Kuroichi surged forward, his real body this time, no clone or illusion. Chakra burned low inside him, but his mind was still sharp, like the blade he no longer held. In an epiphany, when thinking about what to do with his 'nodachi', he simply used chakra to stick it to his back.
He used Yami Kagerō, his body flowing like shadows, moving not with brute strength but with precision, anticipation and rhythm. The leader was fast, faster than Kuroichi.. but now Kuroichi fought smarter, using his dark release to his advantage.
Still, the man kept him at bay, using his longer reach and unpredictable footwork to avoid being touched too much. His eyes never left Kuroichi's hands, knowing full well that one quick graze could start the chakra draining again.
Kuroichi ducked a wild swipe, pivoted, and swept his leg outwards. Still, he missed, and a fist was coming straight for his face. He barely dodged in time and lunged backwards, gaining more space.
'I need a clean connection. Just once.'
He shifted tactics, pulling back. Instead of chasing the leader, he let the man come to him. Feinting moments of fatigue slowing slightly, letting his eyes dull as if he were losing steam.
The leader's sneer widened. "Not so high and mighty now, huh, freak?"
He lunged in, chakra radiating off of him. "I'll make sure you'll experience pain so unimaginable, you'll wish you had just killed yourself right now, you orphaned stain of shit!!"
Kuroichi didn't let his ramblings faze him, he just let him talk. At the last second of a swing he stepped inwards, drawing a quick but brutal elbow across the man's knee, knocking his balance off.
That was the moment Kuroichi had been waiting for. His one hand found skin, and with the other he formed the tiger seal, concentrating very deeply. As he focused, the dark chakra on his palm shrunk just a tiny bit, becoming slightly denser. From the outside it didn't make much of a difference, but Kuroichi felt the changes immediately.
"Dark Release: Chakra Leech!"
The surge of chakra was stronger than before, his skill with the dark release had definitely improved, if only a little. Even though he was only draining chakra for barely a second, it was enough.
The leader staggered, but roared back, forcing Kuroichi away again with a rising sweep of jagged stone jutting out from his lower legs and feet.
"Earth Style: Stone Boulder Kick!"
Kuroichi leapt back, panting as he almost completely escaped the range of the man's kick, but was still grazed enough so that a large part of his chest was missing one or two layers of skin.
The man hesitated as he watched Kuroichi and his relentless will to survive. His breath was also getting heavier, and his stance tighter, more guarded.
The shift in momentum didn't escape Kuroichi. 'Good,' he thought. 'You're getting nervous as well.'
They circled each other now, one wounded, worn out and furious, the other battered and burned out as well.
"You think this is over? the man spat. "I'll find you again. I'll tell others of you, bring actual jonin next time. You'll never make it to, or out of that town!
People will line up to catch you left and right, all greedy for the amount of money you'll be going for. I mean come on, how old are you anyway? You'll be irresistible to those rich fuckers! HAH!"
Inwardly, Kuroichi was shaken. He was running hundreds of questions all at once in his mind, it seemed. He was weighing his options; Is It better to fight to the death? What are my chances of winning? Does he have any life threatening secret jutsu that could kill me in a final move?
He didn't let any of his inner turmoil show on the outside though. "You talk too much," he replied emotionlessly.
Kuroichi flickered forward , this time weaving extra seals.
'Genjutsu: False Surroundings Jutsu!'
As he lunged with a kunai in hand, his trajectory changed a few centimeters away, making the man swing hard at air.
Kuroichi turned and slammed his kunai into the man's thigh with all his strength, chakra enhancing his muscles that he quickly replenished by using his fingers to make contact for a fraction of a second.
"AHHHH, I've had enough of you!!" The man howled and swiped downward, but all he hit was a log of wood.
With the substitution jutsu Kuroichi appeared behind him again, ready to strike, but stopped himself.
His opponent wasn't moving. He was breathing hard, injured but still looked capable to keep on fighting. Kuroichi looked worse, the only reason he could still stand upright and fight was because he used every chance to absorb chakra to it's fullest extent.
The man stared at him with bloodied lips, a Kumasi sticking out of his thigh, and narrowed eyes.
"…You're not worth dying for," the man muttered. He turned, limping heavily and retreating into the forest without another word.
Kuroichi wasn't any wiser as to who they actually were? The man clearly used earth jutsu, but his teammates seemed to only be able to use fire jutsu. What was going on? They didn't seem like normal rogue shinobi either.
Answers to these questions eluded Kuroichi, he stood there and watched, but didn't follow. Gradually, his arms went slack and his knees started shacking. Shakily, he walked over to a tree and sat down, watching as Kurai silently descended from up above.
She knew she couldn't be of any help in this kind of fight yet, so she stayed out of sight, making sure to observe from a distance.
She hooted softly, in a worried tone as the remaining adrenaline left Kuroichi's body all at once.
That fight definitely wasn't a win, it was more of a loss but also not really. It was survival and that's what was most important in the end.
"Kurai, bring me something to eat, my scroll and some twigs," Kuroichi said in a strained voice, resting his head against the tree's bark. "Please don't take long, we can't afford to stay here for much time, plus I still need to see if they had anything important with them."
Kuroichi's mind flashed towards the ninja left behind. He wondered if the leader had taken them with him. They were moving around so much during the fight that he had lost sight of the exact locations were they fell.
He wanted to go check right away, especially because one of them might have still been alive, though he doubted it, but he was too weak right now. He needed to replenish his energy quickly and then get moving.
'Let's hope Kurai finds something to hunt quickly,' he thought as he fought against the pain of his wounds and the exhaustion gnawing at the edge of his mind.
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