The wind in the mountains suddenly stopped.
The airflow that had been whistling in his ears just a moment ago fell silent instantly. The swirling debris fell onto the road, making one last crisp sound before completely merging into this eerie stillness.
Those two terrifying fluctuations of Cursed Energy, like erupting magma and collapsing mountains, also ceased at the same moment, as if they had never existed.
Rin still stood in the middle of the road, his posture as straight as a pine.
He did not move. His Crimson Sharingan slowly closed and then opened again. Only this time, his gaze lacked a bit of sharpness and held a bit more composure.
He did not deliberately try to sense the traces of Cursed Energy. Although the auras of those two Special Grade Cursed Spirits were hidden, they were like flames in the darkness; even if deliberately suppressed, their inherent scorching heat and heaviness could not be concealed.
He knew they had not left.
The distant mountains were layered and covered with dense greenery. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on the road.
The birds in the mountains, unaware that danger was approaching, continued to chirp happily on the branches. Their crisp sounds echoed through the valley, yet only served to make this stretch of road feel even more silent.
Occasionally, a breeze blew by, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees, gently stirring the hem of Rin's clothes. Everything seemed peaceful and comfortable.
Yet, Rin's nerves were not relaxed in the slightest.
He could clearly perceive an invisible tension permeating the air, like a bowstring pulled to its limit, ready to snap at any moment.
Jogo and Earth Fiend were hiding in the nearby forest, perhaps behind a thick tree or in some recessed mountain wall, locking onto him with murderous gazes, waiting for the best moment to strike.
This was the calm before the storm, the lurking of a hunter before the kill.
Rin curled the corners of his lips slightly, revealing a faint smile.
He enjoyed this atmosphere. The extreme silence intertwined with extreme danger, as if life and death hung by a thread, and every second of waiting was filled with unknown excitement.
This feeling made his blood boil more than any intense battle.
The moment the calm was suddenly torn apart, several dazzling spots of light suddenly shot out from the distant forest.
Those spots of light were like falling meteors, dragging scorching trails behind them, speeding toward Rin in the middle of the road.
The speed was astonishing; almost the instant they were caught in his line of sight, they had already arrived in front of Rin.
"Boom!!!"
Violent explosions followed one after another. The deafening roar echoed continuously through the valley, as if it were about to overturn the entire mountain range.
Bursts of surging fire instantly swallowed Rin's figure, along with the concrete road beneath his feet, which was lifted and torn apart by the violent energy.
Debris and fragments of the broken road shot out in all directions like cannonballs. A powerful shockwave swept across, snapping the trees by the roadside in half. Branches and leaves flew everywhere, dust filled the air, and the entire area fell into a chaotic sea of fire.
Thick smoke rose, blocking the sunlight and instantly turning this mountain road into a scene of purgatory.
In the dense forest on the western hillside, Jogo was panting heavily.
That large-scale explosive Cursed Technique he had just used was not easy to cast, but looking at the road completely covered by the sea of fire, a crazy, joyful smile soon appeared on his face.
He sensed the Cursed Energy fluctuations on the battlefield. Rin's massive and sharp aura from before had completely vanished, as if it had been thoroughly crushed by the explosive energy.
Jogo stared intently at the center of the explosion, but after a long time, he did not detect any fluctuations.
"Hahahaha! What Special Grade Sorcerer! What talent rivaling Satoru Gojo!"
Jogo laughed wildly, his voice full of complacency and disdain:
"In the end, didn't you still get drowned in my flames! That guy Kenjaku was just making a mountain out of a molehill. You're nothing but a vulnerable brat!"
He straightened up, preparing to walk toward the battlefield to confirm Rin's corpse, and then take the trophy back to slap Kenjaku's face.
But just at this moment, a cold voice suddenly rang in his ear, like a whisper from the abyss:
"Since that's the case, then why are you hiding so far away?"
This voice was both strange and familiar, carrying a hint of playful mockery, instantly freezing Jogo's laughter on his face.
His pupils contracted suddenly, his entire body's Cursed Energy tensed up, and a chill shot from his spine to the top of his head.
He slowly turned his stiff neck, looking toward the direction the voice came from.
Behind him, where there should have been the shadows of the dense forest, was now churning and writhing like a living thing. Pitch-black mist condensed and twisted, forming an eerie vortex.
The next second, Rin's figure slowly walked out from that twisted darkness.
He was clean, without a single wound; not even a speck of dust or spark had touched the hem of his clothes, as if the terrifying explosion that could have destroyed everything was nothing more than an insignificant breeze to him.
His Crimson Sharingan glowed with a faint luster. He looked at Jogo's stunned expression, the corners of his mouth curling into an understated smile.
"How is this possible..."
Jogo's voice trembled, staring at Rin in disbelief, muttering to himself.
He had clearly confirmed that Rin's Cursed Energy had disappeared. He had clearly believed that the explosion was enough to crush any Special Grade Sorcerer, yet the Rin before him stood there completely unharmed.
It wasn't until his gaze fell on the darkness still churning behind Rin that his pupils shrank violently, and he finally realized.
That was the Dark Cursed Spirit's Cursed Technique! The ability to manipulate dark space, which had belonged to the Special Grade Cursed Spirit Rin had killed, had actually been absorbed and mastered by Rin!
The explosion just now hadn't hurt Rin in the slightest.
Rin had simply pulled himself into the dark space the moment the explosion arrived, avoiding all the impact and flames.
And the reason he couldn't sense Rin's Cursed Energy was simply because the dark space had isolated the energy detection.
"You... you actually mastered his Cursed Technique?"
Jogo's face turned pale instantly. The previous ecstasy vanished, replaced by deep apprehension.
An opponent capable of absorbing the abilities of other Cursed Spirits was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
Rin did not answer, only walking slowly toward Jogo.
With every step he took, black mist rose from the ground beneath his feet, as if the shadows of the entire forest were at his disposal.
Rin's voice was calm, without a ripple, yet it was like a giant boulder thrown into the lake of Jogo's heart, stirring up sky-high ripples of terror.
The pressure emanating from Rin was like a tangible mountain, pressing down heavily on Jogo's heart, causing him to instinctively take a small step back. This was fear born from instinct, an irrepressible retreat when the weak face the strong.
Before Jogo could adjust his state, Rin's raised palm was already aimed at him.
Black-red Cursed Energy condensed rapidly in his palm, like rolling magma intertwined with thick darkness, exuding a heart-palpitating aura of destruction.
It was complex and violent, far exceeding Jogo's understanding.
Tank
"Oh no!"
Jogo's pupils shrank, his entire body's Cursed Energy boiled instantly, wanting to condense flames for defense.
But his movement was ultimately half a beat too slow. The black-red Cursed Energy in Rin's palm had already erupted!
The next second, Jogo only felt a devastating, violent impact rushing toward him.
That power was too terrifying, as if it could tear everything apart. His flame Cursed Energy, which he was so proud of, was like paper in front of it, instantly dispersed.
In the second before his body was violently blasted away, only one thought remained in Jogo's mind, filled with disbelief:
"How can there be such powerful force?!"
His body flew like a kite with a broken string, drawing a wretched arc in the air, and slammed heavily into the tree behind him.
With a crisp "crack," the tree as thick as a person's embrace was instantly snapped, wood chips flying everywhere.
But Jogo's body did not stop; it continued to retreat with the powerful impact, snapping several more trees in succession before stopping in an open area.
Accompanied by a dull, loud thud, Jogo's body smashed into the ground, while Rin's attack had forcibly torn a terrifying trench into the earth.
The trench snaked for dozens of meters, soil churning and debris scattering, which was enough to show how shocking the power of this strike was.