"Eh? Retsu, what are you doing here?"
Kagome's eyes widened in surprise when she saw the familiar figure.
"Oh?" Hiten raised a brow and sized Retsu up from head to toe. "This woman knows you? Don't tell me you're the Inuyasha she mentioned?"
A cruel grin spread across his face.
"Doesn't matter who you are. Since you came to us yourself, we'll just kill you."
Before his words even finished, he thrust forward the Raigekijin in his hand. Blinding lightning erupted from the blade, shooting toward Retsu in a violent burst.
Retsu tapped the ground lightly and leapt backward, easily evading the lightning strike.
At the same time, he flicked his wrist.
The katana in his hand turned into a streak of silver and shot past Hiten—straight toward Manten behind him.
Thud—!
The blade pierced through Manten's abdomen in an instant. Dark red blood sprayed outward.
"AAAAH—!"
Manten let out a shrill scream.
"Manten!"
Hiten's pupils shrank as he turned—
"Flying Thunder God."
Retsu's cold voice sounded.
In the next moment, he appeared directly in front of Manten, left hand gripping the katana's hilt precisely.
On the handle, a black marking of the character "Retsu" glowed faintly—the Flying Thunder God seal he had carved earlier.
Blue chakra gathered at the fingertips of his right hand.
"Five Elements Seal!"
He slammed his palm into Manten's abdomen.
Boom!
Manten's body was blasted backward. Retsu smoothly pulled the katana free, blood splattering across the ground.
Dark sealing scripts spread from the point of contact, forming a sealing array over Manten's core, locking his demonic power tightly in place.
"My… my demonic energy…"
Wounded and sealed, Manten collapsed helplessly, unable even to struggle.
Everything had happened so fast that Hiten only fully processed it when his brother hit the ground.
Retsu had already sheathed his blade in one fluid motion.
"Manten!"
Hiten rushed forward in panic.
But the instant he bent down—
"Flying Thunder God."
Retsu vanished again.
He reappeared between them, his right leg wrapped in violent chakra, and drove a crushing kick into Hiten's abdomen.
BOOM!
Hiten's body shot backward like a cannonball, carving a trench dozens of meters long across the ground.
Buildings shattered. Walls exploded. Wood and debris filled the air in a cloud of smoke.
Retsu didn't even glance at Hiten.
He looked down at the unconscious Manten instead. On his chest, another Flying Thunder God seal was visible.
When throwing the sword earlier, Retsu had deliberately avoided Manten's vital points.
He wanted him alive—for life force extraction… and for the Shikon Jewel shards.
He plucked the two shards embedded in Manten's forehead and tossed them into his pouch.
Then his eyes shifted into Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Kamui."
A spiraling vortex opened, swallowing Manten whole into the other dimension.
"S-So strong…"
Kagome stood frozen.
The Thunder Beast Brothers had been defeated in mere seconds.
They hadn't even been able to resist.
"Miss Kagome, don't just stand there. Come here."
Retsu's voice snapped her back to reality.
"The other one isn't dead yet. These demons may not be that strong, but their bodies are far tougher than ours."
Kagome hurried to his side and instinctively hid behind him.
Though they had only met once before, she could tell this powerful man bore no ill will.
Standing behind him felt far safer than anywhere else.
"Retsu-kun, thank you so much!" she bowed deeply.
"No need to be so formal. Just call me Retsu."
He smiled lightly.
Back when he watched the anime in his previous life, he preferred Kikyo—but he didn't dislike Kagome.
A modern middle school girl surviving in a world overrun by demons… that took courage.
"Alright, Retsu. Then just call me Kagome too."
"Deal."
A furious roar suddenly echoed through the smoke.
"I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you!"
Kagome gasped and instinctively clutched the back of Retsu's clothing.
Hiten emerged from the smoke, bloodied and disheveled.
Flaming wheel-like rings spun beneath his feet, suspending him in midair.
Lightning crackled violently around the Raigekijin in his hand.
His face twisted with murderous rage.
"I will never forgive you!"
Retsu looked up lazily.
"Heh. Weak as you are, you sure talk big." His tone dripped with unmistakable Uchiha-style disdain. "If you can't back it up, don't embarrass yourself… trash."
Kagome winced slightly.
This man really had a way with words…
"DIE!"
Hiten completely lost control.
He raised the Raigekijin, and a massive sphere of lightning formed at its tip.
Electric arcs crackled violently, the air trembling under the pressure of his demonic energy.
The lightning sphere roared toward them, shredding the ground and buildings in its path.
"Didn't even shout the name of your attack first? How rude," Retsu commented calmly.
Kagome, who had instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, blinked.
Her fear faded a little.
She looked up, curious how he would respond.
"Susanoo."
His voice was low and steady.
Mangekyō power surged outward.
In an instant, translucent blue ribs materialized around him and Kagome, forming the upper half of a skeletal Susanoo that enveloped them completely.
BOOM—!
The lightning sphere slammed into Susanoo.
An enormous explosion followed.
Blinding light swallowed the courtyard.
The ground tore apart, leaving a massive crater.
Smoke rose into the sky.
When the dust slowly settled—
The skeletal Susanoo still stood firm.
And inside it—
Both of them were completely unharmed.