Kensaki allowed the momentum of his kick to carry him upward; then, rotating on his grounded left hand, he swung his legs down toward the ground, and landed in a crouch, catching the Tenkens sword in his outstretched left hand. He rose smoothly into a perfect Star of Fate stance, his feet never moving from where they hit the ground.

He quickly appraised his opponents new stance. As a student of the Singing Palm school, Kensaki had encountered a plethera of hand to hand combat styles in various tournament and exhibition settings. Occasionally, Westerners trickled their way into Cizok and entered these tournaments, many favoring a style that favored brute strength and the endurance to withstand punishment. Boxing. Practitioners of the Singing Palm looked upon this style with contempt, believing that its slow, predictable strikes made it weak beyond salvaging.

Suddenly, Kensaki laughed. Not the light, almost playful laugh he had displayed earlier; it was a cold, mirthless sound that escaped his lips. In the background, a faint humming sound grew in strength until it became almost a melody; the sword, Darkstar, was singing its deathsong, began anew by the contact with the hard ground. It was in a cold, hard voice that Kensaki addressed the Tenken.

"Thus is the price for your hubris. I am aware of the fact that you have not used a tenth part of your strength in the battle so far. No man could wear the mantle of the Tenken and have it not be so, and yet here you stand, unarmed, and poised to....to box." Kensaki's contempt was palpable. "Had you not taken an opponent so lightly, you would have no doubt killed me by now. If that attack did not convince you to fight, then perhaps this will. Take up your sword Tenken, you will need it, for the true fight begins now!"

With that Kensaki tossed the Tenkens sword to him, hilt first, and in the same motion reached within his robes to draw out what appeared to be a tuning fork. New, he would have a real fight! Now, he could live! The whispering voice in his head almost cried out with glee. Kensaki spoke softly in that same, cold voice.

"Now, hear one of Darkstar's true songs. Mekura."

As he spoke, Kensaki struck the fork against his blade, producing a low pitched, slowly oscillating hum. The hum quickly became louder, and the pitch lower still, until Kensaki began to feel the familiar, painfully uncomfortable feeling as the vibration settled into him; even as it did so, a black dot appeared in the center of his vision, quickly growing until his entire field of view was covered in abject darkness. It was enough to make most men cower in fear, unless, of course, the man new that the same thing was happening to anyone who heard the song. Unless, of course, that man was schooled in blind fighting.

Shin was dissapointed that Kensaki hadn't decided to attack him. The mans arogance was at a level that not even Shin had reached, by giving back his sword to him the mans fate was sealed.

Shin caught the hilt of his sword, sheathing it instantly. He stared hard at his opponent his face shown no emotion, just a hard glare that was once again analyzing him.

It wouldn't take more then a few seconds for Shin to understand what was going on after Kensaki had struck his weapon. Shin began to leap backwards, each leap taking him a dozen feet back. The black dot soon grew to block off all of Shins vision.

'Im blind!?' Shin's mind screamed.

He refused to panick however, he refused to show any sort of weakness. Instead he focused on his other senses his sense of hearing but more importantly another sense that he had learned, not from his father, but from the monks of the Long Fist.

Shin stopped moving backwards after the third leap, taking him to around thirty feet away from where he had originally been.With his eyes closed and right hand stretched across to grasp the hilt of the Shiden Blade Shin began to laugh mockingly at Kensaki.

"You are worse then a novice swordsmen, not fit to look at or let alone hold a weapon as sacred as the Katana! You are aware of nothing, you have no idea of what you speak when you talk about my skill! Your own skill in combat is not in question, but you lack the true spirit of a swordsmen and because you do not understand you will not beat me. You will never beat me."

Shin didn't even bother to take a stance, he stood with his eyes closed arms crossed over his chest. He of course didn't know if Kensaki could still see, he assumed that he could however to be on the safe side. If nothing was said after a moment Shin would just begin to walk forward showing no interest for battle and in the general direction of the manor.

