Popper vs. Popper: Kashimo Explodes

Hajime Kashimo's Cursed Technique was [Mythical Beast Amber].

Once he unleashed the technique, his body would gradually transform into an energy form, pushed by the technique to transcend the bounds of humanity entirely.

The price, however, was death.

The transformation into energy was irreversible. In the end, Hajime Kashimo would be killed by his own technique, becoming pure energy and dissipating.

If [Corpse Attraction Shock Blast] turned parts of the body into bombs, then [Mythical Beast Amber] essentially turned the sorcerer's entire body into one giant popper.

The sheer ridiculousness of those two techniques made them a match for the Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix.

Even so, compared with [Corpse Attraction Shock Blast], [Mythical Beast Amber] did have certain advantages in terms of the technique's pure performance.

At the very least, granting its user lightning-aspected Cursed Energy already put it far ahead.

Lightning crackled around Hajime Kashimo as he planted his foot and charged at Shiratori Gotsu.

"Take this!"

"Heh... You think I'll avoid your attack?!"

Shiratori Gotsu dug out his left eye, aimed it at the oncoming Hajime Kashimo and flicked it at him. Then he made the detonation gesture.

"Petty tricks!"

Hajime Kashimo swung his lightning staff, knocking the eyeball bomb aside, then quickly gathered Cursed Energy to defend himself.

After an earth-shaking blast, two innocent trees had fallen, while Hajime Kashimo's clothes weren't even dirty.

"He's that strong?!"

"I'm not done yet!"

Without pausing for an instant, he appeared at Shiratori Gotsu's side the next moment and swept his lightning staff straight at his head.

Shiratori Gotsu leaned back to dodge, the corners of his mouth rising. Then... he turned and ran.

As he ran, he gripped his left hand with his right and twisted, tearing all five fingers off at once.

"Have some ladyfingers!"

With a backward flick of his hand, he sent his thumb, index finger, and middle finger flying at Hajime Kashimo's face, chest, and crotch respectively.

I can't block them...

Hajime Kashimo immediately dodged, then resumed the chase.

Shiratori Gotsu flicked his hand again, throwing his remaining ring finger and little finger at Hajime Kashimo.

"Are you looking down on me?!"

Hajime Kashimo swung his lightning staff swiftly, batting the two fingers away one after the other.

Shiratori Gotsu smiled faintly and twisted off his now fully regenerated fingers again. As he led Hajime Kashimo on a "morning run," he bombarded him with them.

Explosions rang out from time to time, often accompanied by a tree or two becoming innocent casualties.

"That's enough, isn't it?! What's the point of running away like this the whole time?!"

The chase had gone on for over a minute, and by now, Hajime Kashimo's face showed clear signs of impatience.

Shiratori Gotsu said nothing. He simply kept leading Hajime Kashimo in circles around the mountainside while constantly feeding him "ladyfingers."

Of course, he didn't intend to keep stalling Hajime Kashimo like this forever.

Rather...

"Hey, hey, hey! Haven't you had enough of these childish games?!"

Hajime Kashimo roared, and arcs of electricity burst outward around him.

Shiratori Gotsu swiftly dodged from side to side, finally coming to a stop after he landed.

By now, the two had returned to the "crater" Shiratori Gotsu had blasted out when testing his technique's power at the start.

"Done running?!"

Seeing this, Hajime Kashimo hurled his lightning staff, now fully charged with positive electricity, at Shiratori Gotsu.

"Then take this!"

"No thanks, I'll pass!"

Shiratori Gotsu ducked. The lightning staff grazed his hair and flew past, embedding itself straight into the trunk of a tree behind him.

Then, just as he rose and prepared to cut off his own left arm and hit Hajime Kashimo with a big one, he saw his opponent raise a hand toward him.

"Lightning!!"

The next moment, a bolt of lightning shot from Hajime Kashimo's fingertips, punching a bowl-sized hole straight through his chest before striking the lightning staff.

