Ten Shadows Technique

"Todo!"

Seeing Todo about to clap his hands and swap the Cursed Spirit orb's position, Yū Shinji hurriedly called out to stop him.

Ken Kaneki had told them.

It would be best if they could force Kenjaku to open his domain, but it was fine if they couldn't.

Until Yuki Tsukumo arrived, they had to avoid provoking him as much as possible.

Otherwise...

Every one of them would die!

Hearing Yū Shinji's shout, Todo stopped short of bringing his hands together.

Led by Yū Shinji, the group quickly retreated.

And...

Kenjaku merely watched them with a cold smirk the entire time.

Only when he saw that they weren't going to interfere did he tilt his head back and swallow the Cursed Spirit orb Mahito had become, right before their eyes.

"Not quite that stupid, then!"

With that said...

Kenjaku sensed another person's presence behind him, and an excited, savage grin spread across his face.

"You really dared to come..."

"Kaneki!"

Behind him stood a white-haired boy-Ken Kaneki himself!

He had no choice.

His total Cursed Energy rivaled Yuta Okkotsu's.

Even if he deliberately suppressed it, he was still as conspicuous to Kenjaku as a light bulb in the dark.

Rather than hide alone and get found by Kenjaku later, he stood a better chance of surviving by coming straight to the battlefield.

He had also considered hiding in the shadows.

But...

The original story had made it clear that there was no oxygen inside the shadows. Anyone who stayed inside too long would suffocate.

Rather than...

Get hunted down like a mole later, he might as well join his allies from the start.

Because of the distance...

Itadori could only see a streak of white in the darkness, but that was enough for him to identify the newcomer. "Is that... Kaneki?!!!"

Hearing that...

Yū Shinji's expression changed sharply, and he hurriedly shouted, "This is bad!"

"Todo!"

As he spoke, he sent his remaining puppets running toward Ken Kaneki.

At the same time...

He raised his mechanical arm.

And fired a cannon blast straight at Kenjaku!

The instant he heard his name, Todo ran toward Kaneki.

They were too far apart.

He needed to get closer before he could activate Boogie Woogie and swap Kaneki back to safety.

He held both hands up.

Ready to clap at any moment.

Seeing this...

Kenjaku dodged the Cursed Energy blast and merely called out with a smile, "Uraume, freeze them for me."

As his words fell...

Beside him...

A cold-looking girl appeared, dressed in monk's robes and sporting a bob haircut.

This was Uraume.

Uraume had been male in his previous life.

But his Incarnated Vessel was a woman named Himi Shiori.

Ice Formation-Frost Calm!

Uraume blew a visible stream of freezing air toward the approaching group, and it instantly spread.

Crack!

With the sound of ice crystallizing...

All six of them, including Itadori, were frozen solid.

They could even...

Clearly see that Todo's hands were less than a centimeter apart.

"What a shame..." Kenjaku said with a smile.

With that...

He turned around and smiled at Ken Kaneki.

It was unclear whether that remark had been meant for Aoi Todo or Ken Kaneki.

"Looks like..."

Kaneki sighed softly. "Today's not my lucky day!"

He hadn't expected it either.

Itadori and the others were on the opposite side from him.

As he spoke, his eyes underwent a drastic change. The whites turned black, while his irises became blood-red.

"Kakugan, huh..."

Kenjaku chuckled. "Do you have a Kagune, too?"

"Nope..." Kaneki replied with a smile. "Aunt Kaori."

Even his Kakugan only appeared when he used Cursed Energy.

Kenjaku kept smiling gently. "Even if you try to get chummy with me, I won't change my mind about killing you."

"It was you!"

A furious shout rang out.

At the sight of Choso, Kenjaku's smile turned nasty. He looked at the late arrival. "Finally figured it out, have you..."

"Kenjaku!"

Choso strode toward him, seething. "How dare you... how dare you order me to kill my little brother!"

"Get lost."

Uraume raised his right hand, cold air curling around it, and stared icily at Choso. "Trash!"

At that moment...

Choso finally noticed Itadori frozen nearby.

"You..." Choso suppressed his fury as he demanded, "You froze my little brother?"

Uraume didn't answer.

He gave his answer directly with his Cursed Technique.

