It was beginning to seem to Mana that upon landing the hit on her opponent she may have given herself an opening that’d have allowed her to counterattack with more success. Still, she was hesitant to proceed and open herself up by allowing herself the luxury of being aggressive. After all, while her opponent didn’t look too good and was barely staying upright, she herself hasn’t fully yet recovered from the battle with the Imarizu last night or this recent craziness that left a trail of destruction and some dead bodies in its wake.
The Imarizu moved his hand behind his hip. Mana’s attention sharpened, she began trying to read the man’s movements but they were actually slow enough even for a normal man to see, such lack of speed or attempt to trick her eye, which ironically resulted in Mana’s eyes being tricked, knocked the magician out of the rhythm. Her eyes needed to roll back the rate of her perception as to perceive such a movement in her top perception rate would’ve taken an eternity. It was like the Imarizu’s hand moved a light twitch every hour.
That was undoubtedly the assassin’s intent and Mana’s mistake, right after slowing himself down, knowing full well that the girl won’t risk attacking him. The Imarizu dashed onwards at Mana. Fear sparked in the girl’s heart but as she braced herself for impact she realized that she was going to make it “ her perception took some precious microseconds to return to its former rate, she took some time to place up her blocks as she was clearly not going to evade this, still “ survival was well within the realm of possibility.
Black cloud of smoke hit Mana right in the face as instead of attacking her head on and injuring Mana’s blocking arms and shins the assassin dashed past her, instead popping a smoke bomb. The gust of air accumulated from his movement gathered the cloud of black as tar smoke and bashed it right at the magician’s face and into her breathing system, had this been toxic Mana would’ve been in trouble. The magician turned back to defend herself. It didn’t work “ she couldn’t see the Imarizu’s movements but she could read them, predict them “ attacking one from behind was textbook manner of advantage utilization.
Her body froze in pain, Mana’s side burnt up from the pain inflicted on herself from before. All the gut injuries from last night all acted up at once forcing the magician to gasp surprised in pain. Then the irritating and burning sensation in her lungs completely flipped the tables on her. Not only was the substance in the Imarizu’s smoke bomb highly irritative to Mana’s lungs but also to her eyes, instantly making the girl tear up. This pain from the sum of her injuries ruined her defensive measures.
A light tap to her central facial area opened Mana up for a follow up attack, it stiffened her body and lightly lifted it off the ground. A following cross to her abdomen was completely impossible to block or defend against, evasion was long since out of the question. This assassin was smart above all else, he not only had an immensely overpowering level of power and speed, martial arts mastery but also a true assassin’s mind.
Mana’s eyes whited out, she would’ve screamed out in pain had she anything but toxic gas in her lungs. She only breathed out a light whiff as the final stored semblances of air left them forcefully. Her opponent moved sideways placing his extended arm to stop the magician from falling down, since Mana’s mind blacked out he was in complete control of his combination as well as the magician’s responses to it.
The old man pushed Mana’s body with his extended arm not letting it fall down, then giving it another quick jab before following up with a strong cross at her lower chest area and then hooking at her head from below. The magician could feel no pain. At some point her mind was subconsciously convinced that it was over “ she was dead, however the very fact that some semblance of consciousness was still retained and she didn’t just completely turn off tipped the magician to bet on the other outcome. Maybe it was because of difficulties for her opponent to breathe as well, maybe it was because of the broken ribs and countless other bones and severe bleeding but he couldn’t hit Mana nearly as hard as he had the potential to.
Mana’s eyes regained their sight and she regained her control in the middle of a graceful flight, up in the air and just about to hit the ground from the power of the hook that hit her in the chin. That disgusting almost rusty iron-like taste of blood in her mouth and something gooey but matching the taste reminded the magician of the dirty and cruel reality of fighting under these conditions. She wasn’t built for such fights, she had no chance…
Sharp pain made Mana gasp out in shock of pain again, the Imarizu smacked her ribs as well as her back from behind her breaking her fall and lightly tossing her back up from the force of the impact. He winded up for another blow, this one was a sluggish cross aimed right to Mana’s temple “ an off-switch. It would’ve made a blood-shake out of her brain and it couldn’t have been allowed to connect. All of the time around the magician stopped, her perception delved as deep into its ability as it could, deeper than the Imarizu’s current state allowed him to. Mana wanted to dodge it but she realized that the weight and positioning wasn’t right, no way could she properly repurpose the balance in order to pull off something even remotely dodge-like.
