"Convergence: Piercing Blood."
Blood compressed to its limit shot out at supersonic speed.
The moment he noticed Kenjaku's opening move, Eichi immediately deduced his target from the direction Kenjaku's hands were pointed.
Eichi dodged Kenjaku's attack in time by tilting his head.
Then, a pure white Dharma Wheel appeared above Eichi's head.
After failing to land a hit, Kenjaku immediately retreated to avoid being caught by the continuously expanding shadows.
"Great Serpent, Rabbit Escape."
The Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel rotated.
From the edge of the rapidly expanding shadow, a giant white serpent shot out like a deadly hunter lurking in a river.
Its gaping maw lunged at Kenjaku.
"Blood Manipulation: Crimson Scale."
Kenjaku's retreating speed increased once more.
The Great Serpent bit into empty air, then its neck suddenly began to swell.
"Hmm?"
Seeing the Great Serpent's strange movement, Kenjaku felt a trace of alarm rise in his heart.
A mass of blood condensed in Kenjaku's hand.
Pffft.
The charging Great Serpent suddenly spat out what it had in its mouth.
Countless Rabbit Escapes flew toward Kenjaku like white cannonballs.
"Blood Manipulation: Crimson Binding."
"Nurikabe."
Crimson Binding was a step too late, only binding the Great Serpent's head after it had already spat out the Rabbit Escapes.
However, Kenjaku quickly came up with a new countermeasure.
He threw out a cursed tool that resembled a tile or a stone.
Immediately afterward, a wall dozens of meters high appeared in front of him.
Imaginary Cursed Spirit: Nurikabe.
Nurikabe is a well-known yōkai in Japan.
It appears at night and suddenly traps people behind an unavoidable wall.
Its ability to block passage is stronger than its defensive power.
However, Rabbit Escape is not a shikigami known for its power.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
One Rabbit Escape after another slammed into Nurikabe.
Then, under the immense recoil, the Rabbit Escapes exploded one after another, turning into shadows and returning to Eichi's shadow.
The moment Nurikabe appeared, Kenjaku, without anyone noticing, dropped a nail-like object covered in talismanic incantations onto the ground.
Then he stomped it into the earth.
"Convergence: Piercing Blood!"
After successfully escaping the shadow field formed by Eichi's shadow, Kenjaku took the stance for Piercing Blood.
On the other side, dark shadows crawled up Eichi's body.
Eichi clasped his hands together, and the image of Max Elephant faintly appeared over his body.
"Hundred Refinements: Piercing Water!"
The dark red blood arrow and the blue stream of water collided, then burst apart violently.
The vision of both sides was obscured by blood and water.
"Blood Manipulation: Slicing Exorcism."
Kenjaku gathered blood and made it spin rapidly.
Soon, a blood-colored flying wheel took shape.
The flying wheel grew larger and larger, then Kenjaku hurled it in Eichi's direction.
This Slicing Exorcism, which reminded Eichi of the Eightfold Light Wheel, cut through the blood and water in the air as it flew toward Eichi's position.
However, to Kenjaku's surprise,
Eichi did not make any move.
He was directly split in two by the blood-colored flying wheel.
"A shadow clone, where is the real body?"
Kenjaku immediately began searching for Eichi's real body.
"Not good!"
An alarm suddenly rang out in Kenjaku's heart.
He immediately turned around and crossed his arms in front of himself.
Eichi's fist was already right in front of him.
'That shadow is Nue!'
Kenjaku's eyes widened as he looked at the ground, where more than half of Eichi's body had emerged.
It was the shadow of a giant bird of prey cast by the moonlight.
Before using Maximum Technique: Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel,
Eichi could only summon two shikigami at the same time.
And before finding Kenjaku, Eichi had already used both slots.
One was Nue, with a wingspan of dozens of meters, which had brought Eichi and Artoria here.
The other was Mahoraga, who had gone to support Maki and Toge.
Therefore, at the start of the battle, Eichi first used Maximum Technique: Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel.
That was so he could summon other shikigami without dismissing Nue.
And now, the Nue Eichi had left behind had completed its mission.
While Kenjaku's attention had been fully focused on Eichi,
it had quietly cast its shadow behind Kenjaku, in a place outside his sight.
It was only when Eichi traveled through the shadow to get behind him that Kenjaku sensed the danger through that faint fluctuation of Cursed Energy.
Bang.
Crack.
Eichi's fist, wrapped in Cursed Energy, slammed heavily into Kenjaku's crossed arms.
A crisp sound of bones shattering rang out from the point where fist and arms collided.
Kenjaku dug his feet into the ground to keep himself from being sent flying by that heavy blow.
He fell into the shadow field Eichi had created earlier.
Just as Eichi was about to continue the pursuit, Nurikabe, under Kenjaku's command, trapped Eichi in place.
Eichi did not hesitate. He swung his fist again and smashed Nurikabe to pieces.
The gap in power was too great. Nurikabe could not withstand even a single attack from Eichi.
Through the hole in Nurikabe, Eichi once again locked onto Kenjaku's position.
The Great Serpent was already swimming through the shadows toward Kenjaku's location.
Although its head was still bound by ropes formed from blood, the Great Serpent still possessed powerful predatory methods such as constriction.
"Blood Manipulation: Blood Blade."
Kenjaku suddenly leaped up, and blood transformed into a long blade that severed the Great Serpent's head.
The shadow immediately stretched out, pulling the severed head back to reattach it.
"Got you."
Eichi's voice came from behind Kenjaku.
Kenjaku immediately condensed a second Blood Blade and slashed toward the direction Eichi's voice had come from.
But it was too late.
The shadows had already spread beneath Kenjaku.
Kenjaku had been pulled into Eichi's shadow field.
Here, it was Eichi's home ground.
"Moo!"
Piercing Ox burst out of the shadow.
Its horns blocked Kenjaku's Blood Blade, then it charged into Kenjaku with undiminished momentum.
The impact at almost point-blank range was not extremely high in damage, but it was still not something a human body could withstand.
Kenjaku immediately used Reverse Cursed Technique to start repairing his injuries.
'He's not pursuing further?'
After landing, Kenjaku held a mass of fresh blood in one hand, while the other had already reached for a new cursed tool.
He did not carry many cursed tools on him.
But it did not matter. From the moment the battle began, he had already instructed his shikigami to head to a nearby stronghold.
As long as he held out for a little while, he would be able to decide whether to fight or retreat.
Drip.
Kenjaku, who was using Reverse Cursed Technique, suddenly felt something cool on his face.
"Is it raining?"
Kenjaku touched his face and discovered that what had made him feel cold was rain.
"No, this is..."
Kenjaku suddenly looked toward the ground covered in shadows.
The rain was falling from the ground toward the sky.
"This way, your Blood Manipulation won't be able to maintain its precision, right?"
To preserve the effectiveness of the technique, Blood Manipulation always keeps the blood's coagulation reaction turned off from the moment it is released.
Because of that, the blood controlled by Blood Manipulation is more easily dissolved by water than ordinary blood.
In addition, when blood is infiltrated by water, the red blood cells swell due to changes in osmotic pressure, causing the cell membranes to rupture.
As a result, blood outside the body is affected by the rainwater and becomes impossible to control.
Now, if Kenjaku wants to use Blood Manipulation, he can only use the blood inside his own body.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ 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.)