"First we do the polite greetings, then we fight—" Hayato started to say, but Yui vanished.
Hayato's eyes widened as he jumped back, but her speed was on an entirely different level. In a fraction of a second, Yui materialized directly behind him. Her blade flashed, leaving a deep, crimson slash across his back.
Before he could react to the pain, Yui planted a ruthless kick directly onto his open wound, sending him crashing through the front window of a storefront.
"Hayato, I knew you were strong," Yui said coldly, her voice echoing through the quiet street as she walked toward the shop. "But you cannot defeat me."
A moment later, Hayato dragged himself out of the ruined store, holding a heavy iron reinforcing rod he had ripped from the foundation.
"Yui Tanaka," Hayato grunted, tossing the rod from hand to hand. "If I remember right, we both trained under the same master back in the day."
Yui paused, her expression unreadable. "What are you implying?"
"I'm saying the same guy taught us," Hayato offered his usual easygoing smile. "Which means I can read your moves. In fact... I think I can do them better than you."
Yui remained entirely deadpan, staring at him blankly.
Hayato sighed, slumping his shoulders. "Come on, give me something! I just dropped a banger action-movie line and you're completely ignoring me!"
"It was a lame line," Yui replied smoothly.
"Fine, fine, boss," Hayato muttered.
"Shall we begin?" Yui asked, raising her blade.
Hayato gave a sharp nod and lunged forward, swinging the heavy iron rod. Steel met iron in a rapid clashing of sparks. Yui parried every strike with effortless grace, her face completely calm.
"Is this really all you have?" she asked quietly.
Hayato's eyes widened as Yui's blade turned into a silver blur. In a single, imperceptible flash, she sliced his iron rod into three neat pieces, followed instantly by three deep, blinding slashes across his abdomen.
It happened so fast Hayato couldn't even process the cuts. He collapsed to his knees, blood pooling onto the cobbles beneath him.
Yui stood over him, holding her katana at her side with absolute posture. "Hayato."
Hayato forced his head up, breathing heavily.
"Join us," Yui offered calmly.
"That's a hard no," Hayato wheezed, managing a faint, stubborn grin.
Yui gave a slow, respectful nod. "I acknowledge your strength. You fought two senior Clan Leaders back-to-back and defeated them both. If you were at full health, perhaps the outcome of this fight would be different."
With a ragged groan, Hayato forced himself back onto his feet, swaying slightly. "I know I can't beat you like this... but I can still leave you with a nice little souvenir."
Yui remained unmoved as Hayato launched a desperate, slow attack toward her. She dodged his swing effortlessly, driving a sharp fist straight into his stomach that forced a spray of blood from his throat. Spinning on her heel, she delivered a brutal reverse roundhouse kick straight to his jaw, launching him through three neighboring houses.
Hayato lay in the dust, coughing up blood as Yui casually walked through the shattered walls toward him.
"You were saying something about leaving a mark on me?" Yui remarked, her lips curving into a cold, arrogant smirk. "You aren't even worth using my blade on."
With a dismissive flick of her wrist, she tossed her katana aside, letting it embed itself into the dirt.
"I'll finish you with this kick."
Yui leaped into the air, spinning gracefully before driving her right leg down in a devastating execution axe-kick.
Hayato raised his left arm at the last second, taking the full, crushing brunt of the blow. Pain exploded through his limb as the bone cracked under her weight, but instead of letting his arm drop, Hayato clamped his broken limb firmly around her ankle, trapping her leg.
Yui's eyes widened in genuine shock. "What?!"
"Hahaha!" Hayato cackled through a mouth full of blood, his eyes blazing with wild fury. "Man, I love messing with a woman's head!"
Using every single drop of strength left in his body, Hayato wound back his right fist and unleashed the most powerful punch of his life.
BOOM!
His fist connected cleanly with her left cheek. The sheer kinetic force slammed Yui headfirst into the ground, creating a massive, pulverizing crater in the dirt and shattering the stone floor beneath them.
Hayato collapsed right beside her, gasping for air as dust settled over the crater.
Yui lay in the center of the pit, her vision swimming as she stared up at the night sky in utter disbelief. "How... did you... have that much power left...?"
Breathing heavily, his left arm useless and his body broken, Hayato slowly, painfully began to drag himself back up.