The torrential rain raged in the darkness, icy droplets lashing the earth.
A fierce battle raged amidst the mud and shattered stones, each collision between the two figures sending up sprays of freezing water and clinging muck.
Shinichi was drenched, his torn haori and uniform revealing small wounds that stung under the relentless downpour.
Yet his movements showed no hesitation—his green blade flashed like lightning amidst the storm, slicing through the rain as he aimed strike after strike at Maito's vital points.
Maito's crimson armor was now crisscrossed with deep gashes, the deepest cuts exposing writhing red flesh and glimpses of pale bone beneath.
His regeneration could no longer keep up with the damage Shinichi inflicted.
Yet, far from fear, Maito's golden vertical pupils burned with near-manic excitement… and something else—a faint, almost imperceptible sense of relief?
"Is this all you've got, Shinichi?!" Maito's bloodied blade deflected a vicious thrust, the sheer force sending Shinichi stumbling back.
Seizing the moment, Maito roared, his voice piercing through the rain.
"Think of that girl—Shinobu Kocho, was it? Picture her in those final moments! Was her blood warm? When I ran her through, did her eyes look desperate?!"
BOOM!
The words struck Shinichi like a hammer to his skull.
Maito's taunts were a dagger twisting in his heart, the pain so sharp it stole his breath.
Against his will, his mind conjured the imagined scene—Shinobu lunging at Maito, her body impaled, the explosion of the gunpowder sphere.
It was the clearest nightmare, seizing his thoughts in an instant.
The bloodstained butterfly-patterned haori, those shattered violet eyes…
An indescribable fury and agony tore through the last shreds of Shinichi's restraint.
"SHUT UP!! SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!!" Shinichi's voice was raw with rage.
Deep within his eyes, the suppressed crimson glow stirred once more, threatening to consume his sanity.
Threads of scarlet light flickered uncontrollably along the edge of his Nichirin Blade.
The once-calm aura around him now carried a seething, scorching intensity.
The old man Abe's parting words echoed in his mind:
The true meaning of strength lies in protection, not mindless destruction.
But now, under Maito's deliberate provocation, Shinichi's reason was powerless against the tide of hatred.
Just a little more, and he would plunge back into the abyss of madness.
"Hahaha! Yes! Just like that!" Maito actually laughed, spreading his arms wide as if welcoming death itself, even as Shinichi's terrifying aura surged.
"Let it out! Pour all your rage, all your hatred onto me! Kill me! Tear me apart like you did those officers! Avenge your precious Shinobu!!"
Whoosh!
Maito's words were the final spark to Shinichi's erupting fury.
The last remnants of reason surrendered.
The crimson in his right eye flared, his canines lengthening slightly, veins bulging dark against his cold, hardened expression.
Shinichi no longer pursued technique.
Emerald green intertwined with crimson light enveloped his entire body as he transformed into a terrifying streak of light wrapped in a storm of destruction.
With a shriek that tore through space, the Nichirin Blade in his hand seemed infected by its master's rage, its emerald-green blade radiating an unusual glow as he poured all his strength into a downward slash aimed at Maito's head!
"Forest Breathing, Twelve Form: Blazing Verdant Blade! Die—!!!"
This strike condensed all of Shinichi's grief and fury! Its power and speed far surpassed anything before!
Everything in the blade's path was severed, the scorching steel instantly vaporizing the rain it touched, even tearing a near-vacuum channel through the air.
Maito watched this world-ending slash descend, his golden vertical pupils flashing with complex emotions—was it satisfaction? Relief?
"This power... you're stronger than I imagined, Shinichi. Come!"
Crack!!
Maito suddenly spread his arms wide, boldly exposing his chest as the blood armor covering his body began crumbling apart—he'd abandoned all defense!
As the glow of his armor dimmed and disintegrated, Maito calmly awaited his end.
"Blood Concealment Art: Shadow Substitution!"
A fleeting, icy voice abruptly rang out!
At the critical moment before Shinichi's blade could land, the inky shadow beneath Maito's feet seemed to come alive, instantly swallowing him whole and making him vanish!
In his place stood a slender figure clad in gray robes—Lee!
Lee's timing and positioning were flawless!
Maito's voluntary abandonment of defense meant he couldn't possibly withstand Shinichi's full-powered strike of hatred.
There was no choice—had Lee arrived moments earlier there might have been options, but now she could only use her Blood Concealment Art to instantly swap places with Maito.
The instant the substitution completed, the blazing-hot Nichirin Blade brimming with violent energy was already descending upon Lee's head!
"Blood Concealment Art: Mist Veil!"
Hum—!
A curtain of viscous gray demonic energy hastily condensed above Lee.
BOOM—!!!!
The scorching demon blade slammed into the gray veil.
Though no earth-shattering explosion occurred, the full force of that violent energy impact transmitted directly into Lee's body.
Instantly, the ground beneath Lee's feet collapsed into a massive crater.
The petite body beneath the gray robes crumpled as if struck by a ten-thousand-ton hammer, her legs sinking into the earth up to her knees.
The gray veil trembled violently like a living thing, evaporating under the Nichirin Blade's searing heat as wisps of gray energy wildly dispersed!
The fluttering gray robes revealed Lee's bandage-wrapped arms, her clasped fingers trembling violently as her knuckles groaned under the strain, black blood trickling from her lips.
Clearly, even with this trick, blocking Shinichi's furious strike had exacted a heavy toll on her!
Crack!!
As the gray energy fully dispersed, the Nichirin Blade flashed—and half of Lee's body erupted in a spray of blood, one arm along with part of her chest cleanly severed!
Yet... she had blocked it!
"Cough... such... savage power... Maito would've died for sure if he took this head-on."
In the deep pit, Lee coughed, her wounds squirming as they healed, her voice laced with helplessness and bitterness.
Her crimson tongue licked away the black blood at the corner of her mouth.
Shinichi's hate-filled strike had been forcibly blocked, and the tremendous recoil also caused his body to sway.
His scarlet right eye fixed fiercely on Lee, who had suddenly appeared, but his focus remained mostly on Maito behind Lee.
His violent killing intent was almost tangible.
He didn't care about Lee's sudden appearance at all—all he wanted now was to chop Maito into pieces!
"Move!!" Shinichi growled at Lee, raising his scorching Nichirin Blade once more, an even more ferocious power gathering along its length.
"Wait! Shinichi!" Lee suddenly shrieked, her voice tinged with desperation.
"Don't act rashly! Don't you want to know what happen to that girl... Shinobu Kocho?!"
"What!?"
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