Both beasts circled around him with a cautious step; they didn’t dive in as recklessly as before because of that intense heat that flared out from his body. The skin and fur around their faces and paws were steadily repairing.

Kira hunched over like a beast and let out deep huffs of air, the pupils in his eyes glowed with an intense red glare. Flickers of black flames shot off and circled around his body in a lively manner, as if open flames were lighting and snuffing themselves out.

The large woman stared at him with a childlike expression and clapped her hands together. “Strong- very strong! That was even better than Kumui said it would be!” The woman cheered excitedly.

The animalistic scowl on his face was wiped clean after mentioning Kumui, the flames around his body vanished together as he calmed down.

‘She knows Kumui, Is Ko close by then? I thought she was after Inari…just who is this person really?’ Kira pondered as he glanced over to Inari.

Kira clenched his teeth and shouted out with a frustrated tone. “If you’re here for her then why did you mention Ko, what does he have to do with this?”

The woman stared back with a quizzical look on her face trying to make sense of his words.

Finally she got tired of thinking it over and simply asked, with a clueless tone. “Who? To be honest I don’t ask too many questions but if you mean Kumui then she wants that little mouse hiding back there. I’m here to make sure that she dies properly.”

Both tigers rushed over to the woman’s side and lowered their heads so that she could scratch it. She kept her eyes glued to Inari while speaking to Kira which made him nervous, he wasn’t sure if during the fight whether or not she might decide to just jump in and go for her instead.

“Why follow Kumui then, you don’t know her too well do you?” The woman’s expression began turning sour, she grew visibly annoyed as Kira spoke. “Why not leave her be and just tell Kumui that she died?”

“I’m getting tired of all this talking!” The tigers beside her backed away from her in a cowardly manner, they showed such a level of fear that even Kira suspected something dangerous was coming. “These are my last words you’ll hear today boy, my name is Fei Tsuchi and I am the ultimate beast! You’re stronger than they can handle so I’ll take up the hunt.”

Fei grew in size and transformed into her animalistic form, covered in fur and sharpened claws. Large patches of orange and black striped fur spread over her body to cover her limbs and back. Her breasts were a little under C cup but didn’t appear to be covered in fur, along with her belly.

‘Here she comes.’

Fei charged towards him on both legs with her arms tucked neatly at her sides, as she closed in on him she swung wide but at a blinding speed. Kira was able to keep up with it comfortably but upon impact he noticed the true reason behind her confidence.

A tiger’s strength is well past the ability to kill a human with a single swipe to the face, they can crush skulls and even bite through bone. As Fei’s paw collided into Kira’s sword he felt the force of 60 men push him back.

Suddenly he was sent flying back with barely any footing left, he remained standing but just barely. The stones beneath his feet separated as a deep path in the ground was formed behind him as he flew back.

“You’re definitely stronger than you look, skinny meat like you should have snapped in two.” Fei gloated.

She dropped to all fours and licked her lips.

“Good, I prefer my hunts to not be easy.”

Kira stayed in the defensive with his sword raised in front of him, blocking her off from each advance she took. She unleashed a barrage of slashes and stabs using her massive claws but none of them managed to pass through him.

With that said he still felt a large force of impact burst through his body, the reverberations alone shook him to the core. He had to constantly tighten his grip or else the sword would fall out of his hand and be sent flying.

Although he managed to block them his body was still being pushed back, Kira was gradually being moved closer to the water.

With a devastating blow from her paw, Kira was blown back and skipped across the water like a stone and flung into a tree. A collection of short trees on the other side of the river collapsed over as Kira's body crashed through them. Reeds and long straws of bamboo lied scattered around his body.

Before he could gather his thoughts and get up, he noticed Fei charging towards him on all fours. The glare in her eyes sent a terrifying shrill down his spine as the large force of power barrelled across the water effortlessly.

“Shit-”

Kira fumbled for his sword beside him and was hit by her crushing swipe, the ground beneath him shattered like glass. He felt the bones in his wrist as well as his jaw crack and fill with pain, instinctively he bellowed out in pain but couldn't let a sound leave his mouth because of the blood filling up in his lungs.

A burst of wind pulsed around the impact of her fist against his face, Kira fell back on to the floor and dropped his sword.

“See that- I can’t- be – beat!!” She cheered out while continuously punching his face further into the ground.

Blood splattered against her knuckles and then her face while a stream of it seeped into the cracks of the dirt.

Inari fell back in horror; she covered her mouth so that her silent screams wouldn’t be heard. Unfortunately for her Fei had already heard her movement, her cat-like ears twitched the moment she covered her mouth.

“Oh that’s right; I still have to kill that one too. She’s no fun though; you kids can have her all to yourselves.” She said unenthusiastically.

The tigers that lied in wait jolted up in place, the lowered their heads as if they were ready to pounce and moved in on Inari. Loud growling filled the silence and Inari shook her head in fear, she held out her hands and tried to swat them away.

“Stay back- don’t…I don’t want to die. You can’t do this- this isn't right.” Inari cried out as they circled in on her.

“You humans are pathetic, she knows that she’ll die yet she still refuses to accept it. Honestly I don’t see the urgency in her death but if she is this pathetic it really is all for the best.”

The male tiger impatiently slashed towards her, tearing apart her Yukata but missing her body. Inari’s eyes went blank as the massive claws passed in front of her face and scarcely avoided her. Her lips stopped their trembling and softened as she let out a faint whisper. “Help.”

Fei was still focused on Inari; she left her knuckle resting on Kira when suddenly she felt a slight movement. “What’s this, do you still have some fight in you.” The surface beneath her grew extremely hot out of nowhere and caused the fur around her knuckles to emit smoke.

Fei jumped back off from him and examined the burns around her hand and feet. “That actually hurt.”

A burst of black flames encompassed Kira that surrounded his right side completely; everything from his leg up to his face were embraced by a flowing layer of flames. A bright red eye flashed from behind the fire and locked on to Fei.

Both tigers halted in their advancements and bared their fangs towards Kira, even Inari who had been nearly killed moments ago was caught up in the sight of Kira's form. The tigers ran across the water and halted at their mother’s side.

The flames formed a claw around his hand and like a raging beast he charged towards the male, in a second he sliced through its body and completely separated its body into three portions.

The bloodied pieces fell to the ground and created a large pool of blood and guts. Fei stared at it for a moment and then returned her gaze back to Kira. “That is the extent of your power then. I almost thought that you were different but I suppose humans are all weak.”

“That’s all you have to say, he died for you!”

“So?”

In a fit of rage he burst towards her into the air, Kira released a fusillade of punches that drove her back. Bursts of wind pulsed out from the impact of his shots against her face but Fei never fell, she got back up and went in for more.

Kira pulled back after releasing a collection of attacks and noticed her cheeks and skin repairing itself. The bruises on her skin cleared up and vanished away as if it were never there. “The prey can never truly harm the predator can it?”

“I think I’m done hunting.” She muttered.