She needed to attack!
The magician’s thoughts lingered, stopped and directed at what was at stake “ a man’s life. Not by the longest stretch an innocent man’s, in any children’s fairytale the magician would be the villain, someone protecting a man who tried to have a young heiress of a clan, almost a princess, murdered and then when that didn’t work out he tried to marry her! Protecting such a man, even if protecting him from death to deliver actual justice the way Mana saw it was a villainous act in the eyes of the way everyone around her saw the world. Not her though… Death was never justice, death was the end, a point from which nothing mattered anymore and justice could never be irrelevant. It was the only thing that Mana wanted at this point, it was something tangible and very much material. Inomame needed to live in order to see justice done.
She needed to attack!
A deafening crack made Sugemi and Yanagi squint, the Imarizu member’s eyes whited out as his neck snapped back, the man’s head tossed backwards gruesomely from Mana’s fastest elbow strike right to the lower left part of the old man’s skull. As the assassin stumbled back with his teeth bashed in the ugly mixture of blood, gums and teeth scattered around him as well as all over the already bloodied and battered assassin’s body.
The man kept on standing. His wish to kill Inomame was equally great to Mana’s desire to keep him alive. Two people, young and old, optimistic and realistic, with two different ways of seeing justice done. No. The Imarizu couldn’t have cared less of justice, to them Inomame was just a mission.
Mana stumbled back, grunting in pain and groaning like a stomped and kicked around dog. Her knuckles trembled, her muscles burnt inside and twitched around begging the girl to stop exerting herself. Both of the sides kept on standing and struggling to breathe at each other, mind over matter. The old man’s body was all sweaty, he similarly to Mana groaned and grunted as his lungs burnt equally painfully to Mana’s “ he had breathed in the same gas forcefully that Mana had to. Finally the smoke cloud cleared out.
*****
“What the…” Kiyomi gasped upon seeing the gruesome sight of a man trying to kill a young woman so he could kill another man and the young woman trying to survive. The Yamanaka looked questioningly at the rest of the team. She knew that Sugemi had a past of some sort with Mana and just assumed that there was a bloody good reason for none of the two interfering. Inomame covered his face as he couldn’t stomach the sight of bodies surrounding the two barely standing ninja fighting it out for his life.
“Mana agreed to this “ fighting the Imarizu dirtbag for Inomame’s life. If she wins the assassin is relieved of his contract, if she loses “ her name gets added to it, either way Shimo’s sword is granted to her, whether her hands are warm enough to hold it or not…” Sugemi explained coldly as he watched the needlessly violent battle in front of him. He could see that there were numerous times Mana had sufficient enough opening to kill the man, her elbow strike could’ve been aimed a bit further down diagonally to the left and hit a sensitive neck weakspot killing the assassin instantly. She could’ve also killed him during the first onslaught of attacks she was so careful to dodge. Then again, if she was aggressive enough to go for the kill it was hard to predict how successful her defenses would’ve been, maybe her killing intent would’ve resulted in too many blows on her front being skipped…
Still there had to be a better out than this…
“And we’re expected to just stand around and see her kill herself!? What if she dies and the Imarizu decides to kill this little shit? Are we to just let him do it!?” Kiyomi flipped out rolling back her sleeves.
“It’d be Mana’s final will. Our lives are too short to disrespect our final wills. We are under no orders to keep Inomame alive, we’d be violating nothing. Your return is the only thing the village cares about and that is already in our hands, if we recover the Audra sword for the village it’ll just be a cherry on top… Even if Mana died, we’re all heroes in the eyes of the village, she’d be taking any blame from our reckless actions as an impromptu response squad and all fruits of our labor would be ours to claim credit for. She’s acting like a true ninja should…” Yanagi explained calmly placing his hand on Kiyomi’s angry fist and softly lowering it back down.
