As they continued to walk, Miryu began to feel the pain of her wounds, but when a huge branch was flung at her direction out of a sudden, she realized that her hearing had been messed up by the explosion before. Her sapphire eyes then widened as the large object got closer to her, but suddenly, all went black and she could see again, with Kenshin next to her. "Are you alright?" he asked her, sword in hand. Apparently, he was unharmed, but when another branch was flung towards them, she quickly pushed him away.
"Now we are even, Kenshin", she replied, and turned to face their unseen enemies. A black-clad ninja atop the trees, one holding a large axe came into view, and she gritted her teeth. If the circumstances were different, she could have killed them both easily. But not now, where her ability to judge direction by sound had been disabled. Kenshin's predicament was the same as hers, and she knew very well that they were in a huge disadvantage.
The ninja laughed as they both got into the stance of Battou-justu, readying themselves for their attack. "The two of you have already lost your senses of intuition and hearing; do you still think that you can defeat us?" Jest was clearly set in his voice, but Kenshin seemed untroubled. He remained as he was, bracing himself for the attack that was to come.
"I have said it many times", he said, feeling anger raging in his very veins. "It matters not to me!" Thus, the ninja bearing the axe rushed forward and cut four trees in half, throwing towards Kenshin and Miryu, who cut them up with ease, for they still had their sight and their strength. However, their enemy knew that it would not be long for those abilities to be taken away. However, the two warriors of the Ishin-Ishishi were not afraid, for they knew that they would be invincible if they fought together, the heirs of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Style.
But, things were not as easy as they seemed. Another ninja came along, armed with steel claws as long as their katana were. "We have the sight of the creatures of flight; it is more than enough when compared to intuition and hearing!" Miryu exclaimed, cutting down yet another branch being hurled at her, the bell tinkling as she moved her katana.
"But what happens if two creatures of flight attack simultaneously?" asked the steel-clawed ninja. Kenshin rolled his violet eyes, and said,
"Then our time to be used on hunting you will be saved!"
However, the ninja fled deeper into the forest, felling more and more trees as they did so. Miryu had gotten tired with the chase, but she knew that nothing could be forced from its course. Every teaching that Hiko had passed onto her suddenly surfaced into her mind, but most of all was the stories of her mother that he had told her when she was younger. Ryumiko would never try to rush anything, no matter how she disliked doing it in the first place. This applies in life, and when facing your enemies, Miryu, always remember this, Hiko once told her when she tried to improve faster on a certain skill, only to get her own self badly injured.
Just then, the one with the claws saw the clear space above Kenshin's head and stabbed downward, missing his neck by mere inches. Another tree-trunk was thrown at them, but Miryu successfully cut it down, while Kenshin cut off the legs of the axe-bearer. He slumped against a tree, not knowing that the clawed-one was directly above him. Miryu could only stare in shock when he stabbed Kenshin in the shoulder. "You flit around like a bat…" Kenshin said as he stabbed his opponent with his wakizashi, pinning him onto the nearby tree. "Nevertheless, I will kill you in a minute…"
The clawed-one looked at Kenshin, and then at Miryu, who was closing in for the kill. Desperately trying to remove the weapon from his palm, but with no avail, he exclaimed, "Damn it, I cannot get it out!"
"You… you are the one who hides and attacks in the shadows…" Miryu said. Her sapphire eyes were now shrouded with amber. Anger, only anger was in those beautiful orbs. In his fear of her, the clawed-one murmured the name of her late-mother, and she smirked while he pulled out the sword from his palm and shouted,
"This body is the legacy of the Yatsume clan, never to be seen by the world. Yet, you wretches have seen me! It may be the law of our family to kill all who sees as, but I will let this rest… Remember that I will kill you, both of you, one day!"