Before making a move, Renjiro knelt down beside the barrier and focused his concentration on allowing a small portion of the substance Mizuki had used to attack him to pass through.
'Let's see if I can handle his attacks.'
As the green liquid seeped into the barrier, Renjiro extended his hand towards it, his fingertips making contact with the substance.
'It feels fine.'
Renjiro's relief washed over him as he realized that, despite the unsettling sensation of the liquid against his skin, it had failed to inflict any significant harm. With a sense of reassurance, he deactivated the barrier, allowing it to dissipate as he retracted the chains back into his body.
The acidic liquid came at him with force, but since he was immune to it, it only affected the lower part of his pants and the sandals he was wearing. This was bearable as Renjiro did not really need them while fighting.
'Ohashi is somewhere inside this turtle. I just need to go through it. Attacking from above isn't an option since I am sure the shell would be really hard. I don't know how strong these chains are, at least my version, but I will have to make do with them.'
With a plan in mind, Renjiro began to move. His movements were swift and decisive as he manifested two adamantine chains and willed them to extend and ensnare the huge turtle before him.
With practised precision, the chains coiled around the creature's neck, constricting tightly as Renjiro slowly retracted them so as to gain enough force to propel himself onto its massive shell.
As he landed atop the turtle's back, Renjiro could feel the sturdy carapace beneath his feet, its surface rough and textured against his palms. It felt like he was on a rocky hill or mountain. Gripping firmly onto the shell for balance, Renjiro steadied himself.
Unlike his movement speed, Mizuki was actually slow in reacting when Renjiro wrapped his chains around the Turtle's neck. He found it hard to free himself, but Renjiro attributed that to the chains nullifying his chakra and making him weak.
With the chains securely wrapped around the turtle's neck, Renjiro knew that he had gained a strategic advantage. His plan was to flip the turtle over and attack its underbelly.
It was not the best of plans, but it was the only one Renjiro could come up with at the moment. He had already considered attacking Mizuki's head or any of his exposed limbs, but that could force him to retreat back to its shell.
Besides being forced to wait for it to come out, Renjiro wouldn't know what to expect as maybe the turtle had a healing mechanism when he retreated back to his shell. If it did then it would eventually undo Renjiro's damage, which was something Renjiro didn't want.
While his plan had its own merit, Renjiro had a huge obstacle on his way to a successful execution. That was if he would be able to flip over Mizuki, to expose its underbelly.
Renjiro knew that the chains could be strong enough to bind a tailed beast, that too a very strong one, but he did not know if the chains were strong enough to flip a summon of similar size over. In conclusion, Renjiro's plan was mainly faith rather than chance.
'Now I'm up, so the next step is binding his limbs.'
Renjiro manifested another four chains and increased their sizes so that they could match the two earlier ones around Mizuki's neck. After the chains increased to an acceptable size, he willed the four to go in opposite directions. Each of them was targeting each of Mizuki's limbs.
The four massive chains snaked around with precision along the pre-ordained path of their master, all except one.
Renjiro wasn't sure why the chain supposed to get Mizuki's left frontal limb missed its target and actually hit the summon's large, hard shell. Maybe it was the mental fatigue he was accumulating control of the chains that was finally getting to him.
"Boom!" The sound of chain and shell colliding reverberated on the battlefield.
One hard to know that since Renjiro wanted to bind Mizuki as fast as possible, the chains had to be travelling at high speeds. So when the chain met the shell, the amount of force the chain hit it was strong.
The impact was strong enough to cause a significant portion of the turtle's shell to fracture and break away, revealing the vulnerability of Mizuki's formidable defences as well as his lime skin, much to Renjiro's surprise.
"Wait, it can do that?" Renjiro couldn't help but mutter. His eyes widened in astonishment at the strength of his adamantine chains.
"YOU INSOLENT BRAT!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY MAJESTIC SHELL!!" Mizuki cried, still struggling to free himself from Renjiro's chains.
Renjiro did not pay attention to the summon's cries since his mind was racing as he quickly reassessed his approach.
'So the shell wasn't as hard as I thought it was. If I can use them to attack the shell, then why not? Trying to flip it over seems more daunting than this.'
With a steely determination, Renjiro resolved to exploit this newfound weakness, recognizing that any advantage he could gain against his formidable opponent would be crucial in turning the tide of battle in his favour.
Renjiro concentrated his chakra once more and summoned forth additional chains of comparable size and stature.
With a swift and decisive motion, he lifted the chains and aimed directly at the turtle's shell. Renjiro then began spinning them in a drill motion. He figured that it would help his penetration power.
"Ohashi may have thought that summoning you would keep him safe or even buy him more time," Renjiro began, "But all he's done is provide me with a live target to test my new ability."
As the chains hurtled through the air with unparalleled speed and accuracy, Renjiro braced himself for the impact.
"Boom!" The chains hit their mark as holes formed in Mizuki's previously impenetrable shell.
"MY SHELL!!! Please stop it!" Mizuki filled the area with his loud cries, a shrill sound that reverberated with the force of his anguish, which did not move Renjiro in the slightest.
Renjiro continued with his relentless assault on Mizuki's shell driving his chains relentlessly into the weakened shell with each successive blow.
The worst thing was that Mizuki couldn't even reverse-summon himself because Renjiro's chains were nullifying his chakra. The only thing he could do was lay there while Renjiro was performing open surgery on him.
The sight of his shattered shell proved to be too much for Ohashi to bear, and in a desperate bid to his summon, he revoked the summoning.
In an instant, Mizuki vanished from sight, leaving behind only the remnants of his broken shell as a testament to the ferocity of Renjiro's assault.
Renjiro, who was Caught off guard by the abrupt change, lost his balance and tumbled to the ground.
"Aaargh!! I was actually thinking of letting you go, but now you have to pay for this!!" Ohashi's expression contorted with a mixture of rage and disbelief.
"Let's not lie to ourselves," Renjiro chuckled before continuing, "The moment you decided to target my eyes was when our fates became sealed. One of us isn't going to leave here with their lives, and their lives, and isn't going to be me."
Renjiro retrieved his staff, separated it into bladed batons and closed the distance between him and Ohashi.
Renjiro did not want to waste his Ninjutsu on Ohashi as his reserves were already low and he wanted to kill Ohashi with his hands. With him accumulating pure anger and hatred for the shinobi due to the loss of his eye, this was something he was going to enjoy.
Sharing the same sentiments, Ohashi didn't bother dodging, he simply flared his chakra, finally deciding to use the final card up his sleeve.
While Ohashi was sure Mizuki would a long time to recover, and probably sever their summoning contract, he was grateful that the summon had brought him some time to recover. He needed to be in good physical condition to activate his transformation.
As Ohashi began transforming, Renjiro paid keen attention and even decided to wait for him to complete it. He had already resolved to end his life, so why would he hurry things? He wanted Ohashi to feel and experience the same anguish he had earlier promised and even given him before his outburst.
After Ohashi completed his transformation, Renjiro was clearly disappointed.
'I knew he was desperate, but was he also this dumb?'
=====
Bless me with your powerful Power Stones.
Your Reviews and Comments about my work are welcomed
If you can, then please support me on Patreon.
Link - www.patreon.com/SideCharacter
You Can read more chapters ahead on Patreon