[DING! Detected target Kyo Kusanagi at full output! Current Absolute Domain: 90%! Mm, slightly higher than last time.]
Under Cloud's "demonic training" and the dual boost of the "Mu Shiki" secrets, Kyo's strength had indeed improved considerably.
This level of power, in the current era, meant he had virtually no opponents except for Cloud, Athena, and those other "cheating" existences.
Yet Cloud just looked at him and shook his head.
"Sigh, still too slow." He sighed with a "disappointed in you" expression. "KOF97 is almost here, and you haven't even touched the threshold of Ultimate Power. With your current level, you think you can protect your little Yuki? When Orochi brings down one finger, you and your flames will both be ground to paste."
"I..." Kyo's face flushed red at his words, but he couldn't refute them.
"Forget it. Waiting for you to figure it out yourself won't cut it." Cloud's face suddenly showed an extremely dangerous smile that made Kyo's scalp tingle.
"Since conventional leveling is too slow, let's try... an intensive crash course."
Before Kyo could react, Cloud suddenly raised his foot and, in a textbook "power shot" posture, delivered a vicious kick to his rear.
"Off you go!"
"AHHHHHH—!!!!!"
With a scream that tore through the sky—filled with terror and disbelief—Kyo Kusanagi, the dignified "protagonist," the "chosen one" of Japan's fighting world, was kicked straight into the boiling volcanic crater!
The scene was reminiscent of the Spartan king kicking the Persian messenger into the pit—brimming with both philosophy and absurdist comedy.
"CLOUD! F*** YOUR UNCLE!!!"
Kyo's figure became a small black dot in the crater, his trailing curse echoing as he plummeted toward that deadly sea of magma.
Cloud, meanwhile, dusted off his foot, then leaped down himself.
"Don't worry, I'm coming to keep you company."
A "treasure hunt to the earth's core" full of "surprises" and "accidents" thus began.
Weightlessness. Searing heat. These sensations flooded Kyo's brain.
Seeing himself about to have an "intimate encounter" with that boiling magma, survival instinct finally unlocked his potential.
"OROCHINAGI!!!"
He forcibly stabilized himself mid-air, unleashing all his flame power to form a massive fire shield around his body, attempting to resist the steel-melting heat.
Cloud, meanwhile, was far more relaxed. He merely formed a thin golden barrier of Ultimate Power around himself, blocking out all the heat waves.
One after another, like two meteors, they plunged into that endless sea of magma.
Glub... glub...
The magma's viscosity and heat far exceeded their imagination.
Even with shields active, they could feel a terrifying temperature capable of roasting one's very soul pressing in from all sides.
"Cloud... what... what do I do now?" Kyo spoke with difficulty, feeling his flame shield on the verge of collapse.
"Stay calm, follow me." Cloud's voice remained as steady as ever. "Feel with your heart—feel the pulse of these flames. The family treasure is down here somewhere."
Just as the two continued diving, searching for the Kusanagi Sword that had been missing for centuries, a powerful will—hotter and more dominating than the surrounding magma, brimming with ancient presence—suddenly awakened from the volcano's deepest depths!
That will, tinged with surprise and curiosity, instantly locked onto these two uninvited guests who had intruded upon its "bathhouse."
Then, the magma before them began to churn and surge violently!
A giant composed entirely of pure magma, dozens of meters tall, slowly rose from the magma sea!
Atop that giant's head sat an elderly figure, cross-legged—bare-chested, muscles rippling, with a wild mane of long red hair. His features bore some resemblance to Kyo's, but older and far more commanding!
In his hand was an ancient sword—entirely crimson, its blade wreathed in roaring flames, radiating supreme divine might!
That was one of the Three Sacred Treasures—the Kusanagi Sword!
"What young upstarts dare intrude upon this old man's place of cultivation?!" The elder's voice rumbled like rolling thunder through the magma sea, making Kyo's blood and qi churn.
Kyo stared at this demon-god-like man and the legendary divine sword in his hand, completely dumbstruck.
Cloud, however, looked at him with a "just as I expected" smile curving his lips.
"This humble one is Cloud, accompanying the future head of the Kusanagi family, Kyo Kusanagi, to pay respects to..." Cloud gave the elder a neither servile nor arrogant cupped-fist salute.
Then, word by word: "...to pay respects to the legendary family head from eight hundred years ago, the Sun God—Senior Kusanagi Asahi!"
"Kusa... Kusanagi Asahi?!"
Hearing this name, Kyo felt his brain short-circuit.
Wasn't this... the legendary ancestor recorded in their Kusanagi family genealogy from eight hundred years ago? The one who elevated Kusanagi-Style Ancient Martial Arts to its peak before mysteriously vanishing?!
He... he was still alive?!
Still alive and kicking, soaking in Mount Fuji's magma?!
This plot was more ridiculous than any hot-blooded manga he'd ever read!
The elder called "Kusanagi Asahi" showed a flash of surprise in his eyes when Cloud spoke his name.
...
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