Disappointment flashed through Kensaki's mind. It seemed that his feigned arrogance had been convincing, but the effect it had on the Tenken had been the opposite of what was desired. The man still refused to take him seriously as a swordsman, did he? It seemed that he would have to take it up another notch.

In the midst of inky blackness, Kensaki reached down to plant the sharpened base of the still ringing tuning fork into the dirt, leaving it free to sing its dark, slow song. He then reached into the folds of his robe to pull out another fork, smaller than the one he had used before. As he lightly struck the fork against his blade, a new, high pitched, quickly oscillating hum began, seeming to be in perfect harmony with the song of the first fork and the original, quieter melody of Darkstar itself. The new song, however, quickly grew in intensity until it dominated the listener's ear, seeming almost urgent, straining to be free.

Suddenly, Kensaki began to run in the direction from which the Tenken's voice had originated, fork in his left hand and sword held in front of him. It would be difficult for most to distinguish other sound from within the vibrating melodies of Darkstar's songs, but after years of training with the sword, Kensaki had learned to tune it out, so that it was only a minor distraction to his ear. Unless his oppenent was far stealthier than he seemed, he had not moved so far as Kensaki's ears could tell, which meant that he knew the Tenken's exact location despite his lack of vision.

At fifteen paces, Kensaki used Shinsoku to accelerate to full speed, listening all the time for movement from the Tenken. As he came within five paces of the Tenken, Kensaki suddenly stopped, swinging Darkstar in an outward arc while at the same time bringing forth the fork to clash with the blade.

"Shindou Nami"

As fork met sword, a violent shockwave erupted from the tip of the blade, rocketing toward the place where the Tenken stood. Immediately, Kensaki leapt several paces to his left, coming to rest standing perfectly still. He could still faintly hear the twin songs of the sword in his hand and the large fork in the ground behind him, but the bulk of his concentration was on his opponent, listening for signs of movement, and preparing to strike.

The man was fast, impressivly so. Shin could understand where Kensaki's confidence came from. His opponent had proved to be extremely skilled in combat, resourcfull and very deceptive.

Shin decided to pick it up a notch.

Through his ability to sense Chi Shin could pick out ever move Kensaki made, he could 'see' his opponent as clearly as if he were looking upon him with his own two eyes and so when Kensaki came rushing in towards Shin, he was prepared.

He didn't move, didn't react until Shinsoku was inniated and even then he only flexed his knees. When Kensaki halted his movement to swing the sword forward, from a range that wouldn't even come close to striking the Tenken, Shin leapt high into the air. Fifteen feet into the air took him above the Shindou Nami.

Shin altered his body position mid jump, bringing his feet above his head so he was now upside down. At the peak of his jump he used Toku Ranpu, creating a base for him to leap off of and rocket at unatural speed towards where Kensaki had come to rest.

Shin would come in, using a Iaijutsu strike in flight, slashing the weapon horizontally in an attempt to decapitate his foe. Assuming this strike would be blocked or avoided Shin would land lightly on his feet and continue an assault with the Shiden Blade, slashing quickly and violently at Kensaki always stepping forward with each slash, using his mastery over sword combat to place his sword in the most difficult points to block, making counter-attacking incredibly difficult without risking the chance of getting slashed.

This could go on for sometime as well, with Shin fueling his adrenaline with Chi to prevent himself from wearing out he would undoubtingly out last his opponent in a battle of atrition.

A moment of confusion registered in Kensaki's head as his Shindou Nami sliced through the darkness. His exceptionally keen ears had detected neither the sound of his attack hitting the Tenken, nor that of movement on his part. He had a split second to consider the possiblities before he heard it. A slight metallic scraping that signified a sword being drawn, and it came from directly above him!

Only his long honed reflexes kept his head intact, as Kensaki instinctinvely rolled backward. He felt, more than heard, the sword that slashed the air a hairsbreadth above him. He rolled, coming to his feet about two paces from where he had stood. Before he even had time to reassume his stance, however, Kensaki heard a footfall in front of him and the sound of a blade slicing through air. He barely had time to bring up his blade to defend before the blow fell, knocking him off balance and reeling backward. Blow after blow, strike after strike rained down from the darkness, as fast as Kensaki could possibly counter. Every lightning quick attempt at retreat was followed by an attack of equal speed, every attempt at attack preempted. No blood had yet been spilled by the furious assault, but that would quickly change if he did not do something.

