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shinigami-mafia-imagines · 2 years ago

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“Had I known this mission would be so taxing, I would have brought more jerky.” A rattle of a pill bottle echoed through the spacious gallery. “And more iron supplements.” The redhead sighed as he placed the bottle back into his coat pocket. This trip to Fortuna had put quite the strain on him and his supplies, but he wouldn't say he regretted coming along. Not entirely. Being a defender of the public, specifically of children, as well as a victim of a cult, Ryu found himself compelled to help rid the city of whatever was plaguing it. This could have been one and done, Dante had been close to finishing their target off, but that kid just had to come along and play hero. He couldn't entirely blame him for attacking him on sight...Dante did 'assassinate' him during a sermon of all things. He was always one for theatrics, it wasn't out of character at all, but he wished he at least thought this through before committing. Now they were split up and this citadel was nothing short of a giant maze. At least he found himself in a somewhat familiar setting of an art gallery. No doubts it was an accumulation of the city's history and culture through the ages, something any church would want to keep on display. There were both massive and normal sized paintings, mostly of Sparda(or, rather their interpretation of Sparda) while some drew emphasis to a goat with pure white fur. Sometimes, the goat would be replaced with a winged man, while other paintings seemed to try to mix the two together. It was clear that this character was important in their pantheon, but who it was, he couldn't entirely tell. Regardless, the paintings were wonderful quality and very well taken care of. There was nary a crack or any signs of warping on any of them, which was an amazing feat in and of itself. “It is a shame that we can't take any of these with us. That one there is a particularly fine looking goat man, if I do say so myself. What do you think, Azazel?” He hummed, stopping to admire one of the portraits of this strange character, only to frown as he felt what he could only describe as a distaste for everything in this room. Azazel often couldn't use words, so He just let Ryu feel what He thought instead. “You hate it...Do you know this character?” The demon residing within him was centuries, if not millennia old, so surely He knew who this was especially if He held such a large amount of disgust towards these paintings. He remained silent, however, and urged the man to keep moving. The redhead tilted his head in wonder before shrugging it off and continued on walking down the grey hall. If He wanted to tell him, He would tell him. There was no need to pry when he shouldn't. As he walked down the hall, a large pair of doors came into view. There was no placard to tell visitors or observers what was in this room, so it was a complete memory what lay beyond here. “Curious...” He looked to the side and saw a Lion Headed Goddess statue. “Curiouser.” He decided to entertain the statue and presented a hefty amount of red orbs to Her. “You have anything good for me? Jerky or Iron pills perhaps?” He joked, of course he wasn't expecting a response at all from the lovely Goddess, however, the orbs disappeared from his hand and in their place appeared three green stars. Not exactly what he was looking for, but they were helpful nonetheless. “Loaʻa iā ʻoe kaʻu Mahalo.” He bowed his head to Her before placing the stars in his pocket, then placed his hands on the large double doors. With a heave, the doors creaked open and the sounds of flames could be heard almost immediately. Looking up, Ryu saw a large room with pillars standing symmetrically on each side. And at the far end stood a stone tablet as well as an incredibly large statue of what looked like a dragon with a goat's face and large angelic wings. The anger and disgust Azazel fed him grew more intense, causing the man to nearly wretch at the feeling. He didn't understand, but he soon would as he walked closer to the tablet. 'Azazel, Sparda's first Apostle Thrown from the Heavens above for daring to aid us meager Humans in our time of need, Azazel swore himself to Our Heavenly Father, Sparda. He adored us Humans as if we were His own and died to liberate us from our enslavement. A mighty Wyrm in battle, yet gentle as a Lamb to His flock. May He ever watch over us as Our Heavenly Father does and protect us in our time of need.' “They...think you're an apostle of Sparda? Did you ever meet Sparda?” 'Viscous Mockery...Sparda...was a comrade...I...Never fought alongside him, but...I did help humans. Before I was trapped...Taught humans...as a way to help his efforts.' Ryu had to admit, he never thought he'd see the day that Azazel was so talkative. Usually He gave him one worded responses or just gave him His emotions. This must have really riled Him up and he could understand why now. Having your memory disgraced and the truth stretched so thin was insulting at best. “So you were a teacher of sorts. And being thrown out of heaven?” 