Chapitre 9: Chapter 8: Assault on Gato Corporation: Wave Arc Part Two
Kirigakure – Office of the Mizukage
The newest Mizukage, Terumi Mei was taking a much needed break from dealing with paperwork when she looked out the window, only to see an eagle fly through with a message tied to its talons. Thanking the bird before taking the scroll, she quickly broke the seal and read through it, before leaning back in her seat and pondering the issue presented in the missive. Standing up from her seat, she summoned one of her ANBU and sent him odd in search of the only two people who could assist her in this rather unusual set of circumstances.
Five minutes later, there was a knock at her door, to which she responded with a muttered "Enter". The door opened and standing there were the only two loyal members of Kiri's Seven Swordsmen, Ringo Ameyuri and Chojuro. Quickly crossing the distance between the entryway and the Kage's desk, the two Swordsmen approached and bowed to the Mizukage. "You summoned us, Mizukage-sama?"
Nodding to the two of them, Mei smiled gently at the two of them. "Hai, I did indeed. It would appear that our mutual friend from Konoha, the Chi no Akuma Kitsune, has run into a number of Kiri Nukenin, to include one of the former Swordsmen, Momochi Zabuza. He has requested an envoy to meet up with him so that we can either recover Zabuza himself, or if he is unwilling to return to Kiri, his sword by itself so that we can continue in our efforts to rebuild the Swordsmen."
Smirking at the mission description, Ameyuri nodded in response. "Hai Mizukage-sama, we will accept the mission and leave at once. What is our destination to be?"
Briefly flicking her gaze over the scroll once more, the red-haired Kage looked back up to her subordinates and smirked at them. "The bridge being built between Nami no Kuni and Hi no Kuni, in two days' time, is the location given in the scroll. I would assume that he or one of his teammates will be there to liaise with you and give you further instructions. It is my order to you to place yourself at his disposal for the duration of his mission, which is the acquisition or elimination of Zabuza, as well as the assassination of Gato of Gato Shipping, any questions?"
At the sharp shakes of their heads, she dismissed them and smiled as they both shunshined away. Sighing as they both disappeared; Mei chuckled sadly as she let her attention fall back to the paperwork lying in front of her, and got back to work. It seemed that a Mizukage's job was never done…
Two days later, Bridge between Hi no Kuni and Nami no Kuni
As daylight broke there were two blurs of blue as the two Swordsmen from Kiri raced across the water and neared the gigantic bridge that was nearly complete. Coming to a halt for a moment, the two Kiri Nin gazed at the construction in amazement before continuing on at a much reduced pace, before finally reaching the bridge. Forming a single hand seal, Ameyuri made two shadow clones before turning to Chojuro and nodding at him.
Nodding slightly, he followed suit and made two Mizu Bunshin that followed the senior Nin's two clones. Turning back to his leader, she used a few hand signs to give him commands, and from there they both suppressed their chakra and rested in the slight wooded area that surrounded the finished portion of the bridge. Pulling out a storage scroll that Ikari had given to her, she unsealed a couple of breakfast sandwiches and handed one to Chojuro as they sat down to patiently wait for their contact.
An hour later they heard voices above, and listened carefully to what was going on. After a few minutes and more voices, they gathered that this must be the workers showing up and they made their way up to the bridge and waited for the shinobi that was supposed to show up. Five minutes later, they were on their feet and approaching Ikari, who was facing them with a smile on his face. The older man beside him was nervous, but didn't say anything and simply looked from them to the Konoha shinobi next to him. A whispered conversation and a pat on the back later, the man simply walked away and took charge of his men.
Greeting the two of them warmly, Ikari took a moment to make a reinforced clone and send it with Tazuna just as a precaution, before motioning them to come with him. After a ten minute walk they arrived at a modest two-story house where they walked in and Ikari motioned for them to hold up for a moment. They stood there waiting while he walked into the kitchen area and heard bits and pieces of a conversation, before he walked back out with a woman at his side. "Tsunami, these are two of my good friends and comrades Ringo Ameyuri and Chojuro, and they will be assisting me in taking down Gato for good."
