Casualties

After briefly sizing up the newcomer, Ringo Ameyuri said with a playful smile, "So you're a brat from the Hyuga Clan! Hahaha... How interesting."

Shiranui Genma, who had been kicked away, slowly pulled himself back to his feet using the railing. There was a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away and coughed softly twice.

Then Genma reached into his ninja tool pouch, took out a senbon, and held it between his teeth. His expression grave, he said to Kamizuki, "She's no ordinary opponent. She's one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, wielder of the Lightning Blade. And there's something strange about her body, too. Be careful..."

Before Genma could say more, Ringo Ameyuri suddenly raised the twin swords in her hands and crossed them. Sparks of lightning crackled along the blades as she called out, "Lightning Blade Technique: Falling Thunder!"

The arcs of lightning leaped off the blades in an instant and shot straight toward Kamizuki and Genma, cutting off their escape routes on both sides.

Kamizuki quickly surveyed his surroundings. Dodging would be difficult, especially with the injured Genma beside him. Without hesitation, he used "Gentle Fist: Kaiten," spinning to deflect the incoming lightning.

As soon as Kamizuki had knocked the lightning aside and stopped spinning, Ringo Ameyuri flashed to a spot just in front of him and swung one of her blades down at him.

Kamizuki held up a kunai and firmly blocked the strike. Then he turned and delivered a spinning kick at Ringo Ameyuri.

Ringo Ameyuri reacted just as quickly. She raised the Lightning Blade in her left hand to block Kamizuki's kick, then darted away to put some distance between them.

She stopped about ten meters away and smiled at Kamizuki. "The most delicious morsels should be saved for last!"

With that, she darted away.

Kamizuki didn't understand what Ringo Ameyuri meant. Seeing her flee, he made no attempt to pursue her. Their first priority was protecting the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves.

Watching Ringo Ameyuri disappear toward the bow, Kamizuki couldn't understand what she had come for. Hadn't she come to assassinate or capture the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves?

Kamizuki shook his muddled thoughts away. There was no point dwelling on what he couldn't figure out. He helped the injured Genma into the Feudal Lord's cabin, then dragged the trembling lord out from under the bed and comforted him until he came out of his state of extreme terror.

Kamizuki had just finished calming the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves and was about to sit down and rest when a woman's anguished cry suddenly rang out from the direction of the bow.

The cry jolted Kamizuki and Genma to attention. The Feudal Lord, whom Kamizuki had just calmed down, scrambled back under the bed.

Kamizuki and Genma exchanged a glance. Genma gestured for Kamizuki to go check outside. Kamizuki nodded, darted out of the cabin, and headed for the bow.

It took Kamizuki less than a minute to reach the bow. There, on the deck, he saw the three enemies he had captured lying dead in pools of blood.

In the middle of the deck, Sakura Mangetsu sat on her knees, covered in blood, cradling a limp body in her arms.

As Kamizuki drew closer, he saw Sakura Mangetsu's bloodstained face. She was silently sobbing. He shifted his gaze to the person in her arms.

It was none other than Kato Taichi, their teammate. A hole of moderate size gaped in Taichi's chest, its edges scorched by electricity. There wasn't a drop of blood around the wound.

At a glance, Kamizuki could tell there was no saving Taichi. He was dead.

Kamizuki crouched in front of Mangetsu and silently looked at Taichi in her arms, his face betraying no emotion. Mangetsu held Taichi and wept soundlessly, letting her tears fall one by one onto his slightly chilled face.

The two of them sat watching as Taichi lay quietly in Mangetsu's arms, without a trace of life.

About fifteen minutes later, Sakura Mangetsu finally managed to steady herself. She looked at Kamizuki and wiped the tears from her face.

Only then did she begin to tell him what had happened after he left.

From Mangetsu's account, Kamizuki learned what had taken place:

After Kamizuki went to the lord's cabin, Mangetsu and Taichi sat on the deck and rested briefly. Then they tied up the three enemies whose chakra pathways Kamizuki had sealed.

Just as they were about to take the three enemies to an empty cabin and keep them there,

they were leading the three prisoners toward the empty cabin.

Suddenly, a woman wielding twin swords leaped down from the roof of the cabin. As she landed, her left hand and right hand moved in what seemed like slow motion. The three bound enemies sprayed blood and collapsed as her blades passed over them. (She had moved so fast that it looked like slow motion.)

The woman's appearance was so sudden, and her attack so swift, that she had cut down all three enemies in the blink of an eye.

Just as Taichi and Mangetsu began to react, Taichi saw a sharp blade hurtling toward Sakura Mangetsu. He didn't stop to think. As if his body had reacted on its own, he threw himself in front of Mangetsu and took the blade meant for her.

After doing all that, the twin-sword-wielding woman gave them a strange smile, then vanished without a word.

Hearing Mangetsu's account, Kamizuki felt a pang of guilt. Who else could the woman with the twin swords have been but Ringo Ameyuri, who had left after fighting him? He regretted not pursuing her then.