_________ POV Narration_________

Jimpachi was struggling... Hard.

His enemy, the mad suicide bomber, was just having a jolly time making fun of him, completely uncaring for his own fate.

Jimpachi could already tell that the man wasn't a clone of any kind he knew, so he was sure he was speaking to a real person... So why was he that confident?!

Did the Dark Brotherhood really have such madmen? It sure fits the rumours surrounding them anyway...

But Jimpachi knew that he needed to do something. Or at least try. He could tell that his comrades weren't going to have any better of a time.

Unfortunately for him, as he was wasting time wracking his mind for answers, the Strawman Assassin in front of him decided to act.

"You know, this entire thing becomes a lot more boring if you decide to just stop engaging with me and close off..."

The masked strawman sounded almost offended behind his refined facade. He slowly started doing some hang signs, one that Jimpachi recognized to be of a Fire Style Jutsu, which made him immediately become wary.

"W-wait?! Are you clinically insane?!? You'll kill us both!" Jimpachi was not the type to parlay, he didn't like speaking to enemies, and he didn't like explaining himself.

He was as straightforward as the ability of his Blast Sword...

But the current situation forced him to not only speak with his opponent but actually plead with them.

"Anxious are we?" The Strawman seemed to finish his hand signs, his hands were still together.

"Y-you don't have to do this! No one's forcing you to throw your life away!" Despite the panic and the fear, Jimpachi still tried to prepare his own jutsu, something to protect himself with as the world around him blew up.

"Really now? Are you saying the two of us can escape together or something?" The Strawman seemed to very much enjoy playing with the Mist Swordsman's mind.

Jimpachi's ability was among the strongest among his peers, seeing him so helpless and afraid was both unexpected and extremely satisfying.

In all honesty, Saburo had expected Jimpachi to try and pull something by that point. But the Mist Swordsman was uncharacteristically reserved now.

'I guess Leader was right... This guy doesn't have that extensive of an arsenal Jutsu-wise... Take his explosions away and he's pretty much defeated.'

Still, Saburo had expected the explosive Jonin to be a lot more... Prideful? Calm and collected? Less panicked at the very least.

'Well... I guess facing death and helplessness in such a way will make him act a bit different from the norm... Disappointing still.'

"Yes! We can escape together! W-we can go to the barrier a-and I can blow it apart and we can both go our own way!" Jimpachi was clearly desperate, even if he was a Jonin, he couldn't hide it properly, especially not from someone like Saburo...

"Oh? Are you going to leave all your comrades behind as well?" The Strawman sounded 'shocked' as he spoke out, his hands were still together, he had yet to fully complete the technique he had been cooking up.

In truth, he wasn't even preparing any jutus, he was just psyching Jimpachi up by pretending to do so.

Jimpachi's trial was more of a mentally gruelling one. Forced into a place of helplessness, played around with like a little rat in a cage.

There was no feasible way out for him, and he had no definite way of surviving.

"W-well... It's safe to assume the others aren't doing much better than me... I doubt any of them will survive... But I-The two of us still have a chance!"

Jimpachi seemed to be gaining confidence, seeing that the masked assassin in front of him wasn't outright refusing his suggestion.

But his hopes were soon dashed, as another figure appeared on the field.

"This seems to be going about as well as we expected it to..." It was an appearance so sudden that the Blast Swordsman first heard his voice before actually taking notice of him...

It was none other than Ken, standing right by his side motionlessly.

"Well, his character is quite predictable, Leader... He is extremely simple-minded..." The Strawman Assassin simply shook his head and shrugged.

Jimpachi gulped as cold sweat filled his back.

'These fuckers... They're just playing with me...'

He was panicked, maybe simple, maybe a bit insane... But he wasn't stupid enough to not realise what was happening.

'But...'

"Hehehehe..." The Mist Swordsman released a peal of insane laughter as he looked at Ken, who stood by his side.

"I may be 'simple-minded'... But do you think it was a good idea to walk into the deathtrap you prepared for me?!?!"

'That's right! This is my chance to take down this beast! If I am destined to die here regardless, I'll at least pull the two of them in hell with me!'

