Elder Kamo Yasu slid the heavy wooden ledger across the table.
He traced his wrinkled finger down the long list of newly acquired land deeds.
"...Three minor families in Osaka and the Zenin clan completely folded last week," Yasu stated.
Elder Kamo Goro sat across from him and took a slow sip of hot tea.
SIP.
"...They held onto their silver until the very end," Goro noted casually. "...They starved themselves out."
Yasu closed the ledger and tapped the wooden cover.
TAP. TAP.
"...Lord Noritoshi was absolutely correct about the cash famine," Yasu said. "...We bought their ancestral properties and their lower-grade cursed tools for a few stacks of paper Yen."
Goro set his porcelain teacup down on the saucer.
CLINK.
"...The Meiji police are making it entirely impossible for anyone without official government ties to survive," Goro added.
He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a sealed envelope.
It carried the official wax crest of the Imperial Household Ministry.
"...The Emperor's retainers sent a direct request this morning," Goro explained.
Yasu raised an eyebrow and leaned forward.
"...The Boxer Rebellion in China is officially over," Goro continued. "...Our national army broke through the Beijing gates and rescued the Western diplomats."
Goro slid the envelope across the table.
"...Japan is going to be flooded with foreign dignitaries and royal visitors wanting to thank the Emperor," Goro said. "...The Imperial retainers wanted us there."
Yasu grabbed the envelope and broke the wax seal.
CRACK.
"...They do not want the Westerners seeing any of Master Tengen's supernatural anomalies," Yasu read the letter quickly. "...They want the capital completely sterilized."
Goro nodded slowly.
"...The army needs to renovate the abandoned military clinics on the edge of Kyoto for the returning wounded soldiers," Goro detailed. "...The Imperial family ordered us to purge the buildings of curses before the normal doctors arrive."
Yasu folded the letter and tucked it into his robes.
"...Send a squad of the younger boys," Yasu ordered dismissively. "...Abandoned clinics only attract weak sickness spirits."
Goro stood up from the tatami mats.
--<>--
Location: Kyoto City, Main Merchant District
Time: 02:00 PM
The dirt streets of Kyoto were completely packed with people.
Horse-drawn carriages rattled loudly over the uneven cobblestones.
CLATTER. CLATTER.
Hanzo walked close to the wooden storefronts to avoid the heavy crowds.
He was now eleven years old. Two years had passed in the blink of an eye. It was year 1900.
This time he wore a simple, dark gray civilian kimono.
Jin walked right next to him.
Jin was sixteen now, wearing his official dark Kamo uniform with a steel wakizashi strapped to his waist.
"...I still cannot believe you talked us into bringing you out here," Jin complained loudly.
Hanzo smiled and looked up at his senior.
"...I saved my birthday wish for five months just for this," Hanzo replied innocently. "...You promised you would take me to see the city."
Kenta walked a few steps ahead of them.
He was seventeen, carrying a full-length steel katana on his left hip.
"...Keep your voice down, Jin," Kenta scolded him over his shoulder. "...The military police are everywhere today."
Soma brought up the rear of the group.
He was also sixteen, carrying a thick, wooden scabbard housing a short sword.
Soma chewed on a piece of dried meat.
"...Kenta is right," Soma mumbled with his mouth full. "...The government is cracking down on everyone."
Hanzo looked across the busy street.
Three Meiji police officers in sharp blue uniforms marched past a noodle stall.
They carried standard-issue rifles on their backs.
"...Why are there so many police officers?" Hanzo asked curiously.
Kenta stopped walking and waited for Hanzo to catch up.
"...Japan just won a major conflict in China," Kenta explained quietly. "...The whole country is hyper-patriotic right now."
Jin kicked a loose pebble across the dirt.
SKITTER.
"...The Emperor's retainers are hosting a bunch of Western diplomats in the capital," Jin added. "...They want the streets looking perfectly civilized."
Hanzo nodded slowly and looked at a passing carriage.
Two foreign men in expensive suits sat inside, holding thick leather briefcases.