Kensaki's mind worked furiously while he fought to stay alive. The idea that the Tenken had sharper hearing from within Darkstar's distracting songs he dismissed. When he had first begun to train with the ability, it had been nearly impossible to discern even the most obvious noises from within the cacaphony. Yet the Tenken followed his movements, even anticipated them, despite the inky blackness, almost as if he could still see! That was it; it had to be. Whether his Mekura had failed to affect the Tenken or whether he was using some other unknown ability, Kensaki did not know. One thing, however, was clear. If the black void of Mekura was hurting anyone, it was himself. Quickly, a plan formed within his mind.

The Tenkens assault continued to force Kensaki to retreat for what seemed like hours, although it had probably been only a matter of half a minute or less. He was beginning to think he could not last much longer when the opportunity he had been seeking provided itself. The Tenken had been an instant slower on his last attack, a nearly imperceptable difference that could have meant a multitude of things, some fortuitous and others disastrous; Kensaki did not stop to ponder the reasons, but took the opportunity instead to leap skyward and backward, toward the origin of the slower, deeper of the two competing songs. While in mid air, he struck his blade with the fork still in his left hand, striking it a second time before a song could even be formed. This Shindou Nami was far less potent than the earlier one, but it was meant merely to cover his escape.

Kensaki landed and quickly bent down to pick up the destination of his flight, the larger fork, still planted in the ground. As he silenced the fork, the darkness that had covered his field of vision immediately receded. Kensaki quickly stowed both forks away in his clothing and brought his defenses up, the whole motion taking very little time. Breathing hard, Kensaki took note of himself; his clothing, pristine before the fight, had been slashed in multiple places. In several places beneath these slashes, his skin had been bruised, as if even the air pushed aside by this man's attacks could injure. It was then that he realized that, for the first time that he could remember, emotion had broken through the Void. Each attack the Tenken had made had brought him far closer to death than he had ever been, yet Kensaki Kashou's face wore a delighted grin.

Shins attack had not slowed in the slightest, The Tenken had just overstretched his boundaries with on particular attack. Reaching a little to far, but to an area that would have been harder, no, impossible to block. But the attack was not blocked, it was simply avoided as Kensaki leaped over it and backwards easily out of Shins sword reach.

Shin couldn't worry about advancing, he was in mid roll as his opponent sent fourth an attack that was identical to the previous, only weaker. Shin came up to his feet safely.

Kensaki would notice two odd thing about Shins stance this time the firts being his eyes were still closed. Shin had no way of knowing that his sight would be back if he simply opened his eyes, nor did it matter at the moment. The second being that Shin now held his Katana in his left hand rather then his dominant right.

Shins stance was also similar to Kensaki's own with the majority of his weight on his back foot, the main differences being that Shins sword was held slightly above and infront of his head and with the blade turned towards the sky, the tip of the sword pointed at Kensaki. Shins left hand also gripped the very edge of the hilt with the mune of the sword resting on the thumb and pointer finger of his outstretched right hand. This was Shins second fastest and powerful attack in his arsenal, one that had neve been used other then in training with his father. Gatotsu.

Kensaki was glad for the short break in the combat, although he did not show it. He made the most of it by studying his opponent's strange new stance. It was similar in several elements to his own Star of Fate stance, but the position of the sword seemed almost favorable for stabbing attacks. He quickly weighed his own stance against it briefly, and was not well pleased with the possible results. Kensaki could see why the Tenken had chosen it against him, and after a few moments, had still come up with nothing to counter it.

But wait....could it work? Could the answer to this strange style be so simple? It was worth a try.

