Horitake unleashed a technique named Thunder Breathing: Twenty-First Form—Thunder Slash One Hundred Eight Flashes!
As the name suggests, the Twenty-First Form fused the Second Form and First Form, combining Thunder Slash with Thunderclap One Hundred Eight Flashes!
In essence, it delivered one hundred eight slashes in an instant, each imbued with the devastating power of Thunder Slash!
This was no simple feat. It wasn't about wielding Thunder Slash and chaotically slashing one hundred eight times.
That would be Thunder Slash Chaos, not Thunder Slash One Hundred Eight Flashes.
The greatest challenge in fusing these techniques was balancing quantity and quality—how to have both the fish and the bear's paw?
Thunderclap One Hundred Eight Flashes emphasized quantity, unleashing one hundred eight slashes in a blink, overwhelming with sheer volume, dazzling and indefensible, triumphing through numbers over quality.
Thunder Slash prioritized quality, condensing lightning to an extreme, creating an unstoppable edge that aimed for a single, lethal strike, breaking through numbers with pinpoint precision.
To maintain both supreme quality and sufficient quantity was the crux of the challenge.
How to achieve it?
It was difficult, but not impossible.
As stated countless times before, this was thanks to Horitake's masterful control over lightning!
His exceptional lightning control allowed him to stimulate and enhance his body, pushing his physical prowess to unimaginable heights.
This enabled Horitake's body to support both quality and quantity simultaneously.
Coupled with meticulous, refined lightning control, he could forcefully execute both, merging Thunder Slash with Thunderclap One Hundred Eight Flashes to create Thunder Slash One Hundred Eight Flashes!
This technique delivered one hundred eight—or even more—slashes at a specific, mystical frequency, each strike carrying the full potency of Thunder Slash!
When unleashed, it was like a storm's assault, utterly irresistible.
To perform this move, Horitake had to activate Overlord State, or his body couldn't sustain it!
Fully focused, Horitake wielded the Thunder Slash purple blade, charging straight into the onslaught of Blue Silver Chaos Afterglow!
The first slash of Thunder Slash One Hundred Eight Flashes lashed out!
With one swing, a vast swath of blue-silver aura missiles was obliterated!
Then came the second, third, fourth, fifth slashes… each one deadly, each one unstoppable!
Horitake plunged into the Blue Silver Chaos Afterglow, moving as if through an empty battlefield. Wherever Radiance struck, it cleaved with effortless precision, annihilating every attack!
By the thirty-sixth flash of Thunder Slash One Hundred Eight Flashes, Akaza's Blue Silver Chaos Afterglow was completely extinguished.
Horitake, his expression cold and unyielding, sped forward, Thunder Slash purple blade in hand, closing in on Akaza.
Akaza was truly panicked now.
His ultimate technique, Blue Silver Chaos Afterglow, had been obliterated, broken so easily!?
Facing Horitake, now right before him, Akaza had no choice. He swung his fists, resorting to the least energy-intensive, instant technique to counter.
His arms blurred into afterimages, unleashing a torrent of aura-charged punches—his go-to move, Destructive Death: Chaos Form!
But could Akaza, in his current state, withstand Horitake?
The horrific wound splitting half his body still bled.
Though it wouldn't kill him, it had significantly weakened his strength.
In contrast, Horitake was nearly at full strength, with seventy-two slashes of Thunder Slash One Hundred Eight Flashes yet to be unleashed!
A glint of resolve flashed in Horitake's eyes. The Thunder Slash purple blade poured forth like a tempest, raining down on Akaza!
Thunder Slash One Hundred Eight Flashes clashed with Akaza's frenzied aura fists, colliding in a storm of sparks!
This time, it wasn't an even match. The east wind overwhelmed the west—Horitake held a clear advantage!
The thirty-seventh Thunder Slash struck Akaza's aura-charged left fist! The blade's terrifying edge and unmatched lightning obliterated half his fist in one swing!
The thirty-eighth Thunder Slash hit his right fist, shearing off another half!
Akaza roared in defiance, swinging his fists faster, harder!
He could only resist with all his might.
If a single slash could annihilate his fists, his neck was hardly tougher!
To avoid having his neck severed by Horitake's Thunder Slash purple blade, Akaza fought desperately, even with half his fists gone!
Horitake's expression was ice-cold, devoid of emotion, as he unleashed the remaining Thunder Slash One Hundred Eight Flashes upon Akaza!
Between them, blade and arm shadows intertwined, lightning and aura clashed, punctuated by bursts of fiery sparks!
What were these sparks?
Each flash marked Horitake's Thunder Slash purple blade slicing or obliterating a piece of Akaza's arms!
Their clash continued, sparks flaring incessantly. Horitake's blade remained relentless, while Akaza's dazzling arm shadows grew shorter.
It was clear—purple lightning was overpowering blue aura!
Horitake's Thunder Slash One Hundred Eight Flashes tore into Akaza, systematically annihilating, shearing, and severing his arms—half-fists, wrists, forearms, mid-forearms, upper forearms, elbow joints, beyond—piece by piece, segment by segment, with relentless precision!
In the end, Akaza was left with mere stubs of upper arms, flailing like pitiful chicken wings, spinning uselessly, unable to defend effectively!
Upper Moon Three, Akaza, reduced to such a state!
His defeat was inevitable!
Though Akaza looked pitiable now, Horitake's gaze remained cold, his resolve to kill unshaken.
He knew all too well.
Against a warrior like Third Brother, respect meant slaying him.
Granting him release, not redemption!
Thunder Slash One Hundred Eight Flashes had one final slash left.
Facing Akaza, now defenseless and visibly panicked, Horitake spoke softly, "Third Brother, find your release. Go to your fiancée—that's your true home!"
With that, his eyes blazed, and he swung the final Thunder Slash purple blade with full force, striking Akaza's neck!
Though unsure what Horitake meant by "fiancée," Akaza had no time to dwell. His indomitable will drove him to channel all remaining aura to his neck, forming a desperate defense!
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