Two and a half hours had passed.
An absolute dead zone had formed within a 500-meter radius around Mirai's unconscious body. No one dared to take a single step inside.
Standing sentinel over the boy was a towering, heavily muscled humanoid Shikigami. The Blade of Extermination was fused seamlessly to its right arm, and the Dharmachakra hovered silently behind its head.
It was none other than the Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General, Mahoraga! Further away, at the edge of the cratered estate, the Zenin clan members who were already starting the grueling process of rebuilding their homes kept stealing glances toward the epicenter. Their expressions ranged from sheer terror and reverence to fanatical devotion. From time to time, they would drop to their knees and bow toward Mirai and Mahoraga.
It was as if the boy had become a living god in their eyes.
"Ugh... the kid has been out cold for over two hours. If he doesn't wake up soon, my leg is going to undergo necrosis," Zenin Naobito groaned.
"Ha! Are you really so old and brittle that you need Reverse Cursed Technique for a minor scrape like that? You've gone soft, old man... hiss," Zenin Toji mocked, wincing slightly as he shifted his weight.
"I'd like to see you try to walk it off with a pulverized femur!"
The two men bickering like stray dogs were the very same top-tier sorcerers who had been casually hurled over the horizon like trash by Mahoraga. Neither of them had a single patch of intact skin left; they were covered head-to-toe in blood-soaked bandages. Naobito was leaning heavily on a makeshift crutch, while both of Toji's arms hung limply at his sides. Yet, neither was willing to concede an inch in their verbal sparring.
Pain. It hurts so much!
It felt as though Mirai's very soul had been pulled out, kneaded like dough, and violently rubbed against a cheese grater. The agony was a million times worse than physical injury.
Mirai's eyelids twitched violently, as if possessed. Beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead in a torrential downpour.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.
His vision was hazy and chaotic, but the sheer, blinding brilliance of the Six Eyes flared so intensely that even his opaque, pure-black contact lenses could barely contain the glow.
Under the awestruck, terrified gazes of the entire Zenin clan, Mirai's body slowly levitated off the ground, suspended perfectly in the void without any physical support.
At that exact moment, Jedora, completely resurrected and back to full health, emerged silently from Mirai's shadow.
The clan watched in breathless silence. The flawless, holy Chimera and the terrifying, muscular Divine General stood on Mirai's left and right—an untouchable pair of guardian deities flanking their master.
An ancient, esoteric mantra, seemingly carved into his very DNA upon birth, bubbled to the surface of Mirai's consciousness. Acting on pure instinct, the boy raised one hand toward the heavens and pointed the other toward the earth.
His voice, no longer that of a six-year-old child, echoed with majestic, resonant authority.
"The Yata Mirror..." "The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox..." "Jedora."
"Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General, Mahoraga!" "Yata Mirror Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, Jedora!"
"The void harbors infinite treasures, the cosmos is vast and boundless!" "Yin and Yang merge into Chaos! The ultimate synthesis of Taiji!"
"Dual-Polarity Shadow Technique—Complete!"
As his consciousness fully sharpened, Mirai's eyes widened, and he roared the final command!
An unfathomable, nearly bottomless torrent of cursed energy from the surrounding atmosphere frantically surged toward him. A portion of it flowed into Mahoraga, reinforcing its parameters. A small fraction was automatically multiplied into positive energy, instantly healing Mirai's lingering physical and mental damage.
But the vast majority of the torrent condensed directly above Jedora's antlered crown!
Her original antlers flaked away and dissolved into the air, instantly replaced by a magnificent new crown. The discarded antlers floated upward, fusing directly with the hyper-dense, golden cursed energy.
Gradually, the energy solidified, forming a breathtaking, perfectly circular mirror of glowing gold. It hovered autonomously above Jedora's head, mirroring Mahoraga's wheel.
The Yata Mirror. An absolute defense capable of absorbing, negating, and reflecting any phenomena. Much like Mahoraga's Blade of Extermination, the mirror would passively remain concealed, manifesting only when required.
And with that, it was done. Jedora had achieved her ultimate, complete form, perfectly mirroring Mahoraga.
The ultimate evolution of Mirai's Ten Shadows Technique—The Dual-Polarity Shadow Technique—was officially born!
The Dual-Polarity Shadow Technique. The true, perfected form of the Zenin clan's inherited technique.
To unlock it, the user must first fuse the other nine Shikigami into Jedora through the rule of Totality. Then, the user must initiate the subjugation ritual for Mahoraga and survive the Divine General's onslaught for exactly 180 seconds without dying or unsummoning Jedora.
