Chapter 93: The Sixth Samurai Yone

Romaine's POV

Shortly after all that had happened, my muscles recovered enough to the point of being able to stand and use them, though they were still sore and swelling with pain.

Despite their beat-up appearances, Donte and Dondre seemed to be somewhat fine by the time I'd recovered; almost makes me miss having super regeneration. Can't say the same for Shante though, who was still out cold even after we'd brought her back to the lab.

When we'd gotten there Cas immediately tended to her injuries, completely ignoring me and not saying a word to anyone.

"I know I've been gone for a month, but the least she could've done was say 'hi'." I commented

"Oh don't worry." Dondre sympathized, "You're not the only one she's giving the cold shoulder for being absent an entire month; even though I didn't ask to be kidnapped."

"You guys, give her a break." Melany pleaded, "It might not look like it, but constantly worrying about her friends being in danger all the time is taking a toll on her. One minute you guys are here the next minute you aren't, then you both come out of nowhere."

"What are you, some girl whisperer?" mocked Dondre

"Immature as always Dondre." she chuckled in response

"So uh, what'd I miss?" He questioned the others in the room

"Future Romaine died." Donte stated

"My mom died too." Melany added

"Then my counterpart chose to go missing for an entire month only to come back with some new supernatural abilities." said the Prince

"Wait," I muttered, "Future me is dead?"

"It's the most likely conclusion, yes."

I was kind of hoping he'd somehow still be alive, but I guess that would help explain all those visions I had of his life. But, I still can't believe it. He beat Zero in the war, so how'd he lose now?

"Damnit." I gritted my teeth

"But you Romaine." Dondre diverted, "What have you been up to all this time?"

"Future Me told me to run while he was fighting with Zero. After I sent off Melany I took off towards the mountains. Eventually I passed out, and when I woke up I'd been taken in by a tribe of Monks."

"So then that's where you got this new power of yours."

"Yeah, it's called Augendae; Latin for enhance." I explained, "By controlling my breathing I can amplify my heart's power by several times, which ends up multiplying all my physical attributes; but based on how much I'm amplifying it and how long I maintain it, it takes a toll on my body. I also learned the technique called The Apple's Eye, which lets you see into one's mind and soul."

"That does sound like a formidable arsenal you've picked up." noted the Prince, "The training to master such techniques must've been rigorous."

"Yep. Thousands of pushups and sit-ups everyday, and miles of running. Not to mention all the combat training."

"Well you do look a lot more bulky since last time." Dondre pointed out

"Well, I only worked so hard for you guys. You were all my motivation for not giving up."

The conversation went on momentarily, all while I was paying much more close attention to everyone's body language and speech patterns than before.

It turns out that the purpose they kidnapped Dondre was to torture him and use as bait. I can't bring myself to imagine Black Zero torturing him again for another month on top of the previous 6.

Don't think I've forgotten about the traitor Kyle, I won't stop until I find them.

**Flashback**

Yesterday, my last day of training, I was put to the ultimate test by the elders. It turns out that the Kuma tribe wasn't the only one residing there in the mountains. One of the other tribes there was known as the "Kensutairu Clan" or "Kensu Clan".

In the Kensu Clan, they teach Tetsuya, which is "The Way of The Sword". The 12 strongest members are dubbed as the Twelve Samurais. Out of the Twelve Samurais, the lower their number the higher their position. The 1st Samurai Iida holds the position of the strongest Samurai, with Maru the 2nd Samurai being after him. And for my final test, I was put to fight the 6th Samurai, Yone.

Everyone gathered at the battlegrounds, watching and cheering as I entered to face my opponent.

"So for my final test I'm supposed to fight a swordsman?" I questioned him

"It'd do you well not to doubt the power of the 6th Samurai, boy." He retorted, reaching for his blade and taking a sword stance

"Well alright then." I smirked, crouching into the sprinting 'set' position, "Let's see what you got."

I focused my mind on regulating my breathing and took a deep breath.

"Augendae 10 Fold." Uttered my lips

In an instant all my muscles tighten and increased in mass. I launched myself towards Yone and attempted to quickly finish him off by hitting him in the head but he'd blocked it with the sheath of his sword.

