"Pfft."
As Eichi finished speaking, Suguru and Shoko, who were standing nearby, burst out laughing.
Because honestly, the description suited Satoru perfectly.
"Huh?"
Satoru, squatting on the ground, had his glasses knocked askew.
"You see, 'sheltered' means someone who rarely goes out. You used to stay in your clan all the time, and now you stay in Tokyo Jujutsu High, hardly ever stepping out, right?"
"That's because those old geezers wouldn't let me out, alright?"
"Don't sheltered young ladies also have families that won't let them out?"
Satoru was about to retort, but Eichi cut him off.
"Here."
Eichi pulled out his phone and found a picture of Satoru in a maid outfit from a past convention.
A treasured artifact.
"Hmm, as expected of me. So, Eichi, you're clearly just jealous of my handsome face, aren't you?"
"Huh? You're as handsome as me."
"No way, I'm way more handsome than you."
"Clearly, I'm more handsome."
"I'm more handsome."
...Shoko watched the two of them bickering like kindergarteners, speechless.
She quietly moved behind Eichi.
'Very solid, very long. These aren't just Cursed Energy shaped into wings. They're actual wings...'
Shoko started inspecting Eichi's wings with clinical curiosity.
She wondered if she could get a pair for herself.
She wanted white ones.
How many girls could resist becoming a holy angel?
"Shoko! Who do you think is more handsome between us!" x2
Startled by their sudden shout, Shoko jumped.
"Are you two elementary schoolers?"
She sighed and covered her face helplessly.
"Alright, you two, don't bother Shoko anymore."
Suguru stepped in to mediate, looking like a kindly old man with a smile in his eyes.
"Eichi, what's with this look?"
He quickly steered the topic back.
"This is the Ultimate Art: Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel I just comprehended."
"Domain Amplification?"
Suguru's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yeah, a Domain Amplification."
Eichi raised his right hand, and the Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel hovering above his head dropped into his palm.
"The Ten Shadows Technique summons Shadow Shikigami from shadows by forming hand signs."
"But the size of the shadow gate is limited, so users can only summon up to two Shikigami at a time."
"But now things are different."
As Eichi finished, he began activating the Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel in his hand.
The Treasure Wheel spun.
Divine Dogs.
Nue.
Rabbit Escape.
Orochi.
Toad.
Max Elephant.
Tiger Funeral.
Round Deer.
Piercing Ox.
Mahoraga.
The ten Shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique appeared one after another in the training ground, summoned through the Treasure Wheel.
"The Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel is built from the core of the Ten Shadows Technique. It has the inherent ability to summon all ten Shikigami. Since it exists in the real world, it's not restricted by the size of the shadow gate and can directly summon all Shikigami."
After Eichi's Shikigami appeared, they began wandering around the training ground.
Due to the boost from Eichi's Cursed Energy, all the Shikigami, except Rabbit Escape, were quite large.
"Eichi, are you trying to open a zoo at Tokyo Jujutsu High?"
Satoru looked genuinely interested.
"Sure."
Eichi didn't mind.
'He actually agreed...'
Shoko, holding a Rabbit Escape in her arms, stared at the sky.
Interestingly, when Rabbit Escape receives Cursed Energy reinforcement, it doesn't get bigger, but multiplies instead.
"I see. Now you're no longer limited by hand signs or the number of Shikigami."
Looking only at the technique, Eichi's Ten Shadows Technique had two major disadvantages compared to Suguru's Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
The first was hand signs.
In their past sparring sessions, Suguru, the great martial arts master, would use this flaw to suppress Eichi.
Suguru could summon Cursed Spirits while fighting. Eichi had to find a moment to form hand signs mid-battle.
If he couldn't, Suguru would gladly beat him up while he was distracted.
But now, this weakness was gone.
Eichi just needed to activate the Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel with Maximum Output, and by injecting Cursed Energy, the Treasure Wheel would complete the summoning for him.
This made the summoning speed on par with Suguru.
The second flaw was quantity.
The Ten Shadows Technique could summon only two types of Shikigami, while Suguru's Cursed Spirit Manipulation could summon hundreds or even thousands.
This allowed Suguru to use numbers and tactics to overwhelm Eichi.
Even though Mahoraga could make up the difference, Suguru now had Yamata no Orochi.
Even if Orochi was slightly weaker than Mahoraga, with the support of other Special Grade Cursed Spirits, it could stall Mahoraga for a long time.
It was like a lone peerless general charging into battle, then getting surrounded by a coordinated elite unit.
While Mahoraga was held back, Suguru could directly attack Eichi.
If Eichi died, Mahoraga's summoning would naturally be broken.
But now, Eichi could summon all ten Shikigami at once.
So even if Mahoraga were stalled, the other Cursed Spirits wouldn't be enough to threaten Eichi.
The tactical advantage of Cursed Spirit Manipulation over the Ten Shadows Technique had completely disappeared.
"Now that I've mastered the core of the Ten Shadows Technique, my use of the Shikigami is no longer limited like before."
As he spoke, Eichi extended his hand toward the Shikigami.
The Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel rotated.
The Shikigami turned into shadows and rapidly gathered around him.
Divine Dogs transformed into a pair of combat boots, with two fierce dog heads on the knees.
Piercing Ox transformed into a double-pointed spear. Max Elephant became a large shield.
Tiger Funeral turned into majestic beast-faced armor, while Nue transformed into jet-black wings.
Round Deer became a helmet with lofty antlers, and Orochi turned into shoulder guards.
Eichi's shadow crawled over the Ten Shadows Armor, dyeing the entire set in a dominant black.
The full armor radiated a cold, overwhelming presence.
Satoru and Suguru immediately came over to inspect it.
"By the way, what's this for?"
Satoru looked at the Toad standing behind Eichi.
"That? Turn off your Limitless and I'll show you something."
At Eichi's signal, the Toad jumped straight into his shadow.
"A sneak attack? How boring."
Just as Satoru expected, the Toad popped out of his shadow.
He glanced at it without much concern.
The next moment, the Toad's belly puffed up.
Countless Rabbit Escapes launched like cannonballs toward Satoru.
"Oh my?"
Noticing the sudden attack, Satoru dodged the volley of Rabbit Escapes.
But then, a Rabbit Escape, no longer scattered like flower petals but launched with precision by the Toad, spun directly in front of Satoru.
The small paw of the Rabbit Escape smacked him hard in the face.
At that exact moment, Satoru heard a voice in his ear: "Merlin should die."
Sound effect provided by Eichi.
Satoru covered the red paw print on his cheek and stared at Eichi with resentment.
No doubt about it, tactical types always play dirty.
That last move was definitely planned by Eichi. Otherwise, a Rabbit Escape launched by the Toad wouldn't have landed so cleanly.
"I see. Normally, when you see a toad open its mouth, you'd expect it to stick out its tongue. So when Rabbit Escape comes out instead, it's more unexpected."
Suguru rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
He felt like he could use that move too. There was no problem stacking Cursed Spirits nesting inside other Cursed Spirits.
(To be continued.)