I hope you are ready for more Naotora, because I finally got back around to adding a little more to this story! I was not exactly sure how to kick off the battle of Okehazama, but I think the idea I came up with is reasonable! I wanted to do something that showed the swift chaos as the enemy suddenly attacked.

I would like to thank everyone for their support of this story! Please enjoy the newest chapter! I'm a little unsure of myself with this project, so any and all support really does mean a lot!

Dance of Combat

"Dammit," the swordsman uttered under his breath before moving in an agile sidestep, "She's really fast."

With less than a moment to spare, he slid to his side and readied his weapon to counter, "Not bad…. I can at least feel happy knowing that this won't be boring."

Naotora landed upon the ground and slid through the dirt with the majority of the weight upon her heels. Once she was ready to move she spun around quickly and looked across to her foe rather unhappily, "Please stop this and surrender," she pleaded before clenching her fists and holding them up to defend, "I have no desire to harm you!"

"Huh," the silk robed warrior scoffed in a low voice and brought his blade to bare, "Such words mean little in this land, I find." With a shallow grunt, he slid forward on agile feet to deliver a powerful spiralling slice with the edge of his weapon.

The blade itself caught the faint glow of the moonlight and flickered intensely. Such a sight gave the weapon an almost mystic and illusionary presence. Its brilliance served to captivate many of the common soldiers at they watched the battle unfold.

Lady Naotora moved fast on her feet to evade. She leapt backward in a flexible double backflip and moved several meters back. Thankfully, the blade of her foe slid past her and missed by several clear inches. She let out a thankful sigh and eyed his stance. In Naotora's mind, this more evasive tactic was the fastest way to put some space between herself and her foe, especially when she considered that he was armed and she was not.

Lady Ii let a light gasp of exertion escape from her lips as she brought her leg up in a defensive guard, "Warrior…. I wish to know your name," she said softly, and much to the visible displeasure of her father who still watched on the side-lines.

The mysterious swordsman in the dark robes let out another low scoff of disinterest. He took a slight step back and held his blade in a solid defensive stance, "…..My true name is of no use in a place like this," he began in a low and stoic tone.

"However," the dark-haired warrior continued swiftly as his pale hands tightly gripped the hilt of his weapon, "If you feel so inclined to name a man you must kill… my name is Zaisan Shido."

Naotora seemed the slightest bit taken aback by the sheer aggression of the words her opponent spoke, "But… it is not my intention to kill you," she stuttered in a nervous tone, "I just wish for you to put down your sword."

"I can't do that," replied Zaisan with a conflicted shake of the head, "If I walk away from this place I will have no way of finding my true path in this land."

"T-then," Naotora said in a shy; nervous response, "I have no choice but to go all out against you! Prepare yourself… and I am very sorry."

Shido gave a calm and collected little smirk. One slow step at a time he advanced forward, and with a flourish of his blade he prepared to engage in battle again, "Good! Let us finish this!" As if under the command of the moons light, his blade flickered a second time….

The smooth swordsman let out a confident battle cry as his feet sent him barrelling closer to Naotora with every passing second. His eyes, they bore the intent to bring an end to this exchange. Yet… there was also something off about them.

Lady Ii saw an emotion deep within the gaze of her attacker and let out a slight sigh. It was an emotion she had in her heart on many an occasion, "….You don't want to do this… do you?" She whispered her words softly in response to the obvious flicker of doubt she saw in the eyes of Shido….

"Then in that case…. I will end our fight as fast as I can," Naotora cried with an intense strength in her usually gentle voice. An aura of extreme power pulsed through her body for a moment. As if like magic, a pinkish-red aura pulsed from her body, and she lunged at a truly incredible speed.

"Impossible," Zaisan stammered in disbelief, as his blade hit nothing but air. Naotora wasn't even in front of him anymore. His eyes went wide as a powerful sticking force slammed into his gut with vicious precision…

"Unf," he wheezed as his footing became wobbly and uneasy. Through quickly blurring vision, he caught the distorted sight of a heeled foot slammed directly into his ribs. Slowly and painfully, he glanced upward….

"I'm very sorry," Naotora cried out softly in apology as she pulled her foot from his chest and stood upright, "Please… just fall down now…. This has gone on long enough."

A brief struggle was only natural…. Zaisan staggered painfully as his wobbly legs fought with all of their might to keep his winded body upright. The young man took slow; pained steps toward Naotora with his blade still in hand. With all of his remaining might he slowly raised his weapon to strike again.

"…..Damn… you…. I have… I've failed," with a single last gasp Shido toppled forward in a final clumsy swing of his strangely glowing weapon. Yet, his eyes widened in surprise for a second time.

Naotora swiftly pulled the blade from his hands, much to the bewilderment of the entire camp, and quite simply shoved the dark-haired warrior to the ground with a loud thud. Slowly, his eyes closed, and in his final moments before losing consciousness, he heard a single pair of feet coming closer…

Naotora's father stood over Zaisan's motionless form with a stern and unflinching expression upon his steely face. He drew his own blade with little emotion, and looked to his daughter with a faint look of approval, "Well done, my daughter," spoke Naomori in place as he raised his blade to strike to unconscious Shido, "Now, we should put an end to this rouge. He may have allies that come looking for him."

"B-But father," Lady Ii spoke nervously with pleading hands clasped together. She glanced down at the helpless man in the dark robes and shook her head sorrowfully, "Perhaps we should lock him away instead…. It seems a terrible thing to kill him like this…. He could be of use to us."

