Tanzegtsu pulled back the hair shadowing his face, a smile curving his lips.
"I can't believe I get to fight you, Haru-sama. This is for our futures—don't take it personally if things get serious."
Haru rose slowly, releasing the arm he'd held. He tightened the kurugisama rope around his waist, eyes dropping to the wooden floor. Blood seeped from his wounded leg, staining his once-white socks deep crimson, soaked from the fall and explosion.
The dark pool of blood spread across the dojo's floorboards.
His face remained detached, expressionless. He closed his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh.
"This is it—the real beginning."
He whispered.
Haru's eyes sharpened, freezing Tanzegtsu with a silent, lethal promise. His face remained expressionless, but the cold intent radiated from him like ice.
"I can't let him stall me any longer. I have to end this."
Tanzegtsu slowly released the strand of hair he'd been gripping, then yanked his sword free from the wooden floor with a thunderous CLANG. The air around them whipped into a violent storm, swirling with raw energy.
A fierce purple aura erupted, engulfing Tanzegtsu and his blade in a deadly, pulsating glow—an ominous force that seemed to consume the room itself.
In the blink of an eye, he was gone—vanished like a shadow swallowed by the night, leaving only silence behind.
He materialized silently behind Haru.
Without a hint of hesitation, Haru pulled his kurugisama, flicking a kunai up to intercept Tanzegtsu's sword—blocking the strike without even turning his head.
The battle erupted in a blur of motion, a deadly duel of speed and skill.
Tanzegtsu, a seasoned swordmaster, moved with lethal grace. His strikes weren't meant to kill but to cripple—each cut precise enough to sever a salivary gland without harming the tongue, targeting Haru's body with surgical accuracy.
Haru, despite being a normal ninja with no Honeki, had honed his body to its absolute peak. His only weapons—speed and his trusted kurugisama—moved with a grace and violence so precise, they seemed unnatural. In the void, where logic bent and space stretched endlessly, Haru's movements blurred the line between presence and absence. Every time he stepped, the air cracked. Time itself felt like it slowed just to follow him.
Yet, even that wasn't enough to overwhelm Tanzegtsu.
Tanzegtsu moved like someone untethered by the world's rules. He wasn't faster than Haru—but he didn't need to be. His awareness, his precision, his control over his sword, allowed him to move just enough, just in time. It was as if his instincts were reading Haru's thoughts before his body moved. He wasn't chasing Haru—he was dancing alongside him.
The battle erupted into a spectacle.
They moved so fast that their silhouettes barely registered—just streaks of motion, sparks flashing mid-air, gusts of wind tearing through the floating dojo ruins. Every clash of Haru's kurugisama against Tanzegtsu's glowing sword sent shockwaves that warped the wooden floor beneath them. Beams cracked. Lanterns shattered. Paper walls tore apart like silk.
Tanzegtsu's swordstyle was horrifying in its elegance. He didn't strike to kill—he struck with surgical precision. A cut here could disable nerves. A slash there could rupture blood flow without damaging organs. He had mastered the terrifying ability to isolate parts of the body. If he wanted, he could sever a muscle or even disable Haru's voice—without ever cutting the skin around it.
Haru's counter was desperation turned to instinct. His movements weren't planned—they were pure reaction. He moved without thinking, letting his body guide itself through chaos. His eyes barely kept up, yet his kurugisama met every swing of Tanzegtsu's blade with a fury that felt unnatural for someone with no divine power.
Above, the void spun slowly. Buildings floated upside-down, shattered gardens drifted past, and doors opened to nowhere. The space trembled with every strike, like it, too, was struggling to contain the battle unfolding within it.
And still—they kept fighting.
Two silhouettes.
Two philosophies.
Speed vs. mastery.
Instinct vs. control.
Freedom vs. fate.
Haru burst through the sliding door—only to meet open air.
There was no floor.
He dropped like a stone, crashing through a paper wall, then slammed against a floating platform that splintered beneath him. He rolled to a stop, breath sharp, body still reeling from the last encounter.
But there was no pause.
Tanzegtsu followed.
He fell straight through the opening above like a blade dropped from the heavens—sword-first.
