As the ripples of energy surged again, Kaoru swiftly swung his sword to intercept Kyuubi's oncoming strike. The yokai's razor-sharp claws scraped against the back of Kaoru's blade, igniting small yet fierce sparks with each clash.
Kyuubi sneered, his eyes narrowing with disdain. "You think you can fend off my attacks with just that?" he hissed. In a swift motion, Kyuubi retracted his claws, launching an even faster barrage of blows, his combat style now intricate and deadly.
Kaoru frowned, recognizing Kyuubi's skill wasn't only in brute strength but also in high-level martial technique. Kyuubi's every movement flowed like a lethal dance, his strikes precise and devastating. As an ancient yokai who had lived for centuries, Kyuubi had perfected a deadly mix of taijutsu, a martial art designed for both efficiency and destruction, integrating the best techniques he had acquired from countless foes over the ages.
Kyuubi's strikes came faster and harder, a rapid-fire combination of blows and kicks that melded speed and raw power into a near-unbreakable assault. Kaoru, however, stayed calm, deflecting each strike and analyzing every movement. With unwavering focus, he let himself move to the rhythm of Kyuubi's attacks, looking for the opening he needed to strike back. He synchronized his dual blades—Gram and Divide Haglaz—with Kyuubi's rhythm, turning himself into a mirror that countered each move with the same fluidity.
Suddenly, Kyuubi shifted his approach, leaping into the air and vanishing from Kaoru's sight for a split second. Then, in a flash, he reappeared directly above Kaoru, aiming a brutal kick toward Kaoru's vital points.
Sensing the shift in energy above him, Kaoru acted on instinct, lifting Gram to intercept the kick. The impact was explosive, creating a small shockwave as the powerful kick met Kaoru's sword, forcing him to slide back several paces to absorb the impact.
"I've faced more foes than you can imagine, Kyuubi!" Kaoru shouted, his breathing steady despite the escalating tension.
Kyuubi took a step back, hands crackling with a newly condensed energy. "How arrogant of you… do you really think your experience matches mine?" Kyuubi taunted before disappearing once more, only to reappear at Kaoru's side, his movements even harder to track.
Kaoru rotated Divide Haglaz to block the incoming claws from the side, but in that instant, Kyuubi directed a rapid punch to Kaoru's open flank, exploiting the smallest gaps in his defense. Kaoru dodged in time, but the unexpected strike nearly threw him off balance.
Seizing this minor lapse, Kyuubi intensified his onslaught, bombarding Kaoru with a chain of rapid strikes, a deadly blend of claws and fists flowing seamlessly in an unbroken assault. Kaoru countered and dodged with precision, but Kyuubi's relentless momentum drove him to his limit.
In a lightning-quick move, Kyuubi twisted his wrist and slammed down, knocking Gram off-balance just enough to make Kaoru stagger. In that brief window, Kyuubi launched a crushing knee strike to Kaoru's ribs.
Kaoru was sent flying backward, a sharp pain radiating through his side. Though he wanted to cry out, he suppressed the pain, gripping both swords even tighter as he pulled himself back to his feet. In his eyes, there was a fiery determination, unwavering despite the aches surging through his body.
"A wound like this… it's nothing new to me," Kaoru said, catching his breath. He steadied his mind, channeling his energy back into his blades.
Kyuubi's eyes narrowed, realizing Kaoru wasn't the ordinary adversary he had first thought. Every assault he launched, Kaoru adapted and improved, reading his movements with an unnerving acuity. "You're annoyingly persistent, human," Kyuubi muttered, irritation creeping into his tone.
Kaoru smirked, his gaze steady. "Persistent? That's what it means to be a hero!"
Kyuubi's brow furrowed, his patience thinning. Frustrated, he reached for an ancient relic—a reflection of his painful past: the Eightfold Blessing of Amaterasu, a sacred mirror once gifted to him by the sun goddess herself. Though the mirror was a powerful artifact, Kyuubi loathed it, as it symbolized the betrayal of the heavens he once served before they sealed him away.
With a swift, deliberate motion, Kyuubi activated the Eightfold Blessing. The mirror shone with a radiant golden light, and its eight fragments began orbiting him, emanating a blazing, sun-like aura that was both beautiful and deadly. Each shard projected beams of concentrated energy, intense as lasers and capable of obliterating anything in their path.
"Consider yourself honored, mortal," Kyuubi sneered, his eyes flashing red with rage. "You've forced me to use this."
Kaoru squinted as the mirrors spun around Kyuubi, each fragment sparking with concentrated light. Instinctively, he recognized the danger—those beams could incinerate anything they touched. Suddenly, one of the mirrors fired a laser-like ray directly at him.
Kaoru quickly raised Gram and Divide Haglaz, crossing the swords to block the beam. The intense energy forced him backward, his feet digging into the ground as he struggled to absorb the impact. The pressure of the beam coursed through him, vibrating to his bones.
"Go ahead—try to hold out against my light!" Kyuubi jeered, watching Kaoru strain under the relentless force of the mirror's beam.
Kaoru's focus sharpened. Despite the tension in his muscles as he braced himself, he remained calm, studying the mirrors' movements. He noted a slight delay between each blast—a barely perceptible pause before the next laser fired. Realizing this could be his chance, Kaoru planned to use those split-second gaps to turn the tables on Kyuubi.
With each pause, Kaoru shifted his stance, aligning his energy for a powerful counterstrike.