"Prepare yourself!!" Izuna declared, her eyes blazing with determination.
"Whoa, hold on—" Mash started.
"No questions!" Whoosh!
"Dangerous!" Mash yelped, dodging as Izuna hurled a shuriken from her left hand with pinpoint accuracy and blazing speed. Had he let his guard down even slightly, it would've been right in his face.
"I'm not done yet!!" Izuna shouted.
She charged, kunai in her right hand, unleashing a flurry of kicks and strikes.
(Not too fast to track, but… she's quick. Like, really quick, Mash thought.)
"Grr, you're a formidable foe, Sensei!" Izuna grunted, her attacks relentless.
Mash dodged or parried with one hand, effortlessly avoiding her blows. To onlookers, their clash was a spectacle—Shizuko and Fina could barely keep up with the speed.
"She's incredible," Shizuko gasped.
"She's keeping up with Sensei's speed!" Fina marveled.
"But isn't something off? Sensei hasn't attacked at all," Shizuko noted.
"Probably on purpose," Mimori said softly.
"Why?" Kaede asked, tilting her head.
"Look at Izuna's eyes," Tsubaki yawned. "Fwaa…"
"Her eyes?" Shizuko echoed.
Normally, Mash would counterattack when sparring with students, especially those glaring with hostility or malice. But Izuna…
"The next ninjutsu is super powerful, so brace yourself! ✨" Izuna chirped, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
(…This is tough. Really tough, Mash thought.)
Izuna's gaze was pure, devoid of malice or enmity—just the eager look of a disciple showing off her skills to her master.
"Here I go! ✨" Izuna announced.
(Still, this vibe's kinda nice. She says ninjutsu's just fiction, but… what's she gonna do? Mash wondered.)
"Ninjutsu!" Izuna struck a dramatic pose.
"Giant Shuriken Technique!"
"…Huh?" Mash blinked.
"HUGE!?!" the others gasped.
Izuna brandished a mechanical, cross-shaped shuriken as big as a medium-sized backpack.
"Izuna-chan, what's that…? Where'd you even get it?" Mash asked, dumbfounded.
"I had it custom-made at a certain place—my exclusive weapon, the Giant Shuriken!" Izuna declared proudly.
"Who'd you commission?" Mash pressed.
"That's classified!" Izuna replied, puffing out her chest. "I was told not to say!"
"Got it… So it's not Usami-san, then," Mash mused.
"Usami…? You mean Utaha-sama?" Izuna corrected.
"…Yup, definitely the Engineering Club," Mash muttered.
"Ah! Such cunning wordplay!" Izuna gasped, realizing she'd slipped.
"Was it that cunning?" Mash asked, tilting his head.
"Anyway!" Izuna rallied, striking a kabuki-style pose with her giant shuriken aimed at Mash.
Knowing the Engineering Club's creations were no joke, Mash braced himself.
"If it's against you, Sensei, I'm confident I can use this!" Izuna said. "Here I come, full force!"
"Bring it," Mash replied, cracking his knuckles.
"Let's do this!!" Whoosh!
Izuna hurled the giant shuriken. Its speed wasn't much different from the smaller ones, so Mash timed his move to catch it—but then…
VROOOOM!
"!" Mash's eyes widened.
"The shuriken curved at an impossible angle, heading straight for Sensei!?" Shizuko shouted.
"It's got homing capabilities!?" Fina yelped.
"Exactly!" Izuna grinned. "It won't stop until it hits you! But don't worry—it's designed to be safe, with minimal sharpness!"
The shuriken spun ferociously, chasing Mash as he dodged reflexively. It veered toward Izuna a few times, but she caught it and threw it back at him.
"Again!" Izuna shouted.
"Here we go," Mash sighed.
"More!" she insisted.
"This is annoying," Mash groaned.
The relentless shuriken posed no real threat to Mash's athleticism, but its persistence was a hassle.
"My stamina's still good, so let's keep going! Hiyah!" Izuna threw it again.
"Hmph!" Mash dodged. Whoosh!
"No use!" Izuna taunted.
"It's got evasion tracking too… Those Engineering Club folks never make anything simple," Mash muttered.
"It locks onto its target and won't stop until it hits, with enough force to smash concrete!" Izuna boasted.
