#kojusasu

Minutes passed since the two started sharing clashes, the rush of adrenaline getting stronger and the scent of sweat and metallic edging filled the air, the two rivals starting losing track of time and place.

Masamune grinning : “Just how much time passed since we last did this!” Yukimura with a gleam of excitement in his eyes and smile: “Feels like yesterday!” Masamune, equally excited: “This is exactly what I needed!!!!”

And just before the two of them shared another blow, someone stood in between stopping them

Sasuke using his shurikens to block both their weapons: "Wow slow down! This sure brings back some memories, but how about we stop it here?"

Yukimura gasped as he saw his Ninja show up, he flustered thinking about what he should tell him, before Masamune interrupted his thoughts with a very annoyed expression.

Masamune: "Tch, you managed to reach us...better step aside, circus boy, this doesn’t concern you."

Sasuke was visibly insulted by his statement, before Masamune's vision blurring suddenly, he blinked twice and slapped his cheeks lightly to clear his sight, but nothing worked, with his condition worsening, he started to slightly lose balance, something that made him move back and forth trying to regain it, until he couldn't make it anymore, almost falling to the ground, If not for his right eye rushing to grab his shoulders.

Kojuro, whose fear and concern were visibles on his face: "Masamune sama!!" Yukimura who started panicking and approached Masamune in quick steps: "Uhh I am sorry!! let me get you back to the--" Kojuro interrupted him: "Enough!! you are not laying one finger on him!"

Taken aback by Kojuro's hoarse angry shout, Yukimura froze in his place, not knowing what to say or do, only staring at him, little did he know that the old retainer wasn't finished yet.

Kojuro gritting his teeth: "You immature little brat with no sense of responsibility or dignity!! I wonder what were you thinking when deciding to fight your sick guest in your own territory, If there were two motives behind this fight and this whole meaningless stupid invitation you came up with, It’s either you were planning to hurt him since the first beginning, which makes all of this planned ahead, or the second one, you are absolutely brainless!!”

Shocked, Yukimura’s face flushed a powerful shade of crimson the moment Kojuro was finished, his mouth wide open as he was speechless, then he just tilted his head down in absolute embarrassment, It was sure one of those times when the old retainer had scolded him, but this one was different from his previous scoldings, it was an insult, his words cut deep into Yukimura's heart like a sharp knife, when the latter didn’t care any less, trying to help a tired Masamune to get up, who couldn't believe what he just heard either, looking at his right eye in total disbelief.

Masamune: “Kojuro, The hell did you just tell him...”

Meanwhile, someone has reached his limit of tolerance and patience.

Sasuke with a hint of rage: “Alright, enough with this crap, you are starting to get on my nerves, Kojuro, let me get straight to the point, the 'so mature' one eyed dragon was obviously the one behind all this, I am sure Yukimura refused the proposition, but seems like this troublemaker of your insane Lord, who doesn't seem to care about anyone but himself, dragged him into this whole mess, you think he cast you away out of nowhere back when you visited him? Well guess what, he didn’t! The guy clearly wanted to get rid of you for the sake of his 'genius' plan to work, and surprisingly enough, you haven't realized that! Talk about being brainless!!"

It was at this moment that a very concerned Yukimura said something: “S-Sasuke! No!!!” Kojuro looked at Sasuke and shook his head slowly in total disbelief: “I can’t believe what I just heard...” Sasuke lifting his eyebrow: “Better do sir!”

Meanwhile, Masamune was leaning on Yukimura’s shoulder, who took advantage of Kojuro's distraction to support him, the one eyed dragon realized the situation was getting very bad, and decided to interfere.

Masamune: "It’s alright man, I will get back now."

He couldn't see his loyal retainer's face, as it was all shadowed while tilting his head, but once Kojuro lifted it, Masamune knew very well what kind of facial expression was that, one that didn't promise any good.

Kojuro stood up, pulling out his swords slowly: "Do not interfere, I am teaching him a lesson..." Sasuke whistling with a mocking tone of voice: "Is that so?" Yukimura concerned: "Sasuke, Please let’s stop this here--" Sasuke, interrupting: "There is no need to worry, I promise you this will only take a couple of minutes."

The horrific amount of tension shared between them was worse than the first one, it was as If the whole promise of dealing with each other wasn’t broken yet, Kojuro’s death stare pierced through Sasuke’s cold gaze.

Kojuro: "I will end your pathetic life..."

Sasuke's dark aura surrounded his body, making him look as If he was about to be swallowed by his own shadows

Sasuke: "Bring it on."

