"What do you mean! What did you do!"
Kitamura's gaze kept flicking toward the evil-suppressing hairpin lying not far away.
Akuto noticed the little gesture, but he couldn't have cared less. "How hopelessly stupid."
"Haven't you noticed?" Akuto pointed at the sky. "Here, ordinary people can see any cursed spirit."
"This is a curtain. Its effect: anyone within can see cursed spirits, and no one who enters may leave."
(T/N: Lies, at least the last part.)
"Speaking of which, I really must thank you. For that, I'll grant you a quick death."
Akuto took a deep breath of free air.
Through Miko, he had gained a certain measure of freedom.
But to Akuto, wasn't Miko's body just another cage? "Don't look down on me, bastard!"
Kitamura suddenly exploded, snatched up the evil-suppressing hairpin, and drove it into Akuto's chest.
Akuto looked down at him disdainfully, plucked the hairpin out, and tossed it aside.
Thud.
Kitamura's pupils shrank; he dropped to his knees before Akuto. "Impossible… why doesn't the evil-suppressing hairpin work on you…?"
"Haven't you asked yourselves?" Akuto paced slowly, in too good a mood to mind explaining.
"Since I can possess people, why didn't I simply steal Yotsuya Miko's body?"
Kitamura lifted his head blankly, recalling Miko saying Akuto was her husband, "Aren't you two bound together?"
"Bound?" Akuto laughed as though he'd heard the grandest joke. "Hahaha, that's the funniest thing I've heard in a while!"
Those words sent a chill through everyone.
Only Miko's expression didn't change.
"It's not that I didn't want to—I couldn't."
"Miko's body is special. Through her, I gained freedom, but she also became my prison."
"I couldn't turn her into my vessel, so cooperation was the only option."
"By then I couldn't leave Miko's body either."
"If I told her I'd erect a barrier letting ordinary people see cursed spirits and steal their bodies, she'd never agree."
"Or rather, she knew my worth and the threat I pose."
"She can retake her body at any time, so I couldn't force my plan through."
"But a turning point came—you idiots actually kidnapped her family."
"Hahahahaha!"
"Know what?" Akuto caught his breath. "To switch bodies, I deliberately made Miko believe I'm all-knowing and hate evil like a nemesis."
"Then I secretly struck a deal with the cursed spirit in Sendagaya Tunnel."
"Such careful work—just so she'd hand her body to me without hesitation when I needed it."
"Turns out the spirit was useless; you were the divine assist!"
Akuto laughed until tears nearly fell. "And then I successfully cast the barrier."
"Even if you hadn't forced me out, I'd have left Miko's body on my own—I needed a complete body, not a cage."
"And now I've succeeded."
"This body is my vessel; I'm a complete person—sealing tools are meaningless."
"Besides…" Akuto gave Kitamura a cold glance. "If I weren't willing, did you really think you could seal me?"
Kitamura's face turned ashen.
He didn't doubt a single word.
A powerhouse like that had no need to lie.
Even less need to lie to the dying.
They had lost—utterly, completely, prostrate.
Their supposedly clever plan had merely draped a wedding robe for Akuto.
They had even patched up his last weakness for him.
With their own hands, they had unleashed a demon!
"I understand."
Kitamura knelt like a beaten dog, "I'll commit seppuku; can you spare the civilians?"
"What nonsense." Akuto looked over. "Why would I let you kill yourself? Naïve."
Splat!
With a dull sound, Kitamura's body split into countless square chunks.
"Ugh!"
Several onlookers' pupils shrank; they retched.
Terror drew tears from their eyes.
"That's more like it."
"Stay afraid, insects!"
Whoosh!
Akuto slashed; more people were cut in half at the waist!
"He won't spare us! We fight to the death!"
Eight had joined the plan; now six remained.
The six middle-aged men and women found the fire of their youth, roaring as they charged Akuto.
Their eyes held the resolve to die rather than submit!
Akuto yawned and flicked a finger through the air.
Shhk!
