Kaku staggered back, blood dripping from the stump where his hand had once been. His eyes burned with rage, the fire of defiance blazing in their depths.
"Damn you, bastard! You dare cut me when I was off guard!" he roared, voice raw and jagged.
Takomi laughed, sharp and cruel, the sound slicing through the night air. "Pathetic. You lost a hand to him? I can't even sense any Ren from that man. And you…" His gaze flicked toward Haruto, glinting beneath the firelight. "…you're supposed to be the legendary Dragon Ren user? How disappointing."
Haruto's lips curved into a sarcastic, almost wry smile. "Legendary, huh? You'd know all about legends, wouldn't you?"
His eyes darted to Renji, still struggling against the soldiers holding him back, his small frame trembling, his face pale and streaked with tears.
"Soldiers!" Haruto barked, voice sharp as steel. "Get the boy out of here—now!"
"But Captain—" one of them hesitated.
"That's an order!" Haruto thundered, the weight of command cutting through hesitation. "Protect him with your lives!"
Obediently, the soldiers dragged Renji away, despite his desperate cries.
"Let me go! Grandpaaa…! Let me stay!"
Haruto's expression softened ever so slightly. His voice dropped, low but firm. "Don't let his sacrifice go in vain… let him live in you."
Finally, Renji disappeared from sight, forced along with the guards.
Gara's smile was slow, deliberate, and dangerous. He didn't join in the taunting; instead, he observed the fight with the cold patience of a predator.
"Kaku," he said, folding his arms, "you think you can fight him in that state?"
"Of course, Master," Kaku snapped, shoulder hunching as he regained his balance. "He's nobody. No Ren. He's nothing."
Gara's eyes flicked past the nearest burned huts toward the dark treeline. "Very well. I'll leave them to you—for now. But don't flatter yourself. I doubt you'll topple them so easily." His voice dropped to gravel, a whisper of menace in the chaos.
"Haido has already gone for the king's head. I can't let him take the credit. I'll behead the king myself."
Kurayami's eyes widened in disbelief. "The king's head…?"
Haruto's expression remained calm, but his voice carried a sharp warning. "Beheading the king? That's the mission?"
Gara's smirk deepened, a predator savoring his prey. "Then survive long enough to witness it."
As Gara turned to leave, Kurayami acted on instinct. He swung his sword in a fierce arc, the steel whistling through the air.
"I won't let you through!"
The clash rang out like thunder, Gara's blade meeting Kurayami's with explosive force. The impact hurled Kurayami back, his feet gouging trenches into the dirt. Gara didn't flinch.
"You have potential," Gara said coldly, voice sharp as frost. "But right now, you are no match for me."
Before Kurayami could recover, Kaku surged forward, seizing his weapon with his remaining hand. Jagged teeth gleamed in a feral grin.
"I'll take your head for my hand, bastard!"
With a guttural roar, Kaku lunged. Blades clashed, sparks scattering into the night like fireflies in a storm.
Gara stepped aside, already turning. "Then I'll be going. If you survive, I'll fight you myself."
And then—he vanished. A blur so fast it seemed as though the night itself had swallowed him whole.
The battlefield trembled in sudden silence, broken only by the crackle of flames—then shattered.
"Mocking Echo," Kaku called, his grin widening, predatory and sharp.
Before Kurayami could react, Kaku vanished from the front. One moment he stood there; the next, gone.
Kurayami's eyes widened. Where did he go?
Then it hit—the sound. High-pitched, manic, hyena-like laughter rolled across the battlefield, bouncing off scorched walls and burning huts. It clawed at the mind, twisting certainty into hesitation.
Soldiers nearby wavered, swords trembling in their hands. Even the trained, fearless warriors staggered, fear creeping into their hearts. Kurayami's fingers tightened on the hilt of his blade, stance low, weight shifting to stay balanced. This is more than noise… it's a predator playing with its prey.
"So… this is the power of your Ren, huh?" he muttered, forcing his breathing steady.
"This is just the start," Kaku replied from somewhere unseen. His laughter fractured into multiple directions, each echo a phantom of terror.
The ground quaked as Kaku reappeared, strikes coming fast and wild.
"Carrion Bite!"
The blows hit like crushing jaws, tearing through earth and wood alike. Soldiers screamed, falling under the weight of the strikes. Kurayami twisted with precise footwork, dodging the brunt of one blow and letting another glance off his shoulder, sparks flying as steel scraped stone. Pain flared, but his movement—light, fluid—kept him from being overwhelmed.
The battlefield was no longer fire and blood—it was a hunting ground, and Kaku was the predator, testing the teeth of his prey.
Kurayami's cloak and sash whipped around him, catching firelight as he shifted side to side, always moving, always calculating. Every feint, every dash, every step was designed to make him untouchable despite the feral, crushing force of Kaku's attacks.
