Chapter 19: Triple Threat!
Mangetsu Village was peaceful this early morning, all the commotion from the battles days ago were only a memory of the past. Everyone had returned to their normal days and repairs were still being done all over the place when suddenly the man wearing the amaranth colored Yukata entered the village.
"I knew I would get here in less time. It's only a matter of time before I find you, Yuki." The man said walking down the street when he suddenly bumped into a man with a claymore on his back; it was Kurayami.
"You should watch where you're going – you never know when you'll bump into the wrong person." Kurayami whispered to the man as he passed by him with his hood over his head when the man put his hand on his shoulder stopping him.
"The same goes to you. I don't like being bumped into either so I'll leave you with some friendly advice, don't ever run into me again or you'll end up dead." The man said coldly releasing his left hand from Kurayami's left shoulder before he continued walking.
"I'll end up dead? Just who does this guy think he is?" Kurayami thought annoyed with the man's words. "It's bad enough that I'm forced to look for Yuki but why do I end up running into the weirdoes …speaking of weirdoes, I wonder where Raito was sent." He continued thinking ignoring the man from before and continued walking away.
"I wonder if all the citizens here treat visitors that way. How disgusting, I should just destroy this town." The man said annoyed with Kurayami.
"Hey, did you hear?" A woman's voice said coming from a store the man was passing.
"Hear what?" Another woman's voice asked.
"That man that caused all that commotion a few days ago is camping somewhere around the village and there's been a lot of noise coming from the north. It sounded like a war was going on over there." The first woman said when it caught the man's ear.
"To the north it is then. Yuki, it looks like I may have finally caught up to you and finally I will be able to make you pay for what you've done!" The man stated clinching his fist.
"Is that where Yuki is? Good, now I'll be able to finish my job." Kurayami said standing just across from the man when they finally noticed each other.
"What are you doing here…?" The man asked looking at Kurayami.
"I could ask you the same question. I'm sure I heard the name Yuki coming from your mouth as well." Kurayami said looking over at the man.
"Just who are you? I do not recognize the symbol on your cloak and I don't know why you're after Yuki but he is my prey." The man said glaring at Kurayami.
"I belong to the Tasogare and I cannot allow you to be the one to get Yuki. Our leader wants Yuki dead by our hands and no one else's." Kurayami said glaring back at the man.
"You're really starting to annoy me. I don't want to waste my energy on you since I'm so close to Yuki though so it looks like we've got a problem on our hands." The man said trying to think of a way to get rid of the guy without having to use up his energy.
"It looks like we agree on something. Then it's a race – the first one to find Yuki will have him to themselves. Agreed?" Kurayami asked looking over at the man.
"Fine but what do you call yourself so I'll know whose name I should put on the gravestone if you just happen to die before reaching Yuki?" The man asked still trying to decide if he wanted to go with the race idea or not.
"I'm Kurayami Seiwa formerly of the Village Hidden in the Smoke." Kurayami said pulling off his hood revealing his short jet black hair and his silver eyes. "What about yourself? I have to have a name too or it just wouldn't be fair if you didn't make it."
"I'm Taki Musashi formerly of the Village Hidden in the Rain. This talking is taking too much time; let's get this race over with already." Taki said when the two of them nodded at one another and suddenly vanished.
Back at Yuki's camp, Kazuki had finally just finished up his story about the dream he had leaving Masakatsu a little surprised.
"So, you actually fought with the demons that were inside the ninjaken." Masakatsu said still in astonishment.
"I only fought with that darker version of me. That Yuki-onna was actually helping me out." Kazuki said clarifying the situation.
"One of the demons were actually helping him…?" Masakatsu thought surprised when suddenly someone was standing behind Kazuki.
"Finally feeling better are we?" Ayaka asked standing behind Kazuki.
"Ayaka?" Kazuki asked leaning back and looking up bumping into her stomach before she hit him knocking him over. "Ouch, I was feeling much better until now…" He said lying on the ground holding his cheek.
"Idiot, you should be careful where you're looking! Besides, it's not like you had your glasses on in the first place." Ayaka said handing him his glasses.
"Oh, that's right. I forgot to put my glasses on before we started that sparring match. Thanks Ayaka." Kazuki said grabbing his glasses and put them on.
"Are you serious!? This kid was fighting me that well without being able to see me that well!?" Masakatsu thought shocked staring at Kazuki.
"Masakatsu-sensei, is something wrong?" Ayaka asked noticing his expression.
"Kazuki, how good is your vision without your glasses?" Masakatsu asked trying to figure out the scope of how he was doing.