Choso assumed the stance for Piercing Blood, crimson blood gathering between his fingers.

Then...

He compressed it to its limit.

It shot out like a bullet, moving fast enough to reach the speed of sound.

This was...

Convergence: Piercing Blood!

Kenjaku paid no attention to which of them would win and continued looking at Ken Kaneki. "Waiting for Yuki Tsukumo?"

He knew exactly which powerful fighters Jujutsu High still had available.

As he spoke...

He let out a cold chuckle. "Don't worry. I'll kill you before she gets here!"

With that...

A pitch-black rift split open in the space behind him.

A swarm of green Cursed Spirits resembling centipedes poured out, racing toward Kaneki.

Kaneki chose not to counterattack.

Instead, he rapidly backed away, dodging.

A black vortex appeared in Kenjaku's right palm. A catfish shot out of it, flew toward Ken Kaneki a short distance away, and sank into the ground.

Seeing that...

Kaneki's pupils contracted.

Kenjaku gave a mocking smile. "So you know Great Catfish's Cursed Technique..."

The moment he finished speaking...

Ken Kaneki tripped over flat ground and fell.

The green-armored centipede Cursed Spirits chasing him seized the opening and crawled toward him en masse.

Kaneki flicked his right hand.

A blade slid out of his sleeve and landed in his grasp.

He only managed a single slash before the other green-armored centipedes engulfed him.

Their sharp legs cut wound after wound across his body.

At the sight...

Itadori actually broke free of the ice holding him and ran toward Kaneki.

Breaking free like that...

Also saved Choso, who had been on the verge of being killed.

"Looks like..."

Deaf to the others' cries, Kenjaku slowly walked up to Kaneki. "You've awakened quite a nice Cursed Technique."

"You're afraid I'll figure it out."

"Even now, you refuse to reveal it."

After saying that, he sensed the presence of others and looked in one direction. "The reinforcements got here pretty fast."

Looking in that direction...

They could see the students and teachers of Kyoto Prefectural Jujutsu High arriving as reinforcements, along with Panda.

"Save Kaneki!"

Yū Shinji's voice came through the Communication Puppet in Kasumi Miwa's hand.

Hearing him...

Noritoshi Kamo, who already had his bow drawn and ready, loosed three arrows at Kenjaku.

Kenjaku didn't even look.

He raised his left hand toward the arrows and shot several fish-shaped Cursed Spirits with human faces from his palm, intercepting and knocking them down.

Bang!

Just then, another muffled sniper shot rang out.

"A sniper rifle, huh..."

"I agree. We really should make more active use of modern weapons against sorcerers."

As he spoke, Kenjaku summoned a Cursed Spirit resembling an octopus, ready to block the bullet.

A smug smile spread across his face.

Now!

Kaneki seized the moment and activated his Cursed Technique.

The shadow beneath his feet churned, and a massive Great Serpent sprang out. It knocked aside the green-armored centipedes in front of him and lunged at Kenjaku.

As long as I can bite off an arm...

That'll still be a win for me!

Kenjaku's expression flashed with alarm.

His body instinctively leaned backward.

Grabbing the Great Serpent's upper jaw and planting his foot on its lower jaw, he avoided both its bite and the bullet.

Then...

He easily freed himself from the Great Serpent and landed on the ground.

"That was close..."

Kenjaku smiled teasingly. "You really almost pulled it off!"

Now...

He understood Ken Kaneki's Cursed Technique, too!

With Kakugan and the Ten Shadows Technique, it was hard not to figure it out...

What a tough one to guess!

Kaneki's expression darkened.

His hands never stopped moving as he continued tearing the green-armored centipedes off his body.

Blood kept spraying.

"That's..."

Nearby, Kasumi Miwa and the others stared in shock. "Megumi Fushiguro's Ten Shadows Technique?!"

Two seconds later.

He had torn off and exorcised every centipede covering his body.

Except for his face.

Ken Kaneki's body was covered in cuts that looked as though they had been made by a knife.

His clothes were in tatters, and he was drenched in blood.

At that moment.

Kaneki actually felt as though he had been handed Itadori's script.

"Now..."

Kenjaku's gaze was icy, but his voice remained gentle. "I want to kill you even more!"

"Kaneki!"