“Maybe for the first time in her life…” Sugemi smiled looking down at the bloody sand beneath his feet.
“Do you guys want to know what I think?” Inomame wondered before being smacked by Kiyomi.
“No!” she shouted. Lightly pulling a steel string tied around her fingers on one end and Inomame’s kunai etched in an important blood vessel that was bleeding very slowly until the kunai would have been pulled out. Even if the Yamanaka possessed an immense chakra pool he’d not have prevented his bleeding out for too long. Kiyomi had him like her puppet.
“Had I known this would turn out to be such an abusive relationship I’d have not tried to marry you…” Inomame grinned through twisted in pain lips as the yanking of the blade in his body locked him down in great pain.
*****
Neither Mana nor the old Imarizu spoke to each other. They simply didn’t believe the matter being worth anything to say. It would’ve been a waste of their air, something that was more worthy than gold at the moment. Their wills have been sharpened and tempered like the finest steel, clashing against each other like the ancient swords of great heroes. Things to say would only be silken handkerchiefs trying to get in the way of these sharpened weapons.
Suddenly Mana broke out in a battlecry. Her expression of pent up feelings and aggression greatly surprised the bystanders as her body rushed at the Imarizu angrily prepared to beat the old man down. Equally surprised by the young girl’s aggression the Imarizu took on the defensive and took a very passive stance, placing his weight all on his back leg while backing out of a more engaging clash with the rushing at him force of fury.
Mana knew she was making a mistake, providing the man with endless openings to kill her by exploiting, she didn’t care. All she wanted was for fate to finally choose its victor and be done with it. She had pent up feelings that she needed to let soar free with her strikes before she died, if she was to be chosen as the unfortunate one that day.
Mana’s knee strike was blocked successfully, the pitch perfect two handed block completely absorbed all of the force put into it. The other leg of the girl extended and wrapped around the Imarizu’s neck, as gravity took its toll Mana yanked it down flipping the man over and slamming him into the ground. The old assassin repurposed the inertia that would’ve ended his resistance in a powerful slam at the bloody sand into a roll that minimized the damage he’d have taken. He shook and writhed as his broken ribs were slammed into the ground and bent for a roll but he didn’t scream or shout “ trying to fight pain was the Imarizu way. Hiding away one’s humanity irritated and psyched out one’s opponent.
Mana didn’t wait for the Imarizu’s stance to perfectly be rebuilt from after his evasive action. She rushed right at him with an onslaught of kicks preparing her back leg for a strong jump and her front leg for her signature kick to top off the combination. The first attack successfully displaced and unnerved her opponent, it was a very confusing throw that came out of nowhere since Mana never utilized throws and clinches. She never clashed with the opponent head-on using neither strength nor force of their own. That was why her attack worked as effectively as it did.
Bobbing and weaving away the Imarizu avoided her lightning fast blur of kicks before quickly responding to a quick upwards jab as a counter. Mana leaned down, she knew that if she took the man’s bait and avoided the jab by jumping back she’d lock herself into a devoted movement she couldn’t dodge the follow up from, her weight would once again be on the wrong leg and positioned right in her leaning back. There was only a back vault that was available from that position and the skilled and experienced assassin likely had a response prepared for that evasive maneuver.
The magician’s palm tapped the Imarizu’s striking arm placing it upwards with his entire right side open. She jumped up with a spinning kick that she prepared to repurpose into a whipping leg grab of the man’s neck again. There was no way she’d jump off the ground and give up the advantage of a firm ground helping her build up a stronger kick otherwise. The Imarizu, surprisingly enough did the same as Mana did before, grabbing her leg with his other hand, his raised striking arm locked down in the air in a fear inspiring preparation for a crushing downwards elbow strike.
The man’s elbow slamming down pierced what little air remained between Mana’s caught firmly leg “ her kneecap and where it was deflected to in fractions of a moment. It was like a lightning strike ended not by an overwhelming roar of thunder but by a smacking sound. The Imarizu assassin’s eyes widened “ he had expected a loud and equally thunderous as its metaphorical speed and power bone crack that would’ve broken Mana’s leg backwards and finished the fight.
