Special Grade

At the sight...

Kenjaku merely smiled.

The Elephant God behind him raised a hand again, and the rabbits from Rabbit Escape floated toward the sky as though gravity had lost its hold on them.

Just then!

Great Serpent burst out of Kenjaku's shadow and snapped at his leg, only for Kenjaku to nimbly dodge.

And...

Choso seized the opportunity too.

He unleashed Piercing Blood again, actively coordinating with Kaneki.

Kenjaku calmly evaded the attacks from both man and serpent, even sending out cursed spirits to counterattack Choso. With Ken Kaneki still refusing to show himself, he asked,

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

"Kaneki."

As he spoke...

Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed someone standing on the Elephant God's shoulder nearby.

Kaneki stood on the cursed spirit's shoulder, raised his foot, and kicked its head viciously.

"It's useless."

A smug smile appeared on Kenjaku's face.

Then came a dull thud. Kaneki's kick blew the Elephant God's head apart like a bursting watermelon.

The special grade cursed spirit-the Elephant God.

He had exorcised it!

Its remains gradually vanished before Kenjaku's eyes, and his smile slowly turned cold. "Is this... Yuki Tsukumo's cursed technique?"

He knew Jujutsu High extremely well.

The only person whose cursed technique he knew nothing about was the Special Grade Sorcerer-Yuki Tsukumo!

"A feigned attack, when your real aim was to force me away."

Kenjaku immediately deduced Kaneki's plan. "As expected of a sorcerer with Chinese ancestry. Your talent for strategy truly is astonishing."

As he spoke...

The rabbits floating in the air dropped to the ground, and Great Serpent sank back into the shadows with them.

"Compared to you..."

Kaneki stomped hard on the ground. "I've still got a long way to go!"

Bang!

A tremendous crash rang out.

Accompanied by the sound of splattering blood, a bizarre-looking cursed spirit slowly faded away.

During the brief opening as the rabbits landed...

Kenjaku had released a cursed spirit to attack.

At those words...

Kenjaku merely smiled, ducking another Piercing Blood from behind. "Do you still not understand?"

"Piercing Blood is fastest when it first fires. But once I've dodged it, no matter how you adjust its trajectory afterward, it poses no threat."

As he spoke...

He caught a glimpse of another figure behind him.

Something whistled through the air as a blade came hurtling toward him.

He had only just sidestepped the blade when Kaneki followed up with a sweeping kick.

It looked as though he intended to knock Kenjaku down.

In reality...

That sweeping kick could snap his legs clean through!

Naturally, Kenjaku did not take it head-on. Amid billowing black smoke, Kaneki kicked a cursed spirit apart before it even had a chance to show its face.

With the cursed spirit buying him time...

Kenjaku successfully put some distance between himself and Kaneki. "A cursed technique that enhances strength...?"

His speed had improved too.

But...

That had nothing to do with the cursed technique.

That increase in speed came from reinforcing his body with cursed energy.

His cursed energy control has grown more refined.

Having worked it out, Kenjaku freely praised him. "You really are a genius."

Ken Kaneki.

He was practically another Yuta Okkotsu.

Both his total cursed energy reserves and his cursed technique were extremely similar to Okkotsu's.

"If only I'd known..."

Kenjaku genuinely felt some regret. "I would have made you a player."

Had Ken Kaneki become a player...

He would not have posed as much of a threat as he did now. He might even have died in the Culling Game.

"What a nuisance..."

Kenjaku sighed softly.

As his words fell...

Thick black smoke rose around him, pouring out a swarm of cursed spirits reinforced with his cursed energy. They rushed at the two men at incredible speed.

In the very first exchange...

Choso was knocked to the ground by the surging cursed spirits.

At that critical moment...

The black and white Divine Dogs emerged from the shadows. Each took one of Choso's arms in its jaws and dragged him into the shadows.

With Star Rage to rely on...

Kaneki drew on his years of practical Muay Thai experience, dispatching the swarming cursed spirits with one punch apiece.

