Naobito and Shuichi both stood still in the destroyed garden, each with a smile on their faces.
Shuichi brought up his hand to his chest and jotted out his index and middle finger to the sky.
"That which is darkness, blacker than itself.
"The pinnacle of purity and impurity, the perfect Yin and Yang.
"Seal the space henceforth."
A terrifying momentum burst forth from within his body, engulfing the entirety of the mansion.
Suddenly, a black gooey substance began to coalesce dozens of meters in the sky.
A metaphysical humm travelled through the air as the jelly like sphere spread over the area. Morphing into a dome like structure.
And with that, the surroundings stilled.
All movements of air and cursed energy cease inside the barrier.
As of right now, the improvised barrier which had been modified by Shuichi's chant and rule making had transformed into the perfect space lock. Now, the inside of the barrier would be more accurately defined as a separate dimension!
Obviously that would not be entirely accurate since it lied still in the same plane of existence, but it sounded cool to Shuichi.
"With that, no one will disturb us." He said
Naobito watched on with a flabbergasted look, his eyes shining and shining with greed.
"So your barrier mastery has been taken to this level in just that time? Even someone that has lived for their entire lifetime may not be able to get to this point." He probed.
"Skill issue." Shuichi shrugged his shoulders, making a gesture of 'What can be done?'
Naobito raised an eyebrow with a glare.
"For the final setting up of the battlefield." said Shuichi. His gaze turning serious for a split second.
He smiled.
Without a word, he rushed towards Naobito.
Boom!
The air cracked and exploded with pressure as a speedy mass went through it like a bullet.
Shuichi reached his destination in a flash, throwing a punch directly at Naobito.
At the last moment however, the older Zenin disappeared, reappearing some distance away from him.
"Still too slow."
Shuichi didn't speak or show any emotion other than pure elation.
It seemed sensory overload could have the sane effects as a drug overload, akin to the feeling of rct on the brain.
Their figures blizted all over the garden, appearing and disappearing with nothing with gusts of wind and the fluctuations of dust clouds and the ground.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
Several impacts sounded like the violent roar of thunder as they engaged in a clash of fists and jujutsu with each other.
He isn't getting stunned anymore, that means he has already adapted himself to follow the 24 frame rule. If I were in his place, even I wouldn't be able to adjust so quickly. What a terrifying growth speed... Naobtio contemplated, dodging another strike from Shuichi.
However, just as he side stepped, a punch impacted his abdomen.
Bam! Shaaaaa!
He slid back several meters and stabilized himself.
What? He thought, bewildered.
"Surprised?" Shuichi spoke amidst his thoughts, breaking him out of his contemplation.
"How?" He asked, still not believing the current situation.
"Well, I'm just built differently it seems." The reply was tainted with a mocking tone and a sarcastic grin. Something he learned from Gojo Satoru.
Naobito's gaze darkened. He stepped forward, holding his fist backwards.
"Then I'll just have to beat out the secrets from you."
Boom! Crash! Skkkdddd!
Another bout of fighting started. Only this time, when Naobito approached Shuichi, a wall of cursed energy blocked his way.
Naobito moved to the right, however, once again a wall came into his way.
Whiiish!
Disappearing in a flash, he tried to go around them.
As one might expect, again, he was blocked off my many many walls.
His fist slammed into one, making the humm buzzing sound of a church bell being striken.
They're not only many, but they're sturdier than steel by a long shot. It felt like I punched an 18 inch thick iron door. Naobito analyzed. Shuichi's cursed technique has something to do with making cursed energy constructs. Along with that, his cursed energy reserves seems to have expanded exponentially, giving him a greater edge.
Naobito side stepped, narrowly dodging a spear smashing at him at Mach speed.
Perhaps the strange ability to refine cursed tools also stems from the same ability to use cursed energy...
Rushing at Shuichi again, suddenly, he felt something grab his leg.
