Koutarou tried, best as he could, to use his forward momentum and turn it into a spin as Masaru countered. The idea backfired - Masaru's slash had been more precise and from a blind spot, plus his timing was nothing if not perfect. Instead of a minor rip to the back, Koutarou ended with a large gash to his uniform from shoulder to waist.

His skin underneath was still untouched, however.

(It should be noted that Chinese styles included more acrobatics and precision strikes than Japanese - at least, the faster Kung Fu varieties did - which placed stark contrast with the more mechanical and focused slashing varieties of Japanese styles, but the martial arts geek in me digresses.)

As he spun, Koutarou crouched a bit. His leg shot for a sweep in an attempt to use Masaru's forward momentum against him. Springing forward by shifting his weight forward from his support leg, the Vice-Captain followed that sweep with an attempt to elbow Masaru's midsection, using the reduced range between them to either prevent a counter from his katana or force him to draw the wakizashi to ward off attack.