Forza Del Destino (P, NK)

Kazuo arrived, once more, at the site of the black market. He wasn't exactly happy to be back here, at his "Home," but it was the best he would get for awhile. He planned to find a new place to call home soon, once he had some powerful warriors backing him. Until that day arrived, he was stuck here at this dump that harbored all sorts of criminal scum. Kazuo wasn't usually a man to participate in crimes, although he didn't really care about the rules or breaking them. No, he simply didn't care whether he was good or bad. He held to his code of honor and his loyalty to those close to them, although those sorts of people were few and far between these days.

Why, just the last time he visited this place, he was attacked by a relic of his passed, one Akari Neku. He had never known the man very well, although they were from the same village and attended the same school of swordplay. Kazuo simply did not care much for him. From what little he had seen of the man, he was a bit off his rocker. The one significant event involving him that Kazuo remembered was the time he attempted to wield multiple swords at once in combat, which ended with him being sent to the hospital and made a laughing stock. Even now, Kazuo's skills proved superior to his. He had defeated the man not once, but twice, disarming him, giving him one last chance, and then finishing him with a single slash. Kazuo of the Sen no Ken was a name that would be feared in their home village, a power for justice, and revenge. 

Kazuo arrived mid-monlogue at the site of his camp, where he began pitching his tent, setting up for another long, cold night. Back in the saddle, he supposed.

(WC: 313)

Neku had woken up in a shitty house, made to be a makeshift hospital. A fresh scar across his throat pained him every time he swallowed. It was something he was not happy about. If anything, he was more pissed than he had ever been before. He sought revenge and he sought it now. So, he had retraced his steps after finding himself some blades that he deemed sharp enough to slice a human body to pieces. And now, he was back where he had been, in the poorly set up camp.

And as the man entered, Neku would rise from his hiding place, slowly drawing two swords from their sheathes. The sound would hopefully attract Kazuo's attention, and Neku would speak.

"I understand not why our destinies seem crossed, but I find the inherent want in myself to remedy that. Of course, the solution requires your blood. And lots of it." Neku would say, before drawing the remaining four of his swords, leaving three in each hand, positioned in his hands to resemble claws. From here, Neku would slant the blades and lunge forward, aiming the three blades in his left hand for Kazuo's legs in a swipe, while the three in his right hand would stab forward, one aiming for his heart, one for his throat and one for his stomach.

Kazuo's senses heightened as he heard a familiar voice. Familiar, but definitely not friendly. This was the voice of his former opponent, the one he had fought the last time he was here...
"Akari Neku..." Kazuo muttered, turning around to face the source of the voice. Sure enough, it was him in the flesh, with a nice scar on his neck to boot. "You're supposed to be dead. But hey, I guess those are famous last words to a great many people." He said, leaning with his arm against the upright pole of his tent, which was secured tightly to the ground. His expression was casual, unfazed by this new arrival. "But no worries. This time, I'll make sure Aika gets her retribution." He said, his tone darkening. The air was electrified, and the tension was tangible. Kazuo was ready to chop him to pieces, to burn him to a crisp, to make him rue the day he was born. 

As Neku moved to draw more swords, Kazuo was a little taken aback. He remembered the boy trying to draw multiple swords as a student, and now it seemed he wasn't as crazy as they all thought. He see how contorted his hands were as he held three in each hand. He shuddered. "Eugh... You look like you've been giving a hand job to an echidna." He said, straight faced, as the man began to lunge at him. Kazuo's free hand, which was not currently being used to hold himself up, was resting on his hilt, and so was already prepped for action.

Kazuo would draw his blade, a quickdraw technique in an underhanded motion, with the blade being held in icepick grip. The slash would ark upwards, aimed at Neku's slash with the three swords. His blade would collide with Neku's three, stopping them from striking him and locking against them. As this was happening, Kazuo's other hand would fall to the blade on his shoulder. He focused on a technique he had been studying for quite awhile: The Flashblade. Created by a Shinkou whose book he had stumbled across, it allowed one supernatural speed when swinging the blade, almost instantanious. 

