Maximum: Uzumaki

The smoke cleared, and Dai Li saw what had happened within it.

Suguru Geto had used a cursed spirit to block the blow, but he had hardly escaped unscathed just because there was smoke.

Dai Li was surprised.

Was this guy really that tough? My punches definitely aren't as strong as my kicks, and even that move didn't finish him?

Dai Li clearly had great confidence in the strength of his legs.

But on second thought, Suguru Geto was a monster when it came to taking hits. He had taken a Black Flash from Yuta Okkotsu head-on and still seemed perfectly lively, getting back up after only a brief stint on the ground.

At that moment, Suguru Geto was not nearly as unharmed as Dai Li had suggested. The kick had battered his face, and blood ran from his nose.

That blow had contained an enormous amount of cursed energy. To Suguru Geto, it looked like an all-or-nothing attack.

Even his defensive grade 1 cursed spirit had been killed, and he had taken considerable damage himself.

But this guy shouldn't have much cursed energy left. That blow contained at least seventy percent of what I have right now, Suguru Geto thought.

"Was that blow still not enough to earn your acknowledgment?"

Dai Li still remembered the promise Suguru Geto had made before the fight. He did not need to defeat him; Geto would leave of his own accord if Dai Li earned his acknowledgment.

"Sorry, but your cursed technique is far too mysterious, and you also have enormous reserves of cursed energy."

Suguru Geto adopted a mocking air again. He believed that kick had merely been Dai Li's last desperate counterattack, pouring out all the cursed energy he had kept hidden.

"Most importantly, your ideals are completely different from mine. Given time, you'll surely become an obstacle to my goal."

"Killing you now is the best choice. After all, how much cursed energy do you have left after that blow?"

Suguru Geto clearly intended to go back on his word. He was going to seize this chance to kill Dai Li.

"What a despicable bastard!"

"This is simply the greater good necessary to achieve my goal!"

Here he comes!

Suguru Geto raced up to Dai Li, who prepared to seize the initiative with a punch as soon as he came within reach.

But a section of the three-section staff smashed toward him first. Dai Li's fist lacked the reach to hit Suguru Geto.

Instead, Dai Li grabbed one of Playful Cloud's three sections and yanked it backward with all his strength.

The distance between Suguru Geto and Dai Li shrank.

Dai Li first punched Suguru Geto in the right cheek, then immediately followed with a kick, slamming him into the ground hard enough to crack the rock beneath him.

"Think you're something special just because you have a cursed tool? How did you like that?"

Suguru Geto sprang up at once and backflipped away to open some distance.

"Not bad."

Suguru Geto's face twisted as he spoke. His initial composure was long gone.

"Cursed Spirit Manipulation."

He released a swarm of cursed spirits, including several grade 1 cursed spirits.

Two grade 1 cursed spirits, plus a whole bunch of grade 2 and grade 3 cursed spirits? This guy is clearly trying to drain my cursed energy.

Unfortunately for him, I currently have a month's worth of cursed energy in reserve, along with triple the output efficiency. Draining my cursed energy without paying a hefty price won't be that easy!

"Take down the leader first!"

I'll kill those two grade 1 cursed spirits first.

With his body reinforced by triple cursed energy output, Dai Li used the other cursed spirits as stepping stones and leaped straight onto the back of one of the grade 1 cursed spirits.

First, I'll go for the eye.

"Let's blind this guy first."

Dai Li wrapped his fist in cursed energy and drove it forward. The One-Eyed Cursed Spirit's eye was destroyed, and the spirit let out an anguished howl of rage.

Next...

The other grade 1 cursed spirit attacked from a distance, firing compressed-air projectiles at him in rapid succession.

Fast! But it needs time to charge. Dai Li was also analyzing the cursed spirits as he fought.

I'll switch targets and kill this guy first. After all, he understood the principle of taking out the ADC first in a team fight.

Pop, pop-pop.

Seeing Dai Li switch targets and head its way, the Yellow-Brown Cursed Spirit immediately changed its firing mode, launching shots even faster.

This guy saw me coming to take it out, so it skipped charging and switched to shells with less power but more knockback?

"It even has crowd-control skills. Suguru Geto really does understand how to make cursed spirits work together."

"Too bad your team has no tank!"

Dai Li immediately dodged aside, preparing to push off with both feet and use the recoil to close in on the cursed spirit.

Suddenly, a gigantic humanoid cursed spirit dropped from the sky and blocked Dai Li's path.

This cursed spirit was enormous, with a green body clad in iron armor and a katana sized to match its bulk. Jet-black hair covered its left eye, while its right eye contained three eyeballs.

There's no mistaking it. This guy is the special grade cursed spirit-the Double-Pupiled General.

Suguru Geto, that bastard, even said he wouldn't use special grade cursed spirits. I really can't trust a single word he says.

The Double-Pupiled General immediately drew his sword and attacked Dai Li. As a special grade, his speed and strength spoke for themselves.

His massive body was astonishingly agile. He never stopped swinging, his blade whipping through the air with a constant whoosh.

Damn it, the One-Eyed Cursed Spirit over there has almost recovered too, and that swarm of grade 2 and grade 3 cursed spirits is about to climb up here.

I need to get some distance first and give this a try.

Dai Li immediately retreated. Noticing his move, the cursed spirits tried to pin him down and deny him the chance to kite them.

But none of these cursed spirits specialized in speed, and they failed to catch him. Even the Double-Pupiled General only managed to graze Dai Li's left arm with his long blade.

"Got my left side, huh? Special grade cursed spirits really are different from the rest of the small fry."

After opening some distance, Dai Li waited for an opportunity-for the cursed spirits to line up.

Then he stepped out with his left leg, bent his right knee, and clenched his right fist tight, poised to unleash something big on the cursed spirits.

Cursed energy gathered in his right fist and arm, automatically working in concert with his attack. This blow contained an extreme concentration of cursed energy.

In an instant, cursed energy erupted from Dai Li's right fist. A closer look would have revealed that it seemed compressed, forming a high-pressure gale that roared outward.

Dai Li had developed this move with a little imagination and the cursed energy that automatically adjusted its output to support him.

"I'm calling this move-Wind King Iron Fist!"

He had copied the move from an anime, but the technique he developed based on its underlying principles proved unexpectedly effective.

The Double-Pupiled General, charging at the front, took most of the damage. But most of the grade 2 and grade 3 cursed spirits behind him were shattered by the shock wave, while others were crushed beneath him as he fell.

"Truly impressive. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before you kill my special grade cursed spirit."

Just then, Suguru Geto suddenly appeared, having vanished somewhere during the fight.

"Your cursed energy can replenish itself. If we keep wearing each other down like this, those annoying jujutsu sorcerers will arrive."

Suguru Geto realized that all his efforts to drain Dai Li's cursed energy had accomplished nothing. Dai Li's cursed energy was not a full bucket of water gradually being depleted, but a well with a constantly replenishing supply.

"So I've decided to settle this with a powerful finishing move."

A black swirling mass hovered above Suguru Geto, radiating a terrifying amount of cursed energy.

"Maximum: Uzumaki."

"This attack combines the cursed energy of ten grade 1 cursed spirits and hundreds of grade 2 and grade 3 cursed spirits."

"Be grateful. You'll be the first person to die to this move."