Not a detective

Page 233

As if by telepathy, Kirisame Aoi also sensed the rekindled fighting spirit and raised a similarly manic smile.

This time, however, was different. She switched the second knife to her right hand, and the two blades of cold light were finally drawn simultaneously.

"So you're a dual-wielder."

Riku Asakawa realized that Aoi Kirisame was serious this time.

"Miyuki..."

The left blade pierced the throat, the right blade sliced ​​the ankle; the two strikes formed a perfect cross of death.

Asakawa Riku suddenly shrank into a ball and emerged from the gap the moment the blades closed.

Sparks burst from the bluestone ground, and the rubble he kicked up as he rolled was pulverized by his subsequent three consecutive slashes.

"Flying Snow".

In just a moment.

Kirisame Aoi's blade began to tremble. It was Asakawa Riku who flashed in front of her and parried her blade again. She had never seen an opponent who could withstand the famous sword "Tsukiyama" with his bare body.

What's even more terrifying is the man's rhythm—each parry is controlled to the limit where the blade penetrates the flesh by only half a millimeter, which both exhausts the wrist strength of the knife wielder and avoids causing fatal injuries.

"Frost Moon!"

In the blink of an eye, as her seventh slash was deflected, Kirisame Aoi suddenly changed her tactics. She drew attention with a wide, upward arc with her right sword while thrusting her left sword out from under her ribs.

Asakawa Riku's right hand, which should have been blocking, suddenly dropped, allowing the blade to pierce his left abdomen—at the instant it touched his skin, he abruptly shifted his body, letting the blade slip past.

—It is a highly pure energy dissipator.

Kirisame heard a sound like flowing water. She tried to draw her sword and slash, but found that the blade was out of her control and was being carried away, like a dance partner being stolen.

The force was unknowingly dissipated, and Asakawa Riku, spinning, took the opportunity to get closer.

"I won."

His right hand transformed into a serpentine claw, sliding along the back of the knife towards her tiger's mouth, putting her in imminent danger.

Wu Yu Kui's eyes widened in surprise. In that critical moment, she decisively abandoned her knife and retreated, the buttons of her trench coat flying off in mid-air.

The moment the boots hit the ground, all that was left in his hand was a knife.

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I'm just 100 points (1 yuan) away from the bonus chapter mark. Anyone want to add more? If not, I'll just round it down.

The Autumn of Orochi: Chapter Twenty-Six - The Nameless Snow

Although Asakawa Riku missed his attack, he was already satisfied with the opportunity to disable one of Kirisame Aoi's swords.

"You're too used to discarding your sword. Is that a bad habit of dual-wielding? ... Being indecisive isn't good."

Instead of using the knife, he forcefully threw it backward, the blade flying through the air like a javelin, tearing through the air with a bang—

This cut off any chance that Misty Rain Sunflower could pick it up again.

Using the momentum, he pulled himself back, stomped his foot, and shot out as a dark shadow attacked.

"Asakawa... how dare you say that?"

Enraged, Kirisame laughed, her gaze not following the departing but still-falling blade, but instead focusing intently on the spot.

Upon entering the "ultimate" state, Kirisame Aoi's breathing suddenly ceased.

She sheathed her sword with an iaido stance, and the moment Asakawa Riku entered within three meters, time seemed to stand still.

One knife is a real knife held in one's fists, while the other knife is an illusory knife held in one's imagination.

...

Within the Kirisame clan, a legend has been passed down that they have always worshipped the deity Susanoo-no-Mikoto, and it is said that the patriarch's sword is the real "Ten-Fist Sword".

Although few people have ever believed it, and such dojos claiming to be related to legends is nothing new, at least when it was passed down from my grandfather, the expression was very serious.

My mother also said that one of our ancestors was able to learn the divine skill of slashing eight swords in an instant, but it was not passed down.

They said Kui had a chance; they said that if there were gods of swords, they would definitely favor this child.

However, Kirisame Aoi has loved reciting poetry since she was a child.

