95 Shinobi Hunter Enshin of Hozoin

(16 years and 2 months after Reincarnation)

[Kyrielle's POV]

(7:15 p.m.)

"Hear me, cowards! My name is Fujiwara Kazuki, I stood with Kenshin-sama when he claimed this land! I will not allow you lowly terrorists to taint the land that we took back by our own bare hands!!!"

"...Kill him."

"Yah!!!" (3x) The bandits rushed forward at him together, leaving only the archer and the Shinobi Hunter at the front of the stairs.

Seeing this chance, I rushed out of the bush towards the archer

"?!" The archer noticed me and then turned towards me with his bow.

"Yah!" Shadow Rush!

'Slash!' In a single cut, I sliced the bandit's bow in half and cleanly cut through his arm.

"Argh!!! My arm!"

As I got prepared to land a killing blow on him, a spear came swinging at my face, catching me by surprise. "!"

'Tank!!!' He swung his spear at my head from mid range, and I barely raised my sword to deflect it in time.

I kicked off the ground and tried to step away, but the Shinobi Hunter quickly chased after me. "You cannot get away!"

"Rising Thunder!" The spear head lowers to the ground, and in an instant it disappeared into the night. "...!"

'Fwoosh!' I ducked my head backwards by instinct and a stab missed my face by a small gap as it cuts my bangs.

It's too fast, I can't keep up with the spear's movement.

I stepped backwards once again, but the monk chased forward without letting me off. "Rapid Stab!"

The monk grips the spear and put it into a combat stance, soon after that the spear head disappeared once again.... I raised my katana up to try an block the stab, but I don't even know where he is stabbing at.

'Tink!' The spear slipped past my defense and jabbed me in the stomach, glancing off to the sides because of my armour.

'Slash!' (2x) He launched two more jabs at me in quick succession, slipping past my defense as I desperately try to keep up. He aimed at my weak spots, cutting me shallowly at my shoulder and thigh.

"Urgh!..." I tried to retreat away once again, but the monk chased after me without letting up.

"Watch the limbs!" The voice of Fujiwara yelling could be heard from behind.

Watch the limbs?...

"Rising Thunder!" Watching his hands, I noticed the monk directing his spear to the ground and then bringing it up with his rear hand.... I can see his moves now!

One Line!

'Clank!!!' "Urgh...!" (2x)

By total guess work, I swung my katana down at the direction of the spear and a loud clash sounded. A partial parry happened.

I stepped my lead foot to the back and regained balance, then rushed forward closing the distance between us.

"Hah!" I launched an attack at him as he block it 'Tank!'

Redirecting the momentum of my blade from bouncing off of his spear, I launched a follow up slash 'Tink!'

Which then flows right into a Shoulder Stab that aimed for his body. 'Clank!'

He received and deflected my blade away using the pole of his spear, but my blade shallowly cuts him in the side of his body. 'Slash!'

"Hmpt!" In a follow up attack, he swung his rear hand forward as I raise my sword up, 'Tank!' deflecting the pole of his spear.

"Hah!" He gripped his spear with two hands and shoved it at my body, pushing me backwards as he jumped away to get out of my range.

"Hold still." I reached for my back and in quick speed I flung a shuriken at him. 'Stab!'

He tried to dodge the shuriken that was coming for his body, but in turn he made it stab into his right arm. "Tsk..." He clicked his tongue as he pulls out the blade.

"Hmpt..." My face curls into a small grin.

Now I understand, to fight a ranged spear using a sword I have to close in on him because a spear can't be used in close range. It's nothing more than an unwieldy stick in close range afterall.

The monk spoke "Not bad. If I can get a coin for each time I fought against a skilled foreigner girl and got injured, I'd get two coins. That's not a lot, but it's odd that it happened twice."

"Thank you for that, but I shall grant you death in return."

"We'll see.... My name is Hozoin no Enshin, I shall duel you to the death!"

"I am Kirie." As I declared my name, I calmly walked towards him with my katana sheathed.

