"Serpent Breathing, Fifth Form: Winding Serpent!"
Like a streak of white lightning, Obanai slipped through the opening in an instant. His body twisted frantically within the extremely narrow space, avoiding every defensive thread inside, while the Nichirin Blade in his hand bore a deadly, cold gleam as it drove straight toward Rui's throat.
But just then, Rui suddenly revealed an eerie smile.
He did not dodge. Instead, he drew in all his threads, instantly winding them around both arms to form an extremely thick layer of red armor, meeting Obanai's blade head-on.
Clang!
The blade struck the thread armor, sending sparks flying. Obanai felt as though he had struck a mountain of iron, and the webbing between his thumb and forefinger split from the impact.
"Caught you." Rui's voice seemed to come from hell. His hands, wrapped in thick layers of thread, shot out and clamped down on Obanai's Nichirin Blade like a vise!
"What?!" Obanai's face changed in shock. He tried to pull his blade free, only to find it locked firmly in place, impossible to withdraw.
"Die." An extremely fine thread, red so dark it was almost black, silently extended from the tip of Rui's right index finger and shot straight toward the point between Obanai's eyebrows. The thread moved so fast that Obanai had no time to dodge.
"Don't you fucking dare!!!"
At that critical moment, Sanemi dropped from the sky like a cannonball, crashing down heavily behind Rui.
"Wind Breathing, Ninth Form: Idaten Typhoon!"
This was the strongest strike Sanemi had mastered so far, abandoning all defense to turn every ounce of his strength into sheer destructive power. Like a meat grinder, the raging wind blades carried Sanemi's boundless fury as they hacked viciously into the back of Rui's neck!
Shlk!
This time, Sanemi's blade did