In the stands reserved for the Clan Heads, the visual impact of the scene still lingered in everyone's eyes.
Naoto leaned slightly forward.
Satsugi's fingers pressed tensely against the armrest of her chair.
Kamikake remained in absolute silence.
And Noriaki simply stared at the arena as if trying to find some trick or deception.
After so many coordinated blows…
After a Piercing Blood executed at that level…
And the brat from Tengen's temple was still practically intact.
"Hey… hey…" Noriaki Kamo muttered, his voice thick with disbelief. "What the hell is that?"
He knew the spell better than anyone there.
Not even Grade 1 curses walked away from a Piercing Blood with just a superficial scratch.
It was impossible.
Unless—
"Is that his technique?"
"No."
The answer came firm.
Tengen didn't even take her eyes off the arena.
"Whatever you think his technique is, it is neither equal to nor similar to what you're imagining, Noriaki Kamo."
The warning made everyone turn their attention to her.
"The reason he withstood Piercing Blood is that thin veil of cursed energy around his body. Perhaps, by instinct, Akoto actively concentrated the veil around his head at the moment of impact."
Satsugi frowned.
"But even Cursed Energy Reinforcement wouldn't be able to withstand a Piercing Blood at that level."
"In the end," Kamikake added, eyes narrowed, "the question remains the same. How?"
Tengen closed her eyes for a brief second.
She sighed.
"If you idiots would let me finish speaking, the question would already be answered."
A bead of sweat discreetly slid down the back of Satsugi's and Noriaki's heads.
"What he's doing," Tengen continued, her voice now more technical, "can be considered the next step of Cursed Energy Reinforcement."
She lightly pointed toward the arena.
"He fused Emission, Distribution, and Compression into the Reinforcement itself. They're not separate steps. There's no waste. No instability."
The Clan Heads remained in absolute silence.
"The result is that thin veil. A constant layer, refined to the extreme." Her eyes gleamed with a mix of pride and fascination. "At least ten times more durable than ordinary Reinforcement."
The information landed like a stone dropped into a lake.
"Tsk." Noriaki clicked his tongue. "First those black sparks… and now this. Just what exactly did that brat learn from you, Tengen?"
A small smile appeared on her face.
"Only the basics."
Her eyes returned to Akoto in the arena.
"The rest… he developed on his own."
Naoto kept his eyes fixed on the arena.
"This is insane."
Tengen let out a small nasal chuckle.
"I said the same thing when he started training."
She crossed her arms, recalling the past.
"I always wondered what the odds were of someone being born with immeasurable cursed energy, absurd talent for jujutsu, and still possessing the analytical capacity to dissect the very foundations of such complex techniques."
The Clan Heads listened in silence.
"He already masters even Fallen Blossom Emotion and Curtain."
Satsugi's brow furrowed slightly.
Fallen Blossom Emotion—an advanced defensive technique traditionally associated with the Great Clans—required extreme precision in energy flow.
And Curtain…
It was a fundamental barrier technique that many sorcerers took years to properly refine.
Tengen sighed.
"And that's without mentioning his innate technique."
Her tone shifted.
It grew more serious.
"It's something incomprehensible to the current world. Perhaps only he knows how to use it. If it were anyone else… it would remain stagnant until death."
Silence fell.
Tenzo, who until now had only been observing, tilted his head slightly.
"What is his technique?"
Tengen fell silent.
She thought.
Then thought a little more.
And then—
A thin trail of imaginary smoke almost seemed to rise from the top of her head.
"To be honest…" she admitted, without the slightest embarrassment.
"Even I don't understand it."
Everyone practically fell out of their chairs.
"HOW DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND IT?!"
"I JUST DON'T, DAMN IT!"
…
Down below, the air felt heavier.
Despite the thin stream of blood running down his forehead, Akoto smiled.
A small one.
Sincere.
'That last attempt was the best one so far.'
For a single, fleeting instant—
The idea of defeat crossed his mind.
And was immediately crushed.
'What a ridiculous thought.'
His eyes turned colder.
'If I'm to be the strongest… then defeat can no longer apply to me.'
He dragged his thumb across his forehead, wiping away the blood.
Then he released a short burst of cursed energy.
The blood scattered across the ground vibrated—
And was pulverized.
Not a single drop remained.
"Very well, heirs…"
His voice echoed across the arena, far too calm for what was about to unfold.
"Since we're in a slaughterhouse… let's begin the slaughter."
Everyone's attention shifted to him.
"And the first will be…"
Akoto raised his arm.
He pointed to the sky.
"You up there."
Instinctively, all eyes turned upward.
Kanaede hovered above the arena.