'Clank! Tink! Tank!' Clashes of swords could be heard in the background. Fujiwara is still fighting those three bandits.

"Hah...." I took a deep breath as I readied myself while closing in on Enshin, 3 meters between us....

"....." (2x) The two of us didn't made a single move as we got into a little standoff.... The surroundings turn into a haze as my attention completely focused on the monk.

"...Hmpt!" He raised his spear overhead as he stepped forward, I am now within striking range of his spear.

"Falling Thunder!" He raised his spear overhead and swung down on me with a lot of power. "Shadow Draw!" I drew my katana and slammed my blade into his spear.

'Clank!!!' "Urgh!..." A partial parry happened, causing both of us to bounce back.

"Exorcism Strikes!" Using the momentum from the parry, he redirects the spear around his body and swung the spear at me horizontally. 'Tank!'

And then he redirects the spear and spinned around, thrusting the butt of his spear at me. 'Thud!' With a swipe of my hand I brushed the pole away.

Following up that motion, he turned back to me and using the momentum from his spin he swung the spear upwards.

'Tank!!!' "Urgh!..."

The powerful upward hit almost broke my posture there, making me slide backwards. He raised his spear up over his shoulder and immediately followed up with an attack. "Shoulder Stab!" I have to parry this attack or else I'll be knocked off balance!

"Hike!" I lowered my katana down and swung it up as he thrusts his spear down at me....

'Clank!!!' "Urgh!..." (2x) A failed parry, knocking us both off balance.

He lowered his spear down to the ground, and stepped in once again.... It's that same move he has been using repeatedly.

"Fool!" I stepped forward and stomped onto the pole of the spear. 'Tank!'

"Shit!"

"Hah!" I swung my katana at his face, and he ducked backwards to try to dodge my swing. 'Slash!' The katana sliced him shallowly at his face as he jumps backwards.

"Stop moving!" Round Trip.

"?!" He didn't expect me to fling my katana at him like a boomerang, he raised his spear up to try and hit the sword away....

As he did so, I rushed forward at him with my hand on the second katana, ready to draw out at any moment.

"!..." He swung his spear down at me once he noticed me rushing forward. However,

"Too slow!" Shadow Cross!

With lightning speed I drew my sword out and slashed at him twice. 'Tank! Slash!' The first slash parried his wild swing, and the second slash cleanly sliced into his exposed stomach, cutting into his body.

I put the both of my hand on the katana and drew it across his stomach as I stepped forward, slicing cleanly through his stomach. 'Shing!'

"Urgh!!!... Grk...." He groaned out as he drops down onto his knees, blood spilling out of the cut in his stomach.

I raised my katana up over my shoulder, and aimed for the back of his neck.... 'Slash!' With a clean slice, I cut right into the spine of the monk, killing him in an instant. "You are.... good...."

'Splash!' Blood seeps out from the deep cut on his nape and spews everywhere, his lifeless body dropped face first to the ground. 'Thud!'

"Rest in peace...." I flung my blade to the sides to remove the blood, then sheathed my katana back to its saya.

(7:19 p.m.)

I lowered my body to the ground and sat there, exhausted.

"Hah... Phew...."

'Thud!' The sound of a bandit dropping to the ground was heard. Fujiwara had took care of the last bandit.

"Hah... Hah..." Fujiwara sat down onto the ground, seemingly even more exhausted than I was.

After making sure that we killed everyone, I inspected my body. It seems that I have a few shalloe cut wounds, but nothing serious here.

I pulled out a second healing potion and poured them over my cuts before I drank the rest. "Gulp... Gulp...."

After I had my healing potion, I pulled out another one and got over to old man Fujiwara's side to give him one as well.

"Hey, those cuts look bad, let me patch them up for you."

"Hah... Hah... Please..."

I poured my healing potion on the multiple cuts on his arm, leg and body, and tried my best to bandage them up with cloths...

"There, it should heal in half an hour."

