《Threads》Chapter Twenty-Three: Len Sosu IV
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The still billowing yellow flames banished every possible midday shadow in every direction. The intense light didn’t seem to bother the descending Len Sosu, though the fire obscured a good deal of his own body. A choice needed to be made right then and there; retreat, or reengage? The thought was almost too absurd to ponder. General Hashimoto Daisuke, legend of Garion, crusher of armies, falling back at the sight of a mere Agent? One scarcely more than a lapdog for Motonubu, at that! The sight would be nothing short of shameful.
Shame happened to be one of the few things Daisuke didn’t try claiming he had, though. Moments after seeing the boy’s wicked smile unmarred by soot or any signs of fire damage at all, Daisuke swung his Sixeyes and blasted himself backwards. The wind carried him faster than his legs would and the secondary surge of air pushed the encroaching fires away from the still forested area. Len Sosu’s midair trajectory couldn’t be altered at this distance no matter what manner of absurd jutsu the boy must have possessed to survive the inferno initially. Daisuke’s narrow eyes watched the limber body of the boy fall feet first at a safe distance away. The impact felt somewhat mundane, a surprise given Len Sosu’s bravado. Daisuke expected more of a crater, or an impressive dust cloud. Instead the kid landed with the ease and simplicity of someone jumping off a bed.
The light frame of the Sixeyes made it easy to pull back and swing back into position for round two. Something in that boy’s eyes didn’t look right to Daisuke- even in his short time as General, he had gotten a good feel for what to expect out of his opponents. Len Sosu wore an excited, intense expression as he snapped down in preparation for a sprint towards his target. His clothes hadn’t been damaged in the fire either- it seemed like the only thing Daisuke managed to do by lighting that bonfire was send up a giant plume of smoke. If a surprise attack hadn’t worked then maybe he would have to try a different approach. He leveled the flat of the Sixeye’s blade and both his feet pressed hard into the disturbed earth. Maybe the kid was just fast. In that case-
A thunderous crash (more like what Daisuke had expected Len Sosu’s landing to sound like) tore through the already highly agitated air. The noise originated directly behind Daisuke and prompted him to quickly jerk his head back just far enough to catch the cause at the corner of his eye. Nothing lay behind him except trees. But not every tree was facing the right way. No, one renegade tree was flaunting convention, and was upside down. Its trunk ended pointed upwards at the slowly dissipating wall of flame Daisuke just moments ago flung away. All around the base where the tree made contact with the soft earth lay thousands of splinters, like broken glass from a dropped bottle. The explosion of noise had been the sound of the wood cracking as the tree made impact. Impact? From where?
From the only place available, naturally. Seconds later the first crashing tree was joined by a second, then a third. From the curtain of flames above the trees fell like lightning hurled by an angry god. This was just more absurdity! Daisuke’s rigid and trained posture broke as he suddenly found himself breaking out into a backwards sprint to try and avoid the rain of heavy lumber. One tree smashed into the ground just feet away from where he previously stood, and two more impaled the earth close enough that he felt the wayward splinters smash into his face. How could one kid have- what, thrown all these things? Jinchi’s wood was known for being weak but this amount of arboreal projectiles defied an easy explanation.
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There wasn’t any time to think about it further. Daisuke skidded to a stop right as another falling tree cracked and sundered the ground in front of him. He twisted his arm and readied the Sixeyes. A current of sparks flowed along its edge in preparation. He would just have to incinerate the whole forest as a precaution.
The unwelcome barking of Len Sosu punctured his plan at almost that exact moment.“Hey, kid, catch!” What an idiot, revealing his location like that! Daisuke’s stance shifted and again he moved his head just enough to put one eye on the boy. As expected the young Len Sosu still stood far enough away to pose no real threat to Daisuke, thanks to the experienced General’s hasty retreat.
Not so expected was the nearly horizontal tree trunk, ripped clean of branches that might slow it down, barreling down the path between himself and Len Sosu like a giant’s arrow.
That deserved a bit more of a response. With a mix of a gasp and a grunt of incredulity Daisuke instantly pivoted on his heel and switched gears. He brought the Sixeyes back around to intercept and much as he had done a few nights ago on the dock, intercepted the massive projectile with his weapon. This time the red hot edge of his blade cut much easier through the wood than it had with the cannonball, tearing through the center with ease. Unlike with the cannonball there was significantly more mass behind the tree, and the attack drove him backwards even as his weapon deftly drove through it and split it in two. Gravity did the rest and both halves of the trunk split to either side of him, coming within inches of brushing his freshly laundered robes. So this kid was super strong or something, whatever! All the strength in the world was pointless if you shouted out your attacks like a moron. As the last fragments of the tree drew nearer Daisuke wondered why he’d decided to flee in the first place. Being scared of an imbecile was even more shameful than running from one!
