Editing Cute Kunoichis:Volume2 Chapter3 (section)

===8: A Dogfight Sans Aircraft===

Sugiyado Souha had taught those four girls everything there was to know about being a ninja.

But he had never neglected their emotions in the process. He had not taught them to throw out those feelings. He had not let them become unfeeling murder machines.

So.

The boy who valued emotions to that extent would of course feel something here.

“You’re dead.”

“Oh, how fun.”

He jumped from the bulletproof car he had destroyed to reach the top of a 2-wheeled samurai mount, and jumped from there to the second-story pipes where Princess Karin waited. He was not supported by the high-polymer water-absorbing gel chemical winches or electric potential elastic belt cylinders found in Bara or Hoozuki’s ninja outfits. He pulled it off with pure martial arts taken to their extreme.

Princess Karin took a step back on a thick pipe running parallel to his and swung her hammer with a side throwing motion.

The tungsten steel nail hidden in the grip burst from within.

The hammer’s weight and centrifugal force flung it with more power than a simple swing of her arm could have managed.

And she had aimed for the moment he landed, making it impossible to dodge.

“!!”

The ninja boy swung his air pressure kunai to deflect the projectile, but she chose that moment to rush in. All ten of her fingers raced along the hammer’s grip. The movement was as subtle as a stage magician’s trick, but Sugiyado did not overlook it. She had loaded the hollow grip with a powder wrapped in thin paper.

(A blinding powder made from dried jellyfish tentacle!?)

Stingers like that did not fully lose their toxicity when dehydrated, so this was one possible use for them. If she swung her hammer from a few meters away, creating a cloud of toxic stingers too small to see, he would have no way to dodge or defend against it. A powdered attack was not something he could bring down with a swing of a kunai and losing his sight even for a second would mean death at the moment.

He had only one way of preventing her move.

(Make my own move!!)

He stepped forward to reach her before she could swing her arm. She made a last-minute alteration to her hammer’s path to block the kunai aimed for the side of her head.

The two metal weapons crashed together.

“Kh.”

“…!!”

The kunai and hammer pushed against each other while they glared at each other from point black range.

A samurai would use a single sword for attack and defense, but ninjas were different. Locking weapons was not enough to stop the flow of time.

Princess Karin’s foot aimed for Sugiyado’s shin, so he pulled that leg back out of the way, releasing their locked weapons. The hammer finally swung enough to scatter the dried jellyfish stingers contained in its hollow grip

But Sugiyado was not about to sit around waiting for that.

He ruptured the thumb-sized pack of nitrogen rapid-foaming agent used by the air pressure kunai to disturb the air in front of him. The dried stingers were no threat if they could not harm the mucous membranes of his eyes, nose, and mouth.

In fact, Princess Karin now had to do something about the stingers being pushed back her way. One always had to pay careful attention to the wind direction when using a toxic cloud.

“Tch!!”

With a wave of her heavy junihitoe’s large sleeve, she whipped up enough wind to protect her face. It was well done given how little time she had to react, but she had still given Sugiyado more time to move. Instead of forcing himself to run through the toxic cloud of jellyfish stingers, he threw a Fierce Fang toward her center line from a few meters away. He pictured it like jabbing her with a spear.

Sparks flew.

She had knocked the kunai from the air with her hammer and took a few steps back to put distance between them while she swung her blunt weapon like a baton.

“Hm, not bad. I had assumed you were no more than a pimp who ordered his favorite kittens around, but it seems you can do some things yourself.”

He did not dignify that with a response.

He wasn’t interested in listening to her until he had knocked out those pretty front teeth of hers and her bloody mouth was begging for her life, so he wordlessly readied a Fierce Fang in his right hand.

Nothing signaled the battle resuming.

Without hesitation, they both jumped sideways from the parallel pipes. In other words, into the air. They jumped from foothold to foothold – sometimes to a narrow elevated pathway much like a catwalk, sometimes a concrete roof, and sometimes a bit sticking out from the side of a vertical smokestack. They remained parallel to each other, judging the best timing to target each other.

Sugiyado Souha used his air pressure kunai.

Princess Karin used her hammer equipped with a gun barrel.

Both ninja weapons could be used at close and long range. A moment’s inattention would mean a hit to their vitals, but focusing entirely on that would mean missing their next footing and falling from a great height. It was like a dogfight with death. Their midair interplay of offense and defense was pulled off so smoothly it actually felt odd they had no wings.

And Princess Karin was not Sugiyado’s only enemy.

Her lips produced a bewitching whisper as she spun her hammer like a baton, waiting for the right moment to fire.

“Swift Foot, shoot down the intruder.”

