By this point, Mori Shiraishi was completely exhausted. Facing Abu's sudden and violent strike, all he could do was hope that his Koukaku was tough enough to block the blade.
However, the scene of being impaled did not happen.
A figure was much faster than him.
It was the Rinkaku user...
Keiko.
The difference in speed between a Rinkaku and a Koukaku was fully demonstrated in this instant.
His mother, Keiko, used the last of her strength to erupt with her maximum speed. Her only goal was to throw herself in front of her son and take the lethal blow in his place!
The sharp katana pierced Keiko's body without question. The impact of the blade made her body reel violently, yet she forced herself to stand firm.
With her back to Mori Shiraishi, she used every ounce of her remaining power to reach out and tightly grip the edge of the blade that had skewered her.
Keiko turned her head to look at her son. Her face showed no pain, only a deep sense of longing and regret.
"Mori... Mom is sorry. You'll have to walk the rest of the way on your own."
Mori Shiraishi's pupils dilated.
He saw the bright red blood, the gore-stained blade, and his mother smiling at him with eyes full of guilt.
"No..."
Before he could say more, another figure leaped past him.
It was Shiro Shiraishi.
He charged forward, swinging his thick Kagune to smash down upon the enemy.
This is bad.
Abu sensed trouble. He tried to pull back his katana, but he found it impossible.
The mother he had just run through had erupted with an astonishing surge of strength in her final moments. Her grip was so powerful that even Abu could not rival it.
"Damn it."
He had no choice but to let go of the sword.
But by then, Shiro Shiraishi's attack had arrived!
The dark purple centipede tail swept across like an unmatched greatsword, slamming heavily into Abu.
Only then did a faint, tragic smile appear on Shiro Shiraishi's half-burned face. At the very least, before leaving his son, he had secured a sliver of hope for him.
However, that smile quickly vanished.
The enemy he had hit suddenly exploded into a cloud of smoke, turning into a log that shattered into countless wood chips under the power of the Bikaku!
"It's a Substitution Jutsu. What a shame," Hidan remarked from the stands with a hint of disappointment.
Simu's expression did not change at all.
On the battlefield, Shiro Shiraishi's face rapidly shifted to bewilderment.
A figure drilled out from the ground beneath his feet. It was Abu, who had quietly used a Substitution Jutsu and then hidden himself underground using an Earth Style technique.
He was like a venomous snake that had been lying in wait, finally baring its fangs at this moment.
The sharp blade easily pierced through Shiro Shiraishi's abdomen.
Before Shiro could even counter-attack, the ninja dove back into the earth.
"Cough... cough..."
Shiro Shiraishi spat out a mouthful of blood and looked down.
A Paper Bomb attached to the blade was slowly burning.
Under his despairing gaze, the talisman turned into a terrifying flame and erupted!
"Boom!"
The fire instantly consumed everything.
In the flickering light of the explosion, Keiko struggled to open her mouth.
"Mori..."
"Live on..."
"Take care of your sister..."
These three phrases exhausted the last of Keiko's strength.
The orange firelight could not illuminate her deathly pale face. Her outstretched hand ultimately failed to touch Mori Shiraishi's cheek.
As Keiko's arm hit the ground with a heavy thud, Mori Shiraishi fell to his knees, completely breaking down.
"Why... why..."
"Why did it have to be like this!"
He gripped his hair tightly, his fingers pulling so hard they tore at his scalp.
His mother lay before him full of regret, and his father had been turned to charcoal in the blast.
He didn't understand why he had to endure this pain.
He was just a simple fisherman.
He only wanted to live his life, fish, take care of his parents in their old age, and see his sister grow up. Was that so wrong?
The thick smoke from the explosion drifted through the air.
Mori Shiraishi knelt there, muttering to himself.
You are too weak.
The words that man had spoken in the prison cell suddenly echoed in Mori Shiraishi's mind.
His eyes regained a flicker of focus as he slowly lowered his head to look at his hands.
"Is it because... I am too weak?"
He whispered the question to himself.
Humanity has limits. Only by transcending humanity can you obtain even greater power.
Another voice sounded, still belonging to that man.
Mori Shiraishi's mouth moved instinctively.
"Transcend... humanity?"
He looked at the black Koukaku covering his palms, then at the crimson Rinkaku on Keiko's body.
Suddenly, his shoulders began to heave. Between his shaking shoulders, a raspy, low voice emerged.
"Since humanity has limits, then I... will no longer be human."
"If one Kagune isn't enough, then I'll take two... three..."
Mori Shiraishi looked up, his eyes a solid, terrifying crimson.
The smoke slowly cleared. Abu narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the battlefield.
Although he had secured victory through his extensive combat experience, his chakra was almost entirely depleted. He needed to retreat immediately after finishing off the boy.
However, this should be enough to intimidate the other monsters.
He glanced around the arena.
Sure enough, the Ghouls who had managed to maintain their sanity were watching from the sidelines, not daring to strike. Only those who had entered a berserk state continued to attack and slaughter the nobles.
The smoke from the blast continued to thin.
Since he had used his katana to set the trap that killed the centipede Ghoul, Abu drew a kunai from his pouch to use as a weapon.
Suddenly, the dissipating smoke was violently sliced open.
Two dark red slashes appeared before Abu like bolts of lightning.
Blood sprayed!
Even though Abu had tried to retreat the moment he noticed the attack, a diagonal cross-shaped wound appeared on his chest out of nowhere.
Bright red blood gushed out, exposing pale white bone to the air.
Too fast!
That was Abu's only thought. He couldn't possibly react to that kind of speed. Forget his current exhausted state; even at his peak, he would likely have had to flee in terror.
Under the force of the slashes, the smoke parted like a curtain at the start of a play.
A massive, towering figure appeared.
The black exoskeleton had completely swallowed the teenager. Even his cheeks were covered by armor-like Koukaku. A dark red luster, like blood, shimmered across the surface, leaving only two intensely crimson eyes visible.
His height had ballooned to three or four meters under the influence of the Koukaku, nearly twice the height of a normal man.
Two crimson, scythe-like limbs extended from the exoskeleton on his shoulders. Their vivid red color looked as if it were about to drip blood.
"What kind of monster is this guy?"