Giant hands of iron sand formed in the air, trying to crush Dabi like an insect.
Burning them was useless. Stopping them was useless. He could only evade them with desperation.
Dabi propelled himself like a rocket, barely escaping the impact zone that shook the surroundings. The young man clenched his teeth in frustration. This was not the battle plan they devised.
In some damned way, the target's brother managed to contain them both, and now their respective opponents were inverted, giving Muscular a less troublesome target, and Dabi a deadly one.
—All because that son of a bitch held back at the start, and now I'll pay the price— Dabi thought venomously, swearing to burn his "partner's" face as soon as he got out of this.
He mobilized more fire, reaching a height of over twenty meters and flying over the sand walls the brat erected to contain the fight.
As he expected, endless projectiles were fired from the walls, some of them tearing his clothes and skin. Dabi evaded as best he could, not wanting a needle to pierce him.
He was warned that if that happened, he would have sand worms running inside him. He definitely didn't want to test that nonsense.
His goal now was to provoke the brother. If he got far enough away, he would eventually reach a limit where the brat couldn't maintain those walls, and Muscular could use the civilians in the other houses to distract them.
And if that didn't work, then the boy might not dare to leave his little sister alone with that dangerous man. Right?
As soon as Dabi left the boundary of the walls, he shot bursts of fire in all directions. To his relief, some of the sand extensions that were chasing him diverted, intercepting the flames or falling onto the rooftops that were starting to burn, extinguishing the fire.
But the wall he had just passed lost its solidity and moved like an aerial dark tidal wave. His jaw almost dropped to the floor when he saw the large expanse of Satetsu floating behind him.
Meanwhile, Mei and Muscular engaged in hand-to-hand combat where explosive force met agility and technique.
Muscular's blows were powerful and fast, but Mei was just as swift, more agile, and precise.
Where he swung his fist in a straight line, she kicked the biceps, struck the ulna, and kneed the elbow. Where he displaced the air and cracked the ground, she harassed his muscles and gradually added damage to his body.
But Mei's lack of brute strength prevented the kunoichi from causing immediate damage.
The fundamental difference lay in the blonde's toughness. Unlike the rigidity of TetsuTetsu or even Kirishima, Muscular was more elastic. Mei's fists did not meet an unmovable wall, but a rubber that made every blow bounce off.
But that brought back memories. She smirked.
—Tell me, creep. My blows don't hurt you, do they?— she asked.
-Hmph, it will take more than this, brat- the blonde mocked.
-I see... - she nodded. Suddenly, Mei lowered her arms and swung her body unnaturally, like a blade of grass swaying in the wind.
Muscular was about to question the girl's sanity when she moved at great speed and spun diagonally in the air. Her extended palm broke the air and smashed into the blonde's shoulder.
The sound of a whip lashing flesh echoed in the place. The man's muscles tensed, a surge of pain running through all his nerves.
—HNNGH!— Muscular groaned, with clenched teeth.
—Muahahaha!!— Mei laughed like a maniac as a barrage of lashes fell upon her opponent.
Muscular tried to catch her in a bear hug and break her back, but she slipped through his guard and fired an uninterrupted salvo of water bullets at his chin.
The sudden jolts shook his head, making him dizzy.
He took a step back, regaining his senses. In that instant, Mei molded chakra in her stomach and expelled it through her mouth in the form of extremely hot mist.
Muscular was bathed in steam, his already sensitive muscles from the girl's lashing receiving double the pain as before.
—ENOUGH!— the blonde screamed as he kicked the ground, sending a shockwave that lifted debris toward Mei. The kunoichi responded with a torrent of water that sent the debris back to Muscular.
The abrupt temperature change tensed his body even further, and the wave dragged him until he crashed into the Satetsu wall.
—Uff, how I wish I had Raiton right now. Life would be easier— she murmured.
Sighing at the injustice of the world, she jumped onto the wave she unleashed and ran to finish the guy off. By now, local Heroes should already be on their way, so it would be good for her resume to stop this creep on her own.
Suddenly, a tremor shook the water under her feet. An explosion of water, sand, and debris made her recoil, sending fragments scattering onto the surrounding rooftops.
Fortunately, Tetsumaru was still within manipulation range and converted the remnants of the wall into loose sand, managing to block some debris.
Sometimes, Mei felt envious of her other half's incarnation. Satetsu was disgustingly versatile.
Rasa was a true idiot and a failure as a shinobi. Even the old woman of Suna claimed that Iron Sand was the most powerful weapon in the Village. Having such a tool at his disposal, in the form of Gold Sand, how the hell was he such a bad Kazekage?
Of course, Tetsumaru's manipulation was closer to Shukaku's than anyone's, but in exchange he didn't receive Ninjutsu. That useless redhead did have Jutsu that better managed his chakra.
—Damned Bitch!!!— roared an enraged Muscular. His flesh sizzled, partly from the strain of increasing his strength, partly from Mei's steam.
Before the kunoichi could retort with anything witty, the blonde lunged at her like a bullet, violently displacing the water to the sides.
Mei manipulated the water around her, making it move in circles, with her at the center. However, the currents did not hinder the brute's advance.
Emerging from the whirlpool like a damn Godzilla, Muscular lashed the air with his fist. Mei pulsed chakra into her feet, leaping out of the way and narrowly dodging the deadly attack.
Even so, the shockwave sent her flying, bouncing several times on the water's surface. She quickly stabilized herself, just in time to see the massive man above her, his fist descending like a hammer.
Mei was about to release a jet of pressurized water and split the forearm, but unlike in movies, cutting it in half wouldn't make the halves separate and pass harmlessly by her.
Instead, she opened her seals and unleashed a massive wave upwards. The water reached from Muscular's fist to his shoulder, significantly reducing its power.
Enough so that she could receive it with crossed arms.
Her legs bent slightly, her feet sank into the water and buried themselves in the street's asphalt, spiderweb cracks spreading around her.
But in blocking the attack, her palms lost focus on her fist. Gradually, the pressure increased and Mei's arms began to give way.
A predatory smile formed on Muscular's lips as he overpowered the girl. He planned to break some bones, maybe all her limbs, before taking her to the handyman.
What neither of them noticed was the accumulation of Sand above their heads. Suddenly, a rectangular block the same width as the blonde slammed down on him, pinning him to the street like a stake.
The hardened piece of Satetsu writhed from side to side, like a foot crushing an insect and ensuring it's spread across the surface.
Mei sighed, falling to her knees, panting. Muscular's strength was no joke.
That, and the fact that shinobi are basically glass cannons. Great lethality, incredible power, but fragile in comparison.
Tetsumaru descended from the sky as the pillar dissolved into loose sand and settled into the hole, engulfing the muscular blonde.
—And the zombie?— Mei asked.
—He escaped. The giant blonde woman scared him off and he was swallowed by a portal— the black-haired boy replied.
—The what?— Mei blinked, confused.
Suddenly, tremors shook the ground and she turned just in time to see a giant woman rapidly approaching.
—Don't worry, I'll take care of the threat!— exclaimed Mt. Lady with a heroic pose.