Without any hesitation at all, Jimpachi raised his blast blade and smacked it into the ground.

His speed was great, but it was really nothing to Ken, who just let him do his thing.

"Figures..." The Strawman clone just shook his head.

The very second that the explosions started, the clone seemed to fall apart, straw and dry grass coming off of the mummified corpse that Saburo had been manipulating.

Ken only snorted a bit when he felt the heat of the explosions reaches his skin.

'As if something like this could actually injure me, let alone kill me...'

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The Assassin's skin was immediately covered in scales, his body becoming beast-like in nature and growing muscles at an inhuman rate.

The transformation was instant. The toughness of his scales made the explosions feel more like a slight breeze, and the heat they produced like getting a very weak tan...

The explosions raged on for a few seconds, the entire forest around them being blown apart as the mine field responded with a chain reaction that shook the very earth around them.

As the explosions died down, Ken just swiped the smoke away from around him with his tail, blowing apart the cloud of black dust and soot around him with ease.

Looking to the side, he felt Jimpachi's body land on the ground with a slight thud. His body was clearly half charred... And he was surprisingly still breathing?

"C-cough*" The Mist Swordsman was certainly resilient, much like his companions... But he was only alive due to luck, and not for long.

Ken feel him unleash a second explosion during that entire madness... He likely used it to propel himself into the air in a desperate bid to avoid the inferno down below.

He was only partly successful, hence most of his stomach being brunt and sprawled on the ground, and his legs missing.

"Seems you managed to kill yourself... You really are simple-minded and predictable... You only managed to kill a special clone in the end...

Although, technically, the original dispelled it before you did kill it..."

Ken didn't really bother holding back, mocking the man in his dying seconds.

Jimpachi's eyes would've widened greatly if he still had the energy to spare for that.

'W-was that all for nothing? My life... Was worth nothing in the end?... Shit...'

Jimpachi could only feel regret and anguish in his last moments. He wanted to speak out, to lash out against the Red Dot for one last time... But his mouth was no longer working.

That was the way Jimpachi died. With nothing more than a sad whimper, as well as signs of useless struggle against an unavoidable fate.

However, Ken could still take some small amount of pleasure from feeling his last emotions...

'Getting him to kill himself was indeed more satisfying than just doing it myself... But this still doesn't feel like enough...'

The Blind Assassin's skin turned back to normal as he unsealed his Tenketsu. He slowly crouched down and grabbed the Blast Blade.

Just holding it felt repulsive, but Ken knew better than to throw away a good weapon. It was just a tool at the end of the day.

And so, Ken just placed the tool in a separate scroll, before placing the scroll back into the seal on his wrist.

He also took out another cloak, as his current one was mostly just a tattered rag no thanks to the explosions from earlier.

His other clothes were fine, albeit slightly burnt, Nature Energy seemed to have protected them as well. He had spares to wear, he had prepared them, but there was no need for now.

'Onto the next one... Jūzō Biwa, Akira should be handling him right now...'

__________ A Few Minutes Earlier*

While Jinpachi was struggling for his life. Trying to desperately plead with the Strawman.

Jūzō was still struggling against his opponent.

No matter how much he cut, no matter how much his blade chipped and healed itself with his opponent's blood, his enemy was still standing.

He was also growing desperate. He did think about trying to flee and even attempted it a few times.

But each time he tried to do so, his opponent would just drag him back to the place they started.

Not by using some Genjutsu, or some complex tactic... He quite literally grabbed Jūzō leg and dragged him back as one would a child. Laughing all the way as he did so.

Jūzō had also tried using the 'Hidden in Mist Techqniue' to flee, but the immortal he was fighting did the exact same thing as before, just in the mist.

His Silent Killing techniques, the things he had poured his life and soul into learning, were all useless.

His opponent was just not bothering to stop his attacks. Be it water dragons, water waves, slashes, decapitation... The beast just regenerated instantly and mocked him for even trying.

Jūzō had also tried to trap the beast, as he wasn't one to give up easily. But the beast also had overwhelming strength, to the point where he could break out of the Water Prison with ease...

The Mist Swordsman simply wasn't fighting a human...

