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Chapter 8 The Three

In the outskirts of the Capital, a carriage strode through a very poor and almost empty village. Inside the carriage was the former Prime Minister Chouri and his Daughter Spear.

"Look at the condition of this village," said Chouri. "If other parts of the country are in such condition then I'll have to fight tooth and nail to get it fixed."

"Don't worry, father," said Spear. "I know you'll do great."

"Though I hope maybe this trip will help you find a nice young man for you."

Spear blushed. "Father, we don't have time for that."

Their conversation was interrupted as the carriage suddenly stopped as three figures stood blocking their path. "Bandit?"

"Stay here, father." Said Spear as she grabbed her weapon and went to the front of the carriage, her guards flanking her. "We'll deal with these men like we did the last."

"Looks like they're eager to die," said Nyau, a young child-like man.

"Daidara." was all Liver said, an old gentleman.

"Okay." as Daidara reached for his weapon the Double-Bladed Great Axe Teigu, Belvaac. "Die." As he swung the ax something unexpected happened, all the guards in his path were pushed back by an invisible force, and the strike that would have injured the girl was blocked by another weapon. "What?"

The Three Beasts were now on alert as a clearly powerful opponent showed up. Spear and her guards looked up at their savior, a man with a strange-looking club wearing a hood over his head. It was clear to Liver that this was not a normal man, "Daidara, that man-"

"I know," as Daidara took a step back from the man. "He's a Teigu user, finally a worthy opponent."

"Who the fuck are you guys?" asked Ieyasu. 'Well this isn't good, it's only been a few hours in my journey and I've already found a fight.'

After hearing his voice everyone was slightly surprised that it was a young man. "Us? Who the hell are you, some sort of bandit?"

"Bandit? I'm a traveler, I'm not even from this country, I'm just passing through," said Ieyasu being honest, before he held up his weapon and spun it in the air before pointing it at the Teigu users. "Also if anyone is the bandit here, it is you guys. It's clear if you targeted this beautiful girl you guys are the bad guys."

"Beautiful." sputtered Spear as her face turned slightly red.

'If that's all the guy is going by then we might be able to play with him.' Nyau smiled as he could tell Ieyasu was simply thinking. "Oh, and how do you know that girl isn't a bad guy either?"

Ieyasu slapped his stomach. "My gut says so."

This caused Nyau and Liver to falter. 'This guy is an idiot.'

Daidara just laughed. "I like you, you're simple, let's fight." As he charged forward splitting his ax into two smaller axes.

"Fine by me." as Ieyasu blocked each strike, keeping up with Daidara. 'Not bad, but this guy clearly hasn't fought anyone equal as strong as him, too bad. I'm way stronger.' As Ieyasu found his opening and hit Daidara with his club.

Daidara quickly raised his axes blocking the powerful strike but wasn't able to hold his ground as he was flung backward. "SHIT!" shouted Daidara as he quickly recovered and landed back on his feet.

Spear and her guards were in awe as they what they saw, while Nyau and Liver were now on edge with Ieyasu's performance. 'He's strong.'

"Liver, what should we do?" asked Nyau.

"Relax, the boy is strong but Daidara isn't done yet," said Liver.

Daidara was still smiling, "Your good but it's time to end this." As he threw his axes at Ieyasu. "DIE!"

Everyone watched as the two axes spun in the air as they flew directly at Ieyasu at high speeds. "YOUNG MAN DODGE!" yelled Chouri. "THOSE WILL-"

Ieyasu dropped his club and caught both axes, one in each hand with relative ease. Ieyasu looked at the axes before looking back at Daidara who now had his mouth wide open. "Why did you throw these at me? What type of idiot throws his weapon, like that?"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?" shouted Daidara. "No one should be able to catch Belvaac while it's in flight, no one!"

"I just reached up and grabbed the handles," stated Ieyasu simply. 'I wonder if that means I'm compatible with these, he does seem like the Emitter type.'

The entire time they have known Daidara, neither Nyau nor Liver have ever seen anyone do that. "Liver!" said Nyau after getting over his shock.

