That Hair Color, Without a Doubt!

Edo, Japan.

At this point in time, Edo was Japan's economic and political center, and naturally, its most prosperous place as well...

"So... is this really still Edo? Where the hell did you send me?"

Shiratori Gotsu had landed on a deserted, barren mountain.

"Isn't this more convenient for you, host?"

The system explained:

"If I'd teleported you straight onto the street, wouldn't people seeing you suddenly appear have caused a commotion?"

"Then you would've had to find a place like this yourself to test your current strength. Wouldn't that have been a hassle and an inconvenience?"

"Now I've found you a choice spot like this myself. Wasn't that thoughtful of me?"

Listening to the system, Shiratori Gotsu felt a warmth in his heart.

He closed his eyes and smiled knowingly:

"System... marry me!"

The system immediately responded with equal affection: "Host, please go die!"

"All right, all right, I'll stop teasing you."

Shiratori Gotsu waved a hand and stopped joking with the system:

"Now that I have a ready-made testing ground, let's see how powerful this Creeper Cursed Technique is..."

He raised his right hand, gathered his Cursed Energy, and chopped off his entire left hand with a single hand strike.

The next moment, Reverse Cursed Technique² activated. Flesh and bone rapidly regenerated at his severed wrist, and in less than a second, his entire hand had grown back, good as new.

"Whoa, that fast?!"

Shiratori Gotsu made a comparison in his head and was astonished to discover-

His current Reverse Cursed Technique was nearly as efficient as Sukuna's during the Juvenile Detention Center's Cursed Womb Must Die arc in the original manga!

"!? Strong, strong ?!"

Even he was startled by how efficient it was. "Could it be that I, Shiratori Gotsu, am finally leaving the ranks of the !? so-so ?! behind?"

No... I can't laugh yet...

Wait just a little longer... I'll laugh after I finish testing the technique's power...

Though that was what he thought, the corners of Shiratori Gotsu's mouth still curled up a little, beyond his control.

He bent down and picked up the severed hand. He activated [Corpse Attraction Shock Blast], and almost instantly, he felt the hand reconnect with him through the technique.

So that's how it works... I really can control when it explodes.

Just as he'd expected.

The moment a body part was turned into a bomb by [Corpse Attraction Shock Blast], it ceased to fall under the definition of a "living limb."

As far as the sorcerer was concerned, such body parts were actually more like Cursed Objects, or a special kind of Shikigami.

The sorcerer could order them to explode at any time, anywhere.

However, the detonation range was strongly and directly proportional to the sorcerer's own reserves of Cursed Energy.

With Shiratori Gotsu's current reserves, his maximum detonation range was about sixty meters.

"Hmm... that should be enough. Now let's test its power!"

He took aim at a crooked tree he found particularly unsightly and threw the severed-hand bomb with a perfectly textbook baseball pitch.

Just as it was about to hit the trunk, the image of a certain mysterious, peace-loving office worker from another show suddenly popped into Shiratori Gotsu's head...

His chuunibyou soul blazed.

He instinctively gave the tree a thumbs-up, then pressed his thumb down against his index finger as though pushing a bomb's detonator.

"[Corpse Attraction Shock Blast] has already touched that [left hand]."

Boom!

The instant the severed-hand bomb touched the trunk, flames and a shock wave erupted from within it. A thunderous roar burst through the mountain forest, startling a dense flock of birds into flight.

It also caught the attention of a blue-haired man on the neighboring mountain...

After the aftermath subsided, Shiratori Gotsu took a closer look. The spot where the crooked tree had stood was now a "crater."

Earth and rocks had been flung up, and the remaining half of the stump had been blasted into a ragged mess like a bird's nest. The crater looked to be about five meters across.

"Pfft... woohoo~"

Shiratori Gotsu couldn't help humming with delight.

That was just the power of one hand, after all.

And it was his non-dominant hand, which wasn't as important as his dominant one.

If he used his dominant hand instead, or an entire arm, or some more important internal organs... even his heart, OO...

How powerful would that be?

"Mwehehehe... mwahahaha!..."

Shiratori Gotsu had spent all his time using [Fate Track Binding Curse] before this. He had never experienced such violent damage output. Looking at his "masterpiece," he could finally no longer resist throwing back his head and laughing:

"Sorry, [Fate Track Binding Curse], but I don't miss you one bit now. All I feel is that the whole world is absolutely delightful!"

"It fits! [Corpse Attraction Shock Blast] really is perfect for my constitution!"