'Sin...Fell...in love.' “I don't think it's a sin to fall in love. Sounds to me you were more human than your superiors would have liked.” There was a faint chuckle echoing in his head, another first for his demon companion. Then a resounding 'Dimwits' entered his mind and it was Ryu's turn to chuckle. Little did the two notice that the statues bright red eyes had begun to move, watching the redhead as he talked. It could sense the blood within him, something it wanted so desperately in order to be whole. There was a faint rumbling by the massive statue, cracks appearing in the wall as it began it's full awakening. It's tail whipped free first, leaving behind the imprint in the wall in order to slam down onto the platform before it. Ryu jumped out of the way of the hulking stone, dusting off his suit as he landed on his feet again. “I was wondering when you would wake up. My blood was boiling the moment I stepped foot in here. What is with churches and statues, anyway? It's like they're trying to impress an ex or something.” He joked as a stream of blood pooled into his hand and turned into a rapier. With a loud growl, the statue broke completely free of it's confines against the wall, leaving a perfect indent behind. “You...will be what completes me. I...will reign with Our Savior.” It's two front claws dug deep into the marble platform, it's six eyes staring intently at the meager human before it. “And none...will stop me!!” It reeled it's head back as a bright white orb charged up in it's mouth. The redhead dodged out of the way as a beam of pure light hit the ground. He hid behind one of the many pillars as the statue craned it's neck upward to try and catch him. “So what's the weakness? I assume it has something to do with all those spears sticking out of it. Or how about that big blue crack on it's chest?” Peaking from behind the pillar, Ryu tried to give Azazel the best look at the creature before either made any attack plans. It would just lead to an early death if they dashed into battle all willy-nilly, after all. 'Crack...source of power...sense...concentrated energy...from there. Weapons...should help...' “Attack it with it's own design...how poetic.” “You cannot hide from me!!” Swiping it's massive claw across the arena, Ryu again dashed out of his hiding spot to get somewhere safer, though at the rate this thing was raging, he wouldn't have much place else to go soon. He ran towards it, keeping an eye on it's other claw and head as he did, and lifted his sword into a stabbing position. “Let's see what this does for you, hm?” Before he could reach the crack, however, the other claw came down on him. Thinking quickly, Ryu jabbed his blood sword into one of the seams on the statue's hand, causing something to drip out of it and trickle onto his face. “Blood?” 'Not...demon...' It was such a sickly orange and black color, like it was an amalgamation of man made and something rotted. Azazel couldn't feed from this and if He tried, who knew what it would do to Him and His host. With the decision made to not experiment with this fluid, the redhead sliced through the seam with ease, severing whatever connective tissue lay beneath the stone facade. The creature screamed as it's claw fell limp and lost strength, causing it to tumble as it tried to catch itself with it's other hand. “It even smells rotten.” He coughed out as he tried to clean his face of the fluid to no avail. The creature's wings stretched open and with a powerful flap it was able to keep itself steady in the air while a gust kicked up around the room. The man kept himself steady on his feet as he tried to keep an eye on it's movements, but there was a lot more dust in this arena than he expected there to be. “How...dare you harm me!!” The creature roared once more before rearing it's tail up and spun, causing it to sweep across the room with breakneck speed. Azazel tried to warn His companion, but even He was too late on the draw. The stone slammed into Ryu's body, knocking him into the nearby wall. He coughed violently as he landed, blood sputtering from his lips as he did. His own blood. He cursed his body, but thanked his companion for at least cushioning the blow with His own blood just above all the sensitive bits and bobs. The attack could have easily shattered his ribcage and even broke his spine without His aid. It still hurt, though. Pulling out one of the green stars, Ryu crushed it in his hand and immediately he could feel himself able to breathe easily again. “Alright...okay...New strategy.” He coughed again and stumbled slightly as he stood back up, only to glare confidently back at the dragon-goat creature. “It's not so fair that you're able to fly, now is it? What say we level the playing field?” There was a low growl rumbling in his throat as blood seeped across his body, only to suddenly harden into crystalline plate armor. On his back, two large demonic wings stretched out, while large horns appeared at his hairline and smaller horns dotted beneath his eyes. With a powerful pump of his blood wings, he was airborne and flew to the statue with ease. “You aren't allowed to use this anymore.” Making a sharp turn, he dug his sword into a seam on the creature's one good arm and sliced through with ease. It screamed once more and tried to follow him upward only to wince and roar as it felt the spears and swords embedded into it's stony flesh be ripped out. Another scream echoed into the arena as Ryu plunged the plundered weapons into the large blue crack in it's chest and with a spin and a pump of his wings, he moved out of the way before it could bring it's maw down upon him. “Get it out! Get it out!!” The creature was panicking as it tried to clear the stuck weapons away from it's weak spot with it's useless hands, only for it to scream again as it felt more of the weapons being torn from it's back and neck. It flailed it's head around, charging another beam of light and just letting the stream go wherever it desired in it's panic. “I will not be undone! I cannot be undone! I am Azazel, the first Apostle! You will bow to me!” It's voice stopped short as another sword was plunged into the large blue crystal, it's body hovering for but a moment in