[Ding! Rewarding host with the "Vigorous Vitality" trait! Acupoints fully unlocked!]
Gekko Chizan: ??? What the hell kind of reward is this???
Vigorous vitality? His vitality had always been strong, okay?
Acupoints fully unlocked? He wasn't from the Hyuga clan—what good would knowing acupoints do?
[Host, are you stupid or something? Do you still remember a technique called: Death Point Strike?]
Death Point Strike?
He suddenly recalled—it was a technique that struck acupoints to convert vitality into chakra.
In other words, it was a move meant for desperate situations. After all, a person's vitality was finite—once consumed, it meant their lifespan would shorten.
[Not completely brain-dead, good. Now you see the benefit of this reward.]
[With vigorous vitality, as long as you don't deplete all your vitality at once, you'll be able to naturally recover it over time.]
Alright, now that was quite the generous reward!
System, you're amazing! I misjudged you!
Gekko Chizan accepted the reward, and his whole body instantly felt incredibly refreshed!
Even his ninjutsu activation speed became much faster.
"Death Point Strike!"
Using his knowledge of acupoints, Gekko Chizan immediately gave himself another boost.
As the acupoints activated, violent chakra surged within him.
He converted that torrent of chakra into energy and injected it into the crystal once again, making the once-white glow even more dazzling.
In the blink of an eye, the energy had reached its limit.
"Chōmei, move!"
"Crystal Release: Arrow of Light!"
A laser condensed from pure light burst out from the tip of the crystal.
The moment Chōmei heard Gekko Chizan's voice, he released Kokuō's head and shot into the air.
A second later, the laser slammed straight into Kokuō's head.
Gekko Chizan had originally aimed for Kokuō's right eye, but the moment she sensed danger, she lowered her head—causing the beam to strike her horn instead.
"Boom!"
"AHHHH!!!!"
An explosion and a scream rang out at the same time.
A severed horn flew high into the air, its broken end completely charred.
Even Chōmei was shocked by that attack—that was Kokuō's horn! It had actually been blasted clean off?
As for the four giant serpents, they were even more dumbfounded. Even Jinlin, whose body was the toughest among them, had never managed to injure Kokuō. After all, the power of the Boil Release made the Five-Tails' body extremely durable—otherwise, she couldn't have produced such immense strength.
"You bastard! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!!!"
"Ahhh!!!"
The pain only fueled Kokuō's rage, and her wild instincts completely exploded.
Despite the agony, she opened her mouth and instantly began forming a Tailed Beast Bomb—her speed was terrifyingly fast.
Almost in the same instant, the massive chakra sphere formed before her.
"Holy crap, she's furious now!"
Chōmei let out a weird scream, yet he didn't panic—because he had already started forming his own Tailed Beast Bomb.
And thanks to the synchronization between their chakra, he expended much less energy.
"Boom!"
The two Tailed Beast Bombs collided head-on, the violent impact sending massive waves crashing across the ocean.
The four giant snakes braced themselves, struggling against the shockwave.
"Jinlin, Kurohebi, Yamoryū, Urokohane!"
"Retreat for now—the rest's up to me!"
Earlier, Gekko Chizan had already dispelled Sage Mode and the Serpent Binding Technique, sending the three Snake Princesses back to Ryūchi Cave.
Now that Kokuō was wounded, he hurriedly ordered the remaining four serpents to retreat as well.
From this point on, the battle would be between Tailed Beasts alone.
As four clouds of white smoke rose, only two Tailed Beasts and Gekko Chizan remained on the battlefield.
"Chōmei."
"Yo! I'm here!"
The sea was still raging from the Tailed Beast Bomb collision when Chōmei's gigantic form appeared beside Gekko Chizan.
The latter leapt lightly onto his back—the jinchūriki and his beast now united.
"Chizan, you've really got it in you. That last attack even surprised me."
"That was nothing. The real battle starts now."
As they spoke, Kokuō burst through the smoke, eyes blazing red, charging straight at them, steam billowing off her body.
"I'll tear you both apart!!!"
"Roar!"
With that roar, Kokuō unleashed her full strength.
If there was ever a phrase like "riding the waves," this was it—each step she took sent towering waves crashing behind her.
"Tch, such a violent woman."
"Too bad—I can fly!"
Without hesitation, Chōmei took off into the sky.
For him, dodging was the most natural thing in the world. If he couldn't win, he'd just fly away—no shame in that!
"You coward! Come down here if you dare!"
"Come up here if you can! Hahahahaha!"
Seeing Chōmei hovering above, Kokuō stomped her hooves furiously.
"Chōmei, go fight her! What are you afraid of?"
"Between the two of us, we can take her down!"
Gekko Chizan wasn't afraid at all. His hands moved swiftly through a series of hand seals, and in an instant, chakra crystals formed into a shining armor around Chōmei.
He even armed all six of Chōmei's front claws with sharp crystal blades. The gleaming weapons made Chōmei beam with delight.
"Hahaha, Chizan!"
"With you backing me up, I feel invincible!"
Laughing heartily, Chōmei dived straight down.
Seeing him charge, Kokuō almost laughed herself to death—she was convinced this bug had lost his mind.
She braced herself and lunged upward.
The two gigantic beasts collided head-on. With the crystal armor glinting under the sun, Chōmei looked almost divine—utterly unafraid of Kokuō's brute strength.
The crystal armor gave him tremendous confidence. But in reality, against Kokuō, even that hardness didn't last long.
At the point of impact, countless crystals shattered into pieces.
"Hey! Chizan! Is this crystal of yours defective or what?!"
"It just exploded on impact!"
Chōmei looked down at his cracked armor in dismay—his entire bug body suddenly felt miserable.
"Come on, she's Kokuō! You seriously don't know how strong she is?"
"If it weren't for the armor, your chakra body would've been smashed to bits already!"
While repairing the damaged crystals, Gekko Chizan couldn't help but complain.
Good thing the chakra cost had been reduced—otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to keep up with how fast Chōmei's armor was breaking.
"Huh? That so? Hahaha! Well, I'm not made of flesh anyway—can't feel pain! Hahahaha!"
"Yeah, this is awesome!"
Chōmei didn't care about the damage at all. Since it didn't hurt, he'd just keep fighting!
The two Tailed Beasts began trading blows like maniacs. Headbutt for headbutt, slam for slam.
Gekko Chizan watched in disbelief—he felt like he'd switched genres entirely. First, he'd learned swordsmanship, and now he was watching a Pokémon battle.