Ririko quickly turned sideways as the wooden staff came down, dodging it.
The man checked his swing, then swept the staff sideways. It brushed past the hem of her clothes.
She dodged again.
The man picked up speed, attacking in quick succession. His staff blurred, but every strike missed a split second before it could touch her.
Yet Ririko always managed to move behind him the instant he attacked.
After several rounds, the man was breathing a little hard. Standing two steps behind him, Ririko said, "Hit yourself in the head with the staff."
The man paused for an instant. Then he raised his hand and actually struck himself in the head with the wooden staff-
His body swayed, and he collapsed to the ground.
Ra's al Ghul stood at the edge of the training area, watching the fallen League of Shadows member in silence for several seconds.
He had seen countless ways of fighting, but he had never seen anyone make an opponent knock himself out.
He looked at Ririko, trying to understand something beyond his experience. "How exactly did you learn that?"
Ririko planted the wooden staff against the ground and said calmly, "He likes beating himself up. There's nothing I can do about that."
Over the past few days, she had realized that getting beaten up nonstop wasn't a solution.
But she firmly believed that in Gotham, trouble couldn't catch her as long as she ran fast enough.
So she had coaxed Talia into teaching her the League of Shadows' lightning-fast evasive footwork.
It didn't require much physical strength or getting beaten up, and it was both easy to practice and practical.
She had picked it up quickly. As long as she could get behind an enemy and control them with Prophecy, she had a strategy that