the silence of the air. “You are not Azazel. The Azazel I know was wronged in more ways than I can count. His love of humans far outmatches your own. So be quiet and die peacefully.” Ryu kicked back away from the statue, letting it fall unceremoniously to the ground. It's wings fell limp and it's mouth hung open as if it were truly alive once. Landing back on the ground, the redhead couldn't contain another round of coughing. His lungs hurt and he felt even more tired than he had before. But the fight was over and another demon was kept from wreaking havoc upon Fortuna. He was at least grateful for that. The armor that adorned him shattered and turned to dust in the wind. The fight was done, it was no longer needed. He pulled out his bottle of iron supplements and quickly downed a pill or two the best he could without a drink. The recoil from this fight wasn't going to be pretty and he knew he needed to try and ease it as much as he could. “I...will not be...undone...” A woman's feeble voice echoed in the now deathly silent room, a squelching noise following after. The redhead froze up as did his blood. The voice was all too familiar. “I will rise...I will reign with Our Savior...” Walking quickly, Ryu leapt over the large stone arm and beheld what was coming out of the blue crystal. “We will be all powerful...we will rule this feeble world...lead it...to salvation...” The figure was near unrecognizable, her skin was so slimy, so unnaturally colored, and her body was so thin. How long had she been in this statue? Since he was a child? Since his escape? “Himari!” The woman stopped trying to crawl and looked towards the boy that she once ruled over. Her eyes, in all their unnatural appearance, still caused his blood to boil and his arms to ache. All the agony, all the screaming, all the pain...Even after 27 years, it was still so fresh in his mind. He didn't know how she escaped his rampage, perhaps she had hid like she normally would if anything dangerous seemed to be happening, perhaps she ran before the final experiment, he didn't know. But it was clear now what had become of her, this sorry excuse for a human turned horrifying experiment herself. All for what? Power? Fame? Glory? He didn't know. He didn't want to know. He stepped closer to her, her eyes following him with something akin to fear...or possible hatred. “You...have all this...you...should thank--” She was unable to finish her sentence as he plunged his rapier straight into her forehead. “Rest. Heal. E ʻae i ka honua e hoʻihoʻi iā ʻoe.” He could only offer a short prayer to the woman before ripping his blade from her. There was a long silence as he made his exit of the gallery and found his way back towards the city. Azazel could feel all the conflicting feelings within His host, and while He could say for certain He was glad the final string to his past was cut, He did not know if He could say the same for him. 'Heal...Happy...' “It's so weird...isn't it? That I pity that woman instead of feel immense satisfaction of her fate?” The demon hummed in thought before the feeling of His blood squeezing in certain places came over the man. Ryu smiled if only slightly. It was His form of a hug, the best He could give to him. He patted his own shoulder and nodded. 'Normal...Normal...' “Thank you, my friend.” Stumbling again, Ryu could feel the affects of the battle starting to take it's toll on his body. The Vitality Stars could only do so much, they were more like a cup of coffee than anything. What he needed was actual meat or even blood to replenish him. Something he had neither of. Before he felt himself hit the ground, a hand grabbed his arm to keep him upright and steady. “Whoa there, what happened to you? You're paler than a sheet.” Looking back, the redhead smiled at the familiar presence of his business partner. “What of you? You look like you went a few rounds with a rose bush.” “Long story. Here.” “Hey...there's no need.” Dante lifted Ryu up into his arms with ease. He always seemed to handle him like he was lighter than a feather. And he supposed he was to him, he did have inhuman strength, after all. But still, this was on the more embarrassing side, being carried around like a fragile flower, which he insisted he wasn't. “How's the kid doing?” He conceded at least, and instead put the focus on Nero, the one anomaly in this city. “Oh you know, bein' cocky, got himself trapped in a statue, gettin' cozy with that demon hand of his. But he made it farther than I expected him to. Might just even let him keep the Yamato.” He raised a brow when he heard Ryu chuckling. “You must have a lot of confidence in him to let him keep it. Didn't think you had a soft spot for kids.” “Ehh just this one. If you could see him fight, you'd understand. This looks like a good spot.” Walking over to an alley, nicely tucked away from the hubbub going on around them, the man set Ryu down to rest and regain his strength. “You stay here, got that? Don't even think about following after me until you're done being exhausted.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a bag of jerky which immediately made the redhead perk up. “Just have the whole bag. Don't fall too far behind, Ryu.” He ran his thumb over his cheek before standing straight up again and walking off. Ryu wasted no time getting to his jerky, chewing and gulping like an animal the entire time. 'Sin...Do you...love him...?' Ryu stopped chewing for a moment to process what Azazel had asked him before a gentle smile adorned his face. “I probably have since the first time we met. Why do you ask?” 'You are...Happy...Warm...With him.' “Does it feel familiar? Like with the one you loved?” 'Yes...Very...'

