This time, however, Mahito did not choose to block; he reached his hands forward.
Suddenly, Awasaka disappeared from Mahito's sight.
A fierce wind from a punch swept in from Mahito's side—
The Rotation Step!
In fighting techniques across the world, this is a footwork technique of considerable difficulty.
It allows one to rotate the body through an instantaneous burst of the ankle; from the opponent's perspective, it's as if they suddenly vanished, only to strike from the side by taking advantage of the opening.
He dodged!
No, it should be said that he calmed down.
The hands Mahito had extended to use Idle Transfiguration became a wasted effort.
Although Awasaka was currently extraordinarily fanatical, his mind was becoming increasingly calm.
By maintaining composure amidst his frenzy, he was able to exert abilities that surpassed his usual self.
He had completely transcended his normal state;
he was now more perfect and more powerful.
Awasaka had already stepped onto his own peak, all for the sake of this exhilarating battle!
Mahito drifted to the side like a weightless phantom.
The storm-like fists immediately followed.
Awasaka punched continuously amidst his wild roars.
He was like a shadow following a form, like a massive, surging wave.
His fists never strayed more than half a foot from Mahito.
In the eyes of the audience, their movements kicked up a massive howling wind, and the spectators on the second floor could even feel the killing intent washing over them.
Everyone raised their hands high and roared loudly.
Suddenly, Mahito raised his leg—
a knee strike!
Awasaka reacted instantly, lifting his own leg at the same time to perfectly block Mahito's knee.
During their first exchange, Awasaka had been too concerned with Mahito's hands.
He had to ensure those hands didn't touch him, so his attention had been fixed there.
But this was the second time, and he wouldn't make the same mistake again.
He blocked this sudden knee strike.
In the next instant, Mahito's fist came howling in!
Awasaka originally didn't need to dodge;
his Inverse could turn this powerful blow into a gentle breeze.
Yet, he still dodged.
He clearly remembered Mahito's ability—
"As long as he touches you, he can reshape the human soul."
Even with a nearly invincible Innate Technique like Inverse, if the opponent's attack wasn't direct but indirect, his technique wouldn't work.
Even so, the advantage is mine!
Awasaka roared inwardly.
Because combat experience is my true weapon.
That's right, Awasaka had already seen through it.
Although Mahito's physical fitness was extremely powerful, it seemed this was his first time fighting someone.
His attacks were straightforward.
While there were flashes of brilliance, most of the time he just aimed for the face.
As long as he kept this in mind, the more experienced Awasaka couldn't possibly lose.
Next, he just needed to slowly increase the pressure and use his rich experience to defeat his opponent.
It's my victory!
The corners of Awasaka's mouth curled up into a bloodthirsty smile.
He couldn't wait to see the high-and-mighty King of Curses crawling on the ground.
That would surely be a moment worth remembering for a lifetime.
A left hook suddenly arrived.
Awasaka concentrated on dodging, preparing to counterattack.
Then came an uppercut.
Then a heavy right punch.
A left jab.
A knee strike.
A series of continuous thrusting punches.
And finally—
the roundhouse kick!
"Ugh—!"
Awasaka retreated.
Fortunately, the final strike was a kick.
He used Inverse to block it in time, so the impact didn't disrupt his movements, but it allowed Mahito to use the reaction force to retreat a great distance.
Then Mahito leaped up, swinging his fists like a gale, swaying left and right as if a raging tide were approaching.
Awasaka could only retreat, defend, and dodge.
W-what's going on?
What is happening?
Awasaka dodged repeatedly.
He had clearly been attacking continuously just now, but since dodging Mahito's sudden knee strike, he seemed unable to fight back.
Moreover, he had a familiar feeling, as if—
"Ah, I understand."
Mid-punch, Mahito suddenly spoke.
He didn't seem troubled by the breathing rhythm of the exchange, speaking leisurely.
"I see... so this is martial arts."
Awasaka was enveloped by a massive fear.
No wonder he felt the opposing fists were familiar;
wasn't this exactly the routine he had used to attack Mahito just now?
A storm-like barrage of hits interspersed with sudden heavy strikes.
The only difference was that he almost never used his legs because the openings were too large, but Mahito was different.
He used both hands and feet, delivering wide, heavy strikes without hesitation or concern.
Of course he didn't need to be concerned, because his physical body was inherently superior to Awasaka's.