"Right, this one must be eliminated." as they both charged at Ieyasu who quickly tossed the two axes aside and grabbed his club. He blocked a kick from Liver as Nyau brought out his flute. "Nyau."

"Time to play a little tune." as Nyau was about to put his lips on his flute before Ieyasu appeared in front of him and punched Nyau in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

"I've fought people who used sound before as a weapon, not making that mistake again," said Ieyasu.

'So fast!' thought Liver. 'He was right in front of me a second ago before he was in front of Nyau. I was barely able to keep track of him.'

While this was happening, Daidara was trying to retrieve Belvaac, but a sudden cut appeared on his cheek when he reached for one of the axes. "Don't move," said Spear holding her spear at him. "I won't let you retrieve your weapon."

Daidara growled as he realized he was now at a sudden disadvantage without his weapon. He had become so overly reliant on his Teigu that he never kept a backup with him. "Dammit, you bitch." he said as she and her men separated him from his weapon.

Liver saw this and knew they were losing. 'Maybe if the three of us fought together we could beat this brat, but know Daidara has no weapon and Nyau is down with most likely internal injuries. Though we can still complete our mission.' as Liver eyed the former prime minister. He raised his hand activating his ring, Black Marlin. The snow beneath them suddenly turned into water before forming into a dragon.

The water dragon then flew straight towards, Chouri. "FATHER!" shouted Spear.

"Oh no, you don't." As Ieyasu activated his Switch Ax changed it to its bladed form. "Energy Slash" As he swung the massive blade the energy he had built up emitted an energy blade that flew through the air destroying the water dragon.

"My attack was destroyed," said Liver as he wrapped his head around the situation.

Ieyasu was also assessing the situation as he looked over at Chouri, 'He looks okay, but that slash was even at a good power, I just put enough power into it to destroy that attack. I could take these three easy if the civilians were out of the way.' That's when Ieyasu got an idea, as he raised his Switch Axe, building up the energy. "Alright, here we go." As he slammed his blade into the ground causing the snow and dirt around them to kick up causing a smokescreen around the entire area.

Three figures jumped out of the smokescreen as the three beasts regrouped away from their opponents. "Prepare yourselves," warned Liver as the area began to clear, they saw it was empty.

"There gon?" said Nyau as they couldn't see anyone around them.

Daidara took this moment to go and grab Belvaac, that was on the ground. After grabbing hold of his weapon he looked around. "Where the hell did they go."

Liver looked around and saw in the distance that even the horses that were pulling the carriage were running away. "I don't know, in the blink of an eye, all the guards and the former prime minister vanished without a trace, there aren't even footprints."

"So what did they do?" asked Nyau. "Fly away."

~o~

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH" Screamed Spear as she soared through the air. Before she felt something grab and held her close. "Huh?"

"Don't worry," said Ieyasu as he held her bridal style. "I'll have you on the ground in a second." as he used his nen to push him towards a clearing in the forest.

Spear closed her eyes as she felt everything shake before being gently put on the ground. She slowly opened them seeing she was now back on the ground with Ieyasu standing over her with a smile on his face. For the first time, she got a good look at his face. 'He's quite handsome, like a hero from one of those stories dad would-' She blinked and looked around. "Where's my dad?"

"Oh right, the others." Before Ieyasu jumped back into the air towards several dots into the sky. It took Spear a second to realize that those dots were the other guards and her father. After a few jumps Ieyasu successfully grabbed everyone and brought them back to the ground. "Are you alright sir?" he asked Chouri.

Chouri took a deep breath, "Well I can safely say I can cross off free-falling off of my bucket list."

"Father." Spear gave her father a big hug. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, thanks to this young man right here." He said reassuring his daughter. "May I ask your name, young man."

"The name's Ieyasu." he introduced himself while puffing his chest out.

"I'm the former Prime Minister of this country Chouri and this here is my daughter Spear." he introduced himself with a bow. "And she's single."

"Father," she said with a blush.

"Uh, hey." the three turned to one of the guards. "Sorry to interrupt but….WHY THE HELL DID YOU THROW US INTO THE AIR?!"

