Skirmish: Black Fox Clan! [2]

{Month: Sunflare}

{Date: 1/7}

{Time: Morning}

Tansuke rushed around the forest, evading each of Hayate's swift slices with quick steps, his eyes scanning his surroundings to track the high speed tanuki. Hayate leaped and swung from the branches of the trees, laughing and showing bright energy as he moved around.

Tansuke swapped from his katana to his naginata, slicing in a circular motion and cut down the surrounding trees with a multidirectional whirlwind. Hayate exclaimed in shock as he began falling to the ground, grunting heavily as he hit the ground.

"Ouchie...Not cool..!" Hayate softly grunted, getting up from the ground and rubbed his butt to ease the fall damage.

Tansuke chuckled softly at Hayate, setting the bottom of his pole arm on the ground. "You're a slippery Tanuki, but despite that, your type are my favorite to battle! Free like the wind!"

Hayate laughed at Tansuke's praise, crossing his arms then pointed at him with a determined finger. "I am free like the wind! You saw it first hand, my Swift Wind Style is the best in all of Wadataka! In case you've forgotten, I am Hayate Gyobu, the Tanuki Spirit of the Wind!"

Tansuke smiled calmly at Hayate's introduction, stroking his chin as he studied Hayate's aura and body, analyzing his current feats. "I am aware of who you are, Wakai Hayate. A boy of much potential just like Wakai Aname, the one tailed Water Fox. However, your speed does not match my true speed."

Hayate flipped backwards and got into a low stance a wind scarf forming around his neck, a confident smirk tugging at his lips. "Then let's test that theory!"

Hayate rushed forward at breakneck speeds, launching a swift at Tansuke, but Tansuke parried his attack with his naginata and kicked him back. Tansuke twirled his pole arm to generate wind energy, slashing rapidly and releasing a powerful whirlwinds at Hayate.

Hayate quickly dodged the first set of whirlwinds with careful and evasive movements, dashing toward Tansuke for a head on confrontation. With a battle cry, Hayate began rushing Tansuke with high speed attacks from every direction.

Tansuke began reinforcing his body with a dark green aura, tanking every strike that the swift tanuki spy dealt. He let out a challenging laugh, stomping his foot down. "Wind Arts: Gale Force!"

With a powerful howl, Tansuke released a powerful force of wind around his body, violently pushing away Hayate with the expanding winds. Hayate groaned loudly as he was blown away, his body crashing onto the ground and rolling to the side.

Tansuke panted softly from slight exhaustion, standing up straight and looking in the direction he sent Hayate flying, letting out an impressed whistle. "Captain Tansuke, you've outdone yourself again...Hayate is a strong one. Lord Jin trained him well..."

Tansuke turned around to go assist his allies, rushing forward but halting as he heard a powerful battle cry, looking back and noticed a surge of light blue Karma Energy. 'Karma..? How does Hayate have Karma Energy..?'

Hayate chuckled lightly as he finally pulled off his first Karma Mode, awakening the Gate of Envy within himself and feeling a boost of strength from his desire to become faster and stronger than Tansuke.

From the distance, Jin sensed Hayate's Karma energy, dodging Celica's attack and leaping backwards to create distance. He adjusted his scarf, his eyes flashing with pride and intrigue. 'He actually managed to unlock his Karma...I knew something was special about him the moment I took him in...'

Celica panted softly and readied her sword once again, her gaze flicking toward Aname to make sure she was still safe. She looked ahead at Jin, noticing he was momentarily distracted. 'I feel it too...but I can't allow myself to lose sight of him...it's the only way I can keep up with him...'

Tansuke turned back around to face Hayate, his expression becoming more serious as he knew how much of an enhancement Karma Energy gives to one who unlocks it. He made his naginata disappear, using wind energy for form his gauntlets on his hands.

"So, you also possess Karma Energy? You know of the Gates of Karma huh?" Tansuke asked, curious about how much Hayate knew about his newly found power.

Hayate leaped toward Tansuke to close the gap, his eyes glowing with renewed strength and resolve. "I know Karma Energy was created by the Kagosaki Clan, and is one of Arcania's strongest sources of energy! It comes from your inner self, not outside forces!"

