Tazuna's head separated from his body before both dissolved into blue sparkles.
"That must be a really sharp sword, but I'm wondering, what are the holes for?"
Zabuza turned and demonstrated on the blonde who had spoken. Who disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Oh," said the pinkette. "Isn't it easier just to use the NORMAL edge?"
"Sometimes the easiest way isn't the most useful," said Zabuza, casually throwing knives through the Kakashi-clone and the dark-haired-genin-clone.
"I suppose," said the pinkette, who then brightened. "Hey, did you hear the one about the duck and the three cats?"
SLASH!
Zabuza paused as the pinkette dissolved into blue sparkles. "No, what about... damn. I keep forgetting it's ask questions FIRST, then kill. I just get too eager. I guess."
SLASH!
"Can't you learn any FUNNY jokes?" demanded Zabuza. Then realized he'd already dispelled the pink-haired twit and would have to wait until finding the next one to demand better quality material. "How much chakra does that damn girl have anyway?!"
"Stop me if you've heard this one," said the blonde kid.
SLASH!
"Aw, you're no fun," complained the black-haired kid.
SLASH!
"No sense of humor, huh?" said the pinkette. "Well, I'll have to try harder then."
STAB!
"That kid is REALLY getting on my nerves," said Zabuza.
"-and so the jonin said 'that wasn't my wife'!" said the pinkette, sitting on a tree branch and ignoring the way the assassin had raised his sword up over his head.
"..."
"Hm?" asked the pinkette.
"I don't get it," confessed Zabuza.
"Maybe I'm telling it wrong," said the pinkette, who then dissolved into blue sparkles before he could cut her head off.
"Za-Zabuza-sama?" asked Haku as his master returned.
Zabuza stopped and considered his words. "Right now, I would kill that little pink-haired girl with glee. Still, I have to admit I'm a little impressed that she can make so MANY shadow clones. That she can combine them with transformation to look like members of her team. Including some idiot blonde and an obnoxious black-haired kid who picks his nose. That and they laid traps EVERYWHERE around that house. Yeah, she's definitely got some talent for a one-trick pony."
"I... see," said Haku. "She's skilled?"
"I've never seen a genin that could throw out that many shadow clones, that often, and have enough chakra left over to put a henge over them," admitted Zabuza. "Though something odd with some of the shadow clones. More and more of them last for more than a single hit - and these dissolve in blue sparkly stuff when they dispel."
"So, not only is she competent at the technique, she has found a way to improve it," said Haku thoughtfully.
"Yeah, a genius and an idiot at once," said Zabuza. "Cracking lame jokes all the time I'm killing them. If she's that annoying outside of combat, her team may thank me when I finally finish her off."
"I see," said Haku.
"I'm going to get some sleep," said Zabuza. "The real ones will have to show up at the bridge sooner or later."
Haku considered the closing door to Zabuza's room before deciding on a course of action.
Haku was just another civilian mixing with the crowd. Nothing unusual here, nope. No killing intent, clothes that were shabby but serviceable, minimal weapons.
The house where Tazuna and the ninja were reportedly staying had the three genin ninja sitting at various approaches. Haku chose a path of walking that would take him past each of them, in turn, with a period of time in between those passages. Just part of a crowd.
The blonde one was reading 'Fuuinjutsu Basics.' The black-haired boy was reading a field guide for herbs and wild plants. The pink one, that he knew from Zabuza's description was the shadow clone user, was practicing throwing her kunai.
He caught a glimpse of her green eyes studying him briefly, but she didn't say anything or act particularly suspicious.
Were they real or shadow clones?
When ANOTHER set of the three genin were visible at the market, Haku looked carefully for any differences but couldn't find any. Then there was another set arguing with two different copies of the bridgebuilder.
Yes, Haku could begin to see why Zabuza was so frustrated.
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Fri, 13 May 2011 17:29)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.