The national police state became incredibly strict since Japan just won their overseas.
They crushed any anti-government behavior without hesitation.
For independent curse users living outside the Big Three clans, this was an absolute nightmare.
The 1898 cash famine had already drained their hidden silver reserves.
The government crackdown forced them into absolute hiding.
Rogue sorcerers were completely backed into a corner.
The weak ones simply starved in the streets.
The survivors became ruthless, feral killers who viewed human lives strictly in terms of paper Yen.
A man named Genshiro was one of these cornered survivors.
Step. Step.
He stepped fully into the light of the dusty hospital hallway.
He wore a tattered, filthy pinstripe suit.
He held a chipped Meiji military saber in his right hand.
His heavy, jagged cursed energy suffocated the air in the narrow corridor.
Step. Step.
Kenta took a slow, terrified step backward.
His hands shook violently as he gripped the h ilt of his katana.
"...Jin," Kenta whispered with a trembling voice. "...Get behind me."
Jin could barely move his legs.
The oppressive weight of Genshiro's aura locked his muscles in place.
Soma swallowed hard and backed up against the wooden wall.
Kenta shifted his stance and pushed his left arm out backward.
He shielded Hanzo from the front.
"...Hanzo," Kenta said without looking back. "...Run out the front doors right now."
Hanzo remained perfectly still near the entrance.
He did not take a single step backward.
Kenta kept his eyes locked entirely on the rogue sorcerer.
"...Leave us," Kenta ordered his junior. "...Do not look back."
Genshiro let out a loud, raspy laugh.
HAHAHA.
The sound echoed off the rotting ceiling boards.
"...No one is leaving this clinic," Genshiro smiled widely.
He dragged the tip of his stolen saber across the floorboards.
SCRAPE.
"...I really need the money," Genshiro said casually.
He pointed the chipped blade at Kenta's waist.
"...That steel katana will fetch at least fifty Yen from the underground brokers," Genshiro calculated aloud.
He pointed at Jin and Soma next.
"...Those short swords are worth maybe twenty Yen each," Genshiro added.
He looked at their bodies like a piece of meat.
"...And that body of yours will sell easily to the desperate people in the lower district," Genshiro finished.
Kenta gritted his teeth.
"...You are a dead man," Kenta yelled. "...The Kamo clan will hunt you down."
Genshiro rolled his neck.
CRACK.
"...The Kamo clan does not care about a bunch of low-level branch brats," Genshiro laughed. "...They will just replace you tomorrow. I can just hide somewhere and lay low."
He gripped the hilt of his saber tightly.
His cursed energy flared violently.
"...I am going to kill you and sell everything you kids have," Genshiro promised.
Kenta tightened his grip on his katana.
He knew running was completely impossible.
The rogue sorcerer would just cut them down from behind.
"...We attack together!" Kenta screamed at his team. "...Right now!"
--<>--
Jin snapped out of his paralysis.
He slammed his left palm hard against the dusty floorboards.
"...Haigumo!" Jin shouted desperately.
SMACK.
The thick layers of dust and plaster on the floor erupted upward.
A massive, blinding cloud of debris completely filled the narrow hallway.
It engulfed Genshiro instantly.
"...Go!" Jin yelled.
Soma charged straight into the dust cloud.
He raised his heavy wooden scabbard over his right shoulder.
"...Omori!" Soma channeled his technique.
The weight of the wood multiplied instantly.
Soma swung the incredibly heavy scabbard directly toward Genshiro's head.
SWISH.
Genshiro did not even try to dodge.
He simply opened his left hand.
A thick, toxic black fluid suddenly poured out of his palm.
It was his innate technique.
The fluid rapidly expanded and took the shape of a massive, distorted hound.
It was a shikigami born directly from his own cursed energy, entirely tethered to his body.
The fluid hound snapped its jaws forward.
CHOMP.
It bit down directly onto Soma's wooden scabbard.
