Horyu hovered above the battlefield, his form enveloped in a swirling vortex of darkness and flame. His vision flickered as the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun rapidly, locking onto the Lord-Rank Specters. Each one was a towering figure of terror, their forms barely holding shape, like shadows given a malevolent life. Despite their strength, Horyu could feel the tremors in their chakra—hesitation, doubt, fear.
A sudden movement caught his eye. One of the specters lunged forward, its form splitting into dozens of tendrils that reached for him with deadly intent. Without hesitation, Horyu's blade flashed through the air, slicing through the dark appendages. They hissed and recoiled, but not before one lashed across his shoulder, burning through his cloak with a searing heat. He grimaced, feeling the pain surge through him, but the Demon of Flames within him roared to life, igniting the wound and sealing it shut with a burst of hellfire, healing him.
[System Message: Specter Name: Vaal-Kor, the Shrouded Maw]
Vaal-Kor's tendrils retracted, and the creature regrouped, its form solidifying. Horyu felt its presence shift, realizing it was preparing another attack. His mind raced as he analyzed the specter's movements. A maw—hunts in silence. It conceals...
He vanished, reappearing behind another specter as Vaal-Kor's maw closed around empty air. This new specter, a giant with eyes that gleamed like molten silver, twisted its head towards him. Horyu felt a wave of pressure—its gaze was tangible, suffocating.
Horyu didn't hesitate. His body flickered with the Kurohana Sage Mode, merging with the shadows just as the giant's silver gaze passed through the spot where he stood a moment before. He emerged behind it, his Uchiha Ancestral Blade wreathed in the godly white flames. With a savage cut, he carved through the specter's massive form, but the strike was met with resistance. The blade didn't pass through as it should have—it was solidifying against his attack!
The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan flared, and in a split second, he warped the space around the blade with Reality Warp Strike, ability his sword awakened with his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, bypassing the resistance. The specter howled as its body tore apart, but not before its colossal hand shot out, slamming into Horyu's chest with crushing force.
[System Message: Specter Name: Tzorak, the Mirror Titan]
Tzorak, the Mirror Titan—its name echoed in Horyu's mind as he flew backward, blood spurting from his mouth. He landed heavily, coughing, but his hands were already forming seals. The flames of the God of Fire erupted around him, burning through the battlefield as he forced his body to recover with Flame of Rebirth of God of Fire Mode. The heat swirled around, intense and unyielding, but controlled—until a crackling laugh pierced through the firestorm.
Another specter stepped forward, its form vibrating with chaotic energy, as if barely contained. It extended a hand, and the fire around Horyu twisted, turning into blackened chains that shot towards him. His eyes widened as the chains coiled, attempting to bind him.
With a roar, Horyu unleashed the Demon of Flames. The black fire erupted from within him, countering the chains as they clashed in a storm of flame and shadow. The battlefield exploded in a cascade of energy, the two forces battling for dominance. He had no time to ponder the specter's abilities—his instincts screamed that he had to move.
Horyu snorted, a twisted grin pulling at his lips. "Playing with fire in front of me?" His voice dripped with disdain. He channeled his fury into action, activating the Divine Flame Mantle and Demonic Flame Cloak in a seamless flow. White hellfire intertwined with black abyss fire, swirling around him, creating a terrifying, ethereal mantle that both seared and obscured. The ground beneath him cracked and scorched as the combined forces of these flames surged outwards, warping the battlefield into a hellscape of fire and shadow.
The specters recoiled instinctively, their movements hesitant as they attempted to adapt to the chaotic energy now radiating from Horyu. But he wasn't going to wait for them to adjust. In an instant, he lunged forward, his Uchiha Ancestral Blade cutting through the air with a vicious arc. The white flames that cloaked the blade ignited the very atmosphere as they clashed with the dark, twisted forms of his enemies.
