The 6th Great Ninja War
Chapter XVI: Swordsman's Spirit
(For some reason...this theme was stuck in my head O_O
And this...
The latter actually fits quite well with the battle scene O_O
Enjoy the epicness of...well, you'll see ^_^
Roku, Akira, and Caliburn appeared in the same area, the beginning of a straight path, blocked off by innumerable books to the right and left. There was a heavy pressure in the area, lingering about like a dark cloud. The room was misty and obscured, and visibility hardly exceeded several feet.
Caliburn: This is it?
Akira: Yep…
Roku: The Eternal Walkway is what this place is called. We might find some information here, but the most important thing to find the log book, detailing the history of those who have ever lived.
Caliburn: This place has something like that? O_O
Roku: Yeah.
The three ninja started walking down the path, viewing all of the books of many shapes, sizes, origins, and colors. There were ancient texts, but very few scrolls.
Caliburn: This is a historical library?
Roku: Kind of. It is also a place where one can find the Ancients’ practices, methods, and techniques, but those are kept a secret, known only to the Sages.
Akira: Basically, you won’t find the best stuff until we reach the Main Hall. The Gathering Point.
Caliburn: Which is?
Akira: The Gathering Point is connected to hundreds of walkways because it is so massively filled with knowledge and the truth, and thus, there are hundreds of paths to prevent people from harming the place. You may come in, but unless you know your way, you will never come out.
Roku: Exacta! O_O
Caliburn: So, we’re trying to find out how Kirabi gained so much power.
Roku: Exactly. The Hall doesn’t lie, and it keeps hidden information on every place at any time. Why? Because of an infinite technique used by the ancients, which was cast on the planet itself, for the purpose of gathering all knowledge.
A book fell onto the ground from above, which could not be seen due to the heavy mist.
Roku: O_O Hrmm…
Roku picked up the book and read its title.
Roku: The Battle at Yasuragi Stronghold…
Akira: You see? O_O Instant updates. That battle happened just yesterday, and the Hall has produced a detailed entry of it.
Caliburn: Sounds unreal O_O
Roku stopped, prompting Akira and Caliburn to do the same. Ahead of him was a humongous space, wide and seemingly endless, but at the same time, circular. There were stairs in the center of the room leading up several hundred floors. The floor was carpeted by pale red flooring, and the walls were white like snow. Several books dropped from the ceiling, hundreds of meters above. In the center of the room, by the swirling staircase, stood Kaito with his sword drawn and killing intent in his eyes.
Caliburn: What’s going on? I can’t see O_O
Roku: We’ve got good news and bad news.
Akira: Which is? O_O
Roku: The good news is, we’ve arrive at the Gathering Point.
Akira: And the bad news?
Roku: Kaito’s here.
Caliburn: Kaito? Ready for the rematch, is he?
Caliburn stepped in front of Roku, taking in his surroundings with awe and then calming himself with a deep breath. Caliburn drew his long sword on his back with his right hand, his katana in his left hand, and flipped his dagger into his mouth by the handle.
Kaito: I like your enthusiasm to fight me, kid. I still never got to know your name though. I would prefer we know who each other is before we begin this fight :|
Caliburn: *sighs* I told you before…I’m just a swordsman.
Kaito: Alright “Just a swordsman”…let’s go.
Roku: And that’s our cue!
Roku and Akira moved out of the way and start searching through the vast collection of books on that particular level of the Hall. Caliburn and Kaito rushed at each other, swords out, and Katio slashed first, horizontally, but Caliburn flipped into the air with full force, avoiding the attack and swiping downward for an arching sideways strike which Kaito blocked overhead. Caliburn kicked Kaito’s sword with his feet and used the recoiling force to pushed off and land on the ground by flipping backward. Kaito held his ground firmly and smirked. Akira and Roku found a scroll titled “The Birth of the 7th Raikage”.
Roku: This is it!!
Roku opened the scroll and read through it.