"Saikō ni high tte yatsu da! Ha↑ha↑!"

If he had to describe how he felt right now in one phrase, it could only be-refreshed in mind and body!

"This guy... he's completely high on it..."

The system muttered under its breath.

After calming down, a brilliant idea suddenly popped into Shiratori Gotsu's head.

He raised his thumb and repeated the motion of "pressing the detonator" that he had instinctively made earlier when an unprompted association set off his chuunibyou...

"Suppose... I mean, just suppose..."

Shiratori Gotsu rubbed his chin and raised an eyebrow:

"I make a Binding Vow requiring me to perform this gesture every time I detonate a bomb from now on, in exchange for an increased detonation range!"

-The Binding Vow was established!

Shiratori Gotsu could feel it with absolute clarity.

"I really am a genius!"

He spread his hands, closed his eyes, and made a gesture as though embracing nature.

Originally, he only had to give the detonation order in his mind, leaving his opponent with little more than instinct to judge when the bomb would explode.

That also meant that, if he planted bombs in advance, the activation of [Corpse Attraction Shock Blast] would be incredibly difficult to detect.

The essence of this Binding Vow was that he sacrificed the concealment of the technique's activation, allowing opponents to judge the timing of the explosion directly from his gesture.

In exchange, his detonation range had increased to a full hundred meters!

"System, don't you think I'm a genius?!"

Shiratori Gotsu was bursting with excitement.

The system didn't answer. Instead, another somewhat familiar voice sounded behind him.

"Who's System? Is there someone else here?"

Shiratori Gotsu turned around...

That hair color, without a doubt!

"Hatsune Miku-wait, no... Hajime Kashimo?!"

"Oh? You know me? That makes things easier!"

The youthful Hajime Kashimo dug in his ear with his little finger, then raised his lightning staff and pointed it at Shiratori Gotsu's face:

"Were you the one who made that noise and left that big crater over there?"

"Uh... yeah. Don't tell me that tree belonged to you?"

Shiratori Gotsu answered Hajime Kashimo's question casually while calling the system in his mind:

System, what's going on? Never mind why he's here-shouldn't he be Old Man Kashimo at this point in time?

"I deliberately moved the timing forward and sent you to a point when Hajime Kashimo had only just started making a name for himself."

"If I'd really sent you to Old Man Kashimo's time, he might have died one day before you even got to meet him."

"As for why he's here, perhaps it's the will of heaven."

Oh~ I see...

Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it.

With that attitude, Shiratori Gotsu accepted the situation with ease and immediately prepared to have some fun:

"Come to think of it, even if that tree was yours, I don't have any money to pay you for it."

"What tree?" Hajime Kashimo leaned forward and assumed a fighting stance. "Judging by that noise and the big crater over there, you must be pretty strong, right? How about a fight?"

"Hm?"

Faced with Hajime Kashimo's sudden challenge, Shiratori Gotsu was taken aback for a moment, then his lips curled upward...

If this were his previous playthrough, when he was still using [Fate Track Binding Curse], he would definitely have laughed it off and refused.

But in this playthrough, he had [Corpse Attraction Shock Blast], which meant he was no ordinary Shiratori Gotsu anymore. He was now Niuhuru Kira Yoshikage Creeper Gotsu!

Besides, an actual fight was the best way to test his strength.

"Sure, bring it on! I was just thinking of looking you up for a few rounds myself!"

Shiratori Gotsu grinned and immediately took up a fighting stance.

"Couldn't be better!"

Hajime Kashimo was very pleased with Shiratori Gotsu's response. An excited smile spread across his face, and lightning surged around him in an instant.

The next moment, half a little finger flew toward him.

"Huh?"

While Hajime Kashimo was still puzzled by the sight of his opponent breaking off his own finger, Shiratori Gotsu had already made the detonation gesture.

Boom!

Since it was only half a little finger, and Hajime Kashimo had reflexively protected his body with Cursed Energy, the explosion merely blackened his face and gave him an instant, explosively slicked-back hairstyle.

"You..."

He had only spoken one word when he suddenly paused.

Hajime Kashimo had originally intended to accuse Shiratori Gotsu of a sneak attack...

But blaming his opponent for seizing the initiative because he himself hadn't been alert enough would be the behavior of a complete weakling.

So he forcibly changed the rest of what he was about to say:

"...Tch... not bad! Don't get my hopes up too much now!"

Hearing that, Shiratori Gotsu smiled faintly:

"Then, shall we continue?"

"Nothing I'd like more!"