It wasn't long before he realised that, despite technically landing more severe hits on the 'Third Blade' he was still nothing more than prey in front of the assassin.

His death warrant was signed from the moment the fight started. Hell, it was likely signed the moment that the red barrier covered the sky...

Jūzō Biwa's trial wasn't just one where he faced an opponent that regenerated much like his blade... But it was also one where he face an opponent both more brutal, and psychotic than him.

At that point, all he could do was struggle madly... But even struggling wasn't helping in any way. It just seemed to make his enemy more pleased...

Jūzō liked to think of himself as intimidating, as a sadist, he had built up the reputation of a person that inspired fear...

But as his hopes of getting out alive were slowly waning, and despair was setting in, he was also realising that his cruelty and sadism were nothing in front of the Third Blade.

He hadn't met his match, he was completely outclassed in every single category conceivable.

And slowly, but surely, Jūzō was actually growing tired.

A few full minutes of swinging his massive blade around wouldn't have tired him in any way in the past, but the current situation just made his blade feel heavier...

The sword that constantly healed itself was becoming more and more like a heavy hunk of iron.

The mental strain of seeing everything he had be shrugged off, the futility of the entire situation, the uncertainty that it all gave him... It made him stop in his tracks.

And at that moment... A large explosion rang into his ears, a shockwave rushing over his entire body as a large explosion occurred in the distance...

It made him lose his balance, and in that moment he fell on one knee, plunging his blade into the ground and using it as support.

And he didn't get up...

"That's it? Out of wind already?" And the Third Blade made it a point to sound as disappointed as he could.

Jūzō grunted as the beast he was fighting didn't even sound slightly winded...

'Kushimaru always said that making an enemy bleed means killing them is possible... What a fucking joke...'

He had gone and lost all hope, despair fully set in.

What was the point of continuously swinging his blade? What was the point of struggling so much?

He was just pushing against an immovable wall... And what was behind that wall anyway?

A fucking red barrier that he didn't even know if he could escape out of...

But even if, by a god-given miracle he actually got through the beast in front of him... There was still no chance in hell or high heaven that the Red Dot was going to allow him to leave...

'We are all just playing into his hands... Struggling in a senseless battle...'

He knew from the explosion from earlier that one of the other Swordsmen was already dead. Jimpachi was sure as hell not able to make an explosion that big...

'It's likely Jimpachi that got killed by an explosion now that I think about it...

Just like I am going to die at the hands of a man that can regenerate much like my own blade...'

His current bout of depression didn't even let him think of the possibility that any of the other 7 Swordsmen were going to survive.

He had started feeling a deep fear from the moment that he saw the Red Dot... Hell, he had a brooding sensation from the moment that the Red Dot had made a name for himself...

Now? Now he was just going to become a head served on the platter for a monster.

"I see you lost all passion for our little dance..." The Third Blade simply shook his head, fully disappointed.

His clothes were a mess, filled with holes and blood, but his body was spotless.

Akira walked up to the Mist Swordsman, smiling underneath his mask.

'That went far better than our Leader had predicted...'

"Seems like things are about done here as well."

Jūzō's very spine trembled when he heard that voice. The same voice that he still had nightmares about...

The same muffled giggles he heard whenever the old wounds on his neck started flaring up...

"Leader! Everything's going swell, just a bit hungry here. This guy gave up already, he was pretty boring to fight too!" Akira immediately bowed to Ken, greeting him with respect.

Jūzō Biwa's eyes darted to his side, where the Red Dot stood straight, towering over the kneeling Mist Swordsman with a tilted head.

"You did an amazing job breaking his spirit... You should go eat, wouldn't want you going feral right now." Ken nodded to Akira, who just laughed a bit and waved at his leader, before turning around and simply leaving.

The Mist Swordsman didn't even react to that... He already knew that the Third Blade had seen him as nothing but a toy the entire time...

The Third Blade seemed like the type to break his toys. But it was clear that he wasn't supposed to be that man's toy...

No, he was just the Red Dot's prey.

"You..." Was all Jūzō could muster as his dejected eyes looked up at Ken.

"Hmmm... You were a disappointment through and through... I will give you one chance to redeem yourself though..."