It was that devilish grin that reminded him of what his instinct told him only moments before. The tree trunk stopped before splitting completely at the edge of the Sixeyes. The last few feet were instead torn asunder by the Len Sosu hiding just behind it, both of his knuckles somehow buried deep into the bark of the tree. He wore the innocent but cruel smile of a child looking down at an insect. At once Daisuke realized why.
On either side of the general, now held up by Len Sosu’s incredible strength, were both halves of the freshly split tree trunk. To his back was the splintered remains of a fallen tree. Somehow, Len Sosu had managed to create a dead end tunnel in the middle of a wide open jungle forest, and trapped Daisuke inside. Both the boy’s arms snapped shut and brought the separated halves of the tree back together with a bone crushing force.
Daisuke inhaled back all the air he’d just released after thinking he was in the clear. He could feel the blood rushing to his temple as his practiced cool facade threatened to break for a moment. This was so annoying! Rather than let his torso get sandwiched between the snapping wooden jaws of Len Sosu, Daisuke spun the Sixeyes with his finger tips, placing it nearly parallel to himself. Like wood being driven against a carpenter’s saw the trunk slammed into the razor edge of the Sixeyes and was cut again, just early enough to let Daisuke brace again for impact. The General’s own strength wasn’t to be underestimated, and cut off from Len Sosu’s power the cut pieces of tree trunk stopped just short of pulping Daisuke’s body entirely. The mass of wood collided with his balled shoulders and rattled every bone in his body. His ears popped and his vision swam as the intense and painful shockwave rippled through his muscles. Nothing seemed to crack though! It was like being a foot caught under a piece of falling furniture- incredibly unpleasant, but imminently survivable.
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His view was blocked so he couldn’t see Len Sosu winding up for the next pitch. Not just satisfied crushing Daisuke, the young Agent released his grip on the tree trunk halves just long enough to draw one palm back. Then he slammed it forward, rocketing the remaining chunk of tree straight forward. Still reeling from the last defense and his Sixeyes in completely the wrong orientation there was nothing to stop this projectile from smashing into Daisuke full force. The two pieces of wood collided with the flat side of the Sixeyes then pushed it right into the balled up Daisuke. Whatever smug air of confidence the General had at that moment was pushed violently out of his lungs as the tree trunk carried him backwards as it bulldozed forward.
The now heavily abused tree, the Sixeyes, and a winded Daisuke all soared backwards until the group slammed into the fallen tree far behind him. Len Sosu’s attack carried so much force a flurry of leaves and branches snapped loose and fell on all sides almost like snowfall, and a wicked cloud of dust drew up from the torn up earth underfoot in Daisuke’s wake. For the first time in those frantic, adrenaline filled minutes, a relative sort of silence was allowed to settle in the forest.
In the distance dry tinder ignited by Daisuke’s ambush still crackled and crinkled. Agitated air swirled and billowed in random directions. Len Sosu stood, untouched, like a grinning, wide-eyed statue. The heat of the fire caused a bit of sweat to form on the boy’s darkened skin, but his breathing was measured and his posture devoid of any signs of fatigue. If one didn’t know better, they might have expected that Len Sosu had just woken up from a particularly pleasant nap.
On the opposite end of the spectrum lay Daisuke. His body remained upright, but that was mostly due to the large chunks of shattered trees that seemed to prop him up. The Sixeyes must lay buried somewhere in the tangle of branches and splinters. The General himself seemed to be shaking or trembling, owing more to the massive concussive forces his body just sustained. It was a bit disappointing it wasn’t out of fear. Rather, a twisted expression of either agony or anger kept pulling at Daisuke’s considerably dirtied face, interspersed with brief glances up at Len Sosu’s lording over him just a short distance away.
Not that short a distance, though. Len Sosu might be invincible but he wasn’t about to get close enough to give Daisuke a chance to pull anything funny. Instead the teenage Agent did a little stretch mixed with a little flex, bat a wayward strand of light colored hair from his face, then shot Daisuke back the most smug look he could muster. “Not look so hot there, Daidai. Need a hand?”
The response Daisuke could muster was a couple of haggard, liquid coughs. It might as well have been music to Len Sosu’s ears.
