"Impossible...! To think those brats could bring down my dragons...!"
"Don't underestimate them. They aren't the kind of people who’d be stopped by a few flimsy, paper-mache dragons."
Zaraki groaned in shock as he witnessed the creatures he had manifested fall before the girls. Yugo, who hadn't doubted Melt and the others for a second, spoke with a calm confidence that only fueled the villain's growing resentment and rage. Exploding with frustration, Zaraki let out a piercing scream.
"Every single one of you...! Stop getting in my way! You’re all so damn annoying!!"
A wind of unprecedented ferocity began to howl around Zaraki. As he threw his arms wide, his face contorting into a mask of pure rage, he released his full power. Yugo and his companions watched with bated breath as the intensifying gusts spiraled into a towering, violent tornado.
"That bastard! He was still hiding a trump card like that!?"
"This is bad," Ryuga noted grimly. "With that much power, it won't just be us—Raiha and the others will be caught in the blast as well."
"What’s the play, Yugo!?" Marcos shouted. "Do we charge in anyway? We’d be walking into a meat grinder!"
If Zaraki unleashed that tornado, the impact would devastate everyone on the field—not just the trio, but Melt’s group and the unconscious members of the Security Force as well. They could try to storm the vortex to strike Zaraki directly, but it was more likely they would be torn apart before they ever reached him.
"Damn it...! Is Zaraki’s stamina bottomless!?" Yugo gritted his teeth. "We only have enough left in the tank for one more big move at best...!"
The fierce battle had pushed them to their limits, draining both their physical strength and magic power. They had one shot left, and they knew it. Worse, that single strike wouldn't be enough to overpower the cyclone Zaraki was conjuring. As it stood, they lacked a definitive finishing blow.
"How do we withstand it? That attack is on a different level."
"Wait... the attack..."
Ryuga’s murmur sparked a memory in Yugo’s mind.
He recalled the piece of paper he had been clutching when he woke up in the hospital. It had been crumpled, the handwriting a frantic, nearly illegible mess that he’d struggled to decipher. At the time, given the chaos, he hadn't understood why it was in his hand and hadn't given it much thought. But now, in this desperate moment, the words came rushing back to him. He whispered them aloud.
"Utilize the opponent's attack... utilize... the attack... That’s it!"
Watching the tornado swell before his eyes, Yugo suddenly recalled a specific scene from his memories—a desperate strategy used by two heroes to overcome an invincible foe. He remembered Zaraki’s own fatal flaw and unique traits, then turned quickly to Ryuga and Marcos.
"Hey... Zaraki’s weakness is dragon power, right?"
"What? Why bring that up now?" Marcos asked, startled. "Yes, that’s correct, but...?"
"The tornado he’s winding up right now—it’s obviously infused with that same dragon power, isn't it? If Zaraki took his own hit full-force, he’d be finished, wouldn't he?"
"Yugo, you don't mean—!?"
"That’s exactly what I mean! I need both of you to lend me your strength. We’re going to repel that tornado right back at him!"
Yugo’s plan was as simple as it was insane: turn Zaraki’s own ultimate move against him. If they could deflect a strike that combined such massive force with the very dragon power he was vulnerable to, even Zaraki wouldn't survive it. The logic held up, but the execution seemed impossible. Marcos stared at Yugo, seeking any sign of doubt.
"Do you honestly think we can do it? Can our attacks actually deflect a storm of that magnitude?"
"We can! If the three of us work together, there’s no way we lose to Zaraki!!"
Yugo spoke with absolute conviction, his eyes burning with an unbreakable will beneath his helmet. Sensing that resolve in his voice and his gaze, Marcos let out a short, sharp huff of laughter.
"Hah...! Well, hitting that giant target seems a hell of a lot easier than trying to pin down Zaraki himself. Fine, Yugo. I'll bet on your reckless plan!"
"Thanks, Marcos! Ryuga, you in?"
"Don't ask stupid questions, Yugo."
When Yugo turned, he saw that Ryuga had already dropped into a low, focused stance, preparing his ultimate technique. He was a man of action who let his blade do the talking.
"That’s what I like to hear," Yugo muttered. He and Marcos stepped up beside Ryuga, pouring every last drop of their magic power into their weapons.
"Simultaneous attack, guys! We coordinate the timing and hit him with the—wait, we're doing the shout together, right?"
"Are you serious?" Ryuga asked. "I have to say it too?"
"Of course you do!"
"Enough of your pathetic babbling!" Zaraki shrieked. "Turn to dust, you miserable brats!!"
The tornado, now fully realized and brimming with destructive energy, was finally unleashed. It roared across the battlefield, a wall of death. While Melt and Jinba took defensive stances to shield the fallen, Yugo, Ryuga, and Marcos charged directly into the path of the storm.
"Now... let’s go!!"
Marcos channeled his magic into the blades of his Giga Scissors, unleashing a massive horizontal shockwave. At the same moment, Ryuga flooded the Ryuo-ga with energy, bringing the katana down in a thunderous vertical slash. As the two strikes intersected, Yugo leaped high into the air, hurtling toward the center of the storm with a focused flying kick.
"""Hero Tri-Maximum!!"""
Their voices joined in a singular shout as the golden horizontal wave and the lightning-clad vertical slash merged into a massive cross. Yugo’s foot slammed into the junction of the two attacks, acting as the final catalyst. Together, the three of them collided with the roaring tornado, and the world dissolved into a violent clash of light and wind.