From that moment on, he never managed another counterattack.
Yan and Mei pressed in again.
Yan no longer rushed to unleash Amaterasu. Instead, he kept up the pressure with Fire Release and Taijutsu, forcing Saint Green to block and move without pause.
Mei's Genjutsu no longer tried to envelop him directly. Instead, it created constant interference, putting a slight delay into every move he made.
Saint Green countered with a sword strike, driving Yan half a step back, but Mei's Genjutsu immediately slipped in from the side, forcing him to pull his sword back to defend.
He countered with another strike, cutting through Mei's Genjutsu, but Yan's Amaterasu was already sweeping toward him along his blade.
Saint Green was forced to retreat, his feet sending water splashing through the shallows.
His swordplay remained fierce, but his steps carried him backward more and more often.
His breathing grew heavier than before, and the surging air whipped his crescent-shaped mustache into disarray.
On Killing Hall and Taki's side, Shamrock had already been driven to the edge of the battlefield.
A cut ran across his left arm, and Lightning Release had scorched a large patch of the cape on his back.
His heels were already at the battlefield's edge. One more step back would take him over the drop between the shallows and the reef.
Shamrock gritted his teeth and abruptly unleashed his Conqueror's Haki. Dark red currents burst outward around him, trying to drive Killing Hall and Taki back.
But Killing Hall's Sharingan predicted how the Haki would spread. His blade slipped through a gap in it, heading straight for Shamrock's throat.
Shamrock was forced to draw his sword back to block, while Taki's Lightning Release slash cut in from the other side, opening a deep wound in his right shoulder.
Shamrock