Dare to Strike Back

A point of white light shot out as the blade of the Kusanagi Sword rapidly extended. The tip thrust toward the center of Yura's brow like a bolt of white lightning, passing through her forehead without the slightest resistance.

It was an afterimage!

In that instant, time seemed to slow. Hui Shiliu's pupils trembled as he looked down to see Yura crouching with her blade held low. Beneath her hem, the muscles in her thighs tensed, her toes digging into the floor...

Damn it...

The Kusanagi Sword was still rapidly extending. At this juncture, there was no time to swing the blade to change tactics or defend. The longer the blade, the harder it was to control, and since the Kusanagi Sword could not bend or change direction, its path was far too rigid.

The Kusanagi Sword was only suited for a surprise thrust; once the initial strike failed to secure victory, it left behind a fatal opening.

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

Making a split-second decision, Hui Shiliu released his grip on the Kusanagi Sword and reached for the second blade at his waist...

Just then, Yura pushed off the ground and leaped.

Refining and gathering chakra, she concentrated it into the tips of her toes, released it, and exploded forward. Combined with the spring of her knees, she surged across the floor like a phantom.

Kusanagi-style Body Flicker: Godspeed.

It was a taijutsu-based Body Flicker technique Yura had recently learned from the secret scrolls.

It utilized the muscles of the entire body and chakra, focusing all power into the "push" of the big toe.

Concentrating chakra to this degree was an incredibly difficult technique, but Yura's entire body was saturated with demon energy. That level of chunin-grade chakra could flow freely under the guidance of her demonic power.

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

At this moment, Hui Shiliu's eyes widened, and he felt a desolate, crimson blade-light flash before his vision.

Life and death... had been decided.

Hui Shiliu opened his mouth, and as his blood pressure plummeted, blood surged up his throat and sprayed out. He wanted to say something, but only a painful choke remained in his throat. His vision began to blacken. A slash across his chest, stretching from his left shoulder to his right hip, slowly bloomed as flesh and bone parted...

Before him, the crouching Yura stood up, turned her back to Hui Shiliu, and flicked the blood from her blade. Rows of blood droplets splattered against the pristine paper door, a shocking sight.

Behind her, Hui Shiliu's upper and lower body slowly slid apart, and the dull thud of the Kusanagi Sword hitting the floor echoed through the room.

Yura sheathed her blade.

With one hand on the hilt, Yura let out a soft chuckle.

Outside the paper door, the red light of the courtyard flickered. Accompanied by the sound of rushing wind, ninjas arrived via Body Flicker. Dark shadows cast by the firelight stretched across the paper doors. As sharp whistles pierced the air, a wave of malice washed over the room.

In the courtyard, numerous Kusanagi Clan ninjas drew their blades, their eyes filled with murderous intent as they stared at the striking bloodstains on the paper door.

"You..." With his final breath, Hui Shiliu struggled to choke out, "You..." His eyes burned with frantic killing intent. Using his last ounce of strength, he held his remaining hand in a sword-finger gesture. On the tatami, the Kusanagi Sword, having been controlled to retract to its original length, trembled and slowly rose from the floor.

However, before it could rise even an inch, a small, bare foot stepped down, pinning it firmly to the ground.

Hui Shiliu's wide eyes were filled with unwillingness. Coughing up blood, he stared fixedly at Yura's back.

This time, it was his turn to look up from below.

The other party did not look back, as indifferent as if she had just crushed an ant.

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

Kneeling in the corner, Shin-getsu did not dare to let out a single breath. His original plan had been to use the power of the Hero Clan's young master to seize the Kusanagi Clan's secret scrolls and the Kusanagi Sword, but he hadn't expected a star of misfortune to intervene. Now, he had fallen into the other party's hands, his life and death no longer his own.

Yura lowered her head, looking at the Sky Tachi that had fallen completely silent on the ground.

This blade's function overlapped with her own hair, and it was far less useful. Now that she had Onikiri, it was utterly useless to her; it was better to put the waste to good use.

