"Nice to meet you! I'm the Tokyo School pilot, Yu Haibara!"
Haibara offered a polite greeting toward the judges' seats, while the rest of the Tokyo School delegation stood ready behind him. Having fully committed to the bit, the team was now outfitted in protective goggles and work jumpsuits. Among them, Satoru Gojo stepped forward and pulled out a shikigami.
With a casual toss, Gojo released the object he had been "compressing" within space using Infinity. What appeared on the training ground was a large "paper man" standing about two meters tall. On the surface of this oversized origami—far too massive to be called a mere talisman—one could see intricate cursed techniques inscribed densely in ink.
"This is the Tokyo School's shikigami talisman, the [All-Purpose Humanoid Decisive Battle Shikigami: Hiryu]. The base material is Mino washi paper, and the technique was meticulously inscribed by Gojo-senpai using the Six Eyes. A key feature of this talisman is the 'ink' used for the inscriptions, which was prepared using a concept that runs counter to modern sorcery."
Haibara continued his presentation, grandly reading from a cheat sheet clipped to his clipboard. As he explained, the primary characteristic of this "Hiryu" was indeed the ink.
This particular ink was a truly sinister substance. It was made from soot gathered during a seven-day, seven-night Dark Homa Ritual of endless meat-roasting, performed by the four Reverse Cursed Technique users—Gojo, Naoya, Nanami, and Shoko—who relied on their healing abilities to endure the process. That soot was kneaded with glue made from boiling Naoya's spinal bones in the ritual fire, then finally thinned with the lifeblood of Kento Nanami.
In short, by fully incorporating the long-lost elements of "Cursed Poetry," "Dance," "Music," and "Mudras" through a leisurely yet diabolical ritual, they had created a potent cursed tool loaded with occult significance.
The dense technique written with such materials was more than enough to imbue this giant paper "humanoid" with a powerful, cursed presence.
"I see. That sounds like one of Naoya-kun's ideas. Certainly, if you have enough preparation time, performing a full-scale ritual allows for the use of much more powerful sorcery."
"He's as foolish as ever! My son is a total idiot! Gahahahaha!"
"Hmm, soot from roasted meat, glue from boiled bones, and blood to thin the ink... by irregularly providing it with flesh, blood, and bone, you've essentially turned this shikigami into a type of artificial human. Calling it an 'All-Purpose Humanoid Decisive Battle' weapon makes it feel quite like Evangelion. The size and shape of the talisman are also well-calculated. By making it a massive piece of origami—labor-intensive, difficult to carry, and bulky—you've established a pseudo-Binding Vow, haven't you? I like this sort of free thinking. It's interesting."
"...I didn't know the people of the Kamo clan watched Eva."
Given the chatter at the judges' table, the opening was a success. However, this was strictly a "shikigami introduction." Highlighting the craftsmanship of the talisman was merely the hook.
"Now, I will activate Hiryu! ——— Rin, Pyo, Toh, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen! All-Purpose Humanoid Decisive Battle Shikigami: Hiryu! ACTIVATE!"
With Haibara's sharp shout, cursed energy flowed from the three supply talismans in his hand into the paper man. In its place, a massive armored warrior standing over four meters tall emerged.
The warrior's design—white armor accented with gold, crimson, and black, carrying a great tachi—hit a perfect balance between modern and traditional. Principal Gakuganji let out an impressed grunt; the plan to win over the conservatives with a traditional aesthetic seemed to be working.
Simultaneously, a blue mono-eye flickered to life with a mechanical "gup-on" sound. As the shikigami stood up and struck a pose, a mysterious "buppigaaan" sound effect played, causing two of the male judges to burst into laughter, though Principal Gakuganji merely tilted his head in confusion.
Under Haibara's direction, Hiryu began a demonstration. Its movements were incredibly sharp, and its swordsmanship with the great tachi was surprisingly polished.
These movements were actually a trace of a certain "super gorilla teacher" wielding a katana. Based on Gojo's idiotic request for it to look "super cool and samurai-like," the sword dance performed from the Hasso-no-Kamae stance was as visually impressive as requested.
"Oh, it totally feels like a samurai robot! Not bad at all. The movement is pretty slick. A giant armored warrior coming at you with a sword is a serious threat on its own!"
"Hmm. The coloring is reminiscent of Patlabor, but the design feels closer to the Zeon style. The head design is different, but it does have a mono-eye! My personal preference would be something from Toei like Getter or Mazinger, or perhaps Dougram from Sunrise... but I suppose that's just a matter of taste."
"You went with a full-on heavy robot despite the name! I assume the humorous anime sound effects are a Binding Vow? By letting the enemy know your movements through sound, you increase the output? Using a redundant feature so it's not just redundant... I like that! The creativity of the youth is wonderful. However, for all that preparation, it looks like a relatively simple shikigami. I'm hoping to see a spectacular special feature."
"This guy talks a lot for a gloomy, blood-soaked sorcerer from the Kamo family..."
The response from the judges was positive. Finally, it was time to introduce Hiryu's cursed technique.
The Tokyo team brought out a wooden training dummy as a target. Hiryu raised its fists toward each other in a double-biceps pose. Wrapped in intense cursed energy, it let out a strangely echoing, hollow roar.
"MEI-OH!"
Instantly, a pillar of light descended from the heavens, crushing the training dummy and the ground beneath it into dust, causing a minor earthquake to rattle the Kyoto School building.
Even more than the tremors, it was the three judges "howling" with laughter that drew everyone's attention.
"That's the Meiou Attack from Zeoymer! The Super Robot Wars version! Even I know that one!"
"The single-shot version...? No, that was brilliant. To pull from a niche masterpiece OVA... Naoya must have predicted I would be a judge."
"Man, that was the best. The recreation was perfect. Still, it seems the pose and the roar are Binding Vows to boost the power. This technique itself is clearly too complex to normally build into a shikigami; it's on par with a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit. There must be a trick to it, but I doubt they'll tell us. If you stay at a distance, the Meiou Attack hits you; if you get close, you're hunted by the great tachi. This is a very well-finished shikigami."
The introduction of Hiryu ended with unanimous praise. The presentation should have put immense pressure on the Kyoto School, who were up next.
However, as the Kyoto School students watched the judges laughing hysterically, they wore expressions that suggested they were already certain of their victory.
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