When the Nyoi Bo is shortened to a certain length, it is the moment when Saiyu steps into the attack range.
However, before he could assume an offensive stance, he saw the figure that had been pierced by the Nyoi Bo dissipate into the air.
"The Nen Clone..."
Saiyu retracted the Nyoi Bo and glanced around the surroundings. He quickly locked onto Moses's Aura and then stomped the ground with his foot.
Boom!
The ground cracked, emitting a loud sound.
Using the force generated from the stomp, Saiyu's figure rushed towards where Moses's Aura was.
As he charged forward like lightning, he repeated his earlier tactic, extending the Nyoi Bo with a swing of his arm.
Swoosh-
The rounded end of the Nyoi Bo sliced through the darkness, accurately piercing through Moses's chest.
"Without hearing or vision, you can't even manage basic defense, can you?"
Saiyu sneered and did not retract the Nyoi Bo. Instead, he charged straight toward Moses.
However-
As he closed the distance, what he saw was the same as before: a dissipating shadow clone, its Aura scattering like bubbles.
Clearly, this Moses, whose chest had been pierced, was still just a shadow clone.
For Saiyu, the sensation of piercing a shadow clone with the Nyoi Bo felt no different from piercing a real person.
It was only just before the shadow clone dissipated that he could sense the difference.
Therefore, he couldn't rely on tactile feedback to determine whether he had hit the real body or a shadow clone.
Once again, his attack had landed on a shadow clone, but Saiyu didn't mind in the slightest.
Only with the support of 'various intelligence' could he set up this ambush tonight.
Just as he had said earlier, after securing the advantage, he didn't mind taking his time to toy with Moses.
Saiyu retracted the Nyoi Bo, turned his face, and glanced at the darkness around him. He even released his En, expending a considerable amount of Aura to openly search for Moses's movements.
Soon-
He locked onto Moses's Aura again.
Swoosh!
Without any hesitation, Saiyu rushed into the darkness with the Nyoi Bo in his hand. Then, he suddenly swung his arm, causing the Nyoi Bo to extend and thicken as it swept toward a cluster of trees.
Boom! Boom! Crack-
The thickened and elongated Nyoi Bo smashed through the trees in its path, cutting them in half before slamming into Moses's ribs.
The powerful attack instantly turned Moses into a spray of black mist.
Once again, the attack had hit a shadow clone.
Saiyu retracted the Nyoi Bo without concern, continuing to search for Moses's Aura as he walked toward the temple at the mountaintop.
Compared to the Potential Aura consumed by a shadow clone's dissipation, the Aura Saiyu expended to attack with the Nyoi Bo was negligible.
So, even though he recognized Moses's intent to drag out the fight, he was more than happy to oblige.
After all-
He had already decided to beat Moses down a few more times with the Nyoi Bo.
So whether it was a shadow clone or the real body, he would take them all.
"A futile struggle."
Saiyu's lips twisted into a sneer as he quickly located another shadow clone and pierced it with the Nyoi Bo.
He didn't know how many more shadow clones Moses could create, but he had already seen the outcome of this battle.
What would follow-
Was simply Moses being forced to drag things out until he completely lost the ability to fight back.
During this period, Saiyu would remain invincible, while Moses could only passively take hit after hit.
The result was already decided.
Unless Moses was willing to abandon the wine-drinking and meat-eating monk in the temple on the mountaintop.
In that case, things would be different.
Saiyu's eyes flicked to the side as he launched another flying strike with the Nyoi Bo, accurately piercing through the chest of yet another shadow clone.
After sweeping away countless shadow clones, a gap suddenly appeared in the dark clouds covering the sky, revealing a sliver of the moon hidden behind them.
Instantly, a faint moonlight spilled into the forest.
"Hmm?"
Taking advantage of the sudden moonlight, Saiyu noticed that after the shadow clone dissipated, a dark shadow slid across the ground through the illuminated area before disappearing into the darkness.
After seeing this phenomenon, Saiyu's heart stirred, but he remained calm and continued searching for Moses's Aura.
More than ten seconds later.
Saiyu quickly locked onto another Aura.
Without needing to guess, he knew this Aura belonged to yet another shadow clone.
But this time, Saiyu didn't use the Nyoi Bo's extending ability to attack. Instead, he swiftly closed the distance to within ten meters of the shadow clone.
Swish-
Saiyu swung the Nyoi Bo, its slender yet sturdy shaft cutting through the air and striking the shadow clone's neck.
Crack!
With the crisp sound of bone breaking, the shadow clone's neck bent into a U-shape before it disintegrated into a cloud of black mist.
At that moment, Saiyu's gaze no longer focused on the drifting black mist, but looked towards the ground, locking onto the shadow that had served as the Nen Clone's carrier.
"This ends here."
Saiyu's lips twisted into a smirk as he retracted the Nyoi Bo and followed the shadow.
He had already seen that Moses's shadow clone ability had an unavoidable limitation.
That is, after a shadow clone was destroyed and dispersed, the shadow that serves as its carrier must return to Moses.
This meant that he could use the shadow's return path to track down Moses's hiding spot.
Right now.
Moses was in a state of Zetsu, seemingly completely unaware of Saiyu's approach as he followed the shadow.
"Tsk, so he can use the shadow clones even while in Zetsu? No wonder all the targets I found earlier were shadow clones."
As Saiyu followed the shadow, he immediately spotted Moses, who had closed his Aura Nodes, and couldn't help but feel a slight surprise.
"Don't worry, I'll just give you a few good whacks, then leave you half-dead so we can have a nice chat later."
Saiyu's lips twisted into his habitual smirk. Without waiting for Moses's reaction, he unexpectedly threw the Nyoi Bo instead of extending it.
Swoosh-
The Nyoi Bo, which is wrapped in dense Aura, shot toward Moses.
Compared to extending the staff, throwing it was significantly faster.
Moses seemed to sense something and hastily attempted to dodge.
But without his hearing and vision, he couldn't fully evade the Nyoi Bo's trajectory, and the staff pierced through his abdomen in the end.
Psstt!
Blood sprayed from Moses's abdomen as his body staggered back from the impact, his head tilting back as he let out a scream.
Saiyu, utilizing the Conjuration System's ability to conjure and dismiss at will, quickly reconjure the Nyoi Bo in his hand.
This time, he chose to extend the Nyoi Bo's length, and then, from a distance, he controlled the staff to swing down toward Moses's shoulder.
Crack!
The Nyoi Bo struck Moses's shoulder with a heavy blow, and the sound of bone breaking echoed through the forest.
"Arrggh!?"
In the next moment, a scream filled with confusion and pain rang out through the forest.
But the one screaming wasn't Moses, it was Saiyu.
His shoulder had caved in, clearly indicating a serious injury.
"What the hell is going on!?"
Feeling the intense pain radiating from his shoulder, Saiyu's pupils trembled in shock. Before he could process what had happened, his vision suddenly blurred.
In the next instant, the scene before his eyes was Moses holding the extended Nyoi Bo...
"Wh-What!?"
Saiyu's face froze in disbelief, and his brain suddenly froze.
Moses's expression remained calm as he manipulated the Nyoi Bo to force Saiyu to his knees.
In this place, every action taken was but an illusion.
"If there's a 'flaw,' it's that 'I', when a hole pierced through my abdomen, wouldn't scream in pain. But you, you stinking monkey... your pain tolerance isn't great, is it."
"!?"