Sensing his opponent's movements, Eric had to think carefully about his next move. His opponent's most critical asset were his eyes, and regardless of those kunai, he was going to use them. He could attempt to use fuinjutsu again, but he did not want to be predictable. His opponent had a very wide array of potential moves that could counter his; this had been proven the last time they fought. And once again, a drawn out fight was not to his advantage.
He needed to get rid of those assets. But how? He could temporarily blind him using the hiding in darkness technique, but based on his flight pattern, Ichirou already had a general idea at least on where Eric was. That meant that he was very likely to throw those kunai at him.
Which meant he needed to act soon, or lose the element of surprise. Performing the rat handseal, the man would manipulate the necessary shadow cover (which again, blankets the entire battlefield, including Ichirou's "own" shadow if you will) in order to attempt two things.
One, he would attempt to create a series of very sharp, very pinpoint shadow needles that would be aimed to pierce both of Ichiriou's eyes. Because of the proximity of the shadow, it would take beyond lightning reflexes to take the time to physically dodge the attack, and merely blinking would not help. Indeed, by the time Ichirou saw the chakra manipulating the shadow needles suddenly appearing in a threat-like fashion, it would be too late for most things. Even Kamui would not be fast enough to warp him away to safety, although it might be fast enough to warp the actual needles away if Ichirou had few concerns about the dimensional portal opening so close to his pupils.
This first phase would be helpful to pass, but Eric's main bank was on the second phase. At the same time as the first, a second series of tendrils, thicker and more numerous, would descend from the shade of Ichirou's hair, intending on drilling into his skull and severely injuring him if not out right killing him. The speed of this attack would be similar to the last, but because most of these were happening out of Ichirou's line of sight (unless he could see the top of his own head, since Ichirou's hair is cut relatively short) it would be unlikely that Ichirou's counter for the first attack would also be intended to deal with the second.
Nara-Ryū no Sairento Kiringu; Nara Style Silent Killing
Eric knew that this was a rather underhanded attempt on Ichirou's life so early in the fight, but he had no wishes for a drawn-out fight. If Ichirou were to dodge, then he would be tensely prepared for the counter-attack, and for his own follow-up. He would need to keep up a strong, dangerous momentum in order to avoid stagnation, and preferably, avoid being forced onto the defensive. Such was the order of the day, for now.