Chapter 68: Lightning Fang Thrust
"I'll leave the rest to you."
Mord took a step forward, firmly locking onto Bat's presence in mid-air, paying no heed to the ninjas and samurai continuously emerging from both sides of the hall.
"Don't worry, I'm now the Fourth Kage," Hanzo revealed a confident smile once again as he moved behind Mord.
You can safely entrust your back to me.
"Seeking death!" Bat roared in fury upon hearing Mord insult him as a subhuman beast. With a flap of his bat wings, a fierce gale erupted as he clasped his claws together, transforming into a whirlwind that charged toward Mord.
Facing such a ferocious attack, Mord chose offense over defense, thrusting his Zanpakutō forward to directly pierce the claws at the storm's center!
Zing! Zing! Zing!
Sharp sounds suddenly rang through the air as sparks flew where the Zanpakutō clashed with the claws.
The sword pierced the eye of the storm, abruptly halting Bat's rotation and causing the whirlwind to vanish.
Bat's face twitched, his eyes filled with disbelief.
His opponent had actually been able to identify the weakness of this move at a single glance.
What he hadn't anticipated was that Mord's assault had only just begun. Unexpectedly withdrawing his blade, Mord redirected it to the side while simultaneously shifting his body position.
Suspended in mid-air, Bat couldn't react in time and continued forward due to his diving momentum.
At that moment, a dazzling blade light flashed.
The icy cold gleam enveloped Bat, who hastily dodged in an attempt to escape the blade's range.
Yet Mord seemed to have predicted this all along, his blade precisely striking along Bat's retreat path.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
A piercing shriek echoed as crimson blood splattered.
Bat plummeted directly from the sky, his severed massive bat wing crashing to the ground not far before him with a loud thud.
This exchange happened as quick as a rabbit darting and a falcon swooping—within mere moments, Bat had lost one wing.
The entire process appeared simple but was actually extremely perilous.
Had it been before, Mord absolutely couldn't have executed that perfectly precise thrust with such perfection.
Let alone the stunning follow-up strike where he predicted his opponent's escape route.
After emerging from seclusion at the sword dojo, Mord had essentially stepped into the gateway of sword mastery.
Had any of these details been executed even slightly imperfectly, Mord would certainly have been wounded, or even severely injured, by now.
From afar, Hanzo who was engaged in fierce combat glanced over and felt increasingly impressed by Mord—truly the man who had defeated him with a single strike.
He had thought that after mastering Nen, he had rapidly closed the gap with Mord, but now it seemed he had been overthinking.
Though current Hanzo still couldn't handle Nen users at the level of Shadow Beasts, he was more than capable of dealing with the ninjas and samurai under General Kubo's command.
Even though there were Kage among them—the leader of the Kōga-ryū (the one who placed restrictions on his subordinate ninjas).
Like sword masters, these Kage could use Nen abilities, but whether in understanding or application of Nen, there remained a gap compared to genuine Nen users.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Bat rose from the pool of blood, the loss of one wing meaning his balance had disappeared along with it.
He could no longer soar freely through the sky as he had before.
At this thought, his eyes turned bloodshot, glaring fiercely at Mord, wishing he could tear him apart and devour him alive. He stretched out his left hand and brutally tore off his other wing.
"Ahhhh!"
Bat lifted his head, suddenly opening his bloody maw and letting out a terrifying shriek.
Wave after wave of sonic pulses erupted from his mouth, crashing toward Mord in the distance.
Mord felt a wave of dizziness in his head, and a dark shadow flashed before his eyes. He could only rely on instinct to dodge to the side.
Bright crimson blood splattered.
Intense pain shot from his left shoulder. Mord glanced sideways and saw a bloody, mangled mess—five deep gashes that reached the bone.
"You won't be so lucky with the next strike," Bat snarled, his eyes fixed venomously on Mord.
It had to be said, this ruthless temperament truly lived up to the Shadow Beasts' reputation as the strongest combat force in the underground world.
To avoid affecting his speed, he had torn off his other wing without hesitation.
Mord decided to respond in kind to such resolve.
Bat sneered coldly as he watched Mord adopt that strange stance. "It's useless. No matter what you do, it's futile against my sonic attacks."
"Even if you cover your ears or block your hearing, it won't help. My sound waves penetrate everywhere, seeping through your flesh into your brain."
"Sound cannot be defended against!"
Bat held absolute confidence in this Nen ability of his.
"Is that so?"
Mord crouched slightly, his left hand extended forward while his right hand, gripping the sword, pulled back.
At that moment, he resembled a poised spear.
Zzzzt—zzzzt—
Streaks of electricity began to crackle across his body.
"Die!" Bat, inexplicably uneasy at the sight of the lightning, opened his mouth wide, preparing to unleash his Nen ability once more.
A thunderous roar erupted.
"Lightning Fang Thrust!"
A flash of golden lightning lit up the entire hall.
The bolt traversed most of the hall in an instant, piercing straight through Bat's body. The force of the lightning sent him flying backward, crashing through a stone wall over ten meters away without stopping.
As the light faded, everyone could see that the lightning was, in fact, the blade in Mord's hand.
"Sound may indeed be indefensible, but all I need is to be faster than you."
The terrifying force and overwhelming lightning directly extinguished Bat's life force. Even in death, he remained frozen in his wide-mouthed stance.
Mord slowly withdrew his blade. Bat had already lost all signs of life, his fading vitality transforming into countless specks of light that emerged from his body, flew toward Mord's Zanpakutō, and vanished.
The move he had just executed was the pinnacle swordsmanship secret of Shinpachi's late father—Fang Thrust.
Mord had modified it, resulting in the earlier "Lightning Fang Thrust," which surpassed the original in speed, piercing power, and destructive force.
Compared to the meager energy absorbed by the Zanpakutō from Bat, the true reward of Mord's journey to Japan was the advancement of his own swordsmanship.
On the other side of the battlefield, the situation appeared far more challenging.
Though Hanzo was exceptionally skilled, he was outnumbered. Despite his Nen clone's elusive nature, he could only barely hold his ground.
On the ground, a pool of blood had already formed with over a dozen corpses lying in it, all killed by Hanzo.
Mord looked up and suddenly his expression changed drastically. He shouted loudly, "Hanzo, behind you!"
It turned out that General Kubo had unknowingly stood up and moved behind the heavy Gatling gun, gripping the weapon with both hands.