Don't Let Boss Duan Mu's Sacrifice Go to Waste

"Watch out!!"

Without warning, a figure suddenly appeared behind Duan Mu. A cerulean blade flash tore through the night sky, slashing straight toward Duan Mu, who was in midair and unable to adjust his position.

Jiu Su's face twisted into a vicious grin. Although the loss of his elite subordinates hurt, if he could use this chance to kill the black-haired young man before him, then their deaths would be completely worth it.

"Go to hell!"

He had poured all his strength into this slash. As long as it landed, then no matter how powerful the black-haired young man's kidō was, he would undoubtedly die!!

Before the blade flash even reached him, the black work uniform on Duan Mu's body was torn apart, revealing a muscular upper body that was impossible to discern from his appearance.

Duan Mu had anticipated Jiu Su's appearance long ago. In fact, before this series of actions had even begun, he had already thought this scene might occur. It wasn't difficult to guess. Anyone who wasn't a fool would never miss such an opportunity.

But he hadn't expected...

Jiu Su's timing to be so precise, and his reaction to be so fast. He hadn't given Duan Mu much time to prepare, leaving him with no choice but to respond hastily.

"Kidō #30: Shitotsu Sansen!"

With his back to Jiu Su, Duan Mu spread open his left hand. Three beam-like lights shaped like pointed mouths appeared around his palm. The three beams rapidly expanded the instant they left his hand and struck straight at Jiu Su.

"What?"

The pointed beams appeared without the slightest warning. Before Jiu Su could understand what had happened, the three beams had restrained his neck and both hands.

What a pain!!

Jiu Su gritted his teeth. In District 80, battles were basically fought by hacking, hacking, and more hacking. He had almost no experience dealing with kidō, but...

"This kind of thing!!"

Reiatsu surged madly from Jiu Su's body. Almost the instant he was bound, cracks appeared across the three pointed beams, which then shattered apart with a bang.

The long blade in his hand swung down once more. Although being halted for an instant had greatly weakened the slash, it was still enough to severely injure his opponent. Jiu Su absolutely wasn't going to let this opportunity, bought with the lives of his elite subordinates, slip away.

"Kidō #61: Rikujōkōrō!"

Yet in that brief instant, Duan Mu had already adjusted his body in midair. He drew a line through the air with his fingertip, and six panes of light appeared around Jiu Su from thin air.

Having learned from the previous experience, Jiu Su released all his reiatsu the instant the panes of light reached him, intending to shatter the panes binding him.

Sure enough, cracks rapidly appeared across the panes of light.

Just as I thought...

Duan Mu sighed inwardly. Using intermediate-level Urahada to cast a high-level kidō was simply incapable of producing enough binding force.

"Carriage of thunder, gap of the spinning wheel..."

Duan Mu clenched his teeth slightly and immediately began chanting again, wanting to reinforce the Rikujōkōrō with Post-chanting. However...

Before he could finish chanting, he heard a crisp snap. The six panes of light were directly shattered by Jiu Su's reiatsu.

There was no time.

Without the slightest hesitation, the instant the six panes of light shattered, a vicious glint flashed across Duan Mu's face. He concentrated all his reiatsu before his chest.

The two consecutive obstructions had already weakened Jiu Su's slash considerably. Since he couldn't dodge it, he might as well withstand it head-on with pure reiatsu.

Splurt—!

The sound of spraying blood rang out almost simultaneously with the shattering of the panes of light. Duan Mu's body fell like a meteor and slammed into the ground.

At the edge of the battlefield, Habutae's expression changed. However, after suffering severe injuries and fleeing for so long, even if she wanted to go help, she was powerless to do so. She could only watch helplessly as Duan Mu crashed down, smashing a huge crater into the ground.

Jiu Su landed on the ground, his face full of delight.

I did it!

After taking his slash head-on, the other man had to be severely wounded, no matter how strong his kidō was.

And besides...

"If you hadn't turned around to face me, your injuries might not have been this severe."

Jiu Su sneered. Originally, his slash would only have struck the opponent's back, missing any vital points. But the brat had used the instant he was bound to turn around and expose his chest to Jiu Su's blade.