'The government doesn't know about curses,' Hanzo thought internally. 'But the Imperial Household Ministry definitely does.'
He knew the Emperor was just a normal human ruler.
But the retainers managing the Imperial Court clearly understood Onmyodo and the hidden jujutsu society.
They relied on the Kamo, Zenin and Gojo clan to keep the supernatural filth hidden from the public eye.
"...Are we close to the place?" Hanzo asked.
Kenta checked a small hand-drawn map.
RUSTLE.
"...It is just past the next district," Kenta pointed down the road. "...It is an old military ward left over from the last civil war."
Jin stretched his arms over his head.
"...It should just be a bunch of weak Zatsuei (Grade 4 cursed spirits) and Chigaku (Grade 3 cursed spirits)," Jin yawned. "...We will clear it out in twenty minutes."
Soma swallowed his dried meat.
"...Do not get sloppy, Jin," Soma warned. "...The negative energy from the returning wounded soldiers might have spawned a Moryo (Grade 2 cursed spirit)."
Hanzo kept his face perfectly blank.
He translated the traditional Meiji terms in his head automatically.
'A Grade 2 curse hiding in a hospital,' Hanzo analyzed quietly. 'That should be a decent warmup for them.'
He deliberately dragged his feet slightly, playing the role of the tired, sheltered junior member.
He convinced Kenta to bring him along because he desperately needed to see the real layout of Kyoto.
He needed to memorize the police routes, the train stations, and the merchant districts for the future.
"...Let's hurry up," Kenta ordered. "...I want to be back at the clan before sunset."
--<>--
Location: Abandoned Meiji Clinic, Kyoto Outskirts
Time: 04:00 PM
The wooden clinic was completely rotting away.
Weeds grew wildly through the cracked stone foundation.
The front double doors hung loosely off their rusted iron hinges.
CREAAK.
Kenta pushed the right door open with his boot.
The inside of the clinic smelled heavily of dried blood, iodine, and wet rot.
Dust floated thickly in the sunlight passing through the broken glass windows.
Kenta drew his steel katana from his hip.
SHING.
He turned around and looked directly at Hanzo.
"...Stay right here by the doors, Hanzo," Kenta commanded strictly. "...Do not step into the main hallway."
Hanzo gave a nervous, obedient nod. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
"...I will stay right here, Kenta-san," Hanzo promised softly.
Jin pulled his wakizashi from his belt.
Soma gripped the heavy wooden scabbard of his short sword with both hands.
The three Kamo teens stepped slowly into the dark main hallway.
Drip. Drip.
Water leaked from the rotting ceiling boards.
Hanzo leaned against the doorframe and watched them closely.
He suppressed his cursed energy completely.
He blended perfectly into the background noise of the creaking building.
SCREEE!
Five twisted, multi-limbed curses suddenly dropped from the ceiling rafters.
They were grade 3 cursed spirits.
They looked like grotesque, crawling bandages wrapped around human bones.
They scrambled across the wooden floorboards directly at the teens.
"...I got the front!" Jin shouted.
Jin stepped forward and channeled his cursed energy into his free hand.
"...Haigumo!" Jin called out his innate technique.
He slammed his palm against the dusty floorboards.
SMACK.
The dust and dirt on the floor instantly violently erupted upward.
A thick, blinding cloud of debris completely engulfed the first three curses.
The cursed spirits shrieked in confusion and thrashed blindly in the dirt cloud.
Soma rushed past Jin.
He raised his wooden scabbard high over his head.
"...Omori," Soma muttered.
He fed a sharp burst of cursed energy into the wood.
The weight of the scabbard multiplied instantly right before impact.
CRASH.
Soma slammed the impossibly heavy wood directly down onto the skull of a blinded curse.
The beast's head completely caved in under the massive weight.
SPLAT.
The curse dissolved into purple ash.
Kenta darted through the dust cloud.
He gripped his katana tightly with both hands.
"...Hagane," Kenta breathed out.
