Chapter - 15

"For something so worthless… you did such cruel things!"

"Worthless? Ha! What is? I just want to get it on with someone strong, I want to crush strong people. Aren't feelings like that natural?"

"Don't mess with me!"

She wouldn't stand around as this guy did whatever he wanted.

"It doesn't matter how many times you come, the answer will still be no! This is not a place where someone like you can just barge in on, because we don't swing our swords around just to show off our strength! Father, let's call the police immediately!"

But, Kaito whispered.

"No, I can't let it go like this. The Ayatsuji single-blade style dojo accepts your challenge. Whoever gets in the first two strikes wins the match. We will only use wooden swords. Real swords are not allowed, got it?"

Of all things, Ayatsuji Kaito went ahead and accepted Kuraudo's challenge.

"Wh-Wha, Father!!!"

"Se-Sensei!"

The moment they heard of his motive to accept Kuraudo's challenge, the two disciples, whose faces had turned blue, tried to stop Kaito.

"Please stop it, Instructor! You shouldn't fight with someone like this! Above all, your heart…!"

"That's right, Father! You won't be able to fight with that kind of body! If you want to do it that bad, then I will fight in your stead!"

Kaito's daughter, Ayase, and even Sugawara, who had curled up with fear of Kuraudo, tried to stop Kaito desperately. But Kaito smiled slightly at that.

"Thank you, you two. I take pride in the kindness of you two who worry about me, but that is precisely why―"

The words that were spoken before had been burned into Kaito's mind.

「Just what were we doing for so many years…!?」

"There is no way I can forgive this guy who hurt you all!"

He couldn't leave this to others. He had to defeat this man with his own two hands. Kaito stared at Kuraudo like an ogre, and in his eyes there resided resolve and determination.

Upon seeing that expression, Ayase was at a loss for words. She had already understood it, that now he would not be stopped with her words.

"…I understand. I won't stop Father if he is willing to go that far. I, too, will see this through as the judge."

"Yes, I will leave it to you."

"Win at all costs… Father."

A violent voice called out to Ayase, who was wishing as though praying, from the side.

"Hey, if you're done talking then let's get started already. I've got tired of waiting."

"…I know."

Ayase frowned at the voice she didn't want to hear, then hit the ground with her heel and threw a wooden sword at the demanding Kuraudo.

"Haha, what a violent woman."

"Rules are, like Father said, the first one to get two strikes on his opponent wins. The weapons of this match are wooden swords. The use of mana is forbidden. Is that clear?"

"Yeah, it wouldn't have any meaning if it's not a match on equal grounds."

Kuraudo's canines gleamed like fangs when he smiled. His eyes were, now, looking only at Kaito.

On the other hand, was Kaito concentrating? He was just standing there with the wooden sword in his right hand, and with his eyes closed.

It seems that both had completed their preparations. That's why, Ayase as the judge―

"Then, both of you stand in front of each other. Start!"

The match of those two had started.

"Haha! Here I come!"

The moment when 'start' was shouted, Kuraudo ran towards Kaito, covered in winds. He obliterated the distance by pure leg strength, and swung his sword down on Kaito's head. There wasn't even a trace of technique in that single stroke, which ripped the atmosphere. He had not transmitted power from his legs, nor used lats by closing his armpit; he didn't do any of those.

It was a wild swing with just the power of his arm behind it. Obviously, it was a sword play belonging to an amateur.

Fast!

Even from the eyes of Kaito, who was a master, that swing seemed abnormal. He concluded that it would be dangerous to receive it upfront. Kaito quickly escaped the trajectory of the slash by sliding his feet to the side.

In that moment, Kuraudo's wooden sword grazed the tip of Kaito's nose, and split the floor of dojo.

"What monstrous strength…!"

Ayase, the judge, raised her voice, feeling awed. It couldn't be helped because a slash, which was capable of splitting the floor, had grazed her father's face.

But, Kaito was different. He purposefully let it graze him. Adjusting the distance by sliding your feet was a basic skill of swordsmen. He did so, because it was to keep the opened distance short for him to counter. A full swing enough to split the floor; of course, the opponent wouldn't be able to take defensive stances soon enough to block the counter. That single moment becomes the deciding factor in a match with a master as an opponent!

And countering was Ayatsuji single-blade style's forte.

The moment when the tip of Kuraudo's sword plunged into the floor, Kaito slide his foot forward shortening the distance by half a step. That was Kaito's attack range.

"―!"

Kaito let out a small sigh and, this time, he was the one who attacked. Aiming for the same body area as Kuraudo, the head, he brought down his sword. But Kaito's swing was beautiful, incomparable with Kuraudo's barbaric swing, and faster. That speed was the same as light's. Even if he was sick, he had been still known as the Last Samurai in the past. The extraordinary genius. The very idea of comparing his sword play with an amateur's was foolish. Kuraudo, who had missed on his very first attack, could not escape the fate of being hit by that swing.

Or so it was supposed to be.

"Hahaha!"

*Thump*

Kaito's hands became numb after receiving the recoil of his own attack. It was not the head of Kuraudo that he felt he had hit. It was the wooden sword of Kuraudo that was launched at Kaito's attack. He repelled it with his own sword. Kaito's bone cracked because of that impact.

"You seem to be surprised, old man. Did you think you would be able to wrap it up like that?"

"…Yes. To tell you the truth, I didn't think you would repel it."

That was truly a surprise. One could say it was completely unexpected. But Kaito wasn't just some inexperienced swordsman to be shocked by every move of his opponent.

That's some instincts he's got there.

It seems he had predicted Kaito's counter. That reaction speed could not be explained any other way. It was beyond the speed of humans.

However, it was not a problem even if he stopped a move. Kaito still had tricks up his sleeves.

"Here! I'll return the favor!"