The sheer bite force stopped the heavy swing completely.
"...What?!" Soma gasped.
The fluid hound twisted its neck violently.
CRACK.
The wooden scabbard shattered into pieces.
The hound lunged forward and sank its toxic teeth directly into Soma's right shoulder.
SHLUCK.
"...AGGHHH!" Soma screamed in pure agony.
The hound's jaws crushed his collarbone instantly.
Genshiro kicked Soma squarely in the chest.
THUD.
Soma flew backward and crashed into the drywall.
He collapsed onto the floorboards, bleeding heavily from his shoulder.
Kenta darted through the dust cloud from the left side.
He vibrated his cursed energy along the sharp edge of his katana.
VMMMM.
He swung the humming blade horizontally at Genshiro's exposed neck.
SWISH.
Genshiro simply raised his bare left hand.
He coated his fingers in a dense, jagged layer of cursed energy.
CLANG.
He caught the vibrating steel blade perfectly in his bare palm.
Kenta's eyes widened in absolute horror.
"...You are way too slow, kid," Genshiro smiled.
Genshiro twisted his wrist violently.
SNAP.
Kenta's right wrist broke completely backward.
"...GAAAH!" Kenta shrieked.
He dropped the katana onto the floor.
Genshiro grabbed Kenta by the throat and slammed him face-first into the floorboards.
SMASH.
Blood splattered across the dusty wood.
Jin rushed forward with his wakizashi raised.
"...Let him go!" Jin screamed.
The fluid hound detached from Genshiro's side and leaped through the air.
It slammed its massive body directly into Jin's chest.
CRASH.
Jin flew backward and crashed cleanly through a rotting wooden door.
He tumbled across the floor of an empty patient room and stopped moving.
The entire hallway fell silent again.
The fight lasted less no more than twenty seconds.
Genshiro stood over Kenta's bleeding body.
He wiped a small drop of blood from his knuckles.
He let out a disappointed sigh.
"...You clan member just rely too much on your names," Genshiro muttered.
He picked up Kenta's fallen katana and inspected the steel edge. He also avoided damaging most of the body of these brats.
After all the more intact they are, the better the price from the underground market. There are curse users harvesting parts from dead sorcerers to use their bones for dark rituals and creation of cursed tools.
"Good. Good." He nodded approvingly.
"Hmm?"
Genshiro turned his head to look down the hallway.
He expected to see the youngest kid sprinting out the front doors in sheer terror.
"..."
He blinked in genuine confusion.
The eleven-year-old boy in the gray kimono had not moved a single inch.
Hanzo stood perfectly still near the entrance.
His hands were resting casually at his sides.
His face was completely blank.
"...Why are you still standing there?" Genshiro asked.
He pointed the katana at Hanzo.
"...Did your legs stop working from the fear?" Genshiro mocked him.
Hanzo looked directly at the fluid hound standing next to Genshiro.
He completely ignored the rogue sorcerer's taunt.
Hanzo just observed the connection between the beast and the man.
"...If I ran outside, you would just attack me first and send that dog to bite my legs off," Hanzo replied calmly.
Genshiro raised an eyebrow.
The kid's voice did not shake at all.
There was zero panic in his tone.
"...You are a weird brat," Genshiro said.
He stepped over Kenta's body and walked slowly toward Hanzo.
"...But you are right," Genshiro grinned. "...I would have let him chew on your ankles."
The fluid hound growled and paced next to Genshiro's legs.
"Don't worry this would be quick."
GRRRRR.
Hanzo kept his eyes locked on the toxic beast.
He gathered the necessary information in exactly twelve seconds.
--<>--
Hanzo slowly raised his right hand.
He extended his index and middle fingers.
"...Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness," Hanzo chanted quietly.
Genshiro stopped walking.
"...Purify that which is impure," Hanzo finished.
FWOOSH.
A pitch-black dome dropped directly out of the sky.
It slid smoothly through the rotting roof and walls of the clinic.
