The First Heartbeat in a Deadly Situation

His heart gave a heavy thud inside his chest.

Thump!

It was as if something had been completely shattered along with that heartbeat.

The five stone spikes were still closing in.

Yet in Lie Yang's perception, they were astonishingly slow.

He could clearly see debris peeling from the stone spikes and slowly tumbling through the air, as well as the faint currents formed by their tips compressing the air. Takeno Sota's ten fingers pressed against the ground, the Parasitic Destruction Bugs fluttering within Ayakawa Yukina's sleeves—even the slightest changes in their expressions could not escape his senses.

Lie Yang's thoughts raced at an unprecedented speed.

Five stone spikes.

The two on the left were angled off, targeting his spine and abdomen respectively.

As long as he shifted half a foot to the front-right, they would graze past him.

The truly unavoidable ones were the three stone spikes locked onto his head, throat, and heart.

His arm had been eroded by the Parasitic Destruction Bugs, and his muscles were still stiff from using the Body Flicker Technique. His normal sword-swinging range was not enough.

He had to extend his attack range.

All of these judgments were completed almost simultaneously.

There was no hesitation, no fear, and none of the instinctive faltering people felt in the face of death.

Lie Yang slammed his right foot into the ground.

Boom!

The earth beneath his foot exploded.

The body that should have been locked stiff suddenly regained its ability to move. Muscle fibers, tightly restricted by the brain, abruptly contracted and unleashed strength far beyond their usual limits.

Lie Yang forcibly shifted toward the front-right.

Two stone spikes skimmed past his back and left ribs.

At the same time, he deliberately twisted his right shoulder and violently flung his elbow outward.

Crack!

The joint dislocated.

His right arm stretched outward at an angle no normal human body could achieve, and the short blade in his hand flashed coldly.

The first strike!

The blade accurately struck the side of the stone spike aimed at his head.

Clang!

Sparks and stone fragments burst forth together.

Lie Yang did not block it head-on. Instead, the instant they made contact, he changed the direction of his force. The blade deflected the stone spike, sending it past his ear and shearing off a lock of black hair.

The second strike followed immediately.

His dislocated joint let his right arm extend another half foot outward. The short blade slashed from below, striking the weakest point of the second stone spike.

Crack!

The stone spike veered aside, scraped across his shoulder, and plunged into a tree trunk behind him.

The third stone spike had already reached his chest.

Lie Yang turned his wrist and pressed the short blade downward against the tip of the stone spike.

Blade and rock ground violently against each other.

The piercing sound echoed through the forest.

The stone spike was forcibly pressed down several inches, slicing past Lie Yang's waist and tearing away flesh.

Blood splattered.

Yet Lie Yang did not so much as furrow his brow.

The deadly blockade had been torn open by his blade!

Takeno Sota's pupils contracted sharply.

Impossible!

The five stone spikes from the Rock-Stealing Staff had sealed off every possible avenue of escape. Lie Yang's body was still in the stiffened state following the Body Flicker Technique, and the Parasitic Destruction Bugs had devoured a massive amount of his chakra.

That attack should have been fatal!

Yet Lie Yang had not only moved, but had also seen through the trajectories of all five stone spikes in an instant. Using a method that was practically self-mutilation, he had expanded his swinging range and deflected three attacks in succession.

From the moment the stone spikes burst from the ground to the moment the blockade was broken, not even half a breath had passed!

"Your body..."

Takeno Sota had barely uttered three words before his voice cut off abruptly.

Lie Yang had already charged out of the stone spike blockade.

Fast!

Several times faster than before!

That was not the Body Flicker Technique.

There was no chakra eruption and no hand seals, only the purest physical power.

Yet the speed displayed by this body had already surpassed Takeno Sota's understanding.

One moment, Lie Yang had still been several feet away.

The next, those scarlet eyes had filled his entire vision.

Three tomoe spun at high speed.

Cold. Calm.

There was no anger to be seen, nor any relief at having escaped death.

Before Takeno Sota's shock could fully register, the short blade in Lie Yang's hand had already swept horizontally across.

Slice!

The blade severed his neck bone.

His head shot into the air.

Takeno Sota's vision spun in midair, and the last thing he saw was his headless body still holding the hand seal.

Even when he hit the ground, the deep confusion on his face remained frozen in place.

He could not understand why someone who had already been forced into a hopeless situation, someone who could not even properly control his fingers, could erupt with such terrifying power in an instant.

The headless corpse toppled forward.

Blood spurted from the severed neck and quickly pooled across the ground.

"Captain!"

For the first time, Ayakawa Yukina's voice lost its composure.

From the launch of the five stone spikes to Takeno Sota's beheading, everything had happened too quickly.

So quickly that she had only seen Lie Yang swing three times in an eerie manner.

So quickly that just as she had mobilized her swarm, Takeno Sota's head had already hit the ground.

That had been an elite special jōnin!

He excelled in Earth Release, had survived countless life-or-death battles, and had even entered the ANBU to carry out missions.

Yet before he could even use a second technique, Lie Yang had beheaded him with a single slash.

Ayakawa Yukina controlled the insect swarm and rapidly pulled it back into defense.

Dense Parasitic Destruction Bugs shielded her from the front, while more bugs spread across the ground in every direction. She stared fixedly at Lie Yang, cold sweat appearing on her forehead for the first time.

"What did you do?"

Lie Yang did not answer.

There was not the slightest ripple in his heart.

The fear was gone.

The anxiety was gone.

The pain remained, but it could no longer affect his judgment.

Every muscle in his body, every breath his enemy took, every current of air around him—all of it appeared with perfect clarity in his perception.

There was no longer any delay between thought and action.

So that was it.

This was the first stage of the Gene Lock.

For three years, he had continuously refined his mind, tempered his body, and pushed the Sharingan's insight to its limits.

He had already completed nearly all the preparations.

The only thing he lacked was death.

Only when he truly stood on the brink of death could the immense pressure unleashed by his survival instinct complete the final link and smash open the shackles binding the human body's potential.

He had not been wrong about the miraculous privilege he had obtained when he first crossed over.

It was precisely the qualification to unlock the Gene Lock!

Ayakawa Yukina could not see any emotion on Lie Yang's face, and her breathing grew increasingly hurried.

The man before her was clearly still bleeding from the waist, his right arm hanging at an unnatural angle, yet his presence was more than ten times as dangerous as before.

"Parasitic Destruction Bugs, devour his chakra!"

Ayakawa Yukina raised both hands.

Buzz!

The swarm before her scattered with a roar, lunging at Lie Yang from different directions.

The Parasitic Destruction Bugs covering Lie Yang's body also accelerated their gnawing.

Yet Lie Yang did not even lower his head.

The short blade spun between his fingers.

Its tip skimmed across his wrist.

A Parasitic Destruction Bug was flicked away, but not the slightest wound was left on his skin.

Immediately afterward, the blade moved in succession along his arm, shoulder, neck, waist, abdomen, and legs.