Turning to the pair of Mist shinobi, he smiled at them and introduced Tsunami to them, before turning and thanking the civilian woman for her kindness. Waving them to follow him, they went upstairs and followed him into one of the bedrooms, where they waited for a minute until there was a swirling of leaves and Hatake Kakashi showed up. Going through a rapid fire sequence of hand seals in ten seconds, Ikari slapped his hands down on the floor and erected a privacy barrier.
Turning to everyone present, he motioned them to take a seat facing him on a bed opposite where he was standing. "Welcome to Nami no Kuni, and thank you for your assistance. We are operating on a short notice time frame, with a massive amount of bandits, four shinobi, and an unknown amount of recovery time for one of the shinobi. For our available assets, we have Kakashi's tracker hounds, my eagles and foxes, four Jonin level shinobi, and three Genin level shinobi."
Facing the wall and running a trickle of chakra into a seal on the inside of one of his pouches, the young ANBU pulled out a map of the surrounding area and pointed to several areas surrounding the town. "There are two locations that I would prefer to eliminate before doing anything about the situation with Zabuza and his posse. These two locations," he pointed them out on the map, "contain the bulk of Gato's mob. Estimates are at least three hundred at each location, with an additional fifty or so inside this building here," Ikari pointed to another location, "which we are fairly certain is Gato's headquarters here in Nami no Kuni."
At this point he stopped and turned to face the others before continuing. "There are a couple of minor issues at this point in time, the first being the massive numbers against us and the fact that there are innocent civilians that could be used as hostages that are held in the basement level of the building. The other is that the Genin are unblooded at this point in time, mainly because when this mission was first assigned it was assessed as a C-rank threat due to a lack of pertinent information, and the fact that this was their first assignment outside of the village. That is all I have for you, and I am open to suggestions or questions if you have them."
As he sat down, his brows furrowed in thought, Ikari snapped his fingers as he remembered the last piece of information he had wanted to disperse. "One last thing, the time frame for Zabuza recovering is in the next four to eleven days, as one of his companions is quite skilled with targeting the pressure points of the body and possibly medical jutsu or medicinal herbs." With that said the group of ninja quickly got down to business and started hashing out their plan of attack.
Over the next couple of days they went over the plan with Kakashi's Genin team, and made sure that everyone knew exactly what their role was and where they needed to be. Currently, the way they had everything set up was Kakashi, Chojuro, Setsuki, and Sasuke would be going to eliminate the bandits that were at the camp while Ikari, Ameyuri, Kiba and Akamaru would be going to take out the bandits at and around Gato's headquarters.
The team led by Kakashi would be headed out first to take out their target, and hopefully, finish them off quickly so as to provide back-up to Ikari's team or assist the civilians with any medical issues and evacuating them. Ikari's team would be giving them a half hour head start, as well as having a couple of blood clones sneak in ahead of them to protect the civilians until the team arrived.
Time flew by, and before everyone knew it, the night for the assault was upon them. At midnight Ikari and Kakashi woke everyone, and had them run through a last minute equipment check before leaving out the window. Once everyone was in their established teams, Ikari nodded to Kakashi and they both summoned one of their respective summon animals to warn them of any patrols or stragglers heading back to their camp; that done, Kakashi led his team off into the darkness, while Ikari and his team waited the allotted amount of time before heading out themselves to take out Gato and his thugs.
With Team Kakashi
One thing that Kakashi could definitely say was that he was proud of his Otōto, more so than he could ever express. Setting that aside for now, he focused on the job at hand, which concerned him. Normally he would have held off on blooding his team for a while yet, simply because of the inherent issues that there were with taking a life for the first time. This was about the best he could get at the moment, seeing as how most of the bandits were either drunk, asleep or both; which meant that as long as they were silent and quick, there shouldn't be too many issues.
Once they were within visual range, he motioned for them to split up into pairs; Sasuke went with Chojuro while Setsuki stayed with Kakashi. Kakashi waited for the signal stating that the other two were in place and then nodded to Setsuki.
