Naruto: The Hidden Protector

Chapter 77

Facing the blades that were nearing her neck Izanami showed no panic. She calmly lowered her center of gravity and crouched down a little. The blade passed away harmlessly. Izanami then swung her wooden sword hitting Tengen in the abdomen.

Due to Izanami using a bit more strength than usual, Tenegen was blown away. He took a few steps back while holding his abdomen in pain. His heart was very shaken at this moment.

Although he knew Izanami was a great master swordsman he never expected he would be defeated in one blow. If Izanami’s sword was a real one then he would be split in half.

“You are using too much of your concentration on your first move. Due to this, your focus is lost resulting in you being in a perfect state to be ambushed. “ Izanami said as instructed Tengen of his weakness.

“ Instead of that, you could do this. While you are attacking with a blade to the head, use the other to block any attacks coming from below. You could also attack the top and bottom at the same time to make up for your weakness, “ Izanami then added her suggestion. As a twin sword user herself, Izanami knew how to deal with these situations.

“ I see, “ Tengen said as he took a deep breath to prepare himself again. He then narrowed his eyes and attacked Izanami again. But this time he used his twin swords to attack from the top and bottom at the same time. Just like how Izanami instructed him to do.

“ Good, “ Izanami said as she blocked one sword while sidestepping to evade the other. Then she used that momentum to deliver a roundhouse kick. The kick connected and Tengen once again was blown away. “ Don’t stop and wait for your opponent. Connect every move with each other leaving no gaps for your opennet to respond. “ Izanami said as she looked at Tengen again.

Tengen nodded and got to his feet again. He then once again dashed towards Izanami. This time instead of aiming for the head he aimed his sword at Izanami’s side. Izanami easily blocked the sword but then she suddenly had to push that sword away and jump to the side as Tengen swung his other sword at her head.

After that Tenegen turned to the side and swung his sword at Izanami again like it was a nunchuck.

Izanami crouched down and swung her sword at Tengen's feet. Tengen seemed to have predicted this as he jumped while rotating so his sword would once again attack Izanami.

Izanami used her sword as a jumping pole and adjusted her center of gravity to bring her whole body up. While doing so she didn’t forget to deliver a kick to Tenegen since his face is at her strike range.

Tengen hastily used his other sword to block but he was still pushed away taking a few steps back. This action destroyed the flow he kept. And due to this Izanami had enough time to take her distance.

“ Impressive. Although you still lack some experience your skills are able to cover that shortcoming. And if you manage to improve your defense and parry you may just become the best twin swordsman I have seen after me. “ Izanami said with a smile. This was high praise coming from her.

Tengen is truly a genius. She only needs to point out his mistake once and he will do his best to correct it in the next minute. His only shortcoming in swordsmanship is the lack of experience he would naturally gain over the next few years.

She could kind of understand why Luna insisted Tenegen come here. With her here he would be able to fight many new opponents while gaining the experience he wants at a faster pace. And if he is lucky he may even be able to gain some experience fighting some elite Yokai members.

“Okay now come at me with your breathing style, “ Izanami said as she readied her sword again.

Tengen nodded and he took a deep breath to calm his nerves down. Then with a determined gaze, he started the attack, “ Sound Breathing First Form: Roar “.

Natural energy gathered in his twin swords as he slashed down at Izanami with a greater speed than he had ever shown. Even the sound barrier was broken due to his speed.

Izanami’s sword began to turn black as she activated her Armament Haki. Otherwise, her wooden sword wouldn’t be able to last long till this spar ends.

“ Izanami style: wind diety’s armor “ Izanami said as she swung her sword casually to block the twin swords that were coming down on her. But for Tengen who was almost near Izanami that strike was anything but ordinary.

His attack stopped midway as his strike was unable to even touch Izanami’s sword as there was some kind of wind barrier that stopped his sword from advancing.

“ Come one Tengen if you don’t give your all you will never be able to destroy this barrier and hit me “ Izanami taunted as she smiled.

Tengen gritted his teeth as he shouted, “Sound breathing Fourth Form: Constant Resounding Slashes “

He began to hold his twin swords apart and spun them rapidly around himself. This is his special technique that is meant to destroy any barrier. The philosophy is if one strike cannot destroy it maybe a ten would if not a hundred and if that isn’t enough then a thousand.

“ good but isn’t all right. Keep it coming break your limits “ Izanami encouraged him as she too began to move her hands as an impressive speed to block or parry

“Arrrrrgggg “Tengen screamed as he increased his speed to its maximum limit. Now his hands were already giving off after images.

“That’s it, keep it up Tengen. I know you can do it “ Izanami encouraged him even more as she too increased her speed to pressure Tenegen even more. Izanami could feel it . Tengen is on the verge of breaking through his limit. He only needs one more push.

“Arrrrrr “ Tengen gritted his teeth as blood came down from his mouth. His hands were beginning to become numb. His vision was beginning to become more and more blurry. Tengen knows he is at his limit.

But it was because of this that he felt anger. Although he rarely showed he is proud that he became the youngest Hashira. He felt there was nothing he couldn’t do with his talent. But during this whole spar, he was beaten very badly.

While he was sweating buckets, Izanami didn’t even break a sweat. He couldn’t last a single minute with her. She just needed a single move or two to completely defeat him. And up to now, he has never seen her use her famous breathing style.

Even that barrier is something anyone could do by compressing wind chakra to a higher degree. But even that single technique seemed to be as strong as a mountain.

Tengen couldn’t accept this reality. He as a genius cannot lose like this. That’s why he used his fourth form to destroy that barrier. Although he couldn’t see any cracks in the barrier he could feel it was barely hanging.

And just when he was about to get an upper hand his body had to give up like this. This is something he cannot accept.

‘I will break that barrier even if it is the last thing I do ‘Tenegen thought as he ignored everything and began to increase his speed. His muscles burst and blood gusted out of his arms but despite this, Tengen refused to back down.

And what felt like forever a cracking sound was heard. Then in an instant, Izanami’s wind diety’s armour broke no matter how many times she tried to reinforce it.

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