Tiger Kunoichi: The Two Dragons

Chapter 6: Escape from the Bandits' Clutches

The next day, it was time for the duo to compete in the battle tournament they heard from the bandit leader himself. Shikari and Shituku could be seen tied up again, but we'll know why when a plan Shituku had worked as great as planned. They both heard the door open and the bandit untied them.

"Are you prepared for battle? Because it's time," he said to them.

They both knew what he's talking about due to them overhearing the conversation/speech last night. The same bandit cut the ropes to set them free, but not quite free to escape. You can see the worried looks on their faces as they both walked outside the carriage. Shikari looked to see whom they assume was the bandit leader preparing to fight the duo off as well as the bandits surrounding the big area with him in the middle, their spears tapping in slow sync.

Two bandits made way for both Shikari and Shituku as they walked through them to enter the battle tournament between them and the bandit leader. The bandit leader could be seen holding a heavy axe due to his muscular appearance and as Shikari suspected, he had a mean look on his face.

"Two against one? Pfft. This should be a piece of cake," she heard Shituku saying to him.

"Is that what you think?" asked the bandit leader, then he turned to his back and a whistle escaped his mouth.

Two more bandits appeared out of nowhere. They seemed as skillful as any Ametiger protector made a daring entrance. One was running up the walls and kicked it sending himself flipping in the arena while the other, who seemed feminine was doing a triple flip and stuck the landing like any gymnast did.

"Okay. Now, I gotta be honest. This doesn't look good at all," Shituku trembled in fear.

"Don't worry, Shituku. We'll figure something out. Besides, any hard challenge I take, I'm in for it," Shikari told him.

Then, they heard an evil laugh from the bandit leader, "As you wish, Tiger Kunoichi." Then, he ran towards them with an axe ready to strike both of them. You can hear a battle cry while doing so. He jumped ahead at them and as a result, they dodged on either side. Shikari on her left and Shituku on his right.

That left both of them dealing with the tournament separately, even if they're within the arena. Suddenly, one bandit pounced on her with a sai pointed on her throat. You might think there's no escape, but instead of her thinking it, she scanned for a weakness using one of Ametiger's sensible techniques. She tried a kick on a knee, but with no effect becayse he had a really hard armor.

Soon, an image ran through her head. It was the second to last skill that Kashito taught her, but was hard to master. The Death Touch. It cannot be mastered magically, but this technique can only work when a weakness is touched. Shikari tried many times, but it was all a fail. So far, only 1% of Ametiger protectors have mastered this technique. Not even Kashito can fully master it.

Shikari may failed that technique, but she's doing it again. Soon she spotted what it seemed like his 8-pack muscle on his stomach. Just as the bandit made a strike at her head where the brain was, her hand formed something like she's holding something and it lunged forward to touch his 8-pack muscle and the bandit fell down. On top of her. You can hear a sai being dropped on the ground.

Gasps of total shock were heard. Even the bandit leader and Shituku himself. Then, Shikari used her takedown technique to push the bandit away. Then, she backflipped a bit before sticking the landing. She looked around to see everyone being as frozen as one did not expect.

Shituku walked up to her still in astonishment, "What? H-How? Nobody in Ametiger is able to master this technique."

"The Death Touch can only work if a weakness is touched, not magically," she told him.

"Eh, no matter," they heard the bandit leader speaking. "Let the tournament continue."

That's when the two were in battle stances despite having no weapons with them. Shikari found herself dealing with a female bandit. She dodged all her skills, but without even knowing it, she used Death Touch on the bandit's breast and she seemed to fall on top of her, but Shikari kicked her out of her personal space leaving her frozen on the ground.

Now's the time to deal with the bandit leader and help Shituku. But just as Shikari was about to do that, she spotted something vaguely familiar. She ran up to the female bandit. What she saw on the bandit's back was a katana and its case wrapped around her. And this katana has a pattern of a running tiger on a blade. Then, she recognized it. It was her katana. She quickly moved the bandit up close to her, remove the strap around her body and put her katana in the case. Then, she put the bandit down and put the strap around it finally glad to have her signature weapon with her. Then, she made a smirk that said she knew what to do.

Shituku could be seen dodging the bandit leader's attacks. He did not know what to do when it comes to having no weapon. Shikari ran to his rescue and what she did was to kick the flat part of the axe, which caused the leader's hand to slip and the bladed part of the axe to sink onto the ground.

Then, Shikari spotted what she assumed was the staff she saw during her first meeting with Shituku. It was with one of the bandits among the others forming a fence in the arena. That bandit was also ahead of her after she landed on the ground after she kicked the axe. She ran up to him, who seemed to be expecting for her to make a quick move. Instead, she jumped and did a flip with her hands reaching for the staff and after that, she called out to Shituku, "Shituku, come on!"

He can be seen smiling brightly as he ran over and jumped over the fence of bandits doing a double flip. Then, she gave him the staff letting him put it on his back. Then, they spotted a few baskets ahead of Shituku. They ran over to check if one of them had food and water inside. Turns out, most of the food and their water bottles were there, but the waters there were half-empty. Of course, they had to have a jar to refill it in case it was empty, so Shikari lifted the jar with the lid on it in a big bag while Shituku carried the basket.

At last, they're gonna do one thing. Escape. They ran to the wall. Seeing the secret way out and that the jar was too heavy for a single person to hold while climbing over the wall, Shituku told her, "Hold tight on me, Shikari! And don't let the water go!"

Shikari nodded in definite response and she put the jar down, but quickly picked it up, but this time, her fist touched the lid firmly in order for the water not to spill everywhere. Then, she wrapped her arms around Shituku's stomach and kept hold to it tightly, but not too tight.

"Okay, Shikari. It's now or never. This is gonna be a bumpy ride," he said to her.

That's when they heard the bandit leader crying out,"They're escaping! Get them!"

Immediately, Shikari buried her head on Shituku's shoulder while holding the bag and holding on to his stomach firmly. At the same time, he was running on the side of the walls, then kicking it to make it to another. There was a rope ahead of her and Shituku kicked the wall in order for him to reach it. Turns out, he was almost in the hands of the bandits as his hand successfully reached the rope. He quickly climbed it and jumped over the wall. At last, they escaped the base and Shikari let go of his body. Then, they ran off distancing themselves from the bandits' base.