Hayato dodged the incoming strike, leaping to the side just as Renji swung his heavy blade, slicing straight through the restaurant's wall. Beneath a cloud of rising dust and debris, Hayato drove a vicious counter-punch straight into Renji's face, sending him crashing into the street outside.
Renji stumbled to his feet, consumed by rage. He swung his sword wildly, severing the wooden pillars of a nearby house as Hayato ducked under.
Before Hayato could reset his footing, Renji surged forward, grabbing Hayato by the collar and driving a brutal knee straight into his obliques. Following up with a heavy right hook, Renji sent Hayato flying into a rack of parked bicycles.
Hayato skidded across the dirt, letting out a laugh. "Haha... is that really all you've got?"
Grabbing two heavy bike chains from the wreckage, Hayato wrapped them tightly around his knuckles.
Rage-baited beyond reason, Renji charged with a furious battle cry. Hayato stepped into the swing, weaving under the blade and wrapping his left chain around Renji's sword arm, yanking the clan leader forward. As Renji stumbled off-balance, Hayato whipped his right hand around, lashing the heavy iron chain across Renji's throat and face.
Blood sprayed into the air as Renji collapsed onto the cobblestones, completely unconscious and drenched in his own blood.
Hayato stood over the fallen clan head, wiping a streak of crimson from his cheek. He turned back toward Riku and Yui with a lazy, blood-stained grin. "So... who's next?" The crowd of mercenaries were frozen.
Master Renji lost? They thought.
Yui narrowed her eyes, her hand tightening on her hilt as she prepared to step forward. But Riku placed a hand on her shoulder, stepping past her.
"Yamamoto Hayato," Riku said, his voice cold and measured. "I will ask you one last time. Join us."
Hayato shook his head, slinging the bloody chains over his shoulders. "Nah. I'm good."
Riku gave a single, solemn nod. "You are the first and only man I have ever asked twice. Here I come."
Meanwhile, Akira remained encircled by dozens of heavily armored executioners.
"Are you really planning to fight us with that wooden stick?" Endo sneered, pacing around her. "Or should I be a gentleman and lend you mine?"
He smirked, raising his weapon. "Kiddo, today is the day you die. Any last words for your fath—"
Before Endo could finish the sentence, Akira exploded forward. She swung her wooden training sword with blinding speed, targeting his throat. Endo threw a heavy, armored fist into the strike—the sheer force of his impact pulverizing the wooden blade.
"Goodbye," Endo growled, bringing his katana down in a decapitating arc.
Akira bent down, dodging the blade by millimeters. Shifting her weight, she snapped a explosive kick directly into Endo's chin, sending him flying backward through the paper sliding doors into the adjacent room.
"Damn... what explosive power," Endo grunted, wiping blood from his lip as he pushed himself up. He glared at his hesitation-filled men. "What are you standing around for?! Kill her!"
The executioners surged forward, steel gleaming in the light.
Akira weaved through their attack lines with pure agility, dodging fatal slashes and landing devastating counter-kicks that launched attackers back into the crowd.
I need a real sword, she thought, her lungs burning as the perimeter closed in. I can't hold out much longer.
Suddenly, mercenaries attacked simultaneously from 360 degrees, leaving her no room to dodge.
"Akira, dodge!" a familiar voice roared from above.
Akira dropped flat onto the wooden floor without hesitation.
A heavy, whirring blur tore through the air above her. A razor-sharp weapon attached to a long iron chain swept around the room in a full circle, cleaving through the incoming executioners in a single, brutal motion.
"What?! Who did that?!" Endo shouted, rushing back into the hall.
Standing in the shattered doorway was wounded Shisui, holding a pair of heavy kusarigama—twin blades anchored by long, thick iron chains.
"Akira, catch!" Shisui called out, kicking a fallen samurai's katana across the floor straight to her feet.
As executioners jumped toward Shisui, he spun his twin chain-blades like a cyclone, deflecting their weapons and sprinting directly for Endo.
"Oh? You want to fight me, brat?" Endo growled, raising his sword.
Shisui hurled one of his blades straight at Endo's chest. Endo parried the flying weapon with his katana, but Shisui used the momentum of the chain to pull himself forward, landing a flying kick straight to Endo's chest that launched him out into the garden.
"Brat... you landed a hit," Endo sneered, recovering instantly in the open dirt. "But that will be the last one."
Endo lunged, and the two collided in a flurry of sparks. Shisui whipped his chains with wild precision, both men aiming strictly for lethal strike zones.
Inside the dojo, Akira snatched up the katana. With a real blade in hand, her movement became a terrifying speed-blitz, cutting down the remaining mercenaries in seconds. She glanced out toward the garden, where the clashing of steel was throwing sparks into the night air.
"Do you really think a kid like you can take me down?" Endo barked. He feinted high and slashed low, targeting Shisui's legs.
Shisui leaped into the air, spinning his chain-blades in rapid rotations to deflect the sweeping steel, forcing Endo to step back.
"How is a brat pushing me back?!" Endo growled, increasing his speed.
His blade turned into a silver blur. Shisui swung his chain to counter, but Endo ducked beneath the arc, lunging forward and driving his steel straight into Shisui's abdomen.
Shisui gritted his teeth through the sharp pain, smiling right back into Endo's face. Instead of retreating, Shisui yanked his chain backward, wrapping the weighted blade around Endo's torso and ripping open his tactical chest armor and giving Endo a big scar.
Endo unclasped the ruined armor, tossing the heavy metal plates onto the grass.
"Smart move, kid," Endo said, flexing his shoulders as he breathed easier. "It was getting hot in that armor anyway. Haven't worn one in years."
"Old man, you talk way too much," Shisui panted, holding his bleeding side.
Endo smiled darkly and charged. Without the heavy armor weighing him down, his speed doubled. He effortlessly slipped past Shisui's chain-strikes, bringing his katana around in a circular arc that severed the chain off Shisui's primary blade before driving his sword deep into Shisui's stomach.
Endo followed up with a brutal, heavy punch to Shisui's jaw, sending him crashing through three walls of the estate.
Endo sprinted after him to finish the job, but Akira suddenly jumped towards him, her sword flashing down in a violent vertical strike. Endo leapt backward just in time.
"Ah... so you finally got a real sword," Endo chuckled, adjusting his grip. "This might actually be a little troublesome."
Akira launched into a relentless assault, but Endo dodged her swings with effortless, veteran efficiency. Bloodied and breathless, Shisui re-emerged from the rubble, joining Akira in a synchronized two-front attack.
Endo read their combined timing instantly. Slipping between their blades, he drove a sharp thrust clean into Akira's right shoulder.
"There goes your dominant arm," Endo declared smoothly.