Shibuya was a theater of carnage, and at its center stood Yuta Okkotsu, a boy whose polite demeanor masked a terrifying efficiency.
"What a barbaric way to fight!"
Ryu Ishigori watched from a distance, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and morbid fascination. Just moments ago, Yuta had physically lunged at Kurourushi, the Special Grade Cockroach Curse. He hadn't used a sword; he had grabbed the monster, held it tight, and pressed his mouth against its own.
By flooding the curse with the positive energy of Reverse Cursed Technique directly through its oral cavity, Yuta had literally "poisoned" the creature to death.
Ishigori wiped a bit of phantom grime from his lip, his face twisted in disgust. "Kurourushi was basically a giant cockroach, right? I'd much rather kiss a beautiful woman than touch a bug like that, kid."
While Ishigori was busy critiquing Yuta's romantic choices, Takako Uro had already closed the distance. She descended like a vengeful hawk, her fist wreathed in cursed energy as she aimed for Yuta's face.
Yuta remained unnervingly calm. He didn't draw the Dojigiri Yasutsuna from his hip. Instead, he parried with his left forearm and launched a counter-strike with his right.
But as his fist traveled, Yuta felt the space around him warp. His arm twisted in a way that defied every law of anatomy—a straight punch veering 180 degrees to strike him squarely in his own chest. Simultaneously, Uro's parried fist seemed to loop through a fold in the air, connecting solidly with Yuta's jaw.
Thud! Thud!
Yuta stumbled back, his boots grinding against the concrete. He looked down at his right hand; the arm that had just been twisted like a piece of dough was perfectly normal again.
No pain. No loss of sensation. Did she warp the space itself?
Uro hovered in the air, a cold, mocking smile on her face. "My technique is 'Sky.' To me, the surface of the heavens is nothing more than a curtain I can grab and fold at will."
As she spoke, she reached out and grasped the air. The space around her rippled and creased like a piece of silk fabric being bunched in a hand.
"Revealing your hand, I see," Yuta murmured. "A troublesome technique indeed."
Despite the acknowledgment, Yuta's expression remained as still as a mountain lake. Just as Uro prepared to strike again, he raised a hand. "Wait. I have a question for you."
"From the moment we met, I could feel it. You harbor a deep, burning hatred for me. But we've never met before today, have we?"
Uro's teeth ground together. "We don't know each other, no. But that doesn't mean I don't loathe you—or the blood that flows through your wretched veins!"
"My blood?"
"I'll let you die with a clear mind," Uro spat, her voice dripping with ice. "Takako Uro. That is my name, though I lived most of my life without one. I was the captain of the Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad under the Fujiwara clan. I bled for them. I won wars for them!"
"And yet, when a high-born brat of the Fujiwara line committed a crime, they forced me to take the fall. I was sentenced to death for his sins. They only gave me the name 'Uro' so they had something to write on the execution warrant!"
Uro's eyes were like smoldering coals. Yuta blinked, his voice soft. "Oh... I see..."
BOOM!
A massive beam of cursed energy tore through the air between them, the sheer power of the blast rattling the nearby skyscrapers.
"Granite Blast!"
Ryu Ishigori roared from the sidelines, smoke rising from his pompadour. "Get out of the way, you old hag! The boy is my dessert!"
"Shut up, you loser!"
Uro snarled, grabbing the "sky" and twisting it in a violent spiral. The Granite Blast hit the invisible fold and was reflected instantly, slamming back into Ishigori.
Ishigori pulled himself out of the rubble, spitting out a glob of bloody saliva. "Being hit by my own attack... what a fascinating experience!"
Uro ignored him and lunged at Yuta. "Thin Ice Breaker!"
She struck the air itself, the vibration designed to shatter the entire plane of existence where Yuta stood. But Yuta reacted with startling speed. He reached out, grabbed the air as if it were a heavy blanket, and yanked it upward.
The shattering force of the Thin Ice Breaker hit the rippling space and dissipated.
"What?!" Uro gasped.
She stared at Yuta in disbelief. He had just used her technique. This was Yuta Okkotsu's innate talent: Copy.
"Granite Blast!"
Ishigori appeared at Yuta's flank, his cursed cannon at full power. Yuta didn't miss a beat; he dragged the "plane" of the sky again, curving the blast so it shot directly toward Uro.
"You bastard! You loser! Stay out of this and watch from the sidelines!" Uro screamed.
"Keep your mouth shut, woman!"
Suddenly, Yuta opened his mouth wide. A strange, intricate seal was carved onto his tongue.
"Don't move."
The air grew heavy. Ishigori and Uro found their bodies locked in place, frozen by the command of Cursed Speech. Yuta leapt forward, his fists becoming a blur of high-velocity strikes.
BANG! BANG!
The two sorcerers were blasted back dozens of meters, crashing through the walls of an office building.
After a long moment, Ishigori emerged from the wreckage, laughing with a manic, terrifying joy. "Hahahaha! Yes! This is it! You're delicious! I can't wait to devour every bit of you!"
As the strongest of his own era, Ishigori had lived a life of ease. Everything—combat, women, status—came to him without effort. It was a full life, perhaps, but one that lacked the "flavor" of a real struggle. He was perpetually stuck at eighty percent full.
"Thank you, Kenjaku!" Ishigori shouted. "In this era, I've finally found someone who can satisfy my hunger!"
He charged Yuta. Despite his reputation as a long-range cannon, his hand-to-hand combat was flawless. The two engaged in a brutal exchange, their fists clashing with the sound of detonating shells.
"He's mine!" Uro screamed, rising from the ruins. She tore the sky apart, throwing ripples of distorted space at both men indiscriminately.
"Move, hag!" Ishigori roared, charging his cursed energy to the limit. "Granite Blast!"
Facing two of the most devastating attacks imaginable, Yuta Okkotsu slowly lowered his center of gravity. He gripped the hilt of the Dojigiri Yasutsuna at his waist, his thumb clicking the guard.
"Secret Technique: Black Flash—Leaping Carp."
Yuta drew his blade in a flash of light. The steel didn't just gleam; it crackled with the violent, ink-black lightning of a Black Flash.
BOOM!!!
The three forces collided in a white-hot explosion that stripped the world of color and sound. A second later, the skyscraper beneath their feet began to disintegrate into dust.
"Delicious! Too delicious!" Ishigori's eyes were wild with ecstasy. "Let's end this with the final course! Satisfy me!"
He crossed his hands, weaving the Vajra-Earth seal.
"I told you, he belongs to me!" Uro shrieked, her arms forming the Kundali mudra.
Yuta understood their intent instantly. He felt no fear—only a calm, resolute focus. He wove the Dakiniten seal.
"Domain Expansion: Rota of All-Encompassing Truth."
"Domain Expansion: Void of Non-Existent Heavens."
"Domain Expansion: Painted Dust of the Artful Pearl."
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