[No domains, no Reverse Cursed Technique, just a pure showdown]
[An absolute powerhouse, and the loneliness born of that strength. The one who will teach you love is...]
A figure emerged from the lightning.
Blue-green currents crawled over his skin like countless slender snakes sliding over scales. He held an iron staff, its shaft scorched red by lightning.
Those eyes-Gu Yanzhi had seen them countless times in the original manga. Now they stared straight at him, radiating an utterly pure hunger for battle.
"Stop hiding. You have more cursed energy than any other Swimmer here," Hajime Kashimo said.
"What's your name?"
"...Gu Yanzhi."
"Hajime Kashimo." Before he even finished introducing himself, his iron staff was already crashing toward Gu Yanzhi's face.
Gu Yanzhi sidestepped and countered with a sweeping slash. Hajime Kashimo leaned back to evade it. They pulled apart, both remaining within range to probe the other's defenses.
So fast. Gu Yanzhi flexed the fingers gripping his blade. In that instant, he had dodged almost entirely on instinct.
Kashimo's lunging speed far exceeded that of any opponent he had fought before, and his movements were clean and decisive-no wasted flourishes, every move aimed straight at a vital point.
Hajime Kashimo planted his feet and studied him for a moment. "Your body-" He tapped his own shoulder with the iron staff. "Your muscle density and reflexes are far beyond an ordinary person's."
He took an attacking stance again, only to hear a clang. Hajime Kashimo frowned.
Gu Yanzhi tossed his blade aside and spread his hands.
"I have no intention of fighting you, and I know I can't beat you. But I can tell you where Sukuna is. How about a deal?"
Hajime Kashimo's frown deepened in irritation. Lightning flared around him as he raised his iron staff and pointed it at Gu Yanzhi.
"You slick-tongued bastard. Don't spoil my fun with your little schemes. So what if you know where Sukuna is? I'll beat it out of you, one punch at a time."
Gu Yanzhi clicked his tongue, at a loss for words. Does this guy have muscles for brains?
Lightning burst around Hajime Kashimo, and he vanished. When he reappeared, he was already right in front of Gu Yanzhi.
But Gu Yanzhi remained calm. He had anticipated the sudden attack. As he adjusted his position, he recalled his blade with his cursed technique. It was now hurtling toward Hajime Kashimo's back.
Facing Gu Yanzhi's trap, Hajime Kashimo grinned and shouted at him,
"Is that all? Don't disappoint me!"
Hajime Kashimo neither dodged nor retreated. His lightning-wreathed iron staff smashed Gu Yanzhi away. Then lightning erupted around him again, shattering the blade aimed at his back and scattering its fragments.
Gu Yanzhi spat blood as he flew backward. The arm he had used to block was charred black.
"You actually brute-forced your way through that? Still..."
At a thought from Gu Yanzhi, the broken blade fragments spun and shot straight toward Hajime Kashimo's face.
Hajime Kashimo reacted instantly, twisting aside to dodge, but the fragments still cut his face.
Blood trickled down Hajime Kashimo's cheek. He wiped it away with the back of his hand, his grin growing even wider.
Their eyes met again.
Gu Yanzhi considered his options. Hajime Kashimo's fighting style had been clearly demonstrated in the original manga.
His lightning strikes were not simply discharges of electricity. He achieved a "sure-hit" effect through precise control of electric charges-injecting positive charges into his opponent while accumulating negative charges in his own body. The attraction between opposite charges made his attacks track their target automatically, allowing him to land nearly unavoidable strikes without a Domain Expansion.
In other words, although he had no Domain Expansion and no domain effect to assist him,
the entire universe could be called his domain. The world's laws of physics were his domain effect.
That last hit probably marked me with a positive charge. Every attack after this will home in on me.
His expression turned grave. A golden barrier spread around him. He hoped his modified Hollow Wicker Basket could offer some protection against Hajime Kashimo's lightning.
Hajime Kashimo charged again. The arcs coiling around his iron staff were denser than before, heating the shaft until it glowed white.
Gu Yanzhi did not meet him head-on. He poured cursed energy into his legs and darted sideways to gain some distance.
The iron staff struck where he had just stood, blasting a charred crater into the ground. Before he could regain his footing, Hajime Kashimo changed his move. The staff traced a vicious arc through the air and swept toward his waist.
Knowing Gu Yanzhi could not possibly dodge this strike, Hajime Kashimo poured a massive amount of cursed energy into the staff, intending to finish him outright.
