The Ninja Slayer

Chapter 54: Strike

Zenitsu waited in the now familiar cover of the branches for a demon or robot that would have the misfortune of entering Zenitsu's territory. 

It's been a strange few days since Tomioka-san asked Zenitsu to patrol with him, and truthfully Zenitsu was enjoying it. Zenitsu, although aware of the short amount of time he would be able to dawn the mask, and that he likely had less than a day left, took this time to experiment. 

Zenitsu was always grounded in his fighting style. 

Since he was only able to do the first Thunder Breathing Form, he had no choice but to fight the same way every time, even if he was previously unaware he was even fighting. And while Zenitsu chose that path due to Gramps' advice, that he was eternally grateful for, he couldn't deny that he felt constricted. 

But as Strike, Zenitsu doesn't have those limitations. Zenitsu can't even use Thunder Breathing in the mask causing him to change his fighting style anyway. So, he experimented.

Zenitsu discovered that when not relying on his breathing he... didn't really have a "fighting style." 

His way of fighting did fall back on his slayer training but with a certain dramatic flair that would make even Tengen jealous. And while he did have the dramatics going for him, he was one other thing. 

Sloppy. 

Zenitsu couldn't afford to be sloppy. 

Which is why he is here. Tomioka told Zenitsu to stay home tonight, enjoy the rare time he didn't have missions. Kocho-san and Aoi said the same thing. 

Zenitsu didn't listen. 

Zenitsu left the second he heard Inosuke's snoring. And based on the colorful guiding arrows that lead him here, he made the right choice.

Zenitsu could admit the first time he saw these drawings he was scared. Those fears were quickly shut down however when he asked Tomioka-san what happened. 

Zenitsu nervously walked up to Tomioka-san and asked him if seeing little arrows or other drawings was normal. Tomioka-san stood confused for a few seconds before realization struck him, as if forgetting that it wasn't normal in the first place and not everyone saw this. 

Tomioka then went on to explain that sometimes the Nomicon 'talks' to the Ninjas and that was the only way it could without sucking a person into the Nomicon. 

Which... yeah, okay that made sense. 

And that just made the Nomicon much more interesting. It's a magic book that can take you to practically another dimension and enter your subconscious! What wasn't there to like about it! 

It even showed Zenitsu the best way to sneak into Tomioka's estate so he could get Randy's mask! 

Which unfortunately involved crawling through a window to his udder disappointment.