Tetsuo burst from the mist with his cleaver already swinging. Reina read the trap on instinct—Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution) flickered, bark exploded, and she body-flickered out of the haze to open air.
Kunai chased her retreat. Reina slipped and batted steel as she ran, then wheeled at the lip of the pass. Lightning climbed her chakra-metal blade in a tight crackle.
She cut in. Tetsuo, half a step late, raised his forearms—steel kissed skin and left two shallow lines.
"You're sharp, Reina," he said, eyes amused despite the blood. "Always have been. But your run as the elite class's genius ends here."
A scroll snapped open in his palm. Chakra surged—an oversized ōdachi coalesced, cable-thin wire trailing from its pommel into his gauntlet.
"You think a few lessons make you a swordsman?" Reina's voice was ice. "Delusional. Kneel now—I might let you keep your pride."
They met. Reina's katana came down—at the last instant she stepped up onto the broad spine of Tetsuo's blade, used it like a springboard, and vaulted over his shoulder. Lightning hissed. Her cut raked his back.
Tetsuo's breath hitched. He pivoted faster than his frame promised and hammered his ōdachi across. Reina got her katana up—impact numbed her arms and pitched her into the rock. Stars burst; dust rattled down.
He was on her. No room to dance—only room to endure.
Blow after blow fell. The ōdachi beat at her guard like a blacksmith's mallet. Shock ran bone-deep; her fingers tingled, then burned. She stole a heartbeat during his reset—Kawarimi—and reappeared low, forming a clone with a snap of seals.
Two Reinas split—one arcing high, one sprinting on a wide line.
Tetsuo's gaze ping-ponged. He gambled on the aerial target.
Bukijutsu: Dankōsen (Weapon Art: Breaker Arc).
The wired ōdachi screamed skyward. It ripped through the airborne Reina—smoke—and Tetsuo spun on the second—
"Behind you, muscle-head."
The real Reina slid through his blind spot and carved another line across his back.
He snarled, swung wild. She ducked—his knee speared up and cracked her nose. White pain flooded her skull; vision shimmered. The ōdachi's hilt rammed her gut, buckling her. A mean flurry followed—fist, gut, cheek; boot to the knee sent her stumbling. The hilt rose again, merciless.
Sand flashed. Reina snapped a handful into his eyes and rolled between his legs. As she went, her blade kissed his heels. Tetsuo dropped to a knee with a barked curse.
Her finishing cut chopped stone as he jerked aside and mule-kicked her, sending her airborne. Both broke, breathing hard.
Tetsuo bled freely from back and ankles. Reina was worse—nose broken, forearms mottled violet, one eye swelling shut, a tremor in her guard.
"Stronger than I expected," she breathed. "Can't take another clean hit."
"She's on her last leg," Tetsuo thought, lips peeling back. "Now."
He charged.
Reina's hands flashed.
Raiton: Seitenjō (Lightning Release: Static Field).
Her world sharpened—edges crisp, time elastic. Chakra poured into her blade; she met him again.
Strength favored him. Craft favored her. A parry opened a line—she shaved his abdomen, slammed a headbutt into his brow, and slashed his shins before bounding out of a murderous horizontal cut.
She darted in once more; at the final step she side-slipped and ripped an ascending stroke across his shoulder. The ōdachi crashed from his grip.
He didn't stop. She expected retreat—got bear-trap hands instead. His arms locked around her, crushing. Ribs complained.
"Fine," she hissed, and detonated her field again—Seitenjō arced between them. The jolt staggered him; she tore free—
—and felt a tug at her back.
The wire.
Tetsuo yanked, snapping her balance toward him. His palm slapped something cold between her shoulder blades—then he heaved, using the cable like a sling to launch her down the slope.
She hit hard, rolled, and came up on an elbow. A faint sizzle ticked at her spine.
"—tag," she realized.
BOOM.
