Ryuuto barely had time to blink before a blur of metal claws came straight for his chest.
The masked mutant lunged at him with wild, foaming confidence. "Stop smirking! I'll rip out your heart!"
He never got the chance.
A wave of sand erupted behind Ryuuto like a living beast and wrapped around the attacker mid-pounce. The guy's eyes bulged as the sand constricted his ribs. His breathing turned into a choked wheeze, face swelling red.
Before Ryuuto could even gloat, a furious voice shrieked:
"You dare splash me? I'll burn you alive!"
Pyro wiped the water from his hair with an outraged roar, then hurled a spray of molten fire toward Ryuuto like she was trying to repaint the entire battlefield in lava.
Ryuuto sighed. "You two can play without me, thanks."
He flicked his wrist.
The sand obeyed, whipping the mask-wearing idiot directly across the battlefield and into the path of Pyro's incoming magma wave.
"HELP—!"
His cry was cut off by a molten backhand that slapped him across the face. Half his mask melted on impact.
Well, good news: that actually knocked him free of the sand. Bad news: he now knew exactly how a burned pancake felt. He scrambled away on all fours, done with life.
Ryuuto raised his hands.
"Earth Style: Earth Wall."
Stone pillars burst upward in a ring around him, blocking the magma. He followed with another seal.
"Earth Flow Great River!"
A river of mud surged up, swallowing Pyro's attack entirely and hissing out the flames in a tidal wave of sludge.
Ryuuto dusted his hands off. "Your heat's impressive, but still not enough to cook me."
Pyro slammed her palms to the ground, face twisting, heatwaves bending the air around her.
"I won't miss this time!"
The earth convulsed like something massive was trying to break out from below. Shockwaves rattled through the mountain.
Somewhere in the distance, Quicksilver shrieked like a spectator who just realized he bought front-row seats to a natural disaster.
"Oh hell no, she's going nuclear—back up! Back UP!"
Behind him, his gang hurriedly scattered.
Hovering above the chaos, Quicksilver's grin turned smug. "Ryuuto, enjoy your funeral. At least you get one last flashy send-off."
Ryuuto rolled his eyes.
"Shadow Clone Technique."
Hundreds of Ryuuto bodies exploded into existence and launched themselves into the sky, crashing down onto Quicksilver's group from every direction.
Pyro screeched, spinning in place, flames bursting from her as she blasted shadow clones apart one after another.
"You think clones matter?! Come fight me for real!"
Her body became a sun, heat warping the air into a murderous shimmer.
Ryuuto stepped forward.
"Light and Heavy Rock Technique!"
He charged, fist hardened with stone, Haki-like force thrumming through his arm.
Their strikes collided with a thunderous boom.
The impact flung Pyro backwards more than ten meters, boots digging trenches across the scorched ground. For the first time, fear flickered in her molten eyes.
Ryuuto flexed his fingers. Even with stone armor, the heat had nearly liquefied the surface of his gauntlet. "Not bad. I almost felt that."
Pyro snarled, aura flaring violently.
"You think you're strong?! I'll show you despair!"
She cranked her temperature higher, the air screaming as the ground beneath her blackened.
Ryuuto smirked. "Cute threat. My turn."
He inhaled sharply.
"Wind Style: Infinite Sandstorm Breakthrough!"
A sandstorm erupted like a heavenly punishment, swallowing Pyro whole and shredding her with a storm of slicing grit. Her scream was drowned by the roaring winds as blood misted through the storm.
Meanwhile, Mask Guy tried to sneak out of the disaster zone, suddenly thin and flexible like a worm trying to flee a frying pan.
Of course Ryuuto noticed.
"Trying to run? Adorable."
The guy panicked. "Crap—he saw me!"
Before he could react, the scorched, battered Pyro body slammed straight into him, smacking him into the ground hard enough to crack the earth.
Ryuuto strolled toward him without hurry.
Mask wheezed. His legs twitched uselessly. Not even a single insult came out.
Up above, Quicksilver and his crew froze—laugh wiped clean from their faces.
Mask snapped. Pure panic. "Don't come any closer! I'll—I'll shoot!"
He whipped out a laser pistol, firing wildly at Ryuuto.
Ryuuto's shadow stretched.
"Shadow Imitation."
The man jerked rigid, unable to move as terror overtook him.
"HELP ME! Don't just stand there—kill him! KILL HIM!"
Ryuuto yawned.
"You're noisy."
Shadow rose like a second set of hands.
"Shadow Neck Binding."
A darkened hand wrapped around the mask's throat. One sharp twist.
Crack.
His head slumped forward like a puppet whose strings had been severed.
Quicksilver's jaw dropped. The sound he made was somewhere between a gulp and a dying frog.
He stumbled back, face pale. His men instinctively stepped behind him.
He forced himself to bark, voice trembling:
"W-What are you staring at?! Get him!"