Taking a deep breath and nodding in turn, she bled chakra to her eyes, activating her dojutsu. Mentally focusing her chakra, she concentrated almost half her reserves into an area effect genjutsu that would seep into the chakra coils of everyone in the target area, thus affecting even those who were asleep. The genjutsu, Ayamatta Inshō: Heiwana Yoru was one that she and Ikari had collaborated on and created together. Once it had settled in the target, the chakra was manipulated in a manner that created the appropriate illusion. In this case, it gave the impression that the night was calm and peaceful with nothing wrong whatsoever.
Nodding her head and motioning with her hand, Kakashi returned the signal, and they struck swiftly. While Setsuki snuck into the nearest tent, her partner struck at the sentries, ensuring that they all died silently and quickly. Entering the tent that his Genin had gone into, the Copy Nin knew that she was barely holding it together and was shaking slightly over the last body in the tent. Quickly throwing hand seals, he formed a couple of shadow clones who silently left the tent as he comforted his student. A few minutes later, she pulled herself together and nodded at her sensei, and they left the tent and split up.
Half an hour later they met up back at the starting point right outside the perimeter and sounded off with a security password; which they had figured might be a necessity. Kakashi quickly did a once over of everyone, ensuring that they were good to go, and nodded once before taking off through the trees for Team Ikari's position. Tapping his headset once, the Jonin notified the mission leader that their target was eliminated and confirmed that they were en route.
Team Ikari
Twenty minutes after Team Kakashi had left for their target, Ikari and his team moved out and ran silently through the woods, headed for the larger of the two targets. Ten minutes later they were coming up on the target area when Ikari sensed movement on his right flank, where Kiba and Akamaru were at. Extending his senses that direction, he heard the whistling of a kunai flying through the air; followed by a sharp thud and then the gurgling of a throat having been slit, then the soft sounds of someone vomiting as he headed that direction.
Ameyuri was hot on his tail, and she was confused at why they were making such a large detour, when she came out of the trees to see Ikari and Kiba having a whispered conversation. Kiba was on his knees, having just thrown up; and Ikari was squatting down, with a hand on the Genin's shoulder. After one last harshly whispered sentence, whatever point he was trying to hammer home finally sank in, and Kiba's face hardened as he nodded sharply.
Patting the young Inuzuka on his shoulder, Ikari stood and in rapid fire fashion through a message to Ameyuri through hand signs: "First kill jitters…issues resolved…continue mission…"
Nodding at their leader to acknowledge, they all gathered their wits and continued on their way to the headquarters, where they paused to assess the situation. Looking down on the camp, they quickly noted the positions of the guard towers and the patrols, before Ikari looked at the both of them and nodded. Ameyuri and Ikari quickly created a few clones a piece for Ikari went through the hand seals for the Kirigakure no Jutsu, slowly increasing the amount of chakra in the water vapor, which in turn caused the visibility to slowly decrease as he did his best to make it appear that the mist was natural and flowing in off the water.
Once it was thick enough, the clones and Ameyuri took off towards their first victims, which were the guards in the towers. After they were down, Ikari cleared his throat gently to get Kiba's attention. "Kiba, now that the tower guards are down, I want you to go around the perimeter as stealthily as possible to the back of the building. Once you are there, you will enter the basement level and link up with my two blood clones and help release and evacuate the civilians there. Upon completion of this task, you are to lead them all back here and wait for further instructions from either myself or Kakashi, who should be here before we are finished inside. Guard them from any and all threats to the best of your ability, but be smart about it. If you can't match up to your threat or are outnumbered, flare your chakra and contact either myself or Kakashi via the headset, understood?"
"Hai Ikari-sensei, Akamaru and I won't let you down." Giving the Jonin a thankful smile, the Inuzuka and his pup took off to carry out their orders. Turning his attention back to the camp in front of him, Ikari waited patiently for the signal for the next phase to begin. About five minutes later he heard the click in his earpiece and instantly acknowledged. "Kitsune acknowledges; report."
