"The first ability, Spectral Warrior, works by diving into the memories of the user and replicating the pinnacle of strength in their mind. For example, in the eyes of that naïve old man… I can summon me in my prime." Oroshiki explained as the figure fully manifested.
Sora's eyes widened as he saw a silhouette of golden light standing beside Oroshiki, a tall spectral figure wearing spectral golden robes. It had long, pale beige hair with antlers on either side of its head.
"This…" Sora muttered in disbelief.
Then he had an idea.
If he were able to replicate this technique and summon what he believed to be the pinnacle of strength, would he be able to get out of this situation? Surely if he were to summon a gigantic tailed beast on this man then he'd win, right?
Problem was… he had no idea where to even start.
Sora sighed.
One thing was very clear, he was not going to win this fight regardless of what he does.
Another thing was also clear… if he kept standing still, he was going to die.
The area around him was just sand, no one to call out for. He stared at his ancestor and the other version of his ancestor.
He wasn't going to win against one of them, so why the hell had this arrogant bastard thought it was a great idea to summon ANOTHER one?
Sora exhaled slowly, sweat trailing down the side of his face, body already tense.
"Yeah…" he muttered under his breath. "I am so fried."
The summoned version of Oroshiki flew forward at speeds that Sora's Tenrigan could only barely see.
He twisted his body sideways, a golden arm swiping past the space where his head had been.
That was very close, far too close for Sora's liking.
And so, he dropped low and slammed his hand into the ground.
"Earth Style—!"
The desert floor began shaking as a thick wall of stone mixed with compacted sand shot upward between him and the construct.
But it didn't even matter, a golden crescent sliced straight through it following a swipe of the constructs arm.
Right before it could follow through and eviscerate poor Sora, he flickered away.
His body vanished, reappearing several meters away just as the attack finished carving a trench where he had just been standing.
Sora couldn't stop moving, if he stood still for even a moment he was as good as dead.
And now, Oroshiki himself has raised a hand.
Sora's gaze narrowed as he saw golden energy mixed with some chakra flowing towards his hand.
At that exact moment, Sora swiped both of his hands up, commanding the surrounding sand to fly upward into a shield just as a barrage of golden constructs tore through the air toward him.
Sora inspected them.
They were the exact same as the constructs that the Spectral Warrior had sent his way. Instead of Sora's hard and thick earth natured constructs… These ones came as thin, sharp crescents and sliced instead of having any defensive capabilities.
"Wind?" He guessed as he twisted through the gaps in the sand to dodge the constructs that managed to slice through the sand.
One crescent grazed his shoulder and tore the fabric of his hoodie as he forced his body to move again, landing hard and immediately sprinting to the side.
"Come on, my dear descendant. I want you to get out of this alive so I can see how you develop." Oroshiki said calmly.
Sora did not respond, he was far too focused.
His eyes were working overtime, tracking both targets at once, reading the chakra and nature energy in the air, the intentions behind every movement, barely keeping up with the ridiculous speeds at which the pair operated.
The Spectral Warrior came again, above this time.
Sora felt it coming and the ground around him split apart before swallowing him whole.
Above, a thick strike of golden lightning eviscerated the space where Sora had been standing.
A few meters away, Sora flew out of the sand and rolled, came up on one knee and immediately thrust his palm forward.
The desert obeyed him.
Dozens of hardened sand spikes shot up beneath the construct, aiming to skewer it from below.
They connected and for a split second, the Spectral Warrior's body was pierced from multiple angles.
Then it shattered.
The entire body of the Spectral Warrior broke apart into raw nature energy before reforming instantly at the cost of some of Oroshiki's chakra.
Sora's gaze narrowed again. He did not miss it, he saw just how taxing it was on Oroshiki to reform the construct.
He clicked his tongue. "Of course it can restore itself."
Oroshiki smiled faintly in response. "Did you expect otherwise?"
The next moment, both of them moved at the same time.
Sora's eyes almost couldn't keep up.
Two attacks from two directions, perfectly timed to collapse on him at once, one aiming high, one low, leaving no clear escape path.
He didn't think. His body moved on its own.
He flickered forward instead of back.
He flickered between them.
It was an insane move, but it was the only move.
The two strikes passed behind him, narrowly missing him as he slipped through the gap, his hand reaching downward.
He grabbed at thin air, but the sand beneath him reacted in kind.
The desert floor beneath the Spectral Warrior shifted violently, collapsing inward as Sora disrupted its footing and forced its body to dip for a short second.
That was enough, he was already there.
He balled a fist and his eyes shone bright, a large golden fist floating meters behind him.
Sora threw his fist forward with everything he had, the spectral golden fist flying forward at insane speeds before making contact.
The impact landed square in the Spectral Warrior's chest.
The surface cracked. Not shattered, but cracked.
Sora's eyes widened slightly. "So you can break…"
The Spectral Warrior retaliated instantly.
A spectral golden blade formed at point blank range.
Sora jerked backward, just in time for the blade to cut open his hoodie, leaving his stomach bare.
He was then kicked in the chest, sent flying backward into a jagged outcrop of stone.
His vision blurred, but he forced himself to get up again.
He needed to keep going, to see just how much those eyes are capable of.