"Thank you, you are too kind."

Well, that was the last one I had so I can't afford to take any more damages right now.

"It's nothing.... Well then." I grabbed my first katana on the floor, and then used it to lift my body up.

"Hey, you are in no shape to fight you know?"

"I can still fight. I need to go and kill that Goketsu, and save those villagers."

"I see... I'll come with you." The old man tries to lift himself up, but instead drops down to the ground. 'Thud!'

"Fujiwara-san!"

"Hahaha.... That fight just now was a bit too hard for this old man...."

"....It's alright, I'll go by myself."

"....Please be careful. I saw that you are extremely skilled, but you should still watch yourself up there. Goketsu is a powerful brute, be wary of his attacks."

"I see. Thank you for fighting alongside me Fujiwara-san, I'll be off."

"Good luck, Kirie.... I'll try to catch up to you later."

With his farewell, I walked onto the stair and started climbing once again.

"....The rain has stopped." I mumbled to myself as I swiped my bangs off to the sides to stop them from covering my face.

(7:22 p.m.)

I climbed up the stairs silently. Almost reaching the top of the stairs, I looked back down. "Wow..."

....Before I knew it, I had already sneaked so far up compared to where I started. Up here I could see the entire burning village's layout, but the smokes from the fire hindered my sight a bit so I couldn't see clearly.

Still, it is only time before those guys from down there will come up here. I must hurry to save those women and children.

I continued climbing the stairs and soon reached a flat area where a wooden shinto shrine is built on. The main door to it is busted open, but there is no sign of life inside. The bamboos surrounding the shrine shows no signs of any fighting or fire burning.

....It's too quiet.

"Hoo... Hah...." Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves down, I headed up and over to the shrine's entrance.

Inside the shrine is really dark, and I heard nothing and no one inside, this is most certainly a trap.

"....I'll check it out anyway."

I silently peeked through the entrance to the dark shrine, and then walked into it quietly. Inside this room there is another door, which most likely would leads into the shrine's main hall where their God's altar is at.

'Chi shing....' I pulled my katana out, and then put my hands on the handle of the second door. "....."

'Gooo!' I opened the sliding door to the main hall of the shrine.

"Who's there?!"

Inside, I saw a man dressed in a dark purple robe. Besides him is an obese body, with a giant nodachi stabbed into his throat. Goketsu is dead.... This guy killed Goketsu.

"...A woman?..."

He turned around and grabbed his katana by his waist....

"Wait wait! I'm friendly!"

"....Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you.... Did you come here to help and kill Goketsu?"

"Yes. Now speak before I have to cut you down, woman...."

"I am a traveller! I walked past this area and went over to help when I saw that the village was being attacked."

"I see.... I trust your words." He let go of his katana, and then walked over to me.

"You are a woman, but you fought all the way up here from that side?"

"Yeah.... I can handle myself."

"Hmm...." He groaned out as he inspected my body.

"....What is it?"

"White as snow... You are a foreigner aren't you?"

"Yes-"

"Genji, who's that?" Another voice of an old man sounded from the top of the shrine.

"Tengu-dono." The man brought his head up. Following his gaze, I saw an old man wearing a Tengu mask standing on the roof of the shrine where a hole is on.

"Hmpt!" The old man jumped down from the hole and dropped right next to us.

"Tengu-dono.... She's a traveller, she's here to help."

"I see...."

And then almost as if history itself is repeating, this old man stared down at my body as well. "Hmm...."

"What's with you two staring at my body like that?..."

"...What's your name?"

"...Kirie."

"Kirie, why don't you hunt some bandits with us?" Said the Tengu masked old man.

"Huh?" (2x)

"Tengu-dono, what's the meaning of this-"

"I want to see your skills, show it to me Kirie."

"I see.... Well, I was planning on helping anyway."

"That is perfect then. Come with us, we'll descend down the stairs to the west side of the village where you just came from, and take care of the bandits there."