Roku: In the era many years ago, a very young reincarnation of the 8th Tailed Beast host entered this library when searching for a route to Yasuragi Stronghold. He entered this library and was lost forever, but there he discovered the secrets of the ancients. His lust for power and knowledge grew exponentially with his findings. Kirabi discovered the location of the Staff of the Ancients, due to the Hachibi which resided in him, under the library itself. This staff, holding all the wisdom and power of the ancients in one weapon gave him unimaginable power. With it, he spent countless years in the Hall training in the abilities of the ancients, but he lacked one scroll: a scroll which would give him the power to wipe out entire countries without breaking a sweat. With it, he would become the ultimate warrior, but the scroll remained lost forever. When he emerged from the Hall, many years had passed, but the young Kirabi had not aged. He killed the Raikage Mizutoki in a secret coup and, using forbidden technique of the ancients, infused Mizutoki’s soul with his own, causing the two beings to become one. Mizutoki’s being lives within Kirabi, but Kirabi’s will dominates the body.
Akira: No way! O_O
Roku: There’s more. But now’s not the time to read everything. We need to find any other information.
Kaito swung sideways, Caliburn unable to dodge fully, and made a shallow cut on Caliburn’s arm. Caliburn spun to the side, using his sword as the leverage to the ground to dodge Kaito’s next stab, and he returned the strike with a full force palm thrust which hit Kaito directly in the gut. Kaito grabbed his abdomen and smiled devilishly, trying to regain oxygen at the same time. Caliburn glared at him with a sense of composure. Caliburn took the first step forward, slowly, but Kaito reacted skillfully and ducked just as Caliburn swiftly hurled his long sword at Kaito in a horizontal spinning fan-like wheel. Suddenly, however, and in a burst of incredible speed, green energy emitting from his feet, Caliburn appeared behind Kaito at a very close proximity, catching his sword by the handle in the appropriate hand, and swinging the sword down on Kaito with pinpoint accuracy. Kaito looked shocked, but only for a moment.
Kaito: Han Sochi no Jutsu (Half Step Technique)
With impeccable timing and absolute speed exceeding Caliburn’s great boost for just an instant, Kaito moved to Caliburn’s right, standing on his side, half a step away from his previous position. Kaito’s hands and feet charged with chakra.
Kaito: Swallow Sky Rush!
Kaito performed an immediate sweeping kick, knocking Caliburn completely off his feet, and as he was still in midair, about to fall and hit the ground, Kaito performed a sweeping kick to Caliburn’s chin and pounded him into the sky.
Kaito: Heaven’s Calling Earth Fist
Kaito followed up instantly by jumping above Caliburn and performing a somersault to do so until he reached his peak height, at which point he spun in the air 360 degrees while at the same time bringing his leg around in a sweeping arc, knocking Caliburn into the ground violently as Kaito’s kick met Caliburn’s face. Amidst the rubble and dust, there was no movement, but Kaito didn’t wait. He rushed at Caliburn and jumped.
Kaito: Moon Fang Rising
Caliburn: Energy Wave!
A burst of Energy, completely transparent and only visible by the distortion around the edges of the pulse, hit Kaito in midair, pushing him against a large bookcase and dealing significant damage. Kaito wiped the subtle amount of blood off his mouth. The dust cleared and Caliburn rose from the ground with only a few small cuts and few bruises. Kaito’s red eyes focused in on Caliburn, full of excitement. Caliburn held both his long sword and his katana up for a second and then unleashed a barrage of slashes toward Kaito that released white whips, bullets, blasts, waves, and slashes of pure chakra.
Caliburn: Heavenly Slash Barrage!!!
