A blur of white and a streak of red clashed, blowing the mist away. At the center of the collision, Mikoto and Zabuza were face to face. In a matter of moments, tens of clashes could be heard yet remained invisible to the eyes of most onlookers. Despite Mikoto's wishes, Kakashi once again revealed his sharingan, hoping to observe the battle.

 

Mikoto and Zabuza continued to cross blades, the density of chakra surrounding them increasing with every strike. It continued to increase until what appeared to be a blood-red haze was spreading outwards. The haze washed over Team 7, nearly forcing them to kneel from the pressure exuded. To counteract the oppressive force, Kakashi released some of his own chakra to shield his students.

 

"Hey, kid. You can use some ninjutsu if you want. I don't want you crying about losing just because we kept it to taijutsu." Zabuza cleaved towards Mikoto's skull, hoping to bisect her.

 

"If I were to use jutsu, the battle wouldn't be nearly as fun!" Mikoto nimbly dodged, only moving enough to let the sword barely pass by without hitting her. "You're free to use it though, I love a good challenge." Changing the direction of her blade, Mikoto slashed upwards, aiming for Zabuza's neck. Zabuza used his large hand to swat the side of the blade, diverting its course. In retaliation, he attempted to sweep Mikoto off her feet with his leg. To avoid this, she simply hopped and kicked towards Zabuza's chest.

 

"Arrogant little thing. Don't say I didn't give you a chance." Zabuza leapt backwards and summoned a clone. "In my day, they used to call me…"

 

"Devil Zabuza." Kakashi finished Zabuza's words for him.

 

"So you do know. That's right. When I was your age, kid, I had already dyed my hands in blood. I killed everyone I had grown up with. Comrades? Friends? Don't give me that bullshit! It was so much fun, watching them all beg for their lives. What have you done in the gentle Hidden Leaf Village that gives you the right to face me?" Zabuza let loose a brutal killing intent. It sent shivers up the spines of everyone present.

 

"What have I done in the Hidden Leaf? Not much," Mikoto was unfrazzled by Zabuza's killing intent. "However… It doesn't mean I've never done anything at all!" Her smile only grew.

 

It was as though the devil himself had ascended to the mortal plane. No chakra was released, but Mikoto's killing intent spread like an attack. Tazuna directly collapsed, his body falling to the ground. Naruto and the others had trouble standing as well. As Zabuza stared at Mikoto in shock, he began to see a figure behind her. It was a figure not unlike her current one, but something about it was incomparable to the current her. The majesty and cruelty it exuded were far beyond what any twelve year old could showcase. Behind Mikoto's visage, countless other shadowy forms could be seen. The killing intent was so strong that the temperature dropped. Frost began forming from everyone's breath as they started to shake. The sun lost its luster as Mikoto's visage seemingly devoured the light around her.

 

"I may have never killed in the Leaf Village. However, the act of killing is not something I am a stranger to. Cruelty and killing are just as much a part of me as my soul is. Ingrained in my being is an indomitable will that cannot be crushed. I was born to crush others underfoot, just as the gods were born to rule their realms. Zabuza, you believe yourself to be powerful. You kill. You take pleasure in taking life. However, you are nothing more than an infant compared to me. Had this been anywhere else, your life would have been forfeit. Face me! Face me and fight for your life!" Mikoto's killing intent came crashing down like a tsunami, nearly knocking Zabuza off of his feet.

 

"Maybe I really am unworthy. Even so, you are the first shinobi to cause my heart to race and my blood to boil in such a manner. I will be the one to defeat you!" Zabuza made a hand seal, preparing to cast a jutsu with each clone. Two gigantic dragons formed from the water around him and sped towards Mikoto. Each dragon was more than fifty times her size and it looked as though she would be swallowed at any moment.

 

With a casual slash, the water dragons were bisected and lost the forms. When the torrent of water calmed, only Zabuza's clone could be seen. The original was nowhere to be found. Without a sound, Zabuza appeared behind Mikoto, giving nobody any chance to react or warn the girl. Zabuza fiercely swung his sword at her neck, hoping to decapitate her. Mere moments before Mikoto lost her head, the sword coated in Kurama's chakra made its place in between her neck and the blade, stopping it on the spot.