This was Hajime Kashimo's signature technique.

By touching and striking a target, he accumulated positive charge in its body while accumulating negative charge in his own.

Once enough charge had accumulated, he could ignore distance entirely and, through the attraction between charges, fire lightning that was guaranteed to hit its target.

Shiratori Gotsu abruptly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Damn... I actually forgot about [Executioner's Lightning], but...

The corners of his mouth rose, and then he did something that shocked even Hajime Kashimo.

Shiratori Gotsu thrust his hand into the gaping hole in his chest and, without a moment's hesitation, dug out his heart, half of which had been burned away by the lightning.

The next moment, Reverse Cursed Technique² activated, and the wound rapidly regenerated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Shiratori Gotsu looked at Hajime Kashimo, who had stopped a few steps away, and hefted the mangled heart in his hand, grinning with unrestrained excitement.

"What? Judging by your expression, you look pretty surprised."

"My Cursed Technique turns parts of my body into bombs. The more important the part, the more powerful the resulting explosion."

"I'd been wanting to try an organ like the heart, but I could never work up the courage to open my own chest. I've got to thank you for helping me out!"

With that, he hurled the heart, which [Corpse Attraction Shock Blast] had already turned into a bomb, at Hajime Kashimo.

"Please accept my 'heartfelt' thanks!"

Alarm bells immediately went off in Hajime Kashimo's mind. This blast was bound to be powerful, and if he took it head-on, he might very well die here.

I need to get far away...

But just as he stepped to the side to dodge, Shiratori Gotsu made the detonation gesture.

Boom!

One of the fingers Hajime Kashimo had dodged earlier had detonated.

"Tch..."

Hajime Kashimo quickly changed direction, but as Shiratori Gotsu made the detonation gesture again...

Boom!

Another explosion blocked his path.

"Damn it...!"

Only then did Hajime Kashimo realize that Shiratori Gotsu hadn't led him on that morning run while throwing bombs at him to win that way.

He had taken advantage of Hajime Kashimo's focus on the chase, using some of the fingers he hadn't detonated to lay a trap around the mountainside.

Then he had led him back to the center to ensure he could defeat him in a single blow!

Boom! Boom! Boom!...

As Shiratori Gotsu kept making the detonation gesture, the continuous explosions around Hajime Kashimo boxed him in completely.

Knowing he had nowhere to run, Hajime Kashimo decided to stake everything on one last attempt.

"Then bring it on!"

He immediately gathered all the Cursed Energy in his body and leaped straight toward Shiratori Gotsu's "heartfelt thanks."

He was going to take the blow head-on and, at the same time, try to drag Shiratori Gotsu into the blast radius too!

"[Corpse Attraction Shock Blast] already touched that heart!"

Shiratori Gotsu laughed and made the detonation gesture.

Boom!

Flames soared into the sky as an unprecedentedly violent explosion thundered through the mountain forest!

When everything had settled, Hajime Kashimo lay in the center of a crater nearly twenty meters across, his shirt nowhere to be found, his pants in tatters, and his entire body charred black.

The nearby trees had vanished without a trace, while those farther away had been snapped in half by the shock wave.

"What a thoroughly satisfying blast~"

His clothes slightly dirty, Shiratori Gotsu slowly approached the battered Hajime Kashimo.

"This is my first time getting blown up by my own blast~ Looks like the injuries really are different when it's my own technique and Cursed Energy, after all."

"Cough, cough... I have nothing to say. Make it quick!"

Hajime Kashimo spoke with a look of acceptance.

"No."

Shiratori Gotsu flatly refused.

"I only agreed to fight you. I don't want to kill you."

"..."

"...You really are something..."

Hajime Kashimo couldn't help thinking of all the opponents he had faced over the years.

It seemed that, in his battles with them, both sides had often tacitly understood from the start that they were fighting to the death.

Defeat had often meant death.

"You've really got me beat!"

Hajime Kashimo chuckled, then his head lolled to the side and he fell unconscious.