He would use this technique now, or at least, what he knew of it. It was imperfect, not nearly as powerful as it should have been, but it was still tremendously fast. The blade at his shoulder would slide free of the sheathe, moving in a downwards arc at Neku's other three blades. He would knock each one aside individually, moving incredibly fast but for a moment. As this ended, Kazuo's blade would lock between the three, holding them in place, off to the side so that the space between the two of them was open. He would then reach forward with his boot, kicking out at him and likely knocking him back several meters. "Or maybe with that scar on your neck, you've been blowing a horse." He taunted, trying to throw his opponent off his guard.

From there, Kazuo would take on the offensive, charging after him as he sheathed his left sword, twirling it before sliding it into the sheathe over his shoulder once more. His right sword would hang at his side, almost dragging along the ground, as his left hand fell down to rest on a sheathe at his belt. 

From there, Kazuo would swing his right sword in an upwards, diagonal slashed, poised to go through Neku's bicep, through his inner shoulder and finally passing through the neck. His left hand stood ready on the hilt of a blade to stop any attacks that might come in response.

(WC: 924)

Neku would bear the brunt of the man's insults, poorly thought out as they were. He preferred action to talk, and action was what he would damn well get. Still, he was surprised when the man blocked his strikes with an astonishingly fast strike, and even more surprised at the man's knowledge of australian mammal genitalia. Once kicked back, Neku would allow himself one jab. This was something he couldn't pass up. "Ah, so I see you're quick on the draw. Bet you're quicker in bed. Did your girlfriend ever get to know that? Oh, that reminds me, if you think this scar's bad, you should see the one I left on her." Neku would say, before readying himself to defend against the man's attacks.

Er, attack. Just one slash. This would prove simpler than he thought. Using two of the swords in his left hand, Neku would pincer the blade coming for him and slide the blades down Kazuo's, aiming the remaining sword for his throat while keeping his blade locked firmly. Using his other hand, Neku would keep the rightmost blade at the ready to block any swing from the side, while the other two would aim for his throat again, and his stomach. Should any of the strikes hit, they would prove crippling, if not deadly.

Kazuo's face would contort in rage as Neku spoke. There was a line, and he just crossed it. His eyes would light up in blood red as his Meigan activated, his teeth baring as Neku began his counter attack, moving his blades down his sword in a pincer motion. Fighting him close up like this in swordplay was difficult with his three swords moving along his own blade, so he would have to be careful not to let them clash. "If you wanted quick, that's too bad." He muttered, hardly more then a whisper. "Because I'm going to give you a slow, painful death." He said, leaning back and letting go of his blade completely as the blade came towards. The swords sliding down the blade would pass the hilt, the sudden loss of weight from Kazuo's end likely offsetting Neku's balance. 

"You should see the scar I'm about to leave on you! He shouted once more, his fighting style becoming more rapid and relentless. As the blades passed the hilt and the third sword missed his neck, Kazuo would make a half tiger seal with his free hand, creating a hand of chakra from his body, which would extend from his own and grab onto the hilt of the currently midair sword, before thrusting the blade forward, stabbing into Neku's now exposed side. Kazuo's hands would both now be resting on his sheathes. He would begin drawing both swords at the same time, with his left sword aimed at Neku's legs, and his right sword aimed at about shoulder level for Neku. If all of his strikes hit, Neku would be impaled and sliced into two pieces.

(WC: 1205)

Much to Kazuo's chagrin, Neku's blades would not slip past the hilt. Instead, they would catch on the hilt and move Kazuo's blade ahead with his. The blade would not be free for Kazuo to maneuver. With the forward momentum, Neku would unlock Kazuo's blade and let it fly forwards, likely past the man.

With his right hand, Neku would block the oncoming blades and do all he could to keep the blades away for as long as possible. From here, Neku would twist his hand and catch the blades between his, and slide the final available blade on his right hand forward and aim to pierce the man's stomach.

Kazuo watched the man’s blades continue sliding down his own, locking against the hilt, rather than continuing into empty air. As the man tossed his blade away, Kazuo saw his opening. In order to throw the blade, due to how Neku’s blades were locked, he would have to extend his arm, leaving him unable to block with the blades he held in that hand. His right hand, conversely, was busy blocking Kazuo’s left blade which was aimed at the man’s legs. Due to the angle that was necessary to block with the three blades, Kazuo had a perfect window to strike.


