Akuma No Kage: Season 4

Chapter 4: Truce of the Rivals

"W...What?" Akatsuki asked, frozen out of sheer shock from what the man in the cloak had just said. He stood there staring at him. The man then turned towards Jiyu who was also frozen and spoke in a rather light tone, "Also, I'd like to tell you that I caused the death of your friend with the black braided hair." Jiyu's mouth remained agape at what he had just heard. Then, Jiyu reached into his back pocket, sliding out a rubber band and grasping the back of his long jet black hair. He then put it his hair in a ponytail. His mouth no longer remained agape. The man tilted his head and asked, "What's that gonna do, make you look better? That's why I'm putting you worthle-" Then, ever so suddenly Jiyu was behind the man, interupting what he had been trying to say. The man soon began bleeding from his side, he turned around, "W...What?" He asked, astounded at Jiyu's quick movement as Akatsuki stayed stationary. "I'm going..." Jiyu began, looking down. He then looked up, finishing his statement, looking straight at the man. "To murder you..." Then, suddenly there was a sound of blades clashing. The man held a claymore sword that grinded against Jiyu's katana. The man was putting no effort what-so-ever into keeping his stance strong. Jiyu however was different, he was putting as much effort as he could into it, yet he still struggled. The man then pushed Jiyu back with such force, though it looked like he had barely even tried. Then, Akatsuki watched as Jiyu's side was cut by the tip of the man's blade. He then clenched his fists roughly around the handles of his own blades. He then called out to the man in a rather disrespectful tone, "Hey... You..." He said, keeping his head down. The man turned towards Akatsuki as Jiyu struggled to get up. He then spoke, "Son, I thought I taught you that it's rude to address people like that-" "I don't give a damn..." Akatsuki interupted, looking up with emotion deep within his violet eyes for the first time that Jiyu had ever seen, he then continued speaking, "How about... I teach you some manners of your own..." He then ran at the man, who suddenly drew another claymore, revealing his sheathes which were underneath his cloak. He swung both of his blades at the man, who easily guarded them with a single claymore. Jiyu then stood, running at the man, unsheating his other katana which had previously belonged to Itami. He swung both at the man, who blocked them with little to no effort using yet again a single claymore. He then forced both back onto the ground. "You two are mere weaklings..." He said, in which Jiyu responded to almost immediatly, "Yeah... I know I'm weak..." He said, looking up to the man, breathing heavily. He then regained a bit of his breath, finishing his sentence, "Though even if I'm too weak to protect my friends... I'M DAMN STRONG ENOUGH TO DEFEND THEM!!" He called out, passion ripping through his voice. Suddenly, the air around them became filled with a deadly aura. This aura radiated directly off of Jiyu. It was beyond intoxicating, it was the sheer essence of cold blooded murder. He then ran with such speed and swiftness at the man, Akatsuki not even able to keep up. The man had to use both his blades to block Jiyu's own blades. He grunted as he did so. Jiyu continued swinging his blades, then drawing them back for yet another swing after another over and over again. The man could only keep his defensive stance as Jiyu continued throwing attacks at him over and over again an endless amount of times. Then, the man pushed Jiyu down to the ground. Jiyu only flipped back to his feet, running at the man yet again with the same inhuman-like speed. His aura merely became stronger and more deadly with every swing. He swung and swung and swung his blades. The man then put his guard down, slamming both of his blades into one of Jiyu's, causing it to fly out of his hand, landing deep within the ground in the distance. Jiyu then took hold of the katana that remained within his hand with two hands. This katana was that which recently belonged to Itami as if to completely and utterly shrug off what had just happened as if he didn't even care. He then swung his blade more, the man barely able to keep blocking it. Akatsuki could feel it, the hatred in Jiyu's eyes as he looked at the man. It was too obvious not to notice, even the most oblivious of people could realize it. Jiyu continued swinging with such speed and swiftness, he didn't care what happened, all he cared about at the moment was killing this man. He then remembered the move he had saw Raifuru preform when he was younger. God damnit... If I knew how to use that move... I could end this fight right now... I... I have to try!! He thought to himself as he began swinging in one direction after another. Left, then right, then left, then right. He did this over and over again, constantly trying to preform the move which he had seen Raifuru preformed but he just wasn't fast enough. He continued to gain speed, then suddenly he heard a familiar voice call out from behind the man. Akatsuki knew who this was while Jiyu continued fighting, he knew it was Renji. Renji slowly unsheathed his sakaba sword, attempting to be as quiet as possible. But then suddenly, the man turned towards Renji, running at him, swinging his blades at him. Then, Jiyu followed after the man,  swinging his blade at him. Though the man blocked it with his other blade. Then, Akatsuki began running towards him. By now this fight's fate was decided and they all agreed on one thing. He couldn't dodge this next move. He'd have to have 3 arms to do so. Then, he vanished as Akatsuki swung his blades at him. Jiyu and Akatsuki didn't know where he was, Renji however had honed senses which he used to his advantage, quickly sheathing his sakaba sword without a word more. He ran up the rocks which he had known was the quickest way to the man. He climbed up them as they began steeper, digging his fingers into the cracks then pulling them out. Jiyu and Akatsuki followed a few meters behind him however. Renji knew this was so. He then pulled out a revolver from it's holster, aiming downwards at Jiyu and Akatsuki. "Renji, what are you doing?!" Jiyu asked, a bit confused. "You two... Are not coming up here... I'll deal with him... Now get off the cliff..." He called out in response. Jiyu shook his head as Akatsuki dropped, skidding down the rocks until he got to the ground. Then, Renji cocked the hammer back, pulling the trigger. Though before he pulled the trigger he aimed at a rock above Jiyu. He then placed the gun back in it's holster and he continued climbing up the rocks. The bullet pierced right through the only thing that held Jiyu up. The rock which he was holding onto  cracked and fell from the other. Jiyu quickly ran up it, barely grabbing the ledge above where that rock was. He sighed out of relief and looked back up. Then his pupils centered as he heard a small cracking noise, looking up at the ledge which he held onto, seeing the crack that was fresh.