#Devil May Cry #DMCIV #OC #Oneshot #Dante #Queue

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starman-waiting-in-the-sky07 · 16 days ago

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Shantae Gish Quote Curly Kid (I Wanna Be The Guy) Commander Video Meat Boy Bandage Girl Tofu Boy Dr. Fetus Cube Robot Shovel Knight Plague Knight Specter Knight King Knight Shield Knight Tinker Knight Propeller Knight Reize Mona Baz Ori The Knight Hornet Zote Quirrel Tiso Great Nailsage Sly The Godseeker The Hollow Knight Troupe Master Grimm Pale King Cuphead Mugman Legendary Chalice Elder Kettle King Dice The Devil Peppino Spaghetti The Noise Pepperman Pillar John Pizzahead Hat Kid Mustache Kid Madeline Badeline Dante From The Devil May Cry Series Red Knight Steve Alex Creeper Enderman Blaze Jacket Terrarian Guide Dryad Goblin Tinkerer Eye Of Cthulu Skeletron Lunatic Cultist Supreme Witch Calamitas Wobbler Stiffy Boyfriend Girlfriend Pico Tankman Lemon Demon Fall Guy Company Worker Eyeless Dogs Content Creator Wilson Wigfrid Maxwell Survivor Ryley Robinson Peeper Rimworlder Duplicant Scorpion Sub-Zero Orcane Bridget Faust Reindog Isaac ??? Mom Monstro Candace Pilot Bullet Gunslinger The Beheaded The Collector The Time Keeper The Ironclad The Silent The Defect Zagreus Skul Muck Guy Stoat Leshy The Lamb Ratau Sozo Leshy Heket Dome Keeper Brotato Poe Rachto Niko Sunny Brad Armstrong Frisk Flowey The Flower Toriel Sans Papyrus Undyne Mad Mew Mew Alphys Mettaton Asgore Asriel Chara Clover Martlet Starlo Chara (TS;Underswap) Crossbones Koffin-K Sans Underswap Sans Underfell Ink Sans Glitch Sans Dust Sans Kris Dreemur Susie Ralsei Noelle Berdly Lancer Queen Rouxls Kaard Spampton Jevil Vi Kabbu Leif Zasp Mothiva Duke Nukem Doom Guy Vault Boy Mr. House Carl Johnson Gordon Freeman Alyx Master Chief Scout Soldier Pyro Demoman Heavy Engineer Medic Sniper Spy Saxton Hale Mrs. Pauling Chell GlaDOS Wheatley V1 Gabriel Leon S. Kennedy Purple Guy Freddy Fazbear Toy Chica Withered Bonnie Nightmare Foxy Balloon Boy Circus Baby Spooky Bendy The Ink Monster Six Mono The Neighbour Filbo Fiddlepie King Graham Pajama Sam Henry Stickmin Ellie Rose Charles Reginald Right Hand Man Clicker Grandma Farmer Mayor Lewis Pierre Krobus Mr. Qi Beatrix LeBeau Viktor Humphries Pink Slime Pac-Man Mrs. Pac-Man Simon Belmont Richter Belmont Alucard Dracula The Hero Slime Solid Snake Raiden Senator Armstrong Ryu Ken Chun-Li M. Bison Megman Zero Dr. Wiley Cloud Strife Black Mage Sephiroth Sonic The Hedgehog Tails The Fox Knuckles The Echidna Amy Rose Shadow The Hedgehog Metal Sonic Rouge The Bat Eggman Crash Bandicoot Lara Croft Banjo-Kazooie Spyro The Dragon Phoenix Wright Miles Edgeworth Sora Bayonetta The Chosen Undead