With Mahoraga's ability to infinitely adapt to all phenomena, and Jedora's ability to perfectly replicate and reflect them, the user unifies Yin and Yang into absolute Chaos. Thus, they achieve the ultimate realm: "Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the Honored One."
Furthermore, this evolution entirely nullified the fatal flaw of the Ten Shadows.
Previously, if a Shikigami was destroyed, it was gone forever. But now? As long as Jedora and Mahoraga were not instantaneously obliterated at the exact same microsecond, they would continuously regenerate and revive one another. They were truly immortal!
Powerful! This is way too powerful! Mirai was genuinely shocked. Had anyone in history ever imagined the ceiling of the Ten Shadows was this high? Not even Sukuna, who had commandeered Megumi's body, had pushed the technique to this absolute peak!
Not only did he have two immortal, Special-Grade Shikigami, but he could now flawlessly utilize Mahoraga's adaptation alongside Jedora's raw offensive output.
Just because an enemy could kill them once didn't mean they could kill them forever. Just because an enemy was stronger now didn't mean they would be stronger later.
Jedora and Mahoraga were the ultimate spear and the ultimate shield. In a word: Invincible.
Who cares about Gege's favorite son, Sukuna? Who cares about the modern era's 'Strongest,' Gojo Satoru? Who cares about Kenjaku, that thousand-year-old brain-hopping freak?
Bow down before me! Mirai laughed maniacally in his head. I am the Zenin Patriarch! I am the scriptwriter of this world! I can do whatever I want! Wooo, we have liftoff!
With his mind buzzing with euphoria, Mirai comfortably nuzzled his head against the soft, cool silver armor of Lexus, who was currently carrying him through the air. He didn't want to land at all.
Ah~ Floating in the sky feels great. The wind is so noisy today...
"Mirai! Stop trying to look so cool!"
A dry, thoroughly irritated voice cut through his delusions of grandeur, completely ruining the majestic atmosphere.
"Mieko says dinner is ready! Get down here—and heal my leg while you're at it!" Naobito yelled from the ground.
Whoosh—
Mirai slowly descended, looking profoundly annoyed. Jedora and Mahoraga stood silently on his left and right.
Gulp. Swallowing hard, Naobito hobbled forward. Despite the crushing, suffocating pressure radiating from the two Apex Shikigami, Naobito put on a flattering, shameless smile. "So, Mirai... about these two Shikigami—"
"I'm in a bad mood now. No comment!" Mirai huffed.
"Alright, fine, fine. Just look at my leg..."
Mirai glanced at Naobito's pulverized leg, then over at Toji's broken arms dangling uselessly a few feet away. Without a word, Mirai raised an eyebrow, silently gesturing for Jedora to handle it.
Jedora offered a slight, graceful nod.
Her massive, elegant body drifted forward. A sphere of soft, forest-green positive energy condensed in her palm.
And then, she seamlessly backhanded Naobito with a vicious slap, sending the old man flying backward through the air before calmly walking over and healing Toji's arms with perfect precision!
"Hahaha!"
Humming a cheerful tune, Mirai left the ruined courtyard, happily skipping off to find his sweet, doting Auntie Mieko for dinner.
La la la~ La la la~ I'm a little expert at handing out slaps~ Some are crying, some are laughing... Handing out slaps today feels so good~
As he skipped past the edge of the rubble, a faint, gurgling plea for help reached his ears.
"Help... me..."
"Hmm?" Mirai paused.
With a thought, Mahoraga reached its massive hand into the debris and casually yanked out a vaguely human-shaped lump.
It was Zenin Ogi.
He's not dead? Mirai blinked. What a lucky cockroach!
The image of a certain pair of ill-fated twin sisters from the original manga flashed through his mind.
Mirai stroked his chin. Forget it. For the sake of Maki and Mai, who haven't even been born yet, I'll temporarily spare your miserable life.
After all, the weak don't even get to choose how they die.
System Log: Classified Asset
[Ten Shadows Technique - Base Form Mahoraga]: The Divine General operates on a single-thread processing system. It can only adapt to one specific phenomenon or technique at a time. (Analogous to a flip-phone).
[Dual-Polarity Shadow Technique - Awakened Mahoraga & Jedora]: By synchronizing the Wheel of Adaptation with the Yata Mirror, the Shikigami enter a multi-thread processing state. They can simultaneously adapt to, reflect, and nullify multiple independent phenomena at once. (Analogous to a modern smartphone
A/N: For this week, every 100 Powerstones will get ya'll an extra chapter! Thank you!