It seemed all it took to break herself of that bloodthirsty trance was the call of her comrades, urging her to flee instead of fight. Made since to retreat now, as the streets were practically overrun by the ghastly wooden creatures, that wretched laughter resonating around every corner and precipice. Asuka quickly turned around and gave a swift nod to Kaede-dono, where upon she witnessed her half demon comrade besieged by the lethal barrage of soaring blades. Kaede had shrugged them off though, merely as the quills of an agitated porcupine. She indeed was legendary for such a high threshold to pain, much more than being a brilliant tactician and a fearsome warrior.

"Kaede-dono, are you alright?" Asuka examined the wounds on the woman's back, viscous crimson blood seeping through the shredded and tattered dark blue kimono the warrior adorned, nearly half of it was gone. "I apologize for holding up our escape, that I do. I was not aware of what came over me." In truth though, Asuka was well aware of what befell her. Following alongside the women in a frantic sprint and cutting through a sidestreet Kaede-dono had pointed out, the ronin made her utmost responsibility to keep guard over the fellowship, finishing off what remained of the armed regiments of wooden soldiers in quick fashion, easily slashing her way through thick walls of puppets and leaving none standing. How could it be there were more, even after she and Kaede had slain damn near half the ranks of these infernal creatures. There was more to this antic than simple Ninjitsu. Asuka could sense there was foul magick at play.

And her assumptions were correct, for out of the corner of her eye as she was in dead sprint, she witnessed the horrible secret of these puppets, observing as their limbs pieced back together and they stood once more ready to kill. "Kaede-dono! I believe our enemy is far from finished, that they are!" The clatter of their wooden joints echoed about the thin alley and suddenly more had emerged up front, close within striking distance to the Princess! "Miko-dono! Watch out!" Asuka leapt above the group and her feet met the walls as she vaulted from it and decapitated the attacker in one strike. There had to be a better way to deal with these damn things instead of hacking them to pieces and allowing them quarter to rebuild. Wait, what was that? Her eyes quickly affixed to a stand, mainly the clay jar filled with a sort of translucent liquid, and by the pungent odor, Asuka knew what it was, lantern oil. "That's it!" She hastily snatched up the jar, pouring its content onto her sakabatou and sheathing the blade. "Go you must! I'll finish them shortly! Guard Hime-dono!" Taking up a well known stance of kenjutsu, her hand hovering and poised above the hilt of her katana, legs and feet positioned for the ample amount of leverage to deliver her attack, and a fearsome glare cast unto the pursuing puppets. "Your companions are indeed frightful, that they are Hanzo-san, but I alone have discovered their flaw!" 

Then, she drew her blade swiftly and...

*FWOOSH!!*

The sword ignited into a bright and searing burst of flames, the hellish glow engulfing the blade. Asuka's swift and deadly blows were an infernal nightmare to the puppets, now fleeing from the blazing heat of her blade, their allies not so lucky, reduced to smoldering piles of ashes in no less than a second. Once the last had been burned to nothing, Asuka sheathed the burning katana, squelching the flames before she continued onward to catch up to the rest.