Kaito rushed at Caliburn once more with great speed, dodging each and every single slash left and right as his Sharingan activated. Several were too close, so Kaito swung his sword and released blasts of large fire to match each chakra wave. Kaito’s sword gained an aura of red around it and shark-like teeth appeared on the edges, resulting in the blade spinning and vibrating rapidly, although seemingly subtly, like a chainsaw. A violent flare of flame-like chakra surrounded the weapon. As Kaito finally approached the last stride, Caliburn lifted his sword and prepared another powerful downward slash, but Kaito was quick and pivoted his footing, turning his sword with his body to go to the left, as if he were swinging it himself to attack, but instead to block Caliburn’s vertical attack. He overpowered Caliburn and pushed him back against another bookshelf, this time turning his sword’s position out to the side to stab Caliburn in the face, but Caliburn ducked and slapped his hand on Kaito’s side, imbuing Pure Chakra into Kaito’s abdomen. Kaito, however, was quick to stop this and impulsively thrust his blade through Caliburn’s arm, slipping through it like soft butter. Caliburn felt a chilling sensation, a pain so great and paralyzing, and a fear that came with so much despair that he could hardly move. He could not keep himself from feeling his fear. Caliburn coughed hard, blood shrieking through his mouth since his dagger was still in place between his teeth. Caliburn almost lost his tight grip on his sword and let go for a split second, but caught it again on instinct. Kaito frowned and, using his index and middle fingers extended, jabbed Caliburn in the gut, causing him to swallow the sword dangerously. However, Kaito placed his palm, which was in the tiger-style form, against Caliburn’s throat and guided it down to his stomach. He then grabbed Caliburn’s katana and long sword with his right hand before ripping his sword out of Caliburn’s arm. Caliburn, free from the paralyzing fear for that moment, released a small energy wave that blew Kaito back about forty feet. Caliburn coughed, gasping and wheezing for breath. With the fifth cough, he finally breathed. He panted heavily for a while, watching Kaito carefully for a majority of that period. His eyes were nearly bloodshot. He faced his left hand down, drawing green Energy from the Hall with it. The Energy rose up to his wound and covered it from both ends, stopping the incredibly paralyzing sensation and blocking out some of the pain. Caliburn was without a weapon, but he lifted his hands toward Kaito.
Kaito: How does it feel to have your dagger lodged in your gut, as I did with my special technique?
Caliburn: *pant* *pant* Energy *pant* Wave! *pant* Barrage!!!
Caliburn released one energy wave, then another, and then another and soon constant amounts of energy waves which seemed to be infinite were being released. Caliburn, with his two hands open and charged with energy, thrust with his palms each time, releasing a new energy pulse. Kaito ran at a high velocity, cutting through the waves one by one as fast as he could, but alas there were too many for him to keep up with. Soon, he missed one, which threw off his footing slightly, causing him to lose some momentum but Kaito still continued running. Then, he missed another, which almost tripped him completely. The next one, Kaito simply couldn’t dodge, so he blocked with all threw swords, being burst back several meters and pushing him onto the ground. Caliburn hurried and jumped, landing in front of Kaito and slamming his hand on his face, but before he landed to do this, Kaito’s hand changed position from left to right. Caliburn hadn’t seen what had happened or what he did, but soon he felt it.
Kaito: Got you!
A pause. Then, a gash appeared diagonally and the wound opened up rapidly. Then, blood gushed out viciously, splattering onto the ground and Kaito’s face, which he opted to wipe off. Caliburn stumbled back. Kaito rolled his feet back into the air, bent by the knees, and, using the force of his hands pushing against the ground, he leaped up with a kick to Caliburn, which brought him to standing position and made Caliburn stumbled backward even more, this time spinning disoriented. Kaito sheathed his blades and punched Caliburn dead in the face from the right, and then he swung a left hook, also landing a painful blow. Regardless, Caliburn remained standing. Whether it was because he was too surprised and disoriented to fall or whether it was because of his strong will did not seem to stop Kaito. Kaito kept punching ferociously and with savagery. Each punch dealt more and more damage to Caliburn until finally, Kaito lifted his Sanada Yukimura from it’s sheathe and gripped it tight. Caliburn’s Energy suddenly exploded, but Kaito was not in any way fazed. He proceeded to lop of Caliburn’s head from above, but Caliburn did something that surprised everyone including Roku. Caliburn could sense Kaito’s Energy, and with no hesitation, with no remorse, he violently punched himself in the gut with a chakra-enhanced fist and spit out a massive amount of blood, but also something other than a great deal of blood which pained him so: his swallowed dagger. Blood dripped from Caliburn’s mouth incessantly, but he did not let it slow him down at all. He grabbed the hilt of the dagger from his gory mouth and, channeling green Energy through the small blade, turned to block Kaito’s slash with full force.
Kaito: O_O
Caliburn was overpowering Kaito, the Energy filling him with incredible strength and great power. Roku stared in awe at Caliburn’s ruthlessness and rawness. Caliburn put his hand in front of Kaito. Time seemed to stop. There was no other sound but the beating hearts of the two opponents, racing and pumping overtime. Caliburn’s eyes flared up, burning with unbending desire and will, brightly shinining with green flames of steadfastness and absolute focus. And, from point-blank range, Caliburn fired another pulse of Energy, so powerful that Kaito could not negate it in any way.
