The Boy Carrying a Long Sword

Late at night, 23:03.

Shinjuku was still awash in neon lights and revelry as Okkotsu darted swiftly between the buildings, on his way to exorcise that detestable Grade 3 Cursed Spirit.

After discussing the plan with Maki during the day, Okkotsu had found the tallest building in Shinjuku. Once night fell and the clock struck ten, he stood atop it, observing the changes in Cursed Energy throughout Shinjuku Ward.

Like an office worker clocking in on time, the Cursed Spirit called Shadow Maru appeared punctually at eleven that night. Okkotsu spotted him almost instantly.

But what surprised Okkotsu was that he sensed more than twenty identical Cursed Spirit presences, each one matching the aura he had sensed before.

Okkotsu could not help suspecting that the Cursed Spirit called Shadow Maru possessed some kind of clone-like technique. But if it really had such a technique, then it definitely was not merely a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit!

Okkotsu told Maki about his discovery and asked for her opinion.

After hearing Okkotsu's judgment, Maki showed no fear. Instead, her eyes lit up with interest.

"A Semi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirit, or perhaps something even stronger? That just makes this more interesting!" Maki said.

Infected by Maki's fighting spirit, Okkotsu knew he could not talk her out of it. So, he and Maki split up.

Judging from the aura the Cursed Spirit had displayed, its clones were still only at Grade 3 level. If Maki and he could quickly eliminate those clones, they could surely weaken the Cursed Spirit itself. Then, they might be able to exorcise it!

"Have you seen my mother?" Shadow Maru randomly froze a young woman passing through an alley, emerged from her shadow, and softly whispered into her ear.

An eerie rustling sounded beside the woman's ear, but she could not make out what Shadow Maru was saying.

Terror appeared on her face. She screamed and tried to flee, only to discover that her body seemed to have been grabbed by something. She could not move an inch.

What's holding my feet?! the woman thought in terror.

She suddenly remembered what her boyfriend had just told her about Ghost Mother giving birth in Shinjuku. He had said Ghost Mother had given birth to an evil ghost in Shinjuku, and that every night, it wandered through Shinjuku searching for the legendary "Ghost Mother." He had warned her not to go home late at night, lest the evil ghost set its sights on her.

At the time, she had thought her boyfriend was just trying to scare her. Who could have imagined it would become real now?!

"Someone... someone, save me!" the woman screamed in terror.

Not a bad reaction! It should have achieved the effect Lord Xia Jie mentioned!

A satisfied smile appeared on Shadow Maru's face. But suddenly, a cold flash of light descended from the darkness and slashed at the hands restraining the woman.

Shadow Maru's body shot backward.

He looked at the sword-wielding boy shielding the woman and coldly demanded, "Who are you?!"

"Get out of here, now!" Okkotsu said to the woman behind him without turning his head.

Only after she fled the alley in panic did he look at Shadow Maru in surprise. "You... can actually speak?!"

Cursed Spirits almost all acted according to certain rules. Those capable of speaking and communicating normally were exceedingly rare.

"Hmph! Brat, what's so surprising about that..." Shadow Maru was about to mock Okkotsu when his expression abruptly changed. A strange image suddenly appeared in his mind.

A green-haired girl who seemed to possess almost no Cursed Energy had pierced one of his clones through the head with a black spear-blade!

Could she be... the Jujutsu Sorcerer Lord Xia Jie mentioned?! But her Cursed Energy was practically no different from that of an ordinary person! On the other hand, the boy in front of him was undoubtedly a very powerful Jujutsu Sorcerer!

Remembering Xia Jie's order to immediately end the operation upon encountering a Jujutsu Sorcerer, Shadow Maru gave Okkotsu a deep look before turning and vanishing into the dark shadows.

He actually... ran away?! Okkotsu stared blankly as Shadow Maru disappeared, unable to believe it.

The moment Shadow Maru looked at him, Okkotsu had clearly seen the desire to fight in his eyes. Yet in the blink of an eye, he had vanished!

"Don't think you can escape!" Okkotsu shouted.

He gathered Cursed Energy in his eyes and immediately pursued the lingering traces of Shadow Maru's Cursed Energy.

"Don't think you can escape!" Okkotsu shouted at Shadow Maru.

He gathered Cursed Energy in his eyes and immediately pursued the lingering traces of Shadow Maru's Cursed Energy.

Shadow Maru transformed his body into a shadow while moving, making him extremely fast. Ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerers could never catch him. But... Okkotsu was no ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerer. Not long ago, he had still been a Special-Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer.

Although after the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, Okkotsu had been demoted by Jujutsu High to a Grade 4 Jujutsu Sorcerer because Rika's curse had been lifted, that was entirely because the people at Jujutsu High were blind.

After all, even without Rika, Okkotsu was a Jujutsu Sorcerer capable of using Reverse Cursed Technique and who had landed a Black Flash. How could he possibly be just a Grade 4 Jujutsu Sorcerer?

Without Rika, Okkotsu still possessed at least the strength of a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer. Shadow Maru's clone had not fled far before Okkotsu pinned it to the ground with a single slash.

Sensing the consecutive loss of two Shadow Clones filled Shadow Maru with fury.

Each of his clones was a shadow split off from himself, carrying a portion of the original body's Cursed Energy.

The more clones he split off, the weaker each clone became.

And once a clone was eliminated, a portion of Shadow Maru's Cursed Energy would be consumed.

This time, Shadow Maru had split off twenty clones. Each possessed strength comparable to a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit, while he himself remained at the level of a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit.

To avoid losing more clones, Shadow Maru could only hurry to summon them back and reunite them with his main body.

Since the clones were shadows split from himself, Shadow Maru could not directly release a hand seal and return them to his body like the Shadow Clones in Naruto.

One, two, three... Anger suddenly surged from Shadow Maru's body. While he was summoning his clones, three more had been eliminated by those two damned brats.

Fortunately, the other clones had also sensed the situation and rapidly began moving away from the area where those two Jujutsu Sorcerers were.

The green-haired girl with glasses could no longer determine the clones' movements, but the boy in a white top wielding a katana had caught up to another clone. With one swift stroke, he killed it again!

Veins bulged on Shadow Maru's forehead as he decided to teach the other party a lesson.

Although Xia Jie had ordered him to retreat immediately upon encountering Jujutsu Sorcerers, he had also said, "If you cannot shake them, you may engage them. If you are certain of victory, do not take their lives. If you are not certain of victory, flee when you must."

Without question, now was the time he had to engage them! If he did not intercept his pursuer, more than half his clones would likely be destroyed!

With that thought, Shadow Maru stopped concealing his Cursed Energy. His surging aura erupted in an instant as he sped toward Okkotsu's location.

Okkotsu had just cut down the fourth Shadow Maru he encountered and was preparing to pursue the next one when he suddenly came to a sharp halt.

In his senses, a remarkably powerful Cursed Spirit was rushing toward his current location at tremendous speed.

Along the route it had taken, several Cursed Spirits with similar auras seemed to have fused with it, making its Cursed Energy even stronger.

Unease rose within Okkotsu, but he still tightened his grip on his sword and stood where he was, waiting for Shadow Maru to arrive.

He had no intention of running. The enemy might be strong, but he was not weak either!

Besides, there was another reason he did not flee: to draw the Cursed Spirit's attention and keep it from causing trouble for Maki.