Fire!
The flames of the Explosive Flame Array raged wildly. Aoi Ren's eyes widened involuntarily. "Is this it? Do I lose just like that?"
Would this be his first defeat? It shouldn't matter much. After all, this was merely a storyline world. Even if he died here, he wouldn't truly lose anything...
But...
I just... refuse to accept it!
The fire roared all around him. In a fraction of a second, the explosion would blow him to pieces, force him out of this world, and leave him with the bitter taste of his first failure.
"Flying Thunder God?"
No. There was a delay of nearly a second — far too slow to make a difference. Ice Release couldn't contain an explosion in a millisecond either. It seemed there was no way to escape unscathed.
And even if he survived, Hanzō would simply finish him off next. Perhaps... giving up and letting it happen was the more dignified choice.
"Don't you dare joke! I haven't lost yet!" Aoi Ren roared through gritted teeth.
"Ice Release Armor! Wood Release Armor! Manifest — NOW!"
Driving his Kekkei Genkai to their absolute limits, he layered three solid defenses over his body, wrapping himself in protection again and again.
And finally...
"BOOM!"
The Explosive Flame Array detonated with earth-shattering force, the blast powerful enough to tear the land itself apart...
When the smoke and dust cleared, Hanzō frowned deeply. "Even that wasn't enough to kill you? You truly have incredible resilience."
"But tell me... what is the point of struggling anymore?"
Despite his triple-layered defense, Aoi Ren had lost both legs in the blast.
Similar to Nagato, he had barely managed to cling to life, but now collapsed helplessly to the ground.
"Wind Release: Poison Dragon Technique!"
Hanzō smiled and took out a small glass vial. He poured the very last drop of the salamander's venom into his mouth, chewed it briefly, and exhaled — summoning yet another purple Poison Dragon.
Faced with the snarling dragon, Aoi Ren had no strength left to fight back. His body covered in severe burns, his consciousness began to fade. He managed a weak, bitter smile.
"I see now... I chose the wrong target from the very beginning."
Although Hanzō had been implanted with the salamander's poison sac since childhood, he was still, after all, a human being.
He could never store such vast quantities of poison mist entirely within his own body...
All that poison was supplied to him by the salamander!
From the very start, the one he should have killed wasn't Hanzō... it was the salamander!
If he had killed the summon that produced the poison, Hanzō's Poison Dragon Technique would have been rendered useless, with no venom left to use.
His entire strategy would have crumbled instantly.
Did I get everything wrong from the very start?
But sadly... he had only realized it now, when it was already too late.
The ferocious dragon slammed violently into Aoi Ren. In an instant, the terrifying poison mist seeped into every pore of his skin.
He could clearly feel the venom rapidly corroding his body, turning his limbs, his bones, and his internal organs into a puddle of rotting sludge...
My life is slipping away...
"So this is fate? It waits until the very end just to make sure I understand why I die..." Aoi Ren murmured, his vision fading to grey.
But at that very moment...
Ding! Do you wish to use the Fate Elixir?
The system notification froze Aoi Ren in place. He whispered to himself, "The Fate Elixir..."
Fate Elixir: Drink me, and I shall rewrite your destiny...
Truly a vague, cryptic description — exactly the kind of thing that usually made him hesitant.
But...
Aoi Ren laughed softly at his own predicament. "Things have already come to this. Could fate possibly get any worse than it already is?!"
"Confirm!"
A mysterious purple liquid flowed slowly into Aoi Ren's body. For a moment, it seemed as if nothing had happened at all...
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