Caliburn: Grand Energy Wave
The ground and area within the proximity shattered and tore up from the force of the massive Energy wave that knocked Kaito into the air and violently across the ground and back into the air constantly until he hit the furthest wall. His back bounced off the wall and he coughed up blood from his throat and his nose. Before he fell flat, Kaito caught himself on his right knee and faced down, panting and kneeling. Caliburn zoomed past countless bookshelves and vast collections of knowledge stored against the walls, consumed with deep intent to kill. Kaito swung his sword on last time once Caliburn got close, but Caliburn lifted into the air, remaining in the same rudimentary position by only lifting his feet in the air while still successfully dodging the blade. He pressed his feet down on Kaito, putting his dagger away, and grabbed his katana and long sword from Kaito’s sword sheathes and spinning then to regain a proper grip on them. Caliburn stabbed Kaito’s shoulders, his hands going inward, and he let go of the blades for a moment to reposition his handling on the blade hilts, having himself grab each hilt with his hands face up but the sword upside-down in perspective.
Caliburn: This is my Swordsman Spirit!
Caliburn ripped his swords toward himself, slicing Kaito’s arms clear off brutally. Kaito’s eyes bulged in the face of agonizing pain and death near. Caliburn loosened his grip on his dagger and let it fall to Kaito’s chest from his mouth. They locked eyes for a minute and they knew who the winner was. It was in their eyes: despair, determination to live, failure, and triumph. Kaito drooled blood.
Kaito: Who……*cough* Who are YOU?!
Caliburn: How many times do I have to tell you? I’m just…
Caliburn filled his katana with the last bit of Energy he could gather and used it to deliver one devastating finishing blow to Kaito across his entire torso, resulting in total bifurcation with large amounts of blood splattering violently across the floor and spreading into the air. Caliburn screamed and pressed through.
Caliburn: … I’m just a swordsman!!
A Strike of Desperation
END OF CHAPTER
NEXT WEEK: The Story of a True Swordsman
Chapter XVI: Swordsman's Spirit
(For some reason...this theme was stuck in my head O_O
You must be registered for see links
And this...
You must be registered for see links
The latter actually fits quite well with the battle scene O_O
Enjoy the epicness of...well, you'll see ^_^
Roku, Akira, and Caliburn appeared in the same area, the beginning of a straight path, blocked off by innumerable books to the right and left. There was a heavy pressure in the area, lingering about like a dark cloud. The room was misty and obscured, and visibility hardly exceeded several feet.
Caliburn: This is it?
Akira: Yep…
Roku: The Eternal Walkway is what this place is called. We might find some information here, but the most important thing to find the log book, detailing the history of those who have ever lived.
Caliburn: This place has something like that? O_O
Roku: Yeah.
The three ninja started walking down the path, viewing all of the books of many shapes, sizes, origins, and colors. There were ancient texts, but very few scrolls.
Caliburn: This is a historical library?
Roku: Kind of. It is also a place where one can find the Ancients’ practices, methods, and techniques, but those are kept a secret, known only to the Sages.
Akira: Basically, you won’t find the best stuff until we reach the Main Hall. The Gathering Point.
Caliburn: Which is?
Akira: The Gathering Point is connected to hundreds of walkways because it is so massively filled with knowledge and the truth, and thus, there are hundreds of paths to prevent people from harming the place. You may come in, but unless you know your way, you will never come out.
Roku: Exacta! O_O
Caliburn: So, we’re trying to find out how Kirabi gained so much power.
Roku: Exactly. The Hall doesn’t lie, and it keeps hidden information on every place at any time. Why? Because of an infinite technique used by the ancients, which was cast on the planet itself, for the purpose of gathering all knowledge.
A book fell onto the ground from above, which could not be seen due to the heavy mist.
Roku: O_O Hrmm…
Roku picked up the book and read its title.
Roku: The Battle at Yasuragi Stronghold…
Akira: You see? O_O Instant updates. That battle happened just yesterday, and the Hall has produced a detailed entry of it.
