Staring at the reappearing Taketamayorihime-no-Mikoto health bar above Torashiki's head, Yu froze for a moment before suddenly throwing his head back in laughter. "Ahahahahahahahaha..."
Torashiki asked expressionlessly, "Is that funny?"
"Hahahahahahahahaha..." As his laughter gradually subsided, Yu clenched his mottled hand into a fist and countered, "Isn't it?"
Torashiki brushed the dust from his shoulder, a rare trace of humanity flashing through his eyes. "I can probably understand how you feel. Honestly, even if you ran away, I wouldn't laugh at you..."
An unreadable look crossed Yu's face as he muttered, "Heh, run away... but where could I run? The world is so small. Where could possibly be safe..."
Torashiki said seriously, "Earlier, you said Izanagi's Shikigami was so useful and questioned why I hadn't used it from the start. Chakra consumption was indeed part of the reason, but the greater reason was to create this cycle. If Taketamayorihime-no-Mikoto were broken, I could use Izanagi as a buffer and hold out until Taketamayorihime-no-Mikoto came off cooldown. That way, in battle, I would be truly immortal."
"But that was only my ideal fighting style. In actual combat, this is the first time I've truly been forced to wait for Taketamayorihime-no-Mikoto's cooldown. Honestly, I'm almost impressed by you, Uchiha Riu. You're the first opponent who has made me go to such lengths and still remained unconquered."
Facing his enemy's praise, Yu raised his head and said solemnly, "Torashiki, likewise."
Torashiki said, "Are you going to surrender? I can give you a dignified death."
"That doesn't sound too bad." Yu's clenched fist loosened, and the fighting spirit that had nearly gone out in his eyes blazed anew!
"Hm?" Torashiki narrowed his eyes. "Still unwilling to give up? Or do you think you can hit that one-in-a-thousand stroke of luck and take down my