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Chapter Thirty ــ Could that be… the Japanese hunter? Did he win this fight
He had expected him to dodge.
In the single,suspended heartbeat that followed the cataclysm, (Uchiha Sasuke)'s crimson eyes, swirling with tomoe, remained locked on the far side of the colossal crater. The earth there still wept plumes of smoke and the smell of ozone and scorched stone. His own Chidori had carved this grotesque sculpture into the landscape, a testament to a missed strike.
From a distance, cloaked in the shifting gloom, (Song Jin-Woo) noted the momentary stillness of his opponent. He didn't dwell on it. Analysis was for later; survival was for now.
"Pointless,"he muttered, the word lost in the electric wind. "Ordinary soldiers are useless in this fight."
His command was a mental pulse,sharp and clear. "(Agris). Be ready."
As he summoned his mightiest shadow, a profound shift occurred within the Monarch of Shadows. His eyes, usually a calm, piercing blue, flickered with a deep, royal amethyst light for just a few seconds before settling back. A tide of power swelled in his core, cold and vast. A system message, crisp and impersonal, flickered at the edge of his perception.
[Note: Mana energy levels increasing.]
A faint,grim smirk touched his lips. Is that so? My own energy is rising.
He flexed his fingers,feeling the dark power crackle around them like static. It doesn't matter. Even with this increase, it might not be enough. But I can say this much… I'm enjoying this.
His gaze sharpened,pinpointing the figure across the devastation. Come at me. I'm ready for the fight.
The sky answered with violence.
A pillar of dense,furious lightning KRA-KOOOM! exploded from the blackened clouds. The force of it was so immense that the dark clouds themselves bleached to a terrified, momentary white. The very air vibrated with a deep, sub-audible hum that rattled teeth in skulls miles away.
"I need to end this quickly," (Sasuke) thought, his expression a mask of focused lethality.
His hand rose,and from his fingertips erupted a flock of blazing, shrieking lightning birds. The air itself sizzled, smelling of a coming storm. With a precise, vicious intent, the birds morphed mid-flight, streamlining into a barrage of crackling, arrow-like projectiles. They tore through the distance, a net of pure annihilation aimed directly at the Shadow Monarch.
Using the predictive vision of his Sharingan, (Sasuke) tracked his target's position with absolute certainty. What he didn't know—couldn't know—was that (Song Jin-Woo) had already moved.
The lightning struck the spot where the Monarch had stood,detonating with the fury of a sun's birth.
But in the infinitesimal moment before impact, a figure materialized. A tank-class shadow soldier of the highest S-Rank, summoned from the depths of (Jin-Woo)'s arsenal. It did not roar; it simply was. It planted its feet, the ground buckling beneath its spectral weight, and raised a shield of condensed darkness that seemed to drink the light.
BOOOOM-WHOOOSH!
The collision was not just sound;it was a physical wave of concussive force. The shockwave radiated outwards, flattening already ruined terrain and sending plumes of dirt and rock into the air like a geyser. The defensive shadow, for all its immense strength, was forced back several meters, its ethereal feet gouging twin trenches in the earth. The shield held, but just barely, spider-webbed with veins of dying lightning.
Yet, (Song Jin-Woo) was already gone.
Using[Shadow Exchange], a silent and instantaneous ability, he had swapped places with a distant, expendable shadow the moment before the blast. He reappeared on a slightly elevated ridge of shattered rock, watching the explosion from a position of relative safety. The transition was seamless, leaving only a wisp of dissipating darkness behind.
"He dodged. Again."
(Sasuke)'s voice cut through the settling roar,not a shout but a low, battle-thirsty growl that carried an ancient frustration. In the same instant, his own space-time ninjutsu flared. The Rinnegan in his eye pulsed.
[Instantaneous Body Technique].
In less than the blink of an eye,he was beside (Song Jin-Woo) once more, closing the gap that kings and continents could not.
But this time, it was different.
(Sasuke)didn't just appear; he arrived with intent crystallized into steel. In his hands materialized the Chaos Daggers, blades that hummed with a discordant, reality-gnawing energy. A new, more aggressive system prompt flashed for the Monarch.
[Stats increased by 20%. Speed, Strength, Stamina, and Reaction enhanced.]
Empowered by this sudden surge,(Song Jin-Woo) moved not to dodge, but to intercept. His hand shot out, faster than before, aiming to seize the wrist holding the dagger.
And he grabbed… dark mist.