Even if he used a routine with wide, heavy strikes, he didn't worry about being countered because his neural reflexes could keep up with the speed needed to cover any openings.
Awasaka was the exact opposite;
if he dared to use a heavy strike, the resulting opening would inevitably be seized by Mahito, and then Idle Transfiguration would decide the match in one blow!
The time Awasaka and Mahito had been fighting was less than five minutes, yet within those five minutes, Mahito had completely mastered Awasaka's hand-to-hand combat.
He had even modified it based on his own physical attributes, making it more suited to himself—
perfect and flawless.
What terrifying learning ability!
"Ugh!"
Awasaka concentrated on not letting himself touch Mahito's hands, trying his best to tank the kicks with his body.
Although Mahito's kicks were powerful, under the protection of Inverse, the kicks were actually the most insignificant damage.
Mahito attacked to his heart's content.
The roar from the audience grew louder with each passing moment, like an approaching tsunami.
Accompanied by the waves of cheering, Mahito's combos became faster and his punch patterns more familiar.
Suddenly, Mahito disappeared from Awasaka's sight.
The Rotation Step!
Awasaka took a punch to the side of his face.
Just one punch.
Awasaka's vision suddenly went dark;
he was blind.
Idle Transfiguration!
There was a detail in the original work:
when Mahito first fought Nanami, his hand clearly touched Nanami, yet Nanami wasn't instantly turned into a transfigured human.
This was because even if a Jujutsu Sorcerer doesn't know how to protect their soul, they will subconsciously protect it the moment another's Cursed Energy contacts it.
This prevented Mahito from reshaping Nanami's soul upon the first touch.
According to the original work, this kind of contact only needs to happen two or three times to break through.
But in a brief exchange, where would those two or three times come from?
If hit by a Black Flash, the match could be decided in a single blow.
Two or three times was too long—
long enough to decide life and death!
Mahito reflected on this and modified the way he used Idle Transfiguration.
Instead of directly making major changes to the soul, he isolated the barrier between the soul and the flesh.
This wasn't reshaping the soul;
on the contrary, the isolated soul was actually harder to injure.
For the soul, this was a protective layer.
Mahito achieved this.
It was more difficult than he had imagined.
His approach was equivalent to a virus entering the body but not destroying it, instead choosing to disguise itself as an immune cell to work alongside others, isolating the sorted cells during the process.
For the soul, this was protection.
Since it was protection, it couldn't possibly trigger Cursed Energy defense.
Therefore, he succeeded.
Awasaka didn't know exactly what had happened, but he guessed it must be because contact with Mahito's hands had caused his soul to be reshaped.
He didn't know if this blindness was permanent or temporary, but for him, it made no difference.
Because this brief moment of daze had already decided the outcome.
"First, vision," Mahito said.
"Hearing."
"Smell."
"Taste."
"Touch."
By the fifth punch, Awasaka had fallen completely into darkness.
His five senses were entirely sealed.
He was in a vast darkness, unable even to feel his own limbs, as if he had been sunk into the deepest trench in the world, floating in infinite darkness.
A sliver of despair was expanding in his mind at an alarming rate, finally exploding.
He wanted to beg for mercy, but he didn't even know how to speak.
He wanted to surrender, but he couldn't even perform the action of raising his hand.
He had lost the five senses a human should have, with only the abyss for company.
He could not escape;
he could only sink, sinking infinitely.
In the eyes of the audience, since taking that first punch, Awasaka had been hit continuously by Mahito like a wooden stake.
Clearly, the first few punches hadn't caused Awasaka any damage—
of course, the audience didn't know that Inverse was in effect—
but the subsequent punches hit home, and Awasaka was beaten until he was foaming at the mouth.
Mahito finally used a rising dragon punch.
Awasaka's feet almost left the ground;
his head tilted back and his eyes rolled white.
This wasn't because he lost consciousness from the blow to his brain, but simply because he could no longer feel anything from the outside world.
In the darkness, he couldn't even feel the concussion, because by now even his sense of touch had vanished.
At the moment Awasaka was rising, Mahito suddenly stomped his foot.
He flipped his body, spinning once on the spot like a ballet dancer.
He raised his leg before the spin and kicked out violently after completing the rotation.
This was the most aesthetic kick in all of martial arts—
"Finally, consciousness," he said.
—the roundhouse kick!
Thud.
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