"You can stay here. I still have debts to settle with you."
"Modifying weapons, huh... Using you as a blood sacrifice for my ' Kousetsu ' seems like a good idea..."
Izou behind Dotya drew his sword, but sensing something, he viciously swung it behind him.
Suddenly, the two longswords clashed violently, unleashing an extremely powerful surge of energy.
Just now, Akame had concealed her presence and launched a sword-drawing slash at Izou.
" Shinsai School... is that a Western-style swordsmanship...?"
With his Izou closed and a reed dangling from his mouth, he appeared utterly intimidating, exuding a calm and collected demeanor.
However, the force of the sword in his hand was unbelievably heavy, which Akame found hard to believe.
"This man..."
Akame had already used almost all her strength; facing this man, her sword-drawing slash had shown no mercy.
However, Izou's strength was truly astonishing. He seemed to possess a very high level of sword-wielding skill, able to unleash a sword technique that could deflect a thousand pounds with a mere touch.
"I don't understand Shinsai School..."
Akame spoke, seeing that her strength was about to be overwhelmed by Izou's powerful slash, she quickly withdrew her sword and turned her body to the side.
Then, Akame changed direction and unleashed a swift three-hit combo towards Izou's side.
Izou didn't even glance at it; he simply closed his eyes and blocked the three sword strikes horizontally, easily intercepting them.
By this point in the battle, Akame had realized that the man before her was not a professional assassin.
He was a true swordsman, the kind who had been obsessed with knife skills and killing techniques since childhood and was extremely familiar with his preferred sword techniques.
"The voice is coming from the left... It seems to be a right-handed person, no, I should say right-handed people are the majority."
Izou analyzed the situation quietly, but there was no one behind him.
Syura and Dotya, who were just behind him, seemed to have already fought the white-haired woman Najenda Najshitan, leaving only three people on his side.
One is Akame, one is herself, and the other is...
"Hey, come out here, kid!"
"?!"
Akame looked behind her in surprise. Tatsumi, who had been using his armor to become invisible, hadn't even appeared yet, so why could Izou sense him?!
Just then, Tatsumi revealed himself and unleashed his signature Rider Kick at Izou.
The power of his heel is three times that of his fist, and coupled with the astonishing power granted by the ' Teigu: Demon Incursion ' armor, Tatsumi's attack was extraordinary.
Sensing the newcomer's hostile Izou adopted a serious expression. He held his sword with both hands, backs of the blades facing him, and used almost all his strength to defend against Tatsumi's attack.
In an instant, the earth shook violently, Izou were crushed and cracked by the impact.
Akame seized the opportunity Izou's defensive lapse, sprinting a great distance in a few strides and arriving before Izou in no time, thrusting straight at his vital points.
Although the speed was already extremely fast, Izou dodged it with the Japan footwork of a Japanese swordsman. Tatsumi, having lost his obstruction, landed on the ground, creating a large cloud of dust.
Akame's slash missed, while Izou turned his body back to its upright position after being twisted by the force. His powerful physical techniques seemed to incorporate many of the fighting philosophies of jujitsu.
"As expected... there are two offerings, hehe... my ' Kousetsu ' will be very satisfied today!"
Suddenly, a smile appeared on Izou impassive expression. The smile was wild and wicked, like a demon who hadn't drunk human blood in a long time and was eagerly waiting to have his first taste of meat.
From the beginning, Izou seemed to have been only checking the quality of his 'sacrifice', and it wasn't until Tatsumi's attack that Izou realized that the two sacrifices this time were truly excellent.
"Damn it... this man, is he really not Teigu?"
Tatsumi returned to normal from his stealth state; their battle plan had been very clear from the beginning.
Akame, as the vanguard, took the lead in meeting the attack of the ' Wild Hunt ' members, while Tatsumi activated his ' Demon Incursion ' stealth ability from the side, successfully launching a sneak attack.
Unexpectedly, this man named Izou was able to analyze his opponent's location based solely on intuition and judgment of killing intent, and then use simple swordsmanship to severely suppress his opponent's Teigu.
His power far exceeded the imagination of Akame and Tatsumi.
However, even so, Akame still has a chance of winning.
Because of the power of her Teigu 'Demon Sword Murasame ', she didn't even have to unleash it.
To try and fight Teigu head-on with one's bare body is child's play. Even if this man is strong enough to match him, with Tatsumi by his side, he would be helpless.
Just as Akame was thinking this, Izou slowly spoke.
"I know your Shinsai School swordsmanship all too well, do you know why, little girl?"
Akame gripped Murasame tightly. She didn't understand Shinsai School, nor did she want to discuss swordsmanship theories with this man.
I don't want to waste my breath on you.
Akame stepped forward and unleashed three sharp slashes. The speed of his swordsmanship was unparalleled, far surpassing even Tatsumi's, yet it remained the same as before.
Izou didn't even glance at it; he simply used muscle memory to block three attacks out of thin air, intercepting all three strikes.
This was the first time Akame had ever had her sword techniques blocked so repeatedly. She stared at Izou in astonishment, wondering who this man was.
"Speaking of the Shinsai School, there is a very famous man in the West, his name is— Gozuki."
Izou easily blocked Akame's precise series of attacks, then laughed incessantly.
" Gozuki..."
Gozuki was the one who brought Akame into the assassination squad, a Akame.
Within the assassination squad, the Akame and Kurome sisters are subjected to relentless, brainwashing-like assassination training, molded into the cold-blooded, ruthless killing machines the empire desperately needs.
Hearing this name stirred up a storm of emotions within Akame, but she quickly forgot about it.
Because if her mind is disturbed, Akame cannot unleash the one-hit kill power of the 'Demon Sword Murasame ', which is a characteristic of the Teigu Murasame.
"The so-called Shinsai School is about emptying the body and mind, and focusing all your energy on swordsmanship. Sounds like a pretty good theory, doesn't it?"
Izou laughed loudly, dodging all of Akame's slashes, and then suddenly swung his sword, which pierced Akame's side abdomen.
"But did you know that the birthplace of Shinsai School is actually Japan!"