"Wow, such strong Cursed Energy."
Satoru stood at the edge of the Cursed Energy storm, curiously observing Tamamo-no-Mae.
"Is she planning to fall into a Cursed Spirit?"
Satoru stroked his chin.
After a Jujutsu Sorcerer dies, if their body isn't dealt with by other sorcerers, it's easy for them to turn into a Cursed Spirit due to the residual Cursed Energy left in the body.
However, Satoru had never seen anyone actively sever their life force and transform into a Cursed Spirit while still alive.
This was possible only because Tamamo-no-Mae had already experienced becoming a vengeful Cursed Spirit after her death once before, which gave her the confidence to do it again.
Back then, she had been besieged by hundreds of thousands of troops and countless Jujutsu Sorcerers.
With her Cursed Energy nearly depleted, she dragged her fatally wounded body into a desolate wilderness.
Every trace of Cursed Energy she could muster was used to extend her life.
But it was useless. Reverse Cursed Technique consumed a vast amount of Cursed Energy.
With nothing left, she could no longer heal her wounds.
Tamamo-no-Mae lay there in despair, watching the sun slowly set.
Despair, hatred, and countless emotions surged within her, finally reaching their peak at the moment of her death.
At that moment, Tamamo-no-Mae transformed into a Special Grade Cursed Spirit: the Nine-tailed Fox.
It was precisely because of that experience that she, knowing she had no way out, began actively transforming into a Cursed Spirit now.
Tamamo-no-Mae intended to devour the Cursed Energy of the million Cursed Spirits on the battlefield, becoming an unprecedented million-strong Great Cursed Spirit.
She hoped to turn the tide.
Her Cursed Energy kept rising, and the Sesshoseki continuously absorbed the scattered Cursed Energy of the exorcised Cursed Spirits.
A massive Nine-tailed Fox emerged from the storm.
"Not enough, still not enough."
Tamamo-no-Mae found, to her surprise, that the amount of scattered Cursed Energy was far less than she expected.
Half of her million Cursed Spirits had already been wiped out.
So why was there so little Cursed Energy floating in the air?
Soon, she found the answer.
"All the scattered Cursed Energy is flowing toward the East Gate?"
With her senses sharpened after beginning her transformation into a Cursed Spirit, Tamamo-no-Mae looked toward the East Gate.
She noticed threads of Cursed Energy, subtle and hard to detect, flowing in two directions.
One stream moved toward her in the center of the barrier.
The other flowed toward Medea at the East Gate.
Tamamo-no-Mae saw Medea absorbing the energy, transforming it, then distributing it to several powerful individuals.
"So that's it. No wonder my army couldn't wear you down, you hateful woman."
Tamamo-no-Mae opened her massive mouth, gathering countless streams of Cursed Energy within it.
"This won't do."
Satoru, who had been watching her transformation with curiosity, finally made a move.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
"Hollow Technique: Purple."
A purple sphere appeared in front of Satoru.
He flicked his finger.
A terrifying wave of energy capable of tearing through space surged toward Tamamo-no-Mae's vital point.
This attack wasn't aimed at her head where she was charging up an attack, but at the core where her Cursed Energy was most concentrated.
Attack where the enemy must defend.
Tamamo-no-Mae immediately sensed Satoru's strike.
In that instant, she made her decision.
She didn't redirect her own attack to intercept the Purple, as Satoru had expected.
Instead, she opened her mouth wide and released her terrifying blast toward the East Gate.
"Oh no, get out of the way!"
"Barrier team, maximize defense!"
Faced with the overwhelming attack, the Jujutsu Sorcerers stationed at the East Gate fell into chaos.
Naobito, as commander, wore a grim expression.
He glanced at Medea. Seeing that her expression remained calm, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Medea's reaction meant the attack wouldn't affect their position.
Otherwise, she would've already acted.
"Don't panic! Hold your ground! Someone will deal with the attack from above!"
No sooner had Naobito shouted than two attacks shot into the sky.
Eichi, controlling his Ten Shadows Technique Shikigami, had already moved to intercept Tamamo-no-Mae's attack.
Given the magnitude of her transformation, Eichi had naturally noticed.
The moment she began charging her attack toward the East Gate, he prepared his counterstrike.
Artoria was still deep within the enemy formation.
If she moved to defend, the surrounding Cursed Spirits might seize the opportunity to attack her.
It was safer for him to handle it, since he'd been commanding his Shikigami from a safer position.
"Qiongqi, fully compress the air... hmm, let's call it 'Air Bullet.'"
"Giant Elephant, go full power with 'Iron Cannonball.'"
Faced with Tamamo-no-Mae's blast, which resembled a Tailed Beast Ball after her Nine-tailed Fox transformation,
Eichi decided to match her style.
Under the Maximum Technique, the Divine Dogs merged into Qiongqi's body, and the toad merged with the Giant Elephant.
Eight Shikigami merged into two massive beasts.
At full power, the Giant Elephant stood nearly ten meters tall. Qiongqi's wingspan exceeded twenty meters.
The two Shikigami unleashed their strongest techniques to block her attack.
At the same time, Satoru's Hollow Technique: Purple pierced straight through the heart of the Nine-tailed Fox.
Gurgle. Boom.
The enormous body of the Nine-tailed Fox began to swell, then burst.
"Oh? There are more of them."
Satoru watched as the most concentrated cluster of Cursed Energy within Tamamo-no-Mae suddenly split into seven.
Hollow Technique: Purple had passed directly through the center of the seven Cursed Energy cores.
Tamamo-no-Mae's towering body, over ten meters tall, exploded.
From it emerged seven smaller Special Grade Cursed Spirits in the form of Nine-tailed Foxes, along with several hundred ordinary foxes made of condensed Cursed Energy.
The seven Special Grades were split forms of Tamamo-no-Mae, with the seven Sesshoseki she had reclaimed acting as their cores.
The smaller foxes were like the flaming foxes she'd previously conjured using her technique.
"Don't even think about escaping."
Satoru teleported in front of one of the Nine-tailed Foxes.
A spinning kick smashed into its head.
The fox was immediately sent flying.
He teleported in front of the second one and kicked again, sending it flying too.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
A blue-black vortex formed in front of the third Nine-tailed Fox, cutting off its path of escape.
Then, Satoru teleported above the fourth fox.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
The fourth fox was blasted back by the repulsive force.
In the blink of an eye, Satoru had intercepted four Special Grade Nine-tailed Foxes.
"Three got away. Whatever, Eichi and Suguru can deal with them."
Then, he turned his attention back to the four foxes in front of him, each one over ten meters tall.
"Don't you dare run away, or I'll get angry."
Satoru smiled broadly.
But the Nine-tailed Foxes didn't let their guard down because of that smile.
Instead, they felt an intense chill from the depths of their souls.
They had a feeling.
If they ran, this man would do something they truly regretted.
The foxes exchanged glances.
Then fangs, claws, and fox tails surged toward Satoru from every direction.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)