"Oh, I needed to get you guys out of there. I couldn't fight all out if you guys were in danger so I figured if I threw you and caught you then I could keep you all safe from whoever those psychos were," explained Ieyasu. "Don't worry I was confident I could catch all of you."

Spear stepped forward. "Well, sir Ieyasu, I thank you for saving our lives." She then gave him a kiss on the cheek causing him to grin like an idiot.

"Um so what do we do now?" asked a guard.

"Those three might come after us again." said another.

That comment brought Ieyasu back. "Oh, right those three." as he took a step back. "One second, I'll be right back." As he sped off back to where the carriage was. He looked around not finding the Three Beasts anywhere even with his En he couldn't find them anywhere. 'From the looks of it, they headed back to the capitol. I could chase after them, but that would mean leaving those other guys vulnerable, not to mention I wasn't planning on heading back yet.'

Ieyasu then returned to Chouri and Spear and informed them that the attackers had left. "I see, well I wasn't planning on returning home so soon but it seems to be the best course of action."

"But father, we have to go and report this to the capital." protested Spear.

"I'm afraid my dear it was the capital that sent those three here," said Chouri shocking Spear and the guards. "I recognized the man with the water ability, he used to be a general for our country's army. If he was sent to kill us then that means someone in high rankings wants to get rid of me, going to the capital know is nothing more than a death sentence for all of us."

As the news sunk in Ieyasu asked "Hey so do you have a safe place for you guys to stay at?"

"My family does own a small country home out west we can stay at."

"West. Cool, I'm heading in that direction myself."

"You are!" said Chouri both happy and surprised by this news. "May I ask what for?"

Ieyasu thought of his answer for a moment. "Well, I'm trying to help my friend, and to do that I need to uncover some of this country's history." Ieyasu paused as he remembered something. "Wait your the old Prime Minister right?"

Chouri chuckled. "That's right, young man, I am and I know quite a bit about history. What exactly are you looking for?"

"A clan that might have something to do with dragons." as he said those words Chouri's eyes widened. "I'm going to take that look as a yes."

"Indeed," said Chouri as he started to walk. "It's quite a tale and we have much distance to walk." They soon followed him west.

~o~

Esdeath was in her office when her Three Beast came in and kneeled in front of her. "Aw, you have returned from another successful mission."

"I'm afraid not ma'am," stated Liver in a calm accepting tone. "We have failed."

"What do you mean you have failed?" asked Esdealth in a very dangerous tone to her Three Beasts.

"If that bastard didn't run, I would have killed him," growled Daidara through clenched teeth.

"I'm assuming you're not talking about the former Prime Minister."

"That is correct Ma'am," said Nyau. "We went to go kill the former Prime Minister Chouri when suddenly a newcomer appeared, a warrior of a far better caliber than those who were assigned to guard Chouri."

Esdeath looked at her Three Beasts. "From what Daidara just said, I'm guessing that this warrior took the former Prime Minister and fled without fighting."

"That is correct but we did exchange a few blows, in the beginning, before he used his Teigu to vanish along with the target," explained Liver.

"Teigu? Explain."

"It was a bladed club-like Teigu that had the ability to morph into a blade, that could cut space or something like that," said Daidara.

Esdeath raised an eyebrow, seeing this Liver spoke up. "That is a working theory right now, in the middle of the fight this warrior used his Teigu to cut the water I was manipulating from far away and when he slammed his club into the ground, everyone but us in the area was gone, we checked the footprints in the snow and no tracks were leading away from the area, it was as if they had all vanished in thin air."

"I see so what did you all do next?"

"We decided to head towards the capital ma'am, we figured since the capital was their original destination they would still come this way, but…." Nyau trailed off. "We did inform our allies to alert us if Chouri ever comes close to the capital."

Esdeath looked away from her men and out towards the window. "We accept any punishment," stated Liver fully accepting whatever wrath Esdeath had towards them.

"That will not be necessary. I am disappointed in your failure but you didn't fail because you were outmatched or because you were lazy, you failed because the opponent you faced was unexpected, with an unknown power to boot," said Esdeath. "So raise your heads I still have use of you three."