Oroshiki began moving again.
And so, Sora raised both hands.
The sand surged.
A massive wave of sand rose between them, blocking his line of sight as he retreated, using the cover to buy even a second of breathing room.
His chest heaved. "This is utterly insane." He groaned.
Then the wave split cleanly in half.
Oroshiki walked through it, completely unscathed.
The Spectral Warrior followed.
Sora exhaled sharply. "Okay… okay! I get it." He muttered as his stance shifted.
He put up both of his hands and stomped on the ground beneath him.
The sand erupted everywhere, the ground became unstable, constantly moving and shifting, collapsing, rising, forcing both Oroshiki and his Spectral Warrior to adjust their footing constantly.
But…
It didn't stop them.
But…
It did slow them down!
That's all Sora could hope to achieve in a situation like this, if he couldn't run, he'd continue forward!
And so, he attacked!
He closed the distance with the construct, slipping inside its range just as it formed another blade, his movements erratic, unpredictable, purposely breaking rhythm to mess with its timing.
His hand struck once, then twice, then three times.
Each blow landed on the same point, spectral boulders covering Sora's fists as he rained down violent punches.
The crack deepened.
The construct reacted, its arm shifting to counter…
…but Sora had already moved!
He pivoted around it, dragging a stream of sand upward behind him that hardened instantly into a jagged pillar.
He kicked it.
The pillar shattered forward into a concentrated burst of hardened fragments, all aimed at the cracked point.
The Spectral Warrior took the hit.
And this time… it actually broke.
The entire form shattered apart into golden fragments of energy that scattered across the air like shattered glass.
Sora did not stop.
He immediately turned to run away, but then he froze.
The fragments started moving, the construct once again reforming.
They were pulling themselves back together as the construct rebuilt itself in seconds.
Sora let out a breathless laugh. "Yeah… I figured as much."
Oroshiki watched him with clear amusement. "You're pretty good, sure."
Sora wiped the sweat from his brow ridge. "I'm really trying not to die here, not yet anyway. There's still more I need to learn from you first." He grinned.
Oroshiki's eyebrow raised. "Just what are you planning, kid?" He asked.
Sora sighed, not answering his ancestor.
The construct stepped forward again, perfectly intact.
Sora's eyes narrowed and he adjusted his stance again, sand rising around him as a shield.
"Alright," he said quietly. "I'll keep breaking this thing until that bastard is out of chakra." He muttered beneath his breath.
Before he could think further, the Spectral Warrior flew forward yet again with a golden crescent already forming at his palm.
But now, he had a plan.
He didn't move away.
A thick, translucent golden piece of armor snapped into place on his shoulder, intercepting the blade with a heavy impact that destroyed the crescent. The force still pushed him back though, the sand helped him from falling over.
As he thought, the crescent constructs only have attacking capabilities and have almost no durability whatsoever.
His hand flew up again, a second construct forming instantly in the form of another large fist that flew into the Spectral Warrior's chest, driving it backward.
Oroshiki's voice carried calmly from afar. "Better!"
Sora ignored him, the construct recovered instantly and so his attention was on it.
The Spectral Warrior thrust its hand forward, a spectral golden crescent forming, this one much heavier, seemingly fused with some earth affinity.
Sora didn't miss it, he stepped inside of its range.
A curved plate of hardened nature energy formed along his forearm, catching the strike just long enough for him to pivot and drive his shoulder into the Spectral Warrior's torso. The impact didn't destroy it, but it messed with its balance again!
That was all he needed.
He pointed a finger gun at the point where he had formed a crack earlier and…
"BANG!"
He shot a bullet of hardened nature energy into the crack and the construct fractured…
…before reforming once again.
Sora's attention remained on the construct, he knew it would just reform so there wasn't any point in getting distracted.
His breathing got deeper, this wasn't sustainable.
Oroshiki tilted his head slightly. "You're reaching your limit. You forget I can see your chakra."
Sora smirked faintly. "Not yet… and I'm definitely not the one losing this battle." He said knowingly.
Oroshiki did not like Sora's confidence. He knew the kid was hiding something, he just didn't know what.
That's when he decided to move in too.
Sora's eyes widened as the next attack came.
The Spectral Warrior feinted high while Oroshiki struck low, and for the first time—
Sora was late.
His defense came up… but it was much too slow.
The crescent was already there, already cutting toward his neck.
Sora's eyes widened.
Then he grinned.
"You really thought I was—?!" He spat, but was cut off as he felt the world turn into hell.
A massive surge of flames erupted from the side, detonating into Oroshiki's body with overwhelming force and sending him hurtling across the desert, crashing through stone and sand alike in a violent shockwave that shattered the ground for dozens of meters.
The construct hesitated, destabilised.
Sora stumbled back, breath catching as the pressure vanished just enough for him to realise that his time wasn't up just yet.
Slowly, he turned his head.
A figure stood behind him.
A very very familiar figure.
A figure he had been longing to see.
A figure with a tendency to always find Sora at the exact moment they needed to.
Smoke curled from the air around the figure as the remnants of the explosions faded away, the person's expression was relaxed as they looked past Sora toward where Oroshiki had been sent flying.
"Big… Sis."