Akura's grip tightened on the blade just before the impact. The edge of his sword cut through the air, aimed at Juzo's neck, but the rogue shinobi was not someone who could be easily defeated. His massive weapon blocked the strike without much effort, its sheer weight and size making it difficult to budge, especially when Akura was more cautious than invested in this duel.
'He is definitely close by, waiting for an opening. The moment I slip, he will strike.' Akura's eyes were focused on the treeline behind Juzo as he retreated, narrowly avoiding the kick that swept past his side. 'Normally, I would bait him with a feint, leave a small gap to draw him in, but not only will he not fall for that, but Juzo himself is a skilled swordsman. I can't afford to gamble carelessly against him.'
Even before stepping in to help Ao, Akura had already scanned the battlefield. Contrary to their calculations, the enemy force not only outnumbered them but also held the upper hand in terms of skill and class. The only one who seemed unfazed was Maki, though Akura suspected even that might soon change. If the enemy had mobilized such a powerful unit, then surely they had also accounted for the Suikage.
'Our only hidden card might actually be him,' Akura thought, his eyes flicking for a moment toward the carriage that still carried its passenger.
"You can't afford to be distracted." Juzo's voice cut through his thoughts. Anger laced the rogue's words, his pride stung by Akura's lack of attention. He charged forward, teeth bared. "I'll rip that smug face off your skull and shatter your blade!"
For Juzo, his weapon was more than a means to kill or defend. It was the only ally he had ever trusted, and to lose one's sword was a disgrace beyond measure for a man like him.
Akura didn't respond, nor did he take Juzo's words close to heart. His thoughts were elsewhere, consumed by the wider battle.
'While the genjutsu seemed aimed at Ao, the others were caught as well. Unfortunately, I can't afford to help all of them, they will have to deal with it themselves… At least Onari seems to be paired with Juzo, so he will now focus on me. but…' He deflected Juzo's incoming swing by shifting the trajectory of his own blade, then countered with a swift strike toward the rogue's neck.
But he had miscalculated.
"The same trick won't work on me twice!" Juzo grinned, his sharp teeth bared. He suddenly released his massive sword, letting it crash to the ground rather than drag him down, and crouched beneath Akura's swing. His fist shot upward, smashing into Akura's jaw.
The blow connected.
Akura staggered back, his chinbone creaking from the impact. Still, it wasn't the full force. A fraction of a second before contact, he had loosened his body, allowing the strike to hurl him backward instead of breaking him in place. He skidded across the dirt, stopping at a safe distance just as Juzo picked up his weapon.
Akura steadied himself, his stance shifting as he exhaled slowly.
'No. I won't win like this…' He sighed in regret, realizing the risk he would have to take at the very start of the fight. 'I'll have to go all out and pray I can finish Juzo before Onari makes a move. If he's the same as he was back then, then he won't care about Juzo at all.'
Akura's body loosened, his movements no longer rigid. His eyes carried a sharpness they had lacked moments earlier, and his grip on the blade eased as he prepared to unleash the technique he had been shaping over the past few weeks.
Juzo felt the shift instantly. His instincts screamed at him as Akura's aura changed, and though his grin faded into a serious scowl, there was still a spark of satisfaction in his eyes.
"You're finally showing your true strength, huh, Akura?" he said, his voice heavy yet filled with excitement. For all the danger he now faced, his battered pride as a warrior found some measure of healing.
Akura charged.
He kicked off the ground, his body blurring forward with startling speed. Yet speed alone was not what unsettled Juzo. What truly shook him was the thick chakra shroud coating both Akura's hands and his blade, distorting the air ever so slightly around it.
The rogue shinobi instinctively fell back, raising his massive sword to meet the attack already sweeping in low from his left, aimed clean at his waist.
Steel met steel with a dull, muffled clank. Juzo's size and weapon gave him the strength to hold the blow, yet his body jerked violently as a thin red line tore across his skin. The true danger came not from the blade itself but from the whip-like wave of water that lashed out the moment the strike halted.
'Damn, it was weaker than I wanted… I'm still not as good as I thought.' Akura pressed his lips in frustration, but he did not waste the opening.
He shifted his stance and slashed again, this time from the opposite side. The strike was faster, sharper, more fluid than the last.
Juzo hesitated. He had already learned how dangerous the attack was. Blocking with his sword would stop Akura's blade, but the aftershock, the water wave unleashed in its wake, would still cut him down.
Instead, he pivoted left and snapped through hand signs with blurring speed.
"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
The ground split, a wall of stone heaving upward just as Akura's blade reached. It caught the strike and held, halting the wave before it could reach the rogue nin. Juzo's earth release was nothing remarkable, far from powerful, but even low-ranked jutsu were enough to hold back this unrefined technique.