Six people were cleaved in half in an instant, flung to the ground in their final death throes.
How pitiful.
Akuto didn't grant them a quick end—he simply let them writhe.
Cut in half at the waist; dying takes a long, long time.
He strolled up to the four who remained.
Those four were the doves, led by Hattori and Mr. Tosou.
They were also the only four who had taken no part in Kitamura's plan.
Akuto's gaze swept over Hattori.
Hattori's heart nearly leapt into his throat; he dropped to his knees and dared not move.
He was gambling.
Gambling that Akuto wouldn't kill at random.
The next moment, Akuto's foot moved past him.
'I was right…' Hattori's legs went weak; he gasped for air as if he'd already died once.
Akuto passed the second, then the third, and stopped before the fourth.
Mr. Tosou looked calm, every hair in place, a polite smile still on his face.
He stood ramrod straight.
The next instant, his pupils shrank.
He felt it—Akuto's killing intent.
"So you really won't spare me." Mr. Tosou shot out his left hand and seized Akuto's arm.
In the same breath, the arm crumbled into sand and scattered.
The bizarre sight was almost impossible to believe.
"I truly dislike getting involved in these disputes; gathering intelligence is simply my duty. A pity—you chose to oppose me, so I have to kill you."
"Blame yourself for underestimating me." A smug look crossed Mr. Tosou's face.
"Oi, old man, you're celebrating a bit too early." Akuto's arm regrew before their eyes; in a few breaths, it was whole again.
"You—" Mr. Tosou stared in shock at Akuto's twin pupils; did he see disappointment in them?
His left hand could turn spirits and souls to sand, and it had never failed.
Shhk!
Half of Mr. Tosou's body slid to the ground, eyes still wide with disbelief.
Akuto raised his arms in a long stretch.
"Boring."
"Clean up the rest yourselves—don't bother me again."
He snapped his fingers; the curtain in the sky cracked apart layer by layer, then dissolved into flecks of light and vanished.
The visible curses slowly faded from sight.
"Hey, Miko, let's go." Akuto patted Miko, only for her to collapse backward.
He caught her and frowned. "Cursed Energy exhaustion?"
He remembered the moment when Miko had unleashed what looked like Sukuna's technique 'Dismantle' across a huge area.
For her, one shot would empty every last drop of Cursed Energy.
The fact that she was still standing until now was pure willpower.
"Troublesome."
He muttered as he scooped her up in a princess carry style and left the scene with Touko and Kyosuke.
Hattori stared at the three survivors, head ringing.
Only three of the executives were left.
Everyone else was dead.
Luckily, they could dump the blame on the dead—after all, they hadn't joined that mad plan.
Before they could feel relieved—
Shhk!
Shhk!
Shhk!
"Wh…why…?"
In the distance, Akuto led the Yotsuya Family around the corner and out of sight.
Without so much as a glance back…Evening, at the Yotsuya house.
Akuto lounged on the sofa, cola in one hand, chips in the other, watching TV.
Kyosuke knelt behind him, massaging his shoulders obsequiously. "Big brother, is this pressure okay?"
"Mm, not bad." Akuto took a sip of cola.
"So can you teach me that super-cool move? Like Superman—just point a finger and cut people in half!"
"Kyosuke!" Still rattled by what she'd seen that afternoon, Touko barked from the kitchen.
"Stop bothering your brother!"
At that moment the TV picture was cut away.
[ We interrupt with breaking news. ]
[ At around one this afternoon, a toxic gas leak occurred in Shibuya Ward, contaminating hundreds of thousands. ]
[ The gas causes hallucinations, death, self-harm, and extreme aggression. ]
[ Experts have been dispatched; we now speak with Dr. Daimu. ]
[ Dr. Daimu, can you explain today's events? ]
[ Alas, this was our error. A truck carrying massive amounts of toxic gas was hit by a high-speed train; the explosion and fire spread the gas across all of Shibuya. It was an accident, yet we bear undeniable responsibility…]
—
T/N: It's always the gas leak fault if there's something unexplainable happening!