Chapter 25
"Oh, so you’re next?" Akaza grew even more excited. "An even stronger opponent. Come on, let me see what you’re made of."
"I’m looking forward to it too. Don’t disappoint me."
Kiriya licked his lips.
A stronger opponent meant more experience, higher ability values, and an even greater—achievement.
"Come!" Akaza took his fighting stance, gathering an astonishing fighting aura.
Then, in front of his eyes, a line of lightning appeared.
’So fast—’
Even Akaza was caught off guard by that speed.
He only had time to raise both arms to block before the lightning had already reached him.
"Dance Flash."
Kiriya slashed horizontally.
Akaza’s arms fell away in response, and even his neck was left with a huge wound, blood spraying out.
"Good, that’s it!"
Akaza’s arms grew back with a shhk. He licked the blood from his arm, his face full of intoxication.
"That sense of danger, that pain. This is martial arts!"
"Technique Development: Destructive Death — Compass Needle."
In that instant, Kiriya felt himself being locked onto.
When Akaza attacked, Kiriya’s body was pulled forward almost unconsciously.
It felt as though...
He was deliberately offering his own vital points to the enemy.
"Bang, bang—"
Akaza’s seemingly certain high kick was blocked by Kiriya’s raised blade.
Although Kiriya was still slightly disadvantaged in raw strength, he managed to stop it.
’What’s going on? This guy feels... different from the one just now.’
Akaza was startled.
It was almost as if his Blood Demon Art had been seen through.
’Those eyes...’
He noticed Kiriya’s red pupils.
They had clearly been black earlier, so why had they turned wine-red now?
Did they have some special effect?
With that curiosity, Akaza continued attacking.
"Destructive Death: Air Type!"
"Destructive Death: Disorder!"
Powerful air-pressure strikes kept rushing toward Kiriya, only to be blocked one by one with pinpoint precision.
Watching this, Akaza’s fighting spirit rose even higher.
"I see. I understand now. Those eyes possess extraordinary insight."
Even his voice grew sweet and almost syrupy, as if he were speaking to his beloved.
"What a rare talent. What an incredible talent!"
"Then let us test it! Which is stronger, my Blood Demon Art, or your eyes?"
As he shouted, the fighting aura around Akaza burned even brighter, and the power sleeping inside him was drawn out.
"Hah—!"
He flashed in front of Kiriya, raising his right leg high like a heavy axe before bringing it down fiercely.
"Destructive Death: Leg Type — Crown Splitter!"
"Hinokami Kagura: Setting Sun Transformation."
Kiriya’s Sharingan caught his movement.
Predicting the attack ahead of time, he avoided it, then turned back and slashed toward Akaza’s neck.
"Destructive Death: Leg Type — Flying Planet Thousand Wheels."
Akaza reacted quickly, changing his move at the last moment into an extremely violent side kick.
"Clang—"
The overwhelming force sent Kiriya flying far away.
The brutal power penetrated into his body, making blood spill from the corner of his mouth.
"Haha! Looks like I have the advantage in strength!"
Akaza shouted, then launched an even fiercer attack.
"Destructive Death: Leg Type — Flowing Flashing Light!"
Seeing the dense barrage of attacks raining down like a rocket launcher, Kiriya also used a technique.
"Water Breathing, Eleventh Form: Dead Calm."
The countless blasts descending from above instantly vanished into nothing.
That one move stunned both Akaza and Giyu.
’My form... how can he use it?’
Akaza’s focus, however, was on something else.
"Thunder Breathing, Water Breathing, and an unknown Breathing Style. You’ve actually mastered so many sword forms... You really are a genius!"
"Destructive Death: Annihilation Type."
He pushed off with both legs and closed the distance instantly.
His fists shot forward like two dragons rising from the sea, striking toward Kiriya’s weak points.
Kiriya used the Sharingan to read his movements and respond ahead of time, while Akaza swiftly changed his attacks in return.
For a while, both sides attacked and defended at incredible speed, yet rarely managed to hit each other.
One minute...
Three minutes...
Ten minutes...
Thirty minutes...
Kiriya continued locked in an intense battle with Akaza.
Even for him, this kind of high-intensity fight was exhausting.
Although the injuries to his body could be healed with his magic, Everflowing Vitality, it still consumed a great deal of mental strength and stamina.
After all, his Sage Body was still only in its early stage.
He was not yet the kind of stamina monster that Senju Hashirama had been at his peak.
"Come on, come again! Attack me even harder!"
On the other side, Akaza was still full of energy.
Demons were simply unreasonable creatures, like tireless perpetual-motion machines.
"Bang—"
Kiriya’s condition slipped, and at last, he revealed an opening.
A punch landed in his abdomen, sending him flying as he spat out mouthfuls of blood.
"This won’t do," Akaza sighed. "A strong person like you shouldn’t die here."
"Humans really are fragile creatures. You grow tired, you get hurt, you die. That frail life is the greatest obstacle stopping us from pursuing the highest realm of martial arts."
"So, become a demon. That way, you won’t have to endure the pain of weakness anymore."
"That does make sense."
Kiriya nodded.
A human body did indeed have limits. Even he had to admit that.
"Then—"
Akaza’s face lit up, thinking he was about to succeed, only to hear Kiriya reject him flatly.
"Daga kotowaru."
