"Damn it!" one of the three survivors swore as he watched what was left of his companion collapse to the ground. He turned his head toward Takeshi, his voice warped by rage. "...You! You'll regret messing with us."
"Pfff…" Takeshi sighed loudly, holding his head. "...I'll regret this, I'll regret that just shut the hell up, man. You came all the way here with the sole purpose of killing me, and now that I've killed one of you, you're spouting this bullshit…"
"No point talking to him, man," another said, placing his right hand on the first one's shoulder. With his other hand, he grabbed a kunai. "...Guys, he's right. We're in a fucking war. We don't talk to the enemy we just get the job done. Alright, let's attack. Keep a close eye on the one with that shitty mirror."
"Okay,"
the other two replied in unison. He had to be the squad leader; he'd quickly assessed the situation objectively, allowing the team to avoid acting on emotion.
If they had rushed in headfirst, they would obviously have been killed.
'...That guy,' Takeshi thought, raising an eyebrow. 'He's going to give me a good fight.'
After the orders were given, they drew their weapons and took up combat stances. With the other guy dead, the duel was now even everyone had their own opponent.
"So, shall we get started?" Yoshiro sighed nonchalantly as he drew his katana, which crackled faintly.
In a tenth of a second, the three of them vanished, and the sound of clashing metal echoed through the forest.
"Die, asshole… I still have to deal with that other idiot who uses the mirror…" Yoshiro's opponent growled as his blade crashed against Yoshiro's. Even with a mask on, his anger was visible from miles away.
"...He pisses me off too, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you think I'm weaker than him, bastard," Yoshiro shot back, shoving him aside and following up with a horizontal slash aimed at his neck.
The man, agile, ducked at the last second and took advantage of the opening to sweep his opponent's legs. Yoshiro hadn't expected it; he stumbled back two awkward steps, creating some distance between himself and the sneaky rebel.
"...All talk, that's all you are!" the man spat as he rushed at Yoshiro, a vertical strike followed by a thrust.
Yoshiro blocked the first and leaned back to evade the second, but his enemy had no intention of giving him even a second to breathe.
[Suiton: Water Bullets]
Three water bullets shot straight at Yoshiro. He reacted instantly one vertical slash and two diagonal ones. Boosted by his Raiton, he executed the movements at terrifying speed, leaving afterimages in his wake.
"You want to play it like that… Fine, then we'll play it that way," Yoshiro murmured, his expression growing more severe.
He lunged forward, rapidly closing the distance, delivering a vertical strike from below. The man leaned to the side to dodge, but Yoshiro's attack stopped dead and abruptly changed direction, now aimed at his neck.
"Shit!" he cursed, hurriedly raising his katana in front of him to parry the blow.
Cling!
Sparks flew, followed by the crackling of lightning racing along both blades.
"Ah!" the rebel groaned as his arm went numb. Yoshiro had coated his blade with Raiton chakra, increasing its speed and causing numbness in his opponent.
On top of that, he was using Suiton, which put him in a pretty bad position. He quickly took three steps back, lowering his gaze to his still-numb arm.
"So, do you like my little surprise?" Yoshiro grinned, raising his katana and observing it calmly before looking back at his opponent. "I prepared it especially for you, asshole."
Yoshiro suddenly vanished, reappearing beside the man with his katana raised to strike his right shoulder.
[Multi Shadow Clone]
The guy hastily created a clone, which took the hit in his place and disappeared in a puff of smoke, allowing the man to conceal his counterattack a diagonal slash aimed at Yoshiro's torso.
Seeing the silver tip of the blade suddenly emerge from the smoke, Yoshiro raised his katana to block it, but felt a sudden sharp sting on his cheek.
He jumped back and ran his hand across it it was blood. He had blocked the attack, but the blade had still managed to graze his skin.
[Suiton: Water Prison]
the man shouted as he rapidly formed a series of hand seals. Suddenly, a massive amount of water rose up, trapping Yoshiro inside a large bubble of water. He didn't have time to react, and the next instant he was forced to hold his breath.
"Heh heh heh," the guy snickered, clearly pleased with his combo. "So, my surprise you like it, right?" he said, making circular motions with his wrist, trying to shake off the lingering numbness that bothered him.
"If you want to know the truth, you weren't half bad… If you'd been in our group, you would've gotten a pretty decent position," the man continued, watching Yoshiro floating inside the bubble.