Ryujin unleashed a barrage of fireballs, each one hurtling towards the trees. The flames engulfed the forest.
"You're burning it, huh?" Kuro remarked, landing a swift punch on a nearby plant spec, then delivering a fast kick with the back of his heel.
"No! It's not hot enough yet!" Ryujin grunted, feeding the flames until they burnt with more intensity.
Kuro's eyes widened in awe as he leaped into the air. "And I thought I was crazy..." He landed gracefully on his feet, He stood up, his gaze darting back to the forest
Immediately a powerful jet of water shot past him, heading straight for Ryujin. "Watch out!" Kuro yelled, but the water blast struck Ryujin, sending him crashing into a tree before falling to the ground.
Kuro's gaze darted between Ryujin and the forest, where a root had suddenly sprouted a gushing water spout.
"It's using water? How is that..." A vine snaked around his leg, allowing him to execute a perfectly timed leg sweep, slicing the vine.
A flurry of vines, each lunging at him from a different direction.
He backflipped twice, landing gracefully on the ground in a crouching pose, his arms spread wide.
Kuro punched one away with a swift jab, kicked another with the back of his heel, and swung his leg in a wide arc, impaling two more with earth spikes that rose from the ground.
He backflipped again, kicking one vine away before landing on the ground and immediately leaping into a mid-air split, dodging two vines by inches.
He sprang to his feet, using his momentum to fuel a devastating roundhouse kick that sent another vine flying.
He landed on the ground and more vines wrapped around his arms and legs.
He tried to move but more wrapped around him and pushed him into the forest
"And that's how he was taken," Ryujin said, standing up. Kaito walked to the ground where Kuro fought the vines, his eyes scanning the area. "You said it used water, right?" he asked Ryujin, his gaze fixed on the ground.
Ryujin nodded, dusting off his uniform. "Yes, it did."
Kaito took three steps forward, his footsteps quiet on the forest floor. Yukiko's eyes narrowed, her gaze fixed on something in the distance. "Kaito, watch out!!" she exclaimed, then began sprinting towards him
Kaito spun around, his eyes widening as a plant shot a barrage of earth spikes toward him.
'What??! Does it use Earth too?? I have to dodge' He thought,
Yukiko reached his side, her hand outstretched. "Ice Prism!!" she yelled.
A shimmering wall of ice materialized, encasing them in a cocoon of crystal-clear ice. The earth spikes hurtled towards them, but ricocheted off the ice with a loud crack,
Kaito gave her a perplexed look
The ice cocoon slowly dissolved, revealing the spikes in the ground around them.
"It can use their Climax states!!" Kaito exclaimed, walking away from Yukiko. "Thanks, Yukiko," he added.
Yukiko's face turned a light shade of red as she watched Kaito walk away. Ryujin's eyes narrowed, confusion etched on his face. "What do you mean it can use their climax states, Kaito?" he asked.
Kaito turned back to face them. "Even though it's a Spec, it's still a plant, right? So it's using the properties a plant needs to nurture itself," he explained.
Yukiko's eyes widened in comprehension. "Exactly!!" Kaito exclaimed.
But before they could discuss further, leaves on the floor began to rustle softly.
"Ugh, I...I think I...have an...idea..." Kaito trailed off as water blades suddenly dashed out of the ground, heading straight for him.
"Me? Again?! What is going on?" Kaito asked, raising his arms in exasperation, his eyes wide with surprise.
Ryujin swiftly burnt one blade on the left, while Yukiko froze the other before it reached Kaito. The blade fell to the ground, harmless.
"You guys can oppose it!" Kaito said.
Yukiko sighed, thinking to herself, 'I was gonna say that...' Her eyes rolled slightly with a smile on her face.
Ryujin's eyes narrowed. "Even if Yukiko and I can oppose it with our abilities, how can we get Kuro and Misuki back?!" he asked.
Kaito's face broke into a sly smirk. "I think I have an idea," he said.
Meanwhile
Mizuki found herself wrapped in thick, thorny vines in a dark and eerie forest corner, her body suspended upside down like a helpless puppet. The vines dug deep into her skin, their rough texture scraping against her like sandpaper. Her eyes strained to see through the dim light, her vision blurry from the blood rushing to her head.
Kuro was hung beside her. His eyes were open, their piercing gaze fixed intently on Mizuki. The vines wrapped around him like a shroud, but he didn't struggle
"All that talk just to get caught, huh?" she said.
"Oh, shut up! I'll break my way out of here in no time!" he growled, his muscles tensing as he struggled against the vines.
But the vines only seemed to tighten their grip like a vice. Kuro's face reddened with exertion, his breathing labored.
"Don't bother, Kuro. These vines are draining us of our Climax energy..." she said softly.
Kuro's struggles slowed, his eyes locked on Misuki's. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"The more you try to force your way out, the more it takes out of you... Before long, we'll run out of Climax energy... and it'll consume us..." Her words trailed off.
Meanwhile, Kaito stood in the forest alone, his eyes scanning the surroundings then he gazed up at the canopy above, jumped into the air, and began to swing from branch to branch. He ascended to the top of the tree,
Kaito gazed out in a particular direction, his eyes narrowed then he took a deep breath, and then yelled at the top of his lungs: "Misuki!!!" The name echoed through the forest
Ryujin and Yukiko, hiding behind two separate trees, exchanged a skeptical look. "So that's his plan?" Ryujin whispered, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Even if we hide, can't the forest still locate us?" Yukiko questioned, her voice barely audible.
"Oh, he knows that," Ryujin replied, "but I don't understand what he's doing." Just then, Kaito yelled again, "Misuki!! Where are you?!"
Mizuki, still upside down and helpless, rolled her eyes in exasperation. "That idiot!!" she muttered. Kuro snorted. "I knew he was pathetic."
