Here comes the little flying stick

With help from his Shadow Clones, Naruto soon gained a basic mastery of the Rasengan. Sasuke was also making progress with the Chidori's shape transformation, and Meihui's Sealing Jutsu had reached a respectable level.

Over the next few days, all three youngsters grew considerably stronger.

But Meihui had no intention of just staying in the village. He still had things to do.

He put his plan into action at once, leaving behind a Shadow Clone. After sensing the Flying Thunder God marks he had left on Zabuza and Haku that day, he teleported straight over.

What he hadn't expected was that Haku and Zabuza were on a date.

Arriving in a flash with the Body Flicker Technique, Meihui spun around stylishly, only to see the last thing he ever wanted to witness.

Haku was trying to feed Zabuza, but Zabuza wouldn't eat.

Then Haku said,

"Here comes the little flying stick!"

Zabuza opened his mouth and swallowed the bite, chewing with his sharklike teeth.

That sent Haku giggling beside him.

Meihui stared, utterly dumbfounded. Do I not even count as a person here?

"Ahem! Hey, you two! Are you ever going to stop?" Meihui simply couldn't take it anymore, and there was no reason to keep putting up with it.

He spoke up and interrupted their jutsu. (The great jutsu of flaunting affection everywhere.)

Both of them jumped when they saw Meihui suddenly appear.

"Meihui, you're here!" Haku said upon seeing his sudden arrival.

He immediately stood up. Zabuza also flushed with embarrassment and lowered his head, not daring to look Meihui in the eye.

"How's the job I gave you coming along?"

"Don't worry, Meihui. Surely you can trust me, Zabuza, to get things done?"

"Good, then. If there's nothing else, I'll be off." Meihui couldn't stand these two anymore and wanted to leave.

But then Haku said, "Meihui, why not stay for a meal? The lamb market in the Land of Water has been picking up lately. Want to try some?"

"There's lamb in the Land of Water? Since when?" Meihui was thoroughly puzzled.

"Just recently. We saved someone that day who happened to own a large sheep farm. We persuaded him to set up a lamb company in the Land of Water-Sheep a Sheep."

After hearing Haku's explanation, Meihui finally understood a little.

His stomach happened to be growling, so he stayed at Zabuza and Haku's place for a meal.

But when they started eating, Meihui realized he had made a mistake-a terrible mistake. He should never have stayed for dinner.

These two really were flaunting their affection left and right, picking on Meihui for being single.

He barely ate anything before their lovey-dovey antics filled him up.

Just as Meihui was about to leave, he heard Zabuza speak.

"You scrawny fellow, let's go together."

Meihui, who had already stood up to leave, suddenly shuddered as though he had been electrocuted, tingling from his toes to his scalp.

"Hey, buddy, gachi barataga! (You little brat.)" Meihui had no idea why he had blurted out that response.

Zabuza was baffled too. Who am I? Where am I? What's he talking about?

"Ahem, it's nothing. You two carry on. I've got things to do, so I'll be going."

With that, Meihui left at once, putting distance between himself and that trouble spot.

Meihui kept walking, looking for a site for his new ninja village. After some thought, he decided that Kusagakure, which Orochimaru had taken over, seemed pretty good. He was considering whether to seize it and make it his own ninja village.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru had no idea Meihui had already set his sights on him.

As the saying went, animals had keen instincts. Having practiced snake-style ninjutsu for years, Orochimaru had already acquired that ability. In the middle of an experiment, he suddenly felt his snakeskin tighten.

Orochimaru whipped his head around, but found no one there.

"Have I been wearing myself out with experiments lately? Am I even starting to hallucinate?"

Orochimaru rubbed his sore neck and muttered to himself.