Yue Liusi's talent

Yue Liusi had no time to spare for Dagon. He was being overwhelmed almost the entire time now, undoubtedly locked in a grueling battle.

This was his first fight under such overwhelming pressure!

Retreating would have been easy. Not even a domain could stop Flying Thunder God, much less Toji Fushiguro, but this was exactly the kind of fight he wanted.

A powerful opponent who could give him a thoroughly satisfying fight, a battle where he could go all out and improve himself!

Toji Fushiguro had no idea Yue Liusi was treating him as a whetstone. He was simply enjoying his fight with him.

A fearsome water dragon roared toward Toji Fushiguro. Rather than dodge, he met it head-on with a punch!

The water dragon's impact forced him half a step back. Yue Liusi leaped out of the water, sweeping the Ame-no-Murakumo Sword across!

Toji Fushiguro shifted lightly on his feet. The sword tip swept past his abdomen, and then his eagle-like claw seized Yue Liusi's arm.

Then he raised his other hand high, bringing Playful Cloud crashing down with tremendous force!

His Sharingan barely caught Toji Fushiguro's movement. Yue Liusi sprang upward, twisting his arm in Toji Fushiguro's grip as his entire body flipped upside down in midair.

Then he drove a vicious knee toward Toji Fushiguro's skull!

What Yue Liusi hadn't expected was that he wouldn't even try to dodge. Instead, he redirected Playful Cloud and swung it upward.

It was Toji Fushiguro's combat instinct.

He intended to tank the blow while dealing Yue Liusi a devastating hit!

An ordinary person would never risk their head like that, but he was different. He was Toji Fushiguro!

Yue Liusi's expression tightened. There was no way he would trade injury for injury, but he could no longer change his body's trajectory.

The next second, he vanished.

Forced to use the Flying Thunder God Technique, Yue Liusi appeared behind Toji Fushiguro!

Naturally, he had also left a Flying Thunder God technique mark on him during a lull in their battle. Driven solely by combat instinct, Toji Fushiguro paid it no mind at all.

Yue Liusi's eyes turned cold and fierce. He thrust an open palm like a cannonball, lava gathering in his hand as scorching heat raged!

Sensing the danger, Toji Fushiguro spun around and threw a punch!

Once again, he neither dodged nor evaded!

Fist met palm, and terrifying lava erupted between them. Both figures hurtled backward as streams of heat splashed in every direction like fiery snakes.

Yue Liusi stepped across the water. After steadying himself, his arm trembled slightly. He looked at Toji Fushiguro in the distance and exhaled softly.

His various abilities were rapidly coming together. Actual combat was undoubtedly the best teacher.

But it wasn't enough!

It still wasn't enough. He needed to improve further!

Battle strategies simply couldn't make up for a lack of absolute strength.

He could suppress Dagon through various combinations, but that wouldn't work against Toji Fushiguro.

The ninjutsu he possessed had already reached their limits, unless he acquired new ones.

Improving his Flying Thunder God Technique meant improving its tactical application. That was a matter of battle intelligence, unrelated to the technique itself.

He had already mastered this technique perfectly.

Improving his Sharingan meant advancing it through intense emotional stimulation or the like, which was difficult to accomplish on his own. Swordsmanship required time and practice even more.

There was only one ability he could develop in a short time!

Lava Release!

It seemed to be nothing more than an ability to produce lava.

Lava could threaten Toji Fushiguro, but it wasn't enough to kill him.

Suddenly, Yue Liusi thought of something.

That ability to enhance himself.

He acted on the thought immediately, but after coating his body in protective lava and exchanging blows with Toji Fushiguro again, his fighting strength fell rather than rose.

Yue Liusi used the Flying Thunder God Technique to put distance between them again, his expression grave.

It wouldn't work.

Covering his entire body in lava was easy, but it couldn't increase his strength and would only restrict him. After all, he also had to divert Chakra to protect himself from the lava he produced.

The lava couldn't even keep up with his movements.

Recalling how Toji Fushiguro had fought with Playful Cloud just now, wielding it as naturally as his own limbs, Yue Liusi understood what he needed to do.

To enhance himself, he would have to make the lava almost one with his body and fight with it as part of himself.

But how could he do that?

After all, it was lava, not a suit of armor.

Before Yue Liusi could think it through, Toji Fushiguro charged again. The ocean below was thrown apart to either side, exposing a passage.

Bang!

Yue Liusi went flying backward. Keeping up with Toji Fushiguro was growing increasingly difficult, and waves of pain coursed through his body.

His opponent was powerful and experienced, even attacking recklessly without regard for himself. Without the Flying Thunder God Technique, Yue Liusi probably couldn't have held him off.

But he couldn't just keep dodging forever.

In the distance, Dagon watched while recovering in a corner of the land. Maki and her group were out on the ocean on the other side, where Megumi Fushiguro was restoring his Cursed Energy in preparation to leave the domain.

It wanted to stop them, but Yue Liusi and Toji Fushiguro's battlefield lay directly between them. If those two set their sights on it midway and joined forces to finish it off first, it would truly be more loss than gain.

Besides, by now, Dagon was already thinking of retreating.

Cursed Spirits weren't idiots.

With its domain being countered and its sure-hit effect nullified, its fighting strength had been greatly reduced.

And those two locked in fierce combat made it afraid to act rashly.

For it, the best option was to join forces with Jogo, who would arrive soon.

Above the ocean, two more water dragons rose up and lunged at Toji Fushiguro, snapping their jaws.

Dagon's domain was filled with water, which undoubtedly greatly reduced the cost of the Water Dragon Bullet Technique.

Although this water belonged to Dagon, once Yue Liusi mobilized it with his Chakra, it naturally became his.

Unless Dagon actively used stronger Cursed Energy to take it back.

That would cost far more than blocking the Water Dragon Bullet.

His own power was what mattered at its core.

Suddenly, Yue Liusi thought of something.

He seemed to have fallen into a mental trap.

The essence of Lava Release wasn't lava, but the fusion of two types of Chakra.

And Chakra was the combination of a person's spiritual and physical energy.

Now, Cursed Energy had to be added as well.

These powers were one with him.

Not all lava was the same!

Chakra gathered, and lava surged out, blasting toward Toji Fushiguro.

Feeling out the lava's properties, Yue Liusi kept modifying it as he fought and retreated.

To humans, a stone was just a stone.

But to a stone person, stone was part of their body.

The lava he released was lifeless. He had to give it vitality!

Vitality just like his own!

And then, rather than control it, he had to tame it!

As soft as skin!

Flowing like blood!

At the moment Yue Liusi's thoughts were most active, his defenses inevitably slackened. Toji Fushiguro naturally seized the opportunity, swinging Playful Cloud hard into his abdomen!

The terrifying force knocked the Ame-no-Murakumo Sword straight out of his hand. Yue Liusi flew violently backward, sending up a great spray of water.