 

"How?" Zabuza yelled, retreating.

 

"I forgot to tell you, but this form greatly increases my physical ability. It even lets me surpass most jonin." Mikoto's figure blurred and she disappeared from where she stood. This time, she was the one who appeared behind Zabuza, cleaving towards his arm with a grin on her face. His quick reflexes were still able to save his limb as he deflected the sword with his own blade.

 

A glint of light flashed off the blade as it flew up through the mist. With a heavy sound, the upper half of Zabuza's sword crashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Zabuza was frozen on the spot, looking at his destroyed sword. His eyes narrowed.

 

"I don't need this piece of crap, they only gave it to me after I finished my training anyways," Zabuza said, flinging the remainder of his sword at Mikoto, who stored it away in a void that opened near her. In the meantime, Zabuza cracked his knuckles and pulled out two kunai.

 

"In that case I'll hold onto it. Ready to call it quits?"

 

"No way in hell!"

 

Zabuza disappeared from where he stood, his speed incomparable to what it had previously been. He appeared behind Mikoto, one kunai aimed at her temple and the other at the small of her back. Mikoto slightly leaned her head back and let the kunai move past her. As for her back…

 

"Kid, why'd you let yourself get hit? Are you throwing in the towel?" Zabuza looked furious.

 

"I said I wouldn't use any ninjutsu, didn't I? Plus, don't you remember what happened earlier? A wound like this isn't nearly enough to affect me, you'll at least need to decapitate me." Mikoto smiled and shook her head.

 

"You're a real monster, you know that?" Zabuza removed the kunai and retreated as far away as possible.

 

"Thanks for the compliment, that makes two of us."

 

"Round 2?"

 

"Let's do it."

 

More chakra, he still has potential left.

 

At that age? He really is a monster.

 

Exactly, and I need to bring it out of him.

 

How much do you need?

 

Enough for three tails, I don't want to bother with my skin being torn right now since this is supposed to show Naruto what will happen to him.

 

On it.

 

Oh, and I'm going to add fire nature to it, so work with me on that one. I think it'll be more interesting this way.

 

Didn't you just get done saying it was for Naruto?

 

If he trains he should be able to do it too.

 

The once chilly surroundings quickly heated to a terrifying degree as more chakra flooded out of Mikoto. Her vicious chakra cloak became even more violent as it flickered like flames. Steam rose from the ground where Mikoto stood, drying out the mud beneath her feet and cracking it.

 

"Naruto, this isn't something you need to worry about right now, but pay attention if you want to do this in the future."

 

"You have more of those things? Geez, kid, what the fuck did they put in you?" Zabuza's face held traces of fear and anticipation.

 

"The strongest one."

 

"…" Zabuza was motionless. "I wouldn't have it any other way!" He suddenly tore the mask off of his face, revealing a large grin that was full of shark teeth.

 

Zabuza made a seal with one hand and his mouth ballooned up. He quickly shot out a jet of compressed water that was aimed at Mikoto's head, the thinnest part of her cloak. However, the stream of water evaporated the second it touched the chakra that surrounded her, creating a steam explosion that blocked everyone's field of view.

 

"Tch, fine," Zabuza said, making a few quick seals, disappearing from the spot.

 

Though no enemy could be seen, kunai flew at Mikoto from every direction. As they approached, the tails of her chakra cloak swatted them aside, batting molten pieces of metal to the ground.

 

"Enough prodding, your speed and stealth are acceptable but your power is lackluster."

"Kid, you're the only one who has ever complained about my strength," a voice came from the mist.

 

"I should complain more, you'll never cut through my cloak with just water or just metal," Mikoto shook her head while she spoke. "Think it over and attack again."

 

"You think it's that easy, kid?" Zabuza scoffed, a frown on his face.

