41: Crazy.

Shisui had fun. Many of his serious fights had always been in environments where he had to protect his life or the lives of others, where he could not let loose as much as he wanted to.

Even when he was training against his friends, he had to show some restraint to take care of the environment or their health. Not that they were weak, but a real fight would inevitably cause damage to both sides, which was not conducive.

Not now. Lao Ge was a thousand-year-old monster, and he hardly knew it. Environment? What environment could he destroy at the South Pole? Since he was some distance away from the Southern Water Tribe, he didn't have to hold back, he didn't have to limit himself. 

So Shisui directed the Chi motes swirling around him to the vines he had created, and with Waterbending, he grew these plants to look like giant pythons. 

At his command, waves of water battled waves of lava, ice protected him from the metal weapons commanded by Lao Ge, snow and fog stopped the rock projectiles coming his way. 

The vines, however, spread across the terrain, heading towards Lao Ge. Although many weapons, especially swords and axes, tried to cut the vines, Lao Ge realized that these plants were particularly tough. 

He was only able to get rid of some of them before the rest spread towards him, climbing up the stone pillar he had created and trying to trap him, but he was experienced enough to create the necessary countermeasures. 

The earth rose from the ground, and instead of maintaining a 'solid' form, it began to break apart, becoming sand. It was this sand that fought against the vines, eroding them. 

But Shisui's intention was never to try to capture Lao Ge, Shisui created an ice slide and slid down it, for his plan had worked. The vines he created broke the rock pillar on which Lao Ge stood, and as the old man fell to the ground, a pile of sand floated up to support him. 

Shisui created an ice ramp that shot out towards Lao Ge, the ice spear in his hand orbited by motes of chi. He then hurled the spear at his enemy, and the air hissed as the projectile pierced the air. 

A giant hand of sand caught the spear, but the chi orbiting the spear exploded and the weapon continued to fly, only Lao Ge was no longer at the previous location, so the weapon continued to fly until it was lost in the distance. 

Shisui spun in the air, dodging some of the projectiles coming towards him, his foot stepping on an ice platform he had created before jumping. Thus, with each jump, he created an ice platform and rushed towards the old man. 

"Fall." Shisui bent the water in the environment, creating ropes of sticky water around Lao Ge, trapping him like a mummy, leaving no limbs to move effectively.

"Nice trick, but even without hands... I can do a lot." Though the sand platform that held him in the air was dislodged, Lao Ge stared at Shisui as he fell, and without moving his arms or legs, the pile of sand floated beneath him, helping him down to safety. 

"What did you do?" asked Shisui as he created another ice spear in his hand.

Even if he didn't have to make many exaggerated movements to do waterbending, he had to use movements in his fingers to manipulate the water effectively, and sometimes, he had to make larger body movements to improve accuracy. 

So his grip on Lao Ge was quite extensive, even wrapping his fingers to prevent him from Earthbending, but there was the old man doing just that effectively. 

"You have eyes, you have a tongue, you even have your penis, why limit yourself to limbs?" Lao Ge laughed, letting the sand erode the water that surrounded him. 

But now he was on the ground, and the dagger in his hand was gathering more metal, lengthening, changing into something that could be described as a large hammer. Lao Ge then pointed it at Shisui, inviting him to a hand-to-hand fight. 

"I never thought of that... but I guess I have more to explore," Shisui replied before accepting Lao Ge's invitation and beginning to descend.

Gradually, the elemental chaos around them diminished, as if they both tacitly accepted the fact that they wanted to focus on hand-to-hand combat.

Shisui finally reached the ground, but this time he did not take the initiative to attack first, instead concentrating on Lao Ge, slowly walking in circles, something Lao Ge did with him, assessing each other. 

'He has no opening.' Shisui noticed that Lao Ge's control over his aura extended to more aspects of himself. 

The man did not appear to be on guard, he simply walked calmly, holding the hammer in his hand as if it were a fragile branch, swinging it in such a way that it did not appear to be heavy. 

He even stroked his beard carelessly, but his eyes were always alert, watching Shisui intently, noting how the young man seemed tense, but there was a certain ease in his movements. 

'He is adapting,' Lao Ge remarked, watching as Shisui seemed to adapt to the fact that he was fighting someone superior. 

Yes, Lao Ge was certainly superior to Shisui. 4,000 years of experience could not be solved by talent or enlightenment alone, for Lao Ge himself was a talented and enlightened person if we were to assume that he was the older version of Shisui. 

But Lao Ge could see that Shisui was not afraid of this difference or his possible defeat but was absorbing the experience of this battle like a sponge and adapting it to his style. 

Shisui was someone who did that, adapting everything he saw to his style, even the other elements, and now he was emulating Lao Ge, gradually eliminating the old man's style to give it his own touch. 

After sizing each other up, both men suddenly stopped before charging at each other. Although he looked like an old man, his physical condition was 'perfect', so to speak, and his physical ability was superior to that of a normal Earthbender. 

Shisui, on the other hand, was someone who constantly trained his physique and used his Lifebending ability to heal himself, slowly overcoming his physical limitations and becoming stronger and stronger. 

So, to the untrained eye, the two became blurred figures that suddenly came to a halt as they collided. The clash of their weapons echoed, the wind blew the snow from the ground and their hair danced wildly.