Without warning, Kensaki lunged at the Tenken, once again saving his Shinsoku to give him last burst of speed as he came within ten paces, sword held out behind him as if to make a slashing attack. If the Tenken didn't like Kensaki's last attack, let him try to anticipate this! At less than three paces, he suddenly swung his sword arm forward, hurling the shadowy blade at Shin's heart. Knowing that the Tenken would have to block his attack, he formed his left hand into position and focused all of his will into a nerve strike, aimed at a nerve cluster on the Tenken's sword arm. Were this attack to hit, it would render the muscles in his opponent's arm temporarily immobile.

Kensaki had hopes that the attack would be successful, but he assumed that the formidable warrior before him would find a way to defend against both the thrown sword and the nerve strike. It was for precisely this reason that Kensaki had already decided to use the Tenken's own strategy against him, as he prepared to unleash a violent flurry of constant attacks, coming from hand, elbow, knee, head, and foot, and all designed to do two things: keep the Tenken's sword arm at bay, and deal as much damage as possible.

With out yet opening his eyes Shin reacted with flawless percision in reaction to Kensaki's attacks. The sword had been hurled at an intense speed towards Shin, so fast that he was fored to abandon his stance and withdraw a step in order to respon properly.

The Shiden Blade came down at the last second, but also the scabbard came up to aid in blocking. This is why Shin needed that precious moment, why he took a step back instead of simply deflect the blade out wide of his heart.

Shin halted the momentum of the hurled blade simply by catching his opponents Katana in his own sheath, a feat that was near impossible, yet Shin seemed to do it with the utmost ease.

With a deft spin of his right hand he sent his opponents Katana out of his sheath and into the air. Shin then took another step backwards, bringing him out of Kensaki's reach.

What Kensaki would notice is that his blade would come back down hilt first for an easy catch it if he so choose. In essence Shin just did the same thing Kensaki did to him earlier, giving his opponent back his blade. Shins reason was far different though, he mocked him, it was plain as day with the smile he had across his face.

"Giving up already?" He goaded, bringing his weapon across to deflect his opponents attacks if Kensaki still choose to charge, all the meanwhile continueing to back-peddle away.

Kensaki grasped Darkstar's hilt as it came near his hand and assumed the Star of Fate stance. If the Tenken's strategy involved making him angry, then he would have a long wait ahead of him. Wrapped deeply in the Void, the goading barely even registered. If the man were truly as unimpressed as he seemed, Kensaki would have been dead far earlier. He had no doubt that the Tenken considered himself superior, was superior, Kensaki admitted to himself, and that he was still holding back part of his ability. Despite this knowledge, however, Kensaki still could not seem to keep the grin from creeping back onto his face, with or without the Void.

"How kind of you to return my blade" he said cheerfully. In the same lighthearted voice, he continued "If you think to repay a debt for my earlier action, however, you will unfortunately find that debt yet unsettled, for I am never truly unarmed so long as I have a part of Darkstar with me." As he spoke, Kensaki patted the folds of his robe with his left hand, gesturing to the tuning forks within. "To answer your question, no, I haven't given up. In fact, I'm just starting to enjoy myself. If you wish, you may open your eyes. You will find your sight restored."

He stood, poised for an attack, his face still twisted into a grin that seemed almost to contain equal parts amusement and malice; joy and bloodlust.

Shin was debating how much longer he wanted to drag this fight out. He possessed the means to drastically tip things in his favor, but his pide had a hard time admitting that the man infront of him was worthy of bearing wittness to anything other then he had alreay showed.

Poised to strike with a deadly stance of his own Shin replayed the fight in his head, analyzing every move his opponent had made. Looking for a flaw in the style that he could exploit. He gave up on trying to anger his foe, but perhaps there were other ways to get him to make a mistake.

"There is no need for me to open them." He said off-handedly while his mind focused on more important things.

Very well, he shall have his wish Shin decided. If Kensaki believed himself to be superior then Shin decided it was his job to bring the man back down to reality. No one was better then the Tenken, no one.

