Samurai Showdown With Kakashi

- Are you insane?! - I shouted at an angry looking StupidFace. - What is wrong with you? The teacher isn't supposed to kill their student in the first class, or in any class.

- If you beat me, then nothing will happen. Its that simple.

StupidFace charged at me at full speed. My ribs screamed in fear of getting hit again and told me to get away. I leapt sideways and was barely capable of blocking the swing of his sword with mine. Even then I was launched a couple meters by the pure power of his strike.

- You lack power. - I heard him say. - You may pride yourself in your speed, but that won't matter if you can't inflict any damage on your opponent.

- And you think a fight to the death will solve that? - The giant kept swinging his sword, as I tried dodging every attack. He thinks I can't damage him. I'll show him.

Using my max speed I started running around the garden with my sword, turned backwards, grazing the ground. I had noticed the vines in the ground when I entered. All I had to do was make them big enough for StupidFace to trip, and then strike him in his moment of weakness.

He started charging after me, with his attention focused fully on myself. As expected, it didn't take long before he put his foot on the vine, but whether it was luck or his overwhelming power, the vine broke and he was capable of moving forward and strike another laidõ, launching me once again.

Nothing is working. How the hell am I suppose to kill him... wait. I'm not supposed to kill him. "Beat me or die" was what he said. All I have to do is beat him! But what does that mean exactly?

Stupidface kept going in hot pursuit after me, but I began seeing through his movements. He's a big guy that takes out anything in his way, all he does is charge in one direction at a time. What I had to do is be unpredictable. Maybe all that was necessary was to survive for long enough. Maybe that's what beating him means. At one point I heard him say:

- Good movements. Seems you really know how to run away. But you'll get nowhere like that.

- What are you talking about?

- You think you're smart for adapting to my movements, but it doesn't make you a winner. The opponent can do the same just as quickly.

I leapt to the side, escaping a charge but he quickly unsheathed the sword and held it up. I prepared for the slash, but instead it was a sword throw, which hit the tree I was about to leap from. The tip of the sword struck the tree, and the handle hit the back of my head, making me trip forward, directly into his uppercut. I fell on the ground with a bloody nose, and with my consciousness nearly fading. He grabbed me by my shoulder pads putting me up against a tree. He took out his wooden sword from the tree and stabbed it through the cloth of my undershirt, sticking me there. How strong do you have to be to pierce through so much with an edgeless wooden sword?

He looked at me in the eyes:

- You have the speed, Roddie, that I'll admit, but you're missing the power, the experience... the resilience. - He said hitting me in the gut. It felt like acid had been thrown in my bowels.

- You think I'll improve like this?

- I think you haven't shown me everything you've got.

He wasn't lying. There was still a few things I could do. With my sword still in its scabbard, I was capable of proppelling it out, hitting Stupidface's face as he was about to strike. He stepped back from the hit, which gave me enough time to remove the sword pierced through my undershirt. I grabbed the second blade from the recoil off the brute's head.

This would have been the perfect opportunity for my Double Laidõ Explosion, but I needed a second scabbard. Oh well, I guess a regular Single Laidõ Explosion would have to do. That's when his scabbard got on my feet, and to my surprise, it was the brute himself who threw it. He explained with confidence:

- You were going to use that move with the two swords, weren't you? Well, there you go, the missing ingredient.

- Why would you...

- Give me everything you've got!

You have to admire the man's courage to take my most powerful move head-on. Well, I'll make him regret that decision.

I tied the scabbard to my belt, and holding both handles, screamed:

- Double Laidõ Explosion!

I was sent at speeds higher than sound itself in Stupidface's direction, but was suddenly stopped. Before I could complete the slash, both my swords were grabbed by the giant's grip. I heard him growl:

- I'm honestly disappoiented.

He kicked my face between the swords, throwing me back into the ground. He put his foot on my c.h.e.s.t, and all I could think was:

- If only these weren't wooden swords.

- You think that would make difference? That I wouldn't be able to hold a sharp steel blade with such a puny attack like that? You're a waste of potential. So much chakra that a simple laidõ throws you a good distance, and yet incapable of focusing it in a single point. You lack control, Roddie. It doesn't matter what weapon you use, sharp or blunt, steel or wood, you won't cut through anything.

- I know. Don't think you're saying anything groundbreaking.

- I'll say it as many times as I have to until you've got it under your thick skull. You're too impulsive. You can plan, you can trap, like that measly vine attempt before, but the moment its used you throw reason out the window and charge ahead.

- And what have you been doing this whole time if not that?

- I do it because I can. You haven't earned the right, or height, to fight like that.

- Then I'll show you. - I forced my body until its limits, opening a gate. With the sudden strenght gain, I was able to catch Rakuma off guard and get out from his foot's hold. I got up, with both blades still in my hands, and looked at him while shaking in energy. He looked back at me, and yet, even after this transformation, he had a disappointed expression.

- Look at you. Proving my point. What do you think this stupid powerboost will do against me?

- It will beat you. And that should be plenty enough.

I charged at him with all my might, hitting him with a barrage of slashes. He stepped back with every strike, having difficulty keeping up. I kicked him away, making him almost fall back. I prepared to hit his face once he got up, but instead he let himself fall to do a ground sommersault and hit my jaw. A little luck won't stop me though. I advanced again with a straight pierce strike from the right, but even before I did it, he moved aside and kicked me.

- How? You shouldn't be able to keep up.

- I guess I'll have to repeat myself. The moment you gain an advantage, whether you catch an opponent off guard, or open a gate, you throw logic away and strike. It doesn't matter how fast you are, a samurai without skill is destined to be forever a loser.

- I'm not letting you get away with that remark.

This fight wasn't going to end quickly, and it didn't. Rakuma kept fighting me with my gate opened for hours without breaking a sweat, as I kept pushing my limits in search of the strenght to beat him, but it all seemed impossible. It got to a point where I was on my knees, hands on the ground, breathing exporadically with my body aching in exhaustion. He said:

- Look at you, on the ground half dead, and couldn't even strike me with a single good hit. You're no good for a samurai. I can't even understand how you hang out with a prodigy like Renji.

- Friendsh.i.p.s don't come from strenght or skill, they come from the bonds you make with others.

- Wow, that's the first correct thing I heard from you all day. But don't think you'll get a friendship boost from saying those things.

- I suppose this is the moment you kill me?

- That depends solely on you, Roddie.

Rakuma stretched his arms upward, ready for a downwards slash through me. I saw my life flash before my eyes, remembering how much time I had wasted as a weakling incapable of succeding at the one thing every other samurai had ease to do.

Why was it so hard? Why does it feel like I'm the only one who can't control his own chakra?

Before the sword could hit me, the door to the room opened, and behind it was a samurai intern, much like myself. He tapped his foot against the ground impaciently, and looked at the huge guard above me:

- Stop playing with the boy, Rakuma. He's already late for his class with Mifune.

Rakuma, who no longer seemed like a StupidFace, looked down on me, and said:

- You got pretty lucky here.

I got up slowly, feeling every fiber of my body aching.

- Go teach Mifune, and pass by the infirmary. Tomorrow we'll meet for another round.

I know I should have probably been afraid, maybe even just nervous. But no. I was anxious, and all I could think was:

- I can't wait to show him what I can truly do.