When Might Dai launched his attack, Hagoromo had already grabbed Pakura and rapidly retreated.
His previous judgment of the battlefield was a bit too narrow. Even if he believed in Dai's current strength, and even if he wouldn't participate in the battle himself, he couldn't forget the possibility that the enemy would prioritize attacking him.
After all, Hagoromo was also a Konoha ninja—in the enemies' eyes, he was the same as Dai. However, comparing the two right now, Hagoromo was clearly the soft persimmon they could squeeze first.
Although Hagoromo retreated fast enough, he was still caught in the aftermath of Dai's attack. Fortunately, it was just the shockwave of Dai's full-power strike and didn't cause any substantial damage.
As for Hagoromo saying the first one, it didn't mean Dai had merely attacked an enemy, but rather that he had already successfully killed one.
With just that single, simple strike, the Jonin Kushimaru Kuriarare was already dead.
From Hagoromo's observation, the spine at the spot where Dai struck the opponent's back had completely snapped, and his entire chest cavity had been crushed flat. Under such violent force, his internal organs were probably shattered into minced meat. Therefore, without even a chance to struggle, he had died instantly under Dai's attack.
If Kushimaru Kuriarare could still survive that, it would simply be defying biology.
As for how Dai moved, it was so fast that Hagoromo didn't even perceive it. This wasn't strange; at this moment, Dai's speed was probably something even a Mangekyo Sharingan couldn't track.
"You are my final enemies. This is my last request and wish as a ninja, so I hope you don't do anything unnecessary... because until you defeat me, those strategies are meaningless."
Dai said this while stepping out, step by step, from the ten-meter-deep crater created by his strike just now.
"Kushimaru Kuriarare... killed in a single blow just like that?" "You really are strong." "Although he's strong, it seems he can only use taijutsu." "Although he's strong, it doesn't mean he can't be killed!"
The conversation among the four enemies included talking among themselves and speaking directly to Dai, but they had also come to agree with Dai's point. Judging from the sheer power of that strike just now, bypassing Dai to attack Hagoromo was undoubtedly the wrong decision. Against that kind of extreme speed, there were simply no exploitable openings to be found.
As their voices faded, they charged towards Dai's position almost simultaneously.
Dai didn't dodge; he charged to meet them head-on!
Because he couldn't maintain this limit-breaking state for too long, and he didn't have the luxury of a protracted battle.
Although the four enemies charged simultaneously, who would engage first didn't depend on the variations in their movement speed, nor did it mean the fastest would face Might Dai first.
The order of engagement—or rather, the order of life and death—was determined entirely by Dai.
Like a second teleportation, Dai instantly bypassed the first three and appeared right beside the last one in the formation, Raiga Kurosuki!
Despite being a Lightning Style ninja, he was the slowest, clearly not going all out. Dai judged that the opponent was either brewing some ultimate move or plotting to escape. Thus, no matter what, he was Dai's first priority target.
Dai moved like a ghost, resembling an Asura; his appearance left absolutely no trace to track.
However, unlike Kushimaru Kuriarare who had his back turned to Dai, no matter how fast Dai was, a Jonin was ultimately a Jonin. In a direct confrontation, it was impossible for them to have zero reaction. Therefore, the moment Dai appeared, Raiga Kurosuki almost subconsciously tried to launch a slash with his Lightning Blades, Kiba.
But what good was having the awareness? His body ultimately couldn't react effectively in time, so Raiga's attack never materialized in the end.
No matter how fast the fastest Lightning Blade was, it still wasn't faster than Might Dai.
Before Raiga Kurosuki could even swing his swords, he realized his arms had been sent flying.
Dai had appeared leaning into his strike, his right arm raised high. Then, bringing his arm down with all his might like an axe chopping wood, the extreme cutting effect brought on by ultimate speed and power instantly severed both of the enemy's arms cleanly.
Before the pain signals could even finish transmitting through his nerves, Dai had already turned and charged forward. His bent left arm, as hard as an iron hook, violently smashed into Raiga Kurosuki's neck.
This was supposed to be the first strike of the Primary Lotus, and Dai had originally intended to continue the combo, but he found it was no longer necessary.
Because the enemy had already been decapitated.
The three enemies still charging forward rapidly halted their steps. By the time they hurriedly turned around, the only things they saw were the Lightning Blades, Kiba, falling from mid-air.
And Raiga Kurosuki's decapitated head flying through the sky.
Shock or fear?
Regardless, at this moment, they could only choose to continue attacking, because they finally understood that against the enemy before them, running away was entirely meaningless.
Against an enemy with such high speed and attack power, turning your back to flee would only make you die faster.
"The second one," Hagoromo continued counting coldly.
The next one was Jinin Akebino.
With the headless corpse hitting the ground as a signal, Dai instantly appeared in front of him.
Although impossible to track, after slightly adapting to Dai's speed, it was still possible to predict his movements. Jinin Akebino seemed to have anticipated that Might Dai's target was him and had already prepared beforehand.
He even made a clear, correct judgment on exactly where Dai would appear.
So the moment Dai revealed himself, the Blunt Sword, Kabutowari—capable of breaking through any defense—was drawn and struck out. Swung single-handedly by Jinin Akebino, it directly hit Dai's neck!
Kabutowari consisted of an axe and a hammer. When the axe blade hit Dai, the hammer in Jinin Akebino's other hand smashed against the back of the axe.
This strike could split Dai cleanly in two from head to toe!
However, the expected sensation of impact never came, and the loss of momentum from hitting nothing but air caused Jinin Akebino's body to slightly lose its balance.
He had only struck Dai's afterimage.
"Oh no!"
Jinin Akebino thought to himself, realizing he had exposed an opening.
It was indeed an opening, but in reality, Dai didn't need such an opening at all.
Instantly flashing to the opponent's side, about five meters away, Dai bent his arm and pulled back his fist. The attack was unleashed in a flash.
It was a barrage of ultra-high-speed straight punches. The friction between the rapid fists and the atmosphere instantly generated a massive number of fireballs.
It was the Morning Peacock.
However, using the Sixth Gate's Morning Peacock while in the Eighth Gate state was slightly different.
First, the fireballs created by friction were tinged with crimson blood. Second, the destructive power was simply on a completely different level.
Morning Peacock was originally a ranged attack, but the distance between Dai and Jinin Akebino was extremely close at this moment. Let alone the fireballs of the Morning Peacock, even the shockwaves caused by the high-speed fists possessed lethal offensive power.
Therefore, before the Morning Peacock could even fully bloom, it had already struck the enemy in its entirety.
"The third one..."
Compared to Raiga Kurosuki's gruesome death earlier, Jinin Akebino's end could almost be considered fortunate.
"There are two left... My body has just about reached its absolute limit, so for the next two moves..." "Each move will probably cost me an arm..." "Fortunately, I still have exactly two arms left."
After Jinin Akebino fell, Dai spoke to the final two enemies.
Hagoromo didn't need Dai to explain; he could see the tremendous toll the Eight Inner Gates was taking on him.
The enemies could see it just as clearly.
But even so, until Dai truly collapsed on his own, no one dared to make a careless move.
Even though it was nothing more than pure taijutsu, the Eight Inner Gates Formation seemed absolutely unsolvable.
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