Hiei stepped out of his father's house and stood on the dirt road opposite his challenger, and got a good look at the young man; he looked to be in his late twenties, was average height and wore all black. He had short white hair, blue eyes, and a few piercings on his lip. Judging from his aura, he was human.
"I hate to state the obvious, but you're a complete fool." The man said.
"Excuse me?" Hiei growled.
"You don't even realize how much you were protected from people like me. I'll wage you weren't even aware of the shield around the house."
"Shield..." So that explains the odd feeling surrounding the house... Hiei thought to himself.
"And now that you've stepped outside, it's as if you've dug our own grave." Hiei's opponent exclaimed with a laugh.
"We'll see." Hiei said, as he put his hand on his sword and drew it.
"Oh? You're planning to use that scrap metal against me? This is going to be easier than I thought." Hiei said nothing in response to his opponent's attempt to agitate him. Rather, he charged forward with full speed towards his opponent.
Oddly enough, the white-haired man didn't move. He didn't even try to defend himself, but just stood there. When Hiei got close enough, he swung his sword and made a direct hit on the man's shoulder. But something was wrong. The blade didn't cut through his body. It felt as though he was made of steel, but Hiei knew that was impossible for a human. Before Hiei had a chance to retreat, his opponent punched him hard in the ribs, sending him flying and landing hard on the ground. Hiei groaned in pain and stood up again.
"Hiei, what happened?" Kurama shouted out to his friend.
"My sword can't cut through his body..." Hiei replied.
"How's that possible? Explain yourself!" Kurama demanded of their opponent.
"What do you take me for, a fool? I've got no reason to tell you how my power works. If you can't figure it out for yourselves, then that just shows the difference in our strength." This frustrated Hiei and Kurama. "In any case, let's get back to the fun."
At that moment, the man disappeared. Hiei searched for some trace of his aura, until suddenly he appeared behind the fire demon. Hiei swung around, only to receive a heavy kick to the face which, yet again, sent him flying. But before Hiei could land, his opponent appeared in front of him and smacked him to the ground with his fist. Hiei bounced off the ground several times before his body started rolling, and then came to a stop with Hiei lying on his back. The white-haired fighter stepped up beside Hiei.
"Ready to give up, boy?" He said with a large smirk.
"Never!" Hiei said as he struggled to stand up.
"Hm... For a kid, your endurance is pretty good."
"Just shut up already." Hiei replied, more in response to the kid comment.
"Hiei!" Kurama yelled out. "Just back down. You should be well aware by now that you can't win this fight."
"Don't interfere Kurama, this is my fight." Hiei shouted back.
"Ha! If you were wise, you'd listen to your friend." The man in black said to Hiei.
"Feh! This fight is far from over." Hiei replied. "If my sword can't cut you, I'll just have to try something else." Hiei then removed the bandanna covering his third eye. The Jagan opened and Hiei became surrounded by a flaming aura. "Let's see how well your body holds out against this! Fist of the Mortal Flame!"
Hiei's energy concentrated into his fist, and he once again charged his opponent. He brought his fist forward in a punch, but his opponent simply smiled and caught Hiei's flaming fist with his hand. Hiei's eyes widened with shock, and the man used his hold on Hiei's hand to throw him off to the side.
"As you can see, your pitiful flames can't even lay a single scratch on me." The man said as he held up his right hand, which was in perfect condition.
"Y-you bastard!" Hiei said. But before he could make another move, his opponent punched him to the ground. Then he stood above Hiei with his fist raised high, ready to attack. He brought it down on Hiei, putting his whole body into the blow. Hiei cried out in pain as his ribs had now been broken. Hiei tossed and turned on the ground, covering the part that hurt with his arms. Now that Hiei was in too much pain to fight back, his opponent picked him up off the ground by grabbing the front if his clothes.
"That's good. Now you're coming with me." The man said as he began to walk away.
"Not so fast! Rose Whip!" Kurama yelled as he jumped off the porch of Koray's house and swung his trademark whip. The whip wrapped around the man's neck, and Kurama got a tight grip to make sure their opponent wouldn't leave. Their opponent, however, was unamused.
"Hm... I was told not to kill the General's bastard kid... But you are another story." The man said as he dropped Hiei and turned around. Kurama noticed that his eyes had had become dark with an incredible bloodlust. He drew a long sword, cut the whip from his neck, and disappeared from sight again. He reappeared in front of Kurama with his sword ready to strike. But before he could land a blow, an intense gust of wind came and lifted him off the ground, throwing him across the ground. Kurama looked over for the source of the aid, and saw Reuel walking towards them.
"Hey kid, are you alright?" He asked Kurama.
"Yes, thanks for the help." Kurama replied.
"Don't mention it. Just grab Hiei and get out of the way. I'll take it from here." Reuel instructed.
"Well, well... If it isn't Genereal Reuel." The man said. But Kurama noticed that he looked a little nervous. "What do you think you can do when you can't even cut me?"
"Don't fool yourself." Reuel said calmly. "I already know that your technique has two major flaws. The fist being that it's only effective if you continuously channel your aura into your entire body, and as we all know no one has an infinite supply of energy. Secondly, even if your aura is at full power it can't stop attacks with power that exceed your own."
The man said nothing in response. Now that his weaknesses had been revealed, even the kids could find a way to beat him. He knew he had to retreat, otherwise he could be killed.
However, the man's train of thought was interrupted as Reuel appeared in front of him, ready to attack. Reuel's fist, which was surrounded by a large amount of aura, was brought forward into a punch. The man in black tried to dodge, but his left arm was still hit by the attack, and it was suddenly torn apart by the wind-like aura surrounding Reuel's fist.
"D-damn it!" He cried out, as he fell to the ground and clutched the stub that remained of his left arm.
"You better give up." Reuel said "You have no hope of winning like this."
"You're right, I can't win..." Sharivar said. "But I also can't surrender!" Then using his right arm, he took blood from his wound and scribbled something onto the ground which began glow. Suddenly his whole body became enveloped in light and began to disappear. But before he was completely gone, he turned to Hiei and said:
"I would like to say one thing before I go, boy; Even though my mission was a failure, it still served its purpose. Now our master will go to much more extreme methods when dealing with you. So consider yourself warned that the Black Knights are now after you!"
With that, the man completely vanished.
