"Brat! Enjoy my ultrasound! I'll crack your skull from the inside!"
The sea monster's roar shook the shoreline, but its eyes widened when it realized Ryuuto wasn't the helpless victim it expected. The Decapitating Blade sliced toward it with ridiculous speed, forcing the creature to abandon its chase and defend with everything it had.
Ryuuto's body exploded into a mist of blood as the ultrasonic waves hit.
Then the mist evaporated into scattered spray.
Not his body at all.
"Seriously? You fell for the oldest trick?" Ryuuto snorted. "Get down on the ground and eat sand!"
Leaf Great Whirlwind.
Ryuuto spun like a crimson tornado, boot connecting squarely with the monster's skull. The creature's eyes rolled back, and it dropped like a stunned tuna.
But before Ryuuto could land, a massive tree erupted from thin air, hurtling toward him with enough force to break a tank in half.
Ryuuto inhaled sharply.
Fire Style. Great Fireball Technique.
A blazing sphere erupted from his mouth, engulfing the incoming tree. Fire rained across the sky, red embers scattering like a meteor shower.
"I knew you idiots were hiding." Ryuuto landed with a crack of sand. "Loki. Stop skulking. Come out."
Not a hint of fear in his voice. Just annoyance.
"Today, I'm cleaning up your whole circus."
A slow, oily laugh drifted across the smoke.
"Ryuuto, you haven't changed at all," Loki said as he stepped out with two cold-eyed Mutants flanking him, "except your mouth has gotten bigger."
He spread his arms. "But the world turns, Red Mirage. Today it's my turn to clean you up."
The sea monster staggered back to its feet behind him, wiping blood from its maw. Hatred glinted in its eyes. "Boy. You're dead."
The four encircled Ryuuto like wolves ready for celebration dinner.
Which made Ryuuto's next words even more insulting.
"Loki. For someone who was beaten into a discount pancake last time, you sure act brave. You lost memory or do you just enjoy humiliation?"
Ryuuto casually lifted his arms.
Loki and the others tensed—
Only for Ryuuto to stretch his back and yawn.
"Four heads…?" He clicked his tongue. "Feels cheap. But I'll still send you all to the afterlife so I don't waste the universe's affection for me."
"Kill him!" Landslide roared, slamming both hands to the ground.
The beach shook violently.
Spears of stone jutted upward around Ryuuto, jagged and gleaming.
"Kai-mon! Aurora! Kraken! Move!" Loki shouted, swiping his hand.
The two speed-type Mutants dashed forward, one from the left, one from the right, their movements a blur. The sea monster followed behind, building ultrasonic pressure like a living cannon.
"Cowards teaming up like this?" Ryuuto cracked his knuckles. "Fine. I'll play."
Shadow Clone Technique.
Hundreds of Ryuutos erupted across the sands, charging into battle with a war cry.
"Don't you dare stay on the ground!" Landslide yelled, slamming vibration waves through the beach, forcing Ryuuto upward.
"Brain small, muscles big," Ryuuto muttered. "Predictable."
Earth Style. Great River of Earthflow.
He clapped his hands.
The sand trembled—then transformed into a raging mud river that swallowed Landslide whole.
Landslide didn't even finish his scream before being swept away, thrashing helplessly as mud crashed over him.
"Forget him!" Loki snarled. "Kill the kid!"
Loki lunged with a burst of crackling energy while the Kraken race toward Ryuuto, unleashing another ultrasonic blast powerful enough to shred steel.
Ryuuto flicked a wrist.
"Shuriken Barrage!"
A storm of spinning blades shot forward, catching the Kraken by surprise—
Until Aurora blurred in front of him, her hardened skin shrugging off the first volley. She accelerated mid-motion, turning the rest of the shuriken into harmless fragments.
"Nice block!" the Kraken cheered. "He's finished!"
He lunged toward Ryuuto, unleashing an ultrasonic wave so intense the air twisted.
"Die! You'll die screaming in my hands!"
Ryuuto's body wrapped itself in a layer of sand armor, shielding him from Loki's exploding energy—
—but the Kraken pushed harder, amplifying his ultrasonic output until the sand cracked and detonated into dust.
The shockwave slammed into Ryuuto point-blank.