Koutarou's defense is sharp, if unorthodox - his right foot comes up and kicks towards Masaru's guard. Still with the same motion, he spins on his foot and uncoils his sword into a whip, shooting it in a couple of quick lashes towards his sparring partner.

Masaru will quickly realize the issue of dealing with such a weapon. The way the tip coils about makes it difficult to deflect properly - a simple sideways block risks the whip wrapping around the sword. Conversely, if he merely dodges, the second lash may well come from a different, harder-to-predict angle.

On the plus side, the tip of the whip holds the most force - the middle and base are likely to hold less leverage by comparison, which makes the weapon deadlier at long-range, but not so much at close and medium range.