"Hooo? So that spiky-haired brat's a cyborg? His maker must be pretty crap for him to be C-Rank..." remarked Lilith, lying next to Vahn on a sofa with her knees bent and her feet on his right thigh, observing Gojo's and Touma's match via a tablet propped on her ribs. Notably, in place of her usual pink bodysuit, she was wearing dark purple panties and a matching bra made from an elastic, nearly indestructible rubber composite she had concocted herself.
"Technically speaking, he's a cytoborg..." stated Vahn, absentmindedly massaging Lilith's calves as he explained, "His mechanical components are the product of his Pain Tolerance Skill evolving into an Innate called Cybergenetic Shift. To explain it simply, it allows his body to evolve and develop countermeasures against supernatural stimuli. The caveats are that he can't control how he transforms, and he needs to take damage to trigger his adaptations."
"You're making me want to take him apart..." hummed Lilith, her ruby-red eyes sparkling with scientific intrigue and a tinge of villainy. She wouldn't act on her evil impulses as an affiliate of the Pavilion, but if Touma were to agree to become her test subject, she could think of at least seventy-two experiments she'd like to perform.
"I won't stop you from researching Ascendee geneologies and the nature of Skills themselves, but don't go crossing any lines you shouldn't..." said Vahn, his voice calm but firm as he met Lilith's gaze.
"You think I don't know that...?" asked Lilith, snorting contemptuously before raising her left foot and placing it against the right side of Vahn's face. She was tempted to kick him, but when he kept staring at her with a calm but intense look, the switch in her lower body was flipped.
"I want one," asserted Lilith, leaving Vahn confused until she adopted a toothy, provocative grin and added, "I'm telling you to knock me up, you bastard."
"It's certainly possible..." conceded Vahn, his brows creasing slightly as he added, "But you should know how protective I am toward children. If we had one, you being its mother wouldn't entitle you to experiment on it."
"Do you get off on saying obvious shit?" asked Lilith, uncaringly dropping her tablet onto the floor before pulling up her legs and hugging them with her arms under he knees.
"I feel it's a little too soon for that kind of development, but if it happens naturally, I'll take responsibility..." affirmed Vahn, using the middle finger of his left hand to stimulate Lilith through the squishy and elastic fabric of her panties. The white-haired scientist frowned at his mention of the word natural, as she could very easily guarantee her pregnancy. However, since she had been experiencing sudden and intense bouts of arousal since she and Vahn first had sex, she responded by saying, "Just hurry and shove it in me, you monster-cocked lizard..."
"If you insist..." hummed Vahn, his expression turning into a smolder as he slid Lilith's panties up her thighs and exposed her steamy, particularly wet pussy. It would have been easier to store them in his Inventory, but since Lilith preferred keeping her knees together during sex, citing it augmented pleasure and sensitivity by 17.49%, the elasticity of the material prevented her from having to hold them closed herself...
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"You're one tough kid..." remarked Gojo, breathing a little heavily as he stood poised like a Jeet Kune Do practitioner, his body coated in sweat and his clothes increasingly tattered. His and Touma's bout had gone on longer than his other ten bouts combined, and since the arena's surface was ultimately a limited battlefield, he was beginning to fatigue from the increased gravity and pressure.
"I have to be..." responded Touma, his expression borderline devoid of emotion as he extended his right hand, causing his forearm muscles to open near his elbow. From within the gaps that were formed, thrusters propelled his hand forward like a rocket attached to a metal cable, forcing Gojo to evade as the accelerating appendage created an area roughly 3m in diameter where supernatural phenomena were negated. That included techniques derived from Cursed Energy.
With Touma quickly retracting his arm and firing it several additional times in quick succession, the smile on Gojo's face became especially broad at the realization he was almost certain to lose. He had recovered enough of his Cursed Energy Output to use his most powerful attack, but if even that didn't work, the potency of his Cursed Techniques would decrease across the board.
'But if I surrendered, I would no longer be Gojo Satoru...' mused Gojo, his smile broadening almost creepily as he narrowly evaded Touma's rocket-propelled fist, produced a two-pronged blade with an unorthodox angular design, and caught the cable attached to his opponent's arm between the two blades. As Touma retracted it, Gojo was forcibly reeled in, but before he could execute his plan, time atop the arena appeared to stop as Tiamat crossed her arms to produce an X and chimed, "Bzzt! Due to violating the rules and employing an item exceeding C-Rank, Gojo Satoru has forfeited his right to participate! Kamijou Touma is the victor!"
"Wait, seriously...?" asked Touma, regaining his ability to move while Gojo, who had been suspended a few meters from his position, disappeared in a flash of pale golden light. Despite the disinterested look on his face, he was seriously enjoying their bout. Having it end in such an abrupt manner was disatisfying, to say the least.
"Rules are rules," responded Tiamat, spreading her hands and shrugging as if it weren't her problem. She was certain that Vahn would allow the match to resume without frills if both parties agreed, but since Venelana had nominated Touma to ensure Gojo didn't achieve a clean sweep in the bracket, Tiamat saw no reason to advocate on the pale-haired Sorcerer's behalf.
"Well, that sucks..." muttered Touma, tousling his hair with his right hand. At the same time, the indented lines across his body faded along with the tattoo on his left shoulder, which, due to his body adapting six times, had changed to depict the letters KT-007 atop his barcode.
