NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5: Practice
"I did find it odd that I was able to harm him, but to think it was really just a clone!!" Zabuza mutters, falling to his knees. The exhaustion has left his energy depleted, prompting Ruka to resume healing Zabuza's injuries.
"Good Utakata, you are spot on. You really have a talent for sensory ninjutsu, huh?" Yagura suddenly appears in front of them, complimenting his student. "But that doesn't hide your rather important problem!... You are too flashy! Try making small but effective attacks during urgent situations, not big and slow ones."
"You all have problems..., Zabuza, you, however, are too hasty. Don't always rush at your opponent; rely on your teammates."
"And Ruka, you are too slow. Always stay near your team. Your role as a medical nin is to support your team."
All three genin take the advice to heart. A jonin like Yagura would likely know better than them, who became real ninjas just recently.
"Moving on, I want all of you to be ready for our first mission as a team. The mission will take place the day after tomorrow; you have one day to recover."
Shifting his gaze toward Zabuza, he calls out to Ruka, "Ruka, you are to heal Zabuza's arm by then." Trusted with this responsibility, Ruka nods in agreement.
"And what is our mission?" Utakata asks.
"You will know when the day comes...," although not satisfied with Yagura's answer, he decides against asking any further, knowing very well the importance of secrecy for a ninja.
"Now then... farewell, students." Yagura flashes out of his position, leaving his perplexed students behind. "Now what do we do, go home?" Zabuza asks his fellow students. For a moment, no reply came from anyone, but then Ruka spoke up, "So, if you two don't mind, why don't we go to my family restaurant? What do you think?"
Standing up with the support of Utakata, Zabuza exclaims in approval, "Good, let's do that! I haven't eaten anything since morning."
"How about you?" he asked, tapping Utakata's shoulder gently. "I don't usually dine with others—Growl!" His stomach disapproved with a loud growl. Flustered by the unexpected interruption, he couldn't continue. "Let's just go!" Ignoring his friend's plight, Zabuza blurts out loud.
.....
"Hiccup!" 'My morning breakfast could never be that good' Going into Ruka's restaurant, Zabuza wasn't expecting the food to be that good. Contrary to his expectation, not only was the food there good, but even Ruka's parents were very nice.
They are the kindest people Zabuza has ever met 'I need to protect these people at all costs,' declaring in his heart, he made his way home.
Reaching his old, moldy apartment, it was already afternoon. Ruka's restaurant was near the training ground, probably to attract potential hungry patrons exiting the area. But due to this, it took him a longer time to reach his apartment than he had anticipated.
"It's already 2:35!" He looks at his clock.
"Let's just meditate. I can't possibly do physical training in this sunny and humid day, also after just exhausting myself and dislocating my hand," complaining to himself, he looks at his right hand.
"Though, it's really a wonder how medical-nins can just fix it in no time at all," he says, disregarding the fact that it took Ruka half an hour of continuous hard work to fix his arm. For an inexperienced medical-nin like Ruka, it takes a lot of focus and chakra to do such a thing.
Sitting in the lotus position, Zabuza had started meditating. He tries to feel the chakra naturally present in his body. Chakra is essentially the mixture of a person's physical energy and spiritual energy. Molding these two energies creates chakra.
A person can naturally increase their chakra reserve through training, but only to a certain extent. It all depends upon one's lineage, hard work and talent. A normal civilian could never hope to have as much chakra reserve as that of a Senju clan member.
Zabuza has above-average chakra reserve. 'Today I was able to perform tree climbing; But that is nothing to be proud of, Every ninja is able to do it... I need to have good chakra control if I want to have a chance at competing with the heavy hitters.'
The most important thing in chakra control is to know one's own chakra pathways. These pathways absorb physical energy from every cell of one's body, which is then refined into chakra by various organs, mainly the heart.
"I need to focus on my heart, while feeling every part of my body...." heart is the primary part of the Body which plays a huge role in refining physical and spiritual energy into chakra
"Everyone's chakra is different, other people aren't able to teach me beyond the knowledge of major meridians present in everyone's body.... i need to do it all myself"
Time slips past as he continued to spectate every meridian and chakra pathway in his body. The sun had already gone down the horizon when he finally opened his eyes.
"Huh? Why is it still dark? I already opened my eyes....." He widens his brows in an attempt to see clearly but then realizes that his eyes are as open as they can be and the problem lies with the light source. "It's already night!... I didn't even notice it..., thank God no one is here to see me in this state."
He turns on the lights. The moldy room brightens up. As he squints his eyes at the sudden light, reality started dawning on him.
'Damn it, why am I not good at cooking even after living two lives?' He mumbled to himself, cursing his lack of talent in cooking. He remembers the lunch he had during the day. "This just doesn't make sense!"
As there was nothing he could do, he eats some bread by dipping them in milk. His stomach filled, he decides to meditate even during the night. "This is a better way of using my sleep time. I will be resting and training at the same time," an obvious thing to do, if one really thinks about it.
The next day, Zabuza spent his day practicing and improving upon his swordsmanship. Weapon usage being his primary style of fighting, his Bukijutsu [weapon technique] skills are very good, especially his sword skills.
Mist village ninjas like him generally have an advantage in terms of kenjutsu. In Kirigakure ninja academy, a huge focus is given to teaching students blade wielding skills, be it swords or knives. The famous Seven Swordsmen are from the Mist, after all.
Satisfied with his sword skills for now, he goes on to practice some ninjutsu, specifically the hiding in the mist technique. This is a water release technique; the user fills the air with air and controls its thickness with their chakra, allowing them to hide their presence in the mist and hinder the opponent's sight.
Although this is a D rank jutsu, if used together with the silent killing technique, these two make for a deadly combo. In the series, Zabuza's usage of this combo was known to be second to none.
Zabuza knew both of these techniques. Individually, they are easy and simple to learn; even academy students could learn them. "Ninja Arts, Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Shouting the name, he performs the jutsu. A thick mist starts forming around him.
"Now what? Even I can't see through this mist. The academy only taught us this jutsu so that it can act as a distraction when we retreat.... How do I use it in combat?..., they did tell us that it can be used in combat, but we weren't at the level to get the information."
"Maybe if I can't see, I need to use my other senses... hearing? Chakra sense? Or is it something like a sixth sense?.... "
He comes to an unconfirmed conclusion. "It's most likely hearing!. Among the three options, this is probably the easiest to train in... But then how do I train my hearing?" Not getting a concrete answer right now, he decides to let the matter for a later period.
Zabuza continues the ninjutsu practice for a while. Afterward, he does the common strength and stamina exercises, ending the day with more training and meditation.