His body was gradually crystallizing. Rain gritted his teeth, and a burst of energy exploded within him. All the crystals vanished, and the crystallized parts returned to their original state. But Torifu noticed that the transparent part of his tail had grown larger. Torifu understood now; it seemed Rain's regeneration ability wasn't infinite. Each time he used it, his fish tail would be partially consumed. Torifu wondered what would happen if his tail completely disappeared. Would he die?
Torifu didn't give him a moment to catch his breath! A pair of iron wings flapped, sending gusts of wind toward him! Rain's wounds had all healed. Sensing the danger, he immediately dove into the sea and swam quickly. The layers of waves on the surface prevented Torifu from seeing what was happening below. He could only rely on his intuition to predict Rain's attacks.
Suddenly, a swordfish with a pointed snout leaped out of the sea! It shot straight toward Torifu! Although Torifu saw it, the fish was incredibly fast. By the time Torifu dodged, it was already too late. Rain's snout had grazed his wing, and blood stained his feathers. But when Torifu used a healing jutsu to try and heal it, he found that the wound was recovering incredibly slowly. Upon closer inspection, he discovered a faint, almost invisible glow around the wound.
Just as Torifu was about to quickly heal the wound so he could continue the battle, the surface of the sea stirred again. Countless flying fish with blade-like fins leaped out of the sea, accurately striking Torifu like shuriken. Thankfully, Torifu was prepared. He weaved and dodged through the school of flying fish, easily avoiding most of the damage. But his massive wings became the target. There were no wounds on his body, but his wings were drenched in blood. The protective cloud energy had also been shattered long ago, as it could only block a small amount of damage.
This was only the second time Torifu had used Sage Mode, so he wasn't very familiar with the wings behind him. He couldn't accurately calculate their distance while dodging attacks. But he learned from his mistakes. Under the dense attacks from the school of flying fish, Torifu gradually became familiar with the wings. He felt bad for Aokumo and Ryūfū and decided he would have to reward them well after the battle. But now was not the time. The danger was not over. Although the school of flying fish had disappeared, he didn't know when the next attack would come.
Torifu decided to take the initiative.
"Sage Art: Ice Release: Extreme Cold Radiance!"
A blue light flashed across the surface of the sea, instantly creating a thick layer of ice. This way, no matter what jutsu Rain used, he would have to break through the ice first, giving Torifu time to react. But in the next second, the ice beneath Torifu shattered! Two chains shot out from the bottom of the sea! Seeing this, Torifu immediately flew high into the air, constantly dodging the pursuing chains. The chains seemed to have locked on to Torifu, continuously extending, just to tie him up.
Seeing that he couldn't shake them off, Torifu also shot out two Cloud Release chains from his sleeves, tightly wrapping around them! He then instantly pulled with all his strength! The two chains became taut! Torifu wanted to pull Rain out of the sea, and Rain had the same goal. But at this moment, Torifu was not alone. The power of Aokumo and Ryūfū was also concentrated in his body. After a five or six-minute stalemate, Torifu suddenly burst with power and pulled hard! He yanked Rain out of the sea like he was fishing!
But even though Rain was out of the water, he still swam in the air like a fish, quickly moving toward Torifu! Coupled with the pulling force from Torifu, he reached Torifu in an instant! His sharp claws shot toward Torifu's chest! Torifu immediately blocked, but the protective cloud energy on his hands was instantly torn to shreds, and the claws dug deeply into his arm! Rain then laughed and brutally tore the wound open! Five deep wounds instantly appeared on Torifu's arm!
But Torifu wasn't going to let him get away with it! Enduring the sharp pain in his arm, he immediately formed a crystal spear the thickness of an arm in his palm and, without any hesitation, pierced Rain's body with it! Then, countless crystal snakes crawled out of Torifu's sleeve and burrowed into the bloody hole in Rain's chest, savagely tearing at his organs.
Even with such a fatal wound, Rain wasn't afraid. He grabbed Torifu's arm tightly and clawed at his chest! In an instant, blood gushed out, but strangely, the blood was black.
"You're not the only one who can use poison!"
A sinister smile appeared on Rain's face. Many parts of his body had turned into crystal, like an unpolished work of art. But he wasn't afraid. After all, he had that powerful regeneration ability, which guaranteed he wouldn't die.
But Torifu didn't have such a monstrous regeneration ability. He grabbed Rain's hand and brutally bent it back! A bone-cracking sound was heard. He then slammed a palm on Rain's already-crystallizing chest! With a surge of cloud energy, Rain was sent crashing onto the ice. His body was not only crystallizing but also dissipating into mist. That last palm strike was a Cloud Clan technique called Cloud Transformation.
Torifu didn't know if Rain's regeneration jutsu would be able to undo it, and he couldn't bother to find out. He created three or four clones to use healing jutsus on himself at the same time. The green light on him almost lit up a small part of the sea. But the wounds were still healing slowly, and the blood that flowed out was still black. Only the wounds on his wings began to heal quickly because the faint glow had disappeared. In the blink of an eye, there were no wounds left on his wings. But the wounds on his arm and chest were still just as grotesque.
"The wounds I inflicted will have a curse on them for ten minutes, preventing them from healing quickly. Even if your healing jutsu is powerful, it's useless."
A burst of life force exploded within Rain's body, and in an instant, all his wounds were healed. The transparency of his fish tail had increased, perhaps because the wounds were more severe this time. The part of his tail below his knees had all become transparent and could only be seen as an outline. At first glance, he looked a little like a ghost.
Torifu looked at Rain's fish tail. "How many more times can you regenerate? If you take another hit like that, your fish tail might just disappear." Rain spread his hands. "You found out, didn't you? But before that happens, I'll definitely knock you out and take you back." He then seemed to remember something. "Oh, that's right. My poison won't have a fatal effect on you. It'll just make you dizzy and easier for me to capture." He then smiled slightly at Torifu. "After all, you're so strong, you wouldn't mind a little bit of poison, would you?"