"What was that...?"
Gyokko stood in a daze on the outskirts of the village, watching the golden lightning that had erupted on the central street, his tone full of doubt.
"A God...?"
There was no ordinary human in his memory who could withstand the lightning of Hantengu.
But now...
Gyokko's eyes locked on the paralyzed figures of Sekido and Karaku.
Clang!
Gyokko didn't have time to make sense of anything anymore as a crisp sound of iron chains rang out.
A huge shadow suddenly loomed overhead.
Bam!
The huge impact force came down on the right half of Gyokko's body and instantly crushed his body into the ground.
"Gagh!!" Gyokko was caught off guard and took a solid hit, spouting out a mouthful of blood.
'What the hell?!'
He turned his gaze to look at the attacker. Luckily, his healing power kicked in as he jumped away from his previous position.
His right side was pulverized by more than half.
Blood spilled from his injuries and blotched the ground.
Facing Gyokko was a mountain of a man with white eyes from blindness.
—Himejima Gyomei has entered the battle!
"Namu... Amidha Butsu." Gyomei swung the chain in his hand. A huge spiked flail was connected from one end and a broad axe on the other.
The village chief has created an amalgamation of power in the shape of a kusarigama that is Gyomei's Nichirin blade.
"...not deep enough." Gyomei located Gyokko's form, whose neck was barely attached to his body.
His other senses fed his mind about the general situation in the village right now, and tears poured out of his eyes.
"Kamado-san..." He said.
"Thank you for holding the line."
Gyomei reached down to his waist, where a normal-looking katana was perched. This was a nichirin blade for Tanjuro's use.
"Himejima!" Tanjuro suddenly shouted at him.
He was running in Gyomei's direction, red-hot Kusabimaru brandished in his right arm.
"Upper Three's main body is coming toward you!"
Gyomei halted his hand and quickly sensed his surroundings. However, he failed to find any trace of the "main body" aura other than Gyokko.
Instead, he detected the movement behind Tanjuro.
The two demons who had been paralyzed were now moving, albeit more slowly, toward each other.
Sekido was now devouring Karaku!
The two demons quickly merged, and their new appearance seems much younger than either of them.
The transformed demon has five drums on its back like the God of Thunder, Raijin, each with the kanji '憎' (Hatred) written on it.
"Watch out behind you!" Gyomei gripped the chain in his hand, and the flail was swinging again.
Hantengu has six forms in total.
As of this moment, the red dots on his head had already extinguished four of them.
This is the fifth personality, [Zohakuten.]
"That one won't split up anymore!"
"Crush his head!" Tanjuro shouted.
Of course, Tanjuro had already seen through his Transparent World Hantengu's new condition, but he had no time to pay attention to it.
For the main body of Hantengu, small and hunched like a mouse, was fleeing from the battle at a very fast speed.
"Eeekk!!" Hantengu howled in despair and ran into the forest.
In Tanjuro's vision,
The Transparent World revealed to him the location of the main body's neck. However, since Hantengu's real form was so small, smaller than the Shinobi Deathblow point, it was like watching a red dot moving around.
Literally, he felt like a cat chasing dots.
Since Kusabimaru was turned into a red-hot blade by the assistance of Sekido, he chose to pursue Hantengu directly.
Just as Hantengu was about to enter Gyomei's perception range, he changed his running direction and ran wildly away from these slayers.
"Heh!" Hantengu with the word '怯' (Fear) on his tongue chuckled at his escape.
At the same time, Zohakuten also took action.
"The worst of the worst are you scums who bullied the weak!" Zohakuten straightened up. His whole face was a mask of scowls and anger. "Disgusting!"
He raised his arms to strike the taiko drums behind him.
)—Stone Breathing Second Form—(
)—Tenmen Kudaki!—(
(tr. Upper Smash)
With a crisp sound of a foot stepping on the chain, the huge flail slammed down from the top of the head of Zohakuten with speed and potency!
Puchi!
In an instant, Zohakuten's head had disappeared.
"Don't even think about taking a step."
Gyomei pulled the chain and swung his flail from a safe distance.
While he does, he does not forget to pay attention to Tanjuro's movements.
Since a figure appeared in his path.
"I'm so sick of being ignored!!"
Gyokko raised his fist, intercepting Tanjuro's pursuit of Hantengu.
His face was gloomy and grotesque. The injuries on his body were already healed—a perk of being a powerful demon; as long as it is not a fatal strike, they can heal up any wounds.
'I don't know what's going on with Hantengu to be forced into such a desperate situation by these weaklings...'
Gyokko punched Tanjuro with all his might.
Tanjuro, seeing the obstacle in front of him, decided to raise his blade.
The red-hot Kusabimaru was between Gyokko's fist and his body.
Gyokko sneered with his face. 'Foolish human.' With his God's Hand, he could turn everything he touches into fish!
The next moment—
Dang!
Brilliant sparks from the clash rained between them.
The expected result of the blade being turned into a slippery fish did not happen!
Tanjuro has executed a perfect parry!
"What—?!"
Gyokko's face gradually revealed how shocked he was. His attack was bounced back successfully by Kusabimaru, and the parry technique seems to cause feedback on his body as he was losing his balance quickly.
Time slowed down as Gyokko was stunned.
Tanjuro's sharp eyes caught the beeping dot above Gyokko's head.
The Posture gauge above his head also went from zero to full in an instant.
Which means...
—A bright red dot of instant deathblow appeared on Gyokko's neck!
Whoosh!
Tanjuro wasted no time. He flipped himself behind Gyokko and executed a horizontal slash!
Snick.
"Huh?"
Gyokko's field of vision went upside down and around as his head flew high in the sky and rolled to the ground.
"Wha... What's going on?!" His face was still in an incredulous expression.
Realizing that he had been beheaded with a single strike, Gyokko began to scream wildly.
"No, no, no! This shouldn't be happening!!"
Swish.
Tanjuro flicked Kusabimaru to clean it from any blood, although the red-hot blade already evaporated any lingering stain.
He glanced at Gyokko for a second and promptly disappeared to chase Hantengu.
The Shinobi Deathblow didn't kill him because Tanjuro didn't use any Sun Breathing technique, and he didn't use a nichirin blade.
---
Arriving late to the party,
Shinjuro and his entourage were not late enough to see the spectacle with the lightning by Tanjuro.
"Nii-san... did you see that?"
Muichiro stared blankly at Tanjuro's figure as he continued to run. Muichiro pointed his finger at the man with a longing look on his face.
"That guy... that guy..."
The flash of the blade, the miracle of reflecting lightning back, was etched in his young mind.
"So powerful!"