"On the other side of the burning square…"
The battlefield's roar dimmed as another clash ignited on the far side.
Takomi's eyes gleamed beneath the firelight, his grin sharp. "Haruto," he called, raising his blade, "show me your legendary Dragon Ren. Let me see the power that made your name."
Haruto didn't flinch. His grip tightened on his sword, calm but unyielding. "No. If you want to see it, you'll have to earn it."
Steel screamed as the two warriors collided, movements blurring into slashes and counters. Sparks scattered in the night, blades weaving a deadly rhythm—attack, block, strike, evade. Each exchange pushed the other harder, neither giving an inch.
Takomi chuckled between clashes, eyes alight with feral thrill. "Fine then… I'll force it out of you!"
He leapt back, breath flaring with Ren. "Wolf Ren: Howling Strike!"
The sound tore through the battlefield like a predator's call. From distant corners, answering cries of wolves echoed, howls overlapping, weaving dread into the night. Soldiers paused mid-step, heads snapping toward the sound in alarm. Even Haruto's eyes widened, momentarily shaken by the eerie chorus.
On the other front, Kaku froze mid-swing, ears twitching. His lips curled into a grin. "So… he's started too, huh?"
Haruto's focus wavered for a heartbeat—and Takomi struck. His movements twisted unpredictably, lunging at strange angles, his sword snapping like a wolf's jaws. Haruto's defense faltered, and a streak of crimson bloomed across his hand as cloth tore and blood welled.
Haruto hissed softly, glaring at the cut. His composure held, but there was weight behind his next words. "You've got a pretty good Ren… sharper than I expected." He lifted his sword again, stance unbroken. "Tchh!! This isn't going to be an easy fight."
Takomi's grin widened, the wolf in his aura pressing closer. "That's what I wanted to hear."
Haruto's sword flashed, steel catching firelight as he struck in a flurry. Each swing carried deadly precision, arcs through the air carved with deliberate intent. But Takomi wasn't there.
The Wolf Ren came alive—steps silent, body shifting with uncanny grace. One moment he stood before Haruto, the next he blurred, sliding out of range like smoke escaping a grasp. His cloak barely stirred as he weaved between attacks, movements deliberate—predatory.
"Wolf Ren: Prowler Step."
The words left his lips like a growl, and in that instant, Haruto's blade met only air. Takomi reappeared at his flank, then behind, then vanished again, each movement faster than the last. His footwork was too sharp, too elusive, strikes always coming from angles Haruto hadn't expected.
Haruto pivoted, blade sweeping wide, eyes narrowing. He wasn't rattled, but the cut still stung. Every missed strike told him more about Takomi's style.
So that's it… he's not faster than me. He's using movement to erase openings before I can exploit them. He's hunting.
Takomi's grin widened as he slid into view again, blade leveled, eyes gleaming gold. "What's wrong, Haruto? The legendary Dragon Ren wielder can't even keep track of a wolf?"
Steel clashed again, sparks scattering, but Haruto's gaze had shifted—calculating, reading, watching Takomi's feet as much as his blade.
He wasn't just fighting anymore. He was studying the hunt.
Haruto's eyes narrowed, calculating every subtle movement of the Wolf Ren. Each vanishing and reappearing form was part of a rhythm, a pulse he could trace if he watched closely enough. His breathing stayed controlled, even as the cut on his hand stung with every motion.
Takomi struck again, lunging low, his sword darting like the snap of a wolf's fangs. Haruto's defense shifted fluidly, parrying the blow but letting it glance along his shoulder, sparks flying. Each strike was designed to test him, to find a crack in his precision.
Fast… but predictable, Haruto thought, his mind scanning the battlefield. Every step, every angle… there's a pattern.
He shifted his weight deliberately, blade angled toward the dirt. As Takomi vanished, reappearing at his side, Haruto slammed his sword down. Steel bit into stone and earth, sending shards flying in a spray of sparks and dust.
Takomi's Prowler Step faltered slightly, the sudden cloud exposing the trajectory of his next burst. Haruto's eyes sharpened. "Found you."
He swung—not at where Takomi stood, but where he would appear, predicting the wolf's next strike. Steel met steel with a thunderous clash. Takomi staggered back, boots sliding in dirt, eyes narrowing as he studied Haruto with a predator's suspicion.
"You're clever," Takomi admitted, a faint smirk flickering across his golden eyes.
Haruto's stance remained firm, unyielding. "Stop circling and come at me head-on," he commanded, voice cutting through the smoke and flames like a blade itself.
The battlefield seemed to hold its breath. Sparks scattered as their steel met and clashed again, each echoing scream of metal punctuating the chaos. Somewhere in the distance, the clash of Kaku and Kurayami continued, the hyena's laughter carried faintly on the wind.
