Hachi Academy, inside Murasaki and Imu's shinobi barrier
"KYAA!"
Imu yells, beaten again by Fumiyo under the harmless eyes of her younger sister.
"Not over yet! Murasaki, let's attack together!"
Ium tells her sister, but she didn't notice Fumiyo is about to strike them.
"Secret Ninja Art, Eagle's Claws."
Fyumiyo says, an aura is now covering her two sickles. She launches both of them at light speed on her two opponents.
"KYAAAAA!"
The two sisters yells, unable to counter. Their respective shinobi suits are completely ripped off already.
But they won't give up now, Murasaki stands up and prepare her own attack.
"Secret Ninja Art… STAY AWAY!"
She yells while shooting her energy ball in Fumiyo's direction, but she dodges it without much of an effort.
But she hasn't realized it's just a diversion, Imu was already behind her when she understood.
"Secret Ninja Art, Rolling Thunder!"
She yells before launching her bô to Fumiyo's back, who couldn't dodge it this time.
Imu smiles by seeing her attack touched her target, but it quickly vanishes when she notice that, even if it touched, Fumiyo barely has damages.
"Eye for eye…"
Fumiyo starts before disappearing and reappearing behind Imu.
"Tooth for tooth…"
She completes before slashing Imu's back, who only notices at this moment what Fumiyo was planning to do.
Imu falls, still under the shock.
Murasaki, worried, rruns to join her injured sister.
"Big Sis! Are you alright?"
She asks a still conscious Imu.
"I'm not… But keep your eyes on Fumiyo!"
Imu answers, Murasaki immediately understands her mistake.
"Secret Ninja Art…"
The two girls hear, Murasaki turns back while Imu stands back to prepare herself, but it's too late…"
"...Fearsome Predator."
Fumiyo says, flames have covered her face, when, two black circles appear at her eyes place… And nothing else.
But this attack doesn't physically attack people, but mentally. Imu and Murasaki have made the mistake of staring at Fumiyo's "eyes", which gives them for no reason a terrible fear, as if they were facing the scariest thing the world has never knows.
That attack only lasts a few seconds, but in the sisters' point of view, i lasted an eternity.
Once the attack ended, the both the sisters fall on their knees, still afraid and shaking.
"Not bad, most of the people who take this attack die of heart attack…"
Fumiyo explains, her soft voice sounding unnatural.
She gets closer to the two Hebijo girls with the idea of finishing them. But whereas she was just a few meters from them…
"It's not… Over yet…."
Murasaki says by standing up.
Despite being manipulated, Fumiyo is perturbed by how Murasaki quickly recovered.
"What I just saw… Was nothing… Compared to the idea… Of losing my sister…"
She says in a low voice while using a guard… A guard she learnt during the Yoseikan Budo lessons.
Fumiyo tries a slash from the top, But Murasaki doesn't step back, but breaks the distance.
She only dodges when the attack was about to hit her, like she's been taught to.
Fumito tries to stab her with her other sickle, but…
"Uh?"
Fumiyo reacts by seeing Murasaki holding them at full strenght.
Then…
"Secret Ninja Art… JUST LET ME DIE!"
Murasaki yells, unleashing her Root of Calamity directly on Fumiyo, who yells of pain.
The attack lasts several seconds, enough to injury her and almost completely destroy her shinobi suit.
Slash
"Eh?!"
Murasaki reacts after feeling a sudden pain.
She looks down, to see Fumiyo's sickles that have deeply stabbed both of her flancks.
"MURASAKI!"
Imu screams with horor in her eyes.
Fumiyo, injured, but far to be defeated, takes her blade out in a single and quick movement. Murasaki takes two steps back before falling in her sister's arms, who barely caught her.
Murasaki is breathing heavily, struggling for her staying alive.
"You should have listened to me, Imu…"
Fumiyo says in an emotioless voice.
Imu, enraged, stands up after softly put her sister on the ground and prepare her next attack.
"Secret Ninja Art, Dead Fox!"
Imu yells with all her soul before disappearing and reappearing like a thunder while striking Fumiyo… Or rather, trying to strike her.
"I-Impossible!"
Imu says by seeing Fumiyo countering each of her attack without using any secret ninja art, even Miyabi wasn't able to do that during their training session.
"If you had listened to me, Murasaki wouldn't be dying like she is now…"
Fumiyo claims, still in a monochrome voice.
Imu clenches her fist with anger, but calms down only two seconds after.
After several seconds, remorsefully staring at the ground, she starts… to laugh.
"Eheheheh… You know what? You're right…"
Imu starts, still looking down, while Fumiyo is slowly getting closer to put an end at this fight.
Suddenly, Imu rises her eyes, not with a sorry face, but a determinate one.
