Cai Kun was caught completely off guard, and Scizor gave it no chance to fight back. The nearby Scizor rushed over, but before they could reach them, Cai Kun had already endured countless strikes from Scizor's pincers.
The final blow slammed Cai Kun directly into the mud. With a loud crash, it smashed a deep pit into the ground, where it lay motionless, its fate unknown. This immediately enraged the other Scizor. They lunged at Scizor with increased ferocity, their strikes becoming significantly heavier.
Scizor found it difficult to hold its ground and could only focus on dodging. However, there were too many Scizor swarming it. It looked incredibly battered. Soon, an Elite Peak Scizor delivered a heavy X-Scissor, slamming Scizor into the dirt. Another loud explosion rang out as it carved a deep pit in the earth.
By sheer coincidence, the pit Scizor crashed into was right next to Cai Kun's. After a while, Cai Kun struggled to crawl out of its hole with great difficulty. Its injuries were severe. The other Scizor all glared at Scizor with eyes full of fury.
Scizor thought: ?? Why are you looking at me so angrily? What exactly is the relationship between this Cai Kun and you all?
It was only after hearing a Scizor address Cai Kun that it realized the weakling was the child of their Leader. Scizor looked at Cai Kun with a face full of disdain; seeing this, Cai Kun glared back with equal contempt.
Soon, Masamune arrived, signaling it was time for Scizor to return. Before leaving, Scizor shot one last glance at Cai Kun. One of the Scizor communicated with Cai Kun, trying to convince it to stop, but Cai Kun felt overconfident and believed it could keep going. Seeing its persistence, the other Scizor couldn't say much to dissuade it.
The fifth attempt began. Scizor bypassed the Scyther with practiced ease and charged into the Scizor zone once again. Upon entering, it didn't even bother to hide, flying through the area with arrogant boldness. This naturally provoked several Scizor.
Just as Scizor expected, Cai Kun was among them. The moment Scizor saw it, it charged straight for it. However, the other Scizor refused to let that happen, launching a flurry of attacks at Scizor.
Seeing this, Scizor immediately use Protect to block the first wave of incoming strikes. Then, it use Double Team, creating a dozen clones that attacked the other Scizor to create a diversion.
The real body lunged toward Cai Kun. Cai Kun was currently a sitting duck; despite its decent self-healing abilities, it hadn't recovered much strength in such a short time. It had refused to leave and insisted on interfering, yet it didn't have the benefit of Bug Force to heal its wounds like Scizor did.
Consequently, when Scizor lunged, Cai Kun couldn't dodge. However, Scizor's excitement was short-lived. A Scizor had actually managed to identify its real body and was rushing toward it at extreme speed—it was that Elite Peak Scizor.
Why can it find me? Did it also learn sensory perception from Teacher Muramasa? At that speed, Scizor would be knocked away before it could even strike Cai Kun.
At the very moment the opponent's strike was about to hit, another Scizor suddenly emerged from Scizor's body.
Substitute!
The one hit was a Substitute, while the real Scizor lunged at Cai Kun the instant the attack landed.
use Bullet Punch!
Cai Kun couldn't avoid it and took the pincer strike full-on. Scizor's attack power was immense, and given Cai Kun's level, it couldn't possibly block it. After taking the Bullet Punch, Cai Kun was slammed into the ground once again, smashing another deep pit.
The Elite Peak Scizor resolved the Substitute and rushed over as well. Scizor raised its pincers to block the attack. Although this opponent's level was very high, it was only slightly stronger than Scizor, so Scizor didn't fear it at all.
Having been slammed into the dirt repeatedly, Scizor started to get heated as well. However, their numbers were simply too great. Just like before, Scizor ended the run looking quite miserable.
With a loud "Boom," Scizor was slammed into a pit. It stopped struggling and simply waited for Masamune to arrive. In the other pit, Cai Kun's status was unclear as it failed to crawl out for a long time.
It was only after Masamune arrived that Cai Kun finally stood up. Seeing Scizor lying in a deep pit, Masamune knew this would be the outcome, but it was confused by Cai Kun's state.
Cai Kun was Masamune's nephew, so it was quite concerned. This was too pathetic; the poor thing was covered in wounds. It had just returned from the previous run in a similar state, and now, in such a short time, the injuries were even worse. Why were the other Scizor fine while Cai Kun was in such a sorry state?
Masamune pulled one of the Scizor aside to ask what happened. The Scizor briefly explained the situation. After listening, Masamune finally understood. It glanced at Scizor and Cai Kun, not knowing what to say.
Cai Kun was truly at its limit now. It had been beaten so badly by Scizor that it was now living in its shadow. Scizor gave it a small smirk, causing Cai Kun to immediately feel a sense of fear. It vibrated its wings and flew back, appearing to have no intention of participating further.
Scizor flew back to the starting point to let Eichi heal it. Masamune and Cai Kun returned together. Muramasa was surprised to see the battered Cai Kun.
"Did Scizor do that?" Muramasa asked.
Masamune nodded. Muramasa laughed, finding the whole situation quite amusing. Meanwhile, the Scizor Leader—Cai Kun's father—simply ignored his son's condition.
While being healed, Scizor wanted Eichi to turn off the Weighted Vest. it felt that without the weights, it might be able to reach the finish line within ten minutes.
Eichi shook his head and disagreed. "No, the Weighted Vest should only be removed at the most critical moment. Doing it now would diminish the training effect."
After hearing Eichi's explanation, Scizor thought about it and found it very reasonable, so it didn't bring it up again.
They conducted one more attempt. Without Cai Kun's interference, Scizor felt much more relaxed. It covered a significant distance—though it still failed, it was much better than previous runs. After this, they didn't continue, instead returning to the dojo. Having undergone high-intensity combat all day, it wasn't wise for Scizor to push further.
Eichi felt this trial was excellent. In just one day, he noticed Scizor had improved significantly. Scizor might not have realized it itself, but Eichi's keen perception had caught the change long ago.