Horitake's theory of "survival of the fittest" left Zohakuten utterly speechless.
The demon opened his mouth, attempting several times to formulate a new argument or justification to bolster his morale, but after wracking his brain, he found nothing new to say.
And so, Zohakuten had completely lost the pre-fight trash-talk phase.
Humiliated and furious, Zohakuten brandished his drumsticks.
"Cut the crap! Let's see under our hands who is truly bullying the weak!
Blood Demon Art: Violent Thrust!"
BANG! Zohakuten struck one of the drums floating behind him with a lightning-infused drumstick.
Rumble... The ground began to shake as a massive wooden dragon was summoned by Zohakuten. The beast opened its maw, firing several massive shockwaves in a spread attack aimed at Horitake!
Although he already knew Zohakuten's Blood Demon Art involved wood manipulation, seeing it firsthand made Horitake pause with a sense of déjà vu.
"Hmm... Wood Style: Wood Dragon Jutsu?
It certainly looks the part.
Perhaps the original author drew inspiration from there!"
While he muttered to himself, the overwhelming barrage of ultra-fast, ultra-powerful, and incredibly sharp shockwaves was already blasting toward his position!
This move was undoubtedly an ability gained after Sekido absorbed Aizetsu.
Watching the incoming shockwaves, Horitake noted that their power was significantly greater than Aizetsu's original attacks—at least a whole tier stronger!
As expected of Hantengu's strongest form, Zohakuten; his strength was indeed extraordinary.
With that thought, Horitake launched his counterattack.
"It is impolite not to reciprocate. Heavenly Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Modified · Lightning Tiger Three Kills!"
Purple lightning roared and flickered around Horitake. Gripping Weiguang, he slashed fiercely against the incoming barrage of shockwaves!
With that slash, the purple lightning coating Horitake's body was launched forward. The energy condensed in mid-air, taking the form of three multicolored lightning tigers, each standing three to four meters tall.
The three lightning tigers roared and charged straight ahead!
BOOM!
The lightning tigers collided violently with the wall of shockwaves!
A deafening explosion rang out, sending a translucent blast wave soaring into the sky!
The countless rushing shockwaves were blocked. The three lightning tigers, however, had merely become slightly less substantial.
Not only that, but under Horitake's remote control, the three lightning tigers rapidly merged, forming a terrifying, multicolored tiger standing four or five meters tall.
The lightning-forged beast roared and pounced on the wooden dragon. A battle between Dragon and Tiger began!
And what a battle it was!
Both entities were massive; a slight movement from either caused the ground to crack and tremor.
When they tore into each other with full force, the shock and impact were enough to shake a spectator to their core!
However, the struggle didn't last long.
The wooden dragon was ultimately no match for the tiger made of pure lightning. It was torn apart and bitten through, reduced to a pile of immobile, soulless rotting wood.
After destroying the wooden dragon, the lightning tiger seemed unsatisfied. With a roar, it pounced toward Zohakuten!
Anyone would panic seeing a five-meter-tall lightning tiger lunging at them.
Zohakuten panicked. He hurriedly struck the drum behind his back again.
"Blood Demon Art: Maddening Cry!"
Another similar wooden dragon was summoned. Opening its mouth, it unleashed an ear-splitting, high-decibel sonic wave directly at the lightning tiger!
There was no doubt this move originated from the bird-man Urogi, though naturally, its destructive power and danger level had increased significantly!
blasted head-on by the tyrannical wall of sound—especially one so continuous and powerful—the lightning tiger finally ran out of steam. Layer by layer, it was peeled away by the sonic waves until it dissipated into chaotic clusters of purple sparks.
Zohakuten breathed a sigh of relief.
"You're relaxing too soon! Chidori!"
The blade of his sword flashing with the purple lightning of a thousand chirping birds, Horitake burst forward. Moving at a terrifying speed, he appeared directly in front of Zohakuten! The Chidori in his hand thrust straight for the demon!
Startled again, Zohakuten commanded the wooden dragon to roar another high-decibel blast at Horitake!
However, the Chidori at the tip of Horitake's blade also emitted a high-frequency chirp!
Horitake thrust the Chidori forward, breaking through the wooden dragon's sonic waves with the force of a bamboo splitter. Unstoppable, he pierced straight through, shattering the wooden dragon into several pieces in the process!
In the blink of an eye, Horitake held the Chidori inches from Zohakuten's face!
Zohakuten was in full-blown panic now.
To be honest, while he had many techniques and great power, he was not adept at close-quarters combat.
How was he supposed to fight up close? With those short drumsticks? They weren't even big enough to hit the drums properly, let alone a swordsman!
Zohakuten retreated rapidly, trying desperately to put distance between himself and Horitake. At the same time, he struck the drum behind him again.
"Blood Demon Art: Thunder Kill!"
Yet another wooden dragon was summoned.
This time, the dragon coiled around Zohakuten, forming a protective barrier for his body.
Simultaneously, the dragon opened its mouth, spewing out a massive volume of violent lightning! The power of this lightning was immense, enough to shatter the earth!
Seeing this, Horitake couldn't help but mock him:
"Truly, a dog can't stop itself from eating shit. You keep making the same mistake over and over again!"
Horitake maintained his forward thrust with Weiguang, but he twisted the blade, manipulating the lightning.
The purple lightning began to change shape, shifting from the condensed mass of the Chidori into a forward-projecting emission.
The projected purple lightning made contact with the incoming blue lightning.
This time, it wasn't a collision of two forces, but one force taking over the other.
As stated before, this sort of artificially generated lightning was, at best, "mortal lightning." How could it compare to the "Heavenly Thunder" released from Horitake's body?
Normal lightning meeting Heavenly Thunder would vanish like melting snow.
But if the Heavenly Thunder had a will of its own, it would commandeer the mortal lightning.
And so, the moment the purple Heavenly Thunder touched the blue lightning, an anomaly occurred.
Under Horitake's control, the blue lightning blasting toward him froze in mid-air the moment it touched his purple energy. It ceased its forward momentum.
Not only that, but the purple lightning actually spread along the blue lightning!
In the process, it assimilated the blue lightning, turning it purple.
Although the process sounds complex, this delicate operation was completed in a fraction of a second.
The purple lightning projecting from Horitake's blade instantly hijacked the incoming blue attack. All the violent blue lightning turned purple! It was now all under Horitake's control!
Zohakuten watched in horror.
Horitake smiled faintly. controlling the massive range of now-purple lightning, he slashed forward!
BOOM!
The wooden dragon protecting Zohakuten was shattered in a single strike. The purple lightning, acting like sharp claws, tore through the defense and—rip!—carved several wounds across Zohakuten's body!
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