"Inu here, our mission is complete, en route to your location, ETA ten to fifteen minutes."
Smiling lightly to himself, he clicked his headpiece twice to acknowledge the report and prepared himself for the next phase.
As his clones were dispelled, the Kitsune summoner dropped the jutsu he had been holding and took a moment to recover, before meeting up with Ameyuri at the front door. Turning to her with a smirk, he unsheathed his blades. "Finish this swordsman style?"
Smiling like a child at Christmas time, she nodded. "I thought you would never ask…"
The two of them calmly walked in the building and began clearing it room by room, fluidly falling back into the same style that they had built over the year that they had fought together in Kiri. They were an unbeatable team, and it showed in their work, as group after group of bandits fell to their blades, leaving them without a scratch.
As they mounted the final set of stairs to take out their final target, they were blocked by what appeared to be two thugs with swords, but as they calmly drew their blades and set into an unfamiliar stance, Ameyuri raised a hand to halt their advance. "These guys aren't your run of the mill thugs with swords, they appear to be Ronin. Be on your guard, as these guys will definitely be a cut above the rest of these bastards, possibly more than that."
Nodding in response, the younger Jonin approached the man on the right and assumed his stance in the Kitsunetēru no Odori: Kaze o Zangeki. Channeling his wind chakra through his blade, Ikari waited for his opponent to attack, the whole while calming his breathing and heart rate, slowing the rush of adrenaline, and focusing on the battle at hand.
Ameyuri finished her opponent off rather quickly, as she had the benefit of having lightning chakra enhanced blades, and she sheathed them as soon as she had ensured that they were the only ones here. Leaning back to watch over her team mate, she chuckled mentally at the thought of being able to see just how far the young man had come since they had left Kiri.
Minute after minute crept by as the two enemies faced off against each other, and each minute was a steady evaluation on both sides of the fight. Ikari was calmly staring at his opponent, showing no fear, only allowing his faith in his own ability to show to his opponent. Surprisingly, it was his opponent who broke the silence first.
"My name is Zori, former samurai of Tetsu no Kuni. May I have the name of my opponent, who will be the greatest challenge I will face here in Nami no Kuni?"
Nodding as he met with the Ronin's even gaze, Ikari maintained his stoic façade. "My name is Sōjin Ikari, Jonin of Konohagakure, known far and wide as the Chi no Akuma Kitsune." Smirking internally as he noticed the slight widening of his enemies eyes, he prepared himself for the first strike.
Charging forward at the same time, the two swordsmen clashed with their blades. Neither gave an inch as they would parry the other's strikes and then attacks again, only to have that strike parried. Within minutes of the beginning of the battle Ikari noticed a fracture in the Ronin's blade, and channeled even more wind nature chakra through his blade for his next strike. Releasing his sword with his off hand, he grabbed his sheath and feinted with a slash at his foe's head. As his own blade came up to block, he reversed the feint, and slammed his sheathe and blade into opposite sides of the blade, causing it to shatter.
Catching his enemy off-guard with that attack, Ikari finished him off by slamming the tip of his sword's sheath upwards at the hilt of the Ronin's broken blade, sending it out of his hands and directly into his throat. Following that strike up with a swift horizontal slash as he ran past Zori, Ikari flicked the blood from his blade before sheathing with a click. As the sound of his weapon being put away reached their ears, the Ronin's body and head fell to opposite sides of the doorway.
Smiling at the flawless defeat of the Ronin, Ameyuri walked forward and clapped her hand on Ikari's shoulder. "Well done, very well done. I doubt I could have done any better with him, but I do believe that we have one last person to take care of, yes?"
Nodding his head with a look of thanks, Ikari kicked down the door and walked right into Gato's office. The man was pudgy and short, sweating profusely, cowering in the seat behind his desk. As the two of them approached his desk, he got even more nervous and couldn't help the shiver that went down his spine at the look in their eyes as they gazed at him. "I-I-I will g-g-give you m-money, l-l-l-land, whatever you desire…"
Slamming his hands down on the desk, Ikari got an evil glint in his eye. "Your account numbers, the deeds to all the businesses that you have taken over here in Nami no Kuni, and the combination to your vault here in the building. This is non-negotiable, and must be in our hands in the next five minutes."
