Chapter 3: Back at the Justice League....

[Jin Chisoku]

Across the seas of the districts, past the small patches of forest and mountains that meet any oncomers to the main land of the Purgatory, past the main city of Cain, past the city of Abel, past the smaller checkpoints, in the middle of the Desert of Sins and Redemption were two SSS-class warriors about to clash in one of the most epic battles ever seen in the history of the ongoing battles between the Yuuga Order, and the Squadron.

Ren'ai Kyouken, the general of the deadly Tengu assassins. The Tengu has be responsible for the first supression of the generals of the Squadron, they're reputation was well known, but as for the figures themselves, they had never been found. Tengu soldiers had fallen in combat, but their corpses couldn't be found, creating the rumor that they never really died. It was a rumor that Kyouken wished was true, but sadly many of his soldiers had died in recent battles. Over the past 3 months over 200 of his troops were listed as K.I.A or M.I.A, before that less than 10 Tengu troops had been on that list. He didn't understand it, but perhaps this fight would shine some light on this new situation. Kyouken was dressed in all black, his kimono, his robe other than white writing that spelled out, "D-E-A-T-H", his hakama, his sandals, even his straw hat was black. He had two katanas attached to his hakama's belt, of course, both sheathed in a shiny black sheath, one marked with the character of "犬" (Dog) in white, and the other marked with the character "雨" (Rain) in red. The katana's were slightly larger than normal length, but the guards were slightly smaller. Kyouken rested his hand on the katana marked "Rain", and sighed. He spat out the long peice of grass from his mouth, and looked up.

His opponent was a former Demon-slayer. He had joined the Squadron for unknown reasons after a quick resignation from the Yuuga Order. He was known as "Hanma" to the masses, but to the few that knew him knew his real name was Kizu. He stood at a massive 7'4", and looked as if he weighed atleast 400 lbs, which dwarfed Kyouken's 6'2" 195 lbs body. He was dressed in a white hakama, and a robe that showed his chest, and wrapped stomache. He was tan, a sign that he had been working with the pirating groups of the Squadron, but his scars stood out, still remaining white. His face had mutiple scars, but underneath his right eye there still could be seen his spiritual mark. It was a small red triangle, a sign that he was a very powerful Kasuta. He had short blonde hair, and carried a single katana on his hip. It wasn't even sheathed, it was simply wrapped in white linen. Kizu's footsteps could be felt even in the sand, his spiritual fo-su caused the small amount of swirling wind that Kyouken felt. It wasn't strong enough to move the sand around him, but Kyouken knew this man's true power. Kyouken had seen this man down a ship with a long range blow before, he had also seen this man eating one of his Tengu troops.

Kizu yelled from across the long distantance between them both, "KYOUKEN! It's time to pay for your sins! I'm glad you picked this place....it's perfect for a bastard like you.....You Black Ops., you take death as if it was nothing...."

Kyouken smirked, honestly at first he had thought the man was making a comment on his skin color. He was black, and proud of it, only a few people in this part of Purgatory could share the same pride as he did. He didn't answer, he didn't have to. Though Kizu was ranked as a SSS-class, he couldn't bear the title for long. He was too big, too slow to compete with Kyouken's movements. But he wasn't going to even move, Kizu's fate was sealed.

Kyouken pulled out his katana, and smiled, whispering to himself, "Kasuta no.23, 幻想 痛み (Illusionary Pain)."

As soon as his words left his mouth the sky started to turn into a grey mixture of storm clouds and rain clouds. A small streak of lightining stopped Kizu's forward progression, and the after effects of a booming thunder clap almost deafened the former Demon Slayer. Kizu looked up, and saw a massive blanket of rain fall to the ground, each drop carefully landing in a semi-circle around Kizu. He quickly pulled out his blade from his cloth belt, and yelled out, "Kasuta no.54 結合正義 (Binding Justice)!"

The white linen on the blade suddently broke, as if an explosion had caused the cloth to shred. Kizu smiled, and placed his katana to the ground. It was massive in length, perhaps three times the size of a normal sword. It easily touched the ground, and started Kizu's technique. A large form of red lines made its way towards Kyouken with haste that could only be seen by that of a trained flash step artist. 5 rigid lines, breaking in random order, made their way to Kyouken's feet, loud hissing could be heard from the ground underneath them. They were just meters from him, when his image disappeared. Kizu turned and looked around for signs of Kyouken's escape. Then it began.

The rain drops started to grow rapidly, each one pushing the ground back as if something had landed much heavier had landed. Kizu could see them before they even appeared. He lifted his blade, and swung. A massive wave of spiritual energy spitting out from his blade. But it was far too late. Kizu saw all of them, each one of the 'Kyouken's' rushing at him with incredible speed, exspected from a Tengu leader. Kizu lowered his blade, parrying several of the attacks, but it wasn't enough. Several of the clones stabbed Kizu, one even scored a leathal blow on his neck. Kizu fell to his knees, and dropped his blade. His free hand went straight to his neck. The clones stepped back, and disappeared back into the fading image of the desert. Kyouken was still several yards back with his katana resting on his shoulders. His dark purple grip contrasted against his all black robe, and it's silver hilt and guard followed. He was whistling an old tune, the same tune Kizu liked to hum before every mission. Kyouken leaned and looked at Kizu, his face still emotionless, as it had always appeared. He smirked, and said in his normal, calm voice, "She died of her own choice you ignorant bastard. The sooner you figured that out the sooner you would have come back, if we allowed that."

Kyouken turned around, and looked over his shoulder, "I won't kill you with my blade, I won't waste my effort, I'm slowly going to let you bleed out here and now, Kizu."

He turned back around, and heard Kizu pick his blade off of the sand. Kyouken's face showed a moment of surprise, and instantly Kizu's arm was severed. Kyouken ,on the other side of Kizu with his blade extended, now was covered in blood, next to his right eye was a golden streak that looked like an extention of his eye's tear duct. He slowly sheathed his blade, and sighed.

"And to think I had to open a portion of my energy to kill you. Perhaps I am getting softer as Jin said."

Kyouken made his way back to the inner portion of the main lands, to the beginning of the desert. he was frustrated that Kizu hadn't been able to answer any of his questions, but he wasn't going to toy around with him.

He heard laughter, and a deep bellowing war cry. He turned, and saw Kizu standing with both his arms still attached. Kizu turned, and revealed that his neck wound was healed, but strangely enough his minor wounds were still profusely bleeding.

Kyouken turned back around, and smirked, "How interesting...."

Back at district no.7 Yoshimo had finished smoking several of his most prized cigars, and Kutsuu had managed to keep his mouth shut much to the surprise of the doctor. Yoshimo perked up, and laughed a bit to himseld.

Kutsuu turned and asked, "What is it?"

Yoshimo smirked, and laughed, "Nothing, I just know a good friend is taking care of business."

Back in the desert Kizu's massive body was in multiple peices, each massive chunk of meat several meters appart. Another assortment of clones was standing around, each one as emotionless as the real Kyouken. Kyouken's attire had been slightly altered though. His kimono was ripped slightly, and his robe was completely gone. He sighed, and cotinued walking towards the end of the desert.

He thought to himself, 'The son of bitch managed to almost cut me. Hm, perhaps I shouldn't take this Squadron leaders lightly anymore. They're getting better even with out us. Maybe they've figured out the secrets..."