Zen'in Maki gripped her long staff, sweat dripping down her jawline, falling onto the rubber track and leaving small, dark, damp spots.
Her breathing was steady, but her heartbeat in her chest was heavy as a drum.
This wasn't due to fatigue—although the training had just been intense, what was holding her at this moment was the scene before her, beyond common sense.
Ten steps ahead of her, Genji still hovered half a foot off the ground, in a leisurely posture. But the shadow on the ground within a five-meter radius centered on him was undergoing a strange transformation.
The indigo shadow was no longer flat. It swirled and writhed like boiling ink. Then, silhouettes of weapons "grew" out of the shadow.
Not physical objects gradually appearing, but the shadow itself "constructing" itself into the shape of weapons.
Tachi, uchigatana, wakizashi, spears, naginata, axes, hammers, bows, shuriken… Dozens, no, hundreds of cold weapons of various forms seemed to be displayed on invisible weapon racks, with translucent blue blade tips protruding from Genji's shadow.
They were not fully substantial, but rather highly compressed products of cursed energy manifestation. Yet each one emitted a cursed energy fluctuation that could not be underestimated, and the cold light passing through the blade tips was so sharp it burned the eyes.
"This... this is..."
Maki's pupils sharply contracted, her fingers gripping the long staff turning white from the pressure.
It wasn't that she had never seen cursed tools—they were piled up in the college's warehouse and the Zen'in clan's treasury.
But those cursed tools, each taking years to create, painstakingly crafted by sorcerers or artisans, containing unique cursed techniques or characteristics, were invaluable treasures. The outside world would appraise them at at least seven figures, and special grades were even more priceless.
And now, before her eyes, hundreds of such "cursed tools" were continuously "growing" out of the shadow.
"Real or fake..." She unconsciously murmured, her voice full of disbelief. "Are these... all cursed tools?"
"Well, more or less," Genji's voice was calm, and he even looked with great interest at a freshly formed, strangely shaped scimitar beside him. "Though for efficiency, a simplified process has been applied."
He paused, and his gaze fell back on Maki. His eyes were not like a combat instructor's, but rather like an experimenter explaining steps to an assistant in a lab.
"Although theoretically, explaining the technique during battle could give a power boost, I'd better make it clear now," Genji raised his right hand and casually snapped his fingers.
Click.
With the sharp snap, the shadows covering the ground beneath him suddenly calmed down.
Those semi-transparent weapons that had formed were neatly suspended, their blade tips pointing toward Maki, emitting a faint hum like a swarm of flapping wings.
"I don't only have the Ten Shadows Technique," Genji said slowly, each word clearly echoing in the quiet training ground. "I also have an innate technique. It's called—"
A complex light flickered in his deep indigo eyes.
"—[Construction Technique]."
"A second technique... Construction..." Maki repeated, and her sister Mai's face flashed through her memory, along with her technique, also classified as "Construction," capable of making only one special bullet per day. The absurd contrast made her throat dry.
"As the name suggests, this technique allows me to understand the 'structure' and 'concept' of an object and construct it using cursed energy," Genji said, gently waving his hand.
From the group of suspended weapons, a dozen or so shuriken took the lead.
Without being thrown, they seemed freed from the constraints of gravity, launched by invisible crossbows, turning into dark blue afterimages, tearing through the air with a piercing screech, shooting at Maki from various cunning angles!
Maki's muscles reacted before she could think. Years of hard training had given her beast-like reflexes.
She fiercely pushed off the ground, her body sharply retreating sideways and backward, her long staff dancing in a gray shadow.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang—!
The sharp sound of metal collisions was linked together, sparks flying from the contact between the staff and the shuriken.
Maki felt a sting in her hands. The impact of these "disposable" shuriken was astonishing; each shot felt like a heavy hammer.
What was even more terrifying was that they didn't bounce off after impact. They exploded directly, turning into powerful cursed energy shockwaves!
Boom! Boom—!
The smoke and blast waves from the explosion just engulfed Maki's position.
She barely escaped the blast zone, her hair singed by the heat, a small spot of blood on her cheek.
"I have extremely simplified the process of creating cursed tools, sacrificing durability, complex enchantments, and growth potential," Genji's voice carried through the smoke and dust, still calm, as if the lethal attack just now was just a handful of sand casually thrown. "In exchange, the construction speed has greatly increased, and the cursed energy cost per construction has significantly decreased."