Jiu Su looked at the motionless Duan Mu and walked forward, saying as he went, "Do you still believe in sayings like 'being slashed in the back is a disgrace'?"

"Cough, cough..."

As if sensing Jiu Su's approach, Duan Mu, who had been motionless, suddenly covered his abdomen and staggered to his feet.

A savage wound stretched from Duan Mu's shoulder all the way to his waist, with bone faintly visible. His abdomen beneath his palm had been split open, and the movement of his intestines could even be seen inside.

Seeing this, Jiu Su didn't press forward again. Instead, he stopped where he was, wariness in his eyes. With injuries like these, he would certainly die without treatment.

But Jiu Su understood perfectly that he had won not because he was stronger than his opponent, but because he had luckily seized an opening. If he hadn't caught that opening, then after the opponent dealt with his carefully trained elites, he would have been the next to die.

In other words...

This black-haired young man was fully capable of killing him.

If he rashly approached now, the other man might launch a desperate counterattack and drag him down to die together.

"Hm?"

But the next second, Jiu Su sensed that something was wrong. An expression of disbelief appeared on his face. "What are you doing!?"

"Tch~ You're really cautious."

Duan Mu clicked his tongue. The reiatsu in the hand covering his abdomen was no longer concealed but was instead being unleashed at full force. Flesh buds grew from the massive wound at a speed visible to the naked eye. As he watched his abdomen rapidly heal, a pained look appeared on Duan Mu's face.

Kido: Intermediate (7970/10000)

The instant he determined that he could only withstand the attack head-on, Duan Mu had immediately dumped the remaining 8,270 experience points into Kido.

That included the 2,800 experience points Duan Mu had saved over more than a month, as well as the 2,590 experience points he had gained from Habutae's increased favorability after accepting the commission.

The extra points had been obtained bit by bit during the battle just now. In particular, after he dealt with those villains comparable to low-ranking seated officers, Habutae's favorability toward him had leaped to 39, bringing Duan Mu 2,880 experience points.

Yet such a massive amount of experience had been squandered by Duan Mu in an instant, buying him nothing more than Kido on the level of a Fourth Division Lieutenant Captain. How could that not make his heart ache!!

Jiu Su's expression changed when he saw this, and he charged toward Duan Mu without hesitation.

Duan Mu didn't stop the Kido in his hand. Instead, he endured the agonizing pain and used Shunpo, constantly widening the distance between them with his advantage in speed.

The two chased and fled in circles around the area, leaving Habutae, who was slumped in the distance, dumbfounded.

This was the first time she had ever seen someone heal himself while fleeing in the middle of a battle...

With Shunpo at his disposal, Duan Mu still held a certain advantage in speed despite his severe injuries. Although he couldn't completely shake off Jiu Su, he wouldn't be caught immediately either.

As his injuries continued to heal, this advantage would only grow greater.

Jiu Su naturally understood this as well. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get close to Duan Mu. He could only keep harassing him to delay his healing.

He had also considered taking this opportunity to kill Habutae and the others. But judging from Duan Mu's healing speed, if Jiu Su didn't harass him, then after killing Habutae and the others, Duan Mu's injuries would be healed enough for him to regain his combat strength, even if they weren't fully recovered. By then, Jiu Su would certainly die.

As for using Habutae and the others to force Duan Mu to rescue them, that was even less possible. When one could barely protect oneself, no one would disregard their own safety to save someone else!

"Die for me!!"

With that thought, reiatsu erupted from Jiu Su's body. Substantial-looking reiatsu burst from the blade. He actually hurled the greatsword in his hand like a throwing knife, sending it crashing toward Duan Mu!

Duan Mu's expression tightened when he saw this, and he hurriedly used Shunpo to dodge.

The instant he avoided the greatsword, Duan Mu immediately locked onto Jiu Su's position. But what entered his eyes was... Jiu Su's rapidly receding back.

"Hm?"

He... ran?

Such decisive action left Duan Mu unable to react for a moment.

As he fled at full speed, Jiu Su secretly clenched his teeth, his pent-up frustration having reached its limit. Not only had the elite subordinates who had followed him for hundreds of years been killed or wounded, but he had also provoked Nishijin-ori, that Great Villain.

