Kujou Sara's eyes fixed on Kazuha.
There was no doubt—he had truly embarked on the path of cultivation.
But how? He had only been cultivating for such a short time. How could he already wield such overwhelming strength?
Yet she knew—Kazuha was not lying.
Right now, he indeed possessed the power to slay every single person present.
That last strike he unleashed… it had not even been his limit.
Sara's heart bled as she looked upon the corpses of the fallen Tenryou Commission's guard—hundreds of the Shogun's most elite soldiers, her most loyal comrades.
They were the Shogun's personal guard… and now, they were gone.
She cared little for her own punishment. What weighed on her was the shame of facing her god again after this failure.
"General Kujou," Kazuha's voice rang out like steel, "withdraw.
All I ask is for Inazuma to know peace, if only for a while.
This is the last thing I can do for my homeland."
His eyes burned with conviction.
Sara bit down hard.
So long as Kazuha stood aloft upon his flying sword, the shogunate army was helpless.
And even if he landed—after that devastating strike, who among her troops still dared to raise their blades against him?
Sara hesitated.
And then—
⚡
The air itself shifted. Thunder roared.
The world was suddenly drowned in a suffocating tide of electro.
A terrible divine might pressed down from the heavens.
Kazuha's expression hardened. His sword instantly leapt into his grasp, true essence surging.
The void in front of him cracked open.
From the rift emerged a purple-clad figure—expression cold, eyes devoid of all human emotion.
With one hand, she raised her naginata and brought it down in a single sweeping arc.
The Raiden Shogun had descended.
"Careful!"
From the mountaintop, Ayaka cried out in alarm.
Sara's eyes widened, every shogunate soldier tensing.
Kazuha felt the bone-deep crisis bearing down on him.
Yes, he had cultivated—but only to the early stage of Refining Essence into Qi.
The Raiden Shogun needed no cultivation. She was already one of the supreme archons of the world.
That gap could not be bridged.
Still, Kazuha clenched his teeth, fingers tightening on his sword hilt.
"Soaring Heaven Sword Style!"
A dazzling blade-light surged forth, colliding with the Shogun's strike.
For the briefest moment, the Raiden Shogun's eternal mask shifted—her brows furrowed slightly.
But only for a moment.
Her naginata pressed down harder, and Kazuha was sent hurtling through the air, smashing into the Resistance's camp and gouging a crater into the earth.
"Kaedehara Kazuha!"
Gorou cried out, rushing forward—only for Kazuha to leap back out of the pit before he could reach him.
He wiped the blood from his lips. His aura remained fierce, almost undiminished.
Sword in hand, he glared up at the Raiden Shogun, still floating high in the air as if unmoved by all that had transpired.
"…So this is the difference."
His voice carried no despair, only resolve.
The Shogun's blade—he had stopped it.
The warlust within him ignited, burning ever brighter.
He knew he could not defeat her. At least not until he reached the late stage of Refining Essence into Qi, or even its peak.
But killing him would not be so easy either.
For the greatest strength of a cultivator… was survival itself.
"He… blocked it?"
Kujou Sara's mind reeled, her worldview crumbling.
"The Shogun's strike… was stopped?"
The armies erupted into chaos.
To the shogunate, it was terror.
To the Resistance—it was salvation.
Kazuha had become their war god incarnate.
The legend that none could withstand the Shogun's blade—shattered before their very eyes.
"Master Kaedehara, are you alright?"
Gorou hurried to support him.
In every heart of the Resistance, hope blazed anew.
Kokomi herself rushed over, her voice low but urgent:
"Kazuha, you have done enough.
Soon we will open a path for you to escape. You must live.
So long as you survive, the myth of the Shogun's invincibility will be broken forever.
You are our only hope. Please—you must leave."
But Kazuha only shook his head, stepping forward once more.
"I said it already.
I came here today not for the Resistance, nor for the shogunate.
I came for the countless ordinary people of Inazuma.
Even if the one who bars my way… is the Shogun herself."
Gorou's breath caught.
Kazuha's will burned too bright.
"Your spirit is admirable, but if you fall here, everything will be for nothing. Please—leave!"
Kazuha gave no answer. His sword carried him aloft once more.
Face to face with the Shogun, he knew victory was beyond reach. But even so, his spirit was unyielding.
His friend's dream—he had fulfilled it.