“Sorry, sorry, great General.” Len Sosu bent his neck just a bit, keeping an eye on the fires still smoldering around them. “The Ghost of Garion! Renown thief of over a hundred jutsu!” Like a taunting child on the playground, Len Sosu thumbed his nose at the collapse Daisuke. “Protege of the late ‘Master’ Kurosawa!”
Len Sosu’s prodding provoked a real reaction then, and Daisuke spat viciously to clear his throat. “Mock him again and you’ll really piss me off, kid.”
That earned a sincere spurt of laughter from Len Sosu, who ran his clean palm through his hair as casually as if he were on a date. “Well, I should think I’m being a bit more respectful to the old man than Garion’s been. I didn’t call him ‘traitor’ Kurosawa, did I?” Daisuke moved as if intending to speak up but gave a big wince, one of his arms apparently heavily pinned and unable to move. Len Sosu let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “Boy, what a shame, what a shame. That old General you killed to get your promotion sounded like so much more of a challenge. If he had been here maybe I would have gotten a proper fight. I guess it’s true what Motonubu said about you.”
He waited, eager eyes watching for any sign of distress on Daisuke’s part. Again this proved somewhat disappointing, as Daisuke now appeared far more distressed about his injuries than anything Len Sosu was saying. He would need to ratchet up the insults. “But it doesn’t really matter either way, does it, eh?” Len Sosu threw up his hands and looked down as if despondent. “Play fair, play dirty, you’d of lost to me either way. I bet you’re still scratching your head wondering how I did it.” Len Sosu bent forward a bit, not that it made any difference, and tapped his forehead with one of his slender fingers. “I’ll tell you: pure skill, baby.”
Having finally taken account of his person, Daisuke seemed to take the briefest of moments to acknowledge the taunting Len Sosu, though his own words squeezed out in a strained manner from the debris still pinning him in place. “That’s a lot of confidence coming from someone serving as Motonubu’s lapdog.”
A broad smile reappeared on Len Sosu’s face and he held his arms out wide as if surrendering. “Oooh, nice one, kid! Following orders, how unthinkable! You know, Daidai,” he stroked his chin as if deep in thought. “Ghosts don’t make very many friends, do they? Maybe if you’d spent more time doing what people asked you to do, and less time being such a cool hip renegade, half of Garion’s military wouldn’t want to see you dead. Maaaaaaybe,” Len Sosu winked. “This is just what cocky wildcards deserve.”
“You’re exempt from that, I reckon?”
“Of course!” Len Sosu looked up at the exposed sun, whose warmth wasn’t really noticeable when surrounded by so many still smoking fires. “I’ve got something called a Will to Power- if I set my mind to it, I can’t lose.” The boy chuckled, closing his eyes to really cap off the arrogant look of superiority. “I’m a legend in the making, kid. If you got any last words, I’ll hear ‘em out now before finishing up here. Isn’t that nice of me? Unlike you,” he looked back up at Daisuke with the assuredness of a hunter locking onto their prey. “I’m a people person.”
Keeping his eyes locked on Len Sosu, Daisuke gathered up just enough breath to exhale another dismissive reply. “You’re more of a dog person, given how much yapping you do.”
“Tch, tch. What a lousy thing to say before-” The boy’s face twitched in another showing of disappointed surprise as Daisuke finally snapped into action. The expression across Daisuke’s face didn’t give away the massive amount of exertion he must have been putting forth to suddenly rip his arm out from under the pile of wooden debris. In that one freed limb he held onto the decorative green gunbai, the Sixeyes, which still cackled and fizzled as sparks ran along its wide brim. It was an uncharacteristically straightforward attack from the General- desperation at its finest, Len Sosu assumed. Still pinned down and immobile from the fallen trees Daisuke instead whipped his weapon back and hurled it like a throwing axe right at the relaxed Len Sosu. Unseens currents of wind stabilized its trajectory and the weapon spun end over end as it shot straight at its target with significant speed and accuracy. What a difference, compared to Len Sosu’s own wildly imprecise technique!
As easily as one would pluck a blooming flower from its stem, Len Sosu merely extended two of his fingers and intercepted Daisuke’s desperate attack. The razor blade of the Sixeyes stopped instantly in Len Sosu’s pinching grip, as if its significant weight were nothing more than a blade of grass to the boy. All its furious sparking and fuming seemed to cease at once, and the blow didn’t even move Len Sosu’s feet as he caught it completely without effort. He even let out a little chuckle of amusement at the last ditch effort.
“Thanks for the gift, bro.” Len Sosu moved the weapon out of the way a bit so he could properly gloat at the still helpless Daisuke. “I’ll be sure to tell everyone back home that you deemed me the proper successor to the Sixeyes. Your master would have wanted it that way, right?”
