As the pressure continued to increase, Su Ye could also feel that the energy inside Mai Shiranui was also continuously rising and strengthening.
Qi is a very mysterious power. Theoretically, everyone has it in their body, but not everyone can utilize it.
What makes fighters formidable is their mastery of special secret arts, which not only enhance physical strength but also boost their internal qi and enable its usage.
Su Ye had previously studied "Bone Style" and "Shiranui-ryu" ninjutsu, both of which had this effect.
And now, under immense pressure, Mai Shiranui's originally not-so-powerful qi was rapidly increasing.
This growth stemmed from her obsession with becoming stronger.
The human body is a great treasure. Many times, it's not that people can't do things, but simply that they don't want to.
The reason people become mediocre is only partly due to external factors; the majority of it lies within themselves.
Mai Shiranui didn't want to be a burden, and her deep obsession with not falling behind Su Ye pushed her to break through her limits and attain a higher level of power.
Absolute Domain!
The so-called Absolute Domain is the state of surpassing human limits, unleashing power, speed, and more beyond the normal extremes.
Simply put, Mai now, when entering the Absolute Domain state, has physical qualities that completely outclass Captain America.
Because Captain America represents the absolute peak of human physical limits.
Fighters all have bodies at or beyond Captain America's level.
But now, Mai Shiranui's physical fitness has exceeded that level.
At first glance, this might not seem comparable to Gwen's Spider-Man abilities, with her multi-ton or even 10–20 ton-level power.
But note that this is only referring to Mai Shiranui's physical fitness.
Her abilities are far more than just physical strength.
Most importantly, she possesses Shiranui-ryu ninjutsu and qi.
Qi is essentially an amplifier.
A stronger body can allow her to withstand more qi, and qi's explosive force greatly amplifies her attacks.
Like now—Mai's "Ultimate: Ninja Bee" attack hits with the force of Abomination's berserker charge.
Even though Mai Shiranui's physical appearance hasn't changed at all—her arms are still the same arms, and, well, her signature assets are still her signature assets.
She didn't become a bodybuilder-type with muscles so absurd they're unappealing.
At around 100 pounds, crashing in with the power of a 300–400-pound charge—that's incredibly strong.
Looking at Mai, drenched in sweat like she had just been pulled out of a swimming pool, Su Ye couldn't help but feel concerned as he congratulated her.
"Congrats—you broke through! You've become the second fighter in this world to grasp the Absolute Domain!"
"Huff! Puff!"
Mai panted heavily and shot Su Ye a tsundere glance.
"You just had to show off that you understood the Absolute Domain before I did, huh? So impressive, huh?"
"Heh," Su Ye shook his head.
"That's not what I meant. I haven't mastered it either. The first to do it was Master Chin Gentsai!"
"Master Chin?"
Mai Shiranui immediately thought of that short, plainly dressed old man with long, unkempt hair, who always carried a wine gourd—either already drunk or on his way to getting drunk.
"Master Chin Gentsai is actually that strong? Why didn't Athena ever mention this to me? Wait—hasn't Athena mastered Absolute Domain either? And you—how haven't you? That doesn't make sense!"
A rapid-fire string of questions spilled from Mai Shiranui's mouth, as if she were rattling off a tongue twister, without the slightest hesitation.
Su Ye had long since experienced Mai Shiranui's talking speed firsthand—he knew just how fast she could rattle things off.
In fact, Su Ye's little brother (figuratively or literally) had once given up in the face of her verbal onslaught.
With so many questions, Su Ye could only answer them one by one.
"Master Chin is incredibly powerful. After all, he's the only fighter capable of lifting Thor's hammer. Just that alone puts him far above the rest of us."
"As for Athena, it's probably because her abilities are primarily psychic rather than qi-based. That makes grasping Absolute Domain harder for her, and she might not even be aware of its existence."
"As for me—I probably won't be able to master Absolute Domain on my own."
To comprehend it requires immense pressure and a breakthrough beyond one's physical limits.
But Su Ye hadn't felt that kind of overwhelming pressure capable of pushing him to his limits in a long time.
