Zohakuten had been wounded by Horitake—and not just once; several gash wounds now marred his form!
Amidst the spray of fresh blood, Zohakuten clutched the injuries on his body, gritted his teeth, and retreated rapidly, desperate to put distance between himself and Horitake.
But could the speed of his retreat possibly match the velocity of Horitake's advance?
Horitake had always been known for his speed. With purple arcs of electricity flickering around his body, he moved in a high-speed flash, closing the gap in an instant. Arriving right in front of Zohakuten, he didn't waste a breath on words—he simply swung his blade!
The gnashing Zohakuten realized too late that letting a man like Horitake get close to him was, in itself, a fatal error.
Helpless, Zohakuten could only raise the drumsticks in his dual hands, blocking Horitake's razor-sharp edge.
Clang!
Horitake's blade, Weiguang, struck the two drumsticks, sending bright sparks flying. Surprisingly, the strike failed to sever the pair of wooden mallets.
Horitake was genuinely curious now.
"Just what kind of material are those drumsticks made of?"
Though he spoke casually, Horitake's hands showed no mercy. He continued to brandish Weiguang, unleashing a breathless storm of slashes toward Zohakuten.
Zohakuten clenched his jaw and held his breath, using the two drumsticks to desperately parry the withered leaf-like flurry of sword shadows, fighting to buy himself even a fraction of a second!
Using the drumsticks to forcefully deflect Horitake's blade with all his might, Zohakuten seized a microscopic opening. Bam! He struck one of the taiko drums floating behind his back.
"Blood Demon Art: Wood Dragon—Gale!"
Amidst a roaring rumble, Zohakuten rapidly summoned a wooden dragon. The beast unhinged its massive maw, unleashing a torrent of ultimate gale-force winds directly at Horitake!
The origin of this technique came from another of the emotional clones: Karaku.
However, the gale erupting from this Wood Dragon's mouth was far more potent than the wind Karaku could generate with his leaf fan. This wind was strong enough to effortlessly extinguish a human life or crush them flat!
With Horitake's current physical constitution, he could withstand the gale.
However, as the fierce wind howled, it inevitably caused a momentary pause in the frequency of Horitake's attacks. It was this tiny stutter in momentum that gave Zohakuten the chance to retreat!
Zohakuten stepped onto the body of the Wood Dragon. As the dragon continued to spew gale-force winds from its mouth, it utilized the recoil like a jet engine, carrying Zohakuten on its back as it flew backward, widening the gap between him and Horitake.
Even if it killed him, Zohakuten refused to engage in close-quarters combat with Horitake ever again!
Once he had pulled away, Zohakuten struck the drums twice more—Bam! Bam!—and unleashed his Blood Demon Arts.
"Blood Demon Art: Weeping Spear!"
"Blood Demon Art: Compressed Sound Waves!"
Two more Wood Dragons, similar to the first, were summoned. Including the one from before, there were now three gigantic Wood Dragons coiling in front of Zohakuten.
Zohakuten waved a drumstick, commanding the three beasts.
"Go!"
The three Wood Dragons charged toward Horitake with terrifying momentum, crushing the ground beneath them as they advanced.
The Gale Dragon took the lead, opening its mouth to exhale a violent, terrifying storm! The wind howled, striking straight at Horitake.
Horitake planted his feet firmly. No matter how strong the oncoming gale was, he remained steady, standing as immovable as a boulder.
But it was far more than just wind. The Sonic Dragon also opened its mouth, roaring out high-decibel sound waves at Horitake! The sonic boom arrived with a deafening crash.
The sound waves roared by the Wood Dragon were on a completely different level from those of Urogi.
An ordinary person facing such terrifying sonic pressure would likely have their liver and gallbladder ruptured, their internal organs shattered, their bones cracked, and would die instantly from a cerebral hemorrhage!
In the original story, only Mitsuri Kanroji was able to withstand this move, thanks to her muscular density being eight times that of a normal human and her superior physical constitution.
But Horitake's current physical constitution was even stronger than Mitsuri's.
Facing the gale and the terrifying sound waves head-on, Horitake took a deep breath and simply tanked it.
Amidst the wind and the sonic boom, Horitake smiled faintly.
"Now that... has quite a kick to it."
Watching from a distance, Zohakuten was in utter disbelief.
Is this guy human or demon? How can his physical body be tough to this degree? To simultaneously withstand the gale and the sound waves? He simply isn't human!
But it wasn't just wind and sound—there was still one more Wood Dragon!
The Impact Dragon opened its mouth and blasted out an overwhelming barrage of sharp shockwaves toward Horitake.
The power of these shockwaves was enough to tunnel through and collapse a small mountain; their destructive potential was simply terrifying!
With the wind and sound waves still maintaining their pressure, Horitake could no longer treat this lightly.
Inhaling deeply, Horitake once again mobilized his Thunder Breathing.
"Thunder Breathing, Third Form: Super Armor Active!"
Purple lightning flowed through Horitake's body as if it were an extension of his own limbs, comprehensively enhancing his physical attributes and activating a state of 'Super Armor.'
But that wasn't enough.
"Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Modified—Chidori Stream!"
A thousand birds chirped and flashed. A massive amount of purple lightning condensed and flickered around Horitake, forming an airtight, solid electromagnetic defensive field!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The overwhelming barrage of sharp shockwaves bombarded Horitake directly. Yet, against the defense of the Chidori Stream bolstered by his Super Armor state, every single one was blocked. Not a single attack could harm his body!
For a moment, a truly spectacular scene unfolded.
Before Zohakuten, three gigantic Wood Dragons had their mouths wide open, spewing extreme wind, thundering sound waves, and sharp shockwaves respectively. These three terrifying attacks fused together, assaulting Horitake with unstoppable momentum.
Wind, Sound, Impact. These three modes of attack complemented and amplified one another. The resulting power was not as simple as one plus one plus one equals three. Accurately speaking, the destructive power of the three combined far exceeded the sum of their parts!
And yet, facing such a terrifying attack—an attack sufficient to raze a small mountain to the ground—Horitake's feet did not retreat a single step.
Horitake maintained his Super Armor state, held the Chidori Stream defense, and stood his ground, facing everything before him with a cold sneer!
The ground and trees surrounding Horitake had all been leveled, shattered, and blown away. Only Horitake remained, purple lightning dancing across his form, standing amidst the destruction, enduring the horrific assault unscathed.
Zohakuten watched this scene with a mixture of rage and terror.
He waved the drumsticks in his hands, frantically beating the taiko drums behind him to pour more power into the three Wood Dragons.
The three Wood Dragons seemed to go mad as well, their mouths stretching to their absolute limits, maximizing their output. They were determined to teach Horitake a lesson—or at the very least, make him suffer even a little bit of damage!
Zohakuten was panicking.
Panic was good.
Because the real reason to panic was yet to come.
Horitake stopped passively defending. His eyes widened slightly, and he thrust the Weiguang in his hand forward!
"Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Modified—Chidori Sharp Spear!"
Massive amounts of purple lightning condensed onto the blade of Weiguang. In an instant, quantitative change triggered a qualitative change. A thick, brilliant spear of lightning shot out longitudinally from the tip of the blade!
It pierced forward dozens of meters in a split second!
While the wind, sound waves, and shockwaves covered a wide area, they lacked concentration; they were broad attacks.
The Chidori Sharp Spear, however, broke the surface by focusing on a single point. It rushed out effortlessly! Instantly covering distance with the speed of lightning, it plunged straight into the mouth of the Wood Dragon located in the center!
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