"Ha ha, I declare you the strongest!" Klautz mad laughter didn't seem to cease. He kept on deflecting his punches all the while swinging his own sword.
All of Klautz's enemies before were nothing compared to his battle with Steve.
Klautz's Shinobi Days? He used to assassinate rather than to fight.
Lewis? He was but a small fry who relied on numbers alone. He couldn't even endure one swing of Klautz's sword.
Evelyn? She was but a cockroach who was only good at running away with an annoying skill. She might have escaped from Klautz's grasp but that didn't made her any better.
But when it came to Steve… the battle made adrenaline pumping in his blood vessels like a fountain... his heart beat increased... He was literally enjoying the moment as he went went on a frenzy.
He was up against a foe… in a battle that could cost him his life. And neither did he have any traps nor any plan Bs this time. It was a battle purely based on instincts. No… he hadn't even got any opportunities to make a plan B. Before he could do the match had commenced.
After all, he had not predicted such a boost in Steve's strength. Who could have guessed Steve possessed such a mysterious skill?
Steve could only smirk at Klautz's mad laughter, but deep down he was anxious. He knew he had but little time left.
[Time remaining: 00:59]
'The counter has fallen below the one minute mark'
Not only that! Little by little he felt being pushed back by Klautz.
The life and death struggle had caused alarms to ring in Klautz's brains. Owing to which his body was adapting to the situation fast. Steve's punches didn't seem much haphazard to him anymore as he could perceive the subconscious pattern in them.
By now he had got used to his patterns. That aided him in dodging those attacks of his, only coming off with minor scratches.
Little by little with the adrenaline taking over his body he grew fiercer. Now he wasn't dodging anymore but landing attacks as well.
'Let me enjoy this.'
Klautz had changed his strategy dropping the older one. He wasn't looking to knockout Steve with a single slash anymore. Since, he had realized that he would not be able to get in Steve's blind spot as long as Steve is in his prime.
Now, he wasn't looking for a hole in his defences to strike, rather he was fighting with all he had got. Till now Klautz was fighting on the defensive looking to kill his opponent in one swoop. But now? He went on the aggressive.
But that doesn't mean he was fighting in an animalistic way. Unlike Steve, he was still fighting all the while maintaining proper stances and slashes. These techniques were ingrained in his body by this point and it was hard for him to let go of them.
[Time remaining: 00:55]
'Time is running out. I have to do something,' Steve thought.
He slowed down his barrage going more on the defensive as he blocked Klautz's sword slashes with his gauntlets. Till now he wasn't even caring about Klautz slashes taking it on his arms relying on his high [Defense] stat. But now he had a change of ways.
The battle had a weird turn of events. It was like both of them had switched their fighting strategies with each other without even realizing it! It was as if they had perfect harmony!
But Steve had ulterior motives. He wanted to have Klautz under the illusion that Klautz was pushing him back. Or that is what Klautz had deduced.
And as Klautz had guessed, out of nowhere Steve increased his punching barrage in a sweeping burst to catch Klautz off guard. This might have worked on some. But alas It didn't work on Klautz who was already prepared. Klautz dodged most of them while himself slashing a few times at him.
A deep wound on Steve's arms was cut open as he wasn't invested in defending against Klautz's slashes.
"Do you think that would work on me? I have my eyes on you!" Klautz smirked.
Klautz wasn't joking when he claimed that he had 90% of his focus on Steve's punches.
"Oh you sure have," that is when Steve kicked him in the gut instead. The moves before were just a pretext to distract Klautz and he was caught in it.
Klautz, who had assumed that Steve would have used his fist alone, didn't prepare for the oncoming kick.
"Ugh"
*Crash*
He flew in the air with the kick and crashed against a giant leafless tree.
The weak and lifeless tree uprooted from its base and tumbled over.
*Thud*
Dust swayed as it covered up Klautz hiding his visage.
*Cough*
Klautz coughed out blood as it dyed the dry soil in front of him finally giving it some nourishment.
Since his ninja days, Klautz had rarely fought frontal battles. He had always sneaked and killed. But even then he had trained himself meticulously in Ken jutsu so much so that he even dreamed of it in his nightmares.
Kenjutsu involved complex breathing techniques along with sword mastery which was considered a very difficult martial form but through meticulous practice Klautz had mastered it. But alas he had left himself with no room for creativity as like every ninja he had followed the techniques like religion.
That was why Klautz couldn't doge Steve's kick. Steve was a fist user and Klautz had never thought that Steve would let go of his martial form so easily.
'Till now I have never been able to do so.'
Ken Jutsu was ingrained in his muscles so much that Klautz could not deflect from it no matter how much he tried.
"I too want to use something else," he voiced out his heart's deepest desire as he stared at the mist of dust that had formed around him. Somehow he wanted to evolve into someone who was not a 'ninja', who was not a mere tool.
***
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