Chương 47: Chapter 047
Tumbling over the concrete, the jinchuriki slid to a stop on all fours and glared up, bleeding from the head and lip.
"What?" Naruto shouted, his astonished gaze locking on as the masked warrior ripped the knife from his neck and tossed it to the ground at his feet. "I hit a vital point! I know I did! Why the hell isn't he going down?"
Even though he'd just been stabbed in the throat, the man just staggered towards him with his sword at the ready. He was clearly wounded, but he wasn't showing any signs of being wounded. There was no waver in his step, nor was there any form of outcry in his vocals. No. He just swaggered towards the boy with that haunting vacant stare fixed through his basket mask. Fuck, Naruto couldn't even see his damn expression and tell whether he was in pain. Was he even human?
Grinding his teeth together irritably, Naruto drew another kunai and rushed at his opponent, but the samurai took off, leaping through the air and landing on the railing of the dam. The jinchuriki pursued, jumping after him and landing knife first in a diving drive attack. Their blades clashed in a shower of sparks when they began a deadly dance back and forth across the dam's upper level. Shortly afterwards, during one of their reengagements, after jumping around his foe to try and get into one of his blind spots the jinchuriki was suddenly driven away by Crow's swinging blade and forced to leap up onto a higher platform. That was until the entire section was blasted to bits when the samurai ran his sword through it, the force of which caused it to explode and shower the area in debris and rubble.
Naruto landed amongst the remains of the stand and glared up to see his foe running along the railing a level above, sword drawn and eyes fixed on him. Even from this distance the youngster could feel his intensity as the dam they were on was further shaken by another wall giving in, and more water was sent cascading into the valley.
The blonde took another stance.
"You're no ordinary samurai, but that's cool with me!" the Uzumaki shouted at him, cocking his right arm back, kunai held firm. He too began running alongside his opponent while the warrior continued to hold the high ground, "I'm no ordinary kid either! So come at me with everything you've got, because I won't be giving you the satisfaction of an easy win!"
Crow did as requested and lunged down at him with blinding speed. The warrior attacked the boy with ferocity and agility not like before. His sword carved through the air left and right, attempting to cut the boy as he danced around him using his signature awkward movements. The blonde's footwork and fleetness allowed him to stay just inches ahead of his target as he lashed at him with attacks continuously and without fault.
While dancing across the trembling barrier, Naruto decided to dive in for an offensive himself. He jumped around his opponent who sliced at him with his sword, throwing kicks and slashes with his kunai to try and sneak in some damage. It was an overwhelming assault that drove the collected swordsman back, who continued to swing at him but couldn't due to the difference in range.
While Crow took advantage of the middle-range whenever he attacked Naruto, the jinchuriki neutralized his sword by rushing into close-range whenever the opportunity presented itself and assaulted the samurai with a combination of speed and raw quickness.
Leaping over the man's arms when he overshot a slash, Naruto propped a hand on his opponent's forearm and balanced himself on the extended limb until Crow came back around with another violent attack. The jinchuriki spun around the swinging limb, taking the arm into a hold and locking it behind Crow's back, while expertly wrapping his legs around his neck.
When Naruto attempted to apply pressure, the swordsman staggered back before ramming the hitchhiker into a barrier… or tried to at least. Naruto leapt clear from his shoulders and landed on the ground several feet out. Once the samurai had rid himself of the extra weight, he lunged in again, sword held out at his side for another downward attack.
The jinchuriki swayed from side to side, eyes scrutinizing the path of the incoming move and readying his left fist. He positioned it down a little so that it was propped at his waist.
"Let's see… it's a direct attack from middle-range. The motion is quite wide… and there's a sizable gap between his arms when he swings," Naruto thought. "So…"
The moment the samurai swung in and across, the jinchuriki slid forward and rammed what looked like a cross between a hook and an uppercut right between the two arms holding the handle of the sword. He managed to hit him from below and sway back from the blade, but the power he got from the attack ran straight into his chin and blasted Crow's head back with an almighty 'crack.'
A textbook three-quarter uppercut.
Naruto smirked and quickly leapt away when the samurai staggered and swung blindly with his sword, obviously disoriented. "I can hit you when you come in with a big move. Got yah!"
But it wouldn't keep him at bay for long.
As expected, Crow came back around with a shake of his head and, as if he had received no damage from his opponent throughout the fight whatsoever, charged straight back into battle.
It was a good trade-off between two strong warriors and an awesome display of precision, ferocity and power. The fight looked like one that would last into the later afternoon…
…until the inevitable happened.
The dam began to crumble. More and more explosions rocked the interior and more gaps were blasted into it. Soon, there were four massive, gaping holes punched into the barrier along its entire length, allowing torrents of water to spill out. It was fed evenly into the dried up countryside sure, but the terrible conditions the destruction it was bringing to those on top was making life miserable for both.
Growing exhausted from being attack repeatedly by his foe, Naruto started taking on some serious damage. Misjudging some swings and unable to fight back against the samurai's raw speed and power for a prolonged period, the blonde got cut up badly when he was grazed by the weapon. He attempted to block a low blow, but that carved across his chest and sent him spinning, a spray of blood clouding the air.
Naruto cried out a second time when he was deftly kicked across the face and sent tumbling across the concrete road before ramming into one of its side railings. Spitting out blood, the blonde wiped his face off and glared exhaustedly up at his foe, standing a distance from him in a defensive stance. The samurai had less damage then he had, but the jinchuriki was still determined and beyond calling it quits at this point.
He never gave up, not to the likes of a person like HIM!
Struggling into a crouched position, the boy smirked, "You sure hit hard like I expected you would. You take damage and send it right back at your opponents without missing a beat." Stumbling forwards, Naruto ducked in and ground his feet into the floor. "But you don't hit like you mean it… AND TO ME THAT MEANS YOU'RE HOLDING BACK!" The blonde sprang forward at his foe with an incredible leap and unbelievable dashing speed, swinging his right arm over his left shoulder before carving upwards into the samurai's unguarded face when he bolted right into his defensive circle.
The warrior was too surprised to respond with a counter when the basket across his face was shaved through, splinters and straw flying into the air. Crow staggered backwards in astonishment, grabbing the front of his mask momentarily to assess the damage.
As Naruto backed away from his hearty lunge, he saw to his surprise Crow's body begin to shake with anger at being struck the way he was. This reaction came seconds before he suddenly snapped into life again and rushed at the boy with a renewed flurry of attacks and an unexpected battle cry.
"RAAARRGGGHHHHH!" the assassin bellowed in a deep, gravelly voice worn away from having not spoken in years.
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