The man directed his attention at the elbow that was cushioned by Mana’s palms absorbing all the force. The magician’s lips were bent downwards and twisted, her skin pale and her eyes black and baggy. She was in a lot of pain however her leg was not broken and the two stood in that deadlock for what seemed like an eternity.
Then Mana’s palms slipped out from under the elbow, her body bent backwards throwing her feet up in the air arcing back like a dancer as the magician’s feet rose up and smashed at her opponent staggering him back while Mana vaulted back and repositioned herself in a proper attacking stance, running back at her opponent with a combination of kicks in mind. Her speed was so sluggish “ her leg still aching even if the elbow strike was muzzled by her palms, it was like she was limping… Such unacceptable speed and yet…
Mana threw a cross, she knew that she couldn’t kick right with her aching and worn out by the dash leg. The Imarizu was faster shooting his own, much longer armed cross and punching Mana straight in the face twice faster than her hand could connect with his already crushed jaw.
The girl flew back like an arrow rolling through dirt, blasting through other killed or defeated bodies like a rolling heavy ball blasted bowling pins away. The magician’s body flew like a weightless sack completely devoid of life and thrown backwards by the awesome force of the strike. It was so powerful and fast, nearly instant in execution that the Imarizu stumbled forward after Mana’s body got blasted away.
The old assassin stayed on his knees with only his broken punching arm and bones that were already visible through his busted up knuckles and his own tapping into puddles blood running down his body and face as his only visual consolation. His head suddenly turned sideways as he heard a very alarming sound of feet kicking off the bloody wet sand.
Kiyomi was rushing at him, ready to punch the life out of him but then the young blonde’s body just stopped in mid rush. The blonde’s eyes looked down to see a foreign shadow locking onto her.
“As someone who saw how actions similar to yours end… Don’t. Even if Mana is to die here and now, she’d like to die as your friend rather than live on hating you. She’s someone who has no capacity for hatred in her heart. Don’t give her a reason to hate you, don’t ruin who she is and what she stands for!” Sugemi yelled out angrily as he held Kiyomi tied down with his Shadow Possession technique.
Inomame’s eyes shiftily looked around but Yanagi’s voice calmed down his raging ambition to run away.
“I wouldn’t do it if I was you…” he said.
At that moment Inomame noticed a very loosely focused swarm of scattered insects all around the area, ready to close down in a cocoon formation around Inomame at the faintest desire to do so by the Aburame clansman.
“We are adamant to uphold Mana’s will, she is a girl who has granted me what I always wanted “ a chance to become something more than an average prison guard. For that I will see to it that her will, even if it is to be her last will, is fulfilled!” Yanagi shouted with enough intimidation and conviction behind his voice to convince even the shifty Yamanaka.
Kiyomi’s body began shaking and twitching uneasily. The Nara member didn’t even try restraining those feint movements but then he noticed the girl’s chest lift up and down as it became apparent that the blonde was simply weeping.
“She’s going to die… What if she’s already dead?” Kiyomi whimpered out but Sugemi met her question with silence as he adamantly reminded himself of his intention to hold up to Mana’s will. He couldn’t allow Kiyomi to interfere and ruin Mana’s wish to place Shimo’s sword back on his grave, he couldn’t allow the blonde to butt into the deal between the two.
Had it not been for friends doing what they thought was best for their friends, Team Oak would not have fallen out. If Sugemi was allowed to kill the Demon from Kirigakure as he had intended, Shimo and Mana would have never gotten into trouble, Shimo would still have been alive… Who knew… Maybe same will soon be fair to be said about Mana as well. The Demon would not have escaped captivity either. Mana’s will had no place there for friends who thought who knew better what was best for their friends… That was Sugemi’s decision. A tough call to make that would’ve made a conflicting twist for a main character of the manga that’d inevitably be written about him in the future.
Even if Mana died… He wouldn’t let her dream die, he’d record everything she said, everything she did, everything she stood for and allow her ideals to live forever. He’d make his own manga great enough for many people to read it “ just as many as Mana would have wanted to reach. That was his call, for too long he had ignored what Mana wanted, for too long he had ridiculed her. He decided to hear out what she decided to say with her actions, give her a chance at the very least… One that friends ought to give their friends.
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