A fearsome attack was launched up from a 2-wheel armored vehicle that looked like a cross between a slimmed-down steamroller and an armored warrior. The weapon resembled a modern bow, but it was actually a cross between a rapid-vibration spear with an ultra-flexible bow made from the same special stainless steel used in the springs for skyscraper earthquake countermeasures. The heavy weapon was capable of tearing through a tank or a 6-legged mobile fortress. Sugiyado performed a flip at the last second and saw the thick crane he had been using for footing partially torn away.

“…!!”

The destructive power rivaled a ship-mounted railgun.

Buffeted by the resultant winds, he veered away from his intended landing point, so Princess Karin directed the sinister hollow grip of her hammer his way from her own footing.

When had she even reloaded it?

The lit fuse gave off a pale orange light reminiscent of a lit cigarette. There was no trigger, so she only had to shove it into the hole on the side of the grip to light the gunpowder within.

(Here it comes!!)

He had no bulletproof equipment, so a direct hit from a ship’s artillery or an ordinary bullet would leave him just as dead. Still spinning through the air, he spread his legs to shift his center of gravity and take more unpredictable evasive action.

“Swift Foot, fire a second round.”

More firepower was launched from the snowy ground, but not to destroy Sugiyado or his next footing.

(The air. Will that change the bullet’s path!?)

The light gunshot was nearly drowned out by the larger blast from the ground. The metal grip had been hollowed out to act as a matchlock gun barrel. The bullet was tiny, but that allowed the wind to more easily alter its path and it pursued Sugiyado with a serpentine movement. Mechanical rifling would have given it ''too stable'' a trajectory. This trick could not be replicated with a cutting-edge assault rifle or anti-materiel rifle.

Still hanging in the air, the ninja swung his kunai.

Sparks flew.

He just barely managed to deflect the deadly bullet, but he was the one to frown when he landed on some metal reinforced by the pieces surrounding it like a jungle gym. This was exactly what Princess Karin had wanted. He had let her speed influence him. Even though he knew he could not keep up with cutting-edge equipment once he got used to the old-fashioned matchlock.

She said something while jumping to her next footing. Based on the movement of her lips, she said, “That’s one.”

At this rate, she would gradually throw off his senses until she could finally bring him down.

He needed to eliminate the teamwork between ground and air.

As he jumped around to rise from the third story to the fourth story, he subtly altered what kind of footing he chose. This gas turbine power plant was very obviously an away game flooded with enemies for him, but they could not afford to destroy a piece of their home infrastructure. He used the spacious power plant’s most dangerous flammable objects as a shield.

Also…

(I can choose areas where the path of the pipes would guide the secondary explosions toward her. She’s their temporary master and only princess. That should weigh heavier on the scales than just the facility.)

“Swift Foot, fire a third round.”

“!?”

“What, you think I would fear for my own life after setting foot on the battlefield? Frankly, I am offended you thought me a mere observer here to enjoy the show. Fire.”

He did not even have time to respond to her.

Cylindrical containers larger than school classrooms were lined up in a row. Those suction vessels took in air and mixed that with the city gas pumped in through pipes in order to produce the optimal flammability for use in industrial power generation. If they ruptured, they would spew toxic gas and a single spark of static would cause an immediate-

''Kaboooooooooom!!!???

Sugiyado had leaped into the air just beforehand, so the blast slammed into him and unnaturally extended his jump. The incredible heat prickled at his skin like needles and the noise left his ears numb.

At a fourth story height, he tucked his arms in and extended his legs to spin like a figure skater. He used the spin to stabilize his balance like a gyroscope.

“Tch!!”

“You should take this as a compliment, insolent fool.”

Meanwhile, Princess Karin remained on the same footing and spun her metal hammer like a baton. She did not try to pursue him. Was she going to throw the tungsten steel? Whatever she had planned, she was sticking to long-range attacks to cooperate with the gunner on the ground to hit him with the crossfire.

In other words…

“Because I have deemed the damage to this critical infrastructure a price worth paying for your defeat.”

She was not going to let this continue.

Now that she had guided him where she wanted, she would finish him off. The execution phase had begun.

But Sugiyado had never planned to let this last all that long either.

This was an away game for him.

(So!!)

He rapidly spun himself to secure the centrifugal force to throw a kunai like the hammer throw. Instead of aiming for Princess Karin at the same height as him, he targeted the deadly 2-wheeled Swift Foot mount on the ground. The kunai hit the armored arm at the shoulder joint.

It stabbed in.

The blade was forced open by the nitrogen, tearing the arm apart from within using 15 tons of force.