 

"Do it anyways! Don't tell me you learned to manipulate your chakra only to this extent!"

 

"Damn brat, if it was that easy, that member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja wouldn't be the only one to use it to any effect, and even that was only considering he used chakra blades-"

 

"Are you still going to keep whining? Just watch and learn."

 

Mikoto raised her sword once more, but refrained from coating it in Kurama's chakra. As Zabuza watched, a dark chakra flowed out from Mikoto's hand and quickly transformed itself into fire natured chakra. He watched it visibly flow into the blade, making it turn from silver, to red, then orange, white, blue, and finally a deep violet color.

 

"You're full of surprises. Guess I can't just back down from a challenge though, now can I?" Zabuza yelled and pulled out two kunai.

 

As he injected his chakra, the blades began to vibrate. The second he changed the nature to water, a blade exploded, sending shards everywhere.

 

"Shit! One more time!"

 

Will he really be able to pull it off?

 

If he can't, I can just kill him for real. The kids and village members are off limits, but he's a different story. If he's untalented, I would prefer to not bring him over to my side. That doesn't mean I can just keep him alive, though.

 

In the meantime, Zabuza successfully changed the nature of his chakra before putting it into the kunai, and was carefully filling them with chakra, probing their limits. Just as the blades looked to be complete, one exploded again.

 

"Need more time?" Mikoto asked, playfully grinning.

 

"Not in the slightest, I've got it down pat now," Zabuza said, fire in his eyes.

 

He repeated the process at more than double his previous speed and quickly filled the metal with his chakra. Once the process was completed, they turned a nearly translucent blue that refracted light, creating small rainbows wherever they passed.

 

"Oho! Good job!" Mikoto praised Zabuza.

 

"Heh, this pretty technique doesn't suit someone like me, let's end it here and now." The grin disappeared from Zabuza's face as he lowered himself to the ground, ready to pounce. He gathered a large amount of chakra at his feet and shot out like a cannon, ignoring any pretense of stealth, opting to maximize his speed and power. Mikoto conversely stood stock still, her bright violet sword perpendicular to the ground.

 

Zabuza approached like a demon, his arms poised to swing down in a cross pattern. As he dashed ahead, his ferocity only grew. His bloodshot eyes gave off the sense of a feral beast, aiming only to kill. Mikoto still stood, no expression on her face, simply evaluating his movements.

 

When the three blades collided, they made a sound that was akin to a bomb exploding. From the point of contact, jets of hot steam were flying past the two fighters. The loud boom immediately changed to a high pitched whine as the temperatures of the blades were trying to equalize, only kept steady by a constant flow of chakra. Zabuza noticed that he wasn't gaining ground and put even more chakra in; Mikoto did the same.

 

The steam jets grew even more violent as sparks began to fly from the blades as well. As they tore up the ground, the whining grew even louder. It was clear that the blades were reaching their limits. Zabuza quickly lost one kunai as it cracked in two, falling to the ground in an oddly liquid state. He put all of his focus on the remaining kunai, precisely maintaining the level of chakra within to keep the blade from breaking. As he adjusted the chakra levels, the blade became clear, almost invisible to the naked eye. When Mikoto saw this, she grinned.

 

"You passed."

 

Her blade slowly lost its hue as it turned into a dull grayish violet, and eventually into black. Conversely with its change in color, the temperature in the surroundings flared to unimaginable levels. Mikoto's blade immediately began slicing through Zabuza's remaining kunai. As her blade passed through, it approached Zabuza's neck, and then, disappeared.

 

"Congrats on learning a new technique," Mikoto beamed. The temperature in the surroundings took several minutes to return to normal, and Mikoto was putting out small fires that had started.

 

"Holy…" Naruto couldn't help but exclaim.

 

"You were just teaching me the whole time, weren't you? I guess I really wasn't worthy. Alright, kid, you w-"

 

Two needles pierced into Zabuza's neck. He collapsed to the ground, all signs of life gone from his body.

 

"Who took my prey?" Mikoto's smile disappeared and was replaced with a blank expression.