Naobito froze and looked down.
There, a plethora of hands jotted out from the ground, made out of dirt and rock. They curled around his legs and held him down preventing him from moving.
What is this...? He thought.
Shuichi appeared before him, his arm cocked back, ready to throw a punch.
With a burst of cursed energy, Naobito broke out and jumped back.
As he jumped back, he felt the air around him offer an abnormal amount of resistance, turning his action sluggish and slow.
This small opening, before Naobito even realized it, prompted Shuichi to act.
As his cursed energy trembled and bubbled, he punched out towards Naobito's chest.
Boom!
Naobito was thrown back like a ragdoll, smashing right onto the ground.
"Kuh!" He groaned, quickly using his technique to get back up and move back.
What in the hell?
"Surprised?" Shuichi spoke, again speaking the same phrase. "You don't know it yet, you've already lost."
Naobito gazed on with a strange expression.
Shuichi spread his hands outwards, as if to embrace the world.
"Look around yourself. Look closely. The entirety of the area, the very ground you walk on, the dirt that gets pushed up, even the very air you breathe has been turned into a cursed energy." Shuichi explained, buffing the effectiveness of the already potent power of the tools.
From the start, the barrier served a triple purpose.
The first and the most obvious was the isolation of space from the outside.
The second was the buff it provided Shuichi and the slightest debuff it provides to Naobito.
And the final one, was the actual extension of Shuichi's Hundred armament refining to everything that the barrier held.
In essence, the barrier utilized every ounce of cursed energy inside to forcibly trigger the same effects that Shuichi's cursed technique had, turning everything into cursed tools!
Obviously, the effect was not as prominent, making the entire collection of tools weaker than they would normally be as compared to Shuichi making them himself, but it mattered little in the context.
Suddenly, Naobito began to cough violently.
Cough! Cough! Cough!
The air! It's damaging my lungs! Naobito screamed in his mind.
Almost instantaneously, a deep blue hue overcame Naobito's body, enveloping him within.
Falling Blossom Emotion!
Shuichi's eyes widened slightly as he took in the sight before him.
Falling Blossom Emotion is it? That'll work against the tools impacting you... I must thank you for using it.
Shuichi though, smiling with a vicious grin.
Using his transcendental senses, he had already figured out the actual methodology by which the technique operated, thereby, by utilization of his Hundred Armament Refining, he could perfectly replicate the technique in his own image.
It went without saying that Records of Tenjin had already completely analyzed the entire thing.
Shuichi stretched his body.
"You know, I feel like this has gone long enough." He said taking a look around the area. Seeing all the destruction, his heart felt a little sour, imagining all the expenses it would take to repair.
Thinking about it, he looked towards Naobito with hidden wrath.
Genuflecting down like a crouched tiger, the ground beneath him trembled.
His cursed energy travelled over to his bent leg, filling it entirely with tons and tons of energy.
His leg swelled up a bit as the muscles expanded, promising a force to be reckoned with.
And then, like a cocked spring which had been let go of, he darted ahead with a terrifying momentum.
Whooooooosh! Boom!
A sonic boom sounded in the vicinity of the mansion. A large and sudden gust of wind travelled throughout, shaking the trees and making dust clouds everywhere.
Naobito, who saw all of this tried to move away.
However, with him not having recovered to top condition and the cursed tools all around him impeding his movement, he could not move away in time.
Shuichi's figure appeared in the air in front of him without delay, carrying with it the promise of pain.
Cursed energy emanated out of his right leg, bubbling and trembling.
At the last moment, as Shuichi swung his leg at him, the air all around gathered at the impact point, heating up as it moved.
Naobito, seeing the approaching attack couldn't do anything except concentrating all of his cursed energy at the place of impact.
Skaaaaaa! Whoooom! Boooom!
A plethora or noises came and went, followed by a large explosion.
And what emerged from the explosion was a dark black light, along with the slight ambient hue of blue flames.