Unlike the duels between Yukimura and Masamune that could be described as amical, fun and full of shared enthusiasm from both sides, the same couldn’t be said about the two guardians fights, for they weren’t into flings or random encounters If not for a good reason, or for the sake of their Lords, but once in, they are merciless. Yukimura was torn between stopping the unpromising fight, and taking a sick Masamune back to the castle, cursing the moment he accepted to get along with the plan, his rival knew very well the inner struggle he was going through, patting his shoulder while trying to get himself together.

Masamune: “Don’t worry, I am good, and let them settle things between them to ease the tension.”

Yukimura couldn’t help but nod, very concerned about the scene in front of him.

*********

The calm before the storm, that's how the few passing seconds could be described as, a shared silence, broken by the rustling sound of the trees surrounding the area, alongside the cold wind whistling echoing the place.

And just in a fraction of a second, Kojuro launched with such high speed toward Sasuke, swinging his sword swiftly but sharply with his left hand, It was too quick that it took the Ninja by surprise, allowing Kojuro to cause deep cuts in his armors that caused him to bleed, a little gasp escaped Masamune’s throat while Yukimura shouted Sasuke’s name in absolute terror, the right eye couldn’t believe how easy this was, and figured there was something wrong.

Kojuro: “It’s a clone.” Sasuke coming out of his shadow hole: “Now that’s smart of you.”

Kojuro turned around instantly to see the Ninja shooting him a mocking smirk, making him even more frustrated, However, despite his anger, he was still a tactician, a sharp warrior that won’t waste his energy for nothing, he knew very well that when it comes to speed and mobility, Sasuke had the upper hand, and so, he thought of a way to catch him.

Sasuke with a sarcastic chill voice: “If you are thinking of a way to catch me, I suggest you give up already.” He then added with a sudden change of voice tone to a more serious and cold one: “Because it won’t happen unless I allow it, Ryu no Migime.”

Kojuro couldn’t help but feel a bit agitated internally, he was right, he thought to himself, and he knew that fact very well, but maintained his composure.

Kojuro glaring: ”We will see about it when I cut your throat!”

Masamune couldn’t help but feel really worried this time, knowing his right eye so well, he sensed how his tense aura was getting more dangerous as he proceeded in the fight, and felt the urgent need to stop him by approaching him slowly under Yukimura’s protests.

Masamune: “Oi Kojuro! Wake up from this insanity.” Kojuro: “Not before I settle this.” Masamune: “Don’t make me repeat myself here! Damn it man! I can’t even shout…”

It was unusual of him to refuse his Lord’s orders, the right eye of the dragon felt guilty for a second about his disobedience, only to find Sasuke diverting his attention: “Better not let your guard down, death is waiting at the corner.”

Yukimura didn’t approve of anything he just saw, but instead, he grabbed Masamune’s shoulder from behind to support his back, shaking his head as if to tell him that It’s pointless to stop them now, only to find Masamune cursing under his tongue.

And now that the old retainer diverted his gaze toward his opponent, he ignored his surroundings, focusing his senses on a smirking Sasuke rolling his Shurikens between his fingers playfully, and once again, a focused Kojuro made his move, launching a combination of multiples fast slashes way stronger than the first ones while the skilled ninja was avoiding them, before the powerful lightning blow that Sasuke managed to keep away from, but blinded him for a second, something that Kojuro did on purpose, taking advantage of the situation to grab him by his shoulders and slam him against the ground, then swinging his sword to slice his neck, only to realize it was another clone of his when he suddenly vanished, something that made Kojuro open his eyes widely, turning his head left and right, until he caught him away, emerging from the darkness beneath him.

Sasuke with a cold smile: “Now It’s my turn.”

That's when he started attacking him, launching the double shurikens he manipulated by the chains binding them, while the right eye avoided them by jumping from one spot to another swiftly yet quickly, something that made the ninja recognize Kojuro’s speed and resilience deep down, it was rare to meet someone with such incredible reflexes, he thought to himself.

Time passed by as Sasuke was still launching his attacks, causing no scratch, until he stopped all of a sudden, making Kojuro smirk.

Kojuro: “Is that all you got? I see, you are good but for playing games, I shouldn’t have taken you seriously.” After a moment of quiet, Sasuke lifted his head up, to reciprocate Kojuro’s smirk: “Oh really? You know what they say Kojuro, never underestimate a tree branch, it can cut your eye.”

