Mahoraga Reappears

Ever since Eiji could remember, there had been a popular question.

When faced with a tiger, would a sliding tackle rip its belly open, or would it feed the tiger?

Now, Eiji finally had the answer.

A tiger could eat until it was full.

During the battle with Toji Fushiguro, Tiger Funeral had pounced several times, but the height of its pounces changed along with Toji Fushiguro's position.

Its claws and gaping jaws always targeted Toji Fushiguro's shoulders and head, while its hind legs rarely left the ground.

There would never be a situation like in movies where a tiger flew straight into the air. If someone really tried to slide under a tiger, they would definitely get pinned by the shoulders when it suddenly came down and treated to a wet French kiss.

This battle also showed Eiji Toji Fushiguro's fighting style.

He was a man who could truly turn anything into a weapon.

The raging wind compressed inside Tiger Funeral's mouth before firing out as blasts of air.

Countless trees were snapped apart after being struck by the air blasts.

Toji Fushiguro did not focus solely on dodging. He grabbed the fallen trees that Tiger Funeral's air blasts had broken and hurled them at Tiger Funeral.

With its vision obstructed by the fallen trees, Tiger Funeral let Toji Fushiguro get close for a moment. It had no choice but to summon a full-force Storm around itself to force him back.

Toji Fushiguro leaped out of the Storm's range and landed with his back to Tiger Funeral in front of a large rock half a meter tall.

Seeing that its enemy had just landed unsteadily and had his back turned, Tiger Funeral's feline hunting instincts told it that this was an opportunity.

It made no sound at all.

With a light leap, Tiger Funeral arrived behind Toji Fushiguro.

Tiger Funeral opened its bloody maw and bit toward Toji Fushiguro's neck.

Watching the shadow gradually cover him beneath the moonlight, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Toji Fushiguro's mouth.

Grabbing the rock in front of him with both hands, Toji Fushiguro turned and slammed it viciously into Tiger Funeral's head.

Even Eiji felt pain when he heard the crack of shattering bones.

"Awooo!"

Tiger Funeral cried out in pain.

Toji Fushiguro gave Tiger Funeral no chance to catch its breath. He pressed one hand against its huge head and smashed it into the ground, then used that hand as a pivot to leap onto Tiger Funeral's back.

One punch, two punches, three punches...

Before Tiger Funeral's brain could recover from being stunned by the rock, it suffered another barrage of heavy blows.

"Awooo!"

Tiger Funeral desperately strained its limbs, trying to throw Toji Fushiguro off, but Toji Fushiguro's stance was firm. His punches scattered all the strength Tiger Funeral had gathered, leaving it unable to exert its power.

Tiger Funeral raised its rear and swept its tail toward Toji Fushiguro like a whip.

Sensing the sound of something cutting through the air behind him, Toji Fushiguro reached back with his right hand and grabbed Tiger Funeral's tail.

At the same time, his left hand did not stop, continuing to pound Tiger Funeral's head with punch after punch.

Eiji could not help but marvel that Tiger Funeral had lasted so long against Toji Fushiguro.

Max Elephant did not count as lasting. That had been nothing but a one-sided beating.

Tiger Funeral had genuinely injured Toji Fushiguro. Thin streaks of blood marked the hand gripping its tail, and there were quite a few wounds on his body from Tiger Funeral's wind and claws.

But they were all minor injuries.

With Toji Fushiguro's recovery ability, they might heal after one night's sleep.

It was a shame that such a powerful Shikigami had only appeared once in the original work, where Sukuna turned it into Agito's bra.

That was right. The tiger stripes on Agito's chest in the manga were Tiger Funeral.

Before long, Tiger Funeral gave up struggling and merged into Eiji's shadow.

"Next."

Having watched a front-row performance of Wu Song fighting a tiger, Eiji was still unsatisfied as he summoned the next Shikigami, Piercing Bull.

Taming Piercing Bull was far easier than Eiji had expected.

The moment Piercing Bull started charging, Toji Fushiguro rushed forward, grabbed its horns, and began wrestling with it.

Then Toji Fushiguro twisted hard to the side. Piercing Bull, which had been relying on brute force, was immediately dragged to the ground by Toji Fushiguro's strength.