It formed a perfect fifty-meter spherical curtain around the immediate area.
The inside of the hospital hallway instantly darkened.
Genshiro looked up at the black sky through the broken roof.
His eyes widened in surprise and bewilderment.
"...A Veil?" Genshiro muttered. "...You can cast a barrier? But why would you do that though?"
Hanzo lowered his hand and did not reply to his question.
"...Your toxic dog lacks eyes," Hanzo said casually.
Genshiro gripped the hilt of his weapon.
"...It shares your exact vision," Hanzo explained. "...And the source always reconnects straight to your body."
Hanzo pointed a finger at Genshiro's chest.
"...It is just an extension of your own energy connected to your center when you activate it. A shadow or blood perhaps."
"..."
Genshiro stared at the boy.
He slowly clapped his hands together.
CLAP. CLAP.
"...You are actually pretty smart," Genshiro grinned. "...But I am still going to kill you."
SWOOSH.
Genshiro dashed forward.
The fluid hound shikigami moved in perfect synchronization with him.
ROOAR.
The beast lunged high for Hanzo's throat.
Genshiro swept the saber low toward Hanzo's ribs.
Hanzo reached under his gray kimono.
He drew both of his sickles.
He coated the dark wood in a perfectly dense, paper-thin layer of cursed energy.
He spun the sickles rapidly in his hands.
SWISH. SWISH.
Hanzo ducked under the toxic jaws.
He brought the spinning wooden hilt down hard against the incoming steel blade.
CLANG.
Sparks flew across the dark hallway.
Genshiro swung the heavy saber downward in a brutal arc.
SWOSH.
Hanzo caught the steel blade perfectly between the crossed, curved blades of his sickles.
CLACK.
He twisted his wrists violently and pushed the saber into the floorboards.
THUD.
The hound shikigami snapped violently at Hanzo's blind spots.
Hanzo tracked Genshiro's eyes to read the beast's exact movements.
He twirled the right sickle around his fingers and deflected the toxic fangs.
CRACK.
He side-stepped by a single millimeter.
He dragged the tip of his left sickle across the wooden floor.
SCRATCH.
Sparks trailed behind his feet as he closed the gap.
Genshiro gritted his teeth in deep frustration.
'What is wrong with this brat?!' Genshiro thought angrily.
He could sense the cursed energy radiating from the kid.
'His cursed energy output is pathetic!' Genshiro panicked internally. 'Why can I not hit him?!'
The kid's physical speed and reaction time were completely unnatural.
Every single block felt like slamming into solid iron.
Genshiro pulled his arm back and poured all his jagged aura into the steel saber.
He channeled the rest directly into the fluid hound.
"...Die!" Genshiro roared.
He swung to bisect the boy completely.
Hanzo analyzed the trajectory of the blade and the beast instantly.
He stepped smoothly forward.
He closed the distance in a single motion.
He swung his left wooden sickle in a tight, upward arc.
SMACK.
He parried the heavy shikigami hound away.
He dipped his right shoulder immediately after.
The steel saber sliced through the air just inches above his head.
SWISH.
Hanzo slid completely past Genshiro's guard.
He stood perfectly positioned right in front of the Curse User's exposed stomach and did a temporary binding vow.
'Stripping all my defense from my entire body...' Hanzo established it n his mind.
His body became instantly fragile.
Hanzo pulled his right fist back.
'...And funnel the entire output into my right fist upon impact.'
He created a massive, unstable spike in his remaining reserve.
He forced the energy to compress down to a microscopic point.
SWOOSH.
Hanzo drove his right fist directly into Genshiro's chest.
The timing was absolutely flawless.
BOOM.
A massive, concentrated shockwave exploded from the point of impact.
The sheer concussive force instantly ruptured Genshiro's internal organs.
"...GAAHH!" Genshiro vomited a massive mouthful of blood.
The impact launched him entirely off the floorboards.