[System Message: Specter Name: Xyros, the Flame Corrupter]
Xyros's hand shot up, his chaotic energy warping Horyu's flames, turning them into blackened chains once more. But this time, Horyu was ready. With a fierce roar, he willed his mantle of merged flames to counter the corrupted chains, creating an explosive collision that filled the battlefield with a blinding light.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Horyu moved, his body flickering between reality and the shadows, aided by his Kurohana Sage Mode. The specters were powerful, but he knew he couldn't afford to face them head-on for too long. He had to outmaneuver them, break their unity.
In a flash, he appeared beside Vaal-Kor, the Shrouded Maw. The specter lashed out with its tendrils, each strike intended to entangle and crush him. But Horyu's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun furiously, warping space with each movement, slipping past the deadly appendages. He struck back, his blade carving through the darkness with a precision that belied the raging storm within him.
Yet Vaal-Kor was not to be taken down so easily. Its maw expanded, attempting to engulf Horyu whole. Horyu grinned, letting himself be drawn in—only to vanish at the last moment, leaving behind an afterimage that exploded in a burst of black flames. The specter's howl reverberated through the battlefield as it reeled from the attack.
Having dealt with Vaal-Kor, Horyu locked his gaze onto another specter, its presence sending ripples through the battlefield. His Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan flared, and the twin powers of Entropy Slash and Abyssal Pulse surged within him. His left eye shimmered with a deadly glow as the Entropy Slash began to eat away at the space around him, while his right eye pulsed with concussive energy, ready to disrupt the next threat.
[System Message: Specter Name: Zydrex, the Wraith Lord]
Zydrex stood tall, its skeletal form cloaked in a writhing mass of shadows, its hollow eyes glowing with malevolent energy. This one was different—more dangerous. Horyu could feel it. The Wraith Lord's aura was thick with dread, its presence almost suffocating.
Horyu's muscles tensed as he watched Zydrex move, calculating its next attack. It didn't charge like the others. Instead, it raised a hand, and the shadows around it condensed, forming long, jagged spears that shot towards Horyu at terrifying speed.
Reacting instantly, Horyu channeled the God of Fire within him, summoning a wall of white flames to meet the oncoming assault. The spears hissed and crackled as they collided with the divine flames, but Horyu knew that the Wraith Lord wouldn't stop there. Sure enough, the shadows twisted, reappearing behind him in a flurry of black spikes aiming for his back.
He shifted his form, merging with the shadows using the Kurohana Sage Mode, and reappeared a few feet away, narrowly avoiding the deadly attack. Zydrex's hollow gaze followed him, and in a split second, it launched a new wave of shadowy projectiles, faster and more relentless than before.
Horyu's left eye glowed ominously, and with a quick glance, he unleashed the Entropy Slash. The air warped as the invisible force struck, and the shadowy projectiles began to decay mid-flight, their forms disintegrating into dust before they could reach him. Zydrex recoiled, sensing the danger, but Horyu wasn't done. With his right eye, he sent a pulse of Abyssal energy straight at the Wraith Lord, aiming to disrupt its chakra flow.
The pulse hit Zydrex, and for a moment, the specter's form flickered, its control over the shadows wavering. Horyu didn't waste a second. He surged forward, his Uchiha Ancestral Blade slicing through the air, cutting through the weakened defenses with a swift, deadly strike.
But Zydrex was no ordinary specter. Just as Horyu's blade connected, the Wraith Lord's form exploded into a cloud of dark mist, surrounding him. Horyu's senses screamed as the mist tried to invade his body, seeking to corrupt his chakra and spirit. His muscles tightened, and for a moment, he felt the cold grip of despair trying to pull him under.
"No... You're not getting in," Horyu snarled. He tapped into the Specter Sage Mode, his body becoming a vessel of spectral energy. The invading mist was forced out, repelled by the overwhelming power coursing through him. With a violent surge of chakra, Horyu blasted the mist away, reforming his body in a burst of dark flames that scorched the ground around him.