Caliburn: Sounds unreal O_O
Roku stopped, prompting Akira and Caliburn to do the same. Ahead of him was a humongous space, wide and seemingly endless, but at the same time, circular. There were stairs in the center of the room leading up several hundred floors. The floor was carpeted by pale red flooring, and the walls were white like snow. Several books dropped from the ceiling, hundreds of meters above. In the center of the room, by the swirling staircase, stood Kaito with his sword drawn and killing intent in his eyes.
Caliburn: What’s going on? I can’t see O_O
Roku: We’ve got good news and bad news.
Akira: Which is? O_O
Roku: The good news is, we’ve arrive at the Gathering Point.
Akira: And the bad news?
Roku: Kaito’s here.
Caliburn: Kaito? Ready for the rematch, is he?
Caliburn stepped in front of Roku, taking in his surroundings with awe and then calming himself with a deep breath. Caliburn drew his long sword on his back with his right hand, his katana in his left hand, and flipped his dagger into his mouth by the handle.
Kaito: I like your enthusiasm to fight me, kid. I still never got to know your name though. I would prefer we know who each other is before we begin this fight :|
Caliburn: *sighs* I told you before…I’m just a swordsman.
Kaito: Alright “Just a swordsman”…let’s go.
Roku: And that’s our cue!
Roku and Akira moved out of the way and start searching through the vast collection of books on that particular level of the Hall. Caliburn and Kaito rushed at each other, swords out, and Katio slashed first, horizontally, but Caliburn flipped into the air with full force, avoiding the attack and swiping downward for an arching sideways strike which Kaito blocked overhead. Caliburn kicked Kaito’s sword with his feet and used the recoiling force to pushed off and land on the ground by flipping backward. Kaito held his ground firmly and smirked. Akira and Roku found a scroll titled “The Birth of the 7th Raikage”.
Roku: This is it!!
Roku opened the scroll and read through it.
Roku: In the era many years ago, a very young reincarnation of the 8th Tailed Beast host entered this library when searching for a route to Yasuragi Stronghold. He entered this library and was lost forever, but there he discovered the secrets of the ancients. His lust for power and knowledge grew exponentially with his findings. Kirabi discovered the location of the Staff of the Ancients, due to the Hachibi which resided in him, under the library itself. This staff, holding all the wisdom and power of the ancients in one weapon gave him unimaginable power. With it, he spent countless years in the Hall training in the abilities of the ancients, but he lacked one scroll: a scroll which would give him the power to wipe out entire countries without breaking a sweat. With it, he would become the ultimate warrior, but the scroll remained lost forever. When he emerged from the Hall, many years had passed, but the young Kirabi had not aged. He killed the Raikage Mizutoki in a secret coup and, using forbidden technique of the ancients, infused Mizutoki’s soul with his own, causing the two beings to become one. Mizutoki’s being lives within Kirabi, but Kirabi’s will dominates the body.
Akira: No way! O_O
Roku: There’s more. But now’s not the time to read everything. We need to find any other information.
Kaito swung sideways, Caliburn unable to dodge fully, and made a shallow cut on Caliburn’s arm. Caliburn spun to the side, using his sword as the leverage to the ground to dodge Kaito’s next stab, and he returned the strike with a full force palm thrust which hit Kaito directly in the gut. Kaito grabbed his abdomen and smiled devilishly, trying to regain oxygen at the same time. Caliburn glared at him with a sense of composure. Caliburn took the first step forward, slowly, but Kaito reacted skillfully and ducked just as Caliburn swiftly hurled his long sword at Kaito in a horizontal spinning fan-like wheel. Suddenly, however, and in a burst of incredible speed, green energy emitting from his feet, Caliburn appeared behind Kaito at a very close proximity, catching his sword by the handle in the appropriate hand, and swinging the sword down on Kaito with pinpoint accuracy. Kaito looked shocked, but only for a moment.
Kaito: Han Sochi no Jutsu (Half Step Technique)
With impeccable timing and absolute speed exceeding Caliburn’s great boost for just an instant, Kaito moved to Caliburn’s right, standing on his side, half a step away from his previous position. Kaito’s hands and feet charged with chakra.
Kaito: Swallow Sky Rush!
Kaito performed an immediate sweeping kick, knocking Caliburn completely off his feet, and as he was still in midair, about to fall and hit the ground, Kaito performed a sweeping kick to Caliburn’s chin and pounded him into the sky.
