"..."
After they had faced off for a long while, it was hard to spot any major opening in Tibbers' defenses—or perhaps his entire body was one big opening. Either way, the Great Sage Yellow Wind couldn't quite make up his mind.
After pondering for a long while, the Great Sage Yellow Wind—the yellow-haired weasel demon—finally decided to test the waters with a few words:
"You little monkey, you've got some skill!"
"Only..."
"Why should you lot from Flower-Fruit Mountain throw yourselves into the Yellow Springs and return to this Asura battlefield? Did the heavenly fire that burned Flower-Fruit Mountain back then not hurt enough?"
"Now that you mention it..."
"Pointed snout, sunken cheeks, skin and bones—you really do look like him!"
"You walking corpse, you wretched creature at death's door—you look like some ghost who stole a few more breaths outside the Hall of Yama and came back to life. What a marvel!"
As he went on, even the yellow-haired weasel demon couldn't help clicking his tongue in wonder.
"..."
But Tibbers, a fake "monkey," was unmoved by the other's words. He simply twirled his staff and stood there at ease.
"Hmph!"
Seeing that his words had failed to provoke his opponent, the Great Sage Yellow Wind grew a little annoyed. He had no choice but to stop and stand his ground, continuing his taunts:
"Those few moves you just pulled almost made me think that filthy wretch was still alive!"
"Too bad..."
"You're still not him!"
With that, the Great Sage Yellow Wind sprang into action and thrust his long steel trident at Tibbers in another surprise attack.
This time, he concentrated nearly all his strength into the blow. The trident traced a dazzling arc through the air, accompanied by a terrifying shriek as it tore through the