Trigon frowned as he lay flat on the ground.
All four of his eyes suddenly glowed red and unleashed a massive, thick beam.
Max vanished before it could land.
The beam missing and tearing through the air, ripping apart the dark clouds above and carving a glowing line across the sky.
Max reappeared beside Nina, who was still speaking with Superman and Zetsu.
Only one thought crossed their minds.
'He's much faster than before'.
They had barely registered him arriving.
Even Nina, with her Mangekyō Sharingan active, had only just managed to track the movement.
For Zetsu it had been instantaneous, like it always was to him. He couldn't even perceive the dramatic leap in Max's speed.
Max deactivated the Seventh Gate. The violent aura around him dimmed slightly, though the pressure in the air remained.
"It's been a while, Superman," Max said calmly.
"It indeed has been," Superman replied, equally calm.
Max raised an eyebrow at the indifference but didn't comment on it.
Instead, he turned to Nina.
"I need your help to pin him down."
"You need to do that thing, huh?" Nina asked.
"Yes. Can you do it?" Max asked, a teasing note in his voice.
"Of course I can," Nina replied. "And here I'd just thought I was in for a show. But sure,let's do it."
"How can I help?" Superman asked.
"Unfortunately, you'd get in the way," Nina said bluntly. "It's best if you join the others. The situation is dire on their side."
Superman looked toward Trigon, who was slowly rising.
"You sure you'll be able to handle this?" he asked.
"Of course," Nina replied, eyes locked ahead.
Trigon stood fully upright.
"Alright. I leave it to you then," Superman said before blasting off toward the other battlefield.
"What about me?" Zetsu asked when they heard a cracklingsound .
He turned just in time to see Trigon charging a massive attack in his hand. Lightning arcs as thick as buildings tore through the ground around him, splitting the desert apart.
Zetsu swallowed hard.
"…Forget what I said. I'm out of here."
He immediately sank into the ground.
A sweat drop slid down Nina's temple.
Then she turned to Max and raised her fist toward him with a grin.
"Let's do this, Dad."
Max cracked a small smile and bumped his fist against hers.
They spoke at the same time.
"Let's go."
As soon as they spoke, chakra erupted from their bodies,blue from Max, white from Nina. The energies swirled together, condensing into a light-blue Susanoo that towered two hundred meters above the cracked desert.
"Not yet," they said in unison, forming the Tiger hand seal. More chakra poured into the Susanoo, and it grew,armor plating locking into place, massive wings unfurling. When it finished, the colossal warrior stood at two hundred seventy meters just thirty meters short of Trigon's size.
Trigon unleashed a crimson lightning blast. It tore across the ground, gouging the desert as it struck the Susanoo's crossed arms. The force pushed the giant back, cracks forming along its forearms.
Max and Nina poured more chakra into the Susanoo, sealing the fractures, while Max reinforced it with Haki. Slowly, the Susanoo pushed forward, closing the distance.
Seeing his ranged attack fail, Trigon charged as well. Every step the titans took shook the desert, sending molten pools quivering and dust spiraling.
Trigon struck first, his massive fist tearing through the air, but the Susanoo ducked under it and snapped its wings once to gain momentum. The upward swing that followed was clean and brutal, the uppercut connected squarely with Trigon's jaw and snapped his head toward the sky. The impact forced him back several steps, his claws carving trenches through the fractured desert.
Inside the construct, Nina drew in the last of her natural energy and formed a single seal. "Sage Art: Wood Style,Deep Forest Emergence." The desert convulsed as thick vines erupted from the sand around Trigon, twisting upward and coiling around his torso and limbs. He tore through the first wave easily, but more followed, wrapping tighter and binding his arms before he could fully break free.
At the same time, Max created a shadow clone within the Susanoo. The clone dropped to the ground below and formed two quick hand seals. "Wood Style: Wood Dragon Jutsu." A wooden dragon burst from beneath Trigon, coiling around him alongside the vines and tightening its grip as it anchored him in place.
The Susanoo moved in immediately, stepping behind Trigon and locking him into a headlock while the vines continued to bind both of them together. Its knees drove into the backs of Trigon's legs, forcing him downward despite his resistance. The earth cracked as he was pushed to one knee, the bindings straining but holding.
Below them, Max's clone slammed its palm against the ground and summoned the Gedo Statue. The massive figure rose with a roar and opened its mouth wide. Nine purple, dragon-shaped chains shot forward and pierced into Trigon's chest, igniting with red flames as they began siphoning his power into the statue.
Trigon's fury shifted into realization. His body ignited in demonic fire, the flames spreading across the vines and burning through the wood dragon's coils. Max and Nina reinforced the Susanoo, pouring chakra into it to keep the hold steady as the chains continued drawing power. When Trigon's eyes flared and he aimed at the Gedo Statue below, the Susanoo reacted instantly.
Its hand clamped over his face, blocking the beams before they could fire cleanly. Energy burst between its fingers and scattered into the sky, carving distant scars through the clouds. Then, without hesitation, the Susanoo drove its fingers forward and plunged them into all four of Trigon's eyes.
His roar of agony rolled across the desert like thunder.
The flames pouring from Trigon's body intensified, burning hotter until the vines binding him began to blacken and crumble. The wood dragon tightened its coils and absorbed the heat, but even it started to char under the pressure. With his hands now free, Trigon reached up and seized the Susanoo's wrist, the one still buried in his eye sockets, and began forcing it away. Blood streamed down his face as his eyes regenerated beneath the mangled flesh.
His other hand shot up and grabbed the arm locked around his neck, prying it loose inch by inch. Inside the fading construct, Max assessed the situation in a single glance. "Jump."
"What?" Nina asked, still forcing chakra into the Susanoo.
Max didn't explain. He grabbed her by the hem of her shirt and vanished, reappearing on top of the Gedo Statue just as Trigon let out a primal roar. A pillar of red fire erupted from his body, engulfing him and consuming the Susanoo as it finally dissipated under the strain.
The Gedo Statue leapt back, its chains still embedded in Trigon's chest. With a violent pull, they tore free, dragging out a massive sphere of crimson energy from within the inferno. The chains retracted into the statue's mouth along with the energy, and its jaws snapped shut with a heavy crack.
Then it began to tremble.
Max and Nina dropped from its head as all of the statue's eyes snapped open at once. It threw its head back and roared toward the sky, its presence swelling as if something ancient was about to awaken within it.
For a moment, it felt like the Ten Tails was about to be reborn then.
The statue vanished in a puff of smoke.
Nina stared at the empty space where it had stood. "What's wrong? Why didn't it work?"
"We'll discuss that later," Max replied, eyes fixed ahead. "Right now we have bigger concerns."
The pillar of flames collapsed inward, shrinking rapidly until it revealed Trigon's new form. He stood at human size now, his body still burning faintly, eyes restored and filled with fury.
Witthoutwarning,he shot forward, the air detonating behind him in a sonic boom.
"Ha!" Max roared as he opened the Seventh Gate and launched himself to meet him head-on.
They closed the distance in an instant.
Both threw a punch at the same time,boom!.
Their fists connected with each other's cheeks, the force rippling outward in a compressed shockwave that silenced the battlefield for a heartbeat. Then they were sent flying in opposite directions before righting themselves midair.
They hovered there for a fraction of a second, staring at each other.
Then they vanished.
Trigon surged forward and slammed into Max midair, tackling him before he could counter. Red and blue streaks tangled together as they rocketed across the sky, their combined momentum carrying them straight toward the city.
Below, Nina followed their trajectory and felt her stomach drop.
"Oh shit."
End of Chapter
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