"But compared to all that, shouldn't we be more focused on, you know, saving the world?"
Behind them, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was still chasing madly. Su Ye and Mai looked relaxed only because Su Ye's flying skills let him dodge the chakra serpent's attacks and avoid crashes.
"You're absolutely right!"
Mai Shiranui flipped mid-air, shifting from flying alongside Su Ye to clinging to his back while turning her head to look behind them.
"What's up with that giant thing? That masked guy who captured us earlier—I didn't really understand what he was talking about."
Su Ye shook his head. "That guy's a complete lunatic. Don't bother trying to understand him—if you do, you'll sink to his level, and he'll absolutely destroy you with his experience."
"Hey, is that Kyo Kusanagi down there?"
Mai spotted the figure trimming the Demonic Statue's toenails with flame—none other than Kyo.
Kyo's flames were distinctive. In the entire KOF series, very few characters could conjure fire—and only Kyo had signature crimson flame.
Mai Shiranui's ninjutsu flames were slightly redder in color.
"There seems to be someone else chasing from behind!"
Following the Demonic Statue's movement, Mai soon spotted Iori Yagami chasing like a rabid dog, and she couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"That guy—if he can't catch up, why doesn't he circle around? We're luring the statue in circles—we'll definitely cross paths again."
Su Ye shook his head. "Maybe he thinks catching up directly looks cooler."
"But… he can't even catch up!" Mai Shiranui complained.
"Who knows? Maybe after running for long enough, he'll unlock 'Absolute Territory.'"
Su Ye wasn't just making stuff up.
To master 'Absolute Domain,' all one needs to do is surpass their physical limits.
Who's to say that Iori Yagami's relentless running isn't him pushing his body beyond its limits?
When his body reaches its breaking point but he still refuses to give up and keeps running desperately, that might just be the moment he breaks through his limits.
Likewise, Kyo, diligently trimming toenails, wasn't far off either.
Even shame has its limits.
Struggling so hard just to clip one toenail, Kyo refused to quit. As he pushed on, the disgrace of being overwhelmed might eventually snap something inside him—unlocking his gene lock and opening his own Absolute Domain.
The world is unpredictable—like sausages wrapped within sausages.
No one knows which cloud will bring the rain.
On Mount Fuji, several spectators had gathered.
On one side stood Uchi Dai and his White Zetsu and Black Zetsu. On the other, Mature and Vice.
And standing in front of Mature and Vice was a tall man with slicked-back hair, wearing priest robes.
This man was none other than the real boss behind Mature and Vice—Goenitz.
One of the Hakkesshu and the leader of the Four Heavenly Kings, known as the "Tempest of Whispers," Goenitz wielded the power of the wind.
Goenitz was the hidden final boss in the early King of Fighters storyline.
To revive Orochi, he first manipulated the boss of KOF '95, Rugal Bernstein, tricking the boss of KOF '94, Geese Howard, into hosting the King of Fighters tournament.
And he himself was the boss of KOF '96.
It wasn't until KOF '97 that Orochi was truly revived and made his official appearance.
This boss, who shouldn't appear until later, showed up early because of the Demonic Statue.
The appearance of the Demonic Statue gave Goenitz hope that Orochi could be revived ahead of schedule.
With the immense power displayed by the Gedo Mazo, even a fraction of it was stronger than any ordinary fighter.
From Goenitz's perspective, the massive Gedo Mazo was merely a tool in Uchiha Daisuke's hands. Taking a branch from its back probably wouldn't affect it much, right?
Even if he didn't break off a branch, he could still collect some of the energy leaking from the Demonic Statue.
Opposite them, Uchiha Daisuke wasn't entirely sure what Goenitz's group wanted. Seeing that Mature and Vice had arrived with Iori Yagami, he initially assumed that Goenitz had come to cause trouble and stop the Demonic Statue.
After all, Iori Yagami, running like a mad dog below, left such a strong impression that it was impossible to ignore him—his intentions were way too obvious.