"Everything is pretty much blurry. I can't really tell what is what that much because it all just mixes together." Kazuki said slightly chuckling to himself.
"This idiot is nearly blind when he doesn't have his glasses on. I don't know why he does it but he usually tries to fight without them. I guess idiots really never learn." Ayaka said sighing when she finally sat down next to Kazuki.
"Hey, what's with the idiot comments suddenly?" Kazuki asked looking over at her.
"I'm just getting you back for yesterday. You had us all worried." Ayaka said slightly blushing while turning her face away from him.
"Ooh, should I leave you two alone?" Masakatsu asked looking at Ayaka and Kazuki.
"No, we're fine!" Ayaka and Kazuki shouted at the same time.
"It sounds really lively over here." Yuki said walking out of the woods and over to the group of three.
"You just missed a special moment between these two. I offered to leave but for some reason they didn't want me to." Masakatsu said looking over at Yuki teasing Ayaka and Kazuki.
"Hey!" Ayaka and Kazuki shouted simultaneously once again.
"So you ended up winning after all, Kazuki?" Yuki asked looking over at Kazuki.
"Yeah… wait, how did you know!?" Kazuki shouted surprised by Yuki.
"The Koori no Tsurugi is the ninjaken I've been looking for so of course I would be aware of what dangers face the wielder. That and I was the one that forced the acceleration of the battle with the demons inside the ninjaken." Yuki said looking over at Kazuki.
"Yuki, if you say it that way you make yourself sound like the bad guy. You should explain it more clearly." Masakatsu said right before Ayaka and Kazuki were about to react.
"I was trying to get their reaction because the training will be even harder once we return to it. What Kazuki went through in that battle will be much closer to our training besides, I had to make sure he was worthy of wielding the ninjaken. Since he returned as himself, I take it the fight went well?" Yuki asked looking back at Kazuki.
"Yeah, I fought with one that took the form of me but the second one was some woman that helped me fight the other one." Kazuki said still a little confused.
"A woman…? Both of the demons were supposed to have fought you; why would the second one help you?" Yuki asked confused.
"The second was a Yuki-onna. Doesn't it sound fitting to have one in there considering our families specialize in ice jutsu's?" Masakatsu asked shrugging.
"A Yuki-onna? I remember my Grandfather saying something about a Yuki-onna a long time ago but I was too young to remember what he was saying. It was some story but I only remember hearing the name." Yuki said trying to remember what Yukigassen had told him about.
"Now that you mention it, I do remember old man Yukigassen saying something about a Yuki-onna in his stories he would tell us when we all huddled together." Masakatsu said also trying to remember when they suddenly sensed something – Yuki and Masakatsu quickly turn towards Mangetsu Village.
"You sensed it too, Masakatsu?" Yuki asked looking straight towards the village.
"Yeah, an extreme killing intent is moving towards us. What's the plan, Yuki?" Masakatsu asked glancing over at Yuki.
"The kids have to be moved out of the area. I'll move ahead and meet up with our guest while you get them out of here." Yuki said tightening his cloak's strap.
"Wait, Sensei, I could help you. I've improved a lot since…!" Kazuki started to state when he was cut off.
"No, you've fought too much and need your rest. That fight you had in your dreams should've drained a lot of your energy and most likely your chakra as well. Just go with Masakatsu and make sure everyone else is safe." Yuki said getting serious again.
"Takeo, what should we do?" Kosuke asked lying down looking towards the other group still next to Takeo.
"We'll do what they say of course." Takeo said getting up and stepping out of his tent grabbing his things on his way out.
"Sounds good enough to me." Kosuke said getting up and leaving the same way she entered and gabbing the small bag she had with her near the exit.
"Takeo, Kosuke, good you two woke up just in time." Masakatsu said noticing Takeo and Kosuke walking their way.
"What's the situation?" Takeo asked looking at Yuki and Masakatsu.
"Someone is coming this way so we're going to be moving while Yuki holds them off until we're far enough away." Masakatsu said laying it out plain and simple.
"Understood. There's no way we would be able to fight in our condition anyway." Takeo said slightly glaring over at Kazuki since he was the only one other than Yuki that had no injuries.
"Wait, there's no way I'll be able to walk that well with this injury! I was hardly able to even walk over here to you two." Ayaka said reminding them about her leg wound.
"I'll carry you." Kazuki said offering to help. "It'll help me get my mind off of the fact that I can't help Yuki." He thought looking over at Ayaka.
"Are you sure, Kazuki? I might be too heavy." Ayaka said somewhat setting him up.