He vibrated his cursed energy along the sharp edge of the steel blade.
The metal hummed with a faint blue light.
VMMMM.
Kenta swung the blade horizontally.
SWISH.
The hardened, vibrating edge sliced cleanly through the torsos of two thrashing curses.
They fell into pieces and dissolved into the floorboards.
Soma spun around and crushed the fourth curse against the wall with his heavy scabbard.
Jin stepped out of the dust cloud and drove his wakizashi straight through the final beast's neck.
The hallway fell completely silent.
Hanzo watched them from the doorway.
'They are reliable,' Hanzo judged internally. 'But they waste way too much energy on the setup.'
He saw Jin leaking excess cursed energy into the air after his technique activated.
He saw Soma overcommit his shoulders to the heavy swing, leaving his back completely exposed for two full seconds.
A low, wet growl echoed from the main surgical ward at the end of the hall.
GRRRRR.
The heavy wooden doors of the ward shattered outward.
CRASH.
A massive curse stepped into the hallway.
It was a a grade 2 cursed spirit (Moryo).
It stood eight feet tall.
It wore a filthy, tattered surgeon's apron over a bloated, rotting stomach.
Its fingers ended in long, rusted surgical scalpels instead of nails.
The beast locked its four glowing red eyes onto Kenta.
"...Moryo!" Kenta yelled loudly. "...Spread out!"
The giant curse lunged forward with terrifying speed.
It swung a massive hand full of scalpel blades directly at Kenta's chest.
SWISH.
Kenta dove hard to the wooden floor.
The blades sliced through the air exactly where his head had been seconds ago.
"...Jin, blind it!" Soma yelled.
Jin sprinted to the side and slammed his hand against the drywall.
SMASH.
He activated his technique again.
A thick cloud of plaster dust exploded outward and covered the giant curse's face.
The beast roared in anger and swung its blades blindly into the cloud.
SLASH. SLASH.
The rusted scalpels gouged deep cuts into the wooden floorboards.
Soma charged in from the blind side.
He activated his weight technique and swung his heavy scabbard directly at the curse's kneecap.
CRACK.
The wood slammed into the joint.
The massive curse stumbled sideways and dropped to one knee.
"Woah!" Kenta scrambled up from the floorboards.
He channeled all his remaining cursed energy into his katana.
The steel edge hummed violently.
"Take this!" Kenta leaped into the air and drove the blade straight down into the back of the curse's neck.
SHLUCK.
The vibrating steel severed the beast's spine completely.
SCREEee~.
The giant curse let out a gurgling shriek.
It collapsed onto the floorboards and rapidly bubbled into a massive pile of purple ash.
--<>--
Hanzo remained perfectly still by the front doors.
He rested the back of his head against the wooden frame.
He analyzed the entire fight second by second.
'Kenta leaves a huge opening every time he jumps,' Hanzo evaluated quietly. 'An intelligent curse would have gutted him in the air.'
He compared their combat flow to his own internal mechanics.
His ten-year self-imposed binding vow was currently in its fifth year.
He strictly sealed seventy-five percent of his total cursed energy deep inside his gut.
He was unable to access it.
But the severe restriction forced a terrifying evolution in his remaining twenty-five percent.
Because his available output was so strictly limited, his body learned to compress and refine it flawlessly for the following years of training.
He did not leak a single drop of residual energy into the air.
He no longer needed to make temporary, conditional vows just to hide his presence or need to see residual cursed energy.
His cursed energy control was getting better and better.
Hanzo now could funnel his twenty-five percent output directly into his fists or his weapons in a fraction of a millisecond.
Zero lag.
Zero wasted motion.
The temporary binding vow that he needed to do in the past was just a preparation for this.
Coupled with the agonizing, daily limit-break physical vow, his body was a coiled spring of dense muscle and he feels that his spirit and will were stronger than ever.
Hanzo looked at the pile of purple ash at the end of the hall.