She was as quiet and elegant as a literary girl, and didn't like to move around. Even when she was a child drawing lots, she didn't even glance at the dozens of wooden knives that were deliberately placed around her. She didn't seem like an heir at all.

She hated the dojo where she sweated, hated the exhaustion of wielding a sword, and hated becoming that rough-skinned and rough-bodied as well.

But looking back, she realized the true meaning behind it all without even realizing it.

It was on that summer night, that night of bloodshed and fear, when that dark figure stood in front of me, protecting me.

"The blade remains unchanged, and so does the heart."

She remained calm and composed throughout the battle, maintaining an unwavering and tireless demeanor. Unconsciously, she mastered the art of breathing exercises and learned how to remain elegant in combat.

Adjusting its rhythm, crouching with its eyes closed, even when facing a fierce wind, the Misty Rain Sunflower always maintains its best state before blooming, both in terms of mindset and breathing.

Exhale, draw your sword—

"My name is Canxue."

It was as if her breath transformed into light, but this was not an illusion; it was a real eight-hit combo—

Eight sword techniques—upper chop, reverse wind cut, kasaya slash, thrust, lower sweep, cross twist, swallow return, and Tang bamboo—are completed within 0.3 seconds.

Asakawa Riku's clothes shattered like butterflies. Blood gushed from his left shoulder, right rib, and outer thigh, covered by a web of blades!

At first, some people mastered the technique of making three cuts in an instant.

Then, someone suggested that if you hold two swords at the same time, wouldn't you be able to make six cuts?

Of course, this requires a certain level of skill. Not everyone can achieve the same speed and power with their non-dominant hand. It takes a combination of ambidexterity, rigorous training, and talent to break through this barrier.

But for true geniuses, this is just a step along the way.

How can we break through the "six-sword" level and advance further?

This has always been a problem that has plagued the Kirisame family. The human limit for wielding a knife with one hand is three strikes, which is impossible to break through. It has become a bottleneck like a demon in their hearts, a dark cloud hanging over everyone.

Until Misty Rain Sunflower provided the answer.

She mentioned "thinking of a knife".

A fictional blade? Such a whimsical idea naturally drew ridicule from the traditionalists, but it wasn't until she defeated all the dissenting elders in the "permission to transmit all knowledge" exam that things changed.

No one dared to underestimate her anymore.

Using the "thought knife" to finish off those two impossible cuts, the impossible knife itself can create an impossible pattern; that's just how it is.

Perhaps only Kirisame Aoi, who has loved reading and reciting poetry since childhood and escaping reality, or perhaps only Kirisame Aoi, who has truly witnessed that incredible level of battle, could develop such an imagination.

She completed the final piece of the puzzle for "Ming Canxue".

This is the sword used to slash at the Yamata no Orochi, with a total of eight strikes, corresponding exactly to the eight serpent heads!

Asakawa Riku's body was instantly shrouded in moonlight and red, his impact was swept into the net, and he lost his shadow in an instant. This was a knife that could truly kill.

But just a breath later, a figure burst forth from the opposite direction, leaping high into the air before landing as if bounced off a net of blades...

His physical condition was visibly poor.

Blood flowed uncontrollably from all parts of his body, and eight deep, bone-revealing knife wounds were very obvious, almost staining his entire body red.

Asakawa Riku had not suffered such a serious injury in a long time. Even when he was on the verge of death several times, he was only exhausted and would not bleed to death like this.

He was panting heavily, deeply impressed by the overwhelming shadows of swords covering the sky, and had decided to learn a thing or two from them.

It's simply...exquisitely beautiful.

"It's amazing..."

As expected of Kirisame Aoi, there's no doubt that Asakawa Riku ranks her seventh now. Her true strength is definitely stronger than everyone before her.

But what Asakawa Riku didn't understand was what he had said that angered her and why she suddenly took such drastic measures.

"that……"

Before any time for pleasantries or conversation, Kiri Aoi coldly charged forward and launched an attack.

She wouldn't give Asakawa Riku any chance to recover; his current severe injuries presented the best opportunity.

Spring is coming.

Although the name of the move seemed warm and gentle, it was actually far from that. Asakawa Riku clearly felt that the opponent's attack angle had become unpredictable.

