Jin looks up, his heart sinking as the massive white serpent constricts the Tokyo Tower. The metal groans and sparks fly as the beast prepares to bring the entire landmark crashing down onto the city.
Suddenly, a blur of movement catches Jin's eye. He looks to his side and sees Akos charging forward, his face a mask of blood and sheer willpower.
"Akos?! What are you doing? You can't even stand!" Jin shouts.
Akos doesn't slow down. He screams at the top of his lungs, "Jin! Use your wind! THROW ME!"
"But... you're wounded! You'll die!"
"DO WHAT I ASK!" Akos bellows, his hand gripping the hilt of his katana until his knuckles turn white.
Jin bites his lip so hard it bleeds. He has to trust him. He winds back and strikes the air with a massive [SLAP]. A concentrated gale catches Akos, launching him like a human missile directly toward the red-eyed serpent.
Akos screams as he flies through the air, the wind whistling past his ears. He draws his blade in one fluid, blinding motion right in front of the snake's face.
[SLASH OF THE ABSOLUTE VOID!]
A terrifying, blood-red arc of energy cleaves through the sky. It catches Naker exactly at the neck. With a sickening spray of black ichor, the serpent's head is severed. The colossal white body goes limp, slipping from the tower and plummeting toward the crowded streets below.
Buildings shatter and cars are flattened as the tonne of flesh hits the ground. People scream, scattering in every direction. A young girl, frozen in shock while holding a balloon, looks up as a massive segment of the snake's body falls toward her.
"My baby! Come here, quickly!" her mother screams, reaching out in desperation.
The shadow looms over them, but in a flash, Jin appears. He scoops the child into his arms, rolling out of the way just as the serpent's carcass pulverises the pavement where she stood.
The mother rushes over, sobbing as she hugs her daughter. She bows her head deeply toward Jin. "Thank you... thank you so much!"
"Get out of here! Now!" Jin barks, his eyes already searching for Akos. The mother grabs her child and disappears into the panicked crowd.
High above the chaos, on the rooftop of a skyscraper, Sakoura watches the destruction. His eyes glow with a predatory yellow light, with a twisted, ironic smirk on his face. "Finally," he whispers. "The action I've been waiting years for has begun. "He lets out a manic laugh.
"So, you're the one causing all this chaos in the city?" a voice calls out from behind him.
Sakoura turns. A man with jet-black hair stands there, looking unimpressed. "Finish?" the newcomer laughs. "What is this? You came to Tokyo to pull the same old stunts? How pathetic."
"And who the hell are you?" Sakoura asks, his eyes narrowing.
The man doesn't answer with words. He thrusts his palm forward, and a roar of black and yellow flames erupts, screaming towards Sakoura. "Call me the most dangerous man in the TOKYO WAR!"
Sakoura drops to the street below to avoid the blast, uninjured but annoyed. The mysterious man follows, landing gracefully and staring Sakoura down with a wild grin.
"Hmph", Sakoura sneers. "Attacking me? You must be blind or just plain crazy. You have no idea who is standing in front of you."
"To be 100% sure," the man replies, "I'm the craziest guy you'll ever meet!"
Sakoura raises his right hand. He joins his thumb and index finger to form a circle. His other three fingers stand straight up like jagged needles—the "Stings". He closes his left eye, bringing his hand up and using the circle as a scope, locking onto the man as if he were a target in a sniper's crosshairs.
The man tenses, preparing his fist for a strike.
CRASH!
The building to their right explodes. Naker has returned. Reverting to his humanoid form, but looking more monstrous and frenzied than ever, he lunges at Sakoura with mindless rage.
But Sakoura is too fast. He sidesteps the beast, catches Naker by the arm, and spins him around like a ragdoll. He brings Naker's face inches from his own.
"Oyoyo... what do you think you're doing, hmm?" Sakoura whispers dangerously. "Go play somewhere else."
With a casual flick of his wrist, Sakoura hurls Naker with such force that the beast is sent crashing back into the side of a skyscraper, disappearing into the concrete.
"Now", Sakoura says, turning back to the black-haired man. "Where were we?"
Suzuki Tuyama cracks his neck with a sickening pop, a wild, jagged grin spreading across his face. "Seems like there are others out there trying to have a good time without us," he says, his voice dripping with dark excitement. "The name's Suzuki Tuyama."