#hunger games simulator

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wildfire317s-oc-box · 2 years ago

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Fun Fact's about my OC's: Ryu

What Ryu thinks of the "Kamaboko Squad" including Murata & Aoi :

Keep in mind he is fond of all of them but some of them make him go "dad-mode" more than others. Also since he is a hashira and making more than enough on his own he will occasionally slip them an extra 500 yen and some sweets each (pulling a dad move there).

Tanjiro: Ryu is very fond of him and respects him quite a bit. He see's a lot of his younger self in Tanjiro and believes he has a bright future ahead of him.

Nezuko: Ryu is quite fond of her and adores giving her headpats and hugs. He thinks she's a great listener and likes to tell her stories. She reminds him of Tsuki.

Zenitsu: Ryu is rather fond of Zenitsu though he does trigger "dad-mode" a lot more than most of the others. He reminds him of his daughters Tsubaki and Kimi, so he frequently talks to and treats him like he would treat them, which actually seems to work a lot.

Inosuke: Ryu is rather fond of Inosuke though he does trigger "dad-mode" a lot more than most of the others. He reminds him of his son Asaki and his daughter Nijiko. He does his best to calm him down and get him to cooperate by using his fondness of acorns to his advantage.

Kanao: Ryu is very fond of her and likes spending time with her though she is definitely the most quiet of the group, she quite reminds him of his daughter Rin.

Aoi: Ryu is quite fond of her and though he rarely ends up in the butterfly mansion due to an injury, he does enjoy spending time with her. He appreciates the fact that she recognized that being a slayer would stress her out more than being a nurse though he does wish she had more self confidence.

Genya: Ryu is quite fond of him and really wishes that his older brother would treat him better and appreciates that Gyomei is giving him the care he desperately needs. He is also rather intrigued by the fact that he is a half demon.

Murata: Ryu is fond of Murata though he wishes he would not be as hot headed as he can get some times.

BONUS:

Shinobu's caterpillars: Ryu is very fond of the girls and whenever he visits he will do what dad's do best and let them do his make up, let them paint his nails, give them rides on his shoulders, play dolls with them, ect. He will also bring them snacks whenever he comes to visit.

Senjuro: Ryu is rather fond of Senjuro (and may or may not be trying to be the dad his father couldn't be), when he does come to visit (though unfortunately not very often) he will help senjuro finish his chores faster so they can go kick a temari around or play catch.

#demon slayer oc #kny oc #ryu the dragon pillar #fun facts about my oc's #oc things #and yes he has been accidentally called dad by all of them atleast once

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auxiliarydetective · 3 years ago

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Inari's Bonds to different Straw Hats

In my first post on Inari, @mondfahrt asked some questions on details regarding what it would be like if Inari were bound to specific Straw Hats. I actually didn't put too much thought into much except the elements and abilities given to her by her nakama and the smaller details I wrote down in the last post came to me by writing, so those questions really got my brain going. I love overthinking things and detailing my OCs and stories, so I acted accordingly.