Kiriya’s tone was calm.
"If becoming a demon means turning into something like that, I’d rather die."
"At the end of the day, I’m more of a looks-focused person."
"How shallow!"
Akaza scoffed.
"As a martial artist, you still care about things like that? It seems your martial spirit still isn’t pure enough."
"Kiriya-san!"
Giyu finally snapped back to his senses and hurriedly prepared to rush in and help, but Kiriya raised a hand to stop him.
"No need. I can handle this."
"But..." Giyu grew anxious.
Why was he still trying to act heroic at a time like this?
"I mean it."
Kiriya activated Everflowing Vitality, and his injuries recovered once more.
"A healing ability? Not bad," Akaza said with appreciation. "But I’m curious. How much longer can you keep going?"
"Long enough to beat you!"
Kiriya smiled.
"My sword techniques are polished enough. It’s time to end this."
"Hm? Are you saying you haven’t been using your full strength until now?"
Akaza’s anger flared.
"Hey, are you looking down on me?"
Kiriya spat to the side.
"You’re Upper Rank Three. Why are you whining so much?"
"Heh. I hope the move you’ve been hiding satisfies me. Otherwise, you’ll die in terrible pain."
"Don’t worry. You won’t get that chance."
Kiriya lowered his body, drawing his right foot back and pushing against the ground.
"Hinokami Kagura: Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance."
Kiriya transformed into a roaming dragon of flame, circling around Akaza and leaving several wounds across his body.
Shoulders, arms, thighs—all of them were cut open by the blade, and a great amount of blood sprayed out.
As Akaza looked at Kiriya, there was no fear in his eyes. No joy either.
Only anger at being fooled.
"This is your trump card? How absurd!"
Akaza could feel that Kiriya’s power had indeed increased, but only by a limited amount.
This was not the finishing move he wanted to witness!
"It’s not over yet."
Kiriya roared and activated his magic, Forest of All Things.
Countless spikes immediately burst from the ground around Akaza. Many of them shattered the instant they struck his tough skin.
Fortunately, Kiriya had cut several wounds into him just now.
The spikes followed those freshly opened wounds and stabbed inside.
They moved quickly, piercing into Akaza’s body before he could fully heal.
"Wood? This guy can even control wood?"
Akaza grew even angrier.
What he wanted to see was swordsmanship!
The finest swordsmanship.
The peak of martial arts.
That was the battle he sought.
And yet, this guy was using some cheap trick like a street magician?
That flame of anger burned so fiercely that he even forgot to first expel the wooden spikes from his body.
He had not personally seen how Gyutaro died earlier. Otherwise, he would never have looked down on those wooden spikes.
"You bastard, you defiled martial arts!"
Akaza’s muscles tightened, and then he suddenly exerted force, intending to shatter and force out all the wooden spikes.
"Cutting Sprigs Technique."
Kiriya’s lips parted slightly.
The wooden spikes piercing Akaza’s body began madly drawing vitality from his flesh and blood, rapidly swelling and growing stronger.
"Puff, puff, puff, puff—"
In an instant, countless spikes erupted from Akaza’s body, turning this battle maniac into a hedgehog.
The pain made Akaza roar at the top of his lungs.
Kiriya did not waste the opportunity. He directly transformed Wood Release into wooden serpents, wrapping Akaza tightly from every direction.
"Something like this... You think something like this can defeat me?"
Akaza’s fighting aura erupted as he tried to break free from those annoying wooden spikes.
But very quickly, he discovered in horror that his strength was draining away at terrifying speed.
"These things... are absorbing my power?"
Akaza suddenly realized that horrifying fact, but it was already too late.
The serpents on the surface of his body evolved into coiling dragons, and the wooden spikes inside him turned into starving beasts, madly devouring the essence of his flesh and blood.
His full, powerful muscles shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Hiss—"
A cold flash passed.
Akaza’s head fell to the ground, but both of his eyes were filled with venomous resentment as he glared at Kiriya.
"Despicable coward!"
Akaza roared.
"If you have the guts, face me head-on! Is this all you can do? Use dirty tricks?"
"This is facing you head-on."
Kiriya looked at Akaza with a strange expression.
"You’re a demon with ridiculous self-healing and a Blood Demon Art, and you still have the nerve to call me despicable?"
If this guy did not have the bug-like ability of extreme regeneration, Kiriya would have killed him countless times already.
A guy using cheats was actually complaining that Kiriya was hacking?
"My Blood Demon Art is the refinement of my martial arts!"
Akaza burned with fury.
This was an insult to his martial path.
"Idiot. If a Blood Demon Art can be martial arts, then why can’t my Forest of All Things be martial arts too? As long as I hold a martial heart, all things in heaven and earth can be used by me."
"At the end of the day, since when was martial arts such an inconvenient thing?"
Kiriya’s words immediately left Akaza speechless.
But the unwillingness in his heart still refused to fade.
His will erupted, and he tried to awaken the vitality of his body again, to recover and continue fighting.
In the original story, he had done exactly that.
He had broken through the limits of a demon and endured even after having his head cut off by a Nichirin sword.
Unfortunately, Kiriya’s Forest of All Things had greatly weakened his regenerative ability.
Recovering from a decapitation-level injury was simply impossible now.
In the end, Akaza, the great martial artist who had dominated the world for over a century, fell here...