(Song Jin-Woo)'s form dissolved into a cloud of shadowy vapor just as(Sasuke)'s blade passed through it with a sinister shhhink.
"Such speed…" (Sasuke) allowed himself a microsecond of surprise, his Sharingan whirling furiously to process the data. But his body was already moving, instincts older than nations taking over. He pivoted, raising his arm in a fluid, defensive arc.
CLANG! SCREEEECH!
A kunai,conjured from a hidden pouch, appeared in his grip and met not a dagger, but the solid, dark edge of a sword. The impact sent a short, sharp shockwave pulsing out—a thump of displaced air that blew dust in a perfect circle around them.
What followed was a blistering, blinding exchange.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-SPANG!
Not just two,but multiple collisions happened in a single, stretched second. The sound was a metallic stutter, a deadly percussion. The Chaos Daggers in (Song Jin-Woo)'s hands and the kunai in (Sasuke)'s became blurs of dark and silver light, parrying, thrusting, deflecting in a dance of absolute precision and lethal intent.
Finally, (Agris) overstepped.
The mighty shadow knight,sensing an opening born of its master's relentless assault, committed to a decisive strike. Its massive greatsword, wreathed in a trembling aura of darkness so intense it seemed to fray the very fabric of space, rose high behind (Sasuke)'s undefended back.
[Shadow Knight (Agris)'s abilities enhanced by 20% within the Monarch's Domain.]
(Jin-Woo)had activated his signature power—the Shadow Domain. An invisible field of oppressive darkness expanded from him, strengthening his loyal soldiers instantly. (Agris)'s sword fell, a guillotine of void aimed to cleave the ninja in two.
(Sasuke)'s Rinnegan flared.
[Universal Pull - Reversed Application].
It wasn't a dodge.It was a transposition.
The eyes of (Song Jin-Woo) widened—not just his, but (Agris)'s spectral gaze too seemed to flicker with confusion. In the next sliver of time, the devastating sword-strike that was meant for (Sasuke)'s spine was now arcing directly toward the Shadow Monarch himself. The switch was so fast, so utterly devoid of the usual spatial cues, it was less like movement and more like reality itself had been edited.
WHUMPF!
(Jin-Woo)barely managed to cross his Chaos Daggers in a defensive X before him. The impact was colossal, a deep, bone-jarring thud that drove him a foot into the solid rock beneath his boots. Cracks radiated out from the point of impact.
"How in the hell did that happen? He can't… Can he also exchange places with me? If he could do that, why hasn't he done it all this time?"
The questions rang like alarm bells inside(Song Jin-Woo)'s skull. Thanks to his enhanced reaction skills, his mind raced at lightning speed even as his arms strained against the immense pressure of his own knight's blow. He pushed back, the dark energy around his daggers surging.
[Chaos Daggers ability activated. Attack power increased by 10% while within Shadow Domain.]
Empowered,he shoved the greatsword aside with a grating SCREEE! of conflicting energies.
That brief, costly moment was not without benefit for (Uchiha Sasuke).
His form blurred,becoming a shimmering afterimage—a mirage left behind to deceive the eye. His real body was already in motion, the air around his right hand beginning to scream.
[Lightning Release: Chidori].
He activated his signature technique.A cacophony of a thousand shrieking birds erupted from his palm, the light blinding white, the sound a piercing, relentless KII-KII-KII-KII! that drowned out all other noise. The sheer electrical force made the hairs on anyone within a kilometer stand on end.
"(Agris)! Exchange!" (Jin-Woo) commanded, a hint of urgency now coloring his usually calm tone.
The Shadow Knight vanished, performing the [Shadow Exchange] to appear in its master's previous position. But the timing was off, the command a fraction too late born of surprise.
"So this is the extent of your knight's loyalty, is it?"
The words were never spoken aloud.They were etched in the cold, evaluating gaze of (Uchiha Sasuke). He had felt it—the slight hesitation, the micro-delay in the knight's response that was not its master's fault, but a limitation of the bond itself. His Sharingan had seen the flow of command and execution, and it was not instantaneous.
(Song Jin-Woo)'s eyes widened in genuine shock. He hadn't given the final execution order for the exchange; it had been a command to reposition. How had (Agris) performed the full defensive swap without the specific mental trigger?
In the next moment, he had his answer, and it was a painful one.
The piercing,white-hot spear of the Chidori, a technique designed to cut through anything, found its mark. It didn't just hit the Shadow Knight; it consumed him. The brilliant, corrosive lightning tore through the concentrated darkness of (Agris)'s form.