So, to prevent any potential sabotage, Uchiha Daisuke personally brought his people to confront Goenitz.
Goenitz's goal was cooperation, but cooperation wasn't as simple as just talking about it.
For two organizations or individuals to collaborate, they first had to demonstrate comparable strength; otherwise, cooperation wouldn't be possible.
Otherwise, one side would simply absorb the other, turning cooperation into a superior-subordinate relationship.
Based on this reasoning, Goenitz decided to fight Uchiha Daisuke first.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Daisuke was already irritated—after failing to gain respect from Mai Shiranui and Su Ye, he wanted to reclaim some dignity by facing Goenitz.
The battle between the two was on the verge of breaking out.
One was a descendant of the Uchiha clan—although he had been the underachiever of his class, that was only because he often helped old ladies cross the road on his way to school, causing him to be late frequently. His classmates mocked him for it, and over time, he developed a rebellious attitude and didn't focus much on his studies.
On top of that, Kakashi's brilliance was so overwhelming that it completely overshadowed him.
In reality, Uchiha Daisuke's talent was among the best in the Uchiha clan—at least, he seemed stronger than Sasuke.
And now, Uchiha Daisuke not only possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan but had also obtained the Rinnegan from Madara Uchiha.
His strength was immense—someone like Goenitz, who hadn't even mastered 'Absolute Domain,' simply couldn't compare.
Even though Goenitz was one of the Four Heavenly Kings and possessed Orochi's power...
The so-called Orochi was merely a manifestation of the power of this small island nation—it wasn't a legendary embodiment of the entire earth's will.
In this world, a mere Orochi wasn't enough to represent the entire planet.
The energy gathered from this small country, even if strong, had its limits.
Even if Orochi itself appeared, it probably wouldn't be stronger than the Six Paths level.
Thus, the battle ended with Goenitz's complete defeat.
Watching Goenitz kneeling on the ground, coughing up blood, Uchiha Daisuke snorted in disdain.
"That's all you've got? And you dare call yourself a mastermind?"
Goenitz was unconvinced—what was wrong with him? In the world of fighters, he was incredibly strong, okay? It's just that Uchiha Daisuke wasn't a fighter, and their power systems were different, making them incomparable.
Even though he was complaining internally, Goenitz didn't dare to say anything out loud. He crouched at the side, watching Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami below, hoping that they would fail as miserably as he did—getting humiliated and crushed by their enemy.
At this point, the only thing that could make Goenitz feel a little better was watching fellow fighters like Kyo and Iori embarrass themselves.
But just then, Goenitz suddenly noticed something—mad dog Iori Yagami, who had been trailing behind and eating dust, suddenly seemed like he had been injected with adrenaline. His speed shot up by a whole level, and the azure flames in his hands grew larger and brighter.
In just a moment, he closed what had previously seemed like an insurmountable distance and charged straight at the Demonic Statue.
On the other side, Kyo Kusanagi, who had been struggling to trim the Demonic Statue's toenails with his small flame, suddenly saw his fire brighten and expand, spreading across the monster's entire foot.
Besides them, the most shocking thing to Uchiha Daisuke was Mai Shiranui, who had been rescued by Su Ye.
Previously, Uchiha Daisuke had briefly fought Mai Shiranui. In his impression, she was just a lower-tier ninja—her taijutsu was passable, but her ninjutsu was severely lacking.
She couldn't even perform two 'Great Fireball Techniques,' yet she dared to call herself a fire-style ninja?
But when he saw Mai Shiranui spinning through the air like a massive firestorm wheel, stirring up crimson flames and smashing toward the Demonic Statue's face, Uchiha Daisuke realized he had underestimated this woman.
"So, she was hiding her true strength all along?"
Uchiha Daisuke muttered in confusion.
Meanwhile, Goenitz was on the verge of losing his mind.
What the hell was going on? Why was every fighter stronger than him? He could understand Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami being exceptional since they were descendants of the Three Sacred Treasures' clans—but what was up with this female ninja?
Where were they getting this insane power boost from? Couldn't they spare some for him?