The stone steps along the mountain path at Ryudou Temple were utterly devastated. They looked as though they'd been subjected to countless artillery barrages. It was hard to imagine that this scene had been created by just two people fighting.
The trees lining the steps were either snapped in two or uprooted, with only a few broken branches still clinging to their ruined trunks.
The wind howled past, sending dead leaves scattering through the air as if they were trying to flee this dreadful place at once.
Sasaki Kojiro and Sasuke stood on the stone steps at Ryudou Temple, one above the other.
Their battle had been so fierce that clouds of dust still lingered in the air, yet neither of them had a speck of dust on his clothes.
At most, Sasaki could force Sasuke down to the next landing. If they fought on the same landing, the situation would become impossible to control.
They both knew that the other's swordsmanship was superb.
Sasuke in particular had gained a great deal from these exchanges.
In pure swordsmanship, Sasaki Kojiro could suppress Sasuke by taking advantage of the terrain, but that was all.
Since neither could defeat the other with conventional swordsmanship, their decisive battle was about to begin.
But before that, Sasaki Kojiro still had something he wanted to say to Sasuke from the heart.
Sasaki Kojiro walked slowly down the steps, holding his sword in one hand. His expression was calm, with a hint of self-mockery.
"I had no reason to fight in the first place."
"Nor did I have the honor of a Heroic Spirit, or any wish I ought to pursue."
"If you ask why, it's because this body isn't truly Sasaki Kojiro..."
Sasaki Kojiro let out a rueful smile. Looking down at Sasuke, he continued:
"Certainly, Sasaki Kojiro once existed."
"A swordsman who wielded a Nodachi called Monohoshizao must have existed, too."
"However, they weren't one and the same."
"I was merely a swordsman who was passed down through word of mouth to serve as a foil for a certain master swordsman."
"The swordsman named Sasaki Kojiro."
"Was a fictional figure who never existed."
"I'm merely the swordsman best suited to bear the name Sasaki Kojiro."
"I have no name of my own."
"I was summoned as a wraith simply because I could perform the secret technique attributed to Sasaki Kojiro in the records."
At this, Sasaki Kojiro's expression grew somewhat melancholy.
"So there was never any meaning to it."
"For someone as empty as me, nothing has any meaning."
"But even for someone like me, if there's one thing that means something..."
"It's this moment."
"I have no regrets after fighting you this far."
As he finished speaking, Sasaki Kojiro had reached the same landing as Sasuke. His melancholy expression had turned resolute.
Even Sasuke was moved by Sasaki Kojiro's words, but his expression remained indifferent as he looked at him without replying.
"Even now, at the very end, do you have nothing to say to me?"
As he spoke, Sasaki Kojiro slowly lowered his stance and gripped the hilt with both hands, pointing the blade straight at Sasuke.
At the same time, Sasaki Kojiro could sense that the fox woman inside the temple might be in a difficult position. After all, she had withdrawn the support Magecraft she'd been using on him.
But that didn't stop Sasaki Kojiro from using his secret technique.
Sasuke watched Sasaki Kojiro without raising a guard, but the Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes made his intentions clear.
Understanding, Sasaki Kojiro's lips curled slightly. He gripped the hilt with both hands, and an overwhelmingly powerful aura burst from him.
As Sasaki Kojiro's formidable aura spread, the air around them seemed to freeze. Once again, he confidently announced his secret technique:
"Secret sword—"
"Tsubame Gaeshi."
Sasaki Kojiro lunged at Sasuke with his sword. In an instant, three incredibly keen arcs of light spiraled toward Sasuke's vital points!
The sword flashes blurred like shadows, and space itself seemed to fold!
[Susanoo]
At the same moment, Sasuke instantly activated Susanoo's second form.
In a flash, Susanoo's purple bones creaked as they enclosed Sasuke, protecting him. Then, on top of its skeletal frame, muscles and sinews filled in, and clothing made of magical energy covered its body.
Susanoo's once-empty eyes lit up completely. Its gaze blazed like torches, making it look like a divine being!
Accompanied by the piercing ring of Sasaki Kojiro's blade cutting through the air, all three strikes landed on Sasuke's Susanoo.
Sasaki Kojiro's Tsubame Gaeshi, unsupported by powerful magical energy, failed to pierce Sasuke's Susanoo.
The three strikes cut through Susanoo's outer garment.
But that was all. Sasuke hadn't been hurt in the slightest.
Still, Sasuke knew full well that the moment he used Susanoo, he had already lost to Sasaki Kojiro.
Without Susanoo, Sasuke didn't think he could have dodged Sasaki Kojiro's Tsubame Gaeshi.
If circumstances allowed, Sasuke really would have liked to face the sword technique that could fold space head-on.
After all, the one standing here was only a Shadow Clone.
But the situation clearly didn't allow him to do that now.
Standing inside Susanoo, Sasuke fixed his Mangekyō Sharingan on Sasaki Kojiro.
[Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes]
With only a glance from Sasuke, Sasaki Kojiro froze in place.
It was a kind of Sharingan Genjutsu. The victim knew he had fallen under an illusion, yet couldn't move his body.
In this world, too, the uses and effects of illusions were much the same.
They worked by using magical energy to interfere with the opponent's five senses and disrupt his magical energy, trapping him in an illusion.
As an Assassin, Sasaki Kojiro had no Magic Resistance.
The Caster inside the temple was too occupied to dispel the effect for Sasaki Kojiro.
The next moment, Sasuke's Kusanagi Sword pierced straight through Sasaki Kojiro's heart, while also dispelling the Genjutsu cast on him.
Sasaki Kojiro didn't seem surprised by this outcome at all. Instead, he smiled with a look of acceptance.
"Indeed, it seems I'm still lacking in every way..."
"I couldn't stay until the end and see your strongest form."
"That's truly one regret from this journey..."
Sasuke looked calmly at Sasaki Kojiro as he began to fade away.
"I have to admit, you're better than me at swordsmanship."
"I lost."
"But if fate brings us together again, I'll face your extraordinary swordsmanship head-on."
At that, Sasaki Kojiro slowly closed his eyes, his figure dispersing into the night wind.
Then Sasuke looked up toward Ryudou Temple. He could clearly sense violent fluctuations of magical energy inside.
The battle seemed to be raging fiercely.
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