Megumi brushed his hand along the reddish-orange feathers of Nue, the bird had grown a good bit since the incident. Megumi wasn't sure what it was but after taming the round deer and fighting the special-grade cursed spirit, Megumi felt clearer. Like jujutsu was just a little bit more understandable now.
He'd asked Nanami about it and learned it was decently common among sorcerers. It was like developing muscle memory in the heat of battle. Just like how a swordsman learns to control every movement of his arms and body when swinging, Megumi has gotten better at summoning his shikigami. Due to this, he lost less cursed energy during the process and could then put more cursed energy into the actual shikigami as a result.
Speaking of Nanami, Megumi turned at the sound of pebbles rolling across the asphalt of Tokyo Colony number 1. He wore his usual white suit with a lightish blue shirt underneath and his yellow and black tie. In his right hand was his classic, wrapped cleaver.
Megumi looked at the weapon for a moment before asking a question he honestly hadn't thought about before.
"Hey, why do you wrap your cleaver?" Perhaps it was a bit off-topic, considering Megumi was preparing to enter the colony, the massive black barrier only a hundred or so feet away.
"Huh? Oh, yes. I entered into a binding vow. I made it so anyone who wields it can use my technique with the weapon but it cannot be unwrapped. And if I were to undo the binding vow, I would be locked out of making it again. It has proved useful a few times throughout my career." Nanami explained, holding the cleaver up a bit, examining it, and running a hand along the flat of the cursed tool as he spoke.
Megumi just nodded at the answer. "Sorry, it was a bit off-topic. Are the others ready?"
"It's fine. They are. Yuji is overeager as usual while Nobara is attempting to beat some sense into him. The others are attending to some small last minute tasks. They're ready to go on your word." Nanami explained, looking behind him, he motioned to the group of Tokyo and Kyoto students gathered around a black van.
Yuji was, as Nanami said, proactively bouncing off the walls with eagerness, eager for what exactly? Megumi didn't quite know. Nobara wasn't far from him, yelling at him a bit too loudly about settling down and "getting center" before the battle.
Momo Nishimiya floated a few feet off the ground on her broom, looking on at the small altercation with annoyance and just a trace of humor. Miwa stood a dozen feet from them, looking off into the distance with a somber look. Ino stood nearby, talking to her in a clearly one-sided conversation but he didn't seem very deterred despite it.
The final member of their little squad, Noritoshi Kamo sat at the back of the van, its two back doors swung open with most of the van supplies and weapons either stored away in Megumi's shadow or slung over the shoulders of the jujutsu students. Megumi shifted his eyes back to Nanami as he began to speak.
"I'm still not sure about that. I'm not the best choice for a leader. You'd be a much better pick." Nanami began to speak but Megumi interrupted him. "Yeah, you've gotta help in other colonies. But even still, Kamo at the very least has more experience with these types of things than I do."
Nanami stayed silent for a bit after Megumi stopped his ramblings, making sure he was done. Once he was positive, he began his turn to speak.
"You underestimate yourself. Kamo is older but he doesn't have much more experience. You, however, fought with several first-grade sorcerers against one of the strongest curses in recorded history. Your jujutsu skill also far surpasses his due to your domain. For everyone else's point of view, including Kamo's, you're the clear choice." Megumi ducked his head, minority embarrassed before nodding.
"And what will you do?" Megumi asked, knowing Nanami didn't plan to join them in Tokyo 1.
"I'm joining with Todo and Kusakabe, as well as, Panda and Toge in the Iwate colony. From what we know, the man who helped Suguru Geto's body in Shibuya is there. Speaking of, I should go. I don't want Todo getting too excited and going in without me." Nanami was about to turn and leave when Megumi stopped him.
"Wait!" Megumi said, slightly raising his voice. "Maki told me something when I first began my swordsmanship training. She told me a weapon is first used to defend yourself so that you may defend others. Just… keep it in mind." Megumi said, nodding to Nanami before turning back to Nue.
——
Storm clouds blocked out the sky above Kagoshima, and the smell of rain filled the air as a small pitter-patter of a little sprinkle covered the mostly silent city in a soft white noise. This noise was suddenly filled with color as the sound of steel slamming into steel cracked through the city block.