"Yes, Ma'am."

~o~

"WOW! What a huge ship!" said Tatsumi as he looked up at the massive boat that was going to be the location of a boat party, before being elbowed by Sayo. "Ow, what was that for?"

"Stop acting like a country hick," said Sayo. "Today were are members of high society."

"Oh yeah," said Tatsumi. "Though you should be careful you're starting sound like that bitch, Aria."

"I'm standing right here," said Aria who was now directing her glare at Tatsumi. "I wish I could kill you both."

"We all know you can't do that." Said Alissa her personal assistant/jailer. "Just smile and enjoy the party."

Aria huffed. "Why the hell am I even here, can't you barbarians just ninja your way inside without me."

"True but that might look suspicious," said Sayo. "So today we are your young hired bodyguards that you are far more comfortable with than those your uncle hired. By the way, how is your uncle."

"Still trying to take my parents' money." Said Aria, it was true. Ever since Aria lost her parents her uncle has been trying to take everything from her and the worst part was the fact that the people who killed her parents were the same people keeping her uncle from taking every penny from her and selling her like a dog.

"So then think of this as a small vacation, where you can rub elbows with future business partners," said Tatsumi trying to help the girl find a silver lining. "You still can do that at least."

"Whatever," said Aria as she walked towards the ramp to the ship, followed by Alissa and Sayo.

Tatsumi stayed where he was for a moment. "Hey Bulat, how are you holding up?"

"You kidding," said the invisible man. "Now that I know nen I feel like I can keep this up for days."

"That's good," said Tatsumi as he started walking towards the ramp. "If you want you can leave this to me and Sayo if you want to help the others."

"Nah, they're just doing a simple recon, there's a higher chance a fight is going to break out and that's where I belong."

"I hope it is just a recon mission," said Tatsumi as he boarded the boat.

~o~

Esdeath took a rare opportunity to walk down the street of the capitol, she stopped by a small shop that tried to offer her a bribe before she poked his eyes. "I don't need a bride, you're a famous ice cream shop correct, give me the best ice cream you have."

"Yes ma'am, right away." said the man as he went back to his store.

On the roof across the street Leone watched as Esdeath sat down on a bench awaiting her frosty treat. 'Damn she's a monster, even with nen I feel like she has no opening but another part of me thinks I can take her now.'

"Don't even think about it," said Mine who was next to Leone. "We are here to observe only. Boss's orders."

"Yeah, yeah," said Leone "But my instincts are telling me I can take her, hell I'm sure if we all ganged up on her we could kick the crap out of her."

"I know that but still we need to wait," said Mine before she noticed that the third person with them was looking elsewhere. "Sheele what are you looking at?"

The bispectral assassin looked back at her comrades nervously. "Uh well…"

Down on the street level, Akame wearing a hood ran up to Lubbock who was unmoving. "What the hell is going on Lubbock?" she asked while grabbing him. "Why, this wasn't the plan."

"I don't know." was all he could say as the scene unfolded.

Esdeath licked her ice cream as she stared at the roof across the street. 'That's strange the presences I felt is doing something odd, in fighting perhaps?'

"Excuse me is this seat taken?" asked a woman.

"No," said Esdeath not giving a thought to the woman next to her as she continued to eat her ice cream but stopped as she recognized the voice. Esdeath slowly turned to look at the woman next to her. A ghost from her past. "Najenda?"

Najenda took a lick from her ice cream before turning to Esdeath with both eyes looking right at her. "Hey there, Esdeath." Before tapping Esdeath with her perfectly good right hand. "Good to see you again."

Esdeath eyed Najenda up and down. "Well, this is a surprise. You're all fixed up."

"Yep," said Najenda taking another lick from her ice cream. "Met some friends who were able to reverse the damages you caused."

Esdeath chuckled. "I see." before taking a lick from her ice cream. "So have you come to die then."

Najenda laughed. "No, I've come to kick your ass and humiliate you in your own backyard."

Esdeath laughed. "You've even grown a sense of humor. This might be fun." as she took one last lick of her ice cream before they both dropped their treats as Esdeath sent a wave of ice at Najenda. "This time I'll finish the job."