"Worry not, friend! For now, we shall pit ourselves against one another in an unrelenting expression of youth...!" shouted Touma's next opponent, a teen with conspicuously glossy black hair in a modified bowl cut, notably thick eyebrows, and dull-looking black eyes. Even more conspicuously, he was wearing a sleeveless, leaf-green bodysuit with a red bandana around his neck, bandages covering his arms up to his compact, muscular biceps, and bright orange leg warmers over dark blue, toeless sandals.
'This guy...he's strong...' noted Touma, his expression gaining a hint of severity as, despite looking like a jackass with a broad nose and an even broader, toothy smile, he felt immense pressure from the bushy-browed, absurdly-dressed teen.
"You got a name, bushy-brows...?" asked Touma, adopting his relaxed boxing posture.
"Aha! Forgive my belated introduction!" responded the bowl-haired youth, striking a confident pose and thumbing his chest as he loudly introduced himself, shouting, "The name's Might Guy! Let's both give this next match our all!"
"Sounds good..." responded Touma, kicking things off by drawing in his arms and lunging forward. At first, Guy didn't react, seemingly oblivious to his movements. But once he was within three meters of the glossy-haired Chuunin, Guy's smile broadened and his figure disappeared.
FWOOM
'Ugh...' groaned Touma, not understanding what had happened as he felt an extremely heavy impact to his chin and found himself launched several meters into the air. A split second later, he found his arms being pinned to his body as iron-infused bandages wrapped around him, courtesy of Guy, who had appeared behind him like his shadow.
"Let's kick things off with a Primary Lotus...!" shouted Guy. In the next moment, Touma found himself upside down, unable to get his bearings or break free as Guy gripped his arms like a vice and spun them rapidly on a collision course with the arena's uncompromising surface...
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With the C-Rank matches being more competitive than anticipated, still ongoing at 11 AM, Tiamat announced a two-hour recess, giving both the competitors and the audience a chance to stretch their legs, grab a bite to eat, or simply lounge about until the matches resumed at 1 PM.
"Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai-chan have benefitted a lot from training in this place..." remarked Kushina, lying in nothing but her panties to Vahn's left, using his thigh as a pillow while snacking on ice cream.
"Well, from their viewpoint, it's been more than a year since they entered here," noted Vahn, gently caressing Kushina's pregnant belly as he stated, "And with Fran's talent, Kakashi is under a lot of pressure to grow stronger to keep up with her. That drives the others to improve just to keep pace..."
"What do you think I should do?" asked Kushina, explaining, "I don't mind being protected, but I'd prefer to have the capacity to protect myself. But with little Naruto or Mito-chan on the way..."
"I believe there is nothing more important for a child than their mother's presence and love," stated Vahn, his expression soft and his voice deep, reverberating, as he added, "But I would also like us to spend more time together. To that end, I would like you both to stay..."
"Then that's what I'll do..." asserted Kushina, her cheeks flushing as she slipped a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, keeping the spoon inside while holding Vahn's gaze.
'This woman is insatiable...' noted Vahn, cracking a mischievous grin as he slid his hand along the contours of Kushina's belly, his destination her hot, leaky pussy. They had just finished their fourth bath, but if she wanted to continue, he no longer had any reason to restrain himself...
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Reinforcing just how oversaturated the C-Rank bracket was, the second day of the Ranking Tournament concluded with Natsuki Subaru securing victory against Satou Kazuma in the 108th match. The latter had tried to cheese the event using his immortal physiology, but he learned the hard way that being unable to die was as much of a curse as it was a blessing. After having his body stabbed dozens of times and his limbs torn away by Subaru's 'dead-end clones,' he surrendered, the one-sided brutality of his defeat consequently deterring others from volunteering.
Feeling somewhat fatigued, Vahn only made a cursory appearance at the post-bracket banquet before retiring to various rooms, including a luxury bar and lounge that had been erected overnight by members of Azazel's faction. There, as beautiful and alluring women of various races sauntered around in bunnysuits or even scantier attire, he sat in a booth with Azazel, Kyouraku, Ukitake, and, though she seemed somewhat out of place as the only female in their group, Kukaku.
"I understand the Soul Society's concerns..." stated Vahn, pausing for a moment to sample the whiskey poured into his glass by a buxom woman with emerald-green hair, hot pink eyes, and the attire of a sexy succubus before flatly appending, "But we have no reason to permit your Shinigami to make use of this space. We're already facilitating the strengthening of your military through trade, training resources, and intel."
"Not to mention that if the Pavilion did make concessions on this matter, it would only provoke the Nobles to demand more or fair treatment for their forces..." stated Kukaku, looking bored as she propped her head up on the knuckles of her left hand, seated to Vahn's left.
"You're not wrong," conceded Kyouraku, exuding his usual whimsy as he shrugged, produced a folded slip of washi parchment, and slid it toward Vahn, stating, "But if the Dragon's Pavilion is prepared to compromise on this matter, the Soul Society is prepared to make some concessions of its own..."
Unfolding the official-looking document and reading its contents, Vahn's brows shot up alongside Kukaku's, who had leaned her head against his shoulder to read it with him. The Soul Society was evidently prepared to restructure the Gotei and depose Mayuri as Captain of the 12th Division and President of the Shinigami Research Institute—allowing the Pavilion to nominate his replacement. In essence, they were willing to hand over control of one of their most influential institutions, granting the Dragon's Pavilion the ability to influence their scientific development. Moreso, they were being offered six seats among the newly formed Central 46, placing them in a position to influence policy at the de facto highest level of their government...
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