The pursuit that should have been foolproof had ended up like this. Jiu Su clenched his teeth so hard that they bled. Even if he immediately hid beside his boss after returning, Nishijin-ori would definitely come after him once she recovered.

But if he went to kill Nishijin-ori and Habutae, then with that black-haired young man's speed, he wouldn't be able to escape once the man recovered.

Rather than continue struggling over it, escaping now was clearly the best choice.

And that was exactly what happened.

Watching Jiu Su's departing back, Duan Mu didn't pursue him. Instead, he sat down on the ground, his face pale.

Fleeing, healing, and multitasking weren't simple for him. Although he held the advantage in speed, he had only barely used Shunpo to keep Jiu Su from getting close. Continuing the pursuit would be extremely difficult!

And besides...

There was an even more important point: he had consumed far, far too much reiatsu.

"I lost out..."

Duan Mu muttered. This battle had begun for no apparent reason and ended just as inexplicably.

A million rings was certainly a major commission, but it wasn't worth nearly losing his life over.

The large amount of extra experience Habutae had provided had originally been enough to restore some balance to Duan Mu's heart. But now... looking at the huge 0 on the system interface, Duan Mu grimaced in pain.

How many women would he have to befriend to earn it back?

Habutae dragged that man along and slowly moved over. After reaching Duan Mu's side, she asked in an incredibly gentle tone, "Are you all right?"

Toward Duan Mu, she now felt genuine admiration from the bottom of her heart. To complete her commission, this young man had actually been willing to fight to such an extent.

"..."

Duan Mu's hand, which was casting Kido, trembled. He said with a dark expression, "You'd better stay farther away from me. I'd probably feel better."

Even though I know you're worried about me, could you please consider your size and voice? Under that "gentle" concern just now, I almost shoved my hand into my own intestines.

Habutae favorability +1. Obtained 640 experience points. Current favorability: 40

Duan Mu's cheek twitched slightly.

"...Don't misunderstand. I'm not disgusted by you. You were just too close a moment ago, disrupting the spirit particle fluctuations in the air and affecting my treatment."

"Oh, so that's what it was."

Hearing this, Habutae hurriedly moved to the side.

"See? I told you that reiatsu fluctuation belonged to Duan Mu!!"

Just then, a familiar voice came from the distance, accompanied by a series of footsteps drawing closer.

Duan Mu turned his head and saw Iwao leading four underlings, with Diao Ao and the others behind them. Each of them held a blade and charged over with murderous expressions.

"Hm?"

When Iwao saw Duan Mu slumped on the ground, his expression changed, and he hurriedly rushed over. "What happened? Who did this?"

Looking at Iwao's concerned face, the corner of Duan Mu's mouth twitched slightly. "Why didn't you wait until I turned into spirit particles before coming?"

It would have been one thing if this guy hadn't been at the Yorozuya, only two minutes away from here. But since he had been in his own shop... Duan Mu had fought someone in the outskirts of District 38, and after sensing his reiatsu, this guy had still taken so long to arrive.

"I just wasn't sure..."

Iwao said awkwardly. He had been drinking with Diao Ao and the others at the Yorozuya tavern when he sensed the reiatsu fluctuation. But at first, he hadn't realized that it was Duan Mu's reiatsu.

Because...

It was simply too powerful, completely different from the Duan Mu in his memories.

"We'll talk about this later." Iwao hurriedly changed the subject. He pressed down on Duan Mu's shoulder and said seriously, "Which bastard did this to you? I'll avenge you!!"

Duan Mu rolled his eyes. You'd better get your sister to avenge me. Duan Mu shifted slightly to reveal the hand casting Kido. "Don't touch me yet. Can't you see I'm treating myself?"

"Holy crap, Habutae!!"

"Habutae's here to kill us."

"Quick, kill Habutae."

"Don't let Boss Duan Mu's sacrifice go to waste!!"

"..."

At that moment, Diao Ao also arrived from behind. After seeing the situation on the battlefield, he acted decisively and charged toward Habutae with his blade drawn.

Duan Mu's face darkened. He glared fiercely at the man who had shouted "Don't let my sacrifice go to waste," then said to Iwao beside him:

"Stop them. She isn't an enemy."