"You're kidding." I gasped, taking a quick jump backwards to distance myself from him, "You blocked all that force with your sheathed sword?"

He merely groaned in response and returned his sword to it's original position.

"Looks like I'll have to take this a bit more seriously." I said to myself, taking a combat stance

This time I jumped towards him with more caution, throwing fist after fist. No matter how hard I comboed him, he'd just effortlessly block all my attacks with his sword; which was still sheathed after all this time.

I jumped back again to gain distance while I took a breath.

"I get it now." I commented, wiping off my mouth, "You're a user of the Apple's Eye too aren't you? All this time you've been using it to predict my moves."

Of course. The Apple's Eye is rudimentary in such combat like this. Augendae enhances the body, but unless you also utilize something like the Apple's Eye to enhance the mind, then all that strength won't get you far. 'Improving your body is useless unless you compliment it by also improving your mind', the old man used to tell me.

"Your perception is commendable." commented the Samurai, "But that means nothing unless you put it to use."

"Why won't you draw your sword at me? This whole time you've been fighting back with your sword sheathed, and you haven't moved from that spot either. What am I not good enough for you to go all out?" I criticized

"If I were to draw my sword now, the fight would be over in an instant."

"Cocky bastard." I groaned, "Fine then, I'll just force you to draw it."

Making my heart beat 10 times faster than it already was, I pumped much more blood into my muscles.

"Augendae 100 Fold."

Swiftly digging my legs into the ground and sprinting at him, I ended up cracking the ground due to exerting too much force into it.

I fired a flurry of punches towards him at staggering speeds, though this time was also using the Apple's Eye.

The exchange of blows went on with no end in sight; he was able to predict my attacks and counter them, but I could also predict his counters and tried to counter him as well, creating an endless loop.

In cases like these, the only way to win is by overpowering your opponent, which was a cinch for me; or so I'd assumed.

I tensed my fingers, clenching them as I exposed my bare palm then drove it forward with blazing speed.

"Xraya Palm!" I shouted as I exerted all my energy

Yone simply adjusted his position and blocked the attacked with his sword, which was still sheathed.

"Unbreaking."

As my hand made contact with his sword, you could see the air pressure from my attack.

"Damnit." l murmured, "Do you know how much force that was? There's no way your sword is still intact after that."

"Just as the name says, the Unbreaking technique enhances the durability of the sword. Though in actuality, what it really does is reinforce the sword's durability several times based on the user's level of mastery of the technique." He explained

"And what's your mastery level?"

"All members of the Upper Six of the Twelve Samurais possess Unbreaking V, including myself. Unbreaking V enhances the sword by 1,000 times. I've been using Unbreaking this entire match actually, just to much lower degrees."

"Well if you're buffing your sword, I'll just break it." I smirked

"Very well. I shall give you a taste of my power."

Yone adjusted his stance to a more combat ready one, clenching his sword at his hip.

"Tetsuya 1st Form: Quick Draw!" He belted, quickly slashing forward with his sword

The move itself caught me offgaurd, and was so fast that I didn't even see him move.

All I caught were short glimpses before I ended up on the ground incapacitated. It felt as if he'd cut a hole open in my chest, though when I looked there was nothing.

"No worries." He assured, returning to a relaxed position, "I only used the sheath of my blade, what you're feeling is actually the Unbreaking's effect."

"That's no fair." I whined, trying to get up from the ground, "His Unbreaking's not only useful for Defense, but Offense too?"

Well alright then. Looks like he's finally taking this seriously.

Standing erect on my feet, I powered up and charged towards him.

"Augendae 100 Fold."

Now that I knew the secret of his ability and how he can apply it, I'm much more cautious in using the Apple's Eye this time around.

We kept exchanging counters, though now I was using more preservative ways to counter him, in order to prevent his Unbreaking from damaging me as much in the process.

In response to noticing him take a stance, I jumped backwards and improved my guard.

"Tetsuya 3rd Form: Night Strike." He said, clenching his sword

In the blink of an eye, he was now behind me and I'd been struck yet again.

After a short delay, I helplessly fell backwards once again, though this time the sustained damage was a lot more jarring; which also caused me to lose control of my breathing, returning my body to its normal state.