"I better watch how I respond or she'll end up killing me." Kazuki thought realizing what she was saying. "It won't be a problem. You're not heavy at all." He said walking over to her and squatting down so Ayaka could climb on his back.
"Okay, here I go then. Masakatsu-sensei, could you get our thinks for us?" Ayaka asked looking over at Masakatsu while climbing on Kazuki's back.
"No problem. I have to get the tents back in the scroll either way." Masakatsu said rushing over to the tents ignoring the pain he was feeling from partly healed wounds he suffered from the battle with Koori no Senshi.
"How boring! I wanted to help out but my arm isn't in any condition to fight…" Kosuke said pouting.
"Nothing we can do about it; we're in pretty bad shape. Masakatsu, which way did you want us to head?" Takeo asked turning to Masakatsu as he was working on putting the tents back in his scroll.
"Head to the northeast and I'll catch up." Masakatsu said as Takeo and Kosuke started heading the direction he pointed out.
"Come on idiot, you better keep up with us or we'll leave you behind." Takeo said passing by Kazuki.
"The real question should be can you keep up with that injury." Kazuki said with a grin as he passed by Takeo and Kosuke running at a good rate of speed considering he was carrying someone.
"Kazuki, you should slow down!" Ayaka shouted while her hair blew back in the wind.
"Tch, he sped up some more while we were sleeping…!" Takeo thought even more annoyed with Kazuki's advancement.
"Masakatsu, I leave them in your hands until I get back." Yuki said about to rush off.
"Yuki, there's two of them aren't there? Are you sure you want to go into such a bad situation by yourself?" Masakatsu asked looking over at Yuki as he finished gathering the tents as well as Kazuki and Ayaka's things.
"Yeah, there are two and I'll hold them off long enough for you five to get far enough away." Yuki said taking off in the direction of the two enemies.
"Don't die Yuki. Those two enemies seem pretty tough." Masakatsu said before rushing to catch up to the other four.
Meanwhile, rushing through the forest to the north of Mangetsu Village, Taki and Kurayami were running side by side looking around quickly.
"Why are you following me?" Taki asked annoyed looking around with his right eye.
"I'm not following you. You are the one following me damn it!" Kurayami stated annoyed with Taki just as much.
"Looks like you want to settle this then." Taki said suddenly stopping along with Kurayami next to him.
"'Looks like'…? Can you even see me without your left eye?" Kurayami asked trying to make fun of Taki.
"I can see well enough without it since it's been gone long enough." Taki said with his twisted grin starting to form on his face.
"It looks we'll settle things here then." Kurayami said pulling his claymore from his back.
"Am I interrupting things?" Yuki asked standing in front of where the two of them were heading previously.
"That voice…!" Taki stated with delight while turning towards Yuki with his twisted smile in full bloom.
"Well if it isn't the target. What do we do now that we've both found him?" Kurayami asked looking over at Yuki.
"What's this? Taki is working with Tasogare now?" Yuki asked noticing who the two were.
"We meet again, Yuki. I truly am destined to kill you!" Taki stated starting to revert to his crazed tone like before.
"What's wrong with this guy? He sounds like Toyotomi the last time he fought with Yuki…" Kurayami thought a little confused with Taki's reaction to Yuki.
"Like I told you before, Taki, I cannot let you kill me just yet. I have things to do before I die." Yuki responded plainly in a confident tone.
"No, you will die here, Yuki!" Taki shouted charging at Yuki before he was able to do anything.
"He's really the same as before…" Yuki thought rising his left hand up in front of himself slapping Taki's right hand away followed by a knee directly into his head as Yuki flipped backwards and landed on his feet. "You didn't improve your Taijutsu…!" He started to say when Taki hit him across the face with his right hand. "I hit him in the chin with my knees… didn't I?" He thought in shock when Taki suddenly moved over to high speed punches in Yuki's gut and chest.
"Now die, Yuki!" Taki shouted in a completely crazed tone thrusting his right palm forward at Yuki's chest as to finish him off.
Taki's palm was moving at such a speed that no normal person would be able to see it without it striking them beforehand. Just as his palm was about to hit Yuki there was a sudden sound of metal being hit followed by the sound some glass would make when it shattered.
"Well would you look at that. You went and shattered my claymore." Kurayami said with a tone of excitement in his voice.
"Kurayami, do you intend to get in my way!?" Taki shouted looking at Kurayami as he stood next to the two of them with the handle of his shattered claymore in hand tilted between Taki and Yuki.