The moment he struck the collapsing room, the entire space detonated. BOOM. A blast of purple aura erupted, tearing through the walls, flipping the void inside out. Again, they fell—upside down—twisting through a new patch of warped reality.
Among the debris, Haru managed to plant his foot on a falling wooden door, crouching low, stabilizing his balance as the world rotated around him. His white socks were stained deep red. Blood still dripped from his leg, trailing like ribbons through the air.
Above him—no, across from him in the tumbling madness—Tanzegtsu descended effortlessly.
His white haori whipped violently in the wind, his unbound blonde hair floating around his face like strands in water. Eyes sharp. Focused.
His sword glowed with pulsing aura as it pointed downward.
"You're impressive, Haru-sama," Tanzegtsu said, voice calm and clear in the chaos.
"I'll admit it. You might even be faster than me."
He twisted slightly mid-air, blade still aimed.
"But I've noticed you avoid close range... makes sense. I use a sword. You don't."
A smirk touched his lips.
"Don't worry. I'll bring the fight to your level."
Haru said nothing.
His face remained detached, unreadable—just a silhouette against the void, eyes locked on the boy floating toward him.
Still. Watching.
He narrowed his eyes.
Tanzegtsu was right.
He'd been dancing on the edge, staying just out of reach—because getting too close meant playing a game he couldn't win. Tanzegtsu wasn't just fast—he was surgical. One misstep, and it wouldn't just be a wound. It'd be his nerves. His memory. His cells.
And yet, retreating wasn't the answer either.
Running only delayed the inevitable.
He had to stop Tanzegtsu—without fleeing—but the solution remained just out of reach.
It looked like he had all the time in the world, his face calm, unreadable.
But inside, tension twisted in every muscle.
Then he noticed it.
Tanzegtsu's grip—both hands on the hilt.
Tight. Anchored. Serious.
Haru's eyes shifted slightly, locking onto his arms.
Tanzegtsu's voice cut through the hum of the void.
Cold. Firm. No longer playful.
"From here on... things change. Let's see if you can still dance back there."
He pulled the blade behind him—charging it like a drawn bow.
"SHATTERING BLADES: FIRE TONGUES."
Purple liquid surged along the edge of the sword—brighter than anything else in the void, glowing like venomous lightning. Then—
He struck the air.
CRACK!
A roaring wave of purple energy tore through the space, slicing the void itself, moving faster than sound—rushing toward Haru with terrifying weight.
This was no test.
This was a kill command.
The wave flew at Haru like a screaming line of light—raw, sharp, precise. Without hesitation, Haru kicked off the edge of the falling door beneath him, his body flipping gracefully in midair. The purple wave missed him by inches.
Behind him, a floating almond tree hovered in the void—silent and untouched by the chaos. The wave struck it.
But instead of shattering or snapping the trunk, something stranger happened.
Every leaf on the tree trembled… then fell. One by one. As if peeled by invisible hands. The branches thinned. The bark faded pale. The tree didn't break—it was emptied. Hollowed.
A quiet gust followed. The leaves dissolved before they touched the void.
Haru, mid-air, watched with widening eyes.
"What kind of technique…?" he muttered.
Tanzegtsu stood far below, sword still raised, hair floating wildly. "I told you, Haru-sama…" he said with a cold grin. "Things change from here."
Haru landed softly on the edge of the floating garden where the almond tree once stood in bloom. Now its bare branches stretched into the void like brittle fingers. He leaned against the stone border, breathing slow, but deep.
His right foot trembled. He lifted it slightly, and blood dripped silently onto the garden floor—thick, dark, and warm against the rain-slick stones.
His eyes dimmed—not in fear, but with sharpened clarity. That same detached expression remained, but something beneath it had shifted. His gaze now held weight.
Tanzegtsu wasn't just stalling anymore.
He had adapted. Evolved.
A master of close-range swordsmanship—deadly enough. But now, with long-range slashes that could strip the life out of matter without touching it, Tanzegtsu had closed the final gap.
Haru was outmatched.
Close? Death.
Far? Still death.
He was, truly, cornered.
And yet, as the wind howled through the void and the blood dripped onto the stones, Haru didn't move.