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At the same time, a hundred meters above Kiyomizu Stage, Bokue Keikain leisurely observed the battle below while holding the young Onmyōji girl in his arms.
Golden magnetic field energy naturally formed a barrier around him, blocking out the howling winds of the upper atmosphere.
"What in the world is..."
But compared to the still-relaxed young man, Yura's mouth had fallen open in shock as she stared at the scene below.
"Why is Tsuchigumo appearing in a place like this??"
"Who knows?"
Bokue shrugged with complete indifference.
He might be indifferent, but Yura was already completely panicking.
Tsuchigumo might not be a legendary demon on par with Hagoromo-Gitsune, but he was still one of the Great Demons—a powerful existence capable of commanding the Hundred Demons and dominating entire regions.
Yet now he'd suddenly appeared in Kyoto, in the most densely crowded area no less—Kiyomizu-dera Temple.
What the hell was the main family's barrier team even doing??
"We can't just watch! We have to get down there and stop this. That girl with the sword is about to reach her limit. If Tsuchigumo escapes from Kiyomizu-dera..."
At that thought, Yura squirmed, trying to break free from Bokue's embrace—completely forgetting they were a hundred meters in the air.
Fortunately, Bokue quickly pulled her back.
"No rush, no rush. Can't you see Busujima-senpai down there fighting her hardest? Let's just stay here and watch how she handles it."
"Busujima... senpai?"
Hearing that somewhat familiar form of address, Yura paused in slight confusion.
She stopped struggling and turned to look questioningly at the young man behind her.
"Wait, Brother, do you know that girl down there?"
"Of course I do. That's Busujima-senpai."
Bokue admitted it without the slightest hesitation.
"Busujima-senpai was originally a student at Tokyo Jujutsu High, but because Tokyo Jujutsu High got destroyed, she temporarily transferred to Kuoh Academy—the same school I attend... Yeah, that's basically it."
After casually explaining in just a couple sentences, Bokue's attention was immediately drawn back to the battle below.
The Kiyomizu Stage below had completely transformed into a crimson swamp. Thick plasma formed entirely from cursed energy spread across the entire platform, cascading down the stage's edges like lava waterfalls.
Saeko Busujima stood at the very center of this blood-red swamp, holding her blade with her head slightly lowered, completely motionless. Black markings like those from Sage Mode in Naruto appeared on her face, giving her a demonic appearance.
She no longer resembled the calm, cold swordswoman from before. Her slightly upturned eyes glowed with blood-red light covering her entire pupils, and with each breath, white mist burst from between her lips and teeth.
"Domain Expansion, huh? And an open-barrier type at that."
Tsuchigumo crouched down and scooped up a handful of blood-water from the ground, rubbing it between his fingers. The viscous red liquid had completely solidified, flowing through his fingers.
"I take back what I said earlier. Being able to perform Domain Expansion already makes you stronger than most Jujutsu Sorcerers. And an open-barrier type too... not bad. Now this is getting interesting! Hahaha!!"
He burst into laughter, simultaneously dropping his pipe. As if his interest had been piqued, he stood up and swung all four arms, preparing to charge forward.
But the next moment, Saeko's entire form vanished from her spot again.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Unlike her previous light, falling-cherry-blossom-like footwork, this time when the swordswoman disappeared, the ground where she'd stood erupted like an explosion, massive waves of blood shooting skyward.
This was the effect of extreme force collision.
At the same time, she'd already killed her way back in front of Tsuchigumo, her blood-red eyes locked on him as she swung her blade down.
The crimson blade light tore through the night. Even Tsuchigumo instinctively raised his arms to block against such murderous intent.
But the next second, he felt like part of his body had disappeared.
SHING—!
As that blade filled with infinite killing intent descended, an arm as thick as a bus flew into the sky. Massive amounts of blood instantly poured down like a flood.
Compared to earlier when she'd struggled just to cut Tsuchigumo's skin, the current Saeko Busujima seemed like a completely different person.