"Wait, all of them? We can't possibly-"

"Genji-sama! Tengu-dono!" (?x)

Immediately as I said that, four more men dressed in black robes barged into the shrine from the back entrance.

The young man called Genji gave his commmand to them. "Good work, shinobis. We will lead an assault to the lower village now."

"Wait! What happened to the women and children that were trapped here?"

"They were rescued by us." Said the Tengu old man. "We are from Niigata, we came here to defeat the bandits."

"I see.... When I sneaked up here from the West side of the village I saw a large group of bandits. At least 10 of them, and with a pack of attack dogs to support them. With our numbers, it'd be a somewhat even fight."

"So you sneaked all the way up here huh?... Very well, we'll trust your information. Let us proceed, shinobis!" Said Genji as he started walking towards the place where I just came from.

"Yes sir!" (4x)

Alongside the Tengu, I followed them as well.

"....Just who are you people?" I asked to Tengu who's right besides me.

"We are from the Uesugi Clan who governs this area. We fight for the feudal Lord, Uesugi Kenshin."

Uesugi Kenshin is the man that has the Black Lotus Katana.

"....If I fought with you all, will you allow me to meet with your lord?"

"Why would you want to do so?"

"I have important business that I need from him...."

"I see. We'll discuss this once we have finished our mission first." Said the old man as he continues walking.

"Alright."

_____________

(7:27 p.m.)

"The dogs were lured away." Said one of the ninja behind me.

"Good.... Cover me, I'll lure them over. I'll be in your care, everyone."

"Leave it to us." (4x)

'Thud!' From the cover of the house, I suddenly dashed out at one of the bandits.

"Oh! A woma-"

Shadow Draw. 'Slash!' A clean slice at his neck.

"So slow..." I said as I sheathed my katana back to the saya.

"Grk!!!... Urgh...." 'Thud!'

"What the hell?!" (8x)

"Hmpt, is that all?..." I said as I brushed up my bangs and taunted them.

A few of the bandits picked up their weapons and rushed forward at me. "Bastard, I'll kill you-"

'Slash!' (4x) Three shinobis jumped out from the houses to the sides, and cut down the bandits.

"Damn, it's the Uesugi Clan! We need to retreat-"

"I won't let you!" Genji stepped out from the buildings behind all the bandits, and slashed at the one giving orders.

"Give it up! You are all surrounded and powerless." I said out to the remaining bandits who are trapped in the middle of the street.

"Tsk!... To hell will I surrender!" One of the bandits rushed forward to try to stab me with his spear....

"Then to hell with you...." Shadow Cross.

'Tank! Slash!' Parrying the stab with the first slash, I redirected the sword using the knock back momentum and sent his arm coming off.

"Argh!!!... Ahh!!!" His arm bled out immediately like a fountain, and he dropped to the ground bleeding.

"Have you decided which one of you will die as well?" I said as I pointed my katana at the remaining 3 bandits.

"Hie!!!... W-we'll surrender!" (3x)

"Hmm. As if there was any doubt...." I sheathed my katana back to my saya.

"Shinobis, tie them up and prepare to bring these bunches back to Niigata." Said Genji to the ninjas.

"Yes sir!" (4x)

"Not bad Kirie! For just a traveller you are extremely skilled."

"Thank you, Tengu-dono." I turned around to look at the old man behind me.

"Still, I did not expect you to be such a skilled user of the Shadow Style Kenjutsu. Our dojo can use someone like you...."

"Dojo?..."

"Indeed. We'll talk about this later, we should focus on cleaning up this entire village and making sure there's no strangglers around. Will you join me in this fight, Kirie?"

I gently nodded my head.

"Genji, clean up the mess here. I'll be going on a little night stroll with this lady...."

"Tengu-dono...."

"It seems we'll be on a date grandpa." I said as I pats his shoulder gently.

"Haha.... It'd be my pleasure to go on a date with a young swordswoman such as yourself. Let us go now and pick off the bandits."

"Got it."

(Chapter end)