Chapter 15: Chapter 15
Isamu directed a horizontal slash towards the head of the Kamo clan heir. He stepped into Isamu's guard, grabbing the wrist of the Inumaki prodigies sword arms with his right hand. Kamo struck out, aiming a left hook to Isamu's right flank.
Isamu dropped his katana before snatching it out of the air with his other hand. He stabbed the blade into the path of Kamo's left hook, cushioning the blow significantly. Still, the flat of the blade was forced into Isamu's side, tearing his clothes in the process.
Isamu twisted his wrist causing the blade to turn upward towards the hand keeping Isamu's sword arm at bay. Kamo chose to retract his arm in favor of loosing it. Kamo did not back off however. He hooked his left foot behind Isamu's just as he let go of the man's arm, making it difficult to take a step back without tripping.
Kamo aimed a palm strike towards Isamu's head with his left hand while his right attempted to jam a fist into his gut. Isamu dropped his sword all together, deeming it less than ideal for such a close quarters fight.
Isamu blocked the fist with his left hand, pushing it off course, forcing Kamo to cross it over his body towards his left side while Isamu leaned back. He was careful not to step back or lose his balance so as not to trip. Kamo's palm strike wiffed Isamu by a hair and was about to be pulled back by Kamo but Isamu didn't allow for it.
Isamu pushed Kamo's left elbow as he grabbed onto his right wrist. As a result of Isamu's miniver, Kamo's left arm was crossed over his body just like his right arm, leaving Kamo defenseless.
Isamu took advantage of his opening and quickly let go of Kamo's elbow, ducking out of the way of Kamo's quick counter attack in the form of an elbow to the skull. During Isamu's duck, his right hand fished in his boot, quickly finding a throwing knife.
Isamu did not use it for throwing however, preferring to stab it into Kamo's left thigh. Kamo flinched and stumbled for a fraction of an instant but it was more than enough for the grade 1. Ismau let go of Kamo's right hand and grabbed his left ankle instead. Isamu stood up, delivering a palm strike from hell to Kamo's chin in the process while pulling on his ankle with his other hand.
Soon, Kamo was toppled, Isamu's firm grip on his ankle as Kamo's head struck the floor with a bump. Kamo kicked out at ismaus leg with his other foot, Isamu took a step back towards his blade but was unable to reach it without letting go of Kamo.
He decided it was a good trade and quickly lightened his grip and backpedaled to retrieve his katana. Kamo shot up as quickly as a man with a knife in his thigh could.
Kamo mentally chided himself for his blunder. He'd thought himself Isamu's superior due to him being a primarily hand to hand fighter while Isamu was mostly seen with a katana. He did not think the man so skilled in hand to hand combat so Kamo pushed him into such a position and had suffered a severe injury for his mistake.
Kamo pulled the knife out of his thigh. It was not something a normal person should do but as a bearer of the Kamo clans signature technique, stopping blood loss was his forte. Kamo decided to keep the blade and use it against Ismau's own. Fight a swordsman with nothing but your bare hands was tough on the best of days.
Kamo was in no position to pressure Isamu due to his injury so he decided to play it more defensively and only strike when Isamu overextended. Kamo could bring out a bag of blood and attempt to end the fight with that but he stopped himself for fear of exultation.
If the Kamo heir brought of his clan's technique, the child of the Inumaki clan would as well. Perhaps if he were facing the average cursed speech user, he would be willing to take such a step. But that was not the case.
He'd learned in last year's event that Isamu possessed an extension technique. A feat only a handful of his fellow clansman had also accomplished. Kamo knew that Isamu could bring the entire building down on him in a moment and he was not confident he would come out of such a situation without a blade impaling his stomach.
Then again, could Kamo truly win a battle of attrition? The wound in his leg was proof that he was not better than Isamu in techniqueless combat. So should he not take it up a notch and if he loses so be it? Yes, that would be Kamo's plan. He will approach Isamu with the stolen knife, use the blood of the knife to take Isamu off hairs before following up with a hopefully game ending attack using his technique.
Kamo was just about to rush Isamu, his injury be damed, before he was interrupted.
"Run away!"
Kamo was not affected by the command due to him reinforcing his ears and brain. But he quickly did as he was told once he recognized the voice and he was shuffled toward a window by Isamu. Isamu crashed through the window with Kamo following after him quickly.
They landed on the roof top of another part of the building before a tidal wave of wooden roots came crashing through the hall way they'd been fighting in only moments before. The roots didn't stop, continuing to surge towards them.
The wave crushed down on the roof top, they were lucky they had promptly moved out of the way of the force of nature. Isamu ducked into a roll to soften his landing as Kamo did something similar. They now stood in a court yard, the main court yard of the temple by the looks of it.
They each heard the patter of foot steps on the white stone ground, causing them both to turn ready to handle any offensive. Instead, they were met with a friendly.
"Tuna." Toga Inumaki said, beads of sweat rolling down his face. Once he'd caught his breath for a second he began signing rapidity before giving the universe sign to call someone.
Before Kamo could move to make said call, they heard the thud of something heavy towards the direction the roots had appeared from. A cursed spirit appeared, its large, played form stood menacingly as it stared at them with cold silence.
Kamo had many questions but he didn't voice them as he wouldn't be able to understand an answer, even if the two Inumaki's had them. Isamu motioned for Kamo to make the call as he gripped his sword even harder than before. He was now facing a truly strong enemy.
Before Kamo could even bring the cell phone to his ear, the cursed spirit vanished. It reappeared behind them much to their surprise. It flicked its hand, sending out a burst of cursed energy in the process.
"Don't move!" Toga spoke, freezing the creature in place. Isamu struck out with his blade as Kamo back stepped while bringing out a blood bag from his robes.
"Slicing Exorcism!" Kamo shouted as the bag exploded before reforming into the shape of a spinning blood saw. Kamo launched it towards the curses, only to find it was unable to leave even a small cut on the curse.
Isamu found slightly more success, being able to deliver a small slice into the curses arm when it rose its arm to block the slash. The curse did not continue to sit idle as the students attacked. It rose a fist a smashed it into Isamu. Isamu was able to get his sword in front of the blow before he was struck but he was still surprised by the force.
He flew back a few feet from the curse. He'd let himself be blown back however. Both to lessen the force of the blow and to gain distance from the thing.
"Stop it, foolish children!" The three jujutsu sorcerers heard as if someone else was thinking thoughts directly into their brains. "All I want is to protect this planet." It continued.
"The forest, the sea, the sky. They're crying from the tragedies they've withstood. We can no longer live in peace with humans." The curse continued to blabber. "They know there are humans who care for the planet. But what good is mere compassion? All they want is time. With that time, the planet will shine a vibrant blue once more."
"Time without humans. So die, and become sages!!"