He flew backward down the length of the hallway.
CRASH.
--<>--
The impact launched Genshiro entirely off the floorboards.
POP.
The shikigami hound standing behind Hanzo instantly bubbled and dissolved into harmless black ash.
Its connection was completely severed.
Pat. Pat.
Hanzo stood slowly and patted his shoulders.
His right fist smoked lightly in the cold air.
He looked down at his first.
'Still no black flash?,' Hanzo analyzed quietly.
He could not trigger the spatial distortion.
The raw, compressed kinetic force and the timing of the cursed energy wasn't enough.
The temporary binding vow he used was created specifically to have a high chance of performing black flash.
By punching and delivering a huged concentrated cursed energy upon impact.
Right now his attack on estimate was able to perform in 0.01 millisecond which was far away from the one-millionth of a second.
Hanzo lowered his fist and walked slowly down the hallway toward the surgical ward.
"Ack-cough. cough."
Genshiro coughed violently against the floorboards.
Blood pooled under his chin.
He clutched his stomach in absolute agony.
His cursed energy in his body felt completely disoriented.
He heard the soft footsteps walking into the room.
Step. Step.
Hanzo stopped a few feet away.
He looked down at the broken curse user with complete boredom.
Genshiro gritted his bloody teeth.
He needed a massive boost in output to heal his ruptured organs.
"...My technique..." Genshiro wheezed desperately. "...It uses my own blood and shadow to form the beast..."
He tried to reveal his hand to the enemy and waited for the sudden surge of power to flood his veins.
"..."
"..."
Nothing happened.
The universe completely denied the vow.
Hanzo stared at him with blank eyes.
"...I already explained your technique to you in the hallway," Hanzo said plainly.
Genshiro froze.
"...You cannot reveal a secret that is already exposed," Hanzo added. "...The vow is void."
Genshiro stared at the eleven-year-old kid in absolute horror.
This boy was a complete monster.
He wore the face of a child, but he fought with the strength of a master.
Hanzo look down slightly.
"...Do you belong to an underground organization?" Hanzo asked casually. "...Or are there more of you hiding in Kyoto? What about Tokyo?"
PTUI.
Genshiro spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor.
He glared up at Hanzo with pure hatred.
He was going to drag this out.
'This kid will lose his cursed energy faster than me.'
He was going to summon shikigami again and fight a protracted battle. If he can't touch this brat then he will tire him out. He has more cursed energy than him.
Hanzo read the defiant look in the man's eyes instantly.
Hanzo sighed and stood back up.
"...Your expression says it all," Hanzo stated coldly.
He slipped the two sickles back into his belt.
"...You are a good sparring man," Hanzo decided. "...Feel honored."
Genshiro forced himself up onto his knees.
He channeled his remaining cursed energy into his hands.
"...I will kill you!" Genshiro screamed.
He prepared to summon the shikigami again.
Hanzo raised his right hand.
He formed a strange, complex hand sign.
He crossed his index and middle fingers and bent his thumb inward.
He used exactly twenty percent of his cursed energy.
The air in the room instantly grew incredibly heavy.
Hanzo looked directly into Genshiro's eyes.
"...Kurohitsugi," Hanzo chanted softly.
Four massive, pitch-black Bounded Field walls snapped up directly from the wooden floorboards.
FWOOSH.
They formed a perfect, solid black box entirely enclosing Genshiro.
The light in the room vanished.
Genshiro stood in complete, suffocating darkness.
"...What is this?!" Genshiro yelled in panic.
He slammed his fists against the black walls.
They felt like solid steel.
Suddenly, the localized gravity inside the box multiplied violently.
VMMMM.
Genshiro dropped to his knees under the crushing weight.
The pressure inside the box spiked.
Hundreds of sharp, localized gravitational spears formed in the dark air around him.
They pointed directly at his body.
--<>--
For this story be included in the algorithm.
-Dr_Chad
--<>--