The blast flared small but mean. When the smoke thinned, Reina was on one knee, coughing, one sleeve soaked red and already purpling beneath—hair singed, blade still in her other hand.
Tetsuo staggered into view, grinning through blood. "Told you you wouldn't win. What was that about making me beg?"
He paced toward her, savoring it. "You're in no condition to fight. Drop the scroll and—"
Reina crab-stepped back, trying to buy an angle. Tetsuo matched her, then lunged and seized her collar.
Tetsuo raised his fist to finish it—
—and a scarlet langur landed on his face.
"Ti–ti!" it chirred, tiny hands clawing, tail whipping his ear. Tetsuo staggered, swinging blind.
Aika blurred in, hooked an arm under Reina's shoulders, and body-flickered away down the pass. The langur rode Tetsuo like a furious hat until he finally ripped it free and hurled it. It bounced, stuck its tongue out at him… then trotted after, as if this were all a mildly interesting jog.
"Damn it—he's fast," Aika panted. "Reina, status—can you fight?"
Reina stared past her, dazed and silent, blood slicking one sleeve.
"Captain! Talk to me!"
No answer. Aika glanced back—Tetsuo was gaining.
"Raizen, I'm going to owe you for this," she muttered, skidding to a stop. "Head-on is suicide. Reverse summoning's too slow. So—helpers."
She dropped Reina gently, tore open her pouch, broke a soldier pill on her tongue—heat shot through her chest—then slammed her bleeding thumb to the ground.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Smoke foomed. Two more scarlet langurs appeared.
One wore a dented samurai kabuto and a tiny chestplate, a tanto shoved through his sash at a comically dangerous angle. He struck a grave stance… and immediately started picking his nose with solemn intensity.
The other wore an oversized wizard cloak with stitched moons, clutching a stick like a wand. He yawned, turned once in place, and curled into a ball to nap.
Aika's eye twitched. "I could really use your help."
Both monkeys stared. The samurai one scratched. The wizard one snored.
"GET OFF YOUR BUTTS AND FIGHT THAT GUY!" Aika yelled, pointing at the very large, very angry Tetsuo bearing down on them.
The monkeys followed her finger, saw Tetsuo… and screamed—high, offended shrieks—before bolting in the opposite direction.
Aika's original langur skidded to a stop, whirled, and let out a sharp ti–ti! command like a whistle blast. The other two froze, looked profoundly put-upon—union rules, their faces said—then trudged back to stand beside it.
Tetsuo slowed, actually laughing now. "This is your plan? Dress-up monkeys?"
"They're Scarlet Langurs," Aika snapped, lifting her chin. "Descended—rumor says—from the Four-Tails' mountain troop. Show some respect."
He laughed harder—had to wipe his eyes. "That's adorable. You're done here."
The wizard langur blinked blearily, raised his "wand," and flicked it at the ground.
"Ponk," he said, bored.
A pebble rolled away.
It picked up another pebble. Then three. Then a slab of shale. Dirt slurped in behind it until the pebble was a bowling-ball-sized boulder, trundling faster with every turn.
The samurai langur puffed out his chest, unsheathed his child-sized tanto with theatrical care, then took an enormous breath and slashed the air.
"Fūton: Hyōri!"
A razor gust slapped the incoming fireball as Aika's original langur spat a tight Katon: Tamabi—a basketball of flame.
Wind met fire; both wrapped the rolling stone. The boulder became a scorched, howling comet barreling straight for Tetsuo.
His grin vanished. He sprung—powerful, clean—over the obvious line.
"Predictable," he scoffed midair.
The samurai langur was already above him, somehow perched on nothing, kabuto listing to one side. He bowed, dead serious, then chopped down. The tanto cracked across Tetsuo's temple.
"Gah—!" Momentum flipped. He pinwheeled—
—and hit the burning boulder.
A log burst in his place—Substitution—but the backwash of heat licked him as he appeared sideways down the slope. He hit on a knee, hissing, one shoulder visibly blistered under scorched cloth.
