"She's too ugly, I can't bring myself to do it. The brothers in the comments are truly brave warriors."
He looked at Kuchisake-onna's large mouth, ripped to her ears and filled with sharp teeth after her bandages came undone, her skin like a withered tree, and her eyes full of killing intent.
At this moment, Eichi held the utmost respect for those brave warriors who dared to lay hands on imaginary Cursed Spirits like Kuchisake-onna and the Eight-Foot-Tall Woman.
Immediately after, Eichi drew his sword from his shadow and swung upward, deflecting Kuchisake-onna's large scissors.
To Eichi's surprise, Kuchisake-onna immediately abandoned the large scissors and instead pulled out a mini pair of scissors, slightly smaller than ordinary household scissors, and aimed them at the area below Eichi's abdomen.
"Onee-san where did I offend you for you to be so ruthless?"
Imaginary Cursed Spirits are Cursed Spirits formed from the convergence of people's thoughts about an existing concept. As Eichi stood behind Kuchisake-onna, the strange thoughts he had about her, the real entity, naturally converged upon her.
At this moment, even Kuchisake-onna, who was not very intelligent, felt the emotion called anger.
Eichi retreated several steps, then threw his scabbard at Kuchisake-onna.
She tilted her head, dodging the scabbard, then opened her fanged mouth and lunged to bite Eichi.
At the same time, two large pairs of scissors appeared beside her, one on the left and one on the right, aiming to cut Eichi's arms.
Eichi ducked forward, dodging both pairs of scissors, and thrust his sword into Kuchisake-onna's abdomen.
She grabbed the sword with both hands and bit toward Eichi's shoulder.
Bang.
Before her fangs reached him, Eichi moved first.
A powerful headbutt slammed into Kuchisake-onna's chin.
With teeth that were astonishingly strong, she did not get to taste Eichi. Instead, she bit her own tongue.
Blood flowed from her mouth.
Eichi, feeling a bit dizzy, retreated to regain his composure.
Kuchisake-onna, clutching her mouth, was about to give chase when she felt a chilling killing intent.
She leaped sideways as dark claws struck from the shadows.
Splat.
Although she dodged immediately, Kuchisake-onna still could not evade the Black Divine Dog's attack.
Three horizontal wounds, spanning her entire back, appeared on her body, and a large amount of purplish-black blood spurted from the wounds.
On the other side, Qiongqi, who had been sitting next to the research team, also flew in front of Eichi.
Only a few seconds passed from the Simple Domain being canceled to Kuchisake-onna falling into a desperate situation.
"Wait, Eichi."
Eichi turned to look.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit's body was covered in black mist. The scissors' attacks, after breaking through the mist, lacked sufficient power and only left a few shallow wounds on her.
Suguru, nearby, was in a similar state.
Several beetle and centipede-shaped Cursed Spirits were coiled around him, blocking the scissors' attacks.
Suddenly seeing so many insects crawling on Suguru, Eichi had goosebumps for a moment.
"What is it?"
That feeling dissipated considerably after the centipedes vanished.
"Give me that, it's a good chance to try it out."
Suguru looked at Kuchisake-onna with interest.
This Cursed Spirit would be perfect for some practice.
"That? No problem."
After a brief thought, Eichi knew what Suguru was referring to.
He bent down and retrieved a cursed tool from his shadow. It was entirely red with black spiral patterns and connected in the middle by a chain.
Special Grade cursed tool, Playful Cloud.
Playful Cloud was Suguru's dream weapon.
After experiencing its power, he was very satisfied with the strong and forceful feeling it brought.
He had been practicing with Playful Cloud for the past few months.
Now was a good time for a real combat test.
Using a Domain consumes a huge amount of Cursed Energy. A normal person can only activate a Domain once a day. Even if Kuchisake-onna's was a Simple Domain, she probably could not use it continuously.
Without her Domain, Kuchisake-onna was just a slightly stronger Grade 1 Cursed Spirit, an enemy that could make Suguru's blood boil but would not be too dangerous.