Have all the details I could currently think of regarding Inari's bonds with all the Straw Hats (yes, including Jinbe, though he'll definitely get the shortest paragraph since she hasn't known him for long). The changed appearances are also included. It's mostly just the hair and eye color that changed, but there can be other changes too. The way this happens doesn't go by what looks pretty. It's the same for every master. Because of this, Inari has preferences regarding who she likes being bound to. For example, she might not like the hair color or other appearance changes she ends up with.

Once again, this is a long post

Monkey D. Luffy

One of the questions asked was Luffy's opinion on someone being bound to him. At first, he didn't like it. At all. He hated the thought of having a servant or anything of that kind. This even went so far that he wanted to leave Inari behind on Skypea. The other Straw Hats convinced him not to do this, but he still had a difficult relationship with Inari had first. However, as she started to become a part of the crew and became more individualistic. He never gives her orders, at least not more than he would to other crew members.

Inari being bound to Luffy looks like this:

Her elemental powers are Air (pre-timeskip) and Fire (post-timeskip) and the special ability she gets from Luffy is increased agility, which she nicknamed Rubber Rebound (ゴムのリバウンド/Gomu no Ribaundo).

Some attacks she uses in this bond are Gum-Gum Storm/ゴムゴムの荒れ/Gomu Gomu no Are (a quickfire attack of air projectiles, similar to Luffy's Gum-Gum Gattling) and Gum-Gum Fire/ゴムゴムのファイア/Gomu Gomu no Faia (a fire ball that bounces off the ground and walls like rubber; imagine the fire flower powerup from the Super Mario games).

A weird habit she picks up from Luffy is always jumping on top of things, like pillars, walls and trees to look into the distance. Or just for fun. She also tends to eat a bit more, and her preference changes to sweets and treats with gelatin.

Roronoa Zoro

Zoro never really minded Inari being bound to him. Being an honorable man and a swordsman, he understood the concept of her devil fruit a bit better, especially how her masters were determined. Unlike Luffy, he does give Inari orders, but he sees her more as a student than a servant. When she's bound to him, he usually trains with her, making him the only one who actively encourages her to copy the fighting styles of others, believing it to be a good way to learn. He keeps an eye on her in battles if possible, but also believes in her abilities to protect herself.

When bound to Zoro, Inari looks like this:

The elemental powers she gains from Zoro are Earth (pre-timeskip) and Air (post-timeskip) which she herself deems a very powerful combination because it allows her to essentially control the battlefield, both on the ground and in the air. Zoro's special ability is increased strength, which Inari nicknamed Gorira/剛力 (the kanji mean "herculean strength") after one of Zoro's attacks.

Going after Zoro and his Mutoryu/Ittoryu/Nitoryu/Santoryu naming scheme, Inari names her attacks Mu Tessen Ryu (No Fan Style), Ichi Tessen Ryu (One Fan Style) and Ni Tessen Ryu (Two Fan Style) respectively. An example of this would be Ni Tessen Ryu: Dragon Twister (二鉄扇流: 龍巻き/ Ni Tessen Ryu: Tatsu Maki) which is basically Zoro's Tatsu Maki but with fans instead of swords or Mu Tessen Ryu: Yomi's Gate (無鉄扇流: ヨミの門/Mu Tessen Ryu: Yomi no Mon) which is an attack where Inari makes the earth crack open to swallow her enemies whole. Yomi is the underworld of Japanese mythology.

Inari under Zoro's influence is VERY sleepy. She tends to get lost more easily and is more likely to actually go melee on her enemies and slash them instead of using her powers.

Nami

Nami was very happy to have a servant at first and did actually order her around to get her drinks and things like that, but she stopped the more they got to know each other.

When bound to Nami, Inari looks like this:

Nami's elemental traits that she gives to Inari are Water (pre-timeskip) and Fire (post-timeskip) and her special ability is an inner log pose which Inari nicknamed Seagull Pose (鴎の指針). It allows her to find the next island over without fail, but usually never comes in handy.