But Gu Yanzhi's body flickered strangely, evading it with a movement that defied all reason.
Hajime Kashimo's pupils abruptly contracted.
The man had actually flown into the air.
Gu Yanzhi clenched his hand, and Hajime Kashimo suddenly found himself unable to move. Then Gu Yanzhi took a deep breath, and cursed energy spread outward from his core.
Debris across the surrounding streets trembled at once-broken glass, snapped rebar, overturned trash cans, chunks of shattered concrete. All of it rose into the air, well over a hundred pieces.
Object Manipulation.
With the boost from Kurourushi's cursed energy reserves, he could control several times more objects at once than this body's original owner. Every object was wrapped in spectral blue cursed energy, hovering around him like an army poised to strike.
Hajime Kashimo glanced at the floating debris, the corners of his mouth lifting. "Interesting."
Gu Yanzhi pointed forward. Dozens of "projectiles" shot toward Hajime Kashimo at once. Rebar and broken glass tore through the air, while trash cans hurtled down with a heavy rush of wind.
Hajime Kashimo exerted himself sharply and broke free of his restraints. He swung his iron staff, its lightning forming a rough defensive net around his body.
The incoming debris struck the staff and was deflected, pulverized into dust. But there was simply too much of it. With every attack arriving simultaneously from a different angle, a few stones still grazed him, leaving shallow streaks of blood along his forearm and ribs.
Hajime Kashimo glanced down at the scrapes on his arm. His gaze changed-not with anger, but with even greater excitement.
He abandoned his defense and charged. Lightning beneath his feet accelerated him to his limit, turning him into a blurred blue afterimage.
Gu Yanzhi had no time to face him directly. He could only keep hurling obstacles with Object Manipulation to disrupt his charge while retreating rapidly, continually laying debris along his retreat path. The wrecks of several abandoned cars, road signs, streetlight poles-he dragged them all over with his mind and hurled them at Hajime Kashimo.
Hajime Kashimo accelerated again. Lightning exploded beneath his feet, turning him into a blurred blue afterimage as he bounced between the walls of buildings on either side of the street, evading projectile after projectile.
At the same time, lightning gathered in his hand, and bolts shot out. The attraction between positive and negative charges drew out spectral blue arcs that pierced the air and stabbed toward Gu Yanzhi from multiple directions at once.
His modified Hollow Wicker Basket spread around him, enclosing his body within golden walls of light.
The arcs struck the walls and weakened somewhat-but the barrier's range was too small and its duration too short to neutralize them completely. The remaining lightning pierced the light and struck Gu Yanzhi directly.
Even weakened by the modified Hollow Wicker Basket, even with Gu Yanzhi's superhuman physique, the lightning inflicted terrifying damage.
One bolt hit his left shoulder, blasting flesh apart and exposing twitching muscle beneath blackened skin. Another struck his right leg, instantly burning his trousers to ash and scorching a furrow deep enough to expose bone along the outside of his thigh.
Gu Yanzhi fell from the air and slammed into the asphalt. His entire body was charred, and several wounds still trailed wisps of smoke.
He braced his hands against the ground and gasped for breath. Every breath carried a scorched smell, and his lungs felt as though they had been flooded with chili water.
He raised his head. Hajime Kashimo had already closed in, his iron staff raised high. Dense arcs coiled around its shaft with a piercing hum. This strike was aimed at his head.
Gu Yanzhi did not stand. He knelt on the ground with his head lowered, his voice hoarse and exhausted.
"Fine control of an innate cursed technique really is difficult. No matter how much time passes, I still can't get a feel for merging a Barrier Technique with my innate cursed technique." His fingers trembled slightly as they slowly curled inward.
"But..."
Hajime Kashimo's expression changed abruptly.
The cursed energy around Gu Yanzhi was flickering strangely, its density rising at tremendous speed. The air began to tremble, and an invisible force sent loose stones rolling outward across the ground.
Hajime Kashimo was alarmed. Could it be-can this guy use it?
Gu Yanzhi's gaze snapped upward and locked onto Hajime Kashimo. The corner of his mouth curved slightly.
"Domain Expansion."
"Court of Ten Thousand Treasured Arms."
Hajime Kashimo stopped dead.
"I never expected him to be a sorcerer of this caliber."
A black barrier spread outward, enclosing Gu Yanzhi and Hajime Kashimo.
"I never said-I didn't have an ultimate move."
Before you continue