Chapter 22: Confrontation
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"Good, that was really good, now, why don't we get to the real business now that those weaklings are out of the way"
Juzo and Yasu looked at each other, both separated by a red carpet of corpses with Yasu heavily breathing, covered in blood, impossible to distinguish between his own blood and that of the bodies surrounding them.
"You're strong, kid, I respect strength, come with me and help me end the Kozukis and claim Kuri" Juzo's hand outstretched for Yasu to take it. No smile adorned Juzo's face, now there was only a serious gaze of respect and conviction.
'Is this guy serious?' He had just killed all his subordinates brutally right in front of him and he just asked him to join him as if it was nothing more than a mild inconvenience. "What about them?" Yasu points at the bodies around them with his sword, which wasn't even his, the same sword that he came in with was probably buried under all that human flesh.
"What about them?" Jozu tilted his head to the side, confused about Yasu's question "They were weak and you are strong, that's the only thing that matters, so what if you killed them? You didn't seem to have a problem when you were slicing off limbs left and right. You are a natural born killer kid! You don't come across those very often!"
'A natural born killer? This is all in my nature?' Those words resonated inside his head over and over again.
"So what do you say, kid? Will you stay as a lowly samurai for a household that is crumbling down or will you go for something better more befitting of someone like you?" Again, Juzo pushed his hand forward as if making a point.
'Looking' down at his hand holding the sword, his heart starts pumping faster and faster 'a natural killer, huh?' Slowly, Yasu starts walking to Juzo, straight to the hand outstretched for him.
"I knew that you would come to reason, boy!" Yasu's free hand starts raising to meet Juzo's with his smile growing further and further.
Metal clashes against metal, Yasu's sword collides with Juzo's kanabo, sparks flash both's faces, the katana trembles under the strength behind it while Juzo's club doesn't move an inch making more blood come out of Yasu's palm. With a push, the blind samurai is thrown back into the air landing meters away from Juzo.
"It looks like I have to teach you some lessons first!" Raising his head, Yasu feels Juzo in the air with his kanabo crashing down on him. Before he's smashed into the ground, Yasu raises his sword to block the attack.
'MOVE!' By pure instinct, his legs push the ground making him jump out of the way at the last second. When the kanabo touches the ground, giant blocks of dirt are sent flying everywhere with one hitting Yasu, sending him across the floor, crashing against a tree making him spit blood before falling to the ground
"ONE! Don't believe you're hot shit because you killed some weaklings!" Leaning on his sword, Yasu gets back up, his hands tremble trying to support the weight of his body.
'He's fast! If that had hit me I woul-' Not wanting to be exposed to much time, Yasu took on a stance facing Juzo only to feel inches away from his face the weapon of his opponent aiming at his head, splitting the air with the sheer force behind the blow.
"TWO! In a real fight the moment you let your guard down you die!" Leaning back at the last second, Juzo's attack passes right over him with only a few millimeters separating him from a certain death. Missing the mark, the kanabo hits the tree behind Yasu, destroying the trunk by the middle.
Not missing the opportunity, Yasu slashes at the wide open Juzo only to be easily blocked, not stopping, more attacks rain down on Juzo. The swordsman and the bandit exchange a constant flurry of blows, Juzo's powerful swings makes Yasu dodge every time an attack comes near him forcing him to be defensive, throwing slashes whenever an opening presents itself with no results with Juzo blocking each one of his attacks.
'This is stupid! He's just a gorilla with a club!' Although carrying monstrous strength behind each blow, Juzo's attacks have little to no skill, just swinging his weapon every time like an oversize stick. Little by little, Yasu's attacks start chipping away at Juzo's defense, getting closer each time to landing on him.
"Enough you brat!" Having had enough of Yasu's attacks, Juzo slams the kanabo on the floor, cracking the floor in a spiderweb pattern and sending Yasu flying again by the sheer force of the shockwave.
'Not this time!' Instead of crushing against the trees surrounding them again, Yasu flips mid-air landing his feet on the trunk of a tree and taking his legs to the limits, Yasu shoots himself toward Juzo at great speeds.
Raising his kanabo, Yasu's sword clashes with Juzo's club sending sparks flying everywhere with now both Juzo and Yasu's weapons trembling against each other. Angling his katana, Yasu slides over Juzo passing right over him and landing again on another tree.
Launching himself against his opponent, the same outcome repeats itself with Yasu landing in another tree and attacking Juzzo again and again. With each tree Yasu lands on, he gets faster and faster with Juzo struggling more each time to block his attacks with both of their faces contorted in anger while they fight.
Landing again in another tree, Yasu pours every single drop of his strength on his legs. The muscles in his calves tense up to their limits with some capillaries bursting under all the pressure. The wood under his feet cracks sending splinters flying.
Tired of blocking the incoming attacks, Juzo grabs his kanabo with both hands at his side, ready to swat Yasu like a fly. Going for a decisive blow, Yasu kicks the tree almost breaking the entire trunk. White rings of air surround Yasu with a sonic boom shaking the entire forest.
In an instan,t Yasu is before Juzo bringing his sword down to his left shoulder aiming to split him in half while Juzo's kanabo swings horizontally toward Yasu wanting to break him into pieces. Again, as if time had stopped itself, Yasu starts feeling everything around him moving at a snail-paced speed.
'It's over' Feeling everything slowed down lets Yasu easily tell that Juzo's attack won't reach him before he bisects him in two. Steel meets flesh, the sword sinks into Juzo's shoulder slicing flesh and dividing tendon and bone.
Except that Yasu doesn't feel any of that.
A gigantic smile appears on Juzo's face. The katana passes clean through Juzo with absolutely no resistance as if nothing was there. Thousands of questions appear in Yasu's head but there's only one thing that he can focus on.
Juzo's kanabo still moves slowly to him. There's nothing Yasu can use to change his trajectory and if he could, there wouldn't be enough time for anything. The only thing he can do is 'watch' as the kanabo crawls its way to him very very slowly as if it was mocking him in his inability to change what was about to happen.
After what felt like forever, the club reaches the side of his ribs. First, his skin starts to rip open, then his muscles tear apart, and finally, his ribs shatter into countless pieces digging more into his flesh and penetrating his lung. Every one of his nerves screams in agony making him feel every detail in his altered perception of time. Being able to count every individual fragment of his now broken ribs inside of him.
"AND THREE! DON'T FUCK WITH ME!!" Like a ball, Yasu gets thrown away even faster than he was going leaving behind trails of blood. Breaking the sound barrier for a second time, Yasu crashes against the trunk of a tree passing through it, completely ripping it apart and doing the same with three more before smashing into the ground.
Breathing heavily, Juzo looks at where the body of Yasu was sent flying. "Fuck, I got carried away. Agh! What a shame! He was good... anyway" Turning away, Juzo faces where the two kids they kidnapped were tied, both looking at him with terrified expressions.
"Now both of you and I are going on a little field trip to your father" Extending his free hand to the kids, they start to struggle trying to get out of the ropes.
Just when Juzo is about to grab the kids, a shiver runs down his spine making him stop dead in his tracks. Suddenly he starts trembling all across his body and very slowly starts turning around.
"What the fu-"
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