23 Calm Before the Storm (3)

Hiding in Mist technique. Gin stated that the technique rendered even the user's own vision impaired. In this man-made mist, the sound was the most prominent source that the ninjas could rely on to locate their enemies.

So I closed my eye with my right hand on top of my sheathed sword's hilt.

'There is no one who has a better sense of sound than us, the ones from Amegakure.'

Unlike the heavy rain that generated continuous noise, the current surrounding was silent. All sounds, whether it be the slightest drop of water, laid transparent in front of me.

Plop.

Immediately after hearing the sound of a plop at the back, meaning that our enemy has moved, I blasted chakra from the soles of my feet, propelling myself forward.

CLANG!

As I did so, Gin swiftly swung his Ryuma and clashed against another sword belonging to the mysterious enemy.

"Raiga...!" Gin exclaimed with grim expression, to an enemy who was grinning crazily.

I recognized the name. One of the seven swordsmen, known to wield dual swords named Kiba. They were said to be capable of spontaneously imbuing themselves with lightning, granting enhanced cutting power from the high-frequency vibration.

"Long time no see, eh, Gin?!"

Then, before Gin had time to react, the lightning exploded from Raiga's sword that Gin's Ryuma was in contact with.

PAZZZ! The electricity spread to the nearby body of water, causing it to boil and evaporate in a form of steam.

And surprisingly, Gin, who was taking the full brunt of the electricity, crumbled down into a mass of water.

"And you are the same as ever, I see." Gin, who was now standing behind Raiga, slashed his sword, Ryuma.

Raiga quickly blocked Gin's attack with his other sword, generating a metallic noise.

<Ryuma is indestructible. Know what I mean? The only way to transmit chakra on this blade is to grip on the hilt; the elemental attacks from the enemies, regardless of what they may be, won't get through this sword.>

Thankfully, Gin had no problem in meeting his sword against Raiga. The secondary effect of Kiba, the numbness from the electricity transmission, was of no concern.

Simultaneously, I flipped backward to dodge a shuriken that came flying. With a plop, it sank into the water upon a miss. Apart from Raiga, one more enemy remained—whom I assumed to be the ninja who escaped the day ago.

'After the initial acquisition of the information that we were sighted in the land of waves, they sent two groups of ninjas for the purpose of the confirmation. Kurosuki Raiga... he was waiting for us from here all along.'

I closed my eye once again, intending to finish the fight of my own as quickly as possible and I help Gin.

"Hu..." Taking in a deep breath, I lowered my posture and gripped the hilt of my sheathed sword tightly.

Plop.

My enemy was moving on the left, intending to sneak up on me from the back. Little did he know that I had a better sense of sound in this mist than he did.

'Iaido,'

The straightforward attack of drawing the sword from the scabbard, where its success depended on speed. Gin told me that this technique originated from the samurais of the land of steel.

Though it is an inefficient technique for ninjas in most cases, in the current situation where my enemy wasn't aware of the fact that I could locate him or her, iaido was a perfect choice.

'Flash.'

Then, my vision blurred as I blasted myself from my position at an incredible momentum, before,

Swoosh.

smoothly beheading the shocked shinobi in one go.

My narrowed eye shifted to the beheaded head that was flying in the air—the shinobi didn't even know that he was done for before his head fell into the water.

Splash.

Then I turned my way, there being no time to waste.

In a case like yesterday where I was unaware of a hidden third enemy, I was left vulnerable. However, in the one-versus-one fight, I had quite the confidence of victory.

I quickly dashed to where Gin was engaging against Raiga with visible difficulty.

PAZZZ! The intense burst of lightning ensued over and over, causing Gin to leap away from the nearby body of water.

Raiga somehow had the means to protect himself from the electricity, for he didn't seemed to care about the fact that he stood on top of electricity-crackling water.

"Gin." Landing next to Gin, I called out his name, "He should be the only one, right?"

"Yes." Gin replied as he took off his ripped cloak, "Raiga is known to be a psycho even among the seven swordsmen. He works alone."

Gin then gave me a look, and I knew instantly what he was asking for.

"...It's all or nothing." I muttered.

"Indeed."

"You better make it."

"For sure."

Narrowing my eye at Raiga, I tightened my grip on my sword.

"Why so afraid, Gin?" Raiga, who held onto his twin swords, Kiba, which were crackling in the intense electricity, bickered, "Have you gone so low to seek help from a kid?"

Gin stated with a raised eyebrow, "Why, you know me far too well, Raiga."

That's when I shot out to Raiga at my fastest speed.

"I've always been at the lowest of the low."

Raiga snorted as he swung twin swords at me simultaneously, "That's because you are weak."

Ignoring Raiga's words, I focused.

Chakra. Strength. Ablaze. A brash technique that will leave me handicapped, but a technique that needed to be done at the current moment.

Just when Gin began his dash from behind me,

'Flowing Blade-Like Flame,'

I gritted my teeth as I slashed with my sword, which then burst into a vigorous red-hot fire.

"Ryujin Jakka!"

BOOOOM!

An explosion ensued as my fire-coated sword met Raiga's electricity-flowing Kiba, causing the both of us to be knocked back from one another.

Raiga froze in surprise for a millisecond, not having expected my sudden manipulation of the fire element,

CLANG!

before quickly parrying Gin's Ryuma.

On the other hand, I quickly placed my foot back on the water, having expected the knockback. Immediately after, I pushed my body against the momentum, and flew toward the airborne Raiga.

'One minute. The sword will be fully melted by then.'

I had no time to waste. Unless it was a sword with a special property like Ryuma, this method of manipulating the fire element serves as a double-edged sword for a swordsman.

I raised up my sword sideways and slashed at a quick speed, to which Raiga gritted his teeth while blocking.

BOOOM!

Raiga, moving at a rapid speed,

Swoosh!

then leaned back to dodge Gin's slash.

Using another explosion generated by the contact as the momentum, I spun around and swung the fire sword at Raiga from up to down this time around—

—before stopping.

CLANG!

As Gin's sword met Raiga's Kiba, I ducked low right under Gin, before attempting to swipe Raiga's legs with my right leg.

Raiga hopped up to dodge my leg swipe, before slashing his sword downward in an attempt to cut my leg, to which I responded by blocking with my sword,

BOOOM!

generating another explosion.

And all of a sudden, within the sudden gap that has been created by the explosion, Gin revealed himself, and swung Ryuma with his utmost strength,

CLANG!

causing Raiga to grimace as he lost his hold over one of the twin swords.

While Gin was still in a slashing posture, and I just landed back on water, Raiga dashed to where Kiba was flying, intending to retrieve it right away.

And within that period, Gin sheathed Ryuma and formed a snake seal with his hands.

"Water Release,"

Raiga's eyes widened as Gin's calm voice was heard from the back, having woken up from being tunnel-visioned. He quickly turned around, but it was too late.

"Exploding Water Colliding Wave."

A huge wave of water was spat out from Gin's mouth, crushing over Raiga's form in an instant.

SPLASH!

The entire body of water that we stood on churned wildly as Gin's technique splashed onto the already-existing water. The two of us quickly leaped back and safely landed.

"Akashi, I'm out of chakra." Gin said in a monotone.

I too stated in a similar manner, "My sword is gone forever as well."

We looked at each other.

"When Raiga returns, we're screwed."

"Then..." My eye sharpened,

Gin nodded seriously, "We run."

The two of us fled away from the scene without any hesitation.

Nigerundayo~!

By the time Raiga has returned back to the surface of the water, we were long gone already.