"But I don't give a damn to a manipulated's words! Ohhhhh!"
Imu yells before charging a powerful energy, energy that can only be one thing…
She's about to use her ultimate secret ninja art.
Fumiyo understands it, and as an answer, starts to prepare her own one.
She rises her arms like an eagle spreading its wings, creating a giant fire in the sky that then takes the form of a plane-sized eagle.
Imu is shocked by Fumiyo's power, but still refuse to lose there.
She stabs her bô in the ground before making it growing and making a crew of fox-looking creatures getting out of it.
Once the two fighters ready, they do it.
"Ultimate Secret Ninja Art, Thuner Fox!"
"Ultimate Secret Ninja Art, Roch's Devastation."
They simultaneously say.
The fire eagle of Fumiyo fly toward Imu, who sends her foxes, not to fly around her as usual, but right to her single opponent.
The two arts clash each other, however…
"No…"
Imu says with despair, almost sobbing, when she sees her attack only slows Fumiyo's one down.
Yet the Hebijo girl is doing her best, but the gap between her power and Fumiyo's one is way too wide.
"Seems it's over for me, forgive me, my friends…"
Imu thinks, still struggling by reflex, but she's already accepted defeat.
But, while she was looking at the fire eagle coming closer, Imu remembers an important element in this fight.
She turns her head back, staring at what was behind her during this struggle.
Murasaki.
Her little sister is still unconscious, so, she cannot help her, but it's not the issue.
Imu remembers something, the reason why she wanted to become stronger all along.
To hunt Yôma?
To looks cool to Miyabi?
To help Miyabi avenging her mother?
To achieve any kind of mission?
All of them, actually. But there is another reason, way more significant for Imu.
She wanted her sister not to suffer anymore because of her own weakness, and here, failing would involve both of them to perish.
And Imu can't accept, she refuse to break the promise she did to herself…
"Never… NEVER!"
Imu yells, her resolution is clear now, winning this unwinnable wrestling.
For Fumiyo, it doesn't matter since Imu has already done all she had.
That's what she thought, but she realizes it only when she notices something around Imu.
A purple aura, similar to Murasaki's one, that's surrounding Imu and mixing with her usual electric aura.
And it's not over, that aura also spreads to Imu's art, which becomes way more powerful thanks to this…
...To the point that the eagle cannot advance anymore.
"RHOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAA!"
Imu yells, giving even more power to her attack, an attack that finally manages to break Fumiyo's one and directly hits her before she could avoid it.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Fumiyo screams before falling to the ground, no moving anymore.
Imu falls on her knees, exhausted.
She waits several seconds, to rest a little, but also to be sure the fight is over for real.
And it is… Fumiyo doesn't move at all, so, Imu makes her shinobi barrier disappear.
"Murasaki!"
Imu screams, remembering her terribly injured sister.
She turns back, and even if her wounds make every movement painful, she joins her to see she's already lost a lot of much, and that if she doesn't do anything… She won't survive for sure.
"Oh no, no… No! No way you die, Murasaki! Material, I need material! Where…"
Imu screams, panicked and unable to think.
Then…
"That… Room…"
A weak voice tells Imu, Fumiyo's one.
Imu turns back, seeing Fumiyo, dying but showing one of the doors with her finger.
"There is… A first aid kit…"
Fumiyo adds in a worried voice, unable to hold her finger up anymore.
Imu, understanding the mind control art isn't affecting Fumiyo anymore since her voice has emotions again, ignore the pain and run to the room… And leaves it a second later with medical materials.
A few minutes later
Imu healed her little sister as much as she could, she's not out of danger yet, but at least, the bood lose is stopped now.
Imu thinks that, with the remaining material, she can treat her own injuries. However, she remembers Fumiyo's important wounds and, forgetting she was an enemy, decides to help her first.
She turns back in a flash, but immediately stops mowing when she sees Fumiyo.
Her eyes are closed, no breath… She's already passed way.
Imu, for the first time in her life, almost regret having won this fight.
"Fumiyo…"
Imu says in a sorrowful voice, sitting at Fumiyo's sides.
A detail catches Imu's attention, Fumiyo's face is smiling, but she doesn't look in peace.
Imu immediately understands the meaning, that girl she now considers as a friend for sure left some people behind, which makes her even sadder.
"You don't need any treatment now… But… I guess I can at least do that…"
Imu says, taking a rag to clean up the blood on Fumiyo's face, to give her a piece of her beauty back.
"I hope you will join your little brother…"
She adds before finishing her duty.
Once done, Imu's body reminds her she's injured too… And that the fight stops her for her.
"Imu, understanding that, looks up, and say:
"Miyabi… Everyone… Don't lose…"