There was no dramatic explosion, only a silent, terrible dissolution. The mighty knight fragmented, not into pieces, but into motes of fading shadow that were instantly vaporized by the rampant electrical energy. One of the Monarch's strongest soldiers was erased from existence with a final, soundless puff of dispersed essence.
From a great distance, the eyes of the S-Rank hunters watched. They had seen the blinding white light erupt and expand like a dying star within the zone of devastation. They felt, more than heard, the shriek of the Chidori.
The power of this lightning was so intense, so pure, it transcended mere brightness and became a physical pressure on their senses. It was whiteness so absolute it hurt to perceive.
"Could that be… the Japanese hunter? Did he win this fight?"
The query hung in the air,voiced by one hunter, felt by all. Most of the S-Ranks were straining against the violent, oppressive pressure radiating from the epicenter of the duel.
"I think so… Nothing could survive inside that… that electric storm. I can't even focus my eyes on it anymore. I'm afraid I'll be blinded permanently."
Even the enhanced,keen eyesight of S-Rank hunters was useless here. They were moths trying to stare into a welding torch. The battle had escalated beyond their level of perception.
The shadows (Song Jin-Woo) had spread around the area to create and empower his domain now writhed and churned with a new purpose. The goal was singular: to further enhance the stats of the Shadow Monarch at any cost. But unfortunately for him, (Sasuke) had exploited (Jin-Woo)'s burgeoning desire for direct, close-quarters combat to unleash his ultimate technique. He had drawn the lightning from the heavens, from the very clouds, and focused it into a single, overwhelming point of reinforced destruction.
The white light did not fade; it expanded.
It washed over the entire devastated zone,a silent, consuming wave. Then, it imploded.
KABOOOOOOOOOM!
This was not a mere impact.It was an event. A spherical blast of annihilating lightning erupted, swallowing tens of kilometers in a single, furious gasp. The earth was not scorched; it was glazed into glass. The air was not heated; it was ionized into plasma.
"Do you feel that too?"
The voice of(Thomas Andre) was uncharacteristically clear, devoid of its usual booming bravado. He was staring, unblinking, at the apocalyptic flower blooming on the horizon.
"Do you mean the dark aura that's… growing?"
The Chinese National Rank hunter,(Liu Zhigang), spoke quietly. He, too, could perceive it—the profound, chilling vacuum that was swelling with every passing second. It felt less like power and more like an absence, a hungry blot of anti-light in the wake of the white explosion.
"That's right."
(Thomas Andre)confirmed, his tone almost detached. But at the same time, his lion-like blue eyes were fixed with ferocious intensity not on the fading white light, but on the deep, black pit that lay behind it, the crater that had been formed seconds before the final lightning blast.
Scratch, scratch.His fingers absently tapped against his own hardened thigh armor, a rhythmic, restless sound.
"Maybe this fight is about to turn. It might be fun to jump in at the end."
Something beyond logic was whispering to(Thomas Andre). A gut feeling, primal and sure, that the shadow-summoning hunter from Korea possessed a far greater depth of power. That he would not be defeated so easily. And in the same moment, the sensation of shadows thickening, growing stronger everywhere, as if feeding on the aftermath… it was a feeling that made the American National Rank hunter feel a distinct, thrilling absurdity.
Yet, even amidst this seismic shift, his thought process wasn't complex. It was simple, direct, and violent. He wanted to go in there. He wanted to start fighting. But he held himself still, a predator on a leash, his calm gaze flicking to the Chinese hunter, (Liu Zhigang), who was also watching the spectacle with a deeper, more inscrutable quiet.
Huh, Andre mused internally, a slow grin spreading. Why do I get the feeling if this guy intervenes, he'd help the Korean kid? Now that would be a real pain in the ass.
A low, rolling thunder, the last sigh of the expended storm, echoed across the shattered landscape.
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End of Chapter.
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A note from the (presumably exhausted) transcriber of this cataclysmic duel:
Well, that escalated quickly. From shadowy chess moves to a literal lightning apocalypse, all before breakfast. Did (Jin-Woo) just lose his best tank? Is (Sasuke) running low on chakra? Is Thomas Andre about to make everything 300% more chaotic? The suspense is literally electric.
What did you think of the chapter? Were the sensory details overwhelming (in a good way)? Did the comedic, slightly snarky tone work amidst all the devastation? Who are you rooting for? Drop a comment below—your theories fuel the shadow army of creativity!