"Shut it!! I'm trying to focus. There's only one way he can find me" She closed her eyes. "Wait, what??! You're trying to... But it might kill you?" Kuro said.
"How else is he gonna find us?" Mizuki replied.
"Misuki!! Where are youuuu?!" Kaito continued to yell.
"Just stop it's not gonna..."
Ryujin was about to finish his sentence "Got it!" he exclaimed, his gaze fixed on a point in the distance. "I feel Misuki's climax pressure! It's faint, but it's there."
Kaito jumped off the tree at lightning speed.
Vines from below rushed up to attack him, but they all froze as Yukiko stretched out her hand, "Don't use your strength now!! Go!!" she whispered urgently.
Kaito landed and dashed forward at an incredible speed.
"Can't believe that plan worked!!" Ryujin exclaimed, a fireball igniting in his hand. "Now we have to keep the forest from focusing on him!" he added.
An explosion occurred behind Kaito, he looked back and smiled then continued running
Mizuki let out a pant.
"You shouldn't have done that!! What makes you sure he's going to find us anyways!?" Kuro yelled.
Misuki's gaze was soft. "Because it's Kaito... He'll always find me," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
As he ran, the trees seemed to close in around him, their branches reaching out like skeletal fingers. But Kaito dodged, and then he gazed up and saw them suspended upside down, "There we go!!" he exclaimed, his blade Tonfa manifesting on his hand.
"Thunder Arrow!" he shouted, throwing his left Tonfa. It transformed into a blue lightning spear, dashing through the air with a crackling energy.
'But even though that was... " The spear hit Kuro before he could finish his sentence, but instead of harming him, it only affected the vines binding him.
"Huh??!" Kuro looked confused, and then the vines let go of him, releasing him from their grasp. He fell onto the floor.
Misuki's eyes widened as another lightning spear dashed towards her direction.
The vine binding her let go, and she was about to fall when Kaito caught her mid-air, he landed gracefully on the ground.
"Glad you're okay," he said, his voice filled with relief.
"Took you long enough!" she exclaimed,
Kuro stood up. "I would love to listen to your lovers' talk, but we have to get out of this forest," he said.
"No," Kaito said, "We'll exorcise it."
Mizuki and Kuro looked at Kaito in disbelief, their eyes wide with shock. "You can't be serious," Misuki said.
An explosion rocked the forest, sending flames and debris flying in all directions. Ryujin emerged from the smoke, his flames engulfing the right side of the forest, while Yukiko froze the roots on the left, the air became chill like a frosty mist and turned the trees into crystal pillars.
Kaito, Misuki, and Kuro sprinted towards them, "Go!!" Kaito yelled, Misuki ran to the right while Kuro ran to the left,
Misuki's hands transformed into water tendrils, destroying trees with graceful sweeps that sent trunks crashing to the ground, while Kuro punched the ground, raising earth spikes that ravaged the terrain, destroying the trees
Kaito's body began to spark lightning, then he dashed around the forest, jumped up to the trees, and began to swing from branch to branch. The leaves and branches whipped past him, their edges blurring into a green and brown haze that obscured his vision.
His eyes gazed around the forest. 'Where is it?! It's around here somewhere! While they are keeping the forest busy!! I need to find its core' he thought
he continued to swing from branch to branch and then landed on the ground looking around
"Where can it be!!?"
"I'm running out of time!!"
"Where is...?" a glint of light caught his attention, and he saw an orb moving in a tree branch beside him. "There it is..."
The team all began to move to Kaito's position, But the core darted away,
"You're not getting away!" Kaito shouted and ran after it, the core went up a tree and moved on a branch.
Kuro jumped beside the tree branch, his hand trembled and his eyes locked onto the core. His ancient artifact began to materialize, the air around his hand distorting like a heat haze. Dark brown light coalesced into chain links, forming a spectral Kurisagama. The blade at the end solidified with a sharp clang, gleaming with a dark brown light.
"Dojin!" Kuro growled, the chain whirred, its blade slicing towards the core like a deadly snake that struck the branch. But the core dodged with ease and zoomed off.
"Tch! Get back here!" Kuro exclaimed.
Ryujin dashed past Kaito, his ancient artifact, dual oriental sabers, materializing with a fiery red glow. The blades unfolded, their hilts adorned with designs that shimmered in the sunlight. "Kagutsuchi!" Ryujin roared.
He swung the sabers and they sliced through a tree, sending flames down the path like a blazing comet. But the core curved to the right, escaping the flames.
"I missed!" Ryujin said.
Kaito still running after it but the core continued dashing away as it zigzagged through the forest.
It flashed past a tree. As it emerged on the other side, Yukiko materialized beside it, her ancient artifacts, dual ice daggers, manifesting, blades forming from frosty mist. The hilts took shape, and the daggers radiated an icy glow.
"Kuraokami!" Yukiko exclaimed, and then she sliced the branch above the core. The branch froze, its wood petrifying into a crystalline structure. falling on it
The core was trapped, and Kaito's eyes widened in shock as he watched.
With a sudden burst of energy, the core shattered the ice, burst forth, and raced back toward Kaito. The core jumped up, its glowing form hovering in mid-air.
"Kaito, your hands!" Mizuki yelled,
"Got it!" Kaito replied, his hands clasped together in a precise gesture.
Mizuki sprinted towards him. She leaped onto Kaito's hands, and he pushed her upwards.
As she reached the apex of her jump, her ancient artifact began to materialize. Her bracers shimmered into existence, their surfaces etched with wave-like patterns
"Suijin!" Mizuki exclaimed, and the bracers glowed with a deep silver light. Water blades erupted from the ends.
Mizuki swung her arms in a graceful arc, the water blades slicing through the core dividing it into two.