The weapon still had its bow at the ready, so what happened if its aim was thrown off and its finger slipped from the bowstring?

“Do it.”

“Ha ha!! Won’t be taken out so easily, will you!?”

The weapon’s shifted aim moved toward Princess Karin. Her junihitoe fluttered around as she swung her hammer to the side and moved to a different piece of footing. She demonstrated the impressive skill needed to dodge the all-destroying ultra-heavy metal arrow while also accurately sending out a tungsten steel nail, but Sugiyado had altered his spin when he reached out his arm to throw the kunai. The thick nail shot right past his face and then his sense of speed returned to normal.

Princess Karin was about four stories up after landing on the metal latticework resembling a jungle gym that surrounded and reinforced a round smokestack.

Sugiyado landed one step down on the end of a steel beam twisted by the Swift Foot’s attack.

They had both made irregular landings, so they were off balance. There would be no better chance to end this.

“!!”

“!?”

They were past trading words.

No more tricks either.

Sugiyado Souha’s Fierce Fang left his hand at about the time the flintlock bullet was fired from Princess Karin’s hammer.

The two intersected along the straight line path between the two of them.

However…

“Gah!?”

Scorching pain filled Sugiyado’s right shoulder and he nearly fell from his temporary footing.

Princess Karin grinned.

And.

Still smiling, she wobbled to the side from the hit to the center of her chest.

(…?)

She had subtly shifted her position at the last second. He had aimed for her solar plexus to knock her unconscious, yet she had taken it to her chest, which was even more risky. Had she wanted to take the blow where she had the greatest bulletproofing?

The jungle gym of a reinforcing lattice proved to be a poor choice. She was unable to recover her balance and fell limply out into empty air.

“…”

Sugiyado thought for just a moment and then threw another kunai. This time, he targeted the excess fabric of her heavy junihitoe. The blade pierced through and stabbed into the metal wall to pin her in the air, averting the plummet to her death.

“This is over.”

“Gh…”

He had been hit in the right shoulder, but the bullet had only grazed the surface. The bone and nerves were undamaged, so he could still fight.

“Now, it’s time to beg for your life. Take too long and your own precious clothing will strangle you. Struggle too much and you’ll dislodge the kunai and fall.”

But he did not actually have a good reason to care so much about defeating her. His promise with the old man had been about Murakami Michihiko who was alive and he had retrieved Ouka.

Why was he doing this?

Because if he kept the rest of the enemies focused on her, Ouka and the others could escape safely.

The soldiers and 2-wheeled mounts on the ground were locked onto him but could not fire. She had ordered her people to fire with no regard for what would happen to the gas turbine power plant, but they could not actually fire on their own master without direct instructions from her. She was a princess and that status meant something. Killing her could get their entire family slaughtered as punishment.

She was plotting something in this northern land, but he did not need to know the details. He had revealed the secret of the new power source using the underground linear motor train network. He could wait for Ouka to recover and then destroy their Achilles heel. They already knew how to defeat Yukizasa, Oume, and Princess Karin. They had the advantage.

Or so he thought.

But…

(Where’s Murakami Michihiko?)

This looked like illogical revenge.

He could not blame anyone for seeing it that way. And there had to be some kind of deep bond between Murakami Michihiko and Princess Karin. Enough to overcome their differences in ninja school and in position – one an inspector from Edo and the other leader of the Stonewalls. Sugiyado had never expected the young man to follow his instructions. Or more accurately, to ''only'' follow his instructions. No matter what he said, he would have second thoughts once he saw Princess Karin’s stronghold about to fall. He might not outright betray Sugiyado, but he would make some irregular action that trip Sugiyado up. And Sugiyado had expected that display of humanity would distract and rattle Princess Karin by stirring up some feelings inside her.

“…”

But after all this, nothing had happened.

Why wasn’t Murakami Michihiko panicking?

He should have been ready to protect her with his own life at this point.

And.

He had defeated and restrained their boss, so why wasn’t Amamo doing anything? That kunoichi was powerful enough to defeat Ouka, but she had yet to make an appearance. Holding something in reserve should have been meaningless when their big boss was about to be defeated. If it was true Princess Karin had poisoned her father to steal his authority as domain lord, then the collapse of her plan would get them all judged as traitors even if they surrendered. That would mean death for their entire family. He doubted Amamo would sit idly by and let that happen.

What could this mean?

“It can’t be…”

Just then, something slammed hard into his back.

A bullet had been fired into the very center of his back by a matchlock weapon with its power intentionally kept low. But this shot had not come from the surface. It had clearly arrived horizontally from the same height.

(Matchlock.)

He could not breathe.