Although he could see the existence of the "Thinking Knife," dealing with it was not as easy as just talking about it. It was an illusory, non-existent knife that could change its shape and length at will.

The very existence of reality can be arbitrarily altered, either presented as real or transformed into something false, which greatly increases the difficulty of dealing with it.

Kirisame Aoi is a master at practicing this move. She grasped the technique earlier than Asakawa Riku and has now reached a state of perfection, using it effortlessly.

The blade no longer aims to sever limbs, but instead targets vulnerable areas such as eye sockets, behind ears, and between fingers.

"Water birds... winter bees... sparrows!"

Kirisame was incredibly fast, almost a blur, constantly moving around him. Every time Asakawa Riku tried to grab her, she would slip away, making her as difficult to deal with as a bird or hummingbird.

Blood kept spurting out, especially as Asakawa Riku's high-speed dodges accelerated the depletion of his stamina. The wounds were also a major problem; if this continued, he would bleed to death.

The two seemed to be dancing a duet, but it was Kirisame Aoi slowly leading him into hell.

The Autumn of Orochi: Chapter Twenty-Seven - Victory or Defeat Undecided

"Tsk..."

As the sword shadows gradually intensified, Asakawa Riku's parries began to falter, and in another moment of carelessness, his left cheek was grazed by the back of the blade, drawing blood.

Kirisame Aoi truly lives up to her reputation as a genius; it seems she has gradually found the path to victory. Asakawa Riku has already lost a lot of blood, and if this drags on, victory is inevitable for her.

Someone like Asakawa Riku is not someone you can fight head-on with in terms of sheer brute force; you won't gain the upper hand that way. You have to rely on speed.

Therefore, she maintained a defensive and evasive stance, never directly confronting him, but instead maneuvering and dodging to wear him down.

However, Riku Asakawa suddenly smiled.

The next second, he deliberately exposed his right wrist to the blade.

Kirisame Aoi's blade tip instinctively deflected as it touched her skin—a weakness that Asakawa Riku instantly seized upon.

"I know very well that in high-speed combat, relying too much on instinct can lead to falling into traps."

He thrust forward with his left hand, seizing the opponent's right wrist, while his right hand, in a phoenix-eye fist, struck the elbow joint.

"Flower raft".

The clash of their fists almost sparked, and the incredible vibrations caused the surrounding area to tremble.

Overwhelmed by the immense force, Kirisame Aoi was forced to abandon her sword, but what she abandoned was the ethereal "Thought Sword." Using the momentum of the rotation, she transferred the left sword "Ten Fists" to her right hand, and the sword light, like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, pierced towards her heart.

"Flowers depart...the wind that heralds the flowers!"

No wonder she was used to discarding her knife; now I know why…

Asakawa Riku neither dodged nor evaded. The instant the blade pierced through, he neutralized the force, completely altering his posture to lift his opponent up.

"What……!"

The gentle force of Tai Chi push hands propelled her into the air, disrupting the power of the knife and making it impossible for her to maintain stability.

The blood droplets splattered in a fan shape onto the blue bricks.

As Kirisame Aoi fell, she tried to adjust her posture, her feet just about to touch the ground, when she discovered that Asakawa Riku had already anticipated her landing point. His sweeping leg kicked up a storm of gravel, forcing her into the air again.

Without the trench coat to use for leverage, Asakawa Riku's pursuit was relentless—his right palm struck the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of his foot, while his left fist slammed towards his suspended lower back.

The predatory ye swooped down the girl from the sky and pecked her fiercely.

boom!

This reversal may seem sudden, but in reality, a duel between masters only needs one flaw, one detail to determine the outcome.

Especially since they are almost all opponents of the same level, this effect is even more pronounced. As long as Asakawa Riku seizes an opportunity, the battle can be ended.

His strength alone is enough to crush all blade techniques.

If Asakawa Riku and Kirisame Aoi were to face off when they were outside, it would be hard to say who would win or lose. But after these "Orochi Trials," Asakawa Riku is no longer the same person he used to be.