Su Xiao and Senju Hashirama were locked in a clash. He gripped his long knife tightly with one hand, while the other hand pressed against the back of the blade. Although Dragon Slash couldn’t instantly cut through Hashirama’s muscles, it could still slice slowly.

Blue steel shadow energy poured into Hashirama’s arm as if it cost nothing. Although the efficiency of this attack was low, it was a life-or-death moment.

If Su Xiao got knocked away by Hashirama again, he might lose the chance to engage him in close combat. The previous time he was knocked away by Wood Jutsu, A Mu had to sacrifice an arm and everything below his waist.

As Su Xiao and Senju Hashirama were clashing, a sneaky figure approached Hashirama from behind.

Crunch.

Bubu Wang bit Hashirama’s butt, startling him. His arms crossed in front of him as he wrestled with Su Xiao. Although the injuries on his arms worsened, the knife wounds on his body were healing quickly. He was willing to drag this out.

Su Xiao had already received a signal from Bubu Wang. He was waiting for this opportunity.

Bubu Wang’s head swung left and right, causing its rear to sway along. It was biting with all its might, trying to tear a piece of flesh off Hashirama’s butt.

However, Hashirama’s body was too strong. Bubu Wang felt as if it was biting a truck tire; the tire was fine, but its sharp teeth were sore from the pressure.

Bubu Wang endured the pain, tears in its eyes, and pulled back with all its strength. At that moment, Hashirama kicked back.

"Ow~"

Bubu Wang yelped and shot off like a rocket, rolling away like a bouncing ball.

Hashirama’s mouth twitched. Although bitten by Bubu Wang, the injury wasn’t severe, yet his butt throbbed with pain.

As Hashirama was distracted by Bubu Wang, an electromagnetic pulse spread from Su Xiao, an ability from the Destroyer Belt.

Buzz~

The electromagnetic pulse swept over Hashirama, causing a buzzing in his ears.

Due to the buzzing in his ears, Hashirama instinctively turned his head. Then a faint red aura pulsed out from Su Xiao as the center — a release of breath ability.

The faint red aura washed over Hashirama, causing slight pain on his skin. Besides, he suddenly felt a sense of weakness.

Release of Breath, Skill Effect 2 (Passive): The aura can be continuously released within a 30-meter range. If the enemy’s willpower is 2 points lower than the user’s, they will enter a state of fear. The fear state can be removed using mind purification skills.

Note: If the enemy enters a state of fear, stamina consumption increases by 27%, body defense decreases by 15, and there is an 8% chance of skill failure when casting spells.

...

Hashirama obviously failed the check. It wasn’t due to his lack of willpower, but because of the timing issue.

When Su Xiao first mastered the release of breath, he frequently unleashed it at the start of a battle. After some exploration, he found that this wasn’t a wise choice.

Firstly, the willpower attribute isn’t constant. It can be affected by different environments. Even the strongest willpower can falter if a loved one dies before one’s eyes, causing great turmoil in the heart.

Although Hashirama didn’t witness a loved one’s death, his willpower wavered momentarily when the electromagnetic pulse hit him. This lapse in clarity, combined with his heavy injuries, led to him failing the release of breath check.

As the aura washed over Hashirama, tiny white spiders crawled out from Su Xiao’s cuffs, quickly moving onto Dragon Slash before jumping toward Hashirama.

"Thorn Insertion Technique."

A wooden spike sprouted in Hashirama’s hand. He abandoned blocking Su Xiao’s knife, letting the blade come toward him while his spike aimed for Su Xiao’s face.

Su Xiao leaned back, knowing the power of the Thorn Insertion Technique. Though it appeared unimpressive, it was one of the most vicious ninjutsu.

Boom, boom, boom...

White spiders exploded mid-air between Su Xiao and Hashirama, both of them within a meter of the blast center, propelling them in opposite directions.

The firelight gradually faded, flames dancing on the sleeve of Su Xiao’s left hand. He held a slender pistol in his left hand, resembling a flintlock gun, though its internal workings were completely different.

Just a dozen meters away, Hashirama steadied himself and looked down at his chest, where five metal needles were embedded.

"Seems... not good."

Boom!

The five explosion needles detonated simultaneously. As Su Xiao triggered them, he charged forward.

Hashirama stumbled back a few steps, five finger-thick craters appearing on his chest.

"Wood Jutsu: Wood Human Technique."

Hashirama clapped his hands, and a three-meter-tall wooden human sprang up from the ground, his Bloodline Limit yet to fully recover.

The three-meter wood human blocked in front of Hashirama. All he needed now was time; the dozens of cuts from Su Xiao before had pushed him to the brink of death.

"Moo~"

The sound of a cow came from afar; it was A Mu, now only a remaining upper body.

A Mu’s eyes were locked onto Hashirama, with the alchemy array flickering within them.

Crack, crack, crack...

Ice crystals formed on Hashirama’s body surface. When A Mu confronted Hashirama earlier, with all its abilities unleashed, the frost effect accumulated to 10 layers.

Hashirama was instantly frozen, causing even the wooden human in front of him to pause. A figure lunged from the side, biting onto the wood human’s throat, rolling on the ground together — Bubu Wang.

This time, Su Xiao’s path to Hashirama was unobstructed, and he immediately rushed to Hashirama’s front.

Crash, the ice on Hashirama shattered, tendrils of cold air steaming from his body.

As Hashirama regained mobility, Su Xiao’s blade came slicing again.

Hashirama instinctively raised his left arm to block. Meanwhile, abundant branches sprouted on his right hand, wrapping his fist to form a massive fist at least half a meter thick.

"True Numerous Huge Hand: Yang."

The Yang attribute chakra enveloped Hashirama’s fist. He had once used this to shatter Uchiha Madara’s fully-formed Susanoo. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Clang.

The long blade cleaved down, a severed arm flying into the air.

Hashirama paused in surprise, confused at why Su Xiao’s slicing power was so formidable. Yet, he quickly deduced that it wasn’t that Su Xiao’s slicing power increased; rather, his own body had become fragile.

Indeed, Su Xiao first used the release of breath ability to cut down Hashirama’s body defense by 15 points, then the five explosion needles of the Demon Hunting Gun simultaneously detonated, reducing Hashirama’s body defense by another 35%.

The dual weakening rendered Hashirama’s body unable to withstand Dragon Slash’s cleave.

Blood splattered onto Hashirama’s face. Despite losing an arm, his fist still aimed for Su Xiao’s head.

Just after cleaving with a blade, Su Xiao faced two choices: one, activate the counter shield while retreating to avoid being one-shotted by Hashirama’s punch; two, swing his blade at Hashirama’s neck, ignoring the incoming fist.

Su Xiao didn’t hesitate at all, his long knife already slicing toward Hashirama’s neck.