged in, but one didn't need barriers to feel contained.

He had already proven himself to the village. It didn't get him far. Yes, they changed the graduation requirement after his stunt. He was actually happy about that, but he was irritated by their lack of reflection. His leaders were too stupid or too unwilling, the same thing in his books, to apply the same reasoning to other ways the village ran. Zabuza was loyal to Kirigakure. It was his home, which is why it hurt to think about the ways it would be better off. Zabuza agreed. Strength matter, but why were they turning on themselves? Why were they not stabilizing relations with the Land of Water as other nations had? Status had gotten in the way of practicality.

Old Man Han always told him to ease up. That being riled up over politics wouldn't lead him anywhere good, but Zabuza wouldn't have it. Han was a hypocrite and was only saying so because of his old age. It was where they lived. The place he would grow up. The place he would fight for. How could he not care? How could he idly sit back and let the blind lead? He needed strength. More strength. It was what people listened to.

It was only natural to join the chunin exams. Being allowed better missions to make some extra money would also be a bonus. There was no end of missions in Kirigakure, so rank parameters were looser than some examples he overheard from others. It happened in an opportunistic state. Greed and paranoia aplenty. Zabuza had his complaints, but he was another cog trying to take advantage of its structure. Better to take advantage than be beaten down by it.

Zabuza took one last look at Kisame and his blade before finding another path.

The next person he came across changed the circumstances. A mere Kumo-nin who could produce steam with ninjutsu. A fool decision when up against a Kiri-nin, though the Kumo-nin likely wasn't thinking about that. The endless water in the Land of Water suited Zabuza better, but his current predicament wasn't a horrible alternative. He could do something similar, but there was no reason to waste his chakra on that when someone else so graciously sacrificed their own.

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

Zabuza didn't understand what the big deal was. The chunin exams were always made out to be a big deal, but he wasn't impressed so far. There was nothing about the exams that should astound anyone. Well, the rank of chunin wasn't exceptional, so maybe it made sense. It just meant he was competing against the bottom of the barrel. Another stupid formality. He thought the same about the academy, which was in a part of the reason he never joined. Why waste time in a classroom of dimwits when he had someone willing to teach him?

Even if it was dumb, he reasoned that there had to be at least a few others that would be worthy of participating.

Zabuza took the scroll. It was red. Now all he needed was to find the victory room. It was all too easy.

He continued through the cave. It wasn't until he descended another seven levels before he came across another soul. He didn't think she noticed him as he stared at her back.

She was shorter than him, with familiar silver hair. Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he watched her walked into the cavern wall. No, she wasn't leaning against it. She vanished into it. His eyes sharpened as he surveyed the walls, anticipating that she would strike out of them. That or someone else jumping out from an illusion, but the first made more sense. He brought up his kunai and made sure to stay as far away from the walls as he could.

He knew of someone who could do something similar with water instead of earth. Zabuza wondered where the technique originated and how it even worked.

Nothing happened, and he slowly lowered his arm, taking one last look around.

The girl, Yuina, was strange. She had been more entertaining than the other dorks, but he didn't buy she approached him for no reason. She hadn't claimed such a thing, but he got weird vibes from her. He considered himself a mostly solitary person, and he was no stranger to using any means to get his way. He had been on high alert, but thought he may get some information to blackmail Muma or any of the Konoha's participants. Even taking all that into consideration, something wasn't right about her. Zabuza prided himself on being observant. It was his insight that allowed him to assess situations and manipulate things as needed to curate things in his favour.

Yet he got nothing out of her.

He couldn't get anything useful out of her, but he could still observe her, which only resulted in contradictory information. Yuina was messing around. What that meant he didn't know. Her flippancy at interacting with strangers from other villages. The confidence she walked around the village, like she owned the place. She came across as a self-assured welcoming person, and it was dangerous. He'd almost said things he shouldn't have on multiple occasions, wanting to give snarky replied to whatever ridiculousness she spouted. She constantly drew attention to them as if giving a reminder that all eyes were on them. Her dark eyes glimmered teasingly like she was daring him to start something.

Instincts weren't always accurate, but Zabuza preferred to be cautious and wrong than dismiss the feeling and be right.

He was used to people looking at him in various ways, usually as someone to use or someone to keep away from. With Yuina, his instincts screamed not to let her out of his sight for reasons he still couldn't fully comprehend. He had a shortlist of competitors he thought were worthy of the exams. Yuina was someone on that list, even if it didn't feel right.

Yuina was around his age, so he could only wonder what feats she had accomplished to be nominated. More importantly, what had she been up to that prevented her from being promoted? She had been a shinobi longer than him. A part of him wanted to fight her to unlock those secrets, but some battles weren't ones you recklessly walked into. It was the reason he hadn't fought Kisame earlier and the reason Zabuza hadn't tried to strike Yuina on site. He had what he needed to progress. It would have been asinine to confront her now when it was unneeded.

He knew he was talented, but he wasn't mindlessly arrogant. It's what's allowed him to thrive. To grow. Fighting those stronger was a part of cultivating strength. No one ever became stronger by only fighting battles they could effortlessly win, but that was in contained environments. Something that would be unwise to follow in an open exam.

He continued through the cave, continuing to be cautious of the walls.