Above the deathly silent ruins, dust and smoke drifted like a veil.
Bang!
Mamoru suddenly ducked and lunged forward.
An invisible shockwave grazed the tips of his hair. The already crumbling wall behind him collapsed at the sound, rubble splashing in all directions like a rainstorm.
He rolled on the ground, trying to pull away from the phantom. Before he could regain his footing, the opponent's next wave of attacks followed closely behind.
A fierce fist, carrying the breath of death, lunged straight for his face. Mamoru tapped the ground with his toes, his body retreating rapidly.
That was close!
Just as the thought arose, a sudden change occurred.
A red energy ball instantly condensed in front of the opponent's fist before it could be withdrawn. At a speed difficult for the naked eye to catch, it shot straight at his face.
Boom!
A massive impact erupted violently, flipping the surrounding architectural remains. Dust and fragments soared into the sky like a blooming flower of death.
Mamoru leaped out of the dust in quite a sorry state. After landing, he was still unable to neutralize the overbearing force and slid several meters on the ground before barely coming to a stop.
Warm blood trickled down from his forehead, mixing with the dust and blurring his vision. He didn't have time to wipe it. He suddenly extended his right hand to the side, and blue ripple-like energy surged. A huge piece of architectural wreckage seemed to be lifted by an invisible giant hand, suspended in the air.
He swung his right hand forward with all his might. The massive wreckage, like a cannonball leaving the barrel, whistled and smashed toward the dust ahead that had not yet dissipated.
Within the dust, a red light suddenly flashed. Accompanied by a deafening boom, the massive wreckage instantly disintegrated in mid-air.
A terrifying shockwave, carrying countless sharp stones, covered the sky and shot toward Mamoru.
Mamoru's eyes narrowed. Just as he was about to deploy Infinity, he suddenly noticed a red energy ball—Red—hidden behind the dense cluster of rubble, obscuring his vision.
A chill instantly surged from his spine to the top of his head.
Without the slightest hesitation, he activated teleportation, and his figure vanished from the spot.
The rubble and Red whistled past, smashing into the nearby ruins with a dull roar.
A light breeze blew, slightly dispersing the dust and revealing the phantom's composed figure.
Just as he intended to teleport and pursue, his movements paused slightly, as if he had received some information.
He frowned slightly and muttered with a hint of uncertainty, "No need to hold back anymore? Is this really... okay?"
...
In the distance, atop a towering building, Mamoru's figure abruptly appeared.
He gasped for breath. Blood, sweat, and grime mixed on his face, making him look exceptionally disheveled. His clothes were also in tatters, with scars of varying depths visible beneath the torn fabric.
Just as he wondered why the phantom hadn't pursued immediately, the spatial fluctuations coming from a distance made his spine go cold and the hairs on his body stand on end.
In that instant, the surrounding time seemed to sink into a viscous mire, and the air stagnated.
The next moment, time resumed its flow.
A purple aggregate containing destructive energy tore through all obstacles in its path. At an extreme speed that the eyes couldn't capture, it instantly struck the building where Mamoru was.
Boom!!!
The dazzling purple light, like the mouth of a greedy giant beast, instantly swallowed and annihilated the entire building.
Crack... Crack...
The surrounding space could not withstand the energy that erupted in an instant, making a sharp sound like glass cracking. Then, in a clear shattering sound, the entire illusory realm completely collapsed and peeled away.
Two figures appeared almost simultaneously in the sky above Satomi Hill, facing each other from a distance.
"You actually dodged at the last moment?" The phantom looked at the battered Mamoru not far away, his tone carrying a clear hint of surprise as his gaze swept over the torn clothes and bloodstains on him.
"That was a close call." Mamoru spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and wiped the corner of his lips with lingering fear. "I almost thought I was going to be finished this time."
"Forget it. The result is the same anyway, it's just a matter of sooner or later."
The phantom thought no more. He curled his finger again, pointing it at Mamoru, as a dangerous purple light began to flicker.
With such an obvious attacking posture, Mamoru wouldn't just sit and wait for death. He flickered and teleported behind the phantom.
He didn't rush to attack but stated in a calm tone, "The moment you use Purple, Infinity is in a deactivated state, right?"
"So what?" The phantom didn't care.
He suddenly turned around, and a concentrated Red was shot from his fingertip without hesitation.
Mamoru teleported away again, appearing in another position.
"What are you trying to say by mentioning this?" The phantom's tone carried blatant disdain.
"Instead of scurrying around like a filthy rat, why don't you just die obediently? At least you could have some dignity."
"What I want to say is..."
As Mamoru spoke, his black hair moved without wind, shaking violently. A majestic Chakra, like a dormant volcano suddenly erupting, burst from within him.
"I've already found a way to defeat you. Let's wait and see who the rat that only knows how to hide really is."
Eight Inner Gates, Gate of Closing—Open!
Pale blue Chakra, visible to the naked eye, surged from all over his body.
However, in the next second, all the overflowing Chakra seemed to be constrained by a powerful force, rapidly shrinking and condensing inward. Finally, it solidified on the surface of his body into a layer of Chakra clothing that pulsed like a blazing flame.
At this moment, Mamoru's form underwent a massive change. The tips of his hair were dyed the color of flames, and his entire body seemed draped in a layer of crimson fire. The air distorted from the high temperature.
"This is the method you mentioned to defeat me?"
The phantom was stunned for a moment, then let out an unshielded laugh that echoed through the empty hills. "Hahaha... Simply fantastical!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Mamoru's figure suddenly appeared in front of him like a ghost.
A simple straight punch, carrying the high temperature and impact of the Chakra flames, lunged violently at his face. However, the fist was firmly blocked by Infinity just an inch from the phantom's face, unable to advance even a fraction.
"Don't make me laugh. Just this much?" The mockery on the phantom's face grew thicker, his lips curling into a derisive arc.
"You're laughing too early!"
Instead of frustration, a crazed smile spread across Mamoru's face. The crimson flames suddenly surged.
"Let's let you taste the feeling of being caught in your own move!"
Before his voice faded, a red light sphere suddenly emerged between the two of them without warning but it seemed a bit different. The red only existed for a brief moment visually before turning blue.
Boom!
The gravitational field suddenly went out of control, triggering a violent explosion. In the chaotic energy turbulence, both of them were blown away by the massive impact of the explosion.
But this time, the situation was different.
Mamoru simply performed a nimble backflip in the air and steadily came to a halt. The expected scene did not occur, and he muttered to himself, "As expected, it's not that easy to generate Purple."
The Chakra clothing on his body flickered during the explosion, absorbing the vast majority of the damage for him. Then, the flame-like Chakra surged again, tightly enveloping his body once more, as if he were completely unharmed.
On the other side, the phantom tumbled uncontrollably through the air several times, falling. Although he quickly adjusted and stabilized himself, his composure was gone.
In the next instant, he appeared before Mamoru. The bloody mess on his face caused by the explosion just now instantly returned to its original state.
He looked furious. "You dared to trick me? What you just used wasn't Red at all!"
His gaze was fixed on the peculiar Chakra clothing on Mamoru's body, his Six Eyes quickly analyzing its structure.
"Think about it yourself!" Mamoru's fighting spirit was high.
The Chakra flames on his body burned even more vigorously, the firelight flickering. "Next, let's see who falls first!"
The phantom's expression darkened. He snorted coldly, and the aura around him became even more dangerous, as if tangible killing intent was filling the air.