Clang!
Dōjigiri Yasutsuna struck Taira no Masakado's neck, producing a sharp metallic clash.
Yuta Okkotsu pulled back immediately, his grip tightening as his right hand trembled slightly.
"Not even a Special Grade cursed tool can hurt him?"
Taira no Masakado, one of the Four Great Vengeful Spirits, was said to have been licked by a Great Serpent at birth. That act granted him a body of iron and bones of steel, making him impervious to ordinary weapons.
Crack.
Rumble.
Yuta glanced to the side.
Thunder roared in the distance as Sugawara no Michizane descended like a deity, calling down waves of lightning.
In another direction, the massive Blood Great Tengu towered over the battlefield, its presence suffocating.
"So this is what Gojo Senpai and Geto Senpai are dealing with?"
Yuta exhaled, steadying himself.
"Then I can't hold back either."
Cursed Speech markings formed around his mouth as he prepared to act.
At that moment, Taira no Masakado's shadow twisted unnaturally. It split into six parts, and from each, another Masakado emerged.
Seven in total.
Each one identical, each one carrying the same impenetrable body.
This was his technique, Shadow Warrior.
In an instant, all seven charged from different directions, blades raised.
"Plummet!"
Yuta combined swordsmanship with Cursed Speech, barely holding off the relentless assault.
Even as he fought, his gaze remained fixed on them. A strange surge of Cursed Energy began to build.
After a prolonged clash, his eyes sharpened.
"Cursed Technique Mimicry, Shadow Warrior."
Four shadows split from beneath him.
Four clones.
It was not perfect. His mimicry could not fully match the original in such a short time, and four was his limit.
But it was enough.
His clones intercepted four of the enemies, leaving Yuta to face three alone.
"Plummet!"
One clone of Masakado was forced to the ground.
In that instant, Yuta surged forward.
His target was clear. Among the seven, only one had a true shadow.
The original.
A clone moved to block him, but Yuta reached forward and twisted the air itself.
"Sky."
The space around him warped, bending his straight path into a curved arc. In a blink, he slipped past the obstacle.
"If the legend is true…"
He closed the distance.
Masakado struck, but Yuta rolled under the attack and drove Dōjigiri forward, aiming straight for his brow.
The legend stated that the serpent had covered every part of Masakado's body, except for one point.
The center of his forehead.
His only weakness.
Masakado reacted instantly, raising his hand to block.
"Sky."
The space distorted again.
Yuta's blade shifted unnaturally, curving mid-strike before piercing directly into Masakado's brow.
For a moment, everything froze.
Then his body trembled.
The six clones shattered instantly.
Cracks spread across his original body like broken glass, light leaking from within.
Bang!
With a violent explosion, Taira no Masakado was reduced to ash.
Yuta exhaled deeply.
"Finally… done."
He glanced at his blade, then gave a faint smile.
"Never thought those history lessons would actually save my life."
…
"An ability similar to Kenjaku's?"
Tsukumo Yuki frowned as she faced Prince Sawara.
"No… not quite."
"Kenjaku uses an Anti-Gravity System. This is pure psychokinesis."
Prince Sawara rose into the air. Around him, vehicles and chunks of concrete lifted and began to spin.
Then they launched toward her like artillery.
"Tch."
Yuki clicked her tongue, weaving through the barrage.
The attacks came without pause, like a storm.
Dodging alone would only exhaust her.
She needed to close the distance.
"O-rin."
Her Shikigami curled into a compact sphere.
"Star Rage."
Its mass increased instantly to an extreme level.
Yuki kicked it forward like a cannonball.
Boom!
The attack tore through everything in its path, smashing apart the incoming debris.
Prince Sawara dodged, but not completely.
O-rin brushed past him, and the pressure alone ripped his arm clean off.
Yuki had already moved.
Using the opening, she closed the gap and appeared directly in front of him.
Her fist, wrapped in Cursed Energy, drove forward.
"Got you."
Bang!
A massive rock slammed into her from the side.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Her body crashed through multiple buildings before finally stopping.
She rose slowly from the rubble.
Her limbs were twisted, her skull fractured, ribs shattered, and her internal organs severely damaged.
But Reverse Cursed Technique was already at work, repairing the damage.
She looked up, narrowing her eyes.
The debris around Prince Sawara was now rotating at extreme speed, forming a dense barrier around him.
A perfect defense.
Even if she broke through once, it would immediately close again.
Yuki exhaled slowly.
"So that's how you're playing it."
She brought her hands together.
Her technique, Star Rage, allowed her to manipulate mass.
At its absolute limit, that mass would collapse into something far more dangerous.
A black hole.
Normally, releasing that level of power meant certain death.
But she had refined it.
A controlled version, lasting only a few seconds.
"Hollow Technique, Zenith, Black Hole."
A small black sphere formed in her palm.
She lifted it and released it into the air.
It floated upward and stopped near Prince Sawara.
Then it activated.
A terrifying gravitational force erupted instantly.
Everything was dragged inward.
Cars, buildings, trees, debris, all torn from the ground and pulled into a massive vortex.
Even Prince Sawara's rotating defense was ripped apart and swallowed.
He struggled, using his psychokinesis to resist.
But resistance was meaningless.
Not even light could escape.
Within seconds, his body was dragged in and crushed.
Everything collapsed into a dense sphere.
Then the black hole vanished.
For a brief moment, silence.
Then the compressed mass detonated.
A violent explosion tore outward, scattering flames and molten debris in every direction.
When it ended, nothing remained.
Prince Sawara was gone without a trace.