Shin was....gone. He came forward at a speed that far surpassed what either of them had previously showed, to make it worse he approached sixty miles per hour instantly with the use of Shinsoku. He combined the Iaijutsu attack with his dangerous speed, if Kensaki had blinked at all during Shins movement he would have missed it completely.

The attack was a killing blow, if it struck it wouldn't simply cut open Kensaki's stomach, it was sever his body in two.

Kensaki had less than a split second to register movement from the Tenken before the man was just suddenly.....there, swinging his sword in a slash that seemed destined to cleave two halves from a whole. Desperately, he leapt backward using Shinsoku, swinging his sword forward in an attempt to block. Kensaki's movement was so fast that an ordinary person might not even have registered it, yet it was too slow by far. While he had managed to avoid a killing stroke, the Tenken's sword had left a bloody gash across the front of his stomach.

Darkstar's song seemed almost muted, even mournful, as Kensaki straightened, blood darkening the front of his robes. From within the Void, physical pain meant nothing to him, but Kensaki felt a different, and far more potent form of pain, as the realization of how far above him the Tenken truly stood in skill struck home. All that registered on his face was a slight tightening of features; the seemingly joyful grin remained. Even as part of him was nearly ready to admit defeat against a far stronger adversary, the part of him that was responsible for the grin refused to back down. The dark, whispered voice echoed up from the depths of his mind, urging, pleading with him to continue, to attack, to kill. The small voice won out; it always did, in the end.

It was clear that in a contest of pure skill in swordsmanship, the Tenken had him far outclassed. However, in Kensaki's experience, skill with a blade did not always decide a duel. With a small start, he realized that he had already resigned himself to using it; it was an ability that he had hoped to never need to use again. The technique was the ultimate exhibition of Darkstar's otherworldly power, an attack so powerful that it could kill even if blocked. With a slight sigh, Kensaki reached into his robes to draw out yet another tuning fork, this one even smaller than those had had previously used. With no hesitation, he struck it lightly against his blade.

Immediately, a new song sprang from the vibrating fork, if it could even be called a song. The sound was pure chaos, seeming at once to have no particular pitch and every pitch ever registered by mortal ears. Fork held in his left hand, Kensaki launched himself at his opponent with every ounce of speed he possessed, blade poised for a slash aimed at the Tenken's midsection from right to left. He would follow it up with a seemingly desperate array of attacks, each more wild then the last, but all designed for a particular purpose. The sheer fury of the assault, even injured as Kensaki was, should keep the Tenken from being able to slash at him; however, the unguarded nature of his attacks left multiple, tiny openings on his left side for a piercing attack. Grimly, although still grinning almost madly, Kensaki attacked again and again, and waited for the moment the Tenken's blade touched his flesh.

A smile crept it's way onto the Tenkens stoic features, his attack... hadn't kill the man. What? That wasn't right! He had avoided it! No. He had been struck, but yet he still stood. Impressive.

Kensaki had managed to avoid the lethality of the attack, though Shin knew that if the wound went unattended it could prove fatal. But there was no more time for thought, Shin reversed the momentum from his previous attack as Kensaki came in with what seemed to be abandon.

There weren't many things as dangerous as a man who had lost hope, Shin assumed Kensaki now knew he was out classed and was making a last ditch effort. So be it.

Shin fairly easily evaded all of Kensaki's attacks. He was cautious of the deadly song that his opponents blade was singing, it was like the other songs he had produced earlier...yet it was different. Still, it had to produce some sort of effect and Shin had no desire to find out what that was.

Noting the holes left in his opponents defense Shin didn't hesitate, every time an oppening was presented Shin was atop it prodding with the Shiden Blade to try and score a hit, even if it was a minor one. Shin had the advantage at the moment, and every time his weapon scored a hit it would be that much less blood Kensaki would have. If the fight continued on he would eventually wear out....Shin could wait.

Kensaki noted each of the attack's that Shin made at his left side, instantly analyzing each to see if it would serve his purpose. None so far had been adequate, although several had drawn enough blood to concern even the most foolish warrior. As he continued his assault, he suddenly felt it; a thrust by the Tenken into the hardened abdominal muscles of his side, yet positioned in such a way that it did not threaten any vital areas beneath.

