Daring to Strike Back

A glint of white shot forward. The Kusanagi Sword's blade rapidly extended, its tip driving toward Yura's brow. Like a streak of white lightning, it passed straight through her forehead without resistance.

It was an afterimage!

In that instant, time seemed to slow. Hui Shiliu's eyes trembled as they shifted downward, fixing on Yura crouched with her blade in hand. Beneath her hem, the muscles in her thighs tensed as she dug in her toes...

This was bad...

The Kusanagi Sword was still rapidly extending. At this point, it was already too late to change his move and defend with the blade. The longer the sword, the harder it was to control when swinging, and the Kusanagi Sword's blade couldn't bend or change direction. Its course was rigid.

The Kusanagi Sword was only suited for thrusting attacks and ambushes. If a single strike failed to hit its mark, it left a fatal opening.

A duel between swordsmen was a contest of skill and strength, mind and body.

Without hesitation, Hui Shiliu released the Kusanagi Sword and reached for the second sword at his waist...

At that very moment, Yura pushed off the ground and sprang forward.

She gathered and concentrated chakra at the tips of her toes, then released it in an explosive burst, combining it with the spring of her knees. She shot low across the ground like a phantom.

Kusanagi Style Body Flicker Technique: Godspeed

It was a taijutsu-type Body Flicker Technique Yura had only recently learned from a secret scroll.

It used the muscles and chakra throughout the body to concentrate power at the big toe, then push off the ground.

Concentrating chakra to this degree was an extremely difficult technique. But Yura's entire body was filled with demonic power, and the small amount of chakra she had, barely at Chunin level, could flow freely under its guidance.

In the blink of an eye—no, in less than the time it took to blink—Yura's figure suddenly appeared before him.

At that moment, Hui Shiliu's eyes widened. He saw only a beautiful, blood-red flash of a blade streak across his vision.

Life and death... had been decided.

Hui Shiliu opened his mouth. His blood pressure faltered, and blood surged up his throat and sprayed from his mouth. He wanted to say something, but only a pained, choked sound escaped. His vision darkened in waves. A slash across his chest, from his left shoulder to his right hip, slowly split flesh from bone...

Before him, Yura rose from her crouch and turned her back to Hui Shiliu, flicking the blood from her blade. Rows of blood droplets spattered across the pristine paper door, a shocking sight.

Behind her, Hui Shiliu's upper and lower halves slowly slid apart. The Kusanagi Sword clattered heavily to the ground.

Yura sheathed her blade.

One hand resting on the hilt, Yura gave a soft laugh.

Outside the paper door, the garden's red light flickered. Amid a series of whooshes, ninjas arrived using Body Flicker. Their dark silhouettes, backlit by the fire, stretched across the paper door. As shrill whistles rang out, malice washed over them.

In the garden, many Kusanagi Clan ninjas drew their Ninja Blades, their eyes brimming with murderous intent as they stared at the conspicuous bloodstains on the paper door.

"You..." With only his last breath left, Hui Shiliu struggled to speak. "You..." His eyes glinted with frenzied hatred. Summoning the last of his strength, he joined the fingers of his remaining right hand to form a sword sign. On the tatami, the Kusanagi Sword, which had retracted to its original length under his control, trembled and slowly rose from the ground.

But it had barely lifted a few inches when a bare little foot came down, pinning it firmly to the floor.

Hui Shiliu's wide eyes were full of resentment. He coughed up blood and glared at Yura's back.

This time, he was the one looking up at her.

She didn't even look back. She was as indifferent as if she'd casually crushed an ant.

His vision gradually blurred, until the world plunged into darkness.

Kneeling in the corner, Shin-getsu didn't dare make a sound. He'd planned to use the power of the Hero Clan's young clan leader to seize the Kusanagi Clan's secret scroll and Kusanagi Sword. But he hadn't expected a demon to appear out of nowhere, and now he'd fallen into her hands too, with his life no longer his own.