Sakoura freezes. His playful arrogance wavers for the first time.
"Hahaha!" Tuyama laughs, his eyes wide and manic. "The Tuyama clan... the crazy bloodline that slaughtered half the planet during the Jokon Era, from the North to the South! I can't believe I finally ran into one of you monsters. You're all completely insane!"
Tuyama tenses his muscles, preparing to launch a devastating strike, but the air suddenly begins to scream. A massive, swirling sphere of pink energy—glowing with a terrifying, pulsating light—tears through the street. It's the [ABSOLUTE] technique: Emotional]. The orb doesn't just move; it consumes. It swallows the pavement and tosses cars aside like autumn leaves as it surges forward.
Suzuki stares at the orb, his grin faltering. "No way... is that Tasaku's technique? The second stage of the Galaxy ability? Where the hell did that come from?!"
The sphere streaks past them, narrowly missing the two warriors.
Naker erupts from the ruins of the skyscraper, his body battered but his rage undiminished. He looks up just in time to see the colossal, four-metre-wide orb of pure emotion bearing down on him.
Through the dust and chaos, Akos stands tall, his voice steady despite the carnage. "Nothing worked before", he growls, "but this time, it's different. " By merging Ninjutsu with Oblivion and Memory, he has birthed a power that defies logic.
CRASH!
The sphere slams into Naker with the weight of a collapsing star. It drives him through the building, out the other side, and into a second skyscraper before finally detonating in the sky. The explosion is cataclysmic. Waves of pink, yellow, and white energy ripple through the atmosphere, creating a thermal shockwave that spans a 100-meter radius.
A blistering, scorched wind hits Suzuki, forcing him to dig his heels into the asphalt to keep from being swept away. "This wind..." he whispers, shielding his eyes. "It's like the fallout of a nuclear bomb."
The shockwave tosses cars through the air like toys.
Naker hits the ground hard, his body a ruin of shredded flesh and broken bone. He tries to push himself up, his limbs trembling, but as he looks toward the source of the blast, he freezes.
It isn't just the pain of the attack that terrifies him. It's the figure emerging from the smoke.
Akos has returned.
He steps out of the darkness, his eyes glowing with a haunting, electric blue light. A terrifying aura of pure natural energy radiates from him, heavy enough to crush the spirit of any who stand in his way. He is no longer just a fighter; he has become a force of nature.
The scene shifts back to the gridlock on the highway. The air is thick with the smell of burnt rubber and ozone. Inside the armoured transport, Nata is a hollow shell of her former self, her face buried in her hands. Beside her, the soldier assigned to her detail stares forward with a cold, vacant expression, his silence more deafening than any scream.
Ruka continues to laugh, the sound grating against the metal walls. "Look at you," she mocks. "Not even your own backup sees you as a leader anymore. Hahahaha!"
Nata grips her face tighter. She knows the truth. Releasing NAKER was a fatal miscalculation. The United States' influence over the DEVILS SNAKE has crumbled because of her desperation, and she knows the agency doesn't forgive such massive losses of power.
"I wonder", Ruka adds with a cruel glint in her eyes, "how your country will punish you for this failure?"
SCREECH!
The van slams to a violent halt. The driver's voice crackles over the intercom, tight with tension. "Madam, we have a problem outside. The road is blocked."
Nata takes a jagged breath, her eyes hardening. She draws her sidearm, the cold weight of the steel offering the only comfort she has left.
She steps out of the vehicle with her assistant, only to find the highway transformed into a graveyard of abandoned cars. Blocking their path is the heavy transport truck belonging to Vanessa.
"CIA!" Vanessa's voice echoes across the asphalt, sharp and commanding. "Give us what belongs to us!"
Nata turns to her assistant, ready to order him to clear the path. "Go! Eliminate them—"
She freezes. Her assistant isn't there.
A few meters away, Maria stands over the man's body. He is pinned to the ground, his limbs bound tight by a glowing, reinforced mesh. Maria's signature weapon, the Webbing Pole, hums in her hand, the high-tension strands vibrating with lethal energy. She looks up at Nata with a mocking, playful tilt of her head.
"Ohhh," Maria purrs, pressing her boot down onto the captive's chest. "You say he belongs to you? How about we talk about a trade instead?"