Some of Inari's Nami-inspired techniques are Cyclone Blaze Tempo (サイクロンブレイズテンポ), a barrage of bullet-like water droplets, and Steam Tempo (スチームテンポ), a defensive wall of steam to allow for escape or coverage.

Already being an emotional person, Inari is easily angered under Nami's influence. She also tends to be a bit greedy and is attracted by shiny things.

Usopp

Usopp is glad to have Inari. She's more of a fighter than he is and so the servant-master relationship is great for him, giving him more protection. This doesn't mean that she's a tool to him or just a way of protection. He appreciates her as a person too.

Inari under Usopp's influence looks like this:

The abilities Inari gets from Usopp are Air (pre-timeskip) and Earth (post-timeskip), as well as Finger Guns (フィンガーガン). These work just the way you would imagine them to, allowing Inari to shoot projectiles from her fingers. These are either gusts of air or tiny stones.

Inari's fighting style is very different when she's bound to Usopp and mostly relies on her Finger Guns and defensive or evasive techniques. She sticks to Usopp's side mostly, providing cover for him while he's sniping or using her powers to amplify his range or the speed at which he fires. This technique is called Booster Star (増幅器星). A frequent protective measure is Aiolos's Blessing (アイオロスの恵み / Aiorosu no Megumi), which is a sort of bubble of strong wind that protects anyone inside it from projectiles and anything light enough to be blown away. Another common technique is one known as Plan Alpha (プランアルファ / Puran Arufa) in which Inari creates a large cloud of dust to hide behind and help her and her allies escape.

When bound to Usopp, Inari mostly avoids fights and becomes a very convincing liar - something that she possibly has a natural talent for as her twin sister Pudding is an amazing liar and actor. She shows interest in gardening and inventing and is usually seen accompanying Usopp at whatever he does which is something she usually doesn't do with her other masters.

Vinsmoke Sanji

No, Sanji didn't have any perverted thoughts about this master-servant relationship. He would never abuse Inari like that. His first thoughts were a lot more wholesome. Instead, he sees it as his responsibility to protect Inari, even more so than with other women. He takes very good care of her and makes sure that she's okay at all times. Sometimes, he does give orders, but only to make sure Inari stays out of too much danger. For instance, he would order her to leave a battle if he knows she wouldn't win or otherwise orders her to do something important if she would be too stubborn otherwise.

Inari bound to Sanji looks like this:

Could be siblings, honestly. She looks a bit like a younger Sora with three eyes.

Inari gets the abilities of Fire (pre-timeskip) and Air (post-timeskip) from Sanji, as well as increased acrobatics which Inari has dubbed Lindy Hop (リンデイホップ / Rindei Hoppu) after the athletic ballroom dance with its high jumps, twists and flips.

While bound to Sanji, one of Inari's techniques is called Quickstep Escalator (クイックステップエスカレーター / Kuikkusuteppu Esukareta) and it's virtually the same as Sanji's Sky Walk, allowing Inari to scale heights in a short time. Whenever Inari uses her Fire abilities while bound to Sanji, she prefixes techniques with Amour Brûlant (not doing the katakana for this because I have no freaking clue, but the pun here is crème brûlée).

Inari is very likely to fall in love and be vocal about her affections when bound to Sanji. One of the sweetest states she could be in. YOu can often find her in the kitchen, alone or with Sanji, making treats.

Tony Tony Chopper

Chopper didn't have a special opinion on Inari and her servitude and didn't expect he'd ever become her master anyway. One thing that was always clear, however, was that he would never actually get into the master-servant dynamic. He still treats her as his equal, no matter if she's his servant or not and only gives her order for medical reasons.

Okay, get ready, because Inari looks super cute when bound to Chopper:

Look at her! She has the blue nose! That's one of the things that happens when she's bound to non-human species. I could have definitely done a better job at portraying the nose, but it is what it is for now. Thanks to being bound to Chopper, along with gaining control over Earth (pre-timeskip) and Air (post-timeskip), Inari can understand animals, but she can't talk to them. This has allowed her to befriend some foxes that she adores beyond imagination.

