Chapter 119: The Strongest of Two Eras
"Hahaha! I finally found you, Toho Hiroshi!"
Kashimo Hajime laughed loudly, lightning crackling around him, his powerful Cursed Energy sweeping out like a storm. "Kenjaku told me that you are the strongest of this era. Judging by your performance just now, you are worthy of me using my Cursed Technique in battle!"
His gaze was burning, as if he had spotted his favorite prey. He held his hands in a loose grip, and brilliant purple lightning condensed on the long staff, emitting a destructive aura.
The successive appearances of Miyamoto Musashi and Kashimo Hajime filled the previously almost stagnant battle situation with variables once again.
These two powerhouses, each considered the strongest in their respective eras, exuded an oppressive feeling far beyond what Ryu Ishiguro and the others had displayed earlier.
Seeing this, Uro Heiko and Ryu Ishiguro felt a faint glimmer of hope rekindle in their hearts. Could these two powerhouses, working together, stand against this monster?
Toho Hiroshi looked at the two newly arrived formidable enemies, and for the first time, a hint of interest appeared on his face.
He waved his hand lightly, signaling the restless Three-Headed Hellhound to temporarily retreat.
"Miyamoto Musashi... Kashimo Hajime..."
Toho Hiroshi slowly spoke their names, deep light flowing through his Rinnegan. "Very well. It's not a bad idea to use you two to stretch my muscles while waiting for the main course to be served."
He took a step forward. Facing the oppressive aura of the two top powerhouses, the presence around him seemed to shed some kind of restraint and began to climb steadily—an overwhelming pressure, like that of a god or demon, standing above all mortals.
"Come. Let me see if the peak of your era can shake my 'Divine Cornerstone'."
Miyamoto Musashi's eyes narrowed. The blazing phoenix suddenly unsheathed half an inch, and the scorching flame blade aura instantly ignited the surrounding air!
Kashimo Hajime let out a roar, transforming his entire body into a bolt of lightning, and launched the first attack!
The battle escalated once more!
Meanwhile, Man, seated atop the Gedo Statue in the distance, watched the impending earth-shattering confrontation below, her eyes flashing with excitement and obsession:
"That's right! Husband, let these frogs at the bottom of the well witness your true power!"
Facing the pincer attack from Miyamoto Musashi and Kashimo Hajime, two top powerhouses from different eras, Toho Hiroshi showed no solemnity; instead, he wore an expression of playful interest.
He did not form hand signs, nor did he use the mysterious and unpredictable Rinnegan Dojutsu; he simply made a loose grip with one hand in the air.
Buzz—
The space beside him rippled like water, and a narrow spatial rift appeared out of thin air.
Immediately afterward, he slowly drew out a long, dark red blade of bizarre design, appearing as if forged from solidified blood.
The blade was long and narrow, with an elegant curve, yet it emitted ominous Cursed Energy fluctuations that made the soul tremble. It was the special grade cursed tool in his collection—the scarlet blade.
"A Cursed Tool? Just what I wanted!"
A sharp glint flashed in Miyamoto Musashi's eyes. Having dedicated his life to the way of the sword, he was delighted to see such a formidable weapon.
The blazing phoenix was fully unsheathed, and scorching flame blade aura wrapped around it, scorching the surrounding air until it warped.
He did not rush to attack, instead adopting the starting stance of the "Niten Ichi-ryū." His presence was as steady as bedrock, yet like an erupting volcano, firmly locking onto Toho Hiroshi.
"Hmph! I don't care what you use! Take this staff strike!"
Kashimo Hajime was even more unrestrained. He let out a long cry, purple lightning flashing violently around him. His entire being and the Ruyi Staff in his hand seemed to merge, transforming into a bolt of lightning that tore through the sky, striking straight down onto Toho Hiroshi's head in the simplest and most brutal manner.
Before the staff wind arrived, the savage lightning and pressure had already cracked the ground.
Facing this lightning-fast strike, Toho Hiroshi's foot shifted slightly, his figure drifting back half a step like a phantom. Simultaneously, the scarlet blade in his hand slashed diagonally upwards from below. The edge sliced through the air, emitting a mournful shriek, and struck the Ruyi Staff's point of force with absolute precision!
