The Horn of Panic · La Black Luna
Although Shirō and Rasa's match was scheduled as the second bout, it unexpectedly became the opening fight. The original first match—Minato versus Tai yi—never happened, as Tai yi chose to forfeit.
It wasn't a hard choice for him. His injuries from the previous round still hadn't healed, and too much of his fighting style had already been exposed. Minato, by comparison, was holding far more in reserve.
And so, Shirō found himself stepping in as the first fight of the day.
Over the past two days of observation, he'd come to a clear conclusion: he was the best person to handle Rasa. That wasn't arrogance—it was calculated confidence.
The Noble Phantasm he had prepared was a perfect counter to opponents whose abilities relied heavily on precise chakra control. It might not fare as well against pure taijutsu specialists, but against Magnet Release users? As long as the gap in raw strength wasn't massive, it would be decisive.
Ninja, after all, were a specialized kind of fighter—often high in offense but fragile in defense. Once their abilities were studied and countered, their combat power dropped significantly. And Rasa's Magnet Release, while powerful, wasn't invincible. Even Sasori, who also depended on fine chakra manipulation, was a trickier opponent in Shirō's mind—since even without his puppets, Sasori's poisons remained deadly.
Which was why Shirō was quietly pleased with the match-up.
His trump card was a Noble Phantasm belonging to none other than Astolfo—yes, that Astolfo. The eternally cheerful, impossibly cute Paladin of Charlemagne.
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Noble Phantasm: The Horn of Panic · La Black Luna
Rank: C
Wielder: Astolfo, one of Charlemagne's Twelve Paladins
Appearance: A small horn, normally worn at the waist, that grows larger when used
Legend: Gifted to Astolfo by the sorceress Logistilla, the horn's sound drove away a great flock of harpies. Its magical resonance inspires terror in those who hear it. Heroic Spirits with strong magic resistance can endure it, but most ordinary magi cannot.
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Shirō had already tested the horn's effect—on himself, unfortunately.
In the ninja world, its sound caused chakra flow to become violently unstable, accompanied by an intense headache. He wasn't sure if it would cause magical energy disruption in the Type-Moon world, but that was a question for another day.
Fortunately, the Noble Phantasm's effect could be targeted, or else he would never dare use it in an arena battle. And while prolonged exposure built up resistance, the disruption lasted long enough to be decisive—especially if the enemy was airborne.
If Rasa took to the sky, the Horn's effect would send him crashing down.
Still, Shirō wasn't strong enough yet to combine it with certain other Noble Phantasms he knew—like a certain "bloodthirsty demoness"—so for now, his plan was simple: force Rasa as high into the air as possible, then strike.
Rasa's flight ability, using gold dust to lift himself, gave him a huge battlefield advantage—most ninja couldn't fly. But Shirō doubted Rasa would go all out in a preliminary match.
That was where Shirō's confidence came from.
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When the match began, Rasa did exactly what Shirō expected—he stepped onto his floating platform of gold dust and rose into the air.
But Shirō didn't immediately summon La Black Luna. Rasa wasn't high enough yet.
Dodging a stream of gold dust shuriken, Shirō formed rapid hand seals.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
Unlike the wide-area Great Breakthrough, Vacuum Sphere was a precision cutting attack that could be fired repeatedly. Shirō wasn't expecting to wound Rasa—he only needed to harass him and force him higher.
The strategy worked. Rasa climbed further to avoid the barrage, though he continued to send gold dust projectiles down, taunting Shirō in an effort to break his focus. But Shirō noticed something else—Rasa was also gradually lowering himself again, likely conserving chakra. Sustained flight with gold dust was costly, even for a kage-level ninja.
Close enough, Shirō decided. Time to end it.
"Projection—start."
White light flared in his hands as the horn took shape. The moment Rasa saw it, he instinctively rose a few meters higher—then the sound hit him.
A deep, unnatural tone, vibrating straight into his chakra network. His control shattered.
High above the arena, Rasa froze—then plummeted as his gold dust lost cohesion, scattering like sand in the wind.
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"This is…!"
In the kage's viewing box, the Third Kazekage stood abruptly, alarm flickering in his eyes. For a moment, he thought Shirō had discovered some absolute counter to Magnet Release—something that would be far too dangerous to leave in another village's hands.
But after focusing his senses, he relaxed. The technique merely disrupted chakra control. Rare, yes, but not unheard of. With strong enough focus, it could be resisted.
Homura Mitokado, however, was intrigued. Emiya Shirō was officially a commoner, yet here he was using a highly specialized, clan-level technique. Homura didn't believe for a second that Shirō had betrayed Konoha—no village would send such a talent away as a spy.
No… this only meant one thing.
Shirō had held back far more of his family's secret techniques than he'd revealed.
And in Homura's opinion… that was exactly what a smart shinobi should do.