"Not really but as I said before, I can't allow you to be the one to end his life. That is the Tasogare's job." Kurayami said even though he appeared to be no longer with a weapon to defend himself.
"Pathetic! How do you intend to stop me if you no longer have a weapon!? You're not good at Taijutsu, are you!?" Taki shouted glaring over at Kurayami as Yuki was getting his breath from that last attack and wiped off some blood from his lips.
"I may not be good at Taijutsu but I still have my Kekkei Genkai!" Kurayami stated putting his hands together. "Ninja Art – Sword Creation!" He thought making the hand seals: Rat, Monkey, Ram, Tiger, Dragon, Tiger, and Dog.
Kurayami's eyes suddenly showed what appeared to be flames replacing the silver. The handle of the broken claymore suddenly turned to silver dust and along with the dust from the shattered blade formed yet another claymore. The new claymore appeared in perfect condition in Kurayami's hand; it looked as though it was brand new with no scratches visible and the blade was polished enough to see your own reflection, which is the complete opposite of the claymore before.
"It was about time for that other claymore to be switched out anyway. So, are you ready to fight me now that I have my means of fighting again?" Kurayami asked as his eyes turned silver once again.
"Kurayami Seiwa, also known as the 'Sword's Smith', I never got to see the jutsu but I had heard a lot of stories." Yuki said looking over at Kurayami.
"Then in order to kill Yuki, I have to kill you first. Is that what you're saying?" Taki asked with his voice full of anger.
"Not necessarily, I plan to kill Yuki as well but I cannot allow you to kill him before I do." Kurayami said as Yuki stood there confused.
"How are we going to set this up? You both want to kill me but you don't want to allow the other to kill me before you can kill me. Why don't we just fight one another, it'll just be a three man brawl or a triple threat so to speak?" Yuki asked manipulating the bad situation he was in hopefully into a better one for him.
"I've got no problem with that. I don't like this guy either." Kurayami said keeping his eye on Taki and Yuki.
"As long as you die in the end, I don't really care!" Taki shouted annoyed with the amount of talking versus the amount of fighting.
"Then it's agreed, let's get this on then." Yuki said with a grin happy about how he was able to trick them into fighting one another as well as him.
Taki quickly charged at Kurayami for blocking him before just as Kurayami charged at Yuki. Yuki quickly swung his right leg forward just as Taki appeared there holding his right foot with his right hand. To Yuki's right was Kurayami with his claymore on the ground and Taki's left fist extended outwards as if he had thrown it completely off course.
"Not bad, you were able to deflect my sword." Kurayami said with a smirk looking over at Taki.
"You're not going to kill him before I do!" Taki stated leaving Yuki looking at them a little confused as how to react to their stupidity.
"These two really are idiots. If they would've just joined forces, I may actually be dead by now. Oh well, I'll try to make the situation as worse as possible for the two of them." Yuki thought with a grin.
"What are you grinning about, Yuki?" Taki asked sounding even more annoyed.
"Nothing. Just that you didn't get a hit in on me while Kurayami could've actually killed me if he would've tried harder. He's holding back." Yuki said knowing Taki would be angry with that being the case.
"Is this true…!?" Taki stated with his voice full of anger looking over at Kurayami.
"Looks like there's no fooling an idiot such as yourself after all." Kurayami replied with a smirk when suddenly Taki extended his left leg kicking Kurayami in the gut sending him through the air and towards a tree.
"Don't ever look down on me!" Taki shouted furious with Kurayami holding back.
"Damn, I'm going to have to use it again! Ninja Art – Sword Creation!" Kurayami thought making the hand seals: Rat, Monkey, Ram, Tiger, Dragon, Tiger, and Dog forming another claymore in his left hand. "Now to stop!" He thought stabbing the two claymores into the trunk of the tree stopping himself before he hit. "This guy is strong, I'm sure Toyotomi would love to fight you!" He stated looking at Taki as Yuki lowered his head while shaking it as if he had just said something stupid.
"You idiot! You shouldn't have said his name!" Yuki shouted looking over at Kurayami as he pulled the claymores from the trunk and dropped down to the ground.
"What are you talking about?" Kurayami asked confused when he noticed Taki's expression turn full of rage.
"Toyotomi? Toyotomi Shimousa!?" Taki shouted in a crazed rage glaring over at Kurayami.
"Kurayami, you just triggered his berserker mode! You should've never mentioned my little brother's name! Now he's going to be even more difficult to stop!" Yuki shouted in anger looking over at Kurayami.
"What are you talking about? That guy's kick wasn't that hard, I can handle him." Kurayami said when the veins on Taki's face became visible and his skin turned a little red.