Shivering in fear, Gato quickly provided the necessary information and sat back down. It never even occurred to him to be deceitful with any of the things he handed over simply because he was absolutely terrified of the two people in front of him. Those thoughts were the last ones to tunnel their way through his grey matter though, as once they had the necessary information Ikari drew his blade, sliced through his neck, flicked the blood off, and sheathed it in one smooth motion. Grinning at Ameyuri as they left the office, she shook her head as she chuckled and walked out the door behind him.
Outside the Main Camp
Kakashi and his team reached the link up point at about the same time as Kiba got there with over thirty women and children, and the Copy Nin set about to get everything in order. Once he had debriefed Kiba, he then contacted Ikari and Ameyuri over the headsets. "Inu reporting in, we have arrived at the meeting point and linked up with the civilians. Will you require our assistance?"
"Inu this is Unagi, Kitsune is occupied with the last of the defenders, and we should be good from here. What's the status of the civilians?"
Looking them over with a practiced eye, he shook his head at the state that they were in. "No serious physical issues apparent aside from malnutrition and fatigue. Their mental state is debatable."
There was a long pause before there was any other response, and this time it was the mission leader's voice. "Excellent work team, this portion of the mission has been accomplished. We're coming out now, and we have the sleaze ball's head in a scroll along with all his assets in separate scrolls. Get everyone up and moving, as soon as we get there we are heading back to town."
Clicking his confirmation of the orders received, Kakashi and the others got everyone mobile and started moving for town. Tonight had been an exceedingly long night, and it wasn't even over yet…
Three Days Later, Construction Site
They had held off on saying anything about Gato's demise until after they had resolved the issues with the four nukenin from Kiri, and so they had resumed guard duty and training. The first day after the assault was spent in helping get the Genin past their first kills, which went rather smoothly. After that everything had gone a lot more smoothly, and the bonds between the Genin were stronger than ever due to the situations that each of them had gone through.
The third day saw Ikari and Setsuki up in the rotation for guard duty with Tazuna and they headed out with him after breakfast. Along the way Tazuna was curious about how their betrothal worked with the both of them being different ranks and other such questions. As the three of them came up to the bridge, Ikari stopped and held the others up. "It's too quiet and I can't see any of the workers who should already be here. It might be a trap…Setsuki sends the signal for assistance, Tazuna stick close to us and we'll get you through this."
Thirty seconds later, the rest of the Konoha shinobi were there, and Ikari was filling in Kakashi on what was going on. Nodding, he took over and led his team out on the bridge, while Ikari held back and waited for the signal to have the other two Kiri Nin show up.
Giving a signal to the young kunoichi, Kakashi had her wait for it and then motioned for her to set off the appropriate jutsu. She nodded and ran through the hand seals and then raised her hands to her mouth, while mentally calling out the jutsu. 'Futon: Daitoppa…'
The mist was completely gone in seconds, leaving Momochi Zabuza and his hunter-nin accomplice exposed. Stepping forward in front of his charges, Kakashi raised his hands and began to speak. "Zabuza, in case you didn't know, there is absolutely no reason for you to still be here, as your employer is dead."
Taking a step closer, Zabuza had grabbed a hold of his blade and swung it around so that it was resting point down on the bridge. "Where's your proof, Copy Nin? Who's to say that you aren't bluffing in an attempt to run us off and send us to our death?"
Three swirls of water appeared behind Zabuza and the fake hunter-nin, which caused them both to turn so that they could watch in both directions. Upon seeing who it was, a bloodthirsty smile slowly crept onto his face. "Look at who it is…if it isn't little Chojuro and Ameyuri. Did the both of you finally get tired of being Yagura's dogs and decide to come and join me?"
The two Kiri shinobi looked at each other and smiled before turning back to Zabuza and shaking their heads. "Nothing like that at all Zabuza, in fact, we're here with an offer for you and your apprentice from the Godaime Mizukage."
