"What's wrong?"
Chisen didn't answer. He just stared fixedly at Hamura Jaku.
Yet Hamura Jaku seemed to read something in that look, and the corners of his mouth slowly rose.
"You felt it too?" he said softly. "Good. That means the brand is still alive."
Shikamaru's expression changed sharply at those words.
"What brand?"
Hamura Jaku ignored him and kept his eyes on Chisen.
"So you still don't know," he said. "Even better. That should make things a little more interesting before you die."
Chisen tightened his grip on his sword.
Before Hamura Jaku had finished speaking, Chisen moved.
Swordlight flashed through the night, thin as a cold line forcibly cleaved apart.
Hamura Jaku retreated half a step and swept his slender sword sideways. Its edge slid along the back of Chisen's blade with a faint clang. Sparks burst between them, then scattered in the wind blowing across the wet slope.
"Getting impatient?" Hamura Jaku smiled.
Chisen lowered his blade. His second strike was faster than the first.
"Shut up."
Hamura Jaku was forced back two steps, his boot soles sinking into shallow water. Water splashed, but he stayed composed. He turned his wrist, refusing to meet the strike head-on. His slender sword slipped inward along Chisen's blade like a cold, sinister snake, stabbing straight at Chisen's left ribs.
Shikamaru's shadow was already creeping in from the side.
"Chisen, don't chase him too far!"
The corner of Hamura Jaku's eye twitched.
"Water Ruler."
The pooled water on the left suddenly dipped.
For an instant, reflections on the water broke up the advancing shadow. Water Ruler slid out from below the slope in a low crouch and pressed two fingers to the ground. Several threads of water swept sideways like thin rulers, interrupting Shikamaru's shadow for a beat.
Shikamaru clicked his