'I could have killed that Grade 2 curse easily.' Hanzo concluded. 'They're really weak. I really need to see how Grade 1 sorcerers fight next.."
He knew his physical speed and refined energy output were completely beyond his peers.
But he also knew he was still heavily outmatched by true elite sorcerers.
Instructor Juzo was a Zekko (Grade 1).
Juzo could read the flow of battle instantly and adapt to a technique with experience.
Hanzo still lacked high-level human combat experience.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, a strange feeling washed over the back of Hanzo's neck.
The hairs on his arms stood straight up.
He shifted his eyes slowly toward the rotting wooden staircase leading to the second floor.
Hanzo sensed a very faint, jagged cursed energy signature hiding in the shadows above them.
It was completely human.
And it was incredibly hostile.
--<>--
Kenta pulled his katana out of the purple ash.
He shook the dirty residue off the steel blade.
SHING.
He sheathed the sword and let out a long, exhausted breath.
HUFF-PUFF.
Jin and Soma wiped the heavy sweat from their foreheads.
They leaned against the walls of the hallway, catching their breath.
They turned around and looked down the long hall toward Hanzo.
Jin grinned and puffed his chest out.
"...Did you see that, Hanzo?!" Jin yelled proudly. "...We took down a Moryo (Grade 2 cursed spirit) in under two minutes!"
Soma rested his heavy scabbard on his shoulder and smiled.
"...We barely even broke a sweat," Soma lied smoothly.
They struck confident, relaxed poses in the dusty hallway.
They wanted to look like absolute heroes for their junior member.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
A slow, mocking applause echoed down the wooden staircase.
"..."
Kenta instantly froze.
Jin and Soma dropped their confident smiles.
"Who?!" They all snapped their heads toward the dark stairwell.
A tall man stepped slowly out of the shadows.
He wore a ragged, filthy pinstripe suit that looked completely ruined by the weather.
He held a stolen Meiji military saber in his right hand.
The steel blade was chipped and stained with dried blood.
"...You Kamo dogs are incredibly loud," the man muttered in a raspy voice.
He stepped off the final wooden stair and walked into the hallway.
He was a rogue Curse User.
This man was a victim of the hyper-strict Meiji police state and the ongoing cash famine.
He was hiding in the abandoned military clinic to scavenge leftover copper pipes or old morphine to sell on the black market just to buy food.
The Kamo teens just ruined his safe house.
Sigh.
"...You killed the curses," the man sighed heavily. "...Now the army is going to flood this building tomorrow."
He raised the stolen military saber and pointed the tip directly at Kenta.
"...You completely ruined my place," the man growled.
The man stopped suppressing his presence.
He released his cursed energy outward in a violent, suffocating wave.
FWOOSH.
The heavy, jagged aura slammed into the three teenagers.
Kenta took a terrified step backward.
His hands shook violently as he reached for his katana.
"...Jin," Kenta whispered in pure panic. "...Run."
Jin and Soma were completely paralyzed by the sheer pressure in the air.
They recognized this specific level of terrifying strength.
It felt exactly like standing in front of Instructor Juzo.
They were looking at a Zekko (Grade 1 sorcerer).
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The man dragged his dirty boots across the floorboards, closing the distance.
"...I am going to take everything you have," the man said coldly. "Money, clothes, weapons and your dead bodies...And then I am going to sell them to buy some necessities. Four Kamo clan members should fetch some good price."
Hanzo remained perfectly still by the front doors.
He did not panic unlike the other three.
He calmly measured the jagged, leaking aura rolling off the man's body.
Hanzo cross-referenced the pressure against Instructor Juzo.
'He is somewhere in between,' Hanzo analyzed internally.
Hanzo determined the exact benchmark.
The Curse User was significantly stronger than a Grade 2.
But he was definitively weaker than a true, elite Grade 1 sorcerer.
'He is a Semi-Grade 1,' Hanzo concluded.
It was the absolute perfect test subject for him.
He was finally going to test his skills against a sorcerer of this caliber.
--<>--
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-Dr_Chad
--<>--
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