For the first time in a while, a smile to match Len Sosu’s own spread across Daisuke’s face. “Maybe you can ask him yourself when you meet in him hell, kid.”
The still raised palm of Daisuke snapped shut. For half a second the Sixeyes vibrated like a struck gong but even then Len Sosu didn’t understand what was happening. It was so unthinkable that the boy hadn’t even entertained the possibility. Along the ornate markings running along the side of the weapon a series of popping sparks ignited and each of its namesake eyes shuddered and cracked like glass under pressure.
Daisuke liked to claim one of his many jutsu was explosion manipulation, but the truth wasn’t quite as compelling. Built up air pressure within the hollow interior of the gunbai finally gave way, and the heated combustion inside finally got some release as the seams gave way.
The Sixeyes detonated with a resounding, almost musical BA-BOOM.
Len Sosu’s body disappeared from sight as it was engulfed in the expanding sphere of green flame, and metallic shrapnel from the ruptured weapon likewise perforated his body with life sundering force. Daisuke actually ducked under the protective cover of the wooden debris pile that Len Sosu had thrown him into, but even that wasn’t quite enough. The shredded Sixeyes tore through the surrounding tree trunks like arrows through a curtain. A few pieces even nicked Daisuke despite his protective measures, prompting him to squeeze himself even further behind the fallen trees. The green pyre that swallowed Len Sosu burned hotter and faster than the mundane flames Daisuke set ablaze earlier, fed by the immense surge of oxygen brought with it by the sundered Sixeyes. Surviving total and nearly instant immolation required a jutsu so absurd Daisuke didn’t even try thinking about it. Rather, once the bombardment of shrapnel ceased and only the eerie verdant illumination from the still burning Len Sosu remained, he sought to once again stand up and free himself in a more proper fashion. No doubt Motonubu lurked somewhere nearby to finish the job. He would need to recover what strength he could and...
The human bonfire lurched forward and Daisuke couldn’t help but to scamper back to his feet in double time. His aching bones gave heavy resistance but still he managed to fall back into something resembling a defensive stance, his eyes now once again locked onto where Len Sosu once stood. Yet all the fire did was fall forward, then hit the earth with a soft thud. Of course it did. How overly cautious of him, to be spooked by the charred remains of that nasty child. There was no reason to linger here. Motonubu was the only remaining Garion Agent on the island and with their history, Daisuke knew the man possessed absolutely no threat. Motonubu could be wily, but catch him unprepared and the man simply couldn’t put up a fight. Len Sosu’s demise virtually guaranteed Daisuke’s victory.
Yet he didn’t budge. His focused remained trained on the slowly dying fires that licked away at the blackened body of Len Sosu. Daisuke’s cremation technique shouldn’t have left anything at all but ashes- perhaps the kid’s jutsu had worked just enough to preserve the shape of the lad, but failed to keep him alive. The way the black human shaped lump remained dead still among the scorched earth meant even if some flame of life still lingered there was absolutely no way it could mount a counter attack. Continuing to stick around was only going to get Daisuke in more trouble.
Garion Generals didn’t get to their rank by making assumptions. Bereft of his weapon of choice Daisuke instead retrieved a small, unremarkable standard issue Garion hunting knife from his belt. He would take off Len Sosu’s head, for absolute certainty. Maybe it would make a good trophy to show Motonubu, eh?
Inching forward Daisuke drew closer and closer to the fallen body. The foul smell of charred flesh and hair hit him in waves, but he was more than used to dealing with the fallout of his techniques. Since nobody had ever survived his incineration Daisuke wasn’t sure if the charcoal-like appearance of the body was normal or not. It looked more like black tree bark now covered Len Sosu, as though the fires deposited an extra layer on top of the boy. That was just swelling, right? It had to be.
Blade raised Daisuke eventually took the plunge and moved close enough to strike with the dagger. A few quick practice stabs would be enough to verify. The wind carried a bit of smoke into his eyes but he forced them open. With a quick snapping motion, his hand shot forward, aiming to plunge his small blade into Len Sosu’s charred neck.
The weapon didn’t even get close enough to brush the skin. A char encrusted claw lashed out, grabbing Daisuke by the wrist and flipping him forward with such strength it tore the skin. Before he could even register what happened Daisuke was toppling head over foot towards the earth.
He did see a toothy, bone white frown on his way down. No, wait, nevermind- Daisuke realized he was upside-down. That was just Len Sosu’s defiant grin again, peering out from behind a featureless soot-covered face. At least someone was having fun.
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