Najenda smiled at the wave of ice before cocking her fist back and breaking the ice with a powerful punch. "It won't that easy this time."

Esdeath couldn't help but smile from ear to ear, "Yes a challenge."

~o~

Tatsumi blushed as he saw Sayo in the dress. "Wow, you look great."

Sayo gave him a twirl, "Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself."

Tatsumi pulled on his tie, he was currently wearing a suit that he didn't find very comfortable. He then noticed a glare from Aria before Alissa poked her and pulled her away. Tatsumi was trying his best not to look at Sayo who was wearing a gorgeous dress, the two were enjoying themselves despite the chance of an attack. This just made Aria even madder, "Look at those two love birds, it makes me sick."

Alissa was trying her best to ignore Aria's complaints but she's heard a lot since working for her. "If it bothers you then how about finding a nice gentleman to dance with, that could make for a good distraction."
"Just because I can walk, doesn't mean I'm good enough to start dancing," said Aria, even though she was able to walk again her feet weren't coordinated enough to do anything to fancy and the fear of being humiliated was enough to turn any suitor away. "Shame, some of these boys are rather nice looking and the flute is quite lovely."

"Flute?" Alissa put her ears up and saw that both Tatsumi and Say also noticed it. "Cover your ears and get down."

Aria barely had time to cover her ears before people started dropping. Tatsumi gave Sayo a nod before she dashed off to cover the officials that were most likely the targets. Tatsumi then gave Alissa and Aria a signal to get down and don't move.

"Well now, you must be something special to stay standing like that," said Daidara as he came out to the deck. "Good, I need someone to fuck up."

Tatsumi looked at the man. "What the hell's up with you?"

"I met a guy who ran before our fight was done, when I see him again he's dead," stated Daidara. "Until then give me something GOOD!"

He charged at Tatsumi swing his ax. In an instant, Tatsumi disappeared before reappearing in front of Daidara punching him in the gut sending him back. "You got it wrong, it's you who is going to give me something," said Tatsumi. "Drop the ax and you can walk away."

Daidara was struggling but his anger was stronger than the pain. "Like hell, I will, I ain't losing twice to some brat, the club kid was it."

"Club kid?" Repeated Tatsumi. "His club wouldn't happen to transform in any way would it?"

"It transformed into a sword, wait a minute."

"Holy shit you fought Ieyasu," said Tatsumi before laughing. "You got some shitty ass luck if that the case, HAHAHAHAHA"

"SHUT UP!" yelled Daidara as he threw both halves of Belvaac at Tatsumi.

In a flash, Tatsumi dodged both axes and pulled out his scale sword, "Extend." as the scales reformed elongating the blade, cutting Daidara right down the middle. "No wonder Ieyasu didn't kill you." as Tatsumi quickly raised his hand catching both axes. "You weren't worth it."

Suddenly two others came out over the railing and dashed at Tatsumi before two suits of armor appeared punching both of them towards the bow of the ship. "Hey now don't hog all the fun," said Bulat appearing from the ship. "I haven't had a chance to use my abilities yet."

"Bulat!" said Liver as he saw the man.

"What the hell," said Nyau. "There's two Incursio!"

"General Liver!" said Bulat seeing his old comrade. "If we were allies this would be a good moment to share a drink for our reunion."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible for either of us," said Liver as he looked at the two sets of armor that went to Bulat's side. "Is this your doing?"

"Yes," as Bulat made a pose his suits followed. "Thanks to my new friends I've unlocked a new power with Incursion. Hollow Nen Armor. I can now create several suits of armor to fight alongside me. I'm literally a one-man army now."

"I see you've reached even higher than before," said Liver as he extended his hand. "How about you came and join us, Bulat. You can even rise to second in command."

"If you think I'm going to serve the empire again, then you've gone mad."

"Not the empire, Lady Esdeath. She's is far more than the empire, yes I remember how she saved me all those years ago. The power she had was more than I could have ever imagined, more than those pathetic politicians you go mad with power, whose greed is insatiable. She is pure strength, one that any warrior would dream to follow." As Liver finished his speech Nyau began to clap, being moved by his words.