The yellow and orange sparks created were snuffed out by the quickly intensifying rain. The soft pitted patter became a steady rhythm as they clashed again. The swordsman parried Isamu's slash at an angle, Saraswati sliding down his Katana's length. Before Isamu could pull back, the sword continued as the old man stepped past him in a burst of speed.
A long, shallow cut was left from the right of Isamu's abdomen to the very top of his left shoulder. Both fighters eyes widened for different reasons. Takumi Ranto turned towards Isamu once more, examining the cut he'd left with experienced eyes.
This boy wielded an immense amount of cursed energy. It was like cutting through a barrel of molasses. No, a tank filled with liquid tar. If Takumi hadn't honed his cutting skills for a century before his death, he couldn't have hoped to cut anything more than the boy's clothes. Truly, talent was unfair.
Isamu meanwhile wasn't necessarily surprised by the man's speed, even if it was impressive. No, it was his skill that caught Isamu's eye. Isamu hadn't even seen that potential counter. By the time Isamu had, the man had already capitalized on it before Isamu could adapt. It was clear the man's experience and skill far surpassed his. How unfair. This guy had his whole life training while all Isamu got was sixteen lousy years.
They both smiled at their ridiculousness. No fighter worth their salt believes in unfairness. Once one steps onto a battlefield, it's one man's power versus the others. If those powers failed to be enough, then the fighter failed to make it work and thus didn't deserve to win.
By this point, Isamu's wound closed long ago and the rain had begun to pick up even more. It could no longer be called a sprinkle but a true rainstorm, even if it wasn't overly heavy just yet.
Isamu and Takumi dashed toward each other at nearly the same moment, their swords clashing three times in as many seconds. And with each exchange, Isamu received a small cut somewhere on his body.
Undeterred, Isamu continued his assault as the rain kicked up even more. Now thoroughly drenched, Isamu accepted ten more minor cuts before the final backed off. In the end, after the fifteen-second exchange, Isamu had been cut twelve times. The most serious injury was a cut he received in his hand, taking off the tips of his ring and pinky finger.
The pain of the wounds receded as the old swordsman approached. Takumi Ranto came at him with a sweeping cut beginning near his right shin before flowing up towards his neck. Isamu parried the blade away, took his handle in both hands and twisted his blade horizontally around the man's guard to land a cut on his right shoulder.
The blue-clad warrior retracted his blade and blocked the tip of Saraswati. He sought the bind and took control of Isamu's blade for a split second, more than enough time to make an opening and leave a nearly perfectly vertical cut along the left side of Isamu's torso.
The geezer pressed his advantage, throwing a slash toward Isamu's neck. The white-haired young man didn't bother blocking, knowing it was feint. Instead, he positioned his blade to the right of his body in a defensive stance. The old man's sword clashed with the steel edge as he faked the first slash into the predicted second.
Instead of backing off, the man let go of his sword with his left hand and grabbed at the handle of Saraswati. Isamu moved the panel out of the way of his grasping hand and brought his blade up and around to cut the arm off at mid-forearm. Only for Isamu's attack to be slightly slower than he expected.
The old man's hand retracted just in time just as his right hand brought his sword up to cut into the outside of Isamu's left forearm down to the very bone. A bit of Isamu's blood stained his white head of hair and seemed to stick there unnaturally despite the rain. Isamu tsked before speaking.
"Surge." The pavement surged like a title wave towards the old man, forcing him back and creating distance between the two swordsmen. At the same time, Isamu felt something he should've felt earlier.
He didn't due to the old man's advances but the rain wasn't natural. Each drop was filled with cursed energy. Each drop that impacted his body slowed him the tiniest bit. Small inconveniences added up to create a serious environmental advantage for the old man.
A constant weight was beating down on his shoulders, slowing him a noticeable amount and stopping him from cutting Takumi's hand off. Healing his arm, Isamu considered the technique. Such a wide-ranging technique was sure to be costly but based on the man's aura, he didn't have large reserves. So was the rain natural and he was only infusing the raindrops as they came down?
It was hard to say and honestly, it wasn't very relevant. If it was draining, Takumi would show signs soon and if it wasn't, there was no point in worrying about it.
Isamu considered using his head start command on the swordsman to take one of his arms but decided against it. Not because he needed cursed speech for later or because it wouldn't work. No. It wasn't a logical decision at all. It was quite similar to his battle with the man without cursed energy in Shibuya. Why kill him quickly when Isamu has so much to learn from him?