Rumble...
Another thick bolt of lightning exploded within the layered dark clouds blanketing the Forest of Death, illuminating the gloomy sky in flickering flashes!
Crash...
Accompanied by the flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, the rain grew heavier and heavier, pouring down in torrents!
Standing amid the curtain of rain.
Two figures surrounded by crackling arcs of electricity panted heavily as they faced each other from afar.
All around them, the ground was pitted with craters, trees lay toppled in every direction, forest fires suppressed by the rain flickered faintly, while smoke and mist filled the air.
Without question, the two were Hyuga Kagami and Darui, who had destroyed a vast stretch of forest and single-handedly brought about this thunderstorm. Both were panting like oxen and looked thoroughly bedraggled.
Scorched by the electric radiance, the robe draped over Hyuga Kagami's body was badly damaged, with wisps of smoke rising from it.
There was also a clear wound on his left arm. It looked both like a sword wound and a lightning injury, while the entire sleeve on that arm had vanished.
At the other end, Darui's hair stood out like a hedgehog's spines, his clothes were as tattered as a pile of rags, and several obvious wounds covered his body. Even the longsword in his hand had been snapped in half, reduced to a broken blade!
"This guy..."
Staring fixedly at Hyuga Kagami across from him, Darui's face no longer held even a trace of laziness. It had been replaced by gravity and astonishment!
At the beginning of their clash, he had been somewhat dismissive. But as the battle continued, that dismissiveness gradually became suspicion, until it turned into the shock he felt now!
Strong!
Very strong!
This was Darui's most direct and instinctive assessment of Hyuga Kagami.
In