"Where him be!? Where Toyotomi Shimousa be!?" Taki shouted unable to put words together correctly anymore in his crazed rage.
"Taki st…!" Yuki started to shout when suddenly Taki extended his right leg hitting him in the chest.
The ground under Taki's foot was suddenly torn up as it smashed into Yuki's chest by the sheer force behind Taki's kick. Yuki was sent flying through the air smashing through branches of trees with the ground being torn up below him until he finally came crashing down about four feet dug underground covered in dirt.
"What… power…!" Kurayami thought in dismay as he watched the power in Taki's kick.
"We he is!? Tell!" Taki shouted in a angry yet crazed tone standing behind Kurayami.
"He's even faster than before! If I hold back anymore then I'll be in trouble!"Kurayami thought when he quickly turned around putting the two claymores in front of him in the form of an 'X' to block.
Taki's right fist sprang forward ripping the ground apart underneath it as it smashed into the two claymores. At first it appeared as if Kurayami was going to repel the attack when suddenly cracks started to form on the claymores; they were starting to buckle under the power until they finally shattered make the same sound glass makes when it shatters. Taki's fist smashed right through the two claymores and hit Kurayami directly in the jaw sending him flying back slightly turning to the right about 180 degrees forcing him to face the ground as he flew breaking branches off the trees until he collided with one knocking the thirty foot tree over with it coming down on top of him.
"Location! Give Toyotomi location!" Taki shouted still going berserk.
Elsewhere, Masakatsu was walking behind Ayaka, Kazuki, Kosuke, and Takeo after finally catching up to them. He motioned for Kazuki to move towards him so they could talk and he slowly moved back without anyone noticing only Ayaka, who he had on his back knew.
"What is it, Masakatsu-sensei?" Kazuki asked a little confused about why he was being asked to move back.
"Look, Yuki would be angry with me for saying this but I think he's in a little trouble back there. I would go myself but my wounds would open up easily if I were to get in a fight." Masakatsu said still not sure if he should be asking that of Kazuki.
"Masakatsu-sensei, are you sure it's okay for Kazuki to go?" Ayaka asked looking over at Masakatsu.
"Yeah, he should be able to handle the fight… probably." Masakatsu said nearly certain Kazuki could handle the level if fight Yuki was currently in the middle of.
"I understand, you want me to help Sensei, right?" Kazuki asked looking over at Masakatsu.
"But Kazuki…" Ayaka said worried and a little confused considering he was the one carrying her.
"Don't worry, it's not a problem. Masakatsu should be able to carry you, right?" Kazuki asked looking over at Masakatsu.
"Yes, I'll carry her. As long as Kazuki has that ninjaken and has his newly acquired abilities, he should be fine… as long as those enemies aren't S-class. I would ask Takeo to join you but he is badly injured as well." Masakatsu said looking at Takeo ahead of them.
"Leave it to me." Kazuki said confidently putting Ayaka on Masakatsu's back while turning to start walking off when he noticed a large dust cloud. "Masakatsu-sensei, look!" He stated while Masakatsu turned and saw it.
"A dust cloud…?" Ayaka asked looking at it a little surprised.
"Yeah, it looks like someone is showing off over there." Masakatsu said starting to get a bad feeling.
"I better hurry up then. We'll catch up shortly, take care of Ayaka." Kazuki said before rushing towards the dust cloud.
"You got it kid, do your best!" Masakatsu shouted watching Kazuki vanish.
"Masakatsu-sensei, do you think he's ready? I mean you said it as though there were more than one person fighting Yuki-sensei and they don't sound like pushovers." Ayaka said worried as Masakatsu turned around to continue following Takeo and Kosuke.
"Yeah, there's at least two. They seem to be around A or S-class so he'll have a hard fight but the kid should be able to survive with Yuki there to back him up. Plus the kid as that ninjaken with him that acts as a wild card." Masakatsu said confident in his decision.
"I hope so…" Ayaka said still worried.
"Hmm? Where's the idiot?" Takeo asked looking back to see Kazuki had vanished.
"Yeah, I don't see him anywhere." Kosuke said looking around.
"He said he was going to do something and to go on without him. I'll be carrying Ayaka until he returns." Masakatsu said making up an excuse.
"Is that so? It figures he would do something stupid at a time like this." Takeo said suspicious of what Masakatsu said.
Author Notes:
There were a few issues that lead to the delay of this chapter but it's out now, a little different from the original ending to the chapter but this is what I came up with after having to rewrite some of it.
-Steve Masters