'I need to end this quickly...he's been Enlightened and that makes him an even more dangerous force,' Tansuke thought to himself, getting into his battle stance and bracing himself for combat.

Hayate smirked at Tansuke, his body flickering and appearing in front of him with an insane burst of speed, catching Tansuke off guard. Tansuke grunted heavily as Hayate struck him with a palm strike, following it with a wild uppercut, his strike creating a powerful updraft.

Hayate knocked Tansuke back on the ground, stunning him for a moment then began rushing him with a flurry of blurring strikes from every conceivable direction. "Take that, and that and that and that, and this!"

Hayate flipped backwards and landed on one knee, surrounding himself in powerful wind energy, green lightning crackling around his body. "Swift Storm Style: Sonic Boost! WOOOO!"

Boosting forward, Hayate charged forward at high speeds, ramming into Tansuke and going through his durability, charging him through the forest as he ran at a quick pace. Tansuke grunted as he continued to resist against Hayate's momentum, his feet digging into the ground to remain sturdy.

Tansuke growled lowly as he began to manifest fox energy around his body, five wind tails manifesting on his body. He let out a bellow, using one of his tails to strike Hayate, breaking him out of his wind boost then struck him with a left hook directly to his jaw.

"Wind Arts: Konkon Fury!" Tansuke bellowed, sacrificing a portion of his Fox Wind Energy to boost his physical strength and sent Hayate flying.

Hayate recovered in the air, grabbing hold of a tree branch and swinging himself on top of it. He looked at his hands with disbelief and pure excitement. "Whoa...I feel so much more lighter, faster, and way stronger than before. My wind energy is off the charts! So much wind, I'm generating lightning!"

Tansuke listened to Hayate's excitement, unable to help himself from chuckling at Hayate's enthusiasm with his new Karma Mode. He crossed his arms, analyzing what happened in his head. 'That confirms it...Karma is equal to Fox Power...no way he would've endured that in his base...'

'He is also extremely more reactive than before...no way I'm getting off a Konkon Fury twice. This young junior is an interesting Therian...I haven't faced a Tanuki in forever,' Tansuke chuckled to himself, finishing his analysis on the battle.

Before Hayate and Tansuke could rush toward each other, a fireball flew between the two, Ugachi and Ren rushing through the forest at high speeds. Ugachi and Ren cloaked themselves in their auras, clashing with one another and racing through the tall trees.

Ren stopped himself, forming a hand seal and formed multiple bubbles around himself. "Wave Style: Frog Capture!"

The bubbles began shifting into forms of a frog, each one shooting their tongue out at Ugachi to try and retrain him. Ugachi swiftly evaded the tongues, using his axe to slice through the remaining tongues before hurling his axe toward Ren.

The axe went through Ren's body, his figure turning into mist and his clone disappearing, Muspell sticking into a tree near a newly formed pond. Ugachi came to a stop, looking around the forest to find Ren, his gaze cautious and weary of everything.

He extended one of his fiery tails to grab Muspell from the tree, pulling his axe back toward him. He readied his weapon in front of him, continuing to search around. 'Ren Mizu, one of Wadataka's best assassins and a student to Natsume Reine...'

'His main strength is Water Mimicry...and I stand in front of his domain. However, that does not matter to me. I've beaten thousands of Water Users...Ren will be no different,' Ugachi continued mentally, listening to the soft sounds of nature stop suddenly.

Disturbance in the pond began picking up, the water bubbling at the center and out emerging a large water serpent headed straight for Ugachi. Ugachi grunted in shock, dodging the serpent's bite and watched it turn into ice once it bit the ground.

Suddenly, a volley of serpents began flying toward Ugachi all at once, but using his great speeds and reflexes, he managed to evade each serpent before they could bite him. He slipped into cover behind a tree, hearing the onslaught pause for a moment.

'He's in that river...and I can't reach him as I'll be at a major disadvantage. But how can I draw him out..?' Ugachi questioned mentally, peeking from his hiding spot and noticed Ren had released a water snake to find him.

The snake slithered quickly around the trees, searching around for Ugachi's scent. Once the snake neared his hiding spot, Ugachi dropped the blade of his axe upon the water snake, severing his head and rendering it useless.

