Chapter 11

**Beast and a Chain** is the eleventh chapter of *Tenkaichi Nihon Saikyo Bugeisha Ketteisen* and the final chapter of Volume 3.

## Summary

Hojo Ujimasa laughs about how they'll get to the Empress' true ability while the Fifth barks. Konoe Sakihisa questions what Fuma Kotaro was planning with that drug but Toda Shigemasa doubted it was a simple drug. As Yagyu Munenori notices the aura around her changed, Kotaro looks up at the sky and laughs about how her body feels like it can reach everywhere and that she can do anything now. As Kotaro laughs, Mori Ranmaru hides behind a tree, freaked out over how hard Kotaro is tripping. Guessing that was her trump card, Toda Seigen says it reeks of danger but as long as he has Zen, he doesn't plan on losing.

As Toda points his kodachi forward, Kotaro looks at him before instantly disappearing again. Having lost sight of her, Toda asks Zen where she is and Zen points to the side. As Kotaro jumps off of two trees, Toda moves to the left and inwardly asserts his **White Night's Eye** can see everything when Kotaro appears behind him as he turned. Kotaro punches with her right fist and Toda was able to just narrowly dodge, resulting in Kotaro taking off his left ear. Still laughing, Kotaro kicks this time and Toda, again, narrowly dodges, causing the kick to destroy part of his kimono. Not only is Kotaro fast but Shigemasa realises each and every single one of her strikes is powerful enough to kill.

Yagyu wonders what Kotaro did to herself as her already-heightened physical abilities are now beyond human. The **Fuma Drug Arts: Miyabi Orochi** series is a deadly poison with a cardiotonic effect, powerful enough to send an ordinary person into cardiac arrest. However, as a result of the swelling it induces in hemoglobins, to the point where blood becomes stagnant, those who survive ingesting the drug's contents gain the explosive power of a carnivore and the unlimited stamina of a herbivore. Thus, Kotaro has truly become the strongest beast on the face of the Earth.

Kotaro proceeds to punch again and Toda tries to block it with his left arm but is sent rolling across the ground. As Ranmaru and Konoe look on in shock, Shigemasa exclaims that Kotaro's movements are so quick that not even the **White Night's Eye** can keep up. As Toda slowly gets to one knee, Kotaro praises him, calling it a wonder he hasn't died yet. As she comments on how swordsmen seem to be good at taking it, Toda questions if she said something and Kotaro apologises since she forgot she blew out his eardrums.

Touching the ground, Toda suddenly feels something in the leaves and tells Kotaro it doesn't matter if she did say something. If this is all her trump card is worth, Toda claims he can beat her with no problem. Kotaro says he can talk a good talk, if nothing else, before charging head-on. As Yagyu and the audience realise she means to end this at once, Kotaro tells Toda to get crushed. Knowing now is the time, Toda pulls out a chain from under the leaves and wraps it around Kotaro's outstretched right arm.

As Kotaro realises this is the chain of the Fuma Shuriken she threw, Toda wraps the chain around his left arm, resulting in the two being locked into a chain death match. Lifting up his left fist, Toda says you have to keep beasts on chains. Yagyu is intrigued that he means to limit Kotaro's movements and has placed his stakes on a close-range fight, which he doesn't seem to be confident about. Laughing about how Toda thinks he's chained her, as her muscles expand, Kotaro declares she has chained Toda as she uses her strength to lift Toda up and throw him towards a tree. Knowing Toda's body won't stand a chance if he gets flung into a tree at that speed, Kotaro tells him to break already. But much to everyone's surprise, Toda lands on the tree.

As he groans in pain, Kotaro charges back in and is about to kill Toda with a punch when Toda questions Zen if this is really all he can do. Narrowly moving past Kotaro's punch so that it only cuts his left cheek, Toda zooms past her and uses **Blade of the Golden Bird King**, cutting the left side of her abdomen.

Toda then skids across the ground, leaving everyone in shock. Toda's **White Night's Eye** expanded so as to cover the entire Forest of Blood as a counter against Kotaro's long-range attacks. Now, however, he focused it solely on Kotaro, who was right before him. With its range contracted and its resolution heightened to its utmost limits, **White Night's Eye** captured not only the sound of Kotaro's breathing and the rustling of her clothes but also the creaking of her bones and muscles. And even further, it captured the firing of her brain's synapses.

Given rise from the space between the two being shrunk to its absolute limits by the chain, was the ultimate blank form of **White Night's Eye**, called **White Night's Eye: Thorns of the Web of Heaven**. Toda claims he can even see what Kotaro's next movement will be. The Fifth suddenly informs Hojo that Miyabi Orochi #6 has elevated Kotaro's blood pressure, meaning her wound won't stop bleeding. While he knows Toda has evolved since fighting in the Forest of Blood, Shigemasa is worried about how, the longer this goes on, Toda's broken ribs might damage his innards.

Kotaro believes Toda is bluffing about seeing her next move, only to be surprised when she says she'll move even faster than that by Toda saying it at the same time. The two then yell at each other to die as they move in.

## Appearing Characters

* ⁵ᵗʰFuma Kotaro
* ⁶ᵗʰFuma Kotaro
* Hojo Ujimasa
* Konoe Sakihisa
* Mori Ranmaru
* Toda Seigen
* Toda Shigemasa
* Yagyu Munenori