Summit War 23

But Natsu did not.

He charged straight at him, carrying the Tachi that was still dripping with Chakra flames, stepping on the cracked ice.

The crimson-gold Sage Mode markings flowed slowly across his profile like a living thing, while his jet-black kimono robe fluttered wildly in the wind whipped up by his charge.

His lips were upturned—not in mockery or sneer, but in a kind of long-suppressed, finally allowed-to-let-go excitement that came from the depths of his bones.

The Uchiha Clan's war-loving nature was gradually ignited during the time he was continuously clashing with four Admiral-Emperor Level.

Now, the time is right.

Steel Bone Kong saw into his eyes.

He was all too familiar with the emotions surging in those crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan —pure, undisguised battle fervor.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Natsu didn't give him a chance to speak.

The Tachi was already cleaving down on his head.

He used his right arm to parry the blade, and the Armament Haki Hardening knuckles collided with the blade, creating a burst of sparks.

At the same time, a left fist was thrown out, aiming straight for Natsu's chest. Natsu dodged the punch by turning to the side, and his knee, using the force of the turn, slammed into the empty waist and ribs.

He slammed his elbow down, and the two forces collided in mid-air, the shockwave shattering the stone slab beneath his feet.

The two fought from the east side of the square to the west side, from the ice to the ruins, leaving the ground cracking and the air exploding wherever they went.

Empty's fist slammed into Natsu's ribs. The bones, tempered by Sage Mode, emitted a dull tremor. Natsu only swayed slightly before slashing at Empty's left arm with a backhand strike—the blade sliced through Armament Haki's defenses, leaving a shallow bloodstain on the old man's thick forearm.

Kong Tie took several steps, trying to create distance and regain his rhythm, but Natsu clung to him like a leech, not giving him a moment to breathe.

The Sharingan dissected every single one of his movements—the twisting of his shoulder blades, the shift in his center of gravity at his hips, the subtle reaction force of his boots crushing the stone slabs—all were transformed into predictions accurate to the millisecond.

Just as Kong raised his knee, Natsu's knife blocked his next landing point;

Just as Kong threw a punch, Natsu's shoulder slammed into his inner circle, completely squeezing out any space for him to generate power with his arm.

Another knee strike landed hard on his empty abdomen.

The old man groaned and stumbled back several steps before regaining his balance.

He glanced down at the mark on his abdomen, then looked up at the boy opposite him whose breathing was still steady but whose eyes shone with an alarming intensity. For the first time, a look of apprehension appeared on that weathered face.

He found himself being suppressed in close combat.

This kid's physical abilities are even more troublesome than when he was using Susanoo — Susanoo strong, but it's ultimately just an outer armor; you can break one layer and there's another, and it will eventually run out.

But in this state, every punch and every slash is real, and every injury is quickly healed by the self-healing ability of the Sage Body. Sage Art Chakra continuously fills the wounds, replenishes physical strength, and repairs the internal organs damaged by Armament Haki.

This recovery speed is even more unreasonable than Marco's Phoenix Flames.

He has lived for over seventy years, and has seen countless pirates and monsters.

But there wasn't a single one like Uchiha Natsu.

"Uchiha Style: Purple Flash: Instant Heaven Blade!" The Lightning Release Chakra on the Tachi changed from blue-white to deep purple the instant Natsu uttered the name of the technique.

The electric arcs on the blade no longer hissed, but fell silent— the Lightning Release, compressed to its limit, no longer emitted outwards, but instead converged entirely on the blade's edge, leaving only a dark purple halo around the edge.

Natsu's figure vanished from the spot, the spatial ripples of the Flying Thunder God Body Flicker Technique, and just as Steel Bone Kong's Observation Haki caught the Chakra fluctuation on his left, the blade had already pierced an inch in front of his abdomen.

The empty space did not recede.

He lived for over seventy years, rising from a greenhorn to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and he never relied on retreating.

Armament Haki surged from beneath his skin like molten iron, instantly covering his entire right arm.

Instead of parrying the knife, he channeled all his strength into his fist and slammed it down to meet the blade.

"Meteorite Bones - Broken Mountain!!"

The tip of the knife collided with the edge of the fist.

Purple lightning exploded on the fist, Armament Haki Hardening. Arcs of electricity spread wildly along the defensive line constructed by Haki, scorching countless fine scorch marks on the empty knuckles.

Tang Saber's blade pierced through the Armament Haki layer, cutting a deep wound that reached the bone between Kong's fingers. Before the blood could even gush out, it was instantly evaporated by the high temperature of the Lightning Release.

The empty fist forcefully deflected the blade by half an inch, transmitting the force through the blade.

Both of them were blasted back by the recoil.

Natsu's feet plowed two deep furrows, each over ten meters long, into the ice, and acrid blue smoke rose from the soles of his boots.

Kong crashed heavily into the ruins behind him, rubble tumbling down the walls. He glanced down at the wound between his fingers, still emitting the acrid smell of burning electricity, then looked up at the boy opposite him who was slowly straightening up, a fanatical smile still playing on his lips.

His mountain-shaped white hair was slightly shaken by the blast of air, and he suddenly laughed, his laughter hoarse and emotional.

"Kid, that slash was more powerful than Garp's punches when he was young." He flicked the blood off his hands, clenched his fist again, and Armament Haki covered the wound once more, forcibly pressing the torn flesh back together. "Again."

The rhythm of the battle subtly shifted without anyone noticing.

Kong is, after all, Steel Bone Kong, a veteran who lived a whole era before Garp and Sengoku. His fists will not lose their technique with age.

After Natsu's repeated attempts to trade blows were evaded by Kong's Shave technique, the initiative on the battlefield began to slip away from the Uchiha boy's grasp.

The empty fist grew heavier and heavier.

His Armament Haki was no longer simply hardening and blocking; instead, he began to predict the landing point of Natsu's Body Flicker Technique each time, smashing his iron fist into that afterimage that had not yet taken shape at the same instant the spatial ripples spread.

Just as Natsu's Tachi cleaved through the air, Kong's knee strike rammed into his inner circumference;

Natsu had dodged the knee strike, an empty elbow strike was already aimed at his temple.

The Sage Body was operating frantically, with crimson-gold Senjutsu Chakra constantly replenishing the wounds, but the rate of replenishment was gradually falling behind the rate of injury.

His cheek was grazed by the empty fist, leaving a bloody gash in his skin, Senjutsu Chakra healed the wound in the next second;

His left shoulder was struck by an empty hand chop, and his collarbone made a faint cracking sound. The Sage Body gritted his teeth and pieced the broken bone back together.

But each healing process consumes Chakra, yet Kong's fist remains as steady as an indestructible mountain.