He had withstood the Shogun's strike, even if it was not her true, ultimate blade.
The Raiden Shogun's gaze sharpened.
"…An anomaly."
Her voice was flat, her naginata lifting again.
"The power you wield—it is not elemental."
Kazuha's lips curved slightly. He straightened proudly.
"Disciple of Mount Shu, Windreturn Peak—Kaedehara Kazuha, greets the Shogun."
"Mount Shu…"
For the first time, the name reached Inazuma's ears.
Ayaka, Thoma, Yoimiya—all engraved it into their hearts.
Perhaps… this was the path to save Inazuma.
But the Shogun did not ponder long. Her tone grew cold.
"Leave Inazuma."
Kazuha met her gaze.
"I will. But my request remains.
Grant Inazuma peace.
Do not let your twisted eternity drown your people in endless suffering."
For once, the Shogun's eyes flickered with irritation.
Kokomi, Ayaka, and the others were shocked—but then elated.
Kazuha had said aloud what none of them dared voice.
"You are no longer a subject of Inazuma," the Shogun replied frostily. "Eternity has nothing to do with you."
Kazuha's voice rang with steel.
"I was born in Inazuma.
This is the last thing I will do for my homeland.
I must do it—for Inazuma, and for my own path.
Shogun, your eternity cannot continue!"
Gasps rippled across both armies.
Such words—an open slap to the god of Inazuma herself.
"Arrogant wretch. Then you will remain here forever."
The Shogun surged forward. Her naginata descended like a bolt of heaven's judgment.
"Flying Sword Style—Dragon Roar Flash!"
A dragon of blade-light howled, colliding with her strike.
Prepared this time, and bolstered by a hidden pill and a beginner-grade artifact, Kazuha managed to withstand the clash.
He was hurled back, but not crushed.
The duel continued. Purple and emerald streaks clashed across the skies, locked in deadlock.
"Am I seeing this right…?"
Thoma slapped his own cheek in disbelief.
"Kazuha is fighting the Shogun herself? And holding his ground?"
Ayaka's eyes shone like flames.
"…Mount Shu."
Yoimiya blinked. "Huh?"
Ayaka's voice was firm.
"Kazuha said it himself—he is a disciple of Mount Shu.
That is the source of his strength.
Thoma, Yoimiya, Sayu—we must find a way to leave Inazuma.
We must seek Mount Shu. It may be our only hope."
Below, the Resistance roared in exhilaration, cheering for their newfound champion.
The shogunate, meanwhile, gaped in disbelief. Even Kujou Sara's faith wavered.
But Kokomi alone saw the truth.
This was but a stalemate.
The Shogun had not yet drawn her ultimate technique—
her Musou no Hitotachi.
When it fell, Kazuha would not survive.
And then—
⚡
The Shogun raised her hand. Lightning exploded across the battlefield, coalescing into a blade of transcendent brilliance.
"The moment of stillness—annihilation!"
The weight of a supreme martial truth swept the land, crushing all resistance.
Hope shattered. Despair surged.
Ayaka and the others realized too late—the Shogun's ultimate strike was something Kazuha could never endure.
Kazuha smiled bitterly.
"I was too arrogant after all."
Yet no fear touched his eyes.
Because he was not truly alone.
The elders of Mount Shu had told him:
The greatest law of Mount Shu is not slaying demons, nor upholding justice…
It is protecting our own.
No one outside Mount Shu had the right to judge its disciples.
As the Shogun's blade fell—Kazuha knew.
This battle was no longer his to fight.
From the horizon, a streak of azure light tore across the skies.
Kazuha's lips curled into a smile.
He pressed his fists together and shouted with all his might:
"Disciple of Windreturn Peak, Kaedehara Kazuha, welcomes Senior Brother Xiao!"
The Shogun's blade of annihilation descended—only to freeze in midair.
The next instant, that overwhelming strike was shattered by the incoming azure light.
And before countless stunned eyes—
The Raiden Shogun herself was knocked back.
From within the light stepped forth a figure.
A youthful general, fierce and unyielding.
In his hand, a jade-green spear.
At his feet, a flying sword like Kazuha's own.
Standing tall in the sky, he faced the Shogun head-on.
"Xiao—first disciple of the Hall of Discipline, Dragonhead Peak of Mount Shu—has arrived!"
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