The look of shock that crossed his face quickly turned to suspicion as he thought about what he had just heard. "The Godaime Mizukage…you're joking right, what weak puppet did they put in place of Yagura?" He chuckled darkly until he heard multiple blades being unsheathed. Eyes wide in stunned surprise, Zabuza narrowed his eyes as the dark haired young man in the front threw a scroll to him.
Catching said scroll and scowling at the smirk on the young Jonin's face, he stared at it for a moment before looking back up at him. "What exactly is this supposed to be?"
Smirking even wider at the upset nukenin, Ikari chuckled mentally. "That would be a letter pardoning you of your crimes against Kiri, at the behest of your Godaime Mizukage, Terumi Mei. I trust that you don't think her as weak, now do you?"
Paling at the news of just who had become the Mizukage, he quickly tore open the scroll to examine its contents. As his eyes flitted across the message, he grew even whiter, as he recognized the handwriting and knew that she had indeed been made the Mizukage. Rolling up the scroll, he tossed it to his apprentice and motioned for her to read it. Turning to the one who had thrown him the scroll, Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he saw the hitai-ate and realized that it wasn't from Kiri, but Konoha.
"Since when does Konoha aid and assist Kiri?" Zabuza scowled as he clenched his hands around the hilt of his sword.
Ameyuri took a step forward and placed an arm around Ikari's shoulders, smiling as she did so. "That would be since we signed a Blood Alliance with Konoha after the Copy Nin and three other ANBU level shinobi came and helped us win against Yagura. I'm just surprised that you don't recognize the young man in front of you, as he is rather infamous in Kiri."
She watched as his eyes flickered over to Ikari and then back to her, clearly dismissing the young man as a threat. "Ok, I'll bite, who's the shrimp and why should I know who he is?"
Giving him a full-blown smirk, she shook her head at him. "His name is Sōjin Ikari, Jonin of Konoha, Honorary Eighth Blade of Kiri, and known as the Chi no Akuma Kitsune." Breaking out into loud cackling at the look on his face, Ameyuri returned her blades to her side before gazing at the look of utter shock that he wore.
Shaking his head, Zabuza scowled at her and snorted. "Ok, that's all well and good, but I think it would be better if I were to test him and see if he's worthy of the title." Waving Haku to one side, he assumed a low-ready stance and awaited the approach of the younger swordsman.
Moving forward at a smooth and steady pace, Ikari went through one-handed seals and slapped his palm down on the ground once he was past the older swordsman's apprentice. "Hyouton: Kōri to Yuki no Shōheki," were mumbled so that they were barely audible by the two other people that were near him.
It provoked an audibly female gasp from the fake hunter-nin, as well as a deep scowl from Zabuza, as everyone nearby watched as a nearly transparent wall of swirling ice and snow formed in the air from the ground up to about ten feet in the air. Approaching to within five feet of Zabuza, Ikari took up a slightly different stance than he had facing off against Zori.
Tossing a kunai into the air while leaving his gaze on the more experienced shinobi, Ikari took in his stance and the way he held his blade, completely analyzing what he knew of Zabuza and what he had been told about the older man. Quick as a flash, once the kunai had landed, the two swordsmen had leapt towards each other.
This match was strictly sword against sword, skill versus skill, and to everyone watching it was apparent that these two shinobi were amongst the best in the world. The very first strike was blocked and they held their blades against the others, pushing a good chunk of their strength into trying to push the other off-balance. That contest of strength lasted for all off a minute, and even though he didn't show it, Zabuza was impressed with the young teen's strength, both physical as well as strength of will.
Both of them eased off and took steps back, before Ikari took the next action, bringing his sword up level with his eyes, parallel to the ground and the tip pointed at Zabuza. As soon as he had ceased all movement, he exploded forward, swinging his blade tip first towards his opponent's chest, only to redirect the older man's blade as he moved to block. Thrust, parry, strike, block; those were there actions for a solid ten minutes, the only evidence that any of their attacks had gotten through were the minor nicks and cuts that the both of them were sporting.