Her wings spread wide.
White feathers reflecting the light.
A golden trumpet rested in her hands, cursed energy beginning to condense around the instrument.
Jugo clicked his tongue.
'He noticed our plan?! When?!'
Kanaede felt the weight of every gaze.
'He noticed me… damn it!'
"What are you waiting for?" Akoto called out, his voice carrying upward. "Or are you… waiting for me to activate my technique?"
A collective shiver ran through the arena.
The next instant—
Boom!
The ground beneath Akoto's feet exploded.
He vanished.
Successive bursts of air detonated in the sky—
One.
Two.
Three.
Each explosion marked a point where he had propelled his body using extreme energy compression.
Each detonation brought him closer.
Kanaede felt her instincts scream.
'He's coming!'
By pure instinct, Kanaede Abe—bearer of the Angel title granted by her clan—raised the trumpet to her lips.
She did not hesitate.
She did not think.
She simply executed.
『Extinction Technique — Jacob's Ladder!』
The sound of the trumpet echoed like an ancient summons.
Above her, a circle of light opened in the sky.
And then—
A pillar descended.
White. Absolute.
The luminous column swallowed Akoto midair, completely enveloping his body. Within the beam, small angelic entities began to form—humanoid silhouettes with wings and halos, yet without eyes or noses, like unfinished sculptures of divinity.
They surrounded him.
And burned.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
Akoto's scream echoed across the arena.
His flesh began to char.
The thin veil of cursed energy around his body hissed—
And disintegrated.
'Damn it!!! What kind of attack is this?!'
It wasn't merely physical damage.
The purifying light invaded his flow.
Dismantled it.
Nullified it.
His cursed energy was being erased on contact.
The pillar continued to descend.
And then Akoto's body began to fall.
In flames.
Burning beneath the overwhelming radiance.
Meanwhile, on the ground—
Shin was already condensing blood at his fingertips, preparing Piercing Blood once more.
Jugo adjusted his hands, the space around them beginning to warp.
Noa bent his knees, ready to launch the instant Akoto hit the ground.
'My cursed energy is being nullified!'
Akoto could feel it.
He tried to pull the flow back.
Nothing responded properly.
'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!'
He forced it again.
Nothing.
His brain burned along with his flesh.
Out of sheer desperation—
He pulled everything inward.
Not outward.
Inward.
Directly into his brain.
The energy plunged into the place where his Innate Technique resided.
He forced it.
Pushed it.
And then—
Activated it.
"?!"
Kanaede felt it.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The light that was meant to purify—
Bent.
As if it had encountered something it could not touch.
Zoom!
The pillar fractured in multiple directions, beams firing across the sky in impossible trajectories—as if the very laws governing the propagation of light had been ignored.
The small angelic beings dispersed into particles.
The circle above shattered.
And from the sky—
A nearly completely charred body fell.
Boom!
Akoto struck the arena, forming a crater.
Absolute silence followed.
Smoke rose from his skin.
The smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
"Ah… Ah… Ah…"
His breathing was irregular.
Painful.
But—
He was still conscious.
...
In the stands, Tengen rose abruptly to her feet.
The impact of the technique still reverberated through the air.
"Hahahaha!" Tenzo laughed loudly, pride overflowing. "Regardless of his technique, the Angel's Technique is superior! Nothing can stand against it!"
He looked down at the charred body in the arena with evident satisfaction.
"Hey… but what was that?" Naoto muttered. "The light shot off in every direction."
"Explain that, Tenzo Abe," Kamikake demanded coldly, his eyes sharp.
Tenzo slowly turned his head.
His gaze hardened.
"I have no obligation to answer you." His voice was laced with contempt. "I am no longer a subordinate of the Fujiwara."
The name echoed like an ancient blade.
Kamikake held his stare, irritation contained.
The tension between them almost felt like another battle about to erupt.
Meanwhile, Naoto and Satsugi were watching Tengen.
The Master of Barriers—the existence who sustained the balance of jujutsu in Japan—was trembling.
Her eyes were wide.
Not in surprise.
In fear.
And despair.
'It seems the boy is more than just a disciple to her…'
'If this gets out of control… I'll have to interfere.'
Despite rivalries and pride, the historical ties were clear.
The Zenin and Gojo clans had always been among the closest to Tengen. It was tradition that, periodically, an heir would serve as bodyguard to the Star Plasma Vessel.
Their supremacy…
Was also the result of the stability Tengen provided.
"Hey," Noriaki commented with a low chuckle, breaking the tension. "For all your pride, Tenzo… he's still alive."
Tenzo did not take his eyes off the arena.