Shisui's spear struck the head of Lao Ge's hammer, and after that clash, they began to exchange attacks. Shisui had to be careful with Lao Ge's attacks because just by hearing the whistling of the wind as he swung his weapon, it was obvious that he would end up with at least a broken bone. 

While Lao Ge took Shisui's attacks with ease, he didn't seem to have to dodge much, but when he didn't, Shisui's spear always hit a protective layer on his skin. 

So Shisui did something drastic: he discarded his weapon and turned it into pure water before clenching his hands and forming fists, the knuckles of which were gradually covered in spiked ice. 

This was his first attempt to emulate Lao Ge's strange defensive technique, fortunately his resistance to low temperatures meant he suffered no damage to his skin, though his hands ached from the cold, but he wanted to do this, he wanted to experiment. 

If he couldn't break Lao Geo's defense with his spear, why not use his fists? Traces of hot water vapor surrounded his body, for he also wanted to try out an idea he had as a child. 

"Fists? We Earthbenders are better with our fists!" Lao Ge burst out laughing before modifying the hammer in his hands.

As if it were liquid, the metal spread through his hands and formed into fists, then Shisui and Lao Ge walked towards each other. A similar situation appeared in Shisui's mind, and an evil smile appeared on his face. 

"Oh, you're approaching me, old man. Are you seriously approaching me instead of keeping your distance?" asked Shisui, causing chi motes to orbit around his ice-covered fists. 

"Kid, how am I going to break your teeth if I don't get closer?" asked Lao Ge, who was the first to attack. 

Shisui defended himself before attacking Lao Ge's face himself. The man did not fight back, relying on the protection of his body, but the chi flecks in Shisui's fist exploded, causing Lao Ge to retreat several steps. 

Blood spurted from his nose, cracks appeared on the old man's face, and porcelain-like pieces fell from his face, revealing his true skin underneath, which was purple. Shisui jumped several times and shook his shoulders. 

"Every defense has a weakness, old man." Shisui kicked at Lao Ge, who raised his leg to protect himself. 

The two men began to exchange punches and kicks, each dealing serious blows to the other. But Shisui was a first-class cheat, not bending the elements to fight? Fine, he'll bend the water for something else. 

When Lao Ge hit his body, drops of water covered the area, emitting a bluish glow that healed his wounds. Lao Ge saw this and tried to complain, but Shisui didn't let him speak and began to fight more ferociously. 

Without restraint, without measuring his strength, without even hypnotising himself to remove certain mental limitations on his physique, Shisui continued to raise his attack power even higher, healing himself not only from the damage Lao Ge had inflicted on him but also from the damage he had caused himself with his actions. 

Lao Ge was also able to use the earth to heal himself, so gradually, the techniques were abandoned, the complicated movements disappeared, and the somersaults were no longer necessary. 

Everything was reduced to pure blows, using every part of the body that could be used to fight, because perhaps Shisui could not win in terms of energy, elemental or physical, but always sought to reach the limit, to overcome it. 

Shisui smiled even though his body was covered in blood, his muscles torn, his bones creaking, but he kept on kicking, he kept on punching, he kept on using his head as a weapon of attack.

Winning or losing didn't matter at this moment, who was stronger or weaker didn't matter, who would rise in the end didn't even enter Shisui's mind, only this moment, only this moment. 

The steam floating around him pushed him as well as the pistons; his skin burned when his fists or kicks were driven by steam, but this took the power of his attacks to a new level. 

Little by little, even his speed surpassed Lao Ge's, and little by little, he overpowered the old man, who could only defend himself as Shisui's fists fell on him like pistons. 

"Dora!" Shisui shouted instinctively as he broke through Lao Ge's defense and managed to strike Lao Ge's chest. 

With the old man vulnerable in front of him, Shisui wasted no time in striking the man's body with brutality. Shisui's golden eyes turned red from the blood injected into them, but as he delivered the final blow, Lao Ge's body flew several dozen meters before falling to the ground. 

Shisui was left standing, the steam around him soaking his body with water and blood, his skin burned, his body quite wounded, but inside he was happy. 

His body began to glow, healing his wounds, even though he was quite hungry now, his brain did its thing, bombarding him with hormones that made him feel good, comfortable. 

"Boy, only a madman would push his body to the limit in a friendly fight." Lao Ge sat on the ice, touching his chest where he felt several ribs were broken. 

But in front of Shisui, he demonstrated a kind of skill that was only theoretical to Petra, his bones began to creak before they connected and readjusted. The old man had done 'bone-bending' in a simple way before healing himself with Earthbending. 

"Then I'm crazy because I like to push my limits." Shisui felt quite comfortable after this fight. 

He knew that he only won by a small margin, if it was a full elemental fight, he couldn't win, but that didn't make him feel sad or like he didn't deserve his victory, it made him see what was beyond. 

What he could achieve and then surpass. Shisui didn't have Lao Ge as a goal but as a 'mark' to overcome and go beyond. He looked up at the dark clouded sky, and with gentle waterbending movements, he cleared the clouds and let the sun shine on him. 

"Thank you, old man," Shisui thanked quietly, knowing that Lao Ge could 'hear' him. 

How great he felt at this moment!