Kaito: Heaven’s Calling Earth Fist
Kaito followed up instantly by jumping above Caliburn and performing a somersault to do so until he reached his peak height, at which point he spun in the air 360 degrees while at the same time bringing his leg around in a sweeping arc, knocking Caliburn into the ground violently as Kaito’s kick met Caliburn’s face. Amidst the rubble and dust, there was no movement, but Kaito didn’t wait. He rushed at Caliburn and jumped.
Kaito: Moon Fang Rising
Caliburn: Energy Wave!
A burst of Energy, completely transparent and only visible by the distortion around the edges of the pulse, hit Kaito in midair, pushing him against a large bookcase and dealing significant damage. Kaito wiped the subtle amount of blood off his mouth. The dust cleared and Caliburn rose from the ground with only a few small cuts and few bruises. Kaito’s red eyes focused in on Caliburn, full of excitement. Caliburn held both his long sword and his katana up for a second and then unleashed a barrage of slashes toward Kaito that released white whips, bullets, blasts, waves, and slashes of pure chakra.
Caliburn: Heavenly Slash Barrage!!!
Kaito rushed at Caliburn once more with great speed, dodging each and every single slash left and right as his Sharingan activated. Several were too close, so Kaito swung his sword and released blasts of large fire to match each chakra wave. Kaito’s sword gained an aura of red around it and shark-like teeth appeared on the edges, resulting in the blade spinning and vibrating rapidly, although seemingly subtly, like a chainsaw. A violent flare of flame-like chakra surrounded the weapon. As Kaito finally approached the last stride, Caliburn lifted his sword and prepared another powerful downward slash, but Kaito was quick and pivoted his footing, turning his sword with his body to go to the left, as if he were swinging it himself to attack, but instead to block Caliburn’s vertical attack. He overpowered Caliburn and pushed him back against another bookshelf, this time turning his sword’s position out to the side to stab Caliburn in the face, but Caliburn ducked and slapped his hand on Kaito’s side, imbuing Pure Chakra into Kaito’s abdomen. Kaito, however, was quick to stop this and impulsively thrust his blade through Caliburn’s arm, slipping through it like soft butter. Caliburn felt a chilling sensation, a pain so great and paralyzing, and a fear that came with so much despair that he could hardly move. He could not keep himself from feeling his fear. Caliburn coughed hard, blood shrieking through his mouth since his dagger was still in place between his teeth. Caliburn almost lost his tight grip on his sword and let go for a split second, but caught it again on instinct. Kaito frowned and, using his index and middle fingers extended, jabbed Caliburn in the gut, causing him to swallow the sword dangerously. However, Kaito placed his palm, which was in the tiger-style form, against Caliburn’s throat and guided it down to his stomach. He then grabbed Caliburn’s katana and long sword with his right hand before ripping his sword out of Caliburn’s arm. Caliburn, free from the paralyzing fear for that moment, released a small energy wave that blew Kaito back about forty feet. Caliburn coughed, gasping and wheezing for breath. With the fifth cough, he finally breathed. He panted heavily for a while, watching Kaito carefully for a majority of that period. His eyes were nearly bloodshot. He faced his left hand down, drawing green Energy from the Hall with it. The Energy rose up to his wound and covered it from both ends, stopping the incredibly paralyzing sensation and blocking out some of the pain. Caliburn was without a weapon, but he lifted his hands toward Kaito.
Kaito: How does it feel to have your dagger lodged in your gut, as I did with my special technique?
Caliburn: *pant* *pant* Energy *pant* Wave! *pant* Barrage!!!
Caliburn released one energy wave, then another, and then another and soon constant amounts of energy waves which seemed to be infinite were being released. Caliburn, with his two hands open and charged with energy, thrust with his palms each time, releasing a new energy pulse. Kaito ran at a high velocity, cutting through the waves one by one as fast as he could, but alas there were too many for him to keep up with. Soon, he missed one, which threw off his footing slightly, causing him to lose some momentum but Kaito still continued running. Then, he missed another, which almost tripped him completely. The next one, Kaito simply couldn’t dodge, so he blocked with all threw swords, being burst back several meters and pushing him onto the ground. Caliburn hurried and jumped, landing in front of Kaito and slamming his hand on his face, but before he landed to do this, Kaito’s hand changed position from left to right. Caliburn hadn’t seen what had happened or what he did, but soon he felt it.