Kaku's laughter softened, teasing, taunting. "Where's all that fight, huh? You're just dodging… circling… but never striking back. Pathetic."
Kurayami's eyes narrowed. Words were unnecessary; action spoke louder. Every shift of weight, every motion of his cloak and sash, was already a silent reply.
The jagged hyena grin on Kaku's face widened. "Fine. If you won't fight, I'll finish you myself!"
He stepped back, voice hissing through clenched teeth. "Enough of this little dance… time to end it—Pack Mirage!"
Instantly, the air shimmered with movement. Dozens of perfect copies of Kaku erupted around Kurayami, forming a circle impossibly tight yet seemingly infinite. Each figure lunged and snapped, a storm of fangs and blades twisting in the firelight.
Kurayami's eyes widened. "Clones?"
The swarm pressed in, swords swinging in deadly unison. Sparks erupted as Kurayami twisted and ducked, narrowly avoiding strikes. Still, one blade found its mark, slicing a shallow cut across his arm. Pain flared, but he didn't falter.
Kaku's laugh tore through the chaos, low and menacing. "There! Feeling that? You can dodge all you want, but you can't dodge me!"
Kurayami's mind raced. One of them has to be real. Find the pattern… spot the flaw.
The clones' movements mirrored each other, but subtle details betrayed them—the weight of a step, timing of a swing, faint dust disturbance. Kurayami's eyes flicked across them, reading every nuance.
The Pack Mirage surged again, a whirlwind of steel and shadows. Kurayami ducked, parried, danced along the edges, turning overwhelming power into analyzable data. Sparks flew, air vibrated with the ferocity of the assault, but he stayed calm.
Then he saw it: one footfall disturbed the dust differently. Slightly slower pivot, weight shifted fractionally before the strike. Too subtle for anyone else. Not for him.
Found you.
Kurayami shifted, blade lashing out—not at the nearest clone, but the one that betrayed reality. Steel met steel, sparks flaring, and the clone wavered before vanishing.
Kaku staggered, wide grin faltering, then snapping back. "Clever… trying to pick me out from the pack," he hissed, circling.
Kurayami stayed steady, cloak whipping, reading each wave of attack. He baited the clones, forcing Kaku to reveal himself repeatedly, each strike a new data point.
The Pack Mirage surged again, more frenzied, fangs flashing, steel slicing through air. Kurayami had found the rhythm, learned subtle deviations. He dodged, weaved, struck with surgical precision, cutting through clone after clone until only the real Kaku remained.
Kaku's laugh emerged low, vibrating through the battlefield. "Impressive… very impressive."
Kurayami didn't respond. Stance perfect, eyes locked on the predator before him. No clones. No tricks. Just him and the hyena, circling like beasts.
He spotted the subtle clue—the real Kaku's weight shifted differently, the ground beneath him disturbed slightly. Now visible to the hunter, the predator's disguise shattered.
Kurayami lunged, blade cutting through the air, striking with precision. Sparks flew, steel met steel, and Kaku staggered, grin twisting with surprise and fury.
"You found me…" Kaku growled, voice ragged, low.
Kurayami's blade struck again and again, through haze and smoke, until one figure faltered—a half-step too slow, a breath too real. His eyes sharpened.
"There."
He pivoted, slashing across the side, steel biting into flesh. Blood sprayed; illusions shattered into nothing.
The battlefield froze for a heartbeat.
Then came laughter—low at first, swelling into a mad roar. Kaku staggered, clutching his side, grin twitching wider with every drop of blood.
"You… you dare wound me?" His voice guttural, shaking with fury. "Fine… no more games. I'll finish this fight now!"
He raised his lone arm, fingers curling like claws. Ren erupted from his body in a violent surge. The earth trembled beneath him as his roar split the night:
"Gnawing Fangs!"
The transformation hit like a storm. Bones cracked and popped. Muscles tightened unnaturally. From his hand sprouted elongated claws, hooked like blades. His teeth stretched into jagged fangs, grin splitting wider than human. Coarse strands of hair bristled across his shoulders and neck, wild and uneven, skull twisting, ears pushing upward into hyena shapes. His one arm bulged with brutal strength, veins glowing faintly as Ren consumed him.
Most terrifying of all were his eyes—burning gold, glowing with feral madness, locking onto Kurayami like prey.
The battlefield shifted around him—flames leaning toward him, ground quaking beneath his feet.
A dying soldier, sprawled in the dirt nearby, turned his head just enough to see. Broken, unable to scream, eyes widened in terror. The last thing he saw before darkness claimed him was not a man—but a monster.
Kaku's feral grin split wider, guttural laughter turning into a hyena's howl, echoing across the burning village.
"You're mine now…"
And with that, he lunged—Ren exploding like a predator unchained.