“Uraaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
Zaraki swung his arm while howling.
Ryuuga unsheathed his Loong King Fang, and cut with an iai.
They crossed for just a second, and after Zaraki passed by Ryuuga, he soon stopped.
“What happened…? Did he win…!?”
A tense Setsuna whispered as the battlefield went quiet.
Did Ryuuga take control of that battle that lasted a moment? Did Zaraki… Everyone looked at both, probing for some sort of reaction, and red blood flew.
“A-ah…!?”
“Ryuuga!!”
They yelled as they saw blood gush from Ryuuga’s left shoulder, as he yelled with pain.
He remained firm even after taking this wound, not moving at all, showing he might not have the strength left for that.
“…Fu, hahaha… Fuhahahahahahahaha!!”
Conversely, Zaraki laughed loudly.
He looked up with his mouth wide open, and spoke with a voice that was almost a shriek.
“I’m the strongest legend! The story of the king who ruled all with the power of a loong begins here!! I will become stronger! Strong enough that no one will oppose me! The thousand year kingdom of Zaraki will rise, and the ultimate life form… Uguh!?”
As Zaraki proclaimed his supremacy, he suddenly groaned.
He crunched up, holding his chest while making pained sounds, staggered, and turned to Ryuuga.
“A-ah…!!”
The moment Zaraki’s body turned towards them, the others saw it. He had a big deep sword wound on his chest.
He held this wound that burst with golden lightning, and Ryuuga spoke quietly to Zaraki, who had an expression of disbelief.
“…Nothing is starting. Your worthless ambitions end here.”
“It can’t be…! I… This…!?”
It was a real clash, a one-on-one, and he lost completely.
Zaraki was shown a pure difference in power and skill, and his voice trembled as he was unable to accept the reality presented to him.
“It can’t be… Here…!?”
His ambitions, his future, all noisily collapsed.
A feeling of defeat. No, something that far surpassed it, a far darker emotion crushed his heart seething with anger and a thirst for revenge, and Ryuuga dealt the finishing words.
“Chew on it thoroughly. That’s despair. Your last stop.”
“U-u-uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
Zaraki fell back.
As he lost the last motivation that held him up, the deep wound burst with lightning and caused a big explosion.
“Ga, gugah…! Gi, gu… Gaha…”
“Did he do it…? He won…! Zaraki is down!!”
Yelled Melt with joy, as Zaraki returned to his simple human form and left a groan before going completely silent.
Everyone was happy that the long hard battle was over, and wanted to run over to Ryuuga, the leading man on the winning side, but he limply collapsed after seeing Zaraki falling silent.
“Ah! Hey, Ryuuga! Are you okay!? Oh…?”
“Wai, Yuugo!?”
Yuugo was worried and tried to take off running, but fell forward.
As he laid flat on the ground, having gone further over his limit than he thought, he caused a big stir with the others.
“Yuugo! Ryuuga!! Hang on!”
“W-who should I heal first!? Who is more badly wounded…!?”
“Stop Ryuuga’s bleeding first! We have to use healing magic on Yuugo too!”
“You idiots!! That level of recklessness is crazy!”
“We need to take them to the hospital quickly! Don’t let them die!”
“Reinforcements should be here soon! Hang on for a while longer!!”
Ryuuga took a deep breath as he heard the noise from his friends around him.
He knew he had overdone it considering the state his body was in, and opened his eyes a little when he felt something warm fall on his cheek.
“Don’t die, Ryuuga…! Please…!!”
It was Raiha, who cried as she held his hand with both of hers and poured her vitality into him to heal him.
Ryuuga saw how desperate she was, and spoke with a somewhat exasperated voice and a warm smile.
“I wouldn’t die. Don’t be ridiculous…”
“Ah…!”
Raiha opened her eyes wide with surprise when Ryuuga responded.
He looked at her as she grabbed his hand tighter, and the loong eye that replaced her right eye… It was more beautiful than he thought, was the last thing that crossed his mind before he lost consciousness with a light smile on his face.
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