The Scorch of Lightning

Chapter 11: the Battle on the Bridge

 It's now time for the final battle. Even if Gatō is dead, Zabuza will kill Tazuna, and take the money afterwards. Zabuza is going to complete a job, or die trying.

Zabuza Momochi, given the name of Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist). He was a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist, and a former ANBU-captain. Now he is a missing-nin, after trying to assassinate the Yondaime Mizukage Yagura.

Zabuza is aggressive, arrogant, cruel, cold and ambitious, willing to become Gatō's thug to gain enough funds to start a second coup d'etat on the Mizukage, and kill anyone who stood in his path, including plotting to kill Gatō once he had received enough funds from him. His reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness began as a child where he killed every single candidate in Kirigakure's Academy, earning him the moniker of "Demon of the Hidden Mist" (霧隠れの鬼人). He willingly uses his own men and others as pawns to fulfil his ambitions, as he raised Haku to be an efficient tool to be discarded when he had no use to exploit; although unlike future antagonists, he was blunt about the purpose that his recruits were needed for, forgoing any form of manipulation by pretending to be benevolent to inspire loyalty. This corresponds with his cynical view of the world, which only consists of the used and the users, as well as viewing shinobi to be nothing more than tools. Despite himself, Zabuza grew to care deeply for Haku and viewed him to be far more than a tool.

He is an observant adversary who is able to analyse his opponent's techniques after seeing it once, but becomes overconfident if he sees the technique as useless. Despite his ruthlessness, Zabuza was possessed of a softer side that he himself was largely unaware of.

 It's now time for the final battle. Even if Gatō is dead, Zabuza will kill Tazuna, and take the money afterwards. Zabuza is going to complete a job, or die trying.

Zabuza Momochi, given the name of Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist). He was a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist, and a former ANBU-captain. Now he is a missing-nin, after trying to assassinate the Yondaime Mizukage Yagura.

Zabuza is aggressive, arrogant, cruel, cold and ambitious, willing to become Gatō's thug to gain enough funds to start a second coup d'etat on the Mizukage, and kill anyone who stood in his path, including plotting to kill Gatō once he had received enough funds from him. His reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness began as a child where he killed every single candidate in Kirigakure's Academy, earning him the moniker of "Demon of the Hidden Mist" (霧隠れの鬼人). He willingly uses his own men and others as pawns to fulfil his ambitions, as he raised Haku to be an efficient tool to be discarded when he had no use to exploit; although unlike future antagonists, he was blunt about the purpose that his recruits were needed for, forgoing any form of manipulation by pretending to be benevolent to inspire loyalty. This corresponds with his cynical view of the world, which only consists of the used and the users, as well as viewing shinobi to be nothing more than tools. Despite himself, Zabuza grew to care deeply for Haku and viewed him to be far more than a tool.

He is an observant adversary who is able to analyse his opponent's techniques after seeing it once, but becomes overconfident if he sees the technique as useless. Despite his ruthlessness, Zabuza was possessed of a softer side that he himself was largely unaware of.

Zabuza was a tall and noticeably muscular man with light grayish skin, short spiky black hair, dark brown eyes, and small eyebrows. He was normally seen wearing bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face. Under his mask, he had a relatively narrow jawline and jagged-teeth, a trait he shared with his fellow Swordsmen. He wore his hitai-ate sideways on his head.

He wears a sleeveless black shirt and matching pants, complete with a waist-guard, and yet again, Kirigakure's striped wrist and leg-warmers. Other swordsmen of his generation wore attire identical to this, implying that they might be clothes related to the group. While donning this attire, much like his fellow Swordsmen, he had bandages loosely tied around his neck like a scarf.