Surrounded by Cursed Spirits, Takako finally caught up to Eichi.
"Let's see where you'll run this time."
Descending from above, Takako kicked down toward Eichi with her long leg.
"Don't you know that attacking from above gives guys a certain kind of benefit?"
Eichi continued provoking her.
"Or do you just like playing it this way?"
Shadows clung to Eichi's right hand as he directly met Takako's downward strike.
"Die!"
The force in Takako's leg increased once more.
'So heavy.'
There was a saying that an arm could not overpower a thigh.
It existed for a reason.
Leg strength naturally surpassed arm strength, and Takako's attack was a downward blow.
With the added momentum from her descent, its power was even greater.
If not for the shadows reinforcing his defense, Eichi's hand might have been shattered by that strike.
'Tch, looks like copying Satoru's tone without Limitless is a bad idea. I learned his attitude, but not his choice of words…'
Eichi raised his left hand and grabbed Takako's calf.
Takako instantly pulled her right leg back, then seized Eichi with her left hand and yanked him behind her.
Space twisted under the influence of her Technique.
Eichi's distorted figure was dragged directly in front of her.
Takako planted her left foot firmly on the ground, creating a solid base and leverage.
Her left hand, which had been gripping space, released the Technique, restoring space to normal.
Power surged from her legs, passed through her waist, flowed into her arm, and finally concentrated at her elbow.
The elbow she had just drawn back slammed directly into Eichi's head.
Even though Eichi had reinforced his head with Cursed Energy, the full-force elbow strike still blew it apart.
Eichi's body dissolved into dark shadows.
"Nani?"
Takako stared as Eichi's form collapsed into flowing darkness and sank into the ground.
It turned out that all her effort had only caught a Clone.
"This brat!"
Takako, who hunted through the sky like an eagle, had never been toyed with so thoroughly by her prey.
"Didn't I say it already? If you want to fight me, beg me."
A mocking voice sounded from behind Takako.
A new Eichi rose from the shadows.
"You bastard…"
As Takako turned around, another mocking voice came from her other side.
"As long as you say 'Please, Eichi-sama,' my real body will come out and fight you."
"What's going on?"
Takako looked at the two Eichis, one in front and one behind, completely confused.
"Clones? Who said there could only be one? Takako-chan is really cute."
"…"
"Don't call me that."
Takako did not come from a privileged background.
She was a strong-willed woman who had fought her way up through her own strength.
Yet no matter how much of a Genius she was, to the Fujiwara Clan she was nothing more than a consumable, at best a slightly more valuable one.
Eichi could clearly see the veins bulging on Takako's forehead.
'That much impact, huh. As expected of Satoru. It's a miracle he hasn't been beaten to death yet.'
"Don't underestimate me!"
Takako angrily tore at space.
The two Eichis were instantly dragged to her side.
Boom.
Both shadow Clones were blasted away.
'So they really are all Clones…'
Despite her anger, Takako had not lost her composure.
That exchange confirmed that Eichi could create multiple shadow Clones.
And that there was not necessarily a single main body among them.
'Where is the real one? What's the maximum distance he can maintain from the Clones?'
Takako began rapidly analyzing Eichi's abilities.
At her command, the surrounding Cursed Spirits dispersed, searching for Eichi's true body.
She had also brought someone specifically to deal with him.
Inside the shadow space.
Eichi observed the outside through tiny openings left in the shadows.
At the same time, he continuously created shadow Clones from nearby shadows to harass Takako.
Through the exchanges between the Clones and Takako, Eichi gradually grasped her close-combat level.
Takako's strikes were all aimed at vital points.
Speed, precision, and ruthlessness were her focus. If she could kill in one move, she would never drag it into a second.
However, Eichi also noticed her weakness.
She lacked combos.
As the captain of an assassination unit, her battles usually ended in a single decisive strike.
As a result, she did not chain attacks. After every offensive sequence, she had to reset her stance before launching another lethal move.
If a shadow Clone attacked immediately after her first exchange, Takako would be forced into defense.
The power of her follow-up would drop significantly.
At that moment, behind Eichi, a petite figure slowly drew a dagger.
It was the woman who could infiltrate shadows using her Technique during the previous reconnaissance.
Behind her, a completely dark figure silently appeared.
A long tongue shot out like a tentacle and wrapped around her body.
The toad swallowed her whole.
The assassin vanished.
"It's you again, huh? We both mess with shadows. Did you really think I wouldn't prepare after you stabbed me once?"
Eichi turned his head and spoke calmly.
The toad leapt through the shadows, then spat the woman out beside Medea.
Prisoner plus one.
As Eichi turned back, he saw that Takako had already reached the shadow above his hiding place.
"Got you."
'That's karma for showing off.'
Eichi regretted playing around with the assassin earlier.
Once his position was exposed, he should have retreated immediately.
But it was too late.
Takako had already activated her Technique, pulling Eichi out from the shadow.
"Die!"
Eichi crossed his arms to block Takako's strike, then grabbed her wrists directly.
"What?"
"It's common sense that the main body is stronger than a Clone, Takako-chan."
Before Takako could curse, Eichi smashed his head into hers.
Duang.
Crack.
"Nice sound. Solid head."
Recovering first, Eichi praised her.
Then he followed up with a punch to her abdomen, executing a smooth, compact combo.
Crack. Crack.
One bone after another shattered.
Eichi had some understanding of Takako from the original work, so he wanted to capture her alive and make her one of his future helpers in reshaping the Jujutsu world.
Amid the overwhelming pain, Takako regained her clarity.
Gritting her teeth, she did something that shocked Eichi.
She bit into space itself.
The space around Eichi twisted violently, and Takako broke free.
"Domain Expansion…"
(To be continued.)