The wizard langur, having contributed exactly one bored pebble flick, lay back down and went to sleep.
The samurai langur planted his tiny blade in the dirt like a banner and struck a victorious pose—helmet immediately slid down over his eyes. He tilted his head, unimpressed by gravity, then lifted it with a dignified sniff.
Aika just stared. "I… did not know they could do that."
Her original langur patted her ankle—ti–ti, get moving—and jabbed a finger toward Reina. It slapped a muffle tag onto Aika's palm as if to say, in case he starts shouting again.
Tetsuo tore the ruined sleeve, baring a raw patch of burn, breath coming harder now. The laughter was gone; he reeled his wire back with a rasping zip, eyes flat and mean.
"Cute tricks," he growled, rising. "Try them again."
Aika squared her shoulders, sliding Reina behind a jut of stone. The samurai langur waggled his brows like a duelist; the wizard langur snored on, hugging a pebble like a teddy bear.
The BOOM rolled through the pass, lifting a ripple of dust. Tetsuo didn't flinch. He surged—cable hissing, ōdachi coming up.
Aika flared a tag. "Barrier Tag: Pane!"
A translucent square snapped between them. Tetsuo's blade hit and skreeeeked aside, shaving sparks.
"Reina—on your feet." Aika slid her behind a jut of stone and slapped another seal onto Reina's wrist. "Numbing Tag: Pulse. Short window."
Reina's good hand closed on her katana. The pulse dulled the screaming in her forearm to a tolerable throb.
She inhaled. "Raiton: Seitenjō." Static crawled her skin, sharpened the world. "I'm with you."
"Pattern three," Aika told the langurs. "Fan—pin—cook."
The samurai langur snapped to attention, kabuto tilting, then nudged it up with one knuckle, very dignified. The wizard langur yawned hugely… then rolled to his feet, cloak askew.
Tetsuo tore around the barrier's edge, cable spitting from his gauntlet. He whipped the ōdachi in a low cut—Reina darted in, blade buzzing, and *tch—*sliced the line mid-swing. The backlash snapped his hand open.
His eyes narrowed. "Cute."
"Not a trick," Reina said, settling into a one-armed guard. "A lesson."
The samurai langur drew his tiny tanto and slashed the air. "Fūton: Hyōri!" A knife-edged gust drove at Tetsuo's face, forcing him to close his eyes for a blink. Reina was there—her blade scraped his guard, shaved his ribs, and vanished as his counter chopped the air where she'd stood.
Aika skated left, palming two tags. "On his boots," she whispered to the leader langur.
It sprinted—ti–ti!—vaulted a low line, and slapped a seal to Tetsuo's greave as it passed. Aika mirrored it on the other side, then flicked her fingers. "Weight Seal—Stone."
Tetsuo's next step hit like he'd landed in wet cement. He flooded the greaves with chakra and tore through the drag, refusing the bind. A fresh cable snapped out, a silver arc hunting ankles.
Reina planted and met him again—steel hammered steel; shock rippled up her shoulder. She slid, let the weight take him a half-step past—Aika's barrier pane blinked alive at knee height. Tetsuo stumbled over it, cursing, then vaulted cleanly on the second stride.
"Pin," Aika called.
The wizard langur flicked his wand-stick. "Ponk." A bowling-ball-sized pebble rolled and gathered the pass as it went, the ground obligingly feeding it mass. Tetsuo adjusted to go over—
The samurai's gust snapped across and flattened its front, turning it into a sliding slab. It scythed Tetsuo's shins. He sprang; the leader langur sprang with him, clamping to his back like a red-hot backpack and slapping a Muffle Tag at his jaw hinge.
