Chapter 35: Nine-Headed Dragon Flash

[Elemental Burst Acquired: Nine-Headed Dragon Flash / Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki]

Those still watching Bai Luo felt a sudden shift in his aura. If he had been elusive and unpredictable before, now he resembled a sheathed blade, ready to strike at any moment.

Moreover, there was something about him that now felt distinctly more like someone from Inazuma.

"Do you dare to take my strike?" Bai Luo's hand, gripping the broken blade, trembled slightly, much like the young man who had once stood in this same spot, daring to face the unstoppable strike of Musou no Hitotachi.

But Bai Luo's trembling was not from fear. Rather, it was because he was suppressing an immense power.

The force that had been circulating within him for the past thirty seconds as he unlocked the Battousai job was now on the verge of erupting uncontrollably. If he didn't release it soon, he feared it would tear him apart from the inside.

"I'll give you one chance to draw your blade," the Raiden Shogun said as she slowly lowered her sword, which had been poised to strike. She made no effort to adopt a defensive stance. To her, no mortal blade could harm her in the slightest. After all, every sword technique in Inazuma originated from her teachings.

Why should she defend against her own swordsmanship?

"Thank you," Bai Luo responded, his left hand slowly moving behind him while his right hand raised the broken blade before him.

"Iaijutsu?" The Raiden Shogun instantly recognized this as a traditional Inazuman sword-drawing technique. But what happened next puzzled her.

Bai Luo's body lowered further and further, almost touching the ground. In that instant, the last vestiges of his sharp aura were suppressed into the broken blade.

To the onlookers, he appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary young man. Perhaps any raw recruit from the Tenryou Commission could beat him senseless.

Yet no one dared to underestimate him. Those knowledgeable in swordsmanship even had expressions of astonishment.

"This... this isn't Inazuma Iaijutsu!"

Kamisato Ayato, gripping his sword Haran Geppaku Futsu, for the first time showed a look of disbelief. After the Raiden Shogun had passed down her swordsmanship, various styles in Inazuma had developed their own distinct techniques. Even between him and his sister, there were subtle differences in their sword-drawing techniques.

But fundamentally, all these techniques originated from the Shogun's teachings and had not changed much over time.

However, the Iaijutsu that Bai Luo now employed was similar to, yet completely different from, the techniques handed down by the Raiden Shogun. This was something entirely unique in all of Inazuma.

If this sword-drawing technique was impressive enough, Bai Luo could indeed establish his own school in Inazuma, and others might even address him as a master.

Facing this unknown Iaijutsu, the Raiden Shogun dropped her earlier underestimation and raised her sword Musou Isshin with the intention to take him seriously. Regardless of its power, his mastery of swordsmanship deserved her respect.

But just as she was lifting her sword, a look of shock appeared on her face.

She couldn't move.

"Flying Sword Style. Nine-headed Dragon Flash!"

As Bai Luo's voice fell, he moved.

All sword techniques in the world are extensions of the nine basic directions of attack. The Nine-Headed Dragon Flash is a technique that strikes these nine points in rapid succession.

In an instant, Bai Luo and the Raiden Shogun passed by each other. Nine flashes of the blade struck the Raiden Shogun simultaneously, drawing blood.

"Is... is the Shogun wounded?" Kujou Sara's hand, holding the bowstring, trembled slightly, her expression akin to when she had first encountered Arataki Itto. The Raiden Shogun was a god! Ever since she had served by the Shogun's side, she had never seen her sustain even the smallest injury. Yet this criminal, who dared challenge the Shogun, had managed to wound her.

The Raiden Shogun herself was even more bewildered. Bai Luo's slashes not only bypassed her defenses but also ignored the protection of her clothing, directly wounding her flesh. In simple terms, none of her defenses had stopped his nine slashes.

She had taken them head-on, with her body alone.

What was most bizarre was the moment before Bai Luo had drawn his blade. If she could have lifted Musou Isshin, she might have blocked his attack. But he had used some unknown technique to immobilize her for an entire second.

One second is enough time to do many things.

Except during the Archon War, this was the first time in so long that she had encountered such a situation. And coupled with that strange elemental energy that granted invincibility...

Could this guy... be a remnant from that era?

While everyone else was in shock, Bai Luo, having released the pent-up power within him, felt his rush of adrenaline subside. He knew that by seizing the Vision, he had made himself a target. And now, by wounding the Raiden Shogun with his swordsmanship, the moment the crowd snapped out of their shock, they would make him pay dearly.

"Clang—"

The broken blade was sheathed with a sharp, piercing sound. Bai Luo, already fast, became even swifter as the blade clicked into its scabbard.

Dressed in his red robe, he turned into a flash of red lightning, dashing towards Kamisato Ayato.

I don't know if it was intentional, but the place where Kamisato Ayato and Kaedehara Kazuha confronted each other was right under a high wall somewhere. Bai Luo, after knocking Ayato aside with a single strike, grabbed the stunned Kaedehara Kazuha and, in a few quick strides, scaled the wall and leaped off the cliff on the other side.

The entire sequence of actions was so smooth that even the Raiden Shogun herself did not react in time. She instinctively treated Bai Luo as someone from her era, expecting him to launch another strike. She had even prepared herself for another bout of combat.

But he had unexpectedly fled in the blink of an eye.

"After them!" The soldiers in the training grounds, snapping back to reality, immediately ran towards the cliff where Bai Luo and Kaedehara Kazuha had jumped.

But below the cliff, there was nothing but clouds and a few soaring eagles—no sign of the two fugitives.

"Cough... my apologies, Shogun," Kamisato Ayato propped himself up with his sword Haran Geppaku Futsu, and smiled wryly.

Bai Luo didn't strike him with much force, but Ayato, already intending to let Kaedehara Kazuha escape, didn't put up any defense. As a result, Bai Luo's strike had landed solidly on his chest.

If Bai Luo hadn't pulled his punch, Ayato might have needed a Teyvat Fried Egg to save his life.

"You did well. Go back and heal up. I'll have the Tenryou Commission put those two under the Vision Hunt Decree. Next time we meet... it'll be my turn to draw the blade." Feeling the pain from her wounds, the Raiden Shogun turned and walked into Tenshukaku.

How many years had it been... since she had last found herself in such a predicament? Very well. Next time, she wouldn't let him escape so easily.