The moon was a sliver of bone above the training grounds. The air was unnaturally still, as if the forest itself was holding its breath.
Renza and Renju stood twenty paces apart. The dirt between them was scorched and scarred from the week's training. Renza rolled his shoulders, the stolen Stone trench knives gripped in a reverse-grip, their blackened steel absorbing the moonlight. Renju stood relaxed, his hand resting lightly on the hilt of his chokutō, his breathing so rhythmic it was almost hypnotic.
"No 'Forms' for the first three minutes," Renza said, his grey eyes sparking with that familiar, manic hunger. "Just the new tricks."
"Agreed," Renju replied. "Don't break your nose, Renza."
"START!"
Renza didn't lunge. He blurred.
"Wind Step!" A vacuum formed in front of him as a gust pushed from behind. He covered twenty feet in a literal blink. He swung the right trench knife in a brutal horizontal arc.
Renju didn't draw his sword. He slammed his palm into the ground. "Water Release: Water Basin!" A thick, gelatinous pool of water erupted between them. Renza's blade hit the water and stopped dead, the kinetic energy absorbed by the fluid's unnatural density.
"Too slow," Renju whispered. He exhaled sharply. "Wild Water Wave!" A high-pressure jet of water blasted from his mouth, aimed directly at Renza's chest.
Renza spun mid-air, his instincts screaming. "Gale Shield!" He released a violent burst of wind from his pores, creating a spinning dome. The water jet hit the wind and dispersed into a fine mist. Through the haze, Renza flicked his wrist.
"Vacuum Blade!" A crescent of compressed air whistled through the mist.
Renju finally drew his blade. "Hidden Ripple." The chokutō vibrated silently, the water coating the edge acting as a stabilizer. He didn't bash the air-blade away; he sliced through the vacuum, the vibration of his sword cancelling out the pressure of the wind.
"Tricks are over," Renza grinned, blood starting to seep from his nose—the familiar sign of his lungs reaching their limit. "Let's see the 'Calamity'."
"Total Concentration: Burst - 20 Seconds!" Renza's white hair stood on end. His speed moved from "fast" to "impossible." He was no longer a boy; he was a silver shredder.
"Wind Breathing, Second Form: Claws of the Purifying Wind!" He struck six times in a second. Each strike was followed by a Vacuum Blade follow-up, creating a grid of cutting air.
Renju closed his eyes. He didn't need them. He entered the Abyss. "Total Concentration: Constant - Deep Sink!" He lowered his center of gravity, his feet rooting into the mud.
"Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance!" Renju moved like a ribbon. He didn't block the "Claws"; he let the wind carry his body, parrying only the physical blades with his silent chokutō.
Clang. Shhh. Clang.
The sound of the duel was lopsided—Renza was a roar of thunder, and Renju was the silence of a deep lake.
Renza leaped back, his chest heaving. He had five seconds of his "Burst" left. He put everything into a final strike. He used Wind Step to gain altitude and dove. "Wind Breathing, First Form: Dust Whirlwind... SAVAGE!"
Renju didn't move. At the last second, he tilted his blade upward. "Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel... Reverse Flow!"
The collision was a physical shockwave. The wind of Renza's descent hit the rising vortex of Renju's defense. Dust and mud exploded outward, masking the two figures.
When the air cleared, the two were locked in a stalemate. Renza's trench knife was an inch from Renju's neck, but Renju's chokutō was pointed directly at Renza's heart.
Renza's "Burst" ended. He collapsed to one knee, coughing violently into the dirt, his lungs wheezing like a broken accordion.
Renju sheathed his blade with a soft click. He reached out and hauled Renza to his feet.
"Your Vacuum Blades are sloppy on the left side," Renju noted, though his own hands were shaking from the pressure of the Water Wheel.
"And your Water Basin takes too much chakra to sustain," Renza wheezed, wiping his mouth. "If I had doubled back with a second Wind Step, you'd have been dry."
"But you didn't," Renju said. "We're even, Gale. For now."
They looked toward the horizon, where the first hint of grey was beginning to touch the sky. The time for play was over.