As they finished with their current attacks, both of them took a step back, weapons at the ready and broad smiles on their faces. The adrenaline that had been flowing started to ebb, and Ikari smirked at Zabuza for a moment before speaking, "Zabuza, one last attack before we call it a match, seeing as how we are both fairly even in our skills with a blade?"
Grinning even wider, Zabuza nodded and raised his zanbato, preparing for his final attack. Looking over at his foe, the older Jonin looked him over from the way he held his blade and the way it looked well-maintained, to his stance and his build, and quickly made his own assessment of his skill and ability. The gaki had a near perfect blend of strength, agility and speed, that against a lesser opponent would ultimately be lethal; and that was just with his kenjutsu.
The two swordsmen drew closer and began their attacks. They started off with a barrage of strikes that rapidly grew faster and faster until they looked to be surrounded by a literal web of steel. Finally they came to a stop when Zabuza's sword went flying and planted tip first in the ground at the edge of the barrier. Ikari had seen the moment approaching and had barely managed to catch the hook in the older Jonin's blade and sent it out of his grasp. With his blade held at Zabuza's throat and both of them attempting to catch their breath, the younger man smiled as the Mist shinobi nodded in defeat.
Taking a step, Ikari removed his sword and extended his off hand to Zabuza. Assisting him up, the Konoha ninja pulled out a cloth and wiped his blade down, before sheathing it once more. Looking over at the Genin and his opponent's apprentice, he smirked internally as he saw all but Setsuki's jaws gaping, and all the other Jonin were chuckling at the sight. Turning back to Zabuza and holding up a one-handed seal, he released the jutsu, and then smiled at him before bowing to him. "To be honest, you and Ameyuri are two of the most difficult opponents I have ever faced, right up there alongside my sensei, Uzuki Yuugao. It was an honor to fight with you today, Momochi Zabuza."
Chuckling aloud, Zabuza stowed his blade on his back, and returned the gesture. "The honor was mine, Sōjin Ikari. That was by far one of my most hard-fought duels, and we'll have to go drinking some time so that we can trade stories. You have truly earned both my respect and the title of the Eighth Blade of Kiri."
Two Weeks Later
The Kiri Nin and the Konoha Nin stood on the completed bridge, saying their goodbyes since the mission was completed. It wasn't hard to see that there were true feelings of a comradely nature between the two groups, and there was even a sisterly bond of sorts between Setsuki and Haku, which had been a total surprise to nearly everyone.
The two of them had talked about Ikari and how he was subject to the CRA, and about their bloodline and the Blood Alliance between Kiri and Konoha. Which had sparked a rather interesting conversation between the two kunoichi, and had led to Haku resolving to approach the new Mizukage about her name being put forward for the Kiri side of the alliance, since it wasn't every day that you run into someone who has similar bloodline abilities to you?
Clasping arms with the Swordsmen, Ikari had smiled brightly at having had such an amazing fight, and had promised to visit in time for a rematch. They had exchanged stories and battle experiences, as well as sword techniques, learning from each other over the last two weeks.
As they said their good byes, Tazuna and Tsunami had approached them and thanked them once more for all that they had done for them, and offered them contracts to take with them back to Konoha as well as the difference in pay for the incorrectly ranked mission. Once they were done, they watched as the two groups of shinobi went their separate ways, one to the east and the other to the west.
Sighing aloud, Tazuna looked to his daughter and smiled softly. "I've been thinking of a name for the bridge, and was wondering what you thought about The Great Swordsman Bridge?"
Thinking it over for a moment, she nodded and smiled at her father in return. "I think it's a wonderful name, tou-san. Honoring both the Konoha and Kiri shinobi is a great idea, and could lead to better times ahead for all of us here in Nami."
Ayamatta Inshō: Heiwana Yoru – False Impression: Peaceful Night
Kitsunetēru no Odori: Kaze o Zangeki – Dance of the Fox Tail: Slashing Winds
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone