"Did you forget who gave you Blood Manipulation?"
Kenjaku showed no panic at all. He simply lowered his head slightly and avoided the attack, letting the blood arrow pierce straight through a pillar on the platform with ease.
As "Noritoshi Kamo," he had once been part of one of the Big Three Families, and he knew many things others didn't. Especially for techniques tied to bloodlines like Blood Manipulation, he had already seen through all its strengths and weaknesses.
Piercing Blood was indeed powerful and fast, but only at the moment it was fired. Avoid that initial burst, and the rest of its movement was slow and harmless.
"Choso, I'm counting on you!"
While Choso held Kenjaku back, Yuji rushed into the crowd, knocking away a large number of transfigured humans and rescuing the few remaining survivors.
He planned to take them up one or two floors first, then return to fight the curse user alongside his brother.
"God Feeding Art: Divine Descent, Grade 1 Imaginary Vengeful Cursed Spirit, Karasu Tengu."
Though his target was trying to escape, Kenjaku still was not in a hurry.
He formed hand signs in front of him. His right arm turned pitch black, growing feather-like structures like a bird, while his left hand remained stitched.
God Feeding Art.
About twenty years ago, it was the inherited technique of a somewhat well-known jujutsu family in Tokyo, the Kiyomaru clan.
By forming hand signs, the user could summon a named shikigami or cursed spirit in the form of an imaginary cursed spirit and channel its abilities through their body.
But despite having such a powerful technique, the Kiyomaru clan never reached the top of the jujutsu world. Instead, they were wiped out twenty years ago by two unknown killers.
The reason was simple. This technique had flaws so severe that they overshadowed its strength.
The first flaw was that those without a name or existence could not be summoned. After a cursed spirit dies completely, most of them turn to dust and disappear. When they are reborn as curses, they may no longer retain their original consciousness or name.
Such cursed spirits cannot be summoned.
However, there were exceptions.
For example, Junrin. That special grade cursed spirit had been tricked by Kenjaku about ten years ago and used as a test subject for Suguru to absorb. Although it had died, its body still remained.
The name "Junrin" was deeply engraved into its cursed energy body and the memories left in its remains. So as long as it wasn't used at the same time as Suguru, it could still be summoned through this technique.
Then there was Mahito.
He was the most unique of all. Whether he died or was absorbed, due to the nature of his technique, he could not enter reincarnation. His soul, name, and form would never change.
That was why Kenjaku only wanted him to grow quickly and then die.
The second flaw was that it depended on the difference in strength. The God Feeding Art could not call forth shikigami or cursed spirits that were far stronger than the user. To force it would require sacrificing one's life, leaving everything to fate.
Twenty years ago, the strongest member of the Kiyomaru clan was only around semi-grade 1. They couldn't even control a newly entered special grade, so naturally they couldn't use the technique to reach a higher level.
The third flaw was that the summoned entity's strength was affected by the user. If the summoned being was stronger than the user, it would drain cursed energy much faster. Once the cursed energy ran out, the technique would end.
The fourth flaw was that one could only use the summoned entity's abilities. One could not use their Domain Expansion.
Due to this, while the technique was strong, it heavily depended on the user. Its real purpose was to provide versatility, not direct combat power.
But the Kiyomaru clan had only used it to boost fighting strength.
The body Kenjaku now occupied belonged to the head of that clan who died in that massacre. Only in his hands did this technique finally show its true potential.
Because his own cursed energy was already extremely strong. Changing bodies replaced the cursed energy signature, but his total cursed energy did not decrease, raising the technique's upper limit.
After all, compared to before, this was the only body of his that was still relatively complete.
For years, Kenjaku carefully preserved this body. Only after Yuji, the perfect vessel, was born did he switch into it.
In truth, he wanted Suguru's body and his Cursed Spirit Manipulation, but the timing wasn't right, and he didn't want to confront a special grade sorcerer head-on.
After possessing this body for over ten years, he kept experimenting with the technique. Eventually, he discovered a new way to use it.
With enough cursed energy, he didn't need to summon only one entity, nor did he need to fully manifest them. Summoning multiple would increase energy consumption, but it was manageable.
Like what he was doing now.
Mahito in his left hand. Karasu Tengu in his right.
This setup allowed him to use the abilities he wanted while keeping the cost relatively low. The trade-off was that only his hands could use those abilities, while the rest of his body remained his own.
At this moment, Kenjaku's right arm had fully taken the form of Karasu Tengu. With a wave of his hand, dozens of crows formed from cursed energy flew toward Yuji, who was escorting the survivors.
The crows were weak compared to sorcerers, but their strength was close to semi-grade 2. For normal people, even one hit would be too much to handle.
"You all run!"
Seeing this, Yuji turned back to block the crows and told the others to escape first. Even though these people had sold him out for their lives, he still wouldn't abandon them.
"Noritoshi Kamo!"
Choso still held the end of Piercing Blood between his palms. He roared and swung it like a blade, cutting through nearby transfigured humans in an instant.
But Kenjaku had already avoided the first strike. There was no way he would be hit by the slower follow-up.
He moved with ease, dodging while closing in on Choso.
"A failure is still a failure. Get out of my sight."
After dodging again, Kenjaku's right fist, wrapped in cursed energy, shot toward Choso's abdomen.
"Divergent Fist!"
Right then, Yuji, having finished dealing with the crows, rushed back in.
Boom!
His powerful punch struck from behind and collided with Kenjaku's fist, releasing a loud shockwave.
**
**
**
Thank you for reading! If you'd like access to extra chapters and want to support my work, you can visit my P@treon:
P@treon/SilverShark769
Vote with Power Stones for Bonus Chapters!
Your support means a lot, thank you!