Winner Takes All

"Is he insane? Does he think that Iga TobiRyuu's laido Slash can be so easily countered?" The two ninja lords remarked in unison. Even for them, they would never attempt to take repeated blows of the laido Slash from Iga TobiRyuu. They would certainly try to avoid it if they could. In their assessment, Jack had other choices apart from standing his ground and receiving the laido Slash from Iga TobiRyuu. However instead of choosing the other options, Jack chose the worse possible option which was to face it head-on!

"Die with your arrogance!" Even Iga TobiRyuu yelled when he saw that Jack did not choose to run.

During the fight with Jack, Iga TobiRyuu could sense that Jack was careful to avoid most of his fatal blows but this time, Jack who was holding onto the samurai shuriken, did not choose to dodge.

He looked determined to fight! That to Iga TobiRyuu was simply waiting for his death! There was a huge difference in Iga TobiRyuu's sword skills!

"I'll be able to counter this!" Jack remarked.

Time seemed to slow down at that moment. The slash of the sword was simple and powerful.

Boom! It rocked loudly. Shockwaves could be seen with the naked eye and radiated outwards in all directions. Even the leaves at Jack's feet were tossed upward by the advancing shockwaves.

Rustle....

The surrounding bamboo stems knocked against each other, splintered, and shattered with the propagating shockwaves.

With the samurai shuriken extended, Jack could feel the intense energy in the shockwaves piercing his hands and then his body.

Instantly, his arms started to bleed, and felt the intense pain from the shockwaves. The shockwaves tattered his clothes and his body started to bleed.

"Spew!" Jack shuddered and spit out a mouthful of blood.

Iga TobiRyuu started to grin sinisterly when he saw this and said, "I regard you as my strongest opponent but I hope that you aren't so arrogant. You deserve credit to be able to survive my blow but it was out o arrogance and stupidity rather than skill. You have disappointed me!"

Once he finished saying, the other two ninja lords also started to nod in agreement. To them, what Jack did was nothing more than youthful defiance and blatant arrogance. He was simply lucky to have survived this horrific and powerful blow. But his arrogance was unacceptable!

In the martial arts world, the most unbecoming of a warrior was arrogance. No matter how talented a warrior was, if he were to be arrogant just because of whatever skills he had, then he would not last long. Then, Jack raised his hand and gently wiped the blood from his mouth. He then said something that blew away Iga TobiRyuu and the other two ninja lords.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

Jack said firmly, "If I don't endure another blow from you, how... would I be able to learn from it?" His tone was calm but had a hint of mischief. Jack grinned frostily as he looked at Iga TobiRyuu. Kaboom! Jack's words rocked Iga TobiRyuu and the other two ninja lords. Their minds were instantly blown away!

Learn? Was this chap insane? Did he think that everything could be learned?

Surprise, disbelief, disdain, and all sorts of feelings stirred within the three ninja lords.

Such swordplay could only be unleashed when a certain level of skills had been attained. Only then could a swordsman be able to even attempt to perfect the skill!

Learn? It was a dream made by a fool! No one could even attempt it without strong foundations in sword skills. If someone without such sword skills could master this technique, then it would break all rules and norms of the martial arts world!

"Jack, oh Jack... your arrogance has exceeded my imaginations." Iga TobiRyuu composed himself and said with frustration. His right hand still gripped the katana tightly until his veins throbbed and scolded, "I wanted to spar with you because I regarded you as a worthy opponent but now you've tested my patience, and I..."

Before Iga TobiRyuu could finish saying, Iga TobiRyuu's expression changed drastically and was horrified. Jack was bare-bodied, bleeding and slowly took up the stance of the "laido Slash".

Then, Jack calmly and softly said but what he said exploded in Iga TobiRyuu's ears, "Focusing my internal strength towards the sword, I'll give it a try!"

At that moment, Iga TobiRyuu became horrified. He felt as though he was a prey being hunted by a predator. Terror gripped his entire body and the other two ninja lords also felt similar.

However, compared to Iga TobiRyuu, the other two ninja lords still had the luxury to watch in relative safety.

"That's impossible. He couldn't possibly learn it."

"Fuck! Does he think that he can learn it simply by experiencing it twice? Even God could not possibly allow this to happen. No one could possibly learn such form of swordplay just by observing it twice..." The doubts of the two ninja lords echoed through the bamboo forest. The next second...

"laido Slash!" On Jack's declaration, he bolted towards Iga TobiRyuu like an arrow shot from the bow.

The atmosphere was tensed and death lingered in the air. At that moment, Jack's ferocity brought chills to all the ninja lords. They could feel the coldness of death piercing straight into their bones.

Iga TobiRyuu shuddered as his wide-open eyes looked on in disbelief. When his eyes regained their focus, he could see that Jack was already inches from him.

There was no hesitation nor any desire to dodge. He knew that it would be impossible for Jack to grasp the swordplay and Iga TobiRyuu did not believe that Jack could possibly successfully replicate the "laido Slash".

That was why he simply stood in place and braced for the impact, just as Jack did a moment ago.

Boom! The wind rushed.

Clank! The two swords impacted in a shower of sparks.

It was as if Jack and Iga TobiRyuu were frozen in time and place as both stood in position with their swords raised.

The other two ninja lords saw the exchange and were initially startled but now broke out in sniggers, "What a joke, that chap is far too arrogant."

"He barely knew how to swing his sword and now after enduring the "laido Slash" twice, he thinks that he could learn and replicate the "laido Slash"? What an embarrassment!"

Then, as both of them were chuckling.

Crackle! A loud sound interrupted the two ninja lords' chuckles. Their expressions turned into horror as they looked towards Jack and Iga TobiRyuu who were still in their respective stance.

Iga TobiRyuu was facing slightly towards the two ninja lords and both of the ninja lords could see that the face mask of Iga TobiRyuu had been cut in two and slowly slid down from Iga TobiRyuu's face onto the ground.

At the same time, Iga TobiRyuu's body started to shudder and then stumbled backward a couple of steps. Regardless of how he tried to resist, he could not conceal the mouthful of blood that he threw up and it started to trickle down the corner of his mouth...