With a tap of her foot, the Kusanagi Sword vibrated and rose into the air with a dull thud. Yura kicked it, the blade sliding smoothly against her foot. With a crisp chime, the Kusanagi Sword spun through the air toward Shin-getsu.

Raising his hand, Shin-getsu caught the Kusanagi Sword and looked at Yura in confusion.

A subordinate, naturally, had to be managed with both a stick and a carrot.

"Go," Yura said. "Bring me the secret scrolls and the summoning scrolls. It shall belong to you."

Shin-getsu lowered his head, naturally dropping to one knee. "Ha!" he replied.

Yura turned her head to look at the ninjas gathered outside the paper door. Behind her, her hair grew wildly, twisting and deforming into a reaping scythe.

The scene was deathly silent. Without orders from their clan head, the ninjas did not dare to act rashly. They gathered in the courtyard, waiting for the situation to unfold.

Then, death arrived without warning.

First, the doors split open abruptly before their eyes. The ninjas' pupils contracted in unison; their brains realized the danger, but their bodies were too slow to react.

An invisible blade swept across the courtyard. In that instant, the dozens of sword-wielding ninjas gathered there were sliced in two. With disbelief and horror lingering in their eyes, a massive spray of blood erupted from them all at once.

In the blink of an eye, the scene turned into an Asura hell. The waist-severed ninjas collapsed, the ground filled with separated bodies and cries of painful despair.

The ninjas standing on the surrounding walls, rockeries, and roofs watched this bloody scene, their pupils shrinking as horror took hold.

The next second, accompanied by sharp screams, one ninja was suddenly pulled from the wall, his entire body suspended as if hung in mid-air. In the dark, cavernous space, the torchlight flickered. A hole suddenly appeared in the abdomen of the ninja hanging in the air, blood and viscera spilling out as he fell, weightless, while screaming.

Following that, a second ninja was lifted from the ground, then a third...

Only then did they seem to wake from a nightmare, their shrill wails tearing through the air.

"Enemy attack—!!"

Yura stepped out from the room, her scarlet eyes scanning the surroundings. Watching the ninjas moving rapidly through the darkness and firelight, she rubbed her forehead in annoyance.

How long is this going to take to hack through?

Forget it...

I'll just hack away slowly; I'll treat it as sword practice.

Besides, I've long since grown accustomed to hacking people apart.

It's only a few hundred people; it'll be over soon.

Amidst the whistling of the air, projectile-style shuriken shot forth, landing around Yura. With a series of crisp clangs, they struck the empty space around her before falling powerlessly to the ground.

Yura brushed back her hair, strands of eerie blue flame igniting and coiling between the locks. She turned her head, her scarlet eyes fixed on the several ninjas who had thrown the shuriken.

Hellish screams echoed all around. As they locked eyes with this hellish girl, the ninjas swallowed their fear, their hands trembling slightly.

In an instant, a sudden, explosive fire roared to life. Behind Yura, the grand, imposing mansion turned into a burning torch in a heartbeat, dispelling the surrounding darkness and illuminating the area. The firelight danced wildly like a specter across Yura's face and body, scarlet embers swirling like a sky full of Fire Fly.

Yura smiled faintly, watching the ninjas who had attempted the sneak attack.

"You, do you want to try dying once?"

Her entire body hovered off the ground, eight hair-limbs bracing against the earth. Her scarlet eyes scanned the area, spotting a ninja in the middle of forming hand seals.

Not only are you not resisting, you actually dare to strike back? You're the one.

Her hovering body sank slightly, and in the next second, her figure vanished into thin air before the eyes of the ninjas.

Black Secret Technique. Outer Style. Godspeed.

Eight limbs exerted force, eight cylinders ignited.

Suddenly, a dying scream erupted. When they looked over, their eyes could only capture a fleeting black shadow and a corpse that had been sliced into pieces and fell from mid-air in an instant.

"Ahhhhhhh--!!!"

In the eyes of the crowd, terror and despair surged.