"Grr—!" Tetsuo tried to bark a kiai; it came out strangled. He wrenched a hand back to tear the tag—
Reina's blade rang down. He met it with the spine of his ōdachi—sparks spat, lightning crawled. She shifted, hip-checked, and cut at his fingers. He let the sword fall to favor his hand, then kicked—hard. She saw the knee this time; her forearm still screamed when she caught it on the flat and slid wide.
Aika darted in under the clash, slapped three quick seals onto stone. "Barrier Tag: Channel." Translucent panes winked into a shallow V pointing right at Tetsuo. The wizard langur's pebble-boulder obligingly slid between the panes—and the V narrowed, accelerating it like a chute.
"Cook," Aika said.
The leader langur spat a tight Katon: Tamabi, the samurai carved wind into it—fire wrapped the sliding stone into a low, screaming wedge. It hit the channel, screamed faster, and went straight for Tetsuo's pinned foot.
He yanked, muscle and will shredding the weight seal's bite, and leaped. Not cleanly. The wedge kissed his boot and spun him midair. He reached for his cable—
Reina's blade flashed, Seitenjō singing in her bones; the opening was a note only she could hear. The fresh line parted with a pop.
His expression finally shifted—annoyance surfacing into anger.
"Enough."
He planted a palm on the ground and flung a handful of caltrops forward with the other, cable reeling the ōdachi back into his grip. The samurai langur leapt—and landed squarely on a caltrop. He froze, face slack with disbelief, then lifted his foot and gently handed the offending spike to Aika like a toddler returning contraband.
"Thank you," Aika said automatically, then launched a tag over his head. "Flash Seal!"
White popped. Tetsuo flinched; Reina didn't—Seitenjō sang the warning a breath early. She stepped into the edge of the glare and drew in a single clean arc, a half-moon meant not to kill but to claim.
It took Tetsuo across the forearm. His grip broke again. He snapped his head to clear the sluicing afterimage, dropped his shoulder into Reina, and bowled through—pure body, pure will. The leader langur took the hit for her, oof, getting flung into the wizard, who—mid-yawn—caught him like a bored catcher, set him down, and went back to twirling his stick.
Tetsuo's burn had deepened from angry red to ugly blister. Blood striped his side. He reeled the cable a final time, breath rough.
"You two," he grated, "are inconvenient."
"Promotion material," Aika said, sliding to Reina's side.
Reina's chest rose and fell. One eye nearly closed. She set her feet anyway. "Finish this, or move. Your call."
For a heartbeat, the pass held its breath. Then a cough of smoke erupted behind Tetsuo—Mizue's ink flare, thin and ragged.
"Time," came her voice from the haze. "Daichi's still engaged. Riku—"
"Busy," Tetsuo snapped, eyes flicking once toward the sound and back. He threw a final look at Reina—measuring, not mocking—and took one long step back, then another. The cable whispered. The ōdachi slid into its sheath with a hard click.
"This isn't over," he said, and faded into the rocks at a disciplined run—
he left like a landslide deciding not to fall—this time.
The samurai langur, foot still daintily lifted, struck his pose again—kabuto slipping over his eyes. He nudged it up with weary dignity.
Aika exhaled, shoulders sagging. The soldier pill's heat was already ebbing; she filed the edge away for when she'd miss it. "You standing?"
"For now," Reina said. She flexed her fingers—pain needled, but movement held. "Forearm sprain—not a break." She dabbed blood from her lip with the back of her hand, then nodded to the leader langur. "Thank you."
It gave a crisp ti–ti and tapped her blade—approval. The wizard langur had already curled up and begun to snore, hugging his pebble.
From deeper in the pass, another rumble rolled—closer this time, answering the earlier BOOM. And somewhere to the south, steel rang on stone, Karui's shout cutting across the wind.
Reina straightened. "We move. Aika—monkeys on escort. We link with Karui."
Aika scooped up the wizard by the cloak like a sleepy child. "Up, grandpa. Work time."
The langur cracked one eye, sighed like a disappointed librarian, and pointed his wand-stick down the trail as if to say, finally.