Genkai and Charles left the city one after the other and found a deserted, barren mountain.
Before they started, Charles couldn't help asking, "Master Genkai, not to boast, but you should be able to feel the gap between us. Why did you still ask to spar?"
Genkai looked at Charles solemnly. "I'm long past the age of vying for supremacy, but there's something that, at life's end, I can only accomplish by challenging you."
Charles nodded. "I understand. Then let's begin."
Knowing Genkai's past, Charles could guess her purpose—it had to do with her former lover, Younger Toguro.
After winning the Dark Tournament, Younger Toguro made a wish to become a yokai.
In Genkai's view, Toguro's choice discarded his former pride and companions, but she also knew he wasn't wrong.
Humans inevitably grow weak with age, while yokai can remain strong, untouched by time.
Now that her lifespan was nearing its end, Genkai knew full well she couldn't defeat Younger Toguro—even if he didn't fight at full power.
But she didn't want to concede in their clash of beliefs. She wanted to know whether she, as she was now, could make Toguro change his mind.
Aside from facing Toguro himself, the only way to test that was against Charles, who'd once defeated him.
So Genkai opened with everything she had. Mist-like spiritual power wafted from her body, and the wrinkles on her face rapidly vanished.
In an instant, the haggard elder became a young woman in her prime.
Genkai's Spirit Wave Fist has a powerful feature.
She can store her spiritual power within her body, and when she goes all out, her body returns to its peak state.
Perhaps it was Toguro's transformation into a yokai that spurred her to cultivate this ability.
Of course, Charles also sensed her spiritual power being consumed at a rapid rate; she couldn't maintain this state for long.
So Genkai dared not waste time and charged straight at Charles.
Unlike the brute-force Toguro, Genkai held no advantage in raw power, so she leaned on speed and technique.
Her hands fluttered like butterflies among flowers, striking precisely at crucial points on Charles's body.
Judging by the spiritual force on her palms, taking those hits would cripple most of his fighting ability.
Charles sank into a solid stance, his forearms blurring as he parried Genkai's attacks.
No one knew better than Genkai that this match was basically a moth-to-flame, so she wasn't surprised to be blocked.
She sprang lightly into the air and, mid-leap, fired an uncountable flurry of punches at Charles.
"Scattershot!"
Dense, refined blasts of spiritual power shot out like bullets—true to the name, like a shotgun trigger pulled at Charles.
Flame kindled in Charles's pupils. He raised a hand like a blade and chopped down.
All the incoming spiritual bullets turned into fireballs once they crossed a certain distance, and once they became fire, they were no longer under Genkai's control—they became Charles's weapons.
The flames flowed, coiling around Charles's arm. With a single punch, they became flaming arrows shooting up at Genkai.
Genkai's eyes widened, but she moved fast, lowering her body at the last instant to avoid the bolts.
The firebolts shredded every tree in their path, as if the air itself were scored with a crimson seam.
Luckily they were on a mountaintop and the bolts had gone upward, so the damage was as little as it could be.
Genkai didn't flinch. Skimming the ground like a swallow, she flew at Charles. He closed in as well, raising one leg high and chopping down like a battle-axe.
Boom!
The ground split as if a shell had landed, and Genkai, rattled, crouched off to the side, breathing hard.
Charles was too fast—even she had only barely dodged.
"So this is the kind of opponent you once faced. I wonder what was going through your mind then?"
That thought crossed Genkai's mind, but her resolve didn't waver. If she couldn't even muster this much, what right did she have to talk about changing Toguro's mind?
She extended her thumb and forefinger, shaping a hand-gun and aiming at Charles.
It was the Spirit Gun's starting gesture, but Genkai's version was fundamentally different from Yusuke Urameshi's.
Tempered, powerful spirit merged with unyielding will—Genkai's Spirit Gun hit with the ferocity of a missile.
But Charles simply stepped in. Phantom dragon claws overlaid his palm, and he reached out to grab it.
The Spirit Gun slammed into his hand and began to spin and writhe like a living thing, eager to unleash its destructive power.
Charles's fingers slowly closed until, at last, he crushed the Spirit Gun into fragmented spirit.
That kind of brute suppression is only possible in one case: when the difference between the two sides is like earth and sky.
Genkai exhaled. Faint traces of wrinkles had already returned to her face.
She'd poured most of her spiritual power into that shot, and it had been handled that way. She'd expected it, but it still surprised her.
Charles flexed his wrist. "We should call it here. There's no point in going on."
Genkai gave a wry smile. Of course she understood—Charles was sparing her. The youth fading from her face said her strength was slipping.
Granted, even if he wasn't going all out, Charles would keep trading blows with her, but as he said, it would be meaningless.
If she kept fighting at full power, she'd be burning her life—that would be an even more pointless sacrifice.
After a long silence, Genkai said, "Then one last technique."
Charles nodded and opened his hand, inviting her to strike as she wished.
Genkai drew a deep breath, rallying all her spiritual power.
A martial artist of her level had long since grasped the essence of spirit, so she poured every prayer and all her will into this one strike, hoping to create a miracle.
She cut a straight line toward Charles, her hand thrusting like a sword.
Charles's brow twitched. He could feel the power in Genkai's blow—could feel the will within it—but in the end, it did not produce a miracle.
Genkai reverted completely to her elderly form, and at the sight of her wrist caught in Charles's grip, a lonely look crossed her face.
Charles didn't counterattack, but both of them knew the outcome.
Charles thought the saying was just right: those who believe in miracles are as remarkable as miracles themselves.
When Genkai wagered on a miracle rather than believing it would descend, the miracle no longer favored her.
As for Charles—he has never once doubted that he can create miracles.
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