Kuroba Asashin's Arc

Chapter 27 of 44

The blue light around Kuroba climbed to his shoulders. The odachi lay at his feet where he had let it drop. Bobby pulled Jackie another step back along the gold-paneled wall. Kazrik pushed himself upright with his good arm, lava blade angled low. Rin set his katana and waited. Kuroba did not pick up the sword. He looked at Bobby and Jackie once. "Stay there," he said. Bobby nodded and did not move. Kazrik came first. He crossed the hall fast and cut for Kuroba's neck. Kuroba stepped inside the swing before it finished. His palm hit Kazrik's wrist and the lava blade rang off the stone floor. Kuroba drove an elbow into the side of the helmet. The helmet cracked at the seam. Kazrik staggered and Kuroba kicked his knee out from under him. The big man went down on his side and stayed there. Rin moved while Kazrik was still falling. He came in low with the katana angled up. Kuroba read the feet, not the blade. He shifted a half step and the cut passed his ribs by nothing. He caught Rin's forearm and held it. Rin twisted, spoke through his teeth. "The river always finds the low ground." He tried to break the grip. He could not. Kuroba pulled him forward and put a knee into his stomach. Rin folded. Kuroba let him drop. Kazrik was up again, one arm hanging, the lava blade in his off hand. He charged. Kuroba pulled his right hand back and the blue light gathered at his fist. He met the charge and drove the fist into Kazrik's chest. A crack ran through the air. Lightning jumped from Kuroba's knuckles into the armor and lit the hall white. Kazrik flew back and hit the far wall. Gold panels split and fell around him. He slid to the floor and did not rise. Rin was on one knee, watching. He did not speak in riddles now. He watched Kuroba the way a man watches weather he cannot outrun. Kuroba walked to him. The blue light had become a glowing platinum. The full form. “I should strike you down where you kneel” said Kuroba, his voice shaking the foundations of the palace. Kazrik escaped with the last bit of life he had, whimpering and barely alive. Rin stared up at Kuroba like he knew he was about to die. “Leave. Your palace belongs to the wasteland now.” Kuroba commanded.