Martial Glory, Chapter 17

"Why the hell is my legs still bleeding," I muttered as I tensed my leg that had that weird thin cut on it and at my complaint, Shigure looked down at my leg.

"Ah... A blood thinner or anti-coagulant was used." She said with a small frown as she saw how blood was ceaselessly dripping from the thin cut.

"But I dodged her kicks. And she didn't even have enough martial voodoo crap to cut me like this with me dodging her kicks." I continued and she nodded making me look at her in confusion as she pulled me aside into the parking one of the parking garage's bathrooms. A woman's bathroom actually seeing as there weren't any urinals.

Shigure kneeled down to inspect the cut that had cut through my shorts on the outside of my thigh area and my eye twitched and I shivered as she ran a finger across the wound before sticking the blood-covered finger in her mouth and after a moment she blinked and nodded. "Yes... Blood thinner was used on the razor wires her master used on you." She spoke before looking at me flatly as she said. "Strip. I need to make sure, she didn't stick you with a poisoned needle... She is famous for her assassinations after all." Shigure said with no hesitation.

I paused for a moment... Really considering if I was going to strip buck ass naked in front of my female martial arts teacher. But honestly, I could tell there was no lust or judgment as she looked at me, she seriously just wanted to make sure I didn't get poisoned or something.

So I quickly stripped myself and covered my groin with my hands as Shigure inspected my form, and when she looked at my back she made a 'Ah' noise and I shivered violently as I felt her hand lay on my back and then I felt three pricks of pain lance through my back as Shigure spoke coldly. "Silver needles, hair-thin... Hollow pointed to carry dosages of poison or other toxins." Shigure's voice went cool as she muttered. "I thought I blocked them all." She sighed while I felt a cool feeling across my back weirdly.

"Jake, we need to take you to see Akisame, he will be able to purge you of any contaminants... So long as you survive getting to Ryouzonpaku." She finished with a slap to my back and without a word, I threw all my clothes on as quick as I fucking could.

By the time Shigure drove us back to Ryouzonpaku... I would love to say I was feeling fine. I would love to say I was just fine and dandy.

But I could easily feel a heat building in my body as a natural fever was building up and Shigure could tell as I hobbled getting off the tricycle we drove to the Kengan match. "Hmm... She overstepped, the other masters are not going to be happy either." She muttered as she all but dragged me to Akisame's clinic.

"Why does my back and chest feel cold?" I asked grimacing as although my my head was getting fuzzy from my coming fever, my chest felt ice cold for some weird reason.

"I used my ki to seal your acupoints... Your heart is only beating at half its strength, giving Akisame more time to diagnose you." She replied idly as she pushed me onto a padded bench in Akisame's clinic and when I was laying flat on it she stated cooly and quickly. "Stay... I am getting Akisame, take deep slow breaths like you are sleeping to lower your heart rate more." She ordered and then she blurred as she sped off faster than my eyes could track with the door making a harsh cracking noise as it slammed into the wall.

-

Shigure was beyond annoyed. Even as Akisame followed her at speeds only high-speed cars could match after seconds of acceleration Shigure's mind was flooded with heavy thoughts.

'The 'Black Widow' wouldn't attack one of Ryouzonpaku's disciples with a lethal poison... To say nothing of myself, but even Hayato Furuinji would make an example out of her as he rightfully fears a master or grandmaster assassin targeting his granddaughter.' Shigure thought as Ryouzonpaku had through great pains made the world well aware that the young disciples of the dojo were off limits.

Within not even three minutes after Shigure had left Jake and went to the big house and found Akisame. The duo were now leaning over and inspecting the now unconscious teen with Akisame sealing and activating certain acupoints to divert whatever substance the Black Widow had injected Jake with.

"Needles?" Akisame said shortly holding out a pad and Shigure took them out of a small metal match box case she had secured them within her bosom and Akisame looked at the needles under a microscope.

After a long moment without a word Akisame dipped the needles into a solution and then looked at the solution under a microscope for another long while before hissing and then pushed the microscope back with a large frown. "A virus? The needles were laced with a singular potent and highly aggressive virus of some sort?" Akisame said with a clear frown as he quickly walked over and began inspecting Jake whose body was twitching despite his sealed acupoints.

Which shouldn't have been possible with the precision he used to deaden the nerves and pinched blood vessels in the area. "The only people who can ignore their acupoints being shut off completely as I have done. Are two people... He is neither the Superman and not the Ogre." Akisame looked slowly over to Shigure to the side and said cooly.

"I will do all I can. Go, find out what the Widow injected him with, I can keep him stable but I need to find out what the virus is doing to him." He said with a clear frown and Shigure's hands balled shut in anger. As she couldn't help but feel like she failed Jake in not stopping those needles... Or just not letting him fight in general with the Widow's disciple.

Shigure nodded silently and with naught a sound she stalked off with her long sword naturally falling into her hand all the while she drew upon her ki to leap across the walls surrounding Ryouzonpaku and dashed into the city.

She needed answers.