"I shall carve through your very husk."
The moment Utsugi’s frigid declaration fell, the raindrops before the ruined shrine scattered into a mist. It was the pinnacle of physical reinforcement—cursed energy efficiency converging toward absolute zero. In a breath so brief the sound of boots treading upon mire was lost, Utsugi’s tachí filled Hideto’s vision.
Sss-shrk!
"…!"
For the first time, Hideto’s hollow eyes trembled with shock. It happened before his cursed technique could even ignite to manifest an afterimage in the void.
Utsugi did not wait for the phantom to take shape. Through the Six Eyes, he perceived the very wellspring where the cursed energy sparked—the 'point of origin' where Hideto’s physical form began its trajectory. He swung his blade along the shortest possible path toward that singular truth.
Clang!! Skree! Claaaang!
Hideto reflexively raised his weathered blade, narrowly averting a fatal wound, yet the weight transmitted through the steel defied imagination.
It was a strike of high-density cursed energy, as if he were being crushed beneath dozens of tons of pig iron. With every burst of sparks, Hideto’s feet were driven deeper into the treacherous mud, forced back without recourse.
"Tch… you are fast."
Hideto gritted his teeth, attempting to twist his blade and parry the force aside.
"Is that the end of your parlor tricks?"
Utsugi’s indifferent voice brushed past Hideto’s ear. Simultaneously, Utsugi’s blade pivoted with fluid grace, carving deeply into Hideto’s shoulder guard where his defense had crumbled.
Sls-sh.
Crimson seeped from the laceration, washed away instantly by the falling rain. Before such overwhelming output and velocity, even the most sophisticated refraction was torn asunder before it could be realized.
Hideto leapt back in a great bound to create distance. Though the motion of wiping blood from his lips with the back of his hand remained languid, his gaze had frozen into a mask of cold lethality.
"I admit it. In both taijutsu and cursed energy output, you stand a tier above."
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