The night sky was ever so beautiful, much akin to a canvas, beautifully drawn with a shade of dark blue. And in it was the magnificent jewel that further amplified its elegance and grace, along with the smaller pearls of light.

The events unfolding on the ground below were of stark contrast to this ethereal beauty, and it bore witness to the events that transpired below.

The three young samurai stood firmly, brave in the face of an imminent and unknown danger, not knowing of the consequences of what was about to come.

They faced the mysterious beast head-on, with their backs facing the wilderness.

Although, I think the conversation that was currently going on among the three was a squabble, rather than a battle plan.

"So, umm... What's the plan?" Takeshi asked as he kept on looking at the beast.

"What do you mean plan? What plan?" Kiyomasa responded.

"Wait, you called me here without a plan?" Takeshi suddenly turned and faced Kiyomasa.

"Oi Kiyomasa, I thought you had grown, but you are still dumb as ever.

You asked me and Takeshi to come here to fight and didn't even have a plan? Are you nuts?" Seijūrō yelled back.

"Hey, hey, if you are so smart then why don't you come up with a plan?" Kiyomasa retaliated.

"Okay, yeah, I don't have a plan, but I wouldn't have made the stupid decision of calling the three of us here to fight this beast without having a plan and knowing anything about it." Seijūrō retorted.

"Oh yeah, right, you would've just charged in like the muscle-brained idiot you are and caused an even bigger ruckus." Kiyomasa continued to return the blow.

"Oi Kiyomasa, that's it, come at me, you bastard."

"If that's what you want, then prepare yourself."

This squabble continued back and forth for some time, and to relay the grave seriousness of the time they're having this petty fight, let me remind you that these two are still in front of the beast that can take both of them out in a single strike.

Guess it does take balls to be them and pull off this idiotic act.

Takeshi was, to be absolutely honest, caught in the middle of this cat fight. He was too helpless to do anything about it, and even if he tried to interfere, the end result would be that each of them would try to pull Takeshi to take their side.

This has been the same process over and over again for the past two months, whenever they both get into a fight, and it was a lot. And after some time, he too would get swept away by their actions.

"Guys, guys, can we just set this aside and focus on the main issue here?"

As usual, Takeshi tried to get them to focus on the issue at hand.

"Oi Takeshi, settle this. Kiyomasa is the idiot who wanted to jump into this without a plan, right?" Seijūrō suddenly held on to Takeshi and asked him.

"Takeshi, this guy would've charged in if it weren't for me keeping him away, wouldn't he?"

"Well, I..."

As soon as the last word was spoken, a sudden concentration of ki was felt at the spot where the beast was.

Sensing this, the three of them suddenly turned to look at the beast and saw it.

The beast opened its mouth wide, and a concentrated ball of red and black was forming right in front of it, and it grew bigger as seconds passed.

As soon as it grew to a certain size, it disappeared in a matter of seconds.

Takeshi, as he closed his eyes, saw it disappear, and then, when he opened his eyes, it was right in front of him.

He wasn't quick enough to react to it.
Kiyomasa suddenly pushed him on to his side and pushed Seijūrō away, onto the other side.

A red and black beam flashed at a very high speed, narrowly missing Takeshi and hit the set of trees behind him. The beam completely incinerated the trees, leaving not a leaf behind, a burnt-out stump was all that remained.

Scattered remnants of the red and black fire were on the ground, burning up fallen leaves and small shrubs.

"Well..."

Kiyomasa looked at the burnt-out stump. It was just the lower end of what it originally was, with flames still burning on whatever part that remained.

"Okay, that's not a good thing."

"What the hell was that? Did that thing just shoot fire at us?" Seijūrō asked, startled by its attack.

"Uh-huh, we have to keep moving to stay away from its firing range.
Get your swords out, we may not have a plan, but we have to do something." Kiyomasa replied.

"Right." Takeshi and Seijūrō drew their swords and readied themselves.

The three of them moved around the clearing, waiting for an opening to attack.

Their eyes, brimming with confidence, doubt, and fear all together, were focused on the beast that stood before them.

"GRROWRRR"

The three of them flashed in, slashing at the beast. It blocked each of their attacks with its extended claws, which went back and forth pretty quickly. It was able to deflect attacks from three directions without so much as a hitch.

The trio continued their assault on the beast, which mainly involved it parrying attacks from various angles and counter-attacks from it as the claws retracted back.

Sparks were flying as the claws of both the samurai and the beast clashed against each other.

"Huff huff.

How the hell is it even doing this? Defending against three sets of attacks at the same time?"

"Well, whatever it is, we have to be careful. None of our attacks are working on it, and none of its attacks are working against us either. But the thing is, it can increase its power more and attack relentlessly while we will run out of stamina soon enough.

Even with the combined ki of the three of us, it doesn't even hold a candle to the amount it was emitting when it was just laying there.