Yet, Naomori simply gave an abrupt shake of his head and raised his sword, "The death of a common man will be no stain upon my honor this day…."

The patriarch of the Ii family prepared to strike, however…

"ENEMY ATTACK," came the howling voices of several frantic soldiers throughout the camp.

War horns started to blow at horrendous volume. In mere instants, dozens upon dozens of soldiers ran around in blind panic and cried out to rouse their sleeping comrades from their tents. Off in the distance a faint galloping of hooves could be heard…. The sheer intensity of such movement made the ground beneath the feet quake.

"My lord Naomori," came a peasant soldier in a chaotic dash. He stumbled at the feet of his master and gave a chaotic bow, "The Oda attack in the night! They have already overwhelmed our outer defences!"

"How many are there?" The master of the Ii clan shouted his words with absolute authority, "If they are already past our outer defences that means our Lord Imagawa is in danger! They will be on top of us in minutes!"

Storm clouds cracked suddenly. Their arrival was a mysterious thing indeed…. Almost as If by a higher power, torrential amounts of rain began to pour from the heavens.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the chaos, Akahide Nishimura looked downward to his young daughter and gave a commanding glare, "Tsukiyo. Please go to the safety of the soldiers. This is a serious business."

"….Yes father," the little girl said with a sad and slightly fearful frown upon her face. Her observant gaze flashed around for a second in brief and childlike observation of the scene around her. She did not entirely understand the scene around her, but what she did understand was the sight of the hurrying soldiers….

Little Tsukiyo looked expectantly at her handmaiden with a childlike gaze and softly took her by the hand, "Father says I must go with you now."

"Yes, my lady," the young handmaiden said in a swift nod. She cracked a gentle smile to her young charge and began to lead her by the hand, "We must go somewhere safe."

Akihide swiftly moved to stand beside Naomori. He gave a grave nod to articulate his extremely uneasy feelings, and looked to his comrade with a clear glint of duty in his eyes, "We must move to form our defences this very second. Everybody at our disposal will be needed to protect Lord Imagawa and the main camp."

"Indeed," started the stone-faced Naomori as his slightly aged features twisted into a very uneasy frown, "They struck at us while the bad weather covered their advance. Clearly, we have been decived."

"Then let us draw the battle lines now," Akihide swiftly replied with an adamant tone to his usually calm and methodical voice, "The safety of our Master depends on our immediate action."

The two minor lords gave a joint nod of approval and started to gather subordinates together in a hurry. However, Naomori turned his bulky form around to face his daughter before his final departure. He looked the young lady in the eyes and gave a very stern frown, "….Kill the ronin," he commanded as his eyes glanced downward at Zaisan's still unconscious body, "and then join the battle lines."

With not another word said, Lady Ii's father departed. Alas, Naotora was left in the pouring rain as all of the common soldiers and lords alike hurried off to battle. Before too long everything immediately around her had gone quiet. No, it was more than that…. The young woman had blocked out everything else around her, and her gentle gaze fell fearfully on the man she had knocked out a little while ago.

"My orders are to kill you," she whispered fearfully at the still unresponsive young man sprawled before her. Naotora's hand reached for a knife she had sheathed at her hip. Slowly and nervously, the young lady warrior brought the weapon closer and closer to Zaisan's throat. As the moments drew, on she found herself breathing harder and harder, until eventually the blade rested upon the neck of the helpless young man….

However, "I cannot do it…. You're defenceless," she wept a fearful tear and tossed the knife away. Her eyes fell upon the swordsman known and Shido, and she let out a sad little sob, "….Even if it's for father, I cannot kill somebody that can't fight back."

Yet, a problem remained…. Naotora still sat beside an unconscious man in the middle of the rain. Very shortly, this entire place would be destined to become a battlefield. If she left Zaisan behind he would just be killed by an enemy. However, she could not join the frontline with her father for fear of punishment for disobeying orders….

"I have no choice," the young lady with pigtails sighed as she slowly reached down, "….You need to wake up," she shouted loudly to Zaisan as she began to lightly slap his face, "Please... If you do not wake you will perish!"

"It's not working," Naotora cried nervously. Her heart pounded harder and harder with every passing moment. The enemy would no doubt he upon her if she stayed here too long!

"I'm sorry about this, Mister Zaisan," the young lady spoke swiftly as she pulled the rather weighty young man up from the ground, and literally began to carry him.

If anything, Naotora had always been gifted with incredible strength for a woman her size, something she was quite easily able to incorporate into her melee fighting style. With a single mighty heave the young woman swept Siazan off the ground and threw him over her shoulder, "….Hey, you're surprisingly light," she chuckled in a slightly goofy moment of digression.

Once Naotora had the swordsman securely upon her shoulders, she took off on a run as swift as her legs could carry her. The enemy would no doubt crash into the main camp in mere minutes. That left her with only one choice, "I need to ensure Lord Imagwa's safety and we must withdraw," she said aloud with great haste….

To be continued...

Thank you once more for taking the time to read this new chapter! Please feel free to leave some feedback if you would like. Samurai Warriors really is a new fanfic genre for me. That said, all the feedback people leave me really does help me get a grasp for the finer details.

Also, do hope people liked Zaisan, because I always make a conscious effort to make sure any original characters I add are well developed. I'll see you in the next chapter!