'Without the momentum of the surprise attack, I won't be able to kill him so easily. If only I had more time to work on the chakra rotation technique Kaoru gave our clan, I might've been able to shape it into something more suited to me. But in just a few months, that's impossible…' Akura's mind drifted, a trace of regret surfacing against his will.
For reasons he couldn't explain, his thoughts replayed the memory of the youngest Takime head in history, granting them the means to raise a new generation of strength. His eyes shifted to Maki, who had just batted Kisame aside as if he were no more than an annoyance. Yet the fact that the Suikage still hadn't finished her opponent meant she was facing someone formidable.
His gaze then snapped toward Illumi Noda, who had gathered the Noda shinobi at last. All six stood together in formation, each one slicing their palms, letting blood drip into the earth until it pooled beneath them.
The pool began to hiss and vanish, vapor rising until it thickened into a crimson mist that spread outward like a living shroud. It would not reach where Akura and Juzo fought, but it stretched far enough to blanket most of Takimura's struggling shinobi, who were pressed hard by the enemy's numbers.
'Finally… the fight should ease for us. But for the tide to truly shift, I must end this here... I wonder how the Takime clan is doing without me or Kaoru…'
The thought froze midway. Akura's eyes widened as he noticed that his thoughts were scattered, drifting where he didn't wish. A sudden haze had dulled his mind, every thought feeling heavy and blurred. In an instant, he disrupted his chakra, shattering the genjutsu coiling around his head. Clarity returned, but too late. The moment of weakness had been enough for Juzo.
The rogue shinobi rushed in, his giant blade swinging down, though it felt surprisingly slow.
'Something is wrong,' Akura noted, his eyes narrowing as he braced himself to block. 'Was he also caught in the genj…'
The realization never finished.
Just a step away from him, Juzo's form warped, his skin swelling, turning red and swollen.
'Onari's clone explosion…' Akura understood immediately. His hands shot up to shield his face as he kicked off the ground, retreating hard.
There was no time for hand signs, no chance to mold chakra. Even the most skilled shinobi could not shape a jutsu against such a sudden twist.
The explosion shattered the air, its violent force distorting the chakra-filled clearing. The genjutsu that had clouded the minds of nearby shinobi broke apart with it, a hollow reward for the heavy price Akura had just paid.
Both of his hands were burned. The pain tore through him, and instinct forced his fingers open, his blade slipping from his grasp. His strongest weapon was gone.
From the time he was a child, Akura had been captivated by kenjutsu. With his low chakra reserves, ninjutsu had always felt beyond reach, a poor investment of effort, so he poured everything into taijutsu and the sword. For that, he had been mocked, dismissed as the weakest of his generation. But in the end, it was Akura who endured, Akura who rose to stand as the strongest Takime shinobi after the clan head, Suiren.
"Akura-san, you look pitiful."
The voice drew his head to the left.
A shinobi emerged from the treeline, dressed in the same long dark robe etched with crimson clouds as the others. Yet unlike them, this one Akura knew. Too well. Once, they had fought back to back, trusting each other with their lives.
"Onari…" The name slipped from his lips, bitterness weighing every syllable.
"I warned you the last time we met that the next one would be the end for you." Onari scratched his temple, as though trying to recall the words. "Actually, if I remember right… I told you that it would be the end of you and that little brat you chose to stay in the clan for."
"Even if it weren't for Maki, I'd still have stayed!" Akura snapped, his voice firm, though even he didn't fully understand why he said it.
Juzo's blade glinted under the sunlight as he suddenly lunged, seizing Akura's distraction as the perfect chance to strike. But before he could close the distance, the ground in front of him exploded, stopping him cold.
"Don't interrupt my conversation, Juzo."
Onari's voice turned cold, sharp enough to freeze the air around them. Even Juzo held his tongue. He growled low, casting Onari a murderous glare before grounding his heavy blade in the dirt.
"So, Akura-san," Onari said with a smile, spreading his arms as if greeting an old friend, "I'll give you one last chance. Join us. I'm sure he will accept you if you decide to come over. Everyone here is going to die. You don't have to be one of them."
Akura's gaze swept the battlefield. The Noda clan's secret technique had made the fighting more bearable, but not enough to alter the larger tide. Maki was still locked with Kisame, always on the edge of finishing him, yet that final strike never seemed to land. Ao was barely holding on, locked in a stalemate that could collapse at any moment. Against Onari and Juzo together, Akura knew he could not stand alone.
"Onari," he said at last, clenching his charred fists. His voice was steady, though his hands trembled slightly from the burns. "If I join you and swear loyalty to your organization, will you let at least Maki live?"
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