In an instant, the Tenken would notice that Kensaki's left hand, holding the fork only moments before, was now empty. Kensaki had lightly tossed the fork across his body and upward just as two other things happened: first, Kensaki's sword raised above him, as if for a particularly strong blow; second, his now empty left hand lashed out as quickly as a striking snake to grasp the Tenken's wrist, pulling him inward and trapping his blade inside of Kensaki's own body.

The fork seemed almost to scream its song as it flew upward to glance lightly off of Kensaki's outstretched blade just as it began to swing downward. Immediately the violent song began to eminate from Darkstar itself, although seemingly amplified to a nearly unbearable level. The jet black blade now vibrated visibly. As he swung Darkstar in a vicious arc, Kensaki spoke softly, almost to himself, as he prepared for the agonizing pain that would overtake him should his attack hit.

"Shouten"

If the attack hit the Tenken, if he even blocked it, it would eviscerate him. The incredibly violent energy that vibrated through the blade would transfer into his enemy, except amplified by the same factor as the transfer between fork and blade. No living tissue could survive such energy rampaging through it, and would begin to dissolve on a cellular level. Unfortunately, should the attack hit, a small amount of the energy released would backlash through the blade and into Kensaki himself. The backlash was far weaker than the original attack, yet the last time he had used it, it had been enough to cause hairline fractures through out the bones of his right arm and shoulder, and cause muscular damage to the same areas equivelent to being pummeled by a sledge hammer.

It was over Shin told himself. All I have to do is hold out long enough for him to slow from blood loss. That was the plan at least, until the unexpected happened and Kensaki kept the tip of the blade in him.

'What?' Shins eyes opened as he realised the folly of his attack, he had been being set up! Foolish of him, he should of jus ended it when he had the chance. Still, things weren't over yet.

"NO!" Shin literally screamed in Kensaki's face, he wouldn't allow himself to be beaten by an amature swordsmen. Mustering as much Chi as he could he raised his left hand above his head as Darkstar came singing down on him.

The same golden platform Shin has used to kick off earlier he now created before him, it's true purpose was revelied. A shield. It lasted only a moment, but timed rightly and it could deflect even the most extreme attacks, and just to be sure the shield was created at an angle to deflect at the same time.

The shield flickered into life at the exact right moment, absorbing the blow from the sword. What surprised Shin though was that the Toku Ranpu had been shattered by the powerful blow, not only that, but the vibrations from the sword were enough to cause Shins teeth to chatter together.

The advantage was his! Shin could see the backlash that coursed it's way up his opponents arm, it was a double edged sword. If Shin had been hit then Kensaki would have still felt the sting of his own attack. It was a brave move, one that garnered a little more respect from Shin .... but not enough to matter.

Withi his wepon still partially in Kensaki and using the advantage given to him by his opponents own attack Shin drove the blade home. Pushing it forward with his left hand to slice deep in his opponents abdomen. If all went well Shin would slash out to the side, creating another larg gash. Like the one Kensaki had taken earlier this one would only help the blood loss, ensuring death.

Kensaki could not believe the sight before him. His Shouten had failed. The first man who had heard its deadly song had been reduced to a form that was barely recognizable as human, but the Tenken seemed hardly affected. The shield had blocked the entirety of the attack, yet the backlash had still raced through Kensaki's sword arm, causing a fight ending injury even had he not already been bleeding from half a dozen wounds.

As the Tenken's sword slashed a bloody path out through Kensaki's side, the Void shattered, and the pain from his many wounds came crashing down on him like a Tsunami wave smashing into a cliffwall. Darkstar dropped from his now nearly useless right hand, its song coming to a halt as it came to rest. He sank to his knees, blood already darkening the ground below him, his breath escaping as a slow moan of agony.

He was dying. The realization came with neither shock nor regret. As he crumpled to the ground, Kensaki Kashou had time for one last thought. It had been worth it.