The last Amatsukami watched as snow danced delicately down from the heaven while the other combatants entered the arena. To his surprise the first person he noticed was an old rival he met once before in the citadel many months prior. Hayate bit his lip out of excitement to see Nosdyn brandishing his vibrant purple saber, forgoing all other combatants and specifically calling the shinobi out by name. If there was ever a time to see this big brute again he was at least happy it was here in the citadel where the penalty for death was negligible.

“Demon…” Hayate let the word slip his puckered grin. With one final peaceful breath the shinobi closed his eyes ready for the fight to break out. The crowd began to swell with excitement as Hayate open his eyes and broke out into a mad dash towards his rival. A lot has changed since they last fought and the circumstances were definitely more even this time around. As he moved he notice a handful of other combatants already engaged in combat, fighting it out on the outskirts of the rather large arena. In addition one soul stood out of the chaos, a warrior on horseback, an oddity.

With a flick of his metal wrist Hayate launched a flurry of shuriken towards Nosdyn. This was mostly an attempt to open him up for a more lethal blow, knowing fully that his rival had tanked much worse before. Three shuriken soared through the air like spinning razors aimed at the demon’s midsection with Hayate fallowing quickly in their shadow ready to deliver a strategic and deadly blow. He knew that Nosdyn would have a stalwart defense and anticipated it, opting to at the very last second leap over his head while twisting his form to cut him down with his bladed left arm.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, dare I say, friend.” He said as he landed behind the demon and rolled to safely just out of reach of any counter attack. He didn’t check to see if his initial assault had any effect but was ready knowing his odds of dealing a fatal blow that easily were slim. The crowd enjoyed his flare as they cheered and jeered, even if Nosdyn did not. “Let’s dance.”