Chapter 155
"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide—Turbulent!"
Kiriya’s sword blurred through a rapid chain of slashes.
The blade tore through the curses’ shells and flesh with ease, exorcising them one after another before they could close in.
"Excellent swordsmanship."
Geto’s smile widened.
"Then how about this?"
With a sweep of his hand, two more waves of cursed spirits poured into the street.
The first was made up of grotesque, infant-like creatures.
Their skin was a sickly blue-gray, and their shrill wailing echoed through the empty shopping district like the cries of dead children.
The second swarm consisted of countless centipedes.
They crawled over one another in dense, writhing layers, thousands of legs scraping and clicking together in a sound that would have driven anyone with a fear of insects insane.
"Now then," Geto said, folding his arms. "Show me how far that swordsmanship of yours can take you."
He waited eagerly for the moment Kiriya’s blade finally failed to keep up and the sea of curses swallowed him alive.
The desperate screams would surely be entertaining.
But Kiriya did not raise his sword.
Instead, he calmly returned it to its sheath and stood still.
"Hm?" Geto raised an eyebrow. "Giving up already?"
He did not truly believe it. Someone like Kiriya would never simply surrender.
’So he has another technique.’
The two swarms crashed down upon him.
In an instant, Kiriya disappeared beneath a mountain of cursed bodies.
For a brief moment, Geto wondered whether he had misjudged him.
’Was he nothing but an impressive-looking fool?’
Then enormous wooden spikes erupted from inside the swarm.
They multiplied in every direction, piercing through the mass of curses until the entire area became a forest of jagged wood.
"Wood Release: Hellish Uproar."
After reaching Level 3, Kiriya’s control over Wood Release had improved considerably. Its ability to drain energy had grown even stronger as well.
The Grade 3 and Grade 4 curses stood no chance against that terrifying absorption.
Their bodies withered almost instantly before collapsing into smoke.
"What is that?" Geto’s eyes widened. "A cursed technique?"
But there had been no cursed energy involved!
A technique capable of producing effects like jujutsu, powered by an entirely different energy system.
Geto’s expression twisted with excitement.
"That body..."
His narrow eyes opened wider.
"That body is magnificent!"
"For the sake of my cause, I think I’ll take it for myself."
"Mm..."
The pure essence of the destroyed curses flowed into Kiriya’s eyes.
That familiar cool pleasure washed through him again, and his ocular power rose by another noticeable amount.
At this rate, another dozen swarms of this size might be enough to awaken the third tomoe.
Kiriya looked at Geto with naked hunger.
"You’re practically my lucky charm."
"You still have plenty more curses, don’t you?"
He beckoned with one hand.
"Bring them out while I’m still in a good mood."
"Otherwise, you won’t get another chance."
"Hahaha!"
Geto shook his head and laughed.
"Young people really are shamelessly arrogant these days."
"I’ve stayed quiet for too long. Now every stray dog thinks it can bare its teeth at me."
His smile disappeared.
"Allow me to show you what special grade truly means."
Geto released more cursed spirits.
He had already seen that ordinary fodder was useless, and sending out more would only embarrass him.
This time, he brought out the monsters that mattered.
A massive one-eyed creature covered in dark-green moss.
A navy-blue curse shaped like an oversized newborn infant.
A four-legged crawler whose entire head consisted of one enormous mouth.
An armored samurai with compound eyes and twin swords at its waist.
More and more creatures appeared, each one more grotesque than the last.
Even the smallest stood as tall as a two-story house, while the largest rivaled an office building.
Their enormous bodies filled the abandoned shopping district until there was barely any open space left.
The largest Wood Human Kiriya could currently create would have looked like a half-finished figurine beside them.
But their size was not what made his heart race.
It was their strength.
Five Grade 1 cursed spirits!
Eight Semi-Grade 1s.
And more Grade 2s than he could count.
This was Suguru Geto’s innate technique—Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
Once he defeated and absorbed a cursed spirit, he could summon and control it freely.
The summoned curses required no additional medium, as they could use their own cursed energy and techniques.
If a cursed spirit was at least two grades weaker than Geto, he could even bypass the usual subjugation process and absorb it almost automatically.
Thanks to that absurd technique, Geto had collected nearly four thousand cursed spirits over the course of his life.
He was an army contained within a single man—a strategic weapon capable of bringing disaster to an entire region.
"So many..."
Kiriya’s eyes reddened further, and his body began to tremble.
Geto smiled.
’He’s finally frightened.’
"Unfortunately, it’s too late to regret provoking me."
"Hell yeah!"
Kiriya clenched his fists, baring his teeth in a wide grin.
"This is exactly what I wanted."
"Now this is worth getting excited about."
Geto’s expression darkened.
"Let’s see how long you can keep pretending to be fearless."
He swept his arm forward.
The cursed spirits roared, shrieked, and howled before charging at Kiriya from every direction.
Kiriya did not immediately attack.
Instead, he used a ninjutsu he had not needed in quite some time.
"Hiding in Mist Technique."
Dense fog erupted across the shopping district, swallowing the streets and blocking all sight.
Hidden within the mist, Kiriya immediately created several shadow clones and sent them into position to prepare something far more powerful.
Geto frowned as the white fog covered the entire district.
"Trying to escape?"
He shook his head.
"How foolish. Inside this Curtain, where exactly do you think you can run?"
Geto ordered the enormous armored samurai to swing its great sword.
A violent gale swept through the shopping street, scattering the fog in seconds.
When the mist cleared, Kiriya stood in the open with a startled look on his face.
Geto was even more surprised.
There were three of him.
"Clones? Substitutes? Illusions?"
Several possibilities crossed Geto’s mind.
Then he dismissed them all.
It did not matter what they were.
His army had the overwhelming advantage. He only needed to destroy all three!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before the Kiriya clones could speak, the curses attacked.
Some lunged with enormous jaws, while others swung giant fists or brought down massive weapons.
Faced with the relentless assault, the three Kiriyas seemed able to do nothing but flee.
They leapt from one cursed spirit to another, weaving through the army and constantly changing direction.
To the short-tempered curses, they were no better than mosquitoes buzzing around their heads.
The creatures quickly became enraged and chased after them without restraint.
Fortunately for Geto, he still controlled the battlefield.
Under his direction, the army gradually restricted the three Kiriyas’ movements and separated them into three isolated zones, each only a few dozen meters wide.
Soon, there was nowhere left to run.
Geto smiled.
"Come on, boy. Use that wood technique again."
"Give me another surprise."
He spread his arms.
"Otherwise, you’re going to die."
The moment those words left his mouth, something appeared at the center of each battlefield.
A glowing.... spinning shuriken.
Geto’s smile froze.
Boom!