"Go ahead and try it!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Roy channeled his prana into the white activation device in his hand.
The Sword of the Black Furnace emitted a resonant hum, its blade of light rapidly expanding to three meters in length. With a powerful stride, Roy swung the massive blade in a sweeping arc toward Yabuki Bujinzai!
"Going for a wide-range attack this time?"
Bujinzai's heart tightened as he swiftly dodged.
The techniques of the Yabuki clan were only effective within precise ranges, making them terrifyingly potent in close-quarters combat. However, the longer and wider the attack range, the more their techniques were countered.
Fortunately, a larger blade also meant a larger target, making it easier to evade. The more conspicuous the attack, the simpler it was to dodge. Roy had likely considered this, which was why he only extended the blade to three meters—just enough to pose a threat without making evasion effortless.
But with the Yabuki clan's techniques at his disposal, dodging wasn't particularly difficult for Bujinzai.
Moreover, the larger the blade, the more exaggerated the movements, and the greater the openings left behind!
"Now!"
Seizing the moment when Roy's swing left his guard wide open, Bujinzai's gaze sharpened as he lunged forward, closing the distance between them in an instant.
For a brief moment, their eyes met.
Roy's swinging motion abruptly froze.
"Brat, this is the Immobility Technique!"
Yabuki Bujinzai drew a spare staff weapon from his waist with his right hand and, with a fierce shout, thrust four times in rapid succession. Each strike landed squarely on Roy's limbs, the impact forcing him to take a step back.
"Hahaha! I see, very good, very good!"
Roy showed not the slightest hint of fear. Instead, he laughed heartily and nodded in approval.
Bujinzai's thrusts packed considerable force, sending a numbing sensation through Roy's limbs—almost like a massage.
"The sheer difference in prana is this vast?!"
Bujinzai frowned deeply as he observed Roy's completely unharmed limbs.
The only reason he had managed to pierce Roy's chest earlier was because Roy had deliberately taken the hit to seize him in a trade of injuries. But this time, Roy had concentrated his prana into defense, rendering Bujinzai's thrusts utterly incapable of penetrating his body.
"Then I'll just have to keep draining his prana. Fortunately, my Art of Empty Tides consumes very little prana—I can afford this battle of attrition!"
With this resolution in mind, Bujinzai steeled himself.
Given the overwhelming disparity in astral energy, even if he held the upper hand, he couldn't inflict any real damage. His only option was to exhaust Roy's reserves before subduing him.
Having made up his mind, Bujinzai raised his gaze once more and locked eyes with Roy.
The Immobility Technique activated again.
But the instant Bujinzai's eyes met his, Roy suddenly averted his gaze, shifting his focus to Bujinzai's chest instead.
Bujinzai's expression shifted, a flicker of shock crossing his face.
Had he been figured out after just one attempt?
Why was this brat so adept at pinpointing the weaknesses of his clan's techniques?
"Immobility Technique? Are you playing house with me?"
Roy lowered his eyes, yet his attention remained fixed on Bujinzai.
"I think I've figured out your trick. Vision is the most crucial aid in battle, yet your clan has somehow managed to exploit visual illusions to influence an opponent's subconscious—making them believe they've struck you when their blade merely passed by, or think they've dodged your attack while still trapped in your deception. Even your so-called 'immobility technique' is just another consciousness trap triggered through eye contact, isn't it?"
Bujinzai's expression darkened progressively.
Not only had the boy seen through the immobility technique, but he'd even unraveled the foundational principles of the Immobility technique?
The Yabuki clan was a lineage of ninjas spanning millennia, their heritage tracing back to ancient times long before the Invertia meteor shower. Influenced by their village's ancestral "Honor Seed" physique, their bloodline maintained physical capabilities far surpassing ordinary humans.
Moreover, their veins carried an extraordinarily unique factor.
Through this factor, they could employ their ancestral secret art—the Immobility technique. By combining colors and patterns instinctively avoided by humans, they used mana as a medium to imprint these patterns onto the subconscious, manipulating their opponent's movements.
This technique activated in an instant, consuming almost no mana. Appealing to primal human instincts, no creature possessing a subconscious—Genestellar or otherwise—could evade this biological mechanism's targeted assault.
The Immobility technique was formidable. Mastery could instantly defeat foes far stronger than oneself, a terrifying art capable of overcoming overwhelming odds.
Yet its weakness was equally glaring: it relied entirely on visual deception to influence the subconscious. If an opponent deliberately averted their gaze or refused to look altogether, the technique became utterly useless.
But in combat, vision was indispensable. How many would risk death by closing their eyes mid-battle?
"Even if you've seen through it, what then?"
Suppressing his inner turmoil, Bujinzai maintained an icy facade.
"Your skills seem mediocre at best. Advanced techniques like echolocation are surely beyond you. You have no choice but to watch me as we fight—my Immobility technique remains inescapable for you!"
He wasn't wrong.
Roy indeed lacked echolocation skills. Though his hearing was sharp, echolocation demanded more than acute hearing—it required exquisite sensitivity to subtle air displacements, a perception honed through extensive training. Roy had spent the past month wholly focused on swordsmanship, leaving no time to develop such abilities.
As for overwhelming firepower through runes, their activation delay was obvious, and the attacks too broad. Against Bujinzai's agility combined with Immobility, evasion would be trivial.
But—
"Keh heh heh... Then try using it again!"
Roy threw his head back in laughter, a scornful grin spreading across his face.
Bujinzai's eyes narrowed sharply, his expression growing stormier.
Did this brat genuinely believe he could counter the Immobility technique?
Roy raised his hand. The three-meter-long Sword of the Black Furnace coiled with abyssal flames, radiating heat akin to the earth's core.
"No choice then!"
Bujinzai had no choice. In terms of physical ability alone, his aged body was no match for Roy. Without using the Art of Empty Tides technique, he stood absolutely no chance against him.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, he activated the Art of Empty Tides technique once more, drawing several kunai from his robe with one hand.
But at the same time—
Roy's eyes suddenly transformed. The crimson hue faded, replaced by pupils as deep as black holes, entwined with black and white runes, as if no light could escape their depths.
Swish!
A blade of light flashed past.
Bujinzai froze.
An instant later, an excruciating pain—bone-deep—exploded through his arm.
"Guh—arghhh—!"
He instinctively tried to clutch his right arm, only to see his already severed left wrist. Both forearms were gone, cleanly severed.
The Art of Empty Tides technique had utterly failed. His right hand, still reaching for the kunai, had been sliced off without resistance—his visual decoy hadn't worked at all.
"You gave me the title of Evil Eye Sorcerer, yet you knew nothing of my Evil Eye's power. How reckless!"
Roy stepped forward, watching as Yabuki Bujinzai—now handless, his face twisted in agony—staggered backwards. A cruel smile spread across Roy's face.
He swung his blade.
The light-edged weapon glided across like a ripple on a lake.
Bujinzai blinked.
Then, without realizing it, his body toppled backward, collapsing to the ground. Before he could process what had happened, his shifting gaze caught sight of the upper half of his own torso still standing upright.
He had been bisected at the waist.
***
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