Battle with Zabuza

"Sword of the Thunder God!" said the Konoha ninja.

Jin was overjoyed, but pretended not to care. "Oh, so it's just a sword! You two have fun. I'm leaving. In rain this heavy, an old man like me doesn't have time for your nonsense!" Jin leisurely headed toward the capital of the Land of Water.

"Stop!" the two shouted at the same time.

"What is it? Don't tell me you're trying to silence me? I'm so scared! But I don't have time to play with you right now. You're too slow! Fine, I'll play with you a little! Lightning Release: Lightning Ball! Lightning Release: Lightning Ball! Lightning Release: Lightning Ball! Lightning Release: Lightning Ball! Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!" Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish! Five Lightning Balls shot out in an instant.

The two stared in horror at Jin's hand-sign speed. They truly had the strength of jonin; although there were five Lightning Balls, they still dodged them easily. Jin looked at them. "Well? Want more?"

The Konoha missing-nin shook his head. Momochi Zabuza opened his mouth but said nothing. Still, Jin saw the frenzy in his eyes—the frenzy for battle.

Jin shook his head. "Konoha missing-nin, you can leave. Leave this matter to me! Momochi Zabuza, right? Let's have a match today. Go ahead and use your strongest moves. I won't use my ultimate technique, or it'd look like I was bullying you." The Konoha missing-nin left without a second thought!

Hearing this, Momochi Zabuza was furious. He said coldly, "Fine! Hidden Mist Technique!" A thick fog enveloped the area, and Zabuza vanished into it.

Jin smiled and quietly activated his Mangekyō Sharingan within the mist. "All right! Lightning Release: Lightning Armor!" Armor formed from lightning protected Jin from every direction. "Lightning Burial: Feast of Thunder! Lightning Burial: Feast of Thunder! Lightning Burial: Feast of Thunder! Lightning Burial: Feast of Thunder!" Jin rapidly formed hand signs and unleashed a Lightning Burial: Feast of Thunder in each of the four directions!

"Water Release! Water Prison Technique!"

Damn it! I forgot about that technique! Jin cursed inwardly.

"How is it, you squat little bastard? Hehehe. You're not so impressive after all. People outside have praised you to the heavens!" Zabuza still sneered coldly.

"What can you do to me? Use whatever ultimate moves you have!"

"Mist Body Flicker!"

"You think you can come in and kill me?" "Water Release! Water Prison Technique! Right back at you!"

Crack! The Water Prison around Jin disappeared. Momochi Zabuza was trapped inside it.

"That's all you've got?" Jin smiled contemptuously.

"Water Release! Water Dragon Bullet!" Momochi Zabuza called out from behind Jin.

"Not good! Aah—" Jin was sent flying.

"Water Release! Water Prison Technique! Water Release! Great Waterfall Technique!" Momochi Zabuza roared viciously.

"Damn it, you think I can't do that too? Water Release! Water Dragon Bullet! Water Release! Water Dragon Bullet! Water Release! Water Dragon Bullet! Water Release! Water Dragon Bullet! I refuse to believe I can't break this Water Prison! Break!" Crack! The Water Prison shattered! The Great Waterfall came crashing down! Jin hurriedly shouted, "Water Release! Great Waterfall Technique!"

Boom! The two Great Waterfalls collided! Energy scattered in every direction, blasting the two of them far apart.

Blood trickled from the corner of Momochi Zabuza's mouth as he said with a bitter smile, "Not bad. As expected of the legendary squat little bastard!"

A trace of blood also ran from Jin's mouth. He cursed, "Damn it! I got careless! Let's go again! Water Release! Great Waterfall Technique!"

Momochi Zabuza cursed, "Damn, you're a complete monster. I'm leaving. I'll settle the score with you another day!" Zabuza vanished! Jin's Great Waterfall struck only empty ground.

Jin sat on the ground, gasping for breath. Damn it! That string of battles drained all my chakra. Next time I see him, I'll definitely make up for today! Oh no! Zabuza went to the capital of the Land of Water! Damn it!

Jin immediately used the Gale Technique to conceal himself and raced after Zabuza in a blur.

"Where did Zabuza go? He should have been ahead of me. Did he take that side path? No, I have to hurry!" Jin accelerated again and ran down the main road toward the Land of Water.

Zabuza staggered through the forest, muttering from time to time, "Damn old man, just wait until I find a partner. Then I'll come deal with you. Damn it, we actually ended up both badly hurt today. And it looks like that old man doesn't have much combat experience either. He throws ninjutsu around like it costs nothing. Does he not know chakra is limited? This is infuriating. If I hadn't run out of chakra, I definitely would've taken him down today."

"Zabuza, wait for me!" a voice called from behind him.

"Who is it?" Zabuza looked back. "Raiga? Why are you only getting here now? I almost died just now."

"Why were you running so fast? If you hadn't run so fast, I wouldn't have gotten beaten up today! It's all your fault!" Raiga complained angrily.

"My fault? I almost took down that squat little bastard just now! Neither he nor I had much chakra left. If you'd been there, he'd be dead for sure today!" Zabuza said resentfully.

"What? Don't get cocky! He fought me first, and I got beaten up by him! You only got an easy win. You're really useless! I already drained all his chakra!" Raiga said unhappily.

The two kept snapping at each other.

"Ah, finally here! This city is so huge—where am I supposed to find him? Forget it. I'll keep the Gale Technique active and search everywhere quickly!" Jin used the Gale Technique once more and raced through the rain-soaked city of the Land of Water, searching every corner. Time passed bit by bit. Dawn was already shining over the city rooftops. The rain had stopped, though puddles still filled parts of the streets. Jin had searched frantically for most of the night, yet found nothing. He was tired and sleepy. The chill in his body grew stronger, and hunger crept into his heart. A trace of disappointment welled up inside him.

Without even having time to find an inn, Jin leaned against the base of a wall and quietly fell asleep.