For some reason, Kojuro found himself unable to move, something that made both of him flinch, and Sasuke chuckle.

Sasuke smirks widely: “The best is yet to come.”

That’s when Kojuro, who lifted his eyebrows in total surprise and confusion, found himself pushed from behind toward the tree trunk and pinned against it, after his two swords were pulled out of their sheaths on their own, becoming armless and tied.

Sasuke: “All of this was done while you were busy avoiding my attacks and trying to slice me, you thought I was messing around? Well, my clone wasn’t.” Kojuro: “How did you!!--” Sasuke: “The only thing I can tell you is to take a closer look at your body.”

He noticed the thick yet invisible threads sparkling under the moonlight that binded him, and that's when the realization hit the retainer hard, blaming himself for letting his guard down around the sly Ninja, now he was at a real disadvantage.

Sasuke clapped his hands while whistling: “A helpless Right eye, what a view.” He then added: “They don’t call me a Ninja for nothing, right?” Kojuro gritting his teeth, anger showing in his wide opened eyes: “Jerk! such an unhonourable warrior resorting to lowly tricks!!” Sasuke rubbing his chin with a chill attitude: “Hello, I am no Samurai here, Ninjas never followed the Bushido code, we are here to kill, and get paid for it, no matter the ways we use, I thought you knew that already” Then he added shrugging his shoulders: “Besides, you started it.” Kojuro: “Spare me your disgusting chit chat, filthy Ninja!” Sasuke: “Yeah you are right we have been talking too much.” He then added with a gleam of malice and darkness in his eyes “Time to finish you off.”

For a fraction of a second, Kojuro could have sworn that instead of Sasuke he saw a dark figure in front of him, something that made him blink twice in total confusion, to find the sly shinobi already in front of him about to attack, If not for Yukimura stopping him.

“Enough, you proved your point here.” stated Yukimura with a serious tone. Sasuke raising his eyebrows: “Danna! Better step aside, this was none of your business!” Yukimura with a dead serious expression: “But now it is, and you crossed the boundaries.”

With his spears, Yukimura skillfully flipped both Shurikens to the ground, to give Sasuke a sudden strong punch in the face that made him fly away in absolute shock, he then turned around to Kojuro bowing down.

Yukimura: “Allow me to untie you.”

He used his spears to cut the threads binding him, and bowed down once again with a neutral facial expression this time. Yukimura: “I apologize for Sasuke’s bad behavior, I will make sure he will pay for it.”

Kojuro couldn’t help but sigh looking down for a moment without responding back, then added with a sided smirk he shot Sasuke as he lifted his head before turning around.

Kojuro: “He already paid for it.”

The Ninja and his master couldn’t get what Kojuro meant at first, when suddenly, Sasuke’s poncho was completely sliced, all his hidden black armor was shattered to thin pieces and fell to the ground, a spark of electricity glowing in them for a second and vanishing on its own only to be followed by a strong electric shock that spread all over his body, that suffered some injuries here and there, Sasuke, who let a gasp at the sudden sensation that caused him a huge pain, was then left speechless as he was looking at a leaving Kojuro, with his eyes and mouth wide open.

This man…

Ahead of them was an astonished -still tired- Masamune, as Kojuro approached him, he smirked patting his shoulder: “I see, you had one hell of a party there, you caught the Ninja off guard, and won the asshole easily.” Somehow, Kojuro couldn’t help but smile looking at him “Not really.” Masamune: “Ah?” Slowly, the cuts were starting to show, Kojuro’s shredded coat slipped off of his shoulders, his armor wasn’t damaged much, but surprisingly enough, blood was coming out beneath it.

Masamune noticed it and became worried: “Kojuro!” Kojuro interrupted him with a calming tone: “Don’t worry, I am fine.” He added with a smile: “It was a draw in the end"

You are sure one strange opponent to never be underestimated...

Masamune sighed heavily as he felt guilty what happened back there, but decided to leave the talk for later, when Kojuro was still thinking about what he saw earlier, noticing a hint of a strange shadow he couldn’t explain coming out of his injuries and hands, and then disappearing.

After blowing a whistle, summoning the Ninjas to help the guests get back to the castle, Yukimura was worried, while holding Sasuke’s back.

Yukimura: “Sasuke! Are you hurt?” Sasuke was still puzzled but looked at Yukimura this time: “Am I...hurt?”

Soon enough, the corner of his lips twitched, and instead of being upset about all of this, he was impressed.

Kojuro: How about you get lost?

Sasuke: In your eyes? Yeah sure.