We three have our own trump cards, we will use them at the optimal time, and as to how and when that time is, we figure it out, and we'll have to decide that for ourselves because we don't know what each other's techniques are." Kiyomasa responded as they continued on with their incessant attacks.

"Well, yeah I guess. We should've done our training together, eh?
Well, kinda late to think about that now.

Oh well... Huff Huff..." Seijūrō replied as he wiped off the sweat.

Seijūrō noticed that even when Kiyomasa and Takeshi were attacking it, it was relaxed enough to glare at Seijūrō.

Seijūrō got really furious, it felt as if the beast was mocking them.

"Hahh, this bastard..."

The two of them deflected back an attack and jumped back to regroup near Seijūrō.

"We really have to think of a way to break its stance." Kiyomasa replied.

Takeshi suddenly had an idea. He realised that the opportunity in front of him just might be the perfect opportunity to test out his footwork and sword technique, albeit a risky platform for testing out stuff.

Takeshi walked ahead of the other two while swinging his sword in the air.

"Oi Takeshi, what are you planning to do?"

"Well, I'm not sure about this, guys... but I'm going to take this risk. This might be the best or last opportunity for me to test out my new footwork technique." Takeshi responded.

"Your new footwork technique? Are you kidding me? At a time like this, you wanna test out stuff?" Seijūrō asked furiously.

"Wait, wait.." Kiyomasa signaled his hand to Seijūrō.

"Is this your answer to the issue with your legs, Takeshi?" Kiyomasa asked him.

"Well, yeah, more or less...

Again, I'm not entirely sure about this, but I have to try it out. This is the culmination of my efforts over the last one and a half months.

If this isn't the answer, then I don't know what is.

I'm gonna go through with it. Now or never, I guess."

Takeshi walked ahead, unfazed, towards the beast.

He crouched, bending his knees and putting his right leg in front of his left. With his body bent now, he still had a better than ever view of the ground and up to the middle of tall trees.

The beast was fully in his field of vision.

"Okay, so... pardon me for asking, but...
What the hell is he doing?" Seijūrō asks in frustration.

"I don't know either, let's just wait and see. The best we can do right now is to have trust in Takeshi."

Takeshi closed his eyes and held his position, still crouched. Suddenly, the Ki around him spiked up, which alerted the beast as well as the other two.

"Ohh, flexing ki are we?" Seijūrō chuckled.

"Shh, let him do his thing, I'm curious." Kiyomasa replied.

"Oi Kiyomasa, don't you dare shush me—oh, okay, gotcha."

Takeshi opened his eyes, and at the same time, the beast was opening its mouth for its attack.

Takeshi flashed at a high speed, charging at the beast, and the fire beam was fired as soon as he reached right in front of the beast. In a fraction of a second, Takeshi dodged the beam as he extended his legs, bending backwards to avoid the attack.

"Woah, woah. Atleast give us a heads-up, you bastard!" Seijūrō yelled as he saw a huge beam of red and black fire coming right at him and Kiyomasa. They both dodged it at the last moment.

Takeshi retracted his body back quick enough to its vertical position and then slowly crouched forward before extending his legs to lash out an attack diagonally.

Unable to follow this unusual set of attacks, the beast stretched its claws but missed Takeshi completely.

"Swoosh" "Splatter"

The attack connected, hitting a part of it's legs and face, piercing it enough to squirt blood. The beast suddenly jumped back in retaliation. It spit out some blood and stared angrily at Takeshi.

Black blood gushed out of it and fell to the ground.

"Hell yeah, he got a hit in." Seijūrō yelled out.

"He did indeed!" Kiyomasa smiled as he spoke.

"Nah, don't get excited, it wasn't a good hit." Takeshi said as he swung his sword to remove the blood.

"The attack was way too shallow to damage it. Not to mention, my attack landed because it was startled by my movements. But, don't worry about that, I can do something about it.

We need to attack at the same time, and hard enough to break it's form." Takeshi said as he looked at the beast while wiping the remaining blood off the sword.

"Okay, got it. And now there is a plan." Kiyomasa responded.

"Heh, okay, let's go!"

Kiyomasa and Seijūrō ran towards Takeshi.

"Okay, Takeshi, you try to break his guard, we'll try to catch him off-guard and, and...
Umm... anyone who is closer to the beast can take the shot against it." Kiyomasa said as he ran.

As soon as they reached, the beast rolled its eyes and prepared itself for its attack. It had closed its own wound, and blood had completely stopped spilling.

They charged at it, and the fighting ensued.

Constant sounds and sparks due to the clash of blades and claws filled the forest. The overall ki signature that was being emitted from the forest was so high that it alerted every single animal and travellers to steer clear of it.

"Huff Huff
Does this thing ever tire out?" Seijūrō asked, panting in between attacks.

"Yeah, well, apparently... it doesn't. If you have energy to complain, then you have energy to fight." Kiyomasa.

The process of Takeshi breaking its guard and making it erratic, followed by Kiyomasa and Seijūrō's attacks, which were somehow blocked in the nick of time, continued on for some time.

