Taming shikigami

"Aaargh!!!"

With one final, agonized howl, the cursed spirit was successfully exorcised by Naomitsu. Half the cursed energy in his body had been spent as well.

Am I really this weak without a weapon?

The fight also gave Naomitsu cause for reflection. Lately, he had poured all his energy into swordsmanship, leaving him briefly at a loss when he lost the Soul Liberation Blade.

Looks like I'll have to put more work into training my body and the Ten Shadows Technique!

As Naomitsu pondered, a whistling sound came from overhead. He snapped his head up and saw the Soul Liberation Blade hurtling toward him.

"Toji! Are you trying to kill me?!"

Naomitsu sidestepped out of the Soul Liberation Blade's path. Only after it plunged into the ground did he pull it out.

"Come with me!"

Toji stood on the wall with his hands in his pockets. After tossing out those words, he led Naomitsu to their next destination.

This guy really does whatever he pleases.

As he ran, Naomitsu wrapped the Soul Liberation Blade in its black cloth again.

Using cursed energy as footholds, Naomitsu bounded between buildings alongside Toji. They cut across the streets of Tokyo at an absurd speed.

He doesn't have any cursed energy, yet he can do all this with his body alone. The Heavenly Tyrant really is a monster. No wonder that brat Naoya was so scared.

At that thought, Maki's face appeared in Naomitsu's mind. If his older sister, who always liked sticking close to him, became like this too...

While Naomitsu's thoughts wandered, Toji Fushiguro had already led him to a secluded spot.

"Let's begin! Attack me with everything you've got!"

It was a ruined, unfinished building, somewhere the two of them could fight without holding back.

Toji kept his hands in his pockets, looking for all the world as though he were on vacation. The way he yawned made it even clearer that he didn't take Naomitsu seriously at all.

That attitude gave Naomitsu a good idea.

Let's work on Black Flash first!

Pulling away the black cloth, Naomitsu gripped the Soul Liberation Blade. His cursed energy surged, coursing through every part of his body.

His speed increased, and he leaped through the ruined building.

Five seconds later, Naomitsu closed in on Toji Fushiguro. He fed cursed energy into the Soul Liberation Blade and slashed straight down at Toji.

"Still too slow. Doesn't hold a candle to Projection Sorcery. At this rate, you probably won't land a hit on me in your entire life."

With his hands still in his pockets, Toji taunted him as he dodged effortlessly. Naomitsu said nothing and swung his blade faster.

"Your swings are weak! Your cursed energy is sloppy! Your footwork is loose! Your reactions are sluggish! Not a single move is worth a damn! And you still want to keep training with me? Dream on!"

Toji kept talking as his body swayed, easily avoiding every attack. He was doing it to provoke Naomitsu.

He wanted to see whether Naomitsu would lose his reason under provocation and start attacking wildly. It was the same mentality as someone far above toying with an ant.

That's enough testing. Time to start the plan.

Naomitsu hadn't been listening to Toji at all. He was only fighting him to experience real combat and land a Black Flash.

The results were far from ideal.

Since he couldn't pull off Black Flash, Naomitsu decided to set another plan in motion. An opportunity like this was hard to come by, after all. He had to make use of it.

Naomitsu retreated several dozen steps, and Toji Fushiguro didn't pursue him. With over ten meters between them, Naomitsu initiated the Shikigami Taming Ritual.

The second shikigami! Rabbit Escape!

Rabbit Escape consisted of rabbits that could multiply endlessly. They were used in battle to disrupt enemies and draw their attacks, though each individual rabbit was weak.

Once Rabbit Escape appeared, Naomitsu charged at Toji Fushiguro again. The red-eyed rabbits rushed alongside him.

"You think you can show off in front of me with small fry like these?"

Toji Fushiguro used both his hands and feet. Like discarded water bottles on the roadside, the rabbits were crushed or kicked away.

In five seconds, Toji dealt with Rabbit Escape.

Meanwhile, Naomitsu slipped over to Rabbit Escape's original body and overwhelmed it with cursed energy. With Toji Fushiguro's help, he successfully tamed Rabbit Escape and returned it to his shadow.

"Heh! This brat!"

Having tasted the benefits, Naomitsu broke into a grin. Free labor like this wasn't easy to find. Now that he'd gotten hold of it, he had to milk it for all it was worth.

"Next up, the third one!"

The third shikigami! Toad!

The Toad shikigami was, in fact, a giant frog. He specialized in restraining enemies with his long tongue and could swallow or transport objects.

When Toad appeared, he happened to be behind Toji Fushiguro. He identified Toji as an enemy too.

Toad shot out his long tongue, intending to restrain Toji and swallow him. But Toji's senses were extraordinarily keen. Without even turning around, he reached back and caught Toad's tongue.

With a single blow, he kicked Toad more than ten meters away.

Naomitsu jumped down to follow up and, just as before, suppressed the shikigami with cursed energy to tame him.

"That's enough, brat. I agreed to give you special training, not help you tame shikigami."

Toji Fushiguro hadn't even helped his own son, yet he had indirectly helped Naomitsu tame two shikigami.

With Toji Fushiguro calling him out, Naomitsu knew he wouldn't get another chance to take advantage. He abandoned the idea and gripped the Soul Liberation Blade, ready to focus.

"Toji! Let's begin! Make me stronger! Strong enough to protect your child!"

Toji Fushiguro didn't put much effort into the three days of special training. After just a few hours of basic practice, he tossed Naomitsu into a Cursed Spirit House packed with cursed spirits.

"I'm starving to death! Toji, you bastard!"

Amid a mountain of cursed spirit corpses and a sea of blood, Naomitsu crawled out of the burial mound with the Soul Liberation Blade in hand. Foul-smelling liquid covered him from head to toe.

"Drip, drip..."

Leaving a footprint with every step, Naomitsu looked like a demon child from hell. Any ordinary person who saw him would have been scared out of their wits.

After leaving the Cursed Spirit House, Naomitsu found a river along the way and gave himself a thorough wash.

Then he snatched a high school girl's phone by the roadside and called Maki, asking her to hurry over and pick him up.

"Here, take it back!"

Tossing back the phone, Naomitsu headed toward the station. All he wanted now was a huge meal. After three days and nights of torment at the hands of cursed spirits, he would have died long ago if not for his cursed energy.

When he reached the station, Naomitsu ordered all sorts of easily digestible food. He circulated his cursed energy as he digested his meal.

By the time Maki and Mai arrived, he had just eaten his fill, ready to pay and head home.

On the ride back, Mai was very curious about what Naomitsu had been doing over the past few days. She clung to him, chattering away and asking him question after question.

Unfortunately, Naomitsu was too exhausted. After giving a couple of perfunctory answers, he lay down on Maki's firm thighs and fell fast asleep.

Maki's thighs were soft and springy, and Naomitsu slept soundly. Both sisters felt sorry for him and didn't wake him even when they reached their stop and got out.

Naomitsu wasn't heavy. Mai carried him while Maki carried the Soul Liberation Blade. The three of them made their way home at a leisurely pace, not arriving until evening.

"What's wrong with little Mitsu? Does he need to go to the hospital? Or should we find someone to look at him?"

Seeing Naomitsu fast asleep, his mother was so distressed that she didn't know what to do. She wanted to take him into her arms right away, but she was afraid of hurting him.