But...

He lasted only a few seconds.

Their sheer numbers soon overwhelmed him, forcing him to retreat.

"You're quite the fighter..."

A teasing voice stood out sharply amid the chaotic swarm of cursed spirits.

At the sound...

Kaneki's pupils abruptly contracted.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kenjaku standing among the cursed spirits right beside him, dressed in the Five-Strap Kasaya.

An eerie smile still rested on his face.

The next second!

An immense crushing pressure descended from above, paying no heed to the cursed spirits nearby.

In an instant!

The surrounding cursed spirits were crushed into a puddle of purple, bloody sludge. Ken Kaneki collapsed into it, his entire body covered in bright red blood.

"Yuki Tsukumo's cursed technique certainly is powerful."

Looking at him, Kenjaku remarked, "Even against low-grade cursed spirits reinforced with cursed energy, you can kill them with a single punch."

"Unfortunately..."

"You're not special grade."

"If Yuki Tsukumo were here instead, she could easily exorcise these reinforced low-grade cursed spirits."

"But you..."

"Can't!"

As he spoke...

The cursed spirits still scattered throughout the area streamed one by one into the black smoke behind him.

Only a few remained, holding Kaneki up and restraining his limbs to keep him from escaping into the shadows.

Seeing that Yuta Okkotsu and Yuki Tsukumo still had not appeared...

Kenjaku lost interest in playing around. Slowly raising his right hand, he said, "If you don't come out now, I'll kill him..."

"Kenjaku!"

Choso, who had just emerged from the shadows, immediately fired Piercing Blood at Kenjaku!

Seeing that it was neither Okkotsu nor Yuki Tsukumo, Kenjaku lost all desire to wait.

By then...

After treatment with Reverse Cursed Technique, Kaneki had already regained some ability to move.

Before he could act...

A sharp clap rang out beside him.

Smack!

Kenjaku slammed his raised right hand onto the back of his left. The immense crushing pressure struck again, aiming to kill Ken Kaneki in a single blow.

Piercing Blood was crushed straight into the ground by gravity.

At that desperate moment...

Naobito Zenin arrived on the battlefield with Kusakabe, stepping in front of Kaneki.

"New Shadow Style: Simple Domain."

The moment he arrived...

Kusakabe activated his Simple Domain, a moonlight-like ring appearing beneath his feet.

Even though...

Kusakabe had activated his Simple Domain...

He was still forced into a half-kneeling position alongside Naobito Zenin.

Simple Domain could not completely neutralize a cursed technique.

But it could weaken Kenjaku's cursed technique and reduce some of the damage.

In the original story...

Kusakabe had used Simple Domain to weaken Sukuna's slashes.

"You've saved his life again..."

Kenjaku sighed in wonder.

He had never expected...

That Kusakabe, who had no innate cursed technique and relied solely on New Shadow Style, would actually save Ken Kaneki twice.

"Are you all right?"

Naobito Zenin asked.

"I'm fine now." Kaneki stood up. "Thanks, both of you."

With that...

The three retreated together, putting some distance between themselves and Kenjaku.

Looking at Kaneki...

Kenjaku easily deduced why he had healed so quickly. "Was it Round Deer...?"

Kaneki was a little rattled.

It was as though his opponent had cheats permanently switched on.

He had indeed relied on Round Deer's Reverse Cursed Technique alongside his own to heal all his injuries so quickly.

He had even deliberately concealed Round Deer.

Round Deer was beneath him, almost entirely hidden within his shadow.

There was no way to see Round Deer from outside.

With several different sources of cursed energy masking Round Deer, detection was difficult too.

Yet Kenjaku had still inferred Round Deer's involvement from the speed at which his body healed.

"Impressive!"

Kaneki could not help praising him.

"It's nothing." Kenjaku remained calm. "I've simply lived a long time."

"If you live this long, you might earn the title of Omniscience too."

Those words...

Sounded like a veiled jab at Tengen.

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