“She’s already dead Natsumi…” said Ken after checking for a pulse. “Be careful this place might be full of traps.”

“There’s another body this side, a man this time,” said Natsumi pointing to another corpse that had also been nailed on a tree trunk. The two of them approached the body with caution and made yet another discovery. “His eyes and his dick seem to have been gouged out!” she exclaimed.

“Shit that’s crazy…guess that means we’re at the right spot,” Ken responded.

In that instant they heard a deep voice emanating from the nearby trees.

“What are you two brats doing in my valley?”

“Hey Natsumi…did you hear that?” whispered Ken as he drew his katana.

“Yeah I sure did, we’re not the only ones here,” she replied in a whisper as well. “Be ready for anything,” she added tightly gripping her makeshift lantern.

“You may be wondering why I crucified those two. Well…not only were they trespassing in my valley like you are doing now, I had caught them going at it like wild animals in heat.” There was a momentary pause. “I obviously had to make an example for their sins,” the voice broke the silence once more.

“He’s somewhere in up in the trees,” Ken whispered once more before taking a step backwards and accidentally stepping on a twig.

A cracking sound then broke the dead silence of the valley. Ken had given away his exact position. The rōnin who had been hiding in the trees swiftly rushed towards him with his tekko-kagi (hook claws) out like an eagle about to attack its prey. A loud clang of steel on steel echoed as two weapons clashed. Ken had barely managed to swiftly draw out his katana and block the surprise attack in the nick of time. The rōnin tried to claw at Ken a second time whilst he was still midair. Ken dropped his lantern so he could use both hands to grip his katana to block the attack.

“Kuso…hayai (Shit…he’s fast),” Ken thought as he held his katana firmly.

The rōnin was still midair and falling gracefully to the ground when Ken counterattacked. Ken took advantage of his opponent’s position and then sliced through the rōnin’s cloak. The rōnin landed toes first with his bare feet on the ground and threw away his cloak. He was revealed in the dim light to be an old, untidy looking man who could have been in his late sixties. He had four claws on each hand and he wore a worn out kasa made of reeds which had two bells hanging on it. His kasa covered the rest of his face from the nose up and below his nostrils he had a scruffy looking beard.

“Yare yare, not bad at all,” the rōnin sighed. “You’re the first person in twelve years to actually injure me. I will make sure you are the last,” he added grabbing his left arm which had been slightly cut.

“Before I kill you let me introduce myself, my name is Gen Hashimoto,” the rōnin grinned showing several missing teeth.

“I’d like to see you try, the name is Ken Nakamura.”

“Don’t lose your cool Ken, this guy’s just a pushover. If I can maneuver through those nasty claws of his I can strike a finishing blow,” Ken thought trying to come up with a strategy.

“If you’re still busy thinking I’ll make the first move then!” shouted Gen as he shortened the distance between the two of them.

The fighting began and all Natsumi could hear from the background was the sound of metal hitting metal. The two of them seemed evenly matched as they were blocking each other’s attacks like they had been fighting for years.

“If they keep moving that fast I can’t take my aim properly,” Natsumi thought as she stretched her arm ready to fire her arrow. “I guess I’ll have to anticipate where they’ll be before they get there…and this dim light isn’t helping at all,” she said to herself.

Ken swung his katana violently to the right and was met with Gen’s left claw. He switched to his left and the rōnin blocked the attack with a right claw. This exchange went back and forth for a few minutes before the rōnin saw an opening and countered with a surprise uppercut. Ken was quick to dodge the attack by slightly moving backwards at the last instant. The sharp claws had missed his chin by a lick of paint.

“That was a close one…an inch further I would’ve been a dead man.”

Ken jumped backwards to increase the distance between him and the rōnin.

“Scared are we?” Gen let out a chuckle. “I’m sure you’re better than that Nakamura Ken.”

Ken raced forward with his katana tightly gripped and swung from the left. He noticed the rōnin prepare to counter and then immediately switched the left swing into one from below. A sort of upper cut with a katana as it were. At that instant the rōnin’s bells jingled and he swiftly jumped backwards into a backflip and moved out of the way.

“Copying my move…I see,” Gen smiled as landed gracefully on his feet like a cat. “You truly I amaze me boy, now my hands can’t wait to claw at your skin.”

“I see you copied how I evaded as well,” Ken laughed. “Are you scared old man? I’m pretty sure you’re better than that Hashimoto Gen,” he added mockingly.

Natsumi had been carefully watching the two shinobi having a go at it at full speed with her bow. When they paused for a moment she took aim and fired directly at Gen. The projectile flew through the air at high speed cutting the wind in a streamlined flow. The rōnin’s bells jingled for a second time. He stood perfectly still and immediately covered his vitals with both hands. His right hand hovered over his front side and the left hovered over the back. The arrow impaled his left hand which had been hovering over where his vital organs would be. He had managed to stop it before it could leave his hand on its exit and do the fatal damage it was supposed to.

“Ten metres directly to the south,” Gen whispered to himself.

At that instant the rōnin moved so swiftly it seemed as though he had teleported. In the blink of an eye he had appeared directly in front of Natsumi with his right claw ready to attack. Natsumi felt her heart skip a beat as she saw Gen appear right in front of her.

“Hey there girly,” he said with a devilish smile.

Thanks to the immense training she had received from the Ninja school her body moved instantaneously out of the way without her consciously making the decision to do so.

“That was close call,” she thought as she jumped into a backflip and quietly landed on her tippy toes a safe distance away from the rōnin.

“Those are some pretty fine movements you did there…” said Gen trying to search for where Natsumi had gone. “You’re quite light on your feet girl, very few have ever survived my Jinsoku Tekko-Kagi.”

“So what do they call you?” Gen questioned still turning his head about in an effort to locate Natsumi.

Natsumi remained silent sizing up her opponent. She stood on the ground perfectly still and some steps in front of the rōnin. Gen was however unable able to locate the kunoichi. Suddenly she realized something of great importance to the battle and at that very instant Ken had also noticed it too.

“He’s blind!”