Obanai's awakening ignited the battlefield.
The crimson glow of his blade and the purplish-black mark complemented each other, his cold, sharp aura burning with a resolute will to protect.
Even Shinichi, locked in a fierce battle far away, couldn't help but glance over.
'Well done, Obanai,' Shinichi praised inwardly, but the opponent before him didn't allow his attention to wander for long.
Maito's blood-colored claws were like a torrential storm, each swipe accompanied by a terrifying shriek.
The ground was plowed with deep furrows by the wind from his claws.
He had completely abandoned technique, pushing his strength and speed to the absolute limit, like a savage beast seeking only to tear Shinichi apart in the most direct and brutal way possible.
But Shinichi's growth was equally immeasurable.
With the demon blood in his body no longer boiling, his understanding of Forest Breathing became purer.
In his restored black eyes, time appeared clearer and more transparent.
In fact, after his battle with his ancestor Shunichi, Shinichi could "see" every muscle movement and every breath frequency of Maito through the flow of life force in the air.
It was a profoundly mystical sensation.
"Forest Breathing, Sixth Form: Resilient Grass - Hurricane Strike!"
Shinichi's swordsmanship suddenly changed, the verdant light converging into a violent hurricane!
Slashes of his blade were like resilient grass in a gale—tough and unyielding, yet sharp as wind blades—forming a verdant curtain of steel that met Maito's claw strikes head-on!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A dense series of collisions, like popping beans, merged into a single roar!
The verdant blade light and the blood-red claw shadows madly intertwined, clashed, and annihilated each other.
Each impact set off a considerable shockwave!
Maito's strength was terrifying.
Every claw strike sent a slight numbness through the webbing of Shinichi's thumb, but Shinichi's sword style was as tough as resilient grass in a storm, incredibly tenacious!
After each clash, the blade light would rebound from a more cunning angle with more focused power.
"Hah... Your breathing style..." Maito retreated half a step after a clash, a trace of astonishment flashing in his golden eyes.
"It has already become this powerful?"
He seemed to recall something, and his attacks faltered for a barely perceptible moment.
"That's right." Shinichi seized the fleeting opportunity, his feet pushing off forcefully as he shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.
"Maito, no matter what, we were once friends. Take this strike as a final gift from me, your friend!"
Hearing Shinichi's words, Maito was momentarily stunned, but then the corners of his mouth curled up.
Friend, what a distant word.
The last person who had truly considered him a friend had killed himself right before his eyes.
Oh, no, that wasn't right.
If it had to be said, he did have another friend, didn't it? It was just that he had always been unwilling, or perhaps afraid, to accept it.
"Come on!" Maito roared fanatically, raising his right foot and stomping down hard.
Bang!
The earth beneath his foot was shattered into countless cracks.
He then raised his left foot.
Bang!
The thick blood armor on his body came to life, rapidly melting and flowing towards his arms.
An extremely dense aura of destruction and bloody malevolence gathered on Maito's hands.
The overflowing demonic energy faintly formed a hideous demon face behind it.
"Blood Martial Art, Final Form: Funerary Dragon Soul!"
Boom!
The swirling blood tangled and mixed, gradually revealing the phantom of an incomparably savage, blood-colored dragon.
His claws and fangs were scarlet, and he roared ferociously!
"Forest Breathing, Final Form: Wood Dragon's Soar!"
Shinichi raised his Nichirin Blade high above his head, and a pillar of verdant light shot into the sky!
The light quickly condensed and took shape, transforming into the lifelike phantom of a verdant dragon coiling around Shinichi.
Its head was held high as it let out a silent roar.
One green, one red.
The two dragon phantoms, each carrying the will of its master, faced off and roared from a distance.
Maito held nothing back, unleashing all his power, and Shinichi respectfully responded in kind, using his full strength.
He was going to send his former friend back to the underworld!
At a certain moment, Maito let out a roar that wasn't deafening, but with a single movement, the blood-red dragon phantom charged violently toward Shinichi along with its body!
Shinichi's wrist flipped, and he brought his Nichirin Blade down decisively.
The coiling verdant dragon phantom let out a silent draconic cry, carrying a momentum that could sever all things as it met Maito head-on!
An unprecedented shockwave erupted!
The verdant and blood-red energies collided like two stars.
The shockwave swept out in all directions like a tsunami, sending all the building wreckage, rubble, and tiles within a radius of dozens of meters flying, crushing them to dust!
Even the distant battlefield of Akaza and Obanai was affected, forcing the two to temporarily separate to withstand the violent aftershock.
In the center of the dust-filled ruins, Shinichi stood with his blade in hand.
Not far in front of him, Maito's massive body was kneeling on one knee.
Half of his body was completely shattered, and his head hung limply.
But Maito did not fall, nor did he immediately turn to ash.
He slowly raised his head, his golden eyes now mostly devoid of expression.
"A beautiful... strike..." Maito's voice was intermittent but much clearer, like a final burst of life.
"Much better... than Shunichi's."
"For a moment, I saw my ancestor's memories," Shinichi said softly, looking at Maito. "He always... considered you his dearest friend."
Hearing this, Maito parted his lips, as if trying to smile, but the expression was too difficult for him in his current state.
In the end, he just nodded slightly.
His broken body finally began to completely disintegrate, turning into countless dark red motes of light that slowly rose and dissipated.
This time, there were no regrets, no lingering obsessions.
Only the peace of a warrior finding rest after a hearty battle.
Shinichi silently watched until Maito had completely vanished, then slowly turned to look at the other battlefield.
There, the clash between the Crimson Red Nichirin Blade and the blue fighting spirit had reached a fever pitch!
Having unlocked his mark and Crimson Blade, Iguro Obanai's strength had undergone a world-altering change.
His speed, power, reflexes, and even the might of his sword techniques had risen by several levels.
The crimson blade, carrying scorching heat, easily left charred wounds on Akaza's demonic body with every slash.
"Serpent Breathing, Fifth Form: Slithering Serpent!"
The shadow of the curving crimson blade transformed into a red serpent phantom, its trajectory bizarre and unpredictable—left and right, up and down—completely enveloping Akaza!
Akaza had also become thoroughly excited.
He laughed heartily, his fists and feet moving like phantoms, pushing the various forms of "Destructive Death" to their limits as he madly clashed with Obanai's Crimson Blade.
"Exhilarating! This is too exhilarating! This is what a real battle is!" Akaza blasted away the red serpent phantom with a punch, but his leg was also deeply gashed by the Crimson Blade.
He paid it no mind.
"But... it's still not enough!" He took a sharp breath, and the blue fighting spirit around him blazed like a fire.
The tattoo on his forehead shone brightly.
"Destructive Death, Final Form: Blue Silver Chaotic Afterglow!"
Countless beams of blue fighting spirit, like meteors, erupted madly and indiscriminately in all directions with Akaza at the center.
Each beam contained terrifying piercing and destructive power.
If this were the Obanai from a dozen minutes ago, he might not have been able to face such a powerful technique.
But now, wielding a Crimson Blade with his mark burning hot, Obanai was fearless.
...
Bang!
An enraged fist smashed the wooden table in front of him.
Shokyu's face was practically contorted as he watched, through Nakime's eyes, the scenes of Shunichi and Maito being slain by Shinichi one after another.
"Are you kidding me?! I wasted my power to bring you back from the Yomi! Trash! What a pair of useless trash!"