Black Flash!
Tool Explosion!
The dust cloud that was kicked up was the largest yet. Covering almost the entirety of the mansion grounds.
With a simple hand movement, aided with the converted air, all of the dust settled down again revealing the final state of Zenin Naobito.
"...Damn." Shuichi muttered to himself, seeing the state that the older Zenin had been left in.
His entire right side of the chest had been severaly damaged, showing the crushed ribs, destroyed muscles and revealing the soft tissues underneath.
The damage extended over to his entire chest, part of his right leg and over to the right side of his face through his neck.
In fact, this was only this much because Naobito had bolstered his defences in advance; using both Falling Blossom Emotion and cursed energy to shield the point of impact.
If not, Shuichi was afraid his entire chest would have been punched right through.
Naobito was still alive at the moment. His breathing was ragged and his muscles spasmed with intensity. His cursed energy was also in shambles.
Shaking his head, Shuichi slowly walked over to Naobito and placed his hand atop his chest.
Then, utilizing the rct output he got from Shoko, he began to slowly heal the other party.
Within just a couple of moments, the entire wound closed up. The damaged muscles were repaired, the crushed bones were remade, the skin was back to new.
And as a final treatment procedure, he sent some reverse cursed energy to his brain.
Gasp! Huff! Huff!
Naobito woke up with a gasp, his breathing ragged as his chest heaved up and down.
His eyes turned to Shuichi and then towards his own body.
A moment passed in silence.
Then Naobito sighed.
"Sigh! It seems I've really grown too old now. To think I lost to a brat like you." He lightly picked his ear.
"Don't blame this upon old age. Both you and I know that the same concepts cannot be applied to a jujutsu sorcerer." Shuichi said. It was in some ways true. As long as a sorcerer continued to utilize cursed energy, it was akin to exercising the entire body. And with the indefinite energy supply, the muscles would never undergo degradation. If anything, they would only get stronger.
"Yeah yeah. Tch* youngsters these days." Naobito muttered, slowly getting back up.
"So? Now that you've won, what do you intend to do?" Naobito asked.
Hearing his words, Shuichi broke out with a vicious grin.
"It's great that you understand your position." He nodded. "First of all, I want 10 cursed tools from the Zenin clan storage. 6 first grade tools and 4 special grade." He said, gesticulating 1 finger.
"Second of all, I wish to be provided with all the secret technique manuscripts and records that the zenin clan is in possession of."
Naobito expression turned darker. "That cannot be done."
Shuichi raised an eyebrow, "Why?"
"Ask for something else. Whatever you're asking for, its too outrageous."
Shuichi chortled. "See, that's where you're mistaken."
As he spoke, a small object appeared in his hand.
It was a sealing stamp, the type they had in the older eras of Japan. It glowed with a bluish hue, enveloped by ethereal flames.
It was the 'Stamp of the Devil' one of his special grade objects. Made especially with the ability to trigger the making of binding vows on targets.
Obviously, it was impossible to force binding vows on someone, however, the stamp made use of a loophole. It turned the condition of 'agreeing to the binding vow' to 'losing in a fight with the holder', thereby achieving the same effects as long as one wins in a fight.
Shuichi broke out in a maniacal laughter. Naobito watched with a strange expression as Shuichi seemed to turn into a demonic entity with long sharp teeth and gigantic horns in his eyes.
With the same maniacal grin, Shuichi stamped the air with the Stamp of the Devil.
At the sane moment, Naobito suddenly felt invisible chains on his body and then extending deeper into his body.
A binding vow! Naobito thought in horror.
"Pleasure doing business with you~" and along came the whisper of the devil.
~~~
A/N: From now on, I'll try to post with a regular schedule. Also, things will officially begin to ramp up now.
I feel like the fight scenes are a bit too, idk, 'bland'? Tell me your thoughts and how I can improve. throw some stones~~
Cheers~