"She sounds pathetic," said Tatsumi, getting their attention.

Liver eyed Tatsumi and spoke in a dangerous tone. "What was that boy?"

"Even though I've never met the woman, all I hear is how strong she is and how she follows the prime minister as some sort of lap dog. If her goal is just pure strength like you put it then that's just lame, a hunter without a prey is no hunter at all," said Tatsumi before he went and sat down next to Alissa and Aria who was still acting asleep.

"A hunter, are you equating Lady Esdeath to a measly hunter?" asked Liver.

"A hunter goes after a prey, a goal, her goal is twisted and unattainable, she'll never be able to grasp it no matter how hard she tries," said Tatsumi. "She's a fool."

"That's it, get up," yelled Nyau. "Me and you, let's go."

"No, I'm not your opponent."

"Liver can fight your armored friend, you can fight me." as Nyau pointed his flute at Tatsumi.

"I never said Bulat was your opponent I'm impressed you can still hold that flute." As Tatsumi said those words several arrows appeared in Nyau's arm causing him to drop his Teigu. They all looked up to see Sayo standing on the upper balcony with her bow in hand. "I suggest you start running."

Nyau was only able to turn away before an arrow pierced his skull, killing him instantly, his body dropping to the ground in front of them. "HOLY FUCK!" yelled Aria as she saw the body a few feet away.

"Let that be a reminder, they could have fucked us up a long time ago," said Alissa.

"Nyau," said Liver as he looked at his fallen comrade before looking up at Sayo who still had her bow ready. "You have some strong allies, Bulat."

"Yes I do," said Bulat looking at his old General. "Are you going to surrender now?"

"No," said Liver as several tendrils of water rose from the canal. "I will fight to the bitter end for Lady Esdeath."

Bulat sighed disappointedly in his old General. "So be it, but as a show of respect, I will beat you with my new ability."

"Thank you." said Liver as the tendrils turned into the form of several dragons. "Judgment of the Heavenly Water Dragon!"

Bulat saw this coming and raised his hand. "Incursio Armor" As he was enveloped by the incursio armor he dashed forward at liver. "Merge" the Hollow nen armor then disassembled into separate pieces of armor before floating and merging with the incursio, as a result, his normal Incursio armor transformed into a more powerful shiner form. "Combined Incursio Armor." Bulat blasted through the water dragons and then quickly stabbed Liver in the chest with his spear, killing him instantly. Bulat disengaged the Incursion armor as he laid the former General on the ground. "Farewell my general, I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

"Nice job," said Tatsumi as he reached down and picked up Liver's ring. "Interesting, this one ain't too bad." Tatsumi was thinking of how he could use it when he heard the sound of heels walking towards him. "Hey Sayo, how's the inside?"

"Clear," she stated. "No one died, it looks like they came out to eliminate you first before killing the targets." She then saw Bulat looking down at Liver's corpse. "If you want we can take his body with us, give him a proper burial?"

"No thanks," said Bulat as he took his comb out, straightening his hair. "The man I knew and served under died a long time ago."

"Well it looks like everything was wrapped up here," said Alissa.

"Can I go home now?" asked Aria.

"Sure- WHAT THE HELL!" shouted Sayo causing both Tatsumi and Bulat to turn towards the city where they saw a massive tower of ice appear.

"Oh, that can't be good."

~o~

Esdeath was breathing heavily as she felt the blood roll off her cheek. "It took an ambush to remove your arm, I thought you were weak." as she looked down at Najenda. "Now I see, I needed that ambush, I was such an idiot."

Najenda stepped forward. "Oh, what do you mean by that?"

Esdeath's wicked smile grew as she charged. "I robbed myself of a glorious fight."

Next Time: General Fight |You want to read this now just head over to my page. ~P-A-T-R-E-O-N~ Lorenzo the storyteller. There you can read all chapters ahead of time and my exclusive stories.

A/N: Okay here we go, the start of Ieaysu's solo adventure and The fight between the two Generals. Look forward to the next fight incoming and more lore on the way.

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~Lorenzo the Story Teller