Ganryū could feel the pressure from Zabuza's sword pressing down on him, sinking his knees into the soil below.
"Zabuza..." Ganryū said, glaring at him in an effort to resist.
"You've improved, Ganryū. I didn't expect you to be able to dodge that first attack." Zabuza said as he put even more weight into his blade, trying to crush Ganryū completely.
"A lot has changed since you left the village, Demon!" Ganryū shouted before letting the paper bombs channel to the edge of his blast sword, causing Zabuza to raise an eyebrow.
-Boom!-
The blast sword exploded creating a large cloud of black smoke before both of them burst off from either side, sliding along the ground until they came to a halt.
"I see you now wield the executioner's blade... I take it Jūzō is dead then." Ganryū said as he took his sword in both hands, getting ready for a tough fight.
"Quick as always, Ganryū," Zabuza said as he lifted his sword and dropped it onto his shoulder to rest it.
"Ganryū!" Kōgetsu shouted as he dashed to his side, instantly knowing who Zabuza was.
"Why is he here?" Kōgetsu asked as he watched Zabuza carefully, also making sure that Ganryū was unharmed.
"I'm not sure, but whatever his reason, he clearly means to kill me," Ganryū said, knowing that much.
"Let me take him, his physical ability will be no match for my jutsu," Kōgetsu said, knowing that his body was immune to physical attacks.
Ganryū also knew that was true, but something told him that this was something he would have to do by himself.
"No... You help the others." Ganryū said while standing tall.
"But..."
"No buts, Kōgetsu." I will handle this myself.
"What's the matter! Can't decide who wants to die first?" Zabuza said, wearing a large smirk beneath his bandaged face.
"I will be your opponent Zabuza. And unlike lord Mizukage, I will not spare your life!" Ganryū shouted, taking a fighting stance as he gathered his chakra into the souls of his feet.
Zabuza snarled at Ganryū's words and lifted his huge sword, pointing it at Ganryū with a single arm as if it was nothing.
"I'm going to make light work you!"
Kōgetsu didn't like it, but Ganryū was the boss, so he had no choice other than to respect his wishes and leave him to fight alone, heading off to help the other chunin who were still fighting against some Stone shinobi.
Both swordsmen stared at each other, with neither of them blinking once. Circling one another like a shark would its prey.
"Argh!" Zabuza yelled, not being able to wait any longer to attack, confirming Ganryū's thoughts as he had already planned ahead.
"Impatient as ever, Zabuza!" Ganryū said as he blocked the overhead strike, letting his blast sword make contact with the paper bombs before it exploded.
Zabuza was quick to dash back and avoid the explosion on impact, seeing that there was no damage to his blade before he attacked again.
"You think that weak sword stands a chance against me!" Zabuza yelled, swinging his sword like a wild animal, smashing blow after blow against Ganryū's blade.
Ganryū could tell what he was doing, knowing that he was trying to use the blast sword's own strength against him.
"Darn it, with this many paper bombs going off, I can't keep my footing!" Ganryū thought, knowing that Zabuza had used the blast sword before, and therefore must have come up with a way to counter it.
"You're mine!" Zabuza yelled, kicking out Ganryū's legs and knocking him off balance, leaving a gap in his defence.
Ganryū watched as Zabuza swung his sword over his head, almost hearing the veins in his arm and shoulder expand due to the strength required of the executioner's blade.
However, Ganryū had already seen this coming two steps ago and had decided to let Zabuza think he was winning. By letting him gain the upper hand and take him off balance, Zabuza had forgotten to watch what he was doing with his hands, and now, Ganryū was another step ahead.
Suddenly the paper bombs on the blast sword ignited, poser a rather large problem for Zabuza since the blade was between his legs.
"When did he!" Zabuza thought, hearing the sound of the paper about to explode and knowing he would be hurt badly from the position of such an explosion.
At the last second, Zabuza was able to switch his stance and jump backwards, pulling the blade back as he used the length of it to cover his body and shield himself from the large explosion.
Zabuza landed hard on the ground, taking a kneeling position as he watched the smoke carefully, knowing that Ganryū wouldn't have allowed himself to be caught in his own attack.
"Behind me!" Zabuza yelled, pulling his sword around his body as he blocked a blow that was aimed for the back of his neck.
Ganryū had pulled a fast one on him, having drawn his old clever sword from a scroll he kept it in on his hip, using the blast sword as a distraction while trying to take him out with his old sword.
"You crafty bastard!" Zabuza said as he pushed Ganryū back before spinning in a 180 and using the rotation to smash his sword into Ganryū's.
Ganryū was still in the air as Zabuza counter-attacked, using his leg and free arm to take the weight of the blow before being sent flying.
"He's as strong as ever!" Ganryū said to himself, flipping around in the air before doing a back handspring and picking up the blast sword that had been wedged in the ground from its own explosion.
"Looks like you have gotten stronger, Ganryū," Zabuza said, seeming to acknowledge Ganryū's ability.
"I could say the same about you, demon of the Mist," Ganryū said as he placed his clever sword onto his back and took the blast sword in both hands.
"I think that is enough playing around, Ganryū," Zabuza said after a moment, growing tired of their banter.
With that Zabuza stuck his sword into the ground and placed his hands together, forming a hand sign before lifting his arm into the air.
"Hidden mist jutsu!"
"Really?" Ganryū asked, also being quite skilled in the use of hiding in the mist technique.
"Hmm, let's see who is better, shall we? After all, only one of us will be making it out of this mist alive." Zabuza said before he disappeared into the mist, causing Ganryū to frown, knowing this wasn't going to be easy.
Meanwhile, Haku, Kimimaro and the others were making their way south, back the way they had come from as they rushed towards Ganryū's squad.
After they had defeated the Cloud and Stone shinobi that tried to ambush them, they managed to capture one alive, letting Koyuki work some of her magic on him to reveal their plan.
"We have to get there as quickly as we can and warn captain Ganryū," Koyuki said, knowing that things could get bad otherwise.
"I can't believe that the Stone would resort to such tactics." Haku also said, knowing that this mission was growing more serious.
"The fact that we are at war should lead to no surprise." Kimimaro then said as they dashed from tree to tree, using their chakra control to dash across the terrain at an impressive rate.
"But hiring him to do their dirty work... Him of all people." Koyuki said, remembering their last encounter.
"Zabuza... The Demon of the Mist." Kujira said, feeling a shiver run down his spine as he too remembered his last encounter with the monster.
"Come on, we need to up the pace and warn Ganryū as quickly as possible," Kimimaro said after a moment, quickly upping his pace, forcing the others to do the same.
"How is he so fast..." Kujira thought as he tried his best to match his pace but soon realized that he wouldn't be able to.
"Maybe we should slow down a little, Kimimaro. The others can't handle this speed." Haku said to his brother, seeming to have no trouble in keeping up with Kimimaro.
"R-Right..." Kimimaro said, noticing that the others were falling behind before he slowed his pace so they could catch up.
"Jeez... When did they get so fast?" Rokuro asked, looking to Chika as he tried to catch his breath.
"Unlike us, the three of them have been training none stop... I guess we have no choice but to step it up if we wish to not fall behind." Chika said, also noticing that Koyuki had had no trouble keeping pace with Haku and Kimimaro.
"I for one refuse to be left in their dust."