Moreover, even if she could activate the Simple Domain a second time in a short period, it would not matter. Eichi had already seen its coverage area.
All Suguru had to do was remain silent once caught inside, then wait for Eichi to break the Simple Domain from the outside.
"Catch."
Eichi tossed it with one hand, and Playful Cloud arced through the air, landing in Suguru's hand.
He grabbed the short sticks on both ends, one in each hand, and charged toward Kuchisake-onna.
The Black Divine Dog, which had been entangled with her, immediately withdrew from the battle upon seeing this.
The moment Suguru and Kuchisake-onna engaged, Eichi and his shikigami adjusted their positions.
Eichi jumped onto a nearby wall, a spot that was both outside Kuchisake-onna's Domain coverage and allowed him to support Suguru at any time.
Qiongqi found a rooftop from which he could protect both the research team and Eichi at any moment and landed there.
The Black Divine Dog, meanwhile, went with the Special Grade Cursed Spirit to retrieve the experimental equipment.
Seeing Suguru charging, Kuchisake-onna enlarged the scissors in her hand and met him head-on.
Clang.
The sound of metal clashing rang out.
She was forced to retreat repeatedly by the immense power transmitted through Playful Cloud.
Realizing that close combat was disadvantageous, Kuchisake-onna wanted to create distance.
She turned her body, hiding her left hand behind her back, and a second pair of scissors appeared in her hand.
Crack.
Whoosh.
The sound of bones breaking came as her right arm fractured under Playful Cloud's attack, but her left hand instantly thrust out.
A slender, sharp pair of scissors aimed directly at Suguru's heart.
Seeing this, Suguru hastily raised a section of Playful Cloud to block.
Rip.
After the slender, sharp scissors were blocked by Playful Cloud, the attack slid from Suguru's heart to his shoulder.
Suguru immediately used the momentum to twist and spin his body.
Kuchisake-onna's attack missed, and Suguru, using the spinning motion, released the other end of Playful Cloud with his right hand.
He swung Playful Cloud with full force with his left hand.
The fully swung Playful Cloud, carrying immense power, struck her freshly fractured right arm.
The immense force directly broke her right arm, and then, with undiminished power, landed on her torso.
Kuchisake-onna's body instantly folded at the waist, and the entire Cursed Spirit became a cannonball flying deep into the alley.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
She flew dozens of meters, breaking through three walls before stopping.
"Luckily, no one lives here, otherwise it would be bad if she hit someone."
Watching Suguru, who was clearly high on adrenaline, Eichi shook his head helplessly.
Because they knew the target's information, the two deliberately led Kuchisake-onna to a deserted area.
This way, they could both protect the public and facilitate the research team's activities without being discovered or disturbed.
Click, click.
It took a while for Kuchisake-onna to recover on the ground.
Suguru silently watched as she restored her twisted body to its original state.
She was not yet at a point where she could be subdued, so there was no rush.
Watching her stand up, Suguru's lips curled into a smile.
Eichi, noticing this, said nothing.
Swallowing Cursed Spirits, surrounded by a bunch of twisted, sanity-draining monsters, and having to act like a good boy in public, it would be strange if he did not feel stressed.
So Eichi just quietly handled crowd control. As for telling Suguru to go easy?
The kid had accumulated so much pressure. What is wrong with letting him vent?
The "Jutsu" in Jujutsu Sorcerer is the "Jutsu" of "curse." Cursed Energy can only be gathered when it contains negative emotions.
This is why Yuji, when receiving instruction from Satoru, failed to unleash Cursed Energy with a full-power strike at him.
He had no malice or negative emotions toward Satoru at the time, so he naturally could not use Cursed Energy.
A significant reason why most Jujutsu Sorcerers are crazy is because of this.
How can anyone not go crazy, let alone Jujutsu Sorcerers who are constantly in negative and extreme emotional states?
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)