Chapter 32: Dumeng! Open!

“This is starting to get interesting,” Zhu Yan raised an eyebrow and met Jiang Xia’s attack head-on.

Just as the two were about to collide, Jiang Xia vanished in a flash and reappeared behind Zhu Yan.

“Thousand Birds Flow!”

The sound of a thousand birds erupted as electric light exploded around Jiang Xia, striking Zhu Yan’s back in an instant.

Caught off guard, Zhu Yan stumbled forward several steps.

Before it could steady itself, Jiang Xia was already before it, two blades slicing through its arms.

The blow sent Zhu Yan reeling half a step backward. “Interesting.”

Zhu Yan licked the wound on its paw, its eyes blazing with fiercer savagery. “But this isn’t enough!”

It flickered, vanishing from its spot, then reappeared before Jiang Xia, fists raining down like hail.

Jiang Xia parried continuously with Grass-Cutting Sword, but Zhu Yan seized the opening as Jiang Xia swung wide, landing a punch squarely on his chest.

Jiang Xia was flung backward, slamming hard into the spatial barrier.

Zhu Yan stepped forward, looking down at him with mocking eyes. “Speed means nothing. Before absolute power, all is futile.”

A flicker of resolve passed through Jiang Xia’s eyes. He rose, gripping his blade, and stepped back from Zhu Yan.

“Fourth Gate, Shangmen—Open!”

With a roar, Jiang Xia’s blood and qi exploded outward; the flowing electric light was instantly swallowed by blue spiritual energy.

His muscles swelled, tendons and bones beneath his clothes cracking like popping beans; his aura surged violently, stirring a gale within the enclosed space.

His posture mirrored exactly that of Rock Lee during the Chunin Exams—his body wrapped in steam, a testament to pushing his physical potential to its absolute limit.

Zhu Yan narrowed its eyes, sensing danger in the air.

This human boy’s aura had grown even more ferocious than before—like a beast freed from its chains.

“Hmph. Still just an insect, no matter how Itachi change your tricks,” Zhu Yan sneered, yet its assault intensified instantly.

It stomped the ground, shattering it into a spiderweb of cracks, then lunged forward as a black shadow, fist aimed straight for Jiang Xia’s face.

Jiang Xia’s gaze hardened—he didn’t retreat, he advanced.

With Shangmen unlocked, his speed and strength had surged to a new dimension.

Grass-Cutting Sword became a blur in his hands—not to block, but to use the blade as a pivot, launching his entire body into the air.

Both feet, heavy as a thousand-pound hammer, wrapped in blue spiritual energy, slammed into Zhu Yan’s wrists.

“Boom!”

Fist met foot, explosive force erupting. Zhu Yan felt its wrists go numb—forced back half a step by the kick.

Jiang Xia used the recoil to flip midair, drawing two kunai in one motion, two blue blade auras crossing toward Zhu Yan’s neck.

This sequence was executed with flawless speed and relentless ferocity, just like Rock Lee’s Lotus technique during the Chunin Exams.

Zhu Yan’s heart surged with fury and alarm, crossing its arms to block.

“Clang!” The blade auras struck its claws, sparks flying, leaving two shallow grooves on its hardened skin.

“Die!” Zhu Yan exploded in rage, its demonic energy surging wildly, its body swelling as its claws transformed into two black whirlwinds sweeping toward Jiang Xia.

This attack covered vast ground, sealing off every possible escape route.

Jiang Xia’s eyes held no fear—only blazing fire.

He drove Grass-Cutting Sword into the ground with such speed it left afterimages.

“Eight Gates Sealing Technique, Dumeng—Open!”

Before the words finished, Jiang Xia appeared like a ghost behind Zhu Yan, locking both arms around its body.

His spiritual energy burned furiously, blue light engulfing both of them like a massive fireball.

“Go down!” Jiang Xia roared, dragging Zhu Yan’s massive form straight into the ground.

“Crash!”

A deafening impact shook the entire enclosed space; the ground cracked open into a massive crater, rocks flying everywhere.

Zhu Yan was stunned by the sudden blow, letting out a pained roar from its throat.

Jiang Xia crouched on the ground, gasping heavily—the side effects of Shangmen’s release began to show, his muscles tearing with searing pain.

Zhu Yan struggled to rise, staring into Jiang Xia’s eyes brimming with unyielding battle lust—and for the first time, a flicker of panic stirred within it.

This human boy, weaker in power by far, was like a cockroach that refused to die, relentlessly smashing against its defenses with reckless abandon.

“Not over yet!”

Jiang Xia growled through gritted teeth, fingers digging into Zhu Yan’s neck, knuckles white with strain.

The spiritual energy from Dumeng still burned fiercely, blue radiance seeping from his fingertips into Zhu Yan’s body, forcing the beast to whimper in agony.

Zhu Yan, utterly enraged, thrashed wildly, its claws slashing three deep, bone-exposing gashes across Jiang Xia’s back.

But Jiang Xia, as if feeling no pain, wrapped his legs tightly around Zhu Yan’s waist and abdomen, pinning it motionless at the bottom of the crater.

“Itachi think this can contain me?” Zhu Yan roared, demonic energy surging, black mist pouring from its wounds into Jiang Xia’s body, seeking to corrupt his meridians.

Blood trickled from Jiang Xia’s lips, but he grinned—wild, mad. “Contain Itachi? I’m here to destroy Itachi!”

As he spoke, he threw his head back, all his spiritual energy converging instantly to the crown of his head.

The blue light intensified, forming a colossal spiritual vortex above him, sucking floating debris into its pull.

“No!” Zhu Yan finally panicked—it felt the annihilation power within the vortex, struggled to break free, but Jiang Xia’s grip was like welded iron, unmoving.

Jiang Xia’s eyes held only resolve. He locked gazes with Zhu Yan, speaking slowly, deliberately: “Try this—”

“Rikukon!”

With a roar, Jiang Xia hurled Zhu Yan’s body upward, striking it repeatedly midair, then plummeting like a meteor back down.

This time, he channeled every ounce of spiritual energy into his fist, driving it straight into Zhu Yan’s chest upon impact.

“Boom!”

A thunderous explosion ripped through the air, cracks spiderwebbing across the spatial barrier.

In the center of the crater, blue chakra erupted violently; Zhu Yan let out a scream of unbearable agony.

A deep crater was punched into its chest, black blood spraying outward.

Jiang Xia was thrown back by the recoil, slamming hard into the barrier, Grass-Cutting Sword flying from his grip.

He struggled to rise, but his limbs trembled uncontrollably.

The side effects of Dumeng erupted fully—his muscle fibers were tearing apart, every movement a searing agony.

Jiang Xia looked at the dying Zhu Yan at the bottom of the crater, grinning through a mouth full of blood.

Zhu Yan lay at the crater’s base, black blood oozing endlessly from its chest wound, its savagery fading, replaced by disbelief and terror.

It could not comprehend how a human with such inferior power had driven it to this brink.

“Boom—”