Kaito: Got you!
A pause. Then, a gash appeared diagonally and the wound opened up rapidly. Then, blood gushed out viciously, splattering onto the ground and Kaito’s face, which he opted to wipe off. Caliburn stumbled back. Kaito rolled his feet back into the air, bent by the knees, and, using the force of his hands pushing against the ground, he leaped up with a kick to Caliburn, which brought him to standing position and made Caliburn stumbled backward even more, this time spinning disoriented. Kaito sheathed his blades and punched Caliburn dead in the face from the right, and then he swung a left hook, also landing a painful blow. Regardless, Caliburn remained standing. Whether it was because he was too surprised and disoriented to fall or whether it was because of his strong will did not seem to stop Kaito. Kaito kept punching ferociously and with savagery. Each punch dealt more and more damage to Caliburn until finally, Kaito lifted his Sanada Yukimura from it’s sheathe and gripped it tight. Caliburn’s Energy suddenly exploded, but Kaito was not in any way fazed. He proceeded to lop of Caliburn’s head from above, but Caliburn did something that surprised everyone including Roku. Caliburn could sense Kaito’s Energy, and with no hesitation, with no remorse, he violently punched himself in the gut with a chakra-enhanced fist and spit out a massive amount of blood, but also something other than a great deal of blood which pained him so: his swallowed dagger. Blood dripped from Caliburn’s mouth incessantly, but he did not let it slow him down at all. He grabbed the hilt of the dagger from his gory mouth and, channeling green Energy through the small blade, turned to block Kaito’s slash with full force.
Kaito: O_O
Caliburn was overpowering Kaito, the Energy filling him with incredible strength and great power. Roku stared in awe at Caliburn’s ruthlessness and rawness. Caliburn put his hand in front of Kaito. Time seemed to stop. There was no other sound but the beating hearts of the two opponents, racing and pumping overtime. Caliburn’s eyes flared up, burning with unbending desire and will, brightly shinining with green flames of steadfastness and absolute focus. And, from point-blank range, Caliburn fired another pulse of Energy, so powerful that Kaito could not negate it in any way.
Caliburn: Grand Energy Wave
The ground and area within the proximity shattered and tore up from the force of the massive Energy wave that knocked Kaito into the air and violently across the ground and back into the air constantly until he hit the furthest wall. His back bounced off the wall and he coughed up blood from his throat and his nose. Before he fell flat, Kaito caught himself on his right knee and faced down, panting and kneeling. Caliburn zoomed past countless bookshelves and vast collections of knowledge stored against the walls, consumed with deep intent to kill. Kaito swung his sword on last time once Caliburn got close, but Caliburn lifted into the air, remaining in the same rudimentary position by only lifting his feet in the air while still successfully dodging the blade. He pressed his feet down on Kaito, putting his dagger away, and grabbed his katana and long sword from Kaito’s sword sheathes and spinning then to regain a proper grip on them. Caliburn stabbed Kaito’s shoulders, his hands going inward, and he let go of the blades for a moment to reposition his handling on the blade hilts, having himself grab each hilt with his hands face up but the sword upside-down in perspective.
Caliburn: This is my Swordsman Spirit!
Caliburn ripped his swords toward himself, slicing Kaito’s arms clear off brutally. Kaito’s eyes bulged in the face of agonizing pain and death near. Caliburn loosened his grip on his dagger and let it fall to Kaito’s chest from his mouth. They locked eyes for a minute and they knew who the winner was. It was in their eyes: despair, determination to live, failure, and triumph. Kaito drooled blood.
Kaito: Who……*cough* Who are YOU?!
Caliburn: How many times do I have to tell you? I’m just…
Caliburn filled his katana with the last bit of Energy he could gather and used it to deliver one devastating finishing blow to Kaito across his entire torso, resulting in total bifurcation with large amounts of blood splattering violently across the floor and spreading into the air. Caliburn screamed and pressed through.
Caliburn: … I’m just a swordsman!!
A Strike of Desperation
END OF CHAPTER
NEXT WEEK: The Story of a True Swordsman