His spine was damaged enough already and it cried in protest over something other than the weight limit.

(Fired from a hammer just like Princess Karin’s!?)

This had caught him completely by surprise.

He had failed to respond in time.

So.

His survival was nothing he had done intentionally; it was pure coincidence. The kunais hidden in the back of his short-sleeved dress shirt had just so happened to function as metal armor.

He was knocked off balance, but before his feet fully slipped from under him, he kicked off the bent and twisted steel beam to jump.

He heard the metallic clang of a strike from the hammer itself. His assailant had pounded hard on the footing he had just vacated. Had he been a moment slower, the assassin’s meteoric leap would have split his head open.

He brought his feet together to land atop a lightning rod and easily turned around.

That hammer was the same ninja weapon used by Princess Karin.

And the final kunoichi had never made an appearance before this.

There was only one conclusion.

There was another.

He saw a kunoichi in a junihitoe who looked identical to Princess Karin!

He did not know how deep the masquerade went. It could have been special makeup, or it could have been plastic surgery. Either way, the photo found on New Sapporo Castle’s classified server must have been replaced with someone else’s for security purposes.

At any rate, he made a split-second decision.

He adjusted his grip on his kunai.

“Was that a body double and you’re the real Princess Karin!?”

“Does it really matter?”

She twirled the hammer like a baton. Every little mannerism was the same, making it all very confusing.

“I have mastered Amamo’s techniques and Amamo has learned how to rule in my place, so either one of us can achieve the same results. Which one of us is Princess Karin and which one is Amamo is a mere triviality to us.”

That was when Sugiyado threw his air pressure kunai.

The 20-year-old in a junihitoe prepared to knock it from the air with her hammer, but then something unexpected happened.

Sparks flew further out in front of her.

A young man had moved between them in midair and knocked the kunai down with a long, silver-shining wind instrument.

This may have been the first time Sugiyado saw true surprise on the junihitoe woman’s face.

“Murakami, you dumbass!”

“What’s this, Princess Karin? I thought you always spoke like a proper lady in front of him.”

Sugiyado smiled a little. His attack had been blocked, but things were working out in his favor. The unverified information from Oume must have reached her, but actually seeing the young man was much more of a shock.

And in contrast…

“Sorry.”

The young man had a bitter look on his face.

He squeezed the words out toward Sugiyado like he was squeezing out his own blood.

“I’m sorry!!”

And.

However Sugiyado felt on the inside, his strategy required him to sneer at the young man here.

“How sweet. With bonds like that, I’m certain this is the real Princess Karin.”

Murakami Michihiko was not fully taking her side. He had saved her without thinking when he saw a blade headed her way, but he also knew what she had done.

(We each had a trick up our sleeve, but Murakami and Amamo canceled each other out.)

He could have ended up in a situation where he did not know which was the real one. Or they could have worked together like identical twins. They would have had several troublesome options available, so he was glad he had avoided them.

Who was an enemy and who was an ally?

The direction blades were pointed on the surface was a trivial matter in the ninja world. Sugiyado Souha had some feelings he kept on the inside here.

(This worked out well for me. You did a good job, Michihiko. I can see why that old man cared so much for you.)

A hesitant blade was a weak blade.

There had always been a chance that metal flute would be aimed at Sugiyado by the time this was over, but he had nothing to fear if he knew it was possible. He could give up on that young man’s help as long as he kept in mind the risk of an attack from an unexpected angle. Sugiyado already expected nothing from him while Princess Karin held onto some hope there, so they viewed the board and the pieces differently. She would never reach victory if she continued to fear a nonexistent ghost piece.

In other words…

(This is my chance!!)

Sugiyado had worked through a lot in his head, but very little actual time had passed.

He was only resting his feet atop a lightning rod, so he could not stay for long.

He aimed for the slight opening created in Princess Karin by the surprise appearance of Murakami Michihiko. He pictured it like hitting the baseball between two defensive players. Either one could catch it by reaching out their hand, but it passed through a psychological midpoint where they were both unsure if they should go for it or let the other go for it, ultimately just watching it fly by.

Also, Murakami Michihiko was in midair without any footing. He could not stay there for long and blocking that heavy attack had knocked him off balance.

So…

“Ohhh!!” roared Sugiyado.

“Move, Murakami!!” shouted Princess Karin.

The boy spread his arms like wings with a kunai in each hand, but instead of throwing them, he made a powerful leap. He aimed for Murakami Michihiko who had his hands full with the one attack. He was imbalanced in midair and Sugiyado Souha mercilessly placed his foot on his gut.

It was temporary.

It would not last.

