'How fun! I knew I needed experience fighting against strong curses, but who knew I'd enjoy it so much?!'
Mahito stood slowly, shaking his arm out and patting the dust off of him while wooden splinters were expelled out of his body.
"Hurts... lots."
Hanami didn't answer.
The air pulsed.
A massive flower bloomed behind her.
It cracked open, massive petals unfurling.
Cursed buds shot out in a wide arc, whistling like needles through the air.
Mahito cursed under his breath and moved, quickly turning his body into a liquid-like state, hoping for the buds to pass through him.
But unlike Todo in the show, he didn't have the option of not using cursed energy at all. His entire body was made out of cursed energy. So the buds were easily a hard counter to him...
Or they would've been if they could damage his soul.
One clipped his shoulder. Another grazed his back. One was embedded in his leg.
He could feel it immediately. The roots spreading through his body, feeding. Leeching.
Not just draining cursed energy, but reacting to it. Trying to twist deeper inside, even as he stood still.
'This is quite annoying... As a cursed spirit, I have limited options when fighting this technique...'
He didn't run. In the first place, that was not an option.
Instead, he closed his eyes. His entire body shifted into a bulbous mess as he immediately manipulated his soul; He moved all of the buds within one part of his body, his arm.
And, in that very moment, he split that piece of his soul and threw it towards Hanami, who immediately raised roots from the sand and formed a shield in front of her.
The bulbous and fleshy arm seemed to collapse inward. The flesh darkened, peeled, and melted away like bark in fire. Then immediately burst into many blade-shaped bone fragments, all headed towards the Root-controlling cursed spirit.
Hanami's eyes narrowed behind the branches covering her face. The shield in front of her had withstood the onslaught, but it had turned into a pincushion.
Mahito's body reformed a moment later, seamless, as if nothing had ever happened. Yet he had finally sustained an injury, albeit self-inflicted.
Thankfully, the loss of an arm meant nothing to a Special Grade Curse; it recovered as quickly as it went.
Kenjaku made a sound from under the tree. A hint of a smirk lingered on his face. Amused.
Mahito stood again. Breathing slower now.
He flexed his fingers.
Then the flowers bloomed.
A wide circle of soft, delicate petals spiralled out from Hanami's feet, covering the sand like a blanket.
Mahito smelled it before he felt it.
The scent was sweet. Comforting.
The effect was worse.
His limbs slackened. His vision blurred at the edges. His heartbeat slowed.
The desire to fight… vanished. Forcefully.
Just like that.
But to take away the hatred and desire for battle from a Cursed Spirit was more than just a parlour trick. It was like taking away a facet of one's soul.
Mahito stumbled forward, eyes half-lidded.
'This one's... trickier than it looks.'
He forced his heel into the sand. Twisted it. Drove pain back into his system.
It wasn't quick enough.
Hanami raised one hand, wooden balls forming again behind her.
Mahito let himself fall sideways. A branch pierced the space where his heart had been a second earlier. Not that he needed to dodge it, but it was better to continue obscuring the extent of his abilities for now.
He laughed. Slurred and soft, his voice came out in a rather infantile way.
"Clever... flower... lady."
He lay still for a moment. Then his skin peeled off.
The entire outer layer of his torso shed like a husk, sliding into the sand.
A new layer grew in, less refined, more stitches layered across his skin. But he was now awake and in control.
He surged forward again, dragging a whip-arm across the beach, sweeping buds out of the air and ripping apart roots that had grown to try and pierce him.
But his target was clear; he wanted to reach her. To harm her directly.
Hanami met him mid-charge, but she was surprisingly sluggish. Slower than Mahito had expected at such close range.
Roots tried to block and skewer him, but he had already gotten used to them.
His left arm split into five blades, each one jagged and twitching, revolving.
He swiped once. All of the roots were splintered and ruined as if destroyed by a chainsaw on a whip.
The second swipe connected. It hit her shoulder.
In an instant, Hanami grunted loudly, brought to one knee as the revolving blade still moved to cut deeper and deeper into her.
One of her arms moved up, trying to catch a hold of that blade, to stop it.
Meanwhile, the other moving blades all came towards Hanami's body from different directions, forcing her to raise a cocoon of roots around her.
It was built of many smaller roots, layered, more durable. But it was only a matter of time before Mahito's makeshift chainsaw whips got through them.
He would have continued, but then he heard a clap, and his entire body stood still, chainsaws stopping in an instant just before they tore into Hanami further.
He had caused damage, plenty of it. And it seemed to be enough for Kenjaku to end the round.
Hanami grunted a bit as Mahito's now still blade pulled away from her shoulder. She
She then lowered her arm, slowly standing back up, the cuts already healing.
Mahito stood in front of her, making his chest heave softly, then turned to face the shade again.
Kenjaku was still standing there, leaning on that tree, his thoughts difficult to read.
Jogo's head still stood silently beside him, though his one eye was now fully open, and full of discernible awe. Dagon bobbed further back, watching with vague interest.
'To think he can already stand up to Hanami... How fast is he growing?' Jogo blinked a few times as he looked at the altercation.
Sure, Mahito appeared tired, but Jogo could tell from his cursed energy that he could keep going, for a long time at that, too.
Meanwhile, Hanami had used quite a bit of Energy, though not to the point where she could be called tired, it was still more significant. And she was on the verge of receiving a very heavy injury when the fight stopped.
The curse that held the advantage in that battle was Mahito, despite technically taking more 'damage'.
Mahito didn't speak. Neither did Kenjaku nor Jogo.
For a few seconds, the only sound was the gentle loop of the fake ocean behind them.
Then Kenjaku stood.
"I saw what I needed."
Mahito turned his head slightly, one eye narrowed.
He didn't speak. He just smiled. Soft. Almost childish.
Not enough to show satisfaction.
Just enough to say:
You saw what I wanted you to see.