While Neku was twisting his blades in order to position himself to stick Kazuo like a pig, Kazuo would react, and a few things would happen, all at once. First, Kazuo’s right, disarmed hand would fall onto his next blade, gripping it tightly in icepick style as his next strike was prepared. Kazuo’s sword would shoot forward, rocketing out of the sheathe as Kazuo aimed a strike at the younger man’s chest, the blade threatening to gash the man’s chest and upper arm, but not majorly wound him.


Second, Kazuo’s left blade would twist in order to throw off Neku’s positioning, angling his blade so that if Neku tried to use one of his blades to hit Kazuo, the damage would be relatively minor, just a gash across the side at worst, and Neku himself would receive a sword straight through the stomach for his troubles.


Finally, if Kazuo’s blade managed to land its attack, Kazuo would now have his right arm extended across his chest, leaving him vulnerable. To keep himself from taking a potentially lethal hit, Kazuo would have to get his hands dirty… And, well, his body charred.


He would inhale deeply, already beginning his strategic retreat, pushing off the ground as hard as he could, leaning back and beginning to backpedal. This one breath would be the only warning Neku would receive, before fire would erupt from Kazuo’s body, a fireball rushing forwards, aimed to impact with the ground at their feet. The blast would hit both of them, although the flames were, thankfully, not incredibly potent. Kazuo would be blast backwards, skidding across the ground and lying on his back, quickly twisting to his feet, one knee down. Neku himself would likely suffer the same kind of impact, although the flames also likely sealed his wounds for him.


As Kazuo regained his footing, he would cough loudly, his clothes and hair singed from the fire, a sword in each hand as he slowly came to his feet. His body wasn't badly burned, but that definitely did not feel good.

Neku would pull the left side of his body back, avoiding Kazuo's sword, before detangling himself from the man. Before he could react, Kazuo blew fire forth at the ground. The blast would knock Neku back, rotating in the air. Neku was half tempted to try some cool guy fancy trick and use his momentum to backflip, leaving his weight on his swords, but gravity didn't work that way. So, he settled for readjusting himself forward and landing on his feet, sliding back a bit.

Giving himself a quick once over, Neku would see singes and burns here and there on his clothing, but nothing too severe. And nothing damaging. Seeing as their battleground was now a ring of fire, Neku opted for a different strategy. What that was, well, he didn't know yet. Instead, he would slowly circle around to Kazuo, blades at the ready. If the man charged him, he would prepare to defend himself. If he didn't, Neku would charge and prepare his offense, swords ready to stab and slice.

As Neku leaned back to dodge his blade, the blade in Kazuo´s other hand would be freed of Neku´s due to how they were positioned. The blade would rocket forward, flying at Neku and slicing into his side, gashing him a few inches above the hip, but not seriously wounding him. Kazuo would then be blown back by the fire. 

Charred and covered in soot, Kazuo would place his right blade against the ground, using it for support as he came back to his feet. Then, the standoff would begin. For a few moments, everything was silent and Kazuo returned his right blade into his sheathe, keeping his left blade drawn just in case. Blood from Neku´s wound glinted on his blade as Kazuo smirked.

"You know, it's funny, but I can't seem to find any of my blood, Neku." He said, referencing what Neku had said at the beginning of the fight "But I can find plenty of yours." He said darkly, lifting the blade in his hand so that the dark red was dripping into his fingers, which were wrapped tightly around the blade. He then pointed the weapon towards Neku, who was about 10 meters away.

Amongst the snow and dark, Hisato would slowly circle the clearing. Two men were clashing blades inside, the swords shimmering and glinting from the moonlight. After an intense lock, there was an immense explosion, and the men flew away from each other. After watching the explosion Hisato Moto would reveal himself, slowly walking into the clearing to stand by Neku's side. His eyes would glare at Kazuo, a sinister smile forming on his face.

"It appears you're in need of assistance, Akari. Good thing i'm here" Hisato would say, taking a fighting stance beside the Akari man.