Again, he swung down his sword just like before without any beauty, with the same speed and at the same place.

Obviously, that power was truly dreadful. There was no doubt that his wooden sword would get crushed if he received it upfront.

Even so, Kaito received it with his wooden sword. Was he not able to escape? No, this was Kaito's plan. If his counters were not going to work, then he didn't need to dodge the attacks.

The moment the two wooden swords clashed, before his wooden sword could break, Kaito moved his wrist, and changed the angle of the wooden blade with which he received the attack, and let the impact of the attack out.

Because of that, Kuraudo's wooden sword slid out and he lost his posture.

Dodge and receiving are just a part primitive defense mechanism. Martial arts exist on a higher level. It creates groundbreaking defensive techniques.

In other words, that was a deflection. It involves receiving the opponent's attack and then using that same attack's power to parry it off. With it the opponent floats; he loses his balance and a decisive opening is forcibly created. And this time for certain, Kaito seized that opening.

"Ha… ha…."

The moment when the judge, Ayase, confirmed the state of affairs―

This feeling….

After feeling the resistance from the strike, Kaito felt his heart throb.

…What is this feeling?

"As expected of Instructor! Your movements didn't seem like a sick person!"

"Father… amazing….! As expected, Father is amazing!"

The disciples raised their voices in delight after seeing him score the first point. To that, Kaito smiled at them concealing the inexplicable bad feeling that was welling up inside his heart, and then moved his gaze back towards the enemy.

Kuraudo was standing up while holding his side.

"Hahaha… As one would expect of the Last Samurai, this is the first time I've received such sharp blow. However… is this all you've got? ―If so, you'll die, old man."

Even after receiving the first strike, Kuraudo still did not lose his fighting spirit. The light in his eyes, still burning and hungry, pierced Kaito.

"As if. It starts from here on, brat."

"Good… then, I'll be coming at you seriously, too!"

While smiling like a brute, Kuraudo once again closed the distance by charging in with pure leg strength, and for the third time, swung his sword downwards.

He doesn't learn…! Such an amateurish move.

Certainly he predicted and parried the counter. Those moves were something. But, he just swings his attacks around with emotions and brute strength. That kind of sword play, with just power behind it, didn't pose any threat to an excellent swordsman.

I'll end it with this…!

Kaito, once again, took the stance for deflection with his sword at his left side. He'd deflect the attack, and finish it. Kaito, Ayase, who was watching from the side, and Sugawara, too, believed that.

At that moment, Kuraudo's wooden sword disappeared like mist.

Wha…!?

In that instant, the sound of Kaito's ribs breaking echoed inside the dojo.

Kaito fell down after being hit in the torso by Kuraudo's wooden sword. He violently convulsed, but Kuraudo got a fair point in, to which no one could complain about.

However, Ayase didn't have the composure to calmly announce the point, because on the floor, Kaito was suffering from lung hemorrhage while holding his side. The amount of blood being lost was excessive. It was obvious from one look that his internal organs had ruptured. Realizing that, Ayase ran over to Kaito with a pale face.

"Father! Are you all right!?"

"Don't come!"

But, Kaito, while still spewing blood, stopped Ayase who was approaching him with a loud and strong voice.

"The match has not ended yet…! If you can't judge fairly then step back!"

"This is not the time to be saying such things!"

"AYASE!"

Kaito, who was still spewing blood, shouted at Ayase who was still coming towards him, having ignored his words. Ayase was scolded and shouted at multiple times in the past, but this time it was entirely different. She felt fear, as though her heart was directly attacked. His shout was like a wild animal's roar.

"This is my battle! Don't interfere!"

"A… a… Fa… ther!?"

Ayase lost her standing at Kaito's serious shout that she had never heard before.

"Don't worry! …I'll definitely win!"

Kaito stood up while spilling blood from his mouth. His red eyes were fixated at just one point, towards Kuraudo. His burning fighting spirit seething.

"Here I come! Boyyyy!!!"

Kaito dashed.

"Haha! The result will be the same no matter how many times you try."

Kuraudo took him head on. For the third time their swords clashed. However, it was just one-sided now. Kaito had already suffered a fatal wound. With his offense and defense it was becoming clear that he had rusted due to not having held the sword for several years.

He was being pushed back. He was being pushed back mercilessly by random swings, which didn't contain even an ounce of beauty or technique and were only swung with pure, brute force. Now, he could not even attack, and he was just barely parrying the random attacks.

And, to deliver the ending blow to Kaito, now, whose entire body was covered in wounds, Kuraudo once again released the same attack that took one point from Kaito before. Aiming for the torso.

Kaito quickly took a defensive stance to that. A stance intending to receive the attack. However, just before clashing with Kaito's wooden sword, Kuraudo's wooden sword once again disappeared like mist and hit Kaito's body.

This time it was swung down on his skull.

It was incomprehensible. How did a sword, swung towards the torso, come from above the head. That action had probably surpassed the abilities of humans. Was it some kind of trick? They could not understand it. No one could tell what it was.

However, the wooden sword, which swung down, certainly existed above Kaito's head and mercilessly crushed his skull. Or so it was supposed to be.

"What!?"

That strike which was supposed to be the decisive blow didn't strike Kaito's skull and ended up falling towards his nape. The attack broke his collarbone. Kaito barely avoided it so that it won't become a point.

"Kuh…. You can't call this a point… boy!"

"Haha, you're just someone who failed to die! Don't struggle!"

After kicking Kaito in the stomach, and widening the distance between them, Kuraudo once again resumed his violent barrage of attacks. Even if an attack on the collarbone didn't count as a point, it didn't change the fact that it drained Kaito's stamina. Kaito's movements were now dulled to the point they were incomparable from before, and they lacked their usual brilliance, and then uncountable blows were delivered to Kaito.