"Killing you will be enough."
After Furina exposed his true condition, Isshiki did not fly into a rage, but his expression clearly darkened considerably.
If not for her, he could have continued waiting for an opportunity instead of being forced into this desperate situation. And then there were these two idiots.
Glancing at Momoshiki and Urashiki nearby, Isshiki inwardly cursed. Compared to Furina, he now loathed those two even more. After all, Furina could—at the very least—be considered an enemy, but those two were completely digging a pit for him.
"I can feel that you've become much stronger than before. But when I say there's a problem with your body, I'm not just making things up. For example, how exactly do you plan to deal with my next move?"
As she spoke, under Isshiki's gaze that carried both astonishment and a trace of panic, Furina condensed a black water sphere in her hand. The chakra contained within it was enough to make anyone stand on full alert.
But that was not the main point. The key was that Isshiki could feel—or rather, instinctively resisted—the black water sphere. It was precisely the ability he feared most in his current state: the power to erode life force.
If he clashed with this ability, the two days of life he still had left would rapidly shrink again. It was not impossible that he might simply die mid-battle.
Seeing the frequent changes in Isshiki's expression, Furina knew he had already realized it. Without further hesitation, she tossed the water sphere into the sky. In the next moment, the rain that had gradually stopped began falling once more.
And this time it was far heavier than before. The raindrops had turned gray-black, now carrying the added ability to erode life force.
"Damn it!"
Looking at the black rainwater falling from the sky, Isshiki cursed under his breath and immediately turned to flee. This method would have little effect on others because the life-eroding power of this technique was not particularly strong.
But against him in his current state, it was a perfect counter! Under these circumstances, there was no way he could fight her.
Seeing that he was trying to run, Furina immediately chased after him while dragging Momoshiki and Urashiki along. The rain clouds in the sky moved in perfect sync with her, giving Isshiki no chance to shake her off.
...
"With strength like yours, don't you have even the slightest dignity as a powerful being? I've already been reduced to this state—don't tell me you still don't dare to fight me head-on?"
After a period of cat-and-mouse pursuit, Isshiki realized he could not outrun Furina. In the end, he chose to stop and face her directly.
After all, being slowly worn down to death by the black rain from above was one thing, but at least fighting with everything on the line would feel somewhat more satisfying.
Yet just as he made that decision, Furina's next actions made him nearly spit blood in frustration—she actually refused to engage him directly.
Facing his attacks, Furina simply kept dodging and defending, never clashing with him head-on.
With her strength not inferior to his and her complete focus on defense, Isshiki found himself completely unable to break through. After being toyed with for some time, he could no longer maintain his earlier elegance. His words now carried obvious anger.
"Is that so? But I only need to keep dragging this out, and you definitely won't be able to hold on. As for the dignity of the strong… that kind of thing holds no meaning for me…"
Hearing the first half of Furina's sentence, Isshiki's heart sank halfway. He had experienced so many grand ups and downs in his life, yet in the end he was going to die in such a helpless and frustrating way. How truly ironic.
But just as Isshiki was mocking himself inwardly, Furina suddenly changed her tone, shifting from her previous demeanor as she continued speaking.