Observation Haki? (Please Vote)

"What?!"

Hearing Araki's suggestion, Zabuza felt that the world was simply too absurd!

In a place where touching any one of those gas columns meant being half-dead on the spot, Araki was telling him it was suitable for training Hoho?

He turned to Kisame, hoping that this consistently dependable captain would reject Araki's insane idea.

But unfortunately, Kisame did not take his side this time.

Kisame bared his sharp teeth, his tone carrying a hint of approval. "This is a mission for the two of you. How you complete it is up to you."

Zabuza felt as though the sky had fallen and the earth had collapsed, as if the whole world had abandoned him.

At that moment, a hand gently patted his shoulder. Araki walked over to comfort him. "You can use Water Clones to assist your training too. It won't be as effective as doing it yourself, but for us ninja, becoming more flexible with Hoho can't hurt!"

Zabuza stared blankly at Araki, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

If I could use the Water Dragon Technique somewhere without water, I'd have flooded this place already!

He snorted inwardly, then created a Water Clone.

Araki's idea of practicing Hoho here was not baseless.

First of all, after fighting Yasuo many times aboard the ship, he had grown deeply envious of Yasuo's ability to sense his movements through the flow of the wind.

And while dodging the gas jets just now, he had suddenly realized that this scene seemed somewhat similar to the training used to awaken Observation Haki. Though he was not blindfolded, the danger was even greater.

Although the rules of this world were different, and he might not necessarily be able to cultivate Observation Haki in the world of the Hokage, gas was still gas. Its eruptions naturally carried the flow of wind. Perhaps he could use this to master an ability similar to Yasuo's wind perception.

Once Kisame agreed, Araki immediately jumped down again, ready to begin the second round of evasion training.

Not far from him, Zabuza's Water Clone stood there as well, looking exceedingly cautious.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Purple gas came rushing in once more!

Dodging left, swerving right, turning sideways, bending backward, flipping through the air, crouching—Araki moved as though practicing gymnastics, performing one difficult maneuver after another. Each time, he escaped danger by the narrowest margin. It was incredibly thrilling.

As for Zabuza—

Jumping forward, dodging left, jumping—splash~

Having just dodged three gas columns, the Water Clone died gloriously, turning into a puddle that seeped into the ground beneath its feet.

On the platform above, the skin around Zabuza's brows twisted together. Clearly dissatisfied with his Water Clone's performance, he silently formed hand seals again and sent down another new clone.

Araki, meanwhile, advanced a little farther in, holding his breath and focusing as he waited for the next wave of gas.

The days passed like this. At first, Bando had been quite anxious, but Kisame ignored him. In any case, the mission deadline was still far off, while Araki and Zabuza had long since immersed themselves in their enjoyable training and could not pull themselves away.

Later, Bando watched as Araki's position moved farther and farther forward, getting closer each day to the [Universal Mud] spring at the end. He stopped saying anything. They had brought enough provisions, so he simply waited obediently.

However, the Merchant Ninja stationed outside Hell Valley had a hard time. They had originally planned to take advantage of the situation and enter after Bando's group left, hoping to grab some [Universal Mud] for themselves.

Yet after waiting and waiting, three or four days had passed, and not a single person who had entered Hell Valley had come out. This left them deeply puzzled.

"Boss, do you think those people might have died in there?" asked the watermelon-headed youth.

The middle-aged Merchant Ninja was suspicious too, but to preserve his authority as the boss, he stubbornly said, "My plan cannot go wrong. They may be trying to get a larger amount of [Universal Mud] in one go, which is why they've been delayed. Let's wait a little longer. Just a little longer."

"But Boss, if they take all the [Universal Mud] inside, won't there be none left for us?" another youth asked doubtfully.

"Shut up, all of you! I said wait another two days, so we'll wait another two days!"

Having been exposed by his subordinates, the middle-aged Merchant Ninja flew into a rage out of embarrassment.

Meanwhile, inside Hell Valley—

Amid the densely packed, crisscrossing purple gas columns, a figure flickered in and out of sight. Like a gust of wind, he appeared time and again in the gaps between them, flashing forward as though taking a leisurely stroll. He went from the platform to the spring at the end of the hills as if those scalp-numbing gas columns had no effect on him at all.

That person was naturally Araki.

After four days of training, he could accurately determine where a gas column would appear from the flow of the wind, allowing him to evade in advance. That was why he appeared so calm and composed.

Of course, this did not mean he had reached Yasuo's level. At most, he had only gotten started.

Although Zabuza still fell a little short, he could at least make it through the gas forest smoothly by sprinting forward, stopping to dodge, then sprinting again.

After each of them filled a wooden bucket with [Universal Mud], they returned the way they had come and handed the buckets to Bando.

"With this, our mission is complete, right?"

As the captain, Kisame confirmed this with Bando.

Since Bando's next destination was Red Province Island farther south, in the opposite direction from Kirigakure, they needed to confirm whether Bando required an escort home.

To be honest, since they had encountered no trouble on the way here and had even gained an excellent training ground for free after arriving, Araki and the others felt a little embarrassed. That was why they asked Bando one extra question.

Otherwise, having helped Bando obtain the [Universal Mud] as required by the mission, they could have simply left without concerning themselves with anything afterward.

"Well..."

Bando hesitated as well. This was not their first time coming to Seven Grass Island. Under normal circumstances, the route from here to Red Province Island was safe, since Merchant Ninja Village ships patrolled along the way.

But the cargo they were carrying this time was far too valuable, and he was not entirely confident.

"Haha, Boss, they really got the [Universal Mud]!"

Just then, a cry of surprise came from ahead. Three ninja with forehead protectors bearing the character "Merchant" appeared in everyone's sight.

Zabuza slowly reached for his sword hilt, his voice cold. "Enemies?"

"No, no, no. Friends from Kirigakure, we are not your enemies. We are ninja from Merchant Ninja Village, and we primarily make our profit by selling medicinal herbs."

The middle-aged Merchant Ninja in the green vest hurried forward to explain. When he finished, he turned his gaze toward Bando.

"Young man, would you be willing to sell us those two buckets of [Universal Mud]?"

Thanks to Ten Years' Second Plate Version for the monthly vote!

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