As Chiba Yo's voice faded, he appeared behind Kaigaku.
Bending low and switching his Breathing Style, Chiba Yo looked at Kaigaku ahead of him, gripped the hilt of his Nichirin Blade, and exhaled a white stream of breath.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form..."
Behind me!
Kaigaku had pinpointed Chiba Yo's location from his voice.
"Thunder Breathing, Sixth Form: Electric Thunderclap and Thunder Roar!"
Countless slashes shaped like black lightning radiated outward from Kaigaku, their range reaching Chiba Yo as well.
Yet Chiba Yo felt not a ripple of unease as he faced the oncoming attack.
"Thunderclap and Flash: Twelvefold Godspeed!"
His Nichirin Blade left its sheath, and Chiba Yo vanished once more. Only twelve streaks of golden lightning remained, all piercing Kaigaku's body in an instant. They were so fast that all twelve streaks lingered in the air, as though they had been unleashed simultaneously.
Kaigaku's attack failed to so much as touch Chiba Yo's clothes. Through sheer speed, he passed straight through Kaigaku's wide-ranging assault and unleashed twelve slashes, every one of them striking home.
Clink!
His Nichirin Blade slid back into its sheath. Chiba Yo appeared in front of Kaigaku with his back to him, then turned to look at him.
The next instant, Kaigaku's body suddenly fell apart, split into thirteen pieces by those twelve slashes. Only his head remained intact.
Impossible! How could Thunder Breathing's First Form be this powerful?! Wasn't it the most basic form of Thunder Breathing?
Kaigaku's head began to fall. The spinning view disoriented him, and all his emotions turned to shock. He had never imagined that the First Form, the one he had failed to master, could be so powerful.
Then rage and resentment replaced his shock.
*Damn it! That old bastard must have held something back! He must have played favorites!