However, such terrifying power didn't come without a price.
CRACK!
The crisp sound of breaking bone rang out. Beneath the swordswoman's yukata, the arm that had just swung the blade twisted unnaturally. Scalding blood soaked through her sleeve at the elbow, turning the indigo fabric dark brown.
Yet Saeko seemed completely unbothered. She simply released her katana from her right hand, spinning mid-air to catch it with her left.
She would strike again!
"What the—??"
Tsuchigumo realized something was wrong and tried to dodge, but it was already too late.
The next moment, another arm on the opposite side of his body separated from his torso.
Correspondingly, Saeko's left hand—which had delivered the second strike—also made a breaking sound.
Her body simply couldn't withstand unleashing such tremendous power. A single strike was enough to shatter bones and tear tendons.
With both arms broken, Saeko stopped attacking, allowing her body to fall like a torn rag toward the blood-red swamp below, crashing straight into the viscous crimson waters.
Only after the blood-water shot skyward once more did Tsuchigumo's anguished cry finally reach them.
"GAAAAH! My arms! Damn Jujutsu Sorcerer, I'll make you—!"
But before he could finish, Saeko had already risen from the blood-water.
She'd pushed herself up using both hands.
The arms that had been broken from the overwhelming force had somehow been completely restored. With a light flick, she traced a crimson arc through the air, shaking off all the blood clinging to her blade. Then she raised her head once more, fixing her gaze—utterly devoid of reason—on the now-armless Tsuchigumo.
Near-invincible healing ability, plus attack power capable of one-shotting a Great Demon, combined with a completely instinct-driven fighting style with zero rational thought... Who would've guessed Busujima-senpai was actually a berserker?
Watching from above, Bokue thought to himself.
Now that he thought about it, back at the juvenile detention center when they'd encountered that cursed spirit that had eaten two of Sukuna's fingers, he'd always felt like Saeko seemed a bit... constipated. Like she wanted to unleash her ultimate move but couldn't quite squeeze it out.
Made sense now.
With that thought, Bokue released the young Onmyōji girl in his arms, casually using his magnetic field power to create a slowly descending sphere of light that enveloped Yura.
"Alright then, Yura, you just float down slowly. I'm heading down to check things out."
Before she could voice any objections, he leaped downward without waiting.
Meanwhile, below in the blood-red swamp, Tsuchigumo had already regained his stance. Crouched and breathing heavily, he gathered his strength to charge once more at the swordswoman who'd become a completely different person.
But the next second, he felt something land on top of his head.
At the same time, a young man's voice reached his ears.
"If I remember correctly, Yasaka-neesan's barrier should already be covering the entire Kansai region. To act this brazenly inside a nine-tailed celestial fox's barrier—I'm thinking you might have gone a bit crazy."
"What's on my head?? Get the hell off—"
Tsuchigumo swung his remaining arms to grab at his head.
But Bokue simply gave a light stomp, and Tsuchigumo's movements ceased. Then the young man took a step forward and jumped down from the demon's massive body.
Almost the instant he landed, the Great Demon's body behind him shattered into pieces.
A Great Demon of an era, ended just like that.
Bokue didn't even bother looking back. He waded step by step through the blood-water toward the swordswoman who hung her head low, having completely lost her reason. He tilted his head curiously.
"Bu—"
SHING!
Before he could even finish saying her name, Saeko—who'd been motionless like she'd disconnected just a second ago—launched an attack without warning, swinging her blade down at the young man before her.
But this strike was blocked by just a single finger from Bokue, who simultaneously raised his other hand to cup the swordswoman's cheek, his voice as relaxed as ever.
"What's wrong, Busujima-senpai? We've only been apart for half a summer vacation, and you already don't recognize me?"
"..."
As his words fell, the blade that had been pressing hard against Bokue's fingertip seemed to waver slightly.
At the same time, the blood-red color in Saeko's eyes faded somewhat, then began slowly receding. A halting murmur escaped from between her lips and teeth.
"Kouhai?"
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