"Hahaha! You two big dumb bears!"
"All you're good for is eating dust!"
Yongye laughed aloud.
Then he vanished again and appeared directly above Kitsuchi's head.
His foot came down squarely on the crown of Kitsuchi's skull.
This stomp was heavier and steadier than any before it. Kitsuchi looked as though an invisible hand had pressed him down from above. His knees buckled, and he crashed to the ground.
He had barely started to push himself up when the second stomp landed.
A third, a fourth, a fifth...
Yongye moved so fast that only a blurred afterimage remained. His foot rose and fell as if he were marching in place, yet every stomp struck the top of Kitsuchi's head with perfect precision.
Kitsuchi's back arched. He braced both hands against the ground twice, only to be stamped down each time. His forehead nearly touched the stone pavement.
A large patch of his hair had been stomped off.
A few broken strands fell first, then a larger clump. The repeated stomps snapped the hair at its roots. Strands stuck to his scalp with dust and blood, only for the next stomp to scrape more of them away.
Kitsuchi's eyes had swollen to narrow slits.
His own teeth had split his lips. Dried blood crusted one corner of his mouth, and his nose leaned to one side, its unnatural dark-purple hue plain in the sunlight.
Akatsuchi tried to circle around from the side. His Earth Release armor was still forming over his arms, but he had taken only two steps when Yongye dropped onto him from above.
The first stomp struck the top of his head and drove him back. The second hit the same spot, making his shoulders sag. The third sent him stumbling half a step forward. Before he could