"What in the hell." I thought to myself, "He just, disappeared then reappeared behind me. How's something like that even possible without X-Gene abilities?"

Yone rested his sword yet again and simply walked back to his original position.

After a short while of laying there, I managed to get myself together and analyze everything that had happened in the match so far, and was able to devise a perfect counter.

Slowly rising to my feet, I drowned out the sounds of the spectators, focusing my mind only on the Samurai.

"I figured out how that move of yours works." I stated

"Oh?" He rebutted, "Indulge me."

"Your fighting style itself seems to be based heavily around quick and precise movements. So with that in mind I took a much closer look at your last move, then after a bit of contemplating I realized. On average, the blink of a human eye lasts between 100 and 400 milliseconds, and when performing your Night Strike, it's within that short period of time that you move towards your opponent and attack. It's unbelievable to think that a normal human could move that fast, but at this point anything's possible."

"Interesting that you were able to figure all that out from it being used on you only once." He commented, assuming his attacking stance once more, "But that knowledge won't do you much good; even if you're aware that I strike when you blink, you can't stop your reflexes."

I closed my eyes, surrendering my peripheral vision, and instead focused on utilizing my Third Eye, one of the many sub-techniques that make up the Apple's Eye.

I focused my mind on seeing those which normally couldn't be seen, and calmed my breathing.

"Tetsuya, 3rd Form: Night Strike!" He announced

In that moment, a new world of reality was opened for me; though my eyes were closed, I could see him charging towards me plain as day. Or more accurately I should say I say a purple silhouette of him. In immediate response, without wavering, I enhanced my body by 100 Fold and dodged to the left; then followed up by grabbing the edge of his sword and redirecting him into the ground.

"I must commend your tenacity." He dismissed, brushing himself off, "Though you couldn't possibly plan on fighting me with your eyes closed merely to avoid such an attack; that's just counterintuitive."

"Blindness is an unfortunate handicap, but true vision does not require the eyes." I stated

"I see, then how about we settle this once and for all." He offered grimly, slowly drawing his blade for the first time

Though I couldn't see the physical blade itself, I could tell that it was made of highly durable metal, and was shiny beyond compare.

"Well if I want to avoid serious injury I should step it up as well." I responded, moving to a reactive stance, "Augendae, 1000 Fold."

The sudden influx of blood caused all my muscles to swell again, and though you couldn't see my eyes, the excessive blood now had them completely bloodshot.

"I can't maintain this level of power for long." I thought, "And the longer I last in this form the worst it'll be for me later. So I should make this quick."

"Tetsuya, 7th Form: Hollowing Tornado!"

Swiftly and relentlessly slashing his sword in circular motions, Yone created a column of wind sheerly made from the wind pressure of his attacks.

To avoid his attack, I used the All-Seeing Eye, yet another sub-technique of the Apple's Eye, in order to identify his weak point. Due to it being a tornado, the clear weak point would be the eye of the storm, AKA the center.

I launched myself so high into the air that I was higher than the tornado itself, then crashed straight down the middle with my fist ready to pound him into the ground, all while still using the power of the Third Eye to see him while my eyes were closed.

Though clearly caught off-guard, Yone blocked my fist with his sword, enhanced with his highest level of Unbreaking.

We then engaged in back-and-forth combat where neither of us could land proper attacks; even though at that point my raw strength far surpassed his.

"That's enough!" I shouted, knocking him back, "Napalm Gyration!"

I extended forward my arm towards him, almost as if catching an invisible ball, then tightened all extended muscles while violently rotating my wrist.

The following disturbance in the air created by that move destroyed everything that was in the path of my attack, including part of the ground itself. Yone was left to block the attack with his sword, though despite his best efforts ended up on the ground, with his sword in pieces.

I opened my eyes as the sound of metal shards hitting the ground echoed through my mind. I immediately relaxed my body to its resting state as I saw Yone's dumbfounded expression.

"It's over Yone..." I whispered, "I beat you."

My eyes then failed me, following with all my muscles collapsing as I passed out.

For the rest of the day I was in excruciating pain, resting in bed as my ruptured muscles slowly repaired themselves.

**End of Flashback**

"And that's how I left as a powerless teenager, and came back as a Powerhouse." I told them