Cutting Limbs

"First of all, you." Ed pointed at the man using Leonard's swords. "Those swords are crying for being carried by you. Unhand them." Being their creator, Ed could somehow feel his weapons' thoughts. It was similar to how he could feel Shusui's bloodlust. Although his other two weapons didn't exhibit such effects.

"You have to be kidding me! These weapons are the best I've ever used. I've never seen ones come close to their quality, except in the sect masters' hands!" The man laughed maniacally while gripping the swords hard.

"That wasn't a proposal." Ed released his killing intent, directing it at the man. Both of them, even though the second man wasn't targeted, got tense. They instinctively attacked Ed, who in return disappeared from in front of them.

"You'll need to wait for a little." Ed appeared behind the second man, knocking him down. Even though he could fly, it didn't help him much. Ed hit him with an immense force, so much that he felt like he hit the ground instantly.

"You bastard!" Ed's remaining opponent slashed at him. He was surprised to see Ed turn into a mist that disappeared upon being touched. Suddenly, multiple Eds surrounded the man. The man could tell that they were the same person, yet different. He couldn't see their faces even though he was looking at them. He slashed one of them, but the other one slashed at him. He had to repeat the same thing many times but soon felt like he was going crazy. The version of Ed started to laugh in a frightening way. The man acted like a madman before, but even he was getting scared due to this.

"Aaaaaaagh!" After a while, the man screamed and let out a Qi wave from his body. The version of Ed disappeared and only one remained. The one in front of him had his facial features, which relieved the man.

"You bastard what did you do to me?! And what's with those eyes?!!" The man questioned Ed after looking at his red eyes. Ed put the man under Genjutsu before he could even tell that Ed activated his Mangekyo Sharingan. On top of that, the man fought inside the Genjutsu for so long, but not even a second passed in real life. Not even the man who was sent spiraling down made it back to them yet.

"You sure like to speak a lot, don't you?" Ed provoked the man. The latter was incensed by rage and approached him in high speed.

"I won't allow you to swing Leonard's swords anymore." Suddenly, time seemed as if it slowed down. Ed activated his Shunpo, Spectral Shadow Steps, and Nen combo at full force. The man in front was as good as a statue. Shusui slashed in an arc, and a moment later, Ed was behind the man.

"Aaargh!!!" The man felt a sharp pain assault his hand. When he tried to clutch it, he was surprised to see that nothing was there. "YOU BASTARD!" The man shouted in a mix of anger and pain. His bleeding slowing down at a visible rate. His recovery was remarkable, but there was no way he could regenerate a whole limb.

"Is this your revenge on me for taking the hands of your precious general?!" The man looked at Ed while laughing. He retook a stance, apparently trying to continue fighting Ed.

"So that's what you did to Leonard? I simply cut the hand of a thief. If I had known what you did I would have made you suffer by cutting your limbs off hundreds of times under a Genjutsu. Or I should catch you and ask Suika to keep regenerating them every time?" Ed considered doing it. But he thought how Suika's power was far too precious to be used on a useless man such as him.

The man was even angrier now that Ed was acting so high and mighty. Once more, he rushed at Ed to attack him. Ed did the same thing as before, but the man managed to dodge to the back since he predicted Ed's moves.

"I won't fall for the same trick twice!" The man swung at Ed while he was behind him. He managed to hit Ed's torso, cutting him in half. A smile crept on his face, but a sudden voice snapped him out of it.

"I don't use the same trick twice. Unfortunately, I let you swing the sword once." Ed appeared out of thin air behind the man. He used an afterimage technique by projecting his KI and making a copy of himself. He then used Zero Sign, which had recovered some use time, and appeared behind the man. Once again, the man's hand was cut off, and Ed retrieved both of the Greatswords he made for Leonard.

"Give them back!" The man was not talking about the swords, but his hands. Ed looked at him and snickered.

"I already burned the first one. Like this, look." The man's hand that was hovering above Ed's hand burst into flames. Not a single cell was spared, as it disappeared not even leaving ash behind. The man lost all his rationality and rushed at Ed again. His left leg and then right leg were cut off and burned. The man was now a flying torso with a head stuck to it. In fact, he was slowly falling to the ground due to his injuries.

"You don't want to save your friend?" Ed spoke to no one. The man who he sent flying still had not joined in the battle to save the man Ed was fighting. He was watching Ed closely, hoping to be able to do something against him when they fought.

"Ho? No one should be able to sense me in this state." Air rippled and a woman's figure started appearing. She was about 1.65 meters tall with a perfect figure. She was wearing heavy makeup. Her face did not have the same luck as her figure.

"This man can hardly be called a friend. He's simply a killer that joined us." The woman looked at the man, and three swords appeared behind him. Two of them stabbed him, while the last one decapitated him. The woman looked at Ed as if waiting for him to act but was relieved that he didn't move. However, Ed didn't satisfy her relief.

"You can't-fool me," Ed spoke and sent a flying slash, imbued with Fire magic, towards an empty spot in the air. "Gyaaaaa!!!" A scream sounded and the man from before appeared. "You also shouldn't underestimate me. If I can tell your position, I can obviously tell his." Ed spoke while looking at the woman, who now had a worried expression. The man's scream died down along with his life.

"You're the one that helped the noble enter the kingdom right. That's one mistake you'll regret ever making." Ed knew that the noble he killed couldn't have infiltrated the kingdom on his own. After seeing this woman's ability, he knew it was her. He rushed at her, aiming to kill her.