December 24.
On a ridge outside the Matsue Domain, the morning mist had just cleared.
Kashimo stood at the highest point, holding his hand as though he were about to flick a marble. His right thumb pressed against the knuckle of his index finger, his other three fingers slightly curled, as if taking aim, as if gathering power.
But there was nothing in his hand.
He no longer needed matter to compress lightning when he unleashed Electromagnetic Cannon. Three months had been enough to hone his cursed energy control to its absolute limit. He compressed his own cursed energy again and again, until it condensed into a point almost invisible to the naked eye.
The density of that mass of energy rivaled Purple.
"Moon Shadow."
He spoke.
"Thunderclap."
The air around him began to tremble.
"Heaven and Lake Surface-"
Cursed energy surged wildly at his fingertip. Compressed to its limit, the mass of energy emitted a dazzling blue light, like a sun clenched in his palm.
"Piercing Thunder."
His thumb flicked outward.
There was no roar, no explosion. The Electromagnetic Cannon shot out at a speed almost impossible to see, leaving only a distorted ripple in the air.
Five hundred meters away.
Zenin Sawa stood on the mountain path, his arms hanging loosely at his sides, looking up at the figure on the ridge.
The next instant, his pupils contracted sharply.
Cursed energy!
An enormous amount of cursed energy was approaching at a terrifying speed!
He had no time to think. Instinctively, he raised both hands in front of him.
BOOM-!!!
A deafening blast erupted that instant. The shock wave spread in every direction, uprooting the surrounding trees and plowing deep furrows through the ground.
The smoke cleared.
Zenin Sawa stood where he had been, his arms extended in a blocking stance, cursed energy pouring through his entire body.
Both his hands had been blown off. The skin of his upper body was blackened and cracked, wisps of smoke rising from it.
Behind him, the once-level mountain path had been ravaged beyond recognition.
A terrifying trench stretched from Zenin Sawa's feet, a hundred meters long and several meters deep. The soil along its edges had been vitrified by the intense heat, gleaming eerily in the sunlight.
Zenin Sawa lowered his head and looked at his charred body.
He said nothing.
And a second later, Kashimo was already in front of him.
It was not movement, but teleportation. From the ridge five hundred meters away to within three paces, in less than a single breath.
"Surprised?"
He tilted his head, watching flesh regrow on those charred hands, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Ten Shadows."
Zenin Sawa slowly raised his head.
Reverse Cursed Technique was working at full capacity. His charcoal-like skin peeled away layer by layer, revealing new flesh beneath. He looked at the man before him, with his teal hair and white clothes, his face expressionless. Only his eyes were dark, like a pool of deep water.
"Pretty mediocre."
He spoke in a calm voice.
"Looks like-"
His regrown arms shook, shedding the last flakes of charcoal. His new hands clenched into fists, and cursed energy began gathering over his knuckles.
"I'll have to teach you what a true curse is."
Kashimo said nothing.
He merely clenched his fists as well, arcs of electricity dancing around him as cursed energy gathered over his knuckles.
The next instant.
Both men charged at each other.
BANG-!
The dull impact of fist against fist erupted across the mountain path. A shock wave spread outward, sending loose stones flying.
Zenin Sawa was much bigger than Kashimo, his frame nearly a full size larger. His descending fist carried the crushing weight of a mountain.
But when it came to strength-
They were not the same.
Kashimo had relied on hand-to-hand combat all these years. Every punch and kick had been honed in battles to the death. It was no inherited cursed technique, no extraordinary innate talent, but instinct beaten into him over seventeen years.
His fists were faster than Zenin Sawa's, trickier, more vicious.
Three punches.
Five punches.
Ten punches.
Gaps began appearing in Zenin Sawa's guard.
One opening lasted only an instant, but Kashimo seized it.
A punch broke through his defenses and slammed squarely into Zenin Sawa's shoulder.
SPLAT-!
The sound of rupturing flesh rang out sharply. A huge hole was blasted through Zenin Sawa's shoulder in an instant, shattered bone and flesh spraying out of his back onto the mountain path behind him.
Zenin Sawa grunted and staggered backward.
Kashimo said nothing.
He merely watched Zenin Sawa's healing shoulder, his lips slowly spreading into a thoroughly nasty grin. In the morning light, that grin looked a little crazed, like a cat watching a mouse finally discover the trap, or a hunter hearing his prey finally step into a snare.
Zenin Sawa stared at that grin, his pupils contracting slightly.
"Round Deer."
Without hesitation, he immediately formed a hand sign.
The shadow behind him churned, and an enormous deer-shaped shikigami emerged from the darkness. Golden light radiated from its body, enveloping Zenin Sawa's shoulder. The power of Reverse Cursed Technique flowed into the wound. Flesh grew at a visible rate, bones rejoined, and the gaping hole was filled in bit by bit.
Zenin Sawa moved his newly regrown shoulder, his gaze never leaving Kashimo's face.
"The instant your attack hit me-"
He spoke, his voice heavy as tumbling mountain rocks.
"You injected something, didn't you?"
Kashimo did not answer.
His grin merely deepened a little.
Zenin Sawa stared at him for two seconds, then abruptly looked away. He raised his hand, and Round Deer slowly began sinking behind him, merging back into his shadow.
Sunlight spilled through a gap in the clouds, falling on the mountain path between them.
Then-
Zenin Sawa charged again.
This time, he was faster, fiercer, holding nothing back. His figure burst into motion before Kashimo, a fist driving straight toward his face.
Kashimo stepped back.
The punch skimmed past the tip of his nose, its wind stinging his cheek. He turned sideways with the motion, about to strike back.
Suddenly, his wrist tightened.
Zenin Sawa's other hand had already clamped around his wrist. It was like an iron vise, all five fingers tightening until his bones creaked.
Kashimo's pupils contracted slightly.
At that same instant, something began gathering in Zenin Sawa's palm.
Water.
Clear water, spinning at high speed, containing a terrifying amount of cursed energy.
It was Max Elephant's Piercing Water.
Kashimo did not dodge.
The shot of Piercing Water slammed squarely into his chest. Flesh burst apart, exposing bone, and the clothing over his chest was instantly shredded. Yet he did not even frown. He violently twisted his trapped wrist, breaking free of the grip.
Then he drove a fist into Zenin Sawa's face.
SPLAT-!
That face burst apart.
The skin was completely gone, exposing bloody muscle and stark white bone beneath. With nothing shielding them, his eyeballs stared naked into the air at the blood-covered man before him. Blood poured from where his facial features had been, running down his chin and dripping onto the ground, where it spread into a dark red stain.
Zenin Sawa staggered backward, but gritted his teeth and stayed on his feet.
He raised his mangled hand and began forming a hand sign.
"Domain Expansion-"
His voice was hoarse, forced from a mouth that no longer had lips. Every word seemed to take all his strength.
"Shadows of All Creation."
The instant the words fell, the world around them abruptly changed color.
The shadows came alive.
They were no longer mere light and shade, but something with life and a will of their own. They spread from beneath Zenin Sawa's feet like a black tide, expanding in every direction. Every inch of land covered by the shadows began to churn and tremble, as though something were awakening within the darkness.
Kashimo quickly formed a hand sign, and a transparent membrane appeared over his body.
Hollow Wicker Basket.
He stood in that black tide, watching the outlines of shikigami emerge from the shadows, watching their auras surge at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"Shadows of All Creation."
The domain Zenin Sawa had grasped at sixteen.
It had only one sure-hit effect.
To greatly enhance every shikigami belonging to the Ten Shadows user within the domain.
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