Ren noticed his vision going black once the water snake was defeated, shifting back to his normal vision and began sending out crows made from water bubbles to swarm the air and scout for Ugachi. The crows cawed loudly in the air, each one searching for any trace of Ugachi's energy.

'Just as Lord Jin said, Foxes are unpredictable...quick on their feet, but it won't be enough to take me out the battle yet. Flowing Waterfall Style: Aquatic Cannon!' Ren said mentally, catching sight of Ugachi's energy from the crowd above.

Ren emerged out of the water like a leaping orca, creating a magic circle in front of him then launched a beam of water energy toward Ugachi's location, the impact of the beam causing a massive water explosion within the forest.

Ugachi grunted heavily as he was caught off guard by Ren's overwhelming technique, the waves washing him away with powerful tides. Ugachi tried escaping the current of the water, but was carried away and left along the side of the river.

Ren walked toward Ugachi with a calm expression, his movements steady and firm as he moved with purpose. He rushed toward Ugachi in a full sprint, leaping forward with a spinning slash. "It's time you give up Lady Yomi's dream."

Ugachi stood up from his position, looking up at Ren, his emerald green eyes flashing with primal fury. He roared as he swung his axe, clashing with Ren and knocking him away with ferocious strength. "Never! I'll never fall to anyone who stands in the way of Lady Yomi's will!"

Ren landed on his feet and adjusted his cloak, his gray eyes glowing with a serene energy. He could feel the heat Ugachi's body produced, a heat wave powerful enough to set the leaves ablaze, his passion burning into unstoppable energy.

"For Lady Yomi, I, Ugachi Koga, the Raging Fox, shall strike you down! All shall know my Wrath!" Ugachi bellowed, dropping down in a feral battle stance then dashed toward Ren at high speeds.

Ugachi slashed at Ren with his sharp nails, his claws trailing behind fiery energy, but Ren quickly evaded his strike and grunted softly as his cloak was slightly seared. He jumped backwards to create space, launching multiple rays of water energy toward Ugachi, attempting to keep him at neutral position.

Ugachi began rushing through the rays of water, each ray immediately evaporating due to the extreme heat Ugachi's Fox Cloak produced. The two began clashing repeatedly, moving around the forest at an evenly matched pace.

Ren evaded each of Ugachi's attacks as best he could, his eyes watching his limbs and tails. As he tried to evade a tail swipe, Ugachi managed to land a fiery swipe along Ren's cheek, searing his cheek with claw marks.

"You're finished, Muspell—"

"Black Star: Heaven's Refrain," Ren coldly spoke, a group of orbs of dark light energy surrounding Ugachi.

Ugachi halted his attack from Ren's sudden counter, grunting heavily as chains of dark light energy erupted from the orbs and began restricting his movements. "What...what the hell is this..?!"

"You must've forgotten who my mentor is...Natsume Reine. The creator of the Black Star Techniques, the same one who taught even Lord Jin the power of the Black Star..." Ren began, turning to look at Ugachi with green Karma Energy flowing around his body.

Ugachi began fighting against the chains' hold as he noticed Ren awakening the Gate of Gluttony, his flames around his body growing more intense to overpower the dark light. "Lord Jin won't get away with his crimes and anyone who supports him is just as corrupt as he is! He took everything away!"

"Yet, he still has his mother's heart. Caring enough to take me and Hayate in, dedicated enough to teach us the Kagosaki Way, to teach us about Karma. He makes choices sometimes I don't agree with, but those choices are made with the end goal in mind, not the moment..." Ren said, his Karma Energy forming a serpent cloak around his body.

"A true Samurai, a true Ninja, Kunoichi, Shinobi, a true Warrior understands that the end goal matters more than the gratifying moment. Had Lord Jin not carried out his task, Lord Benkei would've killed Lady Kyo to elevate Yomi," Ren said in a matter of fact tone, his gaze never breaking from Ugachi.

"That's all propaganda! He had no right in killing everyone and taking the throne for himself! He is not the rightful Ruler of Wadataka, and I will personally make sure of it!" Ugachi declared, grunting softly as Ren released him and dropped him into the ground.

"If you want Lord Jin...You have to go through his right hand, me.." Ren challenged, the air cooling around the forest from his aura to level out the extreme heat radiating from Ugachi's.

