"Asura Ninjutsu: Forest of a Hundred Tridents!"
Despite the utter humiliation of the fight, Akahi refused to give up.
It was no longer a matter of pride or reputation; his very life was on the line...
Akahi could sense with terrifying clarity the truth: The moment I stop attacking, Aoi will kill me.
"Die! Die! Die!"
Hundreds of tridents rained down like missiles. Akahi screamed, his voice cracking and desperate, "I beg you... just die already..."
I'm begging you... can't you just drop dead?!
The poor man had been driven to the brink of madness by this ordeal. If this continued, he would lose his mind completely.
The soldiers of the Land of Birds stood speechless. The Demon of the Ghost Trident, who had always been as terrifying as a devil — cruel, bloody, and merciless — was now crying like a helpless child...
Seeing this, Sagi, the Daimyo of the Land of Birds, quietly urged his horse backward, slipping away from the crowd.
Aoi noticed everything out of the corner of his eye and simply raised an eyebrow. He said nothing. Now is not yet the time to deal with him...
But this battle? It was time to bring it to an end.
"Eight Gates Inner Formation — Gate of Closing, OPEN!"
Three ultimate physical techniques were now fused within him: Thunder Garment, Serpent Sage Mode, and the Eight Gates.
At this moment, Aoi's strength, speed, and even his physical defense had reached a terrifying, god-like level.
"Just die!"
As the razor-sharp tridents descended, Aoi let go of the Kusanagi Blade and suddenly thrust out his right hand...
WOOOOM!
Terrifying power exploded in his palm. He caught the falling trident firmly in mid-air, gripping it tight.
No matter how much the weapon vibrated or struggled, it could not move an inch further.
Aoi smirked, then tightened his fist violently...
CRUNCH!
With a sickening sound, the entire trident shattered into fine powder, just like a cheap toy.
"Dammit... how is this possible?!"
Akahi clutched his head and howled in disbelief. "How can this be happening?! How?!"
The shinobi of the Land of Birds were completely paralyzed. To put it dramatically: in that single instant, they were scared witless.
"A being like this..."
Ono Shimura stared blankly, his mouth hanging open. "...why on earth would he come to save me?"
At this moment, Shimura fell into deep doubt regarding his own worth. A being who possessed such power at merely three years old...
Let alone a Daimyo of a tiny border state like himself — would even the Daimyos of the Five Great Nations be worth saving to someone like this?
Perhaps, for a lord of a small frontier nation, the only thing valuable enough to catch the eye of such a being was... the entire country itself.
Little did he know, while lost in these wild thoughts, he had accidentally stumbled upon the absolute truth.
And he would never guess that his beloved son had effectively sold the country just to buy his father's life.
> Mission Complete: The Battle of Verification.
> Mission rewards have been issued. Please collect: 1 High–Grade Treasure Chest; Character Scroll: Akahi.
Confirming the mission was finished, Aoi smiled and crushed every remaining trident in the air into dust. He walked up to Akahi.
"It seems this really was your limit. You couldn't hold on."
Gulp...
Akahi jerked his head up, eyes wide with panic. He shook his head frantically. "N-no! No, I can still go on! Just give me a little more time! I can definitely become stronger! Then I..."
BOOM!
Before Akahi could finish speaking, Aoi punched him straight on. The impact turned the once-feared demon into nothing more than a messy pulp of flesh and blood.
"No. You can't."
Given Akahi's age, reaching Kage-level power through secret techniques was already the absolute limit.
His body had long since collapsed from the strain. Even if Aoi hadn't killed him, he wouldn't have lived more than a few days.
Only when Akahi's body fell did the remaining shinobi of the Land of Birds snap out of their daze.
They turned and tried to flee for their lives. But unfortunately for them... it was already far too late.
"Ice Age!"
With a single wave of Aoi's hand, hundreds of human-shaped ice sculptures stood tall in the middle of the vast desert.
Ono Shimura was left alone, standing amidst the frozen statues, staring around in a daze.
"Am I... am I still alive?"
__________________
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