"Seriously, those guys…" Mash sighed, picturing Utaha's smug grin somewhere in the distance. Shaking it off, he spun his rarely-used brain into overdrive and came up with a plan.
"…" Grip.
"Sensei's turning his back… and powering up?" Kaede observed.
Mash faced away from the shuriken and sprinted forward, vanishing in a blur along with the weapon.
(Where'd Sensei go? Fleeing's not his style… Wait, that direction…!? Izuna thought, panicking.)
As Izuna fretted, a voice came from behind her.
"Circled the academy and shook it off," Mash said casually.
"Sensei!?" Izuna spun around.
"Hey," Mash greeted.
"You outran that shuriken's speed!?" Izuna gasped.
"Yup," Mash nodded.
"What incredible speed!" she marveled.
Grabbing Izuna's shoulders firmly, Mash held her in place.
"But, Sensei… that shuriken tracks independently of my will! You'll get caught if you stay here!" Izuna warned.
"I know," Mash said. "By the way, Izuna-chan, is your head tough?"
"Huh? Y-Yes, I've got quite a hard head…" Izuna paused. "Wait, no way!?"
"I'll apologize later…" Grab!
As the giant shuriken closed in, Mash locked his arms around Izuna and…
"Hey!" WHAM!
"KYUU!?" Izuna yelped.
Mash executed a German suplex, using Izuna's head to stop the shuriken dead in its tracks. For the record, anyone but a Kivotos native would've been toast.
"Whoa…" Shizuko gasped.
"That looks painful," Fina winced.
Kaede silently touched her own head, stunned.
Mimori stared, shocked that Izuna was still conscious.
"No way… Even she lost!?" a troupe member cried.
"Retreat! Retreat!" another shouted.
The Chimimoryo Troupe fled in a panic. Izuna, sporting a lump on her head and teary, dizzy eyes, slumped to the ground, clutching her skull.
"Ugh… My head's splitting…" she groaned.
"Let's put this shuriken away… Oh, it folds up?" Mash said, inspecting it.
"I-Izuna lost twice!? I came more prepared than last time, and I still couldn't win… Does this mean my training's not enough!?" Izuna wailed.
"Nah, it's just that Sensei's a freak," Shizuko said bluntly.
"Izuna-chan, you were hired by a client to help the Chimimoryo Troupe, right?" Mash asked.
"Wha—!? How did you…!? As expected, you see through everything!" Izuna gasped.
"You wouldn't do this without a reason," Mash said. "Is this your idea of being a ninja?"
"Yes! A ninja eliminates obstacles and completes their mission perfectly, no matter the task!" Izuna declared without hesitation, her eyes shining with unshakable conviction.
"If I keep this up, one day I'll serve a true master—!" Izuna caught herself. "Why am I saying this!? Another of your schemes, Sensei!? I know when to retreat as a ninja, so I'm out!"
"I'm not letting you go this time—" Mash started.
Thud!
"…A log?" Mash blinked.
"Sensei!" Shizuko called.
"Whoa… When did she pull off a substitution jutsu?" Mash muttered.
"I won't give up, Sensei! Next time—next time, I'll defeat you, stop you… and wake you up!" Izuna's voice echoed.
"Huh?" Mash frowned.
"And I'll definitely save you!" she added.
"Izuna-chan? You're definitely misunderstanding something—" Mash tried to call out, but Izuna was gone, ignoring his protests.
"Ugh, she got away!" Shizuko groaned.
"They all fled saying, 'Next time, we'll get you!' or something," Fina noted.
"Let's regroup and have a strategy meeting," Mash suggested.
"Good idea. Sensei, Training Club, come to our place," Shizuko said.
"Got it!" Kaede nodded.
"(Whoever hired Izuna… I don't know who you are," Mash thought, clenching his fist, "but I won't go easy on you.")
With that, they headed back to Hyakuyado.
Author's Note: Izuna's giant shuriken is an original creation for this story, just so you know! Also, I recently listened to Blue Archive's character songs with Brother Sensei and Sister Sensei… and they're all amazing.
No surprise there:
Brother Sensei cried during Abydos' song, saying, "I have no regrets in this life!"
Sister Sensei sobbed during Hina's "Dream Road Flower," muttering, "So this is how a mom feels watching her kid's school play."
And yeah, I bawled during the Remedial Class' song. Telling me not to cry is impossible!
Comments, feedback, and activity report submissions are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!
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