Haruto looked at the man, his eyes analysed every detail about him. He was strong, very strong, definitely stronger than the man he was facing before.
The man's eyes turned red, his hands gripped his swords together as he screamed with pain, "I'm going to kill you, Brat!"
"By sitting on me?" Haruto cracked a joke as he infused his body with lighting, with blitz speed he arrived next to the man.
His hands summons two yellow lightning bolts targeted at him, the ronin's face twisted as he carefully deflected them with his blades.
The robin darted back, black flames igniting on his sword. His eyes contained burning rage, as he hatefully glanced at him.
And then, suddenly, he lunged forward.
'Fast!'
But it wasn't fast enough, Haruto's Observation Haki had already captured his intentions, he dashed forward to block his furious assaults and shuddered, the force of the impact sent waves through his body.
It felt as though his bolt had directly collided with a mountain.
Their blades got entangled for a moment, and then separated. Almost immediately a greenish blue slash lashes at him. Haruto quickly stomped his feet, causing a massive earth wall to appear in front of him.
Another slash appeared from an unexpected direction…. and then again, and again, and again.
Haruto feverishly defended,as held his ground, occasionally summoning earth walls, lightning bolts and also wind to deflect the attack.
Despite his best efforts, he reeled slightly after each strike. It was as though he was being hit by a hurricane of adamantine sledgehammers, each hit making his bones tremble and groan.
'How…. how is he so strong"
How was he so strong? How was he so fast? How was he so resilient?
It didn't make sense.
Haruto had awakened Observation Haki, even though it was amateurish, it was enough for him to avoid and dodge most attacks by both untrained people and trained samurai. His ability to evade was further augmented by his vast array of powers, which allowed him to control 3 elements. No trained swordsman should be able to match him in any regard.
And yet, the Ronin did. More than that, he was more powerful than him, tremendously so. Did he underestimate the powers of a samurai? Was he really overestimating his own abilities?
Doubts clouded Haruto's mind as his facade of being invincible under pirates started crumbling. His momentary lapse in his spirit, allowed the samurai to exploit an opening and land two consecutive slashes on his body.
The Ronin did not let go of the opening as he kept attacking him, not letting Haruto catch his breath. Every strike seemed to carry the weight of a mountain, his slashes were precise and deadly.
Haruto let go of all his thoughts as he turned off his mind, he would ponder such matters later, for now he would invest all his remaining power into that one strategy.
"....."
Haruto's eyes turned white as his hands tried to claw at the ronin's throat. He looked pleased, his smile crackling even more, his swords dug into the ground.
The area around them had been thoroughly destroyed, the lands bore marks of their magnificent fight, the ground was scorched with electricity, the rocks sliced into pieces, the terrain completely changed.
Haruto completely lost track of time while he engaged the samurai, minutes passed by in a blur, as long as he knew, 12 hours might've already passed.
"You talked so big, but look at you now, pathetically trying to claw at my throat. You're weak, you should never have interfered, I wonder how you were even able to take down Momotaro."
The samurai spat venomously, his breaths were erratic as his chest rose unevenly, his back emitted a smoky aroma, his fingers were completely eviscerated by sharp wind.
Haruto wasn't faring much better either, bite size slashes littered his body, his abdomen was sliced to pieces, his intestines poking out, and his back was completely shredded. His bones poked out of his back, each turn of his head causing even more pain, but due to his weariness, he couldn't even afford to scream.
"In the end I always win," The Ronin whispered with glee as his hands tightened around his neck.
Haruto could feel his windpipe slowly contracting, his bones started creaking as small chunks started breaking. At that moment, the ground hastily split apart as two clones of Haruto emerged.
Their faces gushed with resentment and fury, they didn't spare a single moment as they barraged the samurai with their strongest attacks.
"Howling Winds!"
"Earth Serpentine Attack!"
Their voices loudly echoed,
An enormous force of wind emerged from Haruto Wind's hands, it split apart the ground, and air itself. A huge air of pressure descended upon the area, the Ronin's face considerably darkened as he tried to sidestep.
But in the face of Observation Haki it was all meaningless, as Haruto Wind had already predicted where he would dodge. The sharp gusting wind separated the Ronin's arms from his body.
As a monster bigger than the dragon appeared and directly consumed half off of his abdomen, turning him into a glorified donut.
Haruto was quickly released from his grasp, his hands held his throat softly as he coughed up blood. After slightly recovering from his injuries, Haruto firmly walked toward the Ronin, his feet stomping the ground densely.
"What did you say? You were going to win, right?" Haruto mocked the Ronin, his eyes watered as he tried to claw his way away from the demon.
"I guess that's false, you should know. Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am The Honoured One."
Haruto quietly uttered, as he picked up the Ronin's sword and severed his head. Haruto's body quickly merged back in a white blur as he collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion.
All his previous injuries had disappeared as his eyes slowly blinked. 'Is this how I'm going to die, rescuing a cute girl?'
Haruto's eyes grew weary, as he closed his eyes. His kimono in tatters, his white hair was spread all over the ground as his red eyes lost lustre.