Ugachi rose to his feet slowly, staring at Ren with a feral gaze and growled lowly with aggression. His aura flared up with intensity as he charged toward Ren and thrusted his tails forward, aiming to pierce Ren's body.

"Whirlwind Style: Gale Blade," Ren calmly chanted, surrounding his arms with wind energy in the shape of serpents, swinging his arms and releasing cutting blades of wind toward Ugachi.

Ugachi's eyes widened from Ren's affinity shift, grunting heavily as he was struck by the rushing whirlwinds, each blade knocking him further backwards. Ren thrusted his arms forward, shifting back into his water affinity and extended his serpent around Ugachi's waist.

Ren yanked Ugachi back toward him, charging forward and striking his torso with a powerful spinning kick, knocking him backwards once more. Ugachi grunted as he rolled backwards, recovering onto his feet and landing back to back with Tansuke.

Tansuke looked behind himself, seeing Ugachi and chuckling coolly at him, turning his gaze back toward the speedy Tanuki rushing through the trees. "Jin's retainers are quite impressive...Not rookies like Aname, but capable enough to be crowned Rank 4 Officers."

"You give these fading stars too much credit...Rank 4..? I'm Rank 4 and I'm barely even warming up!" Ugachi snarled, getting down into his stance and watched as Ren walked forward.

Tansuke laughed heartily at Ugachi's fiery determination, rolling his shoulder and popping his neck to loosen his muscles. "Mmm...well, if that's the case, let's show these Juniors how the Varsity Officers really are.."

"Heads up, Ren! These guys are getting serious, and that means so should we!" Hayate called out to Ren, landing on a tree branch and rose his scarf halfway over his face.

Ren's serpents began coiling around him, his pupils becoming sharp and focused, his blue eyes glowing brightly as Karma Energy surged around his body. "No holding back, Hayate. Let's drive these no good foxes out of the Elf's territory!"

Celica clashed with Jin rapidly, maneuvering around as best she could to avoid getting blitzed. Aname watched behind the safety of a tree, internally cheering for Celica and winced each time Jin landed a successful attack.

I watched as Celica could barely keep up with Jin, knowing she was stalling, but I couldn't figure out what it was. My boredom began setting in as we had bigger plans to carry out, my gaze drifting away from the fight for a moment.

Within the distance, I could see the a faint feminine figure atop of the hill in the distance, her silhouette becoming a blur as she headed for North Sylvannia. I pushed myself off the fence, whistling for Blanche and ran forward, hopping on her back.

"Jin! They're stalling! I saw someone headed for North Sylvannia! Let's go!" I called out, riding toward the kingdom's entrance at high speeds, using Wind Energy to boost Blanche's speed.

Jin parried Celica's next attack then knocked her away with a powerful front kick to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her body. He whistled loudly, sending a retreat signal then vanished into the trees.

Ren dodged Ugachi's slash, countering by summoning a water serpent to rush into him and wash him away. He heard Jin's whistle echoing in the distance, steeping backwards and glanced at Hayate and Tansuke. "Hayate! Let's get a move on!"

Hayate dodged Tansuke's powerful blow, flipping backwards then boosting into Tansuke and send him flying, the recoil knocking himself back. Hayate chuckled playfully then reached into his bag, taking out a smoke bomb and throwing it to the ground.

Tansuke recovered onto his feet and stumbled backwards, stopping beside Ugachi then helped him onto his feet. "Heh...those Black Star Members. They never fail to amaze me with their talent."

Ugachi reverted to his normal form and exhaled softly. "Whatever...if they're retreating it must mean that Lady Yomi made it to Sylvannia and them trying to stop us played against their favor."

"I agree...but I do think if that beautiful woman watching the entire time joined, it would have been a different story for us. Something tells me that she's the leader of the army," Tansuke said, making his way to meet up with Celica.

"Queen Stella..? Yeah right, she's washed up now. Her kingdom is destroged. Lord Jin 100% captured her and is now looking to conquer the Region as well," Ugachi scoffed, following behind Tansuke.

With the duel abruptly ending from Yomi's sudden appearance, everyone began racing toward Sylvannia to either claim it or stop Yomi from claiming it. It was a race against the clock as well, Sophia needed to be shifted before nightfall or Yomi gets there first.