What followed was a classic repeat. Toji Fushiguro held Piercing Bull's head down with one hand and punched it into submission with the other.

Toji Fushiguro stood up with a bored expression, as if blaming Piercing Bull for not putting up enough of a fight.

Piercing Bull, who had nearly been beaten to death: ...

Seeing the look Toji Fushiguro gave him, Eiji silently formed a hand seal and summoned the next Shikigami, Round Deer.

The instant Round Deer appeared, Toji Fushiguro kicked it in the head.

Eiji, who had never been nearsighted in his life, could clearly see Round Deer's distorted, misshapen head.

But the next Round Deer's head had already returned to normal.

For the next stretch of time, Round Deer was like a ball that Toji Fushiguro kept batting away, yet it simply would not die.

This was Round Deer, a Shikigami capable of using the Reverse Cursed Technique. Its recovery ability was extremely strong, and it could even use it on others.

"Tch, boring."

Apparently tired of beating it up, Toji Fushiguro curled his lips in boredom and walked over to a patch of bushes in the distance.

Toji Fushiguro grabbed a corner of the bushes with his right hand and forcefully pulled them aside, revealing several wooden crates hidden beneath the camouflage.

Only then did Eiji realize that the bushes were camouflage. Once they were pulled aside, he saw a blurry C-shaped cross mark on several crates nearby.

A C-shaped cross? What was that? Unable to figure it out, Eiji quickly turned his attention back to Toji Fushiguro.

Then he saw Toji Fushiguro take several steel knives from the crates.

That was right, not Cursed Tools, but steel knives.

After taking out two steel knives, Toji Fushiguro rushed before Round Deer and began demonstrating his cooking skills.

The steel knives turned into a meat grinder, enclosing Round Deer. At first, Round Deer could instantly heal its wounds, but before long, the speed of its recovery could no longer keep up with the damage Toji Fushiguro inflicted.

Just as Nanami could not damage Mahito's soul yet could still greatly exhaust him, steel knives without Cursed Energy could not inflict Cursed Energy damage on Round Deer, but restoring its body still consumed a certain amount of Cursed Energy.

But consumption was still consumption. Using the technique of chopping minced meat, Toji Fushiguro kept hacking at Round Deer with the two steel knives until Round Deer, unable to recover any longer, exhausted itself to death.

Looking at the Round Deer that had literally exhausted itself to death, then at the still lively Toji Fushiguro, Eiji wanted to speak but stopped himself.

Round Deer had been successfully tamed. With that, Eiji possessed nine of the Ten Shadows Technique's Shikigami. Only Mahoraga remained.

"Only Mahoraga is left, right?"

Rolling his somewhat sore and numb arms, Toji Fushiguro looked at Eiji and spoke.

Because he needed Toji Fushiguro's help to tame the Shikigami, Eiji had not hidden the fact that he had not tamed Mahoraga.

In fact, Eiji had also told Satoru Gojo and the others that the taming was not yet complete. It was only because they knew too little about Mahoraga and were influenced by their assumptions that they had kept misunderstanding him.

Eiji hesitated because he did not think Toji Fushiguro had the power to kill Mahoraga.

But Eiji also knew that Toji Fushiguro had always wanted to prove himself to the world.

That was also why Toji Fushiguro, who had always avoided danger and sought advantage, had not run away when facing the awakened Satoru Gojo.

Toji Fushiguro wanted to prove himself. He wanted to use the facts to slap those Old geezers across the face.

Mahoraga, which no one had been able to tame for a thousand years and which could kill the Six Eyes, was undoubtedly the enemy Toji Fushiguro yearned for.

If he could defeat Mahoraga, then...

At that thought, Toji Fushiguro's gaze toward Eiji grew heated.

Seeing the look in Toji Fushiguro's eyes, Eiji knew he could not persuade him otherwise.

If he refused now, he would most likely get beaten until he agreed to summon Mahoraga.

"Sigh, I understand."

After saying that, Eiji bent his knees slightly and formed a hand seal.

"Furubebbe, Yurayura, Yatsuka Sword, Otherworldly Divine General, Mahoraga!"