Kiyomasa suddenly jumped out of the loop and wiped his sweat and some blood from a minor cut he got during the clash.

"Oi Kiyomasa, what the hell are you doing?" Seijūrō's words barely came out properly as he tried to hold off the beast's claws.

"No, that's it, this is a never-ending loop, and we're not making full use of the opening Takeshi is giving us."

"Uhh, yeah. I get that, but what the hell are you trying to do by not  attacking?"Seijūrō retorted.

"Just hold him off for a bit, okay?

Takeshi, I'm gonna have to trouble you again. Can you buy me as much time as possible?" Kiyomasa spoke with a rather determined look in his eyes.

"Okay, sure. Do you have a plan, Kiyomasa?" Takeshi asked as he held off the beast.

"Sort of, yeah."

"Okay, let's go for it."

Kiyomasa held up his position, raising his sword. There was a sudden spike in the surrounding ki as Kiyomasa focused on himself.

There was a sudden silence out of the blue, which was interrupted by Takeshi using his footwork to move backward and then onward to break the beast's guard. Seijūrō used this opportunity to get an attack that grazed its torso after being deflected by the beast's claws.

But this is it. The prime moment. The moment that Kiyomasa needed and the moment that might possibly turn the fight around.

Kiyomasa slowly opened his eyes. Everything was moving very slowly for him. He could see the sparks from the swords, the beast's earlier wound, and, more importantly... the beast itself.

He took a deep breath in, fully releasing his ki, and then spoke.

"Hachi Kasen: Shijima no Ken (ハチ河川: 静寂の剣)"

Kiyomasa flashed to the spot right in front of the beast and then swung his sword.

Like a graceful river that flows in the naturally existing twists and turns of its path and flows back to the ocean, the sword moved gracefully, striking from the lower half of the beast, curving in to turn to the top half, and then back, moving like the serene waters.

Due to this particular motion of the sword, the beast was pushed back, after which Kiyomasa stepped in for the stab at the end of the curvy motion, as the finisher of his move.

The sword went in really deep, and not even the beast's bones could stop the fierce, yet elegant strike. Kiyomasa used his leg to push the beast to pull out his sword from its body, as it was difficult otherwise.

"GRAWWW!"

The beast's growl resonated throughout the forest, and it was strong enough to make the three of them fall to the ground.

"Damn, that was some attack, Kiyomasa. If you had this trick up your sleeve, then why didn't you use it before, you dimwit?" Seijūrō quickly changed tones as he spoke.

"Uhh, there's a right time and right place for everything, muscle-brain, and after Takeshi decided to show what he learned, I thought, maybe I should go all out too.

But, enough of that, the fight ain't over yet."

The beast stood up, faltering in it's steps, but suddenly growled louder than ever, amplifying its own ki further. It's body slowly started to transform.

A sudden mist started to form around it, which alerted the trio.

"What the hell is going on?" Seijūrō spoke as he tried to swat away the mist.

The beast's muscular body started to expand, and it slowly formed a more refined pair of legs which came from its previously hind legs, and the legs in the front evolved to become arms, with its claws replacing its in-before fingers.

The wound that Kiyomasa gave it was in the torso region, right below its neck, but now it's moved to its abdomen. It's tails shrank and became spikes on its back.

The same dark blue skin, three grey horns, and the two incisors remained as everything else changed about the beast. It was more humanoid now.

"I did not see that one coming." Kiyomasa responded as he saw the transformation.

"Huhh? What the hell?
Look at what you did, Kiyomasa! You went ahead and made it worse." Seijūrō replied.

"Well, umm, guys, I'm not sure how we are going to fight that thing now. It's ki is several times what it was when we started fighting it." Takeshi spoke, struggling to stay up, with all the pressure from the beast's ki.

"Yeah, that is true, but we don't really have a choice. There's no turning back now.

We do what we did before, we wait for an opening and strike." Kiyomasa grabbed onto Takeshi's hand and stood up.

The beast stood up, closing its wound in the abdomen. It then bent down, stuck its claws in the ground, and with its force, flung chunks of rock and soil from the ground at the trio. Using this as a cover, it charged ahead.

"Now, it's flinging rocks at us? Okay, maybe this changed form has made it go insane." Seijūrō chuckled as he ran and dodged the stones that came at him.

"No, that's not it, it was trying to create a diversion and a cover for it to attack us." Takeshi replied.

"Ohh, okay."

The trio dodged all the stones and stopped right in front of the beast, only to see it's claws coming right at them. Kiyomasa tried to deflect it, but he was only able to partly deflect it, and he got hit in his torso region. Blood started to gush out of his torso.

Seeing this angered the duo, and they decided to attack in a fit of rage. Takeshi tried to cut off the beast's arm, and Seijūrō went for the head.

But another surprise was waiting for the trio right there.

Be-beng...

To be continued.