It felt as if the sky were falling. Torifu's entire view was covered by the shattered, falling pillar of water. There was absolutely no way to escape!
"The real battle has just begun."
Torifu's brow furrowed slightly, but he showed no fear. He put his Tsurumi Blade back into his ring, then a pale-blue orb of light appeared in his right hand. In the next second, the orb exploded, and a blue light instantly spread out. Everything the blue light touched was frozen. The immense water curtain was instantly turned into ice.
"Crystal Release: Dazzling Crystal Hexagonal Enclosure!" Countless massive crystal pillars shot up, smashing and shattering the frozen water curtain.
In the midst of the falling ice shards, Torifu stood steadily on Aokumo's back, his eyes fixed on Rain, who was now surrounded by the crystal pillars. As he had expected, the crystals began to crack, and in the next second, they completely shattered.
"That jutsu can't hurt me."
Torifu's expression was calm. "I thought as much."
Rain leaped onto the surface of the sea, and Torifu also jumped down from Aokumo's back. The two of them stood firmly on the ocean. Despite the churning waves, they remained in a standoff, facing each other for a long time. Finally, Rain moved! He ran across the surface of the sea, though it was more like he was gliding. His speed was incredible, and he was in front of Torifu in an instant.
Rain's hands glowed with a pale-blue light, and with a wave, a wave suddenly rose! Several fish-like beings made of water appeared from it and quickly swam toward Torifu. Each fish had sharp teeth, like a sword, and they all shot straight at Torifu!
Seeing this, Torifu once again took out his Tsurumi Blade, ready to face the enemy. Two blades of sword chakra shot out, killing all the fish. Torifu then directly charged toward Rain. He then unleashed another powerful blade of sword chakra! Even the ocean waves were pulled along by the sword chakra, rushing toward Rain.
Rain nonchalantly held out a hand. The moment the sword chakra and Rain's palm came into contact, tiny fish scales crawled up his arm. His arm was now the best shield. He easily blocked Torifu's sword chakra.
"That's a very good attack, but it can't break through my defense!"
With that, he slammed his hands on the surface of the sea! The water beneath his feet immediately parted! Two black whales leaped out of the water, crashing down and creating a massive tidal wave!
Torifu stomped his foot, and Ice Release chakra spread across the surface of the sea, freezing the surging waves in an instant. Rain pulled out his frozen feet and shattered the ice on them.
"Your Ice Release is so annoying. It can freeze such a magnificent tidal wave into a block of ice."
Rain began to slide quickly across the ice, leaving behind two glowing trails. The surrounding ice seemed to be affected by the trails and began to melt rapidly. As Rain quickly approached Torifu, Aokumo and Ryūfū in the sky continuously shot out cloud swords toward Rain. But his speed was so great that it was very easy for him to dodge. Aokumo and Ryūfū couldn't hit him at all. Rain's hands turned into sharp claws, covered in scales. He laughed as he lunged at Torifu!
Torifu got into position and unleashed a sword slash to block Rain's claws. The two of them were in a stalemate. The Tsurumi Blade and Rain's claws clashed, creating sparks. The Rain of now was completely different from the servant on land who only used sound to control people. He was now like a crazed predator, constantly swinging his claws at Torifu, even leaving afterimages in the air.
"Cloud Release: Cloud Sword!"
Torifu found an opportunity to instantly release a cloud sword, which went straight through Rain's body. The freezing cloud energy instantly froze his lungs, and ice crystals continuously formed and split inside, repeatedly piercing his lungs. But Rain didn't seem to care and continued to pursue Torifu.
His Blade was countered by Rain's metal-like skin and couldn't unleash its full power, so Torifu had no choice but to put it away and use his jutsus. Rain's hands and feet were covered in scales, so fighting him head-on with taijutsu was not a good idea.
"Ice Release: Ice Storm Assault!"
The moment Rain attacked Torifu, dozens of ice spikes appeared and shot toward Rain's body. They only pushed him back, not causing any significant damage. But it wasn't over yet. While Rain was in the air, the ice spikes had already spread to the area where he was going to land. Rain sensed the danger, but before he could react, the ice spikes suddenly exploded! The tiny ice shards went into Rain's back like bullets, and bright red blood flowed out.
"So his back has no defense."
As long as there was a weakness, he could definitely defeat him. Although that attack just now hurt Rain, it didn't affect him much. His injuries were healing at a visible rate. In reality, Rain's strength was not much greater than Torifu's. It was his scales and his regeneration that made him so difficult to deal with.
"It looks like your scales don't protect your whole body."
Rain smiled. "Everyone has a weakness. You do too."
"This battle has already wasted too much of my time. I need to get back and report my mission. I can't waste any more time. My next move might be a little... you know." Rain gave his signature crazed smile. He then lightly glowed and brought his hands together, murmuring something.
Suddenly, the already-calm sea began to stir again. Ten whirlpools of the same size appeared on the surface. Something seemed to be brewing inside them. Torifu saw this and instantly flew over, kicking Rain away. But it seemed that he didn't stop him from completing his jutsu, because what was brewing in the whirlpools had already emerged! One by one, armored figures, like guards, appeared.
Like the fish before, they were also made of seawater. They held sharp spears, like knights. With Rain's command, they quickly charged toward Torifu. Anyone who was stabbed by those sharp spears would surely die. But Torifu was not without help; he released all his puppets to fight against the water knights. The results were very clear. The Dust Release puppets were able to take down one of the knights with just a single Dust Release jutsu.
Rain's expression showed surprise. He didn't expect Torifu's puppets to be so powerful.
"You're right. This battle is a bit of a waste of time. It's time to free my friends from their control." Two cries came from the sky, and then two giant cranes shot out from the clouds, flying toward Torifu! Torifu smiled calmly and leaped into the air! Then, a swirling mass of white clouds suddenly appeared, enveloping him like a tornado! It was clear to see that Aokumo and Ryūfū were circling outside the cloud tornado!
The entire sea began to spin along with the cloud tornado. Countless seawater was sucked up by the vortex and swirled around the outside, looking like a massive water tornado.
"The real battle has just begun."
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Chapter End
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T/N: patreon.com/claychampion @ chapter 530