As he spoke, a new batch of weapons "grew" from the shadow—this time, various forms of throwing weapons and axes.
"Simply put, for me, these things can be considered 'disposable cursed energy consumables,'" Genji's finger pointed slightly forward.
Whoosh—!
The throwing weapons and axes turned into a second wave of the storm of death, blocking all possible escape routes toward Maki.
This time, their flight trajectories were even stranger: some changed direction in mid-air, and some even collided with each other and accelerated.
Cold sweat dripped from the corner of Maki's forehead.
Instead of blindly retreating and blocking, she began to evade with minimal force, using her staff to deflect the weapons she couldn't avoid, changing their trajectories with agility, causing them to collide with each other and explode or veer off into open space.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The ground of the training ground exploded one after another, rubber debris and earth scattered everywhere.
Maki threaded her way through the gaps between explosions, her movements becoming more thrilling, but also calmer. She was adapting to this rhythm of attack, calculating the trajectory and blast radius of each "cursed energy bomb."
And as she did so, she listened to the almost brutal "explanation" in her heart, the absurdity and bitterness nearly overflowing.
Disposable cursed energy consumables…
Production speed greatly increased… Cursed energy cost decreased…
She thought of Mai.
She thought of her sister, who locked herself in her room every day, using most of her cursed energy to carefully craft that one cursed bullet.
And the ancestor before her…
With a wave of his hand, he created hundreds of "cursed tools."
Tossing them like disposable bombs comparable to high-quality cursed tools, as casually as scattering beans.
Just for "guidance."
Just to test her reflexes and evasiveness.
The gap between this could no longer be called a "world of difference"; it was simply the existence of two different dimensions.
Mai's painstakingly crafted "Construction," her treasure, had been reduced to cheap, mass-producible firepower that could be wasted here, in Zen'in Genji's hands.
Are you kidding…
What kind of monster is this?
Maki gritted her teeth, rolled, and launched herself out of another round of explosive shockwaves. Rising to her feet—her long staff shot out like a venomous dragon, deflecting three darts fired at her like needles.
The corner of her mouth cracked, blood seeping out, but her eyes were frighteningly bright.
Not despair, but a flame that burned even stronger after intense stimulation.
If 'Construction' can do this…
If the complete body of 'Heavenly Restriction' is supported by such 'Construction'…
No, this isn't the time to think about that.
Maki shook her head sharply, discarding distracting thoughts. All her attention was focused on surviving this "cursed storm" and on how to get closer to the figure hovering in the air, as if his cursed energy was inexhaustible.
Genji watched Maki struggling through the explosions but not falling, her eyes growing sharper, and the smile at the corners of his lips deepened.
"Not bad," he commented softly. "Very adaptable. So, next..."
The shadow beneath his feet boiled again.
This time, it was no longer small throwing weapons. Several giant axes, heavy hammers, and long-handled war spears with exaggerated forms and blades over two meters long slowly condensed. The cursed energy fluctuations they emitted were a step stronger than the previous weapons.
"—Try the 'heavy artillery.'"
The giant axes and war spears crashed down with a roar, tearing through the atmosphere.
---
The edge of the training ground was already crowded with students attracted by the commotion.
Yuji Itadori's mouth was wide open, his jaw nearly hitting the floor. "Hey, hey, hey... you're kidding, right? Those... were all created on the spot with cursed energy?!"
"And each shot... has the power of a bomb..." Nobara Kugisaki also rarely hid her carefree expression, her face serious. "This isn't hand-to-hand combat guidance at all, it's artillery fire, isn't it?!"
Megumi Fushiguro watched the field intently, his hands unconsciously clenching into fists.
As the successor of the Ten Shadows Technique, he had the most complex feelings about the power displayed by Genji. That was indeed the control of the shadow from the Ten Shadows Technique, but the subsequent "Construction" was completely beyond his understanding.
What was even more frightening was that Genji had only used this second technique from beginning to end. The ten types of shikigami, which were said to be constantly changing and possessed the ability to "adapt," hadn't even shown their shadows.
"Construction Technique..." Megumi Fushiguro muttered to himself. "So that adult actually has a dual technique..."
Panda covered his face with his paws. "Maki's having such a hard time... This is like crushing someone with money! Though it's cursed energy..."
Toge Inumaki's collar twitched. "...Dried bonito." (Translation: Too much.)
