But it was too late. Toru had come up from behind and grabbed Jack in a bear hug, pinioning Jack’s arms to his side.

‘What are you going to do now, Gaijin Jack?’ taunted Kazuki, who was watching with unrestrained glee. Behind him, Yamato backed away into the shadows in an attempt to distance himself from the escalating fight.

Toru’s grip tightened and Jack’s breath was crushed from his body. Jack felt himself passing out, but Toru’s grip eased as the great brute let out a wounded groan.

Akiko had kicked him with ushiro-geri, a spinning back kick, the most powerful kick in taijutsu. It had struck Toru straight in the side. Any normal person would have crumpled under such a direct hit, but Toru only loosened his grip slightly and glared at Akiko.

So she followed it up with a mawashi-geri, roundhouse kick. Ready for the attack this time, Toru spun round and put Jack directly in its path. Akiko, desperately attempting to avoid Jack, lost her balance. Toru trapped Akiko’s flailing leg with one arm, while keeping hold of Jack with his other.

Once he had them both under his control, he slipped his left arm up Jack’s chest and encircled his throat. Toru then began to throttle Jack.

‘Stop it!’ cried a distraught Kiku, Yori frozen in wide-eyed alarm next to her. ‘Yamato, help them!’

But Yamato, ignoring her pleas, retreated further away from the brawl. Meanwhile, Kazuki and Nobu were delighting in the spectacle, urging the cousins on and taunting Jack.

‘Haven’t you learnt anything, gaijin? Any real samurai would be able to fight their way out of that,’ Kazuki sneered.

‘Come on, Toru, snap him in half!’ shouted Nobu.

Toru tightened his grip round Jack’s throat and Jack choked. But Toru’s throttling was the least of Jack’s worries. Raiden, with both fists raised, was heading straight for him.

Jack, still pinioned by the iron grip of Toru, and realizing he only had his legs to defend himself, clamped his hands on to Toru’s arm, pulling it down just enough to snatch a breath. Then, using Toru’s arm for support, he lifted himself off the ground, simultaneously firing off a double mae-geri, front kick, from each leg. The move was totally unexpected and Raiden, being a fraction too slow to react, was pummelled in the face. He stumbled backwards, bringing his hands up to his flattened, bloodied face.

Saburo spotted his chance and shot out a foot, catching the back of Raiden’s legs, who tripped over and bounced off a sakura tree. The tree shuddered. The force of the impact dislodged a paper lantern that dropped straight on to Toru’s head.