A few seconds passed, each one feeling like an eternity. The silence of the temple, broken only by Yuki’s heavy breathing, weighed like a leaden shroud. He gripped his sword with fierce determination, his eyes scanning the shadows in the darkness.
“Enough! Show yourself, oathbreaker!” he shouted, his voice echoing in the empty room. “Face me! Let your blood stain my blade!”
The silence was broken by a soft hiss, and then suddenly, a circle of fire burst from the ground, encircling Yuki. The flames danced around him, forming a perfect ring, like a barrier separating him from the outside world.
“Bold words,” sneered a familiar voice from the darkness.
Before Yuki, as if emerging from the flames themselves, Benkeï appeared, a malicious smile on his lips. He wielded his naginata, the deadly weapon that was half-spear, half-sword, gleaming in the firelight. His eyes, sharp and full of cunning, rested on Yuki with a kind of contemptuous calm.

“Come now, boy,” Benkeï murmured. “Show me what you’re made of.”
Yuki didn’t hesitate. He gripped his sword with both hands and, with a cry of rage, charged at his enemy with lightning speed. Benkeï, visibly surprised by the young general’s strength, struggled to parry the blows. Yuki struck with relentless precision, each movement as swift as lightning, years of training and suppressed anger unleashing in a series of furious attacks.
The strikes came so fast that a mere mortal couldn’t have followed them. Despite his experience, Benkeï was in trouble. His smug smile faltered slightly as he was forced to retreat, giving ground to Yuki’s onslaught. Enraged but perfectly controlled in his movements, Yuki left no opening.
With an agile leap, Benkeï retreated further, positioning himself at a safe distance. A fleeting smile appeared on his face, and with a wave of his hand, two fire clones appeared beside him. The fiery figures lunged at Yuki, but with swift, clean cuts, he sliced them apart without even slowing down. The flames dissipated in a shower of sparks.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Benkeï straightened up and took a deep breath. Then, with a powerful exhale, he unleashed a dragon’s breath, a stream of flames erupting from his mouth toward Yuki. The young general dodged with agility, throwing himself to the side, but Benkeï, skilled as ever, used the moment to regain the upper hand. He charged, twirling his naginata with alarming ease.
The battle became a deadly dance, blades whistling through the air, each strike accompanied by the crackling of the flames around them. Yuki, focused despite the pain pulsing through his bandaged arm, maintained his rhythm. But he could feel his strength waning. His injured arm trembled from the exertion, and he knew he couldn’t hold out much longer.
Benkeï’s strikes were powerful and precise, his naginata spinning as if it were an extension of his body. Yuki, sensing his fatigue creeping in, realized that now was the time to act. It was now or never. He feigned a lateral attack, one he had delivered a hundred times during the battle. But this time, at the last second, he shifted his angle, bypassing Benkeï’s defense and driving his blade straight into his abdomen.
Yuki put all the strength he had left into the strike. The impact staggered Benkeï, his face twisting in pain as he fell backward. Yuki, panting, his sword still in hand, watched as Benkeï’s figure collapsed to the ground.
But something was wrong. As Benkeï’s body hit the floor, it disintegrated into a cloud of ash… yet another clone.
Despair washed over Yuki. How is this possible? he thought. His legs buckled beneath him as exhaustion, compounded by his injury, overtook him. He fell to his knees, gasping, his strength draining away.
A soft, mocking voice echoed from the darkness.
“You fought well, boy…” Benkeï’s voice whispered, his presence almost ghostly.
Yuki tried to rise, but his body refused to obey. The pain in his arm and side had become unbearable, and his eyelids grew heavy. The world around him began to spin, and the last thing he heard was the soft crackling of the flames as they slowly faded.
Then, everything went black.
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