Megumi Kato stood quietly a little further away, her black eyes calmly reflecting the bright and deadly explosions on the field. She didn't look too worried, just focused on the details of each of Maki's evasions, as well as Genji's always calm posture.
Utaha Kasumigaoka had already taken out her phone and turned on the camera, her crimson eyes looking at the screen through the lenses.
"Simplify 'Construction' to the extreme, sacrificing all added value, pursuing only 'instant generation' and 'basic power'...
Using the idea of an industrial assembly line to produce disposable cursed energy weapons...
To achieve such a thorough 'simplification,' one must have a profound understanding of the nature of cursed energy and the structure of matter..."
Utaha murmured to herself as she recorded, her eyes shining with fanatical intellectual curiosity.
---
The battle on the field (or one-sided bombardment) had been going on for five minutes.
Maki's sportswear was damaged in many places, revealing bruises beneath her skin. Her breathing was heavy, her steps beginning to stagger, her physical and mental strength approaching their limit.
But she still didn't fall. She still searched for the nearly non-existent gap.
Finally, in the interval between another round of heavy bombardment, the shadow beneath Genji seemed to have a moment of "emptiness"—a new batch of weapons hadn't yet fully condensed and formed.
Now!
Maki's eyes flashed.
She held back no longer, squeezing out the last ounce of strength from her body. The ground she stepped on exploded, turning her entire body into a blurred afterimage, tearing through the smoke and dust that hadn't yet dispersed, almost in a straight line, thrusting her long staff at Genji!
This strike compressed all her physical strength, will, and desire for "victory."
Simple, straightforward, without elegance, but fast, precise, and ruthless to the extreme.
Genji watched the staff tip rapidly expanding in his pupils. He didn't dodge, nor did he construct weapons again.
He smiled, satisfied that the girl had noticed the subtle flaw he had deliberately exposed.
He simply raised his right hand, extended his index finger, and lightly met the thrusting staff.
Fingertip met staff tip.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no violent collision of cursed energy.
Only a soft crack was heard, like glass breaking.
The special long staff in Maki's hand shattered inch by inch from the tip, turning into countless metal fragments that fell with a rustle.
And the momentum of her forward charge seemed to hit an invisible wall and suddenly stopped.
The recoil made her grunt, and she staggered back several steps before barely managing to stand, leaving only the bare handle of the staff in her hand.
The training ground was silent as death.
Only the rustle of wind blowing through the debris could be heard.
Maki lowered her head, looked at the broken handle of the staff, then looked up at Genji, who was still hovering in place, not even the corner of his clothes damaged.
Sweat mixed with dust ran down her cheeks, but there was not a trace of frustration in her eyes. After the initial shock, an even more complex light flickered within them—clarity and an even deeper desire.
Genji descended to the ground and walked toward Maki.
"It's over," he said in a gentle voice. "You did very well. Sustaining that attack for five minutes, you were able to take advantage of the 'gap' I deliberately opened for less than half a second to counterattack. Your combat instincts and tenacity far exceed my expectations."
He paused, looked into Maki's eyes, and said seriously:
"Maki, your problem has never been skill or will. What you lack is the physical foundation of the 'complete body,' which limits your power ceiling and your ability to sustain combat. But beyond that…"
Genji reached out and gently patted Maki on the shoulder—a gesture that stunned all the onlookers for a moment.
"You have the potential to become a top-tier 'warrior.' A clear mind, beastly intuition, tenacity, and a pure, persistent desire to 'win.' These are more valuable than simple 'power.'"
Maki's body trembled slightly, not from weakness, but because these words had struck her heart directly. She opened her mouth to say something, but felt her throat tighten, unable to make a sound.
Genji said no more. He turned and looked at the students on the edge of the training ground, especially Megumi Fushiguro.
"Well, that's enough guidance for today. Megumi, take Maki to the infirmary to get her wounds treated. Everyone else, back to what you were doing."
He paused and added in a relaxed tone:
"Oh, and the cost of repairing the training ground will be charged to my account—though I don't have any money from this era, I think Satoru Gojo will be happy to pay in advance, right?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Satoru Gojo's smiling voice came from the training ground entrance:
"Oh, you noticed~ But it's fine. The Headquarters' budget shouldn't go to waste!"
Everyone turned their heads and saw Satoru Gojo leaning against the doorframe at the entrance, holding a strawberry daifuku, the corners of his mouth grinning wide beneath the black blindfold, clearly enjoying the show.
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