"It doesn't matter."
His tone was final.
"With those injuries, his energy output has been compromised. He won't be able to fight like before. Not use that refined veil to reinforce his strikes."
He crossed his arms.
"It's decided."
To Tenzo, the outcome was obvious.
"He lost."
...
In the arena, smoke still rose from the charred body.
But the silence…
Was far too strange for a defeat.
'I experienced death…'
Akoto was kneeling inside the crater.
'My body is charred… burned… raw…'
The pain was absolute.
There was no single point.
It was everywhere.
He felt the skin of his left arm stiff like the bark of a burned tree. He smelled his own roasted flesh invading his nostrils. His face was partially destroyed, the vision in one eye reduced to darkness.
'But why…'
Even so—
He lifted his face toward the sky.
Kanaede, still hovering above, saw it.
And wished she hadn't.
Half of his face was carbonized.
Flesh exposed.
One empty eye.
And yet—
He was smiling.
"How…"
Her stomach churned violently.
"Bleah!"
She vomited midair, unable to contain the reaction.
'I can't stop smiling?!'
The smile was involuntary.
His burned muscles contracted into a warped expression of ecstasy.
"Hahaha…"
The laughter began low.
Broken.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
It spread like a wave.
Echoed across the walls.
Resounded throughout the entire Imperial Palace.
Everyone heard it.
"I finally understand…"
Akoto slowly rose to his feet.
"The true essence of Cursed Energy."
And then—
Under everyone's stunned gaze—
His body began to regenerate.
It wasn't mere healing.
It was reconstruction.
The charred skin flaked away like ash.
New skin formed beneath it.
The lost eyeball reconstituted itself within the socket.
His burned hair grew back anew.
In just a few seconds—
He was whole.
Perfect.
As if nothing had ever happened.
In the stands, the Clan Heads recognized it instantly.
Reverse Cursed Technique.
"Truly…" Akoto observed his own hand, flexing his newly regenerated fingers. "Real battles are unmatched."
He took a deep breath.
"The despair. The fear. The joy. The adrenaline."
His eyes gleamed.
"Without that… I would never have reached Reversal."
He looked up at the sky, toward Kanaede.
"That purifying light… in the end, it was necessary for me to reach the pinnacle of Non-Innate Techniques."
At that moment—
Akoto Kisaragi possessed:
Refined Barrier Techniques.
Extreme Cursed Energy manipulation.
His incomprehensible Innate Technique.
The phenomenon of Black Flashes.
And now—
Reverse Cursed Technique.
"Hey… hey…" Shin muttered, eyes wide. "You're kidding, right?"
"Damn…" Jugo whispered.
"He regenerated…"
"With Reverse Technique?"
The four heirs in the arena felt something expand inside their chests.
It wasn't just pressure.
It wasn't just tension.
It was fear.
"Very well… time to reveal my Innate Technique to you."
Akoto's voice echoed across the devastated arena.
A faint veil began to form around his body again—not the refined one from before, but something deeper, denser. The space around him seemed slightly warped, as if perspective itself were being drawn toward him.
"My technique is called Soul Manifestation."
He raised his hand.
"The principle is simple: I directly manifest my own soul into reality."
Cursed energy began to rise.
Higher.
Higher.
The ground trembled.
Cracks spread across the arena and reached the stands. The spiritual pressure was so intense that some spectators had to brace themselves against their seats.
"This grants me access to essentially infinite power. In the sense that I can replenish my cursed energy indefinitely."
He demonstrated it in practice.
The energy he had just spent regenerating had already been completely restored.
And it continued to grow.
"To be honest… up to that point, it's relatively simple."
Suddenly—
All the energy retracted back into his body.
The silence turned heavy.
"Every soul has shape, structure, and content. That's why, even if someone else possessed Soul Manifestation, they would never produce the same effects as I do."
He touched his own chest.
"My soul has the shape of a hole in space."
The air around him distorted.
Slightly.
"A point that bends light, matter, energy… and natural forces."
A chill ran down several spines.
"Do you know what that means?"
Silence followed.
Shin blinked.
Jugo remained rigid.
Noa didn't understand.
Kanaede was still pale in the sky.
Akoto tilted his head.
"Never mind. You truly aren't on my level."
He took a step forward.
"The content of the soul is the region beyond the horizon of the self. An inner domain where body, soul, energy, and identity cease to be separate entities."
The pressure began to rise again.
But now it was different.
Quieter.
More oppressive.
"By accessing the content of my soul… I comprehend and incorporate the four forces that sustain the universe as it is."
The space around him trembled.
Not like an explosion.
It was instability.
"The Four Fundamental Forces."