"...Hah... hah... damn brat, forcing me this far..."
On the gradually settling water, several more wounds of varying depths marked the Third Mizukage's body. Crimson blood streamed from them, dripping down his tattered Ninja Outfit onto the water beneath his feet and spreading into pale red stains.
His face was even paler than before, almost entirely drained of color. Each heavy breath made his shoulders tremble involuntarily, his chest heaving as he visibly struggled to suppress his internal injuries and maintain his dignity as Mizukage.
Yet the more he tried to conceal his battered state, the more powerless he seemed. The exhaustion and weakness on his face were plain for Rikuo to see.
Rikuo's attention, however, was not on the Third Mizukage, but on the white vapor that had suddenly appeared over the water. Its scalding heat sent the water temperature soaring, continuously producing terrifying clouds of white, high-temperature gas.
The white gas covering the water was not the vision-obscuring mist produced by the Hidden Mist Technique, but high-temperature steam that hung thick in the air without dispersing.
And this high-temperature steam did more than merely boil the surrounding water and air.
Rikuo glanced at the outer Chakra Armor of the Susanoo surrounding him. Once the thick, high-temperature steam clung to it, it actually began melting like cream, slowly dissolving from the outside in and vanishing into the air.
But as soon as a piece of Chakra Armor dissolved, more chakra surged from Rikuo's body, seemingly inexhaustible, covering the gaps the hot steam had melted into Susanoo. It restored the damaged areas to their original state, directly contending with the surrounding steam.
Finally, as though he had confirmed something, Rikuo slowly withdrew his gaze and fixed it on the Third Mizukage, who was covered in wounds and panting from exhaustion.