Yura lowered her head and looked at the Sky Tachi lying completely still on the ground.

Its function overlapped with her hair, and it was nowhere near as useful. Now that she already had Onikiri, the sword was nothing but junk to her. She might as well put it to use.

She stomped the ground. With a muffled thud, the Kusanagi Sword shot up. Yura immediately kicked it, her foot gliding smoothly against the blade. With a crisp clang, the sword spun through the air toward Shin-getsu.

He raised his hand and caught the Kusanagi Sword, looking at Yura in confusion.

A subordinate needed both a warning and a reward, after all.

"Go bring me the secret scroll and the Summoning Scroll," Yura said. "The sword is yours."

Shin-getsu lowered his head and naturally dropped to one knee. "Yes!"

Yura turned to look outside the paper door at the ninjas who had gathered. Behind her, her hair grew wildly, writhing and twisting into reaping sickles.

The scene was as silent as death. Without the clan head's orders, the ninjas didn't dare act on their own. They stood all around the garden, waiting to see what would happen next.

Then death arrived without warning.

First, the doors suddenly split apart before their eyes. The ninjas' eyes contracted in unison. Their minds registered the danger, but their bodies were already too slow to react.

An invisible blade swept across the garden entrance. In an instant, dozens of armed ninjas gathered in the garden were sliced in half. Disbelief and horror remained in their eyes as great sprays of blood burst forth all at once.

In the blink of an eye, the scene became a living hell. The bisected ninjas fell to the ground, their severed bodies covering the floor as their cries of pain and despair rang out.

The ninjas standing on the walls, atop the artificial hills, and on the roof tiles stared at the bloody scene before them. Their pupils contracted, horror spreading across their faces.

The next second, amid a sudden scream, one ninja abruptly left the wall and shot into the air as if hoisted up. In the dim underground passage, torchlight flickered. A hole suddenly opened in the suspended ninja's abdomen, and blood mixed with entrails trickled out before he screamed and dropped helplessly to the ground.

Then a second ninja rose into the air, followed by a third...

Only then did they seem to awaken from some kind of nightmare. A piercing howl tore through the air.

"Enemy attack—!!"

Yura stepped out of the room and swept her scarlet eyes over the ninjas rushing toward her through the darkness and firelight. She rubbed her forehead, looking troubled.

How long was this going to take?

Whatever...

She'd just keep cutting them down. She could treat it as sword practice.

She was used to cutting people down anyway.

It was only a few hundred people. It wouldn't take long.

Amid sharp whistles, rod-shaped Shuriken shot toward her and landed all around. With a series of crisp clanging sounds, they fell helplessly to the ground in the air surrounding her.

Yura flicked her hair. Wisps of eerie blue flame kindled and wound through her strands. She turned her head and looked at the several ninjas who had thrown the Shuriken, her scarlet eyes fixed on them.

Hellish screams echoed all around. Meeting her gaze, the ninjas swallowed in fear, their hands trembling as they stared at the hellish girl.

In an instant, a great fire suddenly blazed to life. Behind Yura, the grand mansion became a burning torch, driving away the darkness and lighting up the surroundings. The flames danced like demons across Yura's face and body, while scarlet sparks fluttered through the air like countless Fire Flies.

Yura smiled faintly at the ninja who had ambushed her.

"You want to try dying once?"

Her body floated off the ground. Eight hair-legs braced against the earth as her scarlet eyes swept over the scene, settling on a ninja forming Hand Seals.

Not only did he refuse to resist, he even dared to strike back. You're the one.

Her floating body sank slightly. The next second, her figure suddenly vanished from the ninjas' sight.

Black Secret Technique: Outer Form: Godspeed

Her eight legs pushed off, and all eight tanks fired.

A dying scream suddenly rang out. When they looked over, their eyes caught only a flash of black, and a body that had been instantly cut to pieces as it fell from the air.

"Ahhhhhh—!!!"

Terror and despair surged through everyone's eyes.