In battle, a large part of the Seven-Tails' advantage came from its ability to fly, yet the paralysis brought by Lightning Release affected precisely that.
Although Mōryō's Lightning Release was not enough to completely rob it of flight, in a fight of this level, even a slight delay would create many unnecessary openings.
And Mōryō naturally seized those openings. That was why the Seven-Tails had been beaten so miserably by Mōryō alone.
Watching Mōryō gradually complete his charge, the Seven-Tails did not want to sit and wait for death and tried to counterattack, but in the end its body only swayed a few times before there was no follow-up.
After all, in the previous battle it had already taken too much damage. Maintaining the tailed beast form at all was already the result of it exerting every effort. Counterattacking was ultimately just empty talk.
"It's over."
Looking at the Seven-Tails struggling on the ground, Mōryō gave a sinister laugh. But just as he was about to make his move, a sudden surge of danger rose in his heart. Following his instinct, Mōryō also discovered the source of the threat: two water spears flying toward him at high speed.
"!"
After detecting the sudden attack, Mōryō instantly switched the target of his charged attack. This was not because he did not know to finish off his opponent, but because the familiar yet dangerous feeling from the water spears made him dare not show the slightest contempt.
The swinging double blades slashed out a huge cross formed of leaping black lightning. Although it had no name, this strike from Mōryō had already surpassed ninety-nine percent of Lightning Release techniques.
In the blink of an eye, the lightning cross collided with the water spears. Although the incoming water spears looked insignificant compared to Mōryō's attack—at least in the eyes of the observing Seven-Tails and Fū—they did.
But what happened next greatly exceeded their expectations. After the two clashed, the water spears did not disappear. Instead, they exploded into a huge and rapid water vortex that completely devoured the lightning.
"..."
Seeing his attack completely blocked, although somewhat unexpected, after roughly guessing the opponent's identity, Mōryō was not too surprised. After witnessing that scene just now, managing to offset it was already a pretty good outcome.
If he had stubbornly tried to attack the Seven-Tails just now, then he, locked onto by the water spears, would most likely have had to take the hit head-on. Although he was immortal, the feeling of that vortex exploding inside his body was something Mōryō absolutely did not want to experience.
"That person seems to have become even stronger than before..."
Although unwilling to admit it, after realizing this, Mōryō could not help feeling some hesitation. The time spent freely wandering the ninja world after regaining freedom had made him even better at assessing the situation.
He could grow stronger continuously from people's fear. There was no need to fight desperately here. Moreover, the mission target was the tailed beast; others were no longer within the scope he needed to deal with.
Just as Mōryō found a suitable reason in his heart and prepared to withdraw, a sudden sound of something breaking through the air came from his right. Hearing it, Mōryō did not even think and raised his double blades to block to the right.
"It's really you."
Looking at the long blade blocked by Lightning Blade, Fang, and Furina holding the sword, Mōryō could not help feeling a bit annoyed. He had already prepared to retreat, yet the other side still entangled him like this. She was clearly not taking him seriously at all.
"That's right, it's me. How about it? It's been a while—did you miss me?"
Seeing the expression on Mōryō's face gradually turn ugly, the corners of Furina's mouth curved up slightly, forming a charming smile that even made Fū beside them dazed for a moment.
But in Mōryō's eyes, this turned into provocation, as if she were saying, "Come on, hit me. Come on, hit me o(￣︶￣)o".