But he was close enough to attack Princess Karin and with no one to get in the way this time. He would defeat her and end this conflict in New Sapporo Domain!!

“Kh.”

However, Princess Karin had to be equally aware how crucial this moment was. It did not matter if they were the home team or away team or if they were a group or an individual. At this moment, only their skill as ninjas would determine their fate and it would all fall apart if Princess Karin fell. Amamo had already been defeated, so that body double could not rule in her place afterwards.

Which meant she would use everything she had available to her.

“Activate, Tsuchigumo!!”

She held the hammer up to her mouth like a microphone and used the muzzle to vibrate her own voice at a set frequency.

More than an explosive boom, the air screamed with a shockwave. Then the entire world was twisted around. No, the entire gas turbine power plant was struck from below and all the structures within – the smokestacks, the turbine building, etc. – began to collapse one after another.

The earth swelled up like it was a living creature.

Was this the “terrain effect” that Amamo specialized in and Princess Karin had learned from her?

(This isn’t just an artificial earthquake caused by stressing the crust with explosives.)

This was their secret technique which had been described as a dragon hidden in the earth. This was the ninja technique that had defeated Elite Ninjas Ouka and Hoozuki.

“The single…”

He heard a voice.

It belonged to Murakami Michihiko who had said he was going to defeat Princess Karin, ended up protecting her at the last second, and then became a path for his ally to step on in order to cut her down.

But.

None of that meant he was without courage.

Someone without that would never hesitate and struggle like he had.

“The visible single-molecule magnets are only the ignition! They’re actually used to move enough of the bedrock to compress the underground water!!”

He had worried, hesitated, agonized, and struggled, but he had finally gotten the words out.

He might as well have been telling Sugiyado to survive and stop the princess.

Sugiyado would have to take on that task. The consistency of the samurai spirit was found nowhere in the ninja world. Sugiyado Souha was familiar with a much messier form of sincerity, but that messiness was what made it so genuine.

(I see. So it’s the same as a diesel engine. The immense pressure on the underground water causes it to rapidly heat and the steam pushes up at the ground!!)

Dirt swelled up from the ground like a tower or great serpent more than 10m tall, but the very tip had latched onto one of the 2-wheeled mounts.

The rapid-vibration spear attached to the great bow was brought to the same height as Sugiyado.

“Tch!!”

He was stepping on Murakami Michihiko in midair to bring himself in striking range of Princess Karin. Jumping back after all that would be the height of folly. For one thing, the mount’s weapon was a projectile, so more distance would mean nothing in midair with no cover to hide behind.

So…

“Go!! Stop the princess!!”

“That’s…the plan!!”

He took another step.

He kicked off of Murakami Michihiko’s stomach to leap toward Princess Karin who was also in midair. He pictured it like slamming his shoulder at the lower stomach to lift her up. He was already too close even for a kunai.

But at this point, he doubted he could stop the Swift Foot from attacking even if he used Princess Karin as a shield.

He had just one aim.

“Gah!!”

His shoulder hit.

He slammed into the arms she had crossed to protect her internal organs.

Even she groaned from that and they were both flung out into the air. The momentum of his tackle caused him to spin vertically, altering the vector of his curving path.

Then the mass of tungsten steel was launched from the special stainless steel ultra-flexible bow. A direct hit from that could pierce the armor of the Empire’s six-legged mobile fortresses, but was nothing to fear if the targeting could not keep up. And bows all shared a certain trait: once they were used, it took some time to ready the next shot. They could not pull off machinegun-style rapid fire.

The shockwave pushed tumbling Sugiyado and Princess Karin’s paths apart.

But for ninjas who used projectiles, being too close meant greater risk. The great tension of a Western duel ruled the area.

“This isn’t over!!”

Princess Karin had been thrown out into the air at three or four stories up, but she had not lost the will to fight. Her junihitoe flew as she used the muzzle of her hammer like a microphone to convert her voice into ultrasonic waves.

That action gave a special command.

“Lock onto the designated target and attack, Tsuchigumo!!”

But they were up in the air.

Even if she could control the earth like a living creature, there would be a time lag before it reached them here.

That gave him time.

“New Sapporo Domain Substitute Lord Princess Karin.”

Sugiyado Souha had been oriented upside down, but he lightly stepped on some footing.

He used the side of a tall smokestack that had been collapsed when the ground swelled up.

He gathered strength in his knees using the springs that took the place of his ligaments and he readied a Fierce Fang once more.

And he spoke.

“Prepare yourself.”

He launched himself like an artillery shell and crashed into Princess Karin for a midair tackle.

While striking her with the bottom of his kunai’s grip.