Amid the scorching aftermath of the explosion, Takahashi Yū's fist finally met the Third Raikage's One-Finger Nukite.
It added fresh fuel to the exploding Tailed Beast Bomb!
The surrounding dust and smoke rushed back toward the point of contact, then erupted outward!
Hiss!
Crack! The Third Raikage forcibly straightened his twisted index finger, but his entire left palm could barely exert any strength anymore. The Black Lightning on his body kept eating away at his internal tissues. His body had long since been breached from within.
But...
He felt warmth on his finger. He had finally wounded Takahashi Yū!
If I can wound Takahashi Yū, I can defeat him! Kill him!
Takahashi Yū failed to stop himself upon landing and staggered several steps across the ground, his gaze exceptionally grave.
Starting from the second knuckle that had met the One-Finger Nukite, a massive wound extended to his elbow. Blood spurted from the open wound, only to evaporate in the heat of the explosion and merge into the red killing intent.
Tiny buds of flesh writhed across the wound's surface, and it soon healed, leaving only a long, narrow scar. His body now considered repairing scars nothing but a waste of stamina!
His wariness had reached its peak.
How many years had it been?
How many years had it been since I last bled?
I think it was when the thorns in the woods scratched my ankle as a kid.
Takahashi Yū's eyes lost focus, and his mouth stretched into a wide, silent grin.
I thought I'd never feel my own blood again in this lifetime.
An immense surge of strength came from within him. His brain became extraordinarily active, so active that Takahashi Yū no longer wanted to consider anything else. He only wanted to...
Kill everything he could see!
The beast slumbering inside his body abruptly awoke!
Adrenaline!!
Takahashi Yū's body seemed to have gone into a stress response from the injury!
Thump!
Thump!
His heart pounded more violently than when Takahashi Yū actively drove his own body.
With every beat, a dark red murderous intent fluctuation burst from Takahashi Yū's body.
It swiftly deepened the pale red killing intent that had lingered in the crater. The dark red murderous intent fluctuation shrouded everything within sight inside the crater.
Thump! Thump!
Takahashi Yū's heartbeat had grown loud enough for even the Third Raikage to hear. A primitive, savage aura emanated from his body.
"Looks like I've brought out something troublesome..."
The Third Raikage murmured to himself, having discovered that Takahashi Yū's killing intent had not merely darkened in color. It had also become more aggressive than before.
The pale red killing intent had felt like a brush scrubbing his body. Now that it had turned dark red, it felt like countless earthworms trying to burrow inside him! It also carried a substance that could slowly wear down his Lightning Chakra Mode.
The Third Raikage silently intensified his stimulation of the Black Lightning. Black bolts flared outward, resisting Takahashi Yū's strengthened killing intent.
Neither paid any mind to the Eight-Tails charging toward them. Their eyes remained locked on each other.
"Roar!"
Takahashi Yū let out a strange cry, like the growl of a beast!
He shot forward like a cannonball, a ring of air bursting out behind him, both hands half-curled into claws like some unknown beast!
No emotion showed in the Third Raikage's pitch-black eyes. He planted his feet in a lunge, his intact right hand wreathed in black lightning, and thrust fiercely forward!
Takahashi Yū ignored the strike aimed straight at his chest. He even kicked harder off the ground to accelerate, his right hand forming a claw as he slashed at the Third Raikage's throat!
Squelch!
The Third Raikage's fingertips had sunk into Takahashi Yū's chest. Scalding blood flowed over his palm.
Before the Third Raikage could rejoice, he was blasted away. His inky eyes narrowed slightly, and even his consciousness blurred for an instant.
Sss! Sss!
White smoke rose from Takahashi Yū's chest, accompanied by a sound like tender meat thrown into a red-hot iron pan. Within just a few breaths, the wound on his chest had become an old scar.
Takahashi Yū grew even more frenzied and chased after the Third Raikage as he tumbled through the air!
The Third Raikage steadied his mind and stabilized his wavering consciousness. Adjusting his posture in midair, he seized the right moment to plant both hands on the ground and swiftly perform several backward flips, dissipating Takahashi Yū's tremendous force.
His eyes locked on Takahashi Yū rushing toward him. Veins bulged in his newly steadied legs, and he charged toward Takahashi Yū as well!
Black Lightning gathered over his fist. The concentrated chakra produced scorching electrical sparks, and the Third Raikage accelerated further. Bending his right arm like a bull's horn, he hurtled toward Takahashi Yū.
Seeing this, Takahashi Yū swiftly changed his move, actually adopting the same posture as the Third Raikage!
"Lariat!!"
"Flying Shoulder Charge!!"
One carried endless killing intent, the other raging lightning. They collided like heavenly thunder and earthly fire crashing together in their entirety!
Bang!!
The force spilling from the two shattered the crater floor yet again and again. Broken rocks flew high before raining down like a downpour.
Both men's arms struck the other's collarbone area as their shoulders collided!
The Third Raikage held out only until the rubble landed before Takahashi Yū violently hurled him away!
Sorry, [Unyielding]!!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Third Raikage diligently cleared away the crater's uneven terrain, his back smashing every protruding rock along his path!
With a bang, he smashed a large hole into the crater's outer wall!
The Third Raikage's eyes were somewhat unfocused. He spat out a mouthful of blood, the skin across his entire collarbone area drenched in blood!
Reaching up to force his dislocated jaw back into place, the Third Raikage was inwardly shaken. The Lightning Chakra Mode over his chest had been completely worn away during his deadlock with Takahashi Yū!
The rate at which Takahashi Yū's body wore away chakra had suddenly increased, even more than his killing intent had!
Moreover, without the protection of Lightning Chakra Mode just now, not only had Takahashi Yū's impact torn flesh and blood from his upper chest, but highly concentrated killing intent had also entered his body. A savage aura filled the Third Raikage's mind.
It impaired his judgment!
The Third Raikage patted his head, forcing himself to keep thinking calmly. The Black Lightning flowed over him, charring the wound on his chest and stabilizing his injuries. Gripping the rock wall, he walked out of the large hole his body had smashed open.
I can't make broad contact... He won't retreat a single step, no matter how powerful an attack he takes...
This really feels like facing the Second Raikage when I was a child... Takahashi Yū!
Takahashi Yū stood where he was, a black electrical mark running all the way across his body, from the right hand with which he had performed the Flying Shoulder Charge to his left foot.
His body continuously repaired his wounds. The black electrical mark soon flaked away as well, leaving only an old scar that matched the lightning's pattern exactly.
But Takahashi Yū already felt hungry. Every cell in his body protested to him. They wanted energy!!
That hunger jolted Takahashi Yū awake. As his awareness cleared, he felt the power within his body and the dark red murderous intent fluctuation.
So that was it!
How much killing intent could a battle in which I never got hurt or bled give me? How much of my body's potential could it activate?
My body had never fought for its life!
The dark red killing intent obeyed him as readily as his own limbs! It was like an extension of Takahashi Yū's body!
It even carried the effect of [Dan-Ability]!
"Hahaha, Third Raikage, now this is a fight to the death!"
Takahashi Yū controlled the killing intent around his body, forming one deep red fist after another behind him.
A battle of attrition? Every one of my fists is covered in [Dan-Ability]!
Before you continue