"Clang—"
A deafening clash of metal exploded, scattering sparks and golden lightning fragments.
The scarlet blade and the Ruyi Staff collided without any fancy maneuvers!
Kashimo Hajime felt a chilling, eerie, and highly corrosive Cursed Energy flow along the staff, causing his arm to go slightly numb. Furthermore, when the savage lightning force contacted the scarlet blade's edge, it seemed to be partially absorbed and devoured by the dark red color, drastically reducing its power.
"What a strange blade!"
Kashimo Hajime felt a chill in his heart, but his combat experience was extremely rich. He immediately changed his move; the long staff moved like a dragon, sweeping across thousands of troops. Layer upon layer of staff shadows, mixed with lightning, enveloped Toho Hiroshi's vital points.
Toho Hiroshi's expression remained unchanged. His Rinnegan slowly rotated. Kashimo Hajime's incredibly swift offensive, which would appear as mere afterimages to others, was broken down into countless clear trajectory fragments in Toho Hiroshi's eyes.
The scarlet blade in his hand parried, blocked, guided, or shaved. The blade light wove into a dark red spiderweb, catching all the staff shadows and lightning, the sound of blade and staff colliding like a torrential downpour.
Every one of his strikes was executed with perfect finesse, always neutralizing Kashimo Hajime's mountain-splitting, rock-shattering fierce attacks with the least amount of force and the most precise angle. The scarlet blade seemed alive, not only devouring and weakening Kashimo Hajime's Cursed Energy and lightning, but its inherent chilling Curse aura was also constantly trying to erode Kashimo Hajime's mind.
Just as Toho Hiroshi appeared to be fully occupied dealing with Kashimo Hajime's frantic assault, Miyamoto Musashi, who had been standing motionless, moved.
Like a leopard that had been gathering momentum, he instantly dashed forward! "Niten Ichi-ryū: Twin Swallows."
The blazing phoenix and another long, cold-glowing katana named "Frost Scale" were unsheathed simultaneously.
One left, one right; one hot, one cold. Two streams of blade aura, diametrically opposed in nature yet perfectly merged, moved like two playful, chasing swallows. Their trajectories were erratic, yet they contained ultimate killing intent, sealing off all of Toho Hiroshi's space for evasion.
This strike was perfect in timing, angle, and strength, launched at the exact moment Toho Hiroshi's old strength had just faded, new strength had yet to emerge, and he was being restrained by Kashimo Hajime.
However, Toho Hiroshi's Rinnegan seemed to have already seen through everything.
The instant Miyamoto Musashi's twin blades were about to land, Toho Hiroshi's feet moved as if on rollers, executing an unbelievable right-angle slide that defied physical common sense, narrowly avoiding the cold slash of the Frost Scale. At the same time, his wrist flipped, and the scarlet blade, like a viper flicking its tongue, jabbed at the spine of the blazing phoenix at an extremely tricky angle.
"Ding—"
With a soft sound, Miyamoto Musashi's determined combined attack was dismantled by this seemingly effortless touch.
The flame blade aura and the chilling Curse power eroded and canceled each other out, making a hissing sound.
A trace of surprise flashed in Miyamoto Musashi's eyes. He could feel that his opponent had not broken his move using pure strength or speed, but rather seemed to have completely seen through every minute change in the operation of his twin blades, finding the weakest and most crucial point.
"Eyes of Insight, huh... troublesome indeed."
Miyamoto Musashi took a deep breath, his gaze growing sharper. "But the ultimate extreme of the Way of the Sword can break all techniques!"
His sword momentum changed again. His twin blades danced, sometimes like a raging wildfire, sometimes like a thousand miles frozen in ice, and sometimes like continuous drizzle, displaying the essence of Niten Ichi-ryū to the fullest, forming a marvelous complement and pincer attack with Kashimo Hajime's violent Thunder Staff Technique.
Toho Hiroshi, surrounded by the siege of two peerless powerhouses, wielded the scarlet blade with one hand. His movements were fleeting like a phantom, and his blade technique was unpredictable and strange, sometimes soft and lingering like the whisper of a Netherworld Envoy, and sometimes erupting with devastating, earth-shattering slashes.
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