I honestly have no clue what techniques Inari could use while bound to Chopper as all of Chopper's techniques are bound to transformations and direct attacks. Possibly, she would stay behind and put up walls of rock to make a sort of safe space for emergency medical treatments.

Chopper-bound Inari loves cotton candy and is childishly sweet and clingy.

Nico Robin

Robin and Inari's master-servant relationship is more of a sibling relationship. Inari loves her siblings and searches for somebody to look up to and see as her older sibling whenever she's not at home. Robin knew and understood this pretty much immediately and gave her exactly what she needed. She's protective of Inari and very caring towards her, acting as a mentor, caretaker, sibling and friend.

When bound to Robin, Inari looks like this:

Okay, now it's time for the big ones! Getting the elements out of the way, Robin gives Inari the powers of Water (pre-timeskip) and Earth (post-timeskip). But now for the special ability. This was one of the questions asked too and the answer is: Yes! Kinda. She can understand them but she can't put it in words. So she knows what the poneglyphs mean. She understands them even in the details. But she couldn't translate them even if she wanted to.

Inari's techniques when bound to Robin are called Hands of Water (水の手 / Mizunote) and Hands of Earth (地球の手 / Chikyunote) respectively. She usually relies on grabbing, sweeping and slapping her enemies, imitating Robin's techniques in the process.

When bound to Robin, Inari is a lot calmer than usual and seems to really enjoy reading.

Franky

Franky wasn't there when Inari joined the crew and so he didn't have the same first reaction opportunity as the others. But he has had subordinates before, in a way, with the Franky Family. Similarly to Robin, he sees Inari as a sort of younger sibling, but in a Franky way if you know what I mean. Much more even-leveled than with Robin. While Robin would be the one to actually teach younger siblings if she had any and act as a second mother, Franky supports their chaotic nature.

When bound to Franky, Inari looks like this:

Franky enables her the powers of Fire (pre-timeskip) and Earth (post-timeskip) and the ability to understand any mechanical device by looking at it, meaning she can disassemble, repair, sabotage and control it to her will. This makes for amazing moments between her and Franky of building and inventing things together, because Inari can immediately tell if something will work without Franky having to test it and potentially damage something, as well as find out ways to fix or improve things.

When bound to Franky, Inari has a habit of making her own "cyborg" body, a sort of armor made of stone that she calls Armored Me (アーマードおれ / Amado Ore) just like Franky. This can just be gauntlets to amplify her punches, a pair of stilts or full-body armor like Toph from A:TLA. She also uses vehicles built by Franky - and can even control General Franky/Franky Shogun due to her special ability.

Inari's behaviour change is not very noticable with Franky, but it does show when someone tells a touching story - she reacts just as emotionally as Franky does. She's also more likely to pose and her counterpart of Franky's cola is strawberry soda.

Brook

No, Brook didn't misuse his powers as master for his quest for panties. Remember, Brook is very polite, even when asking for something like that. He always adds a "please", making it not an order and thereby optional for Inari. Whereas Franky and Robin were like older siblings, Brook is the full-on dad. Dad jokes, of course, included. He treats Inari like his child and calls her Ojou-san (お嬢さん, meaning "Miss", "young lady" or "daughter") as a nickname.

Brook and Inari make for a bit of a scary combination. Ready?

There's actually a story to this too. When Inari was first bound to Brook, her crewmates were scared of her. This reminded her of her traumatic past and she was scared of herself too, so she said she wanted to jump off a cliff and asked that someone else saved her. Everyone was immediately against it and Brook apologized. It took the combined effort of Zoro, Sanji and Robin to calm them both down again. Inari and the crew got used to her appearance after a while, but it still leaves a bitter taste in Inari's mouth.

With the help of Brook. Inari can use the elements of Air (pre-timeskip) and, surprisingly, Fire (post-timeskip- because Brook's music sets people's heart on fire). Brook's special ability is essentially astral projection. With this Inari can project her consciousness out of her body to contact someone or pass through walls and solid objects. The difficult thing is that it requires lots of focus and it leaves her body unresponsive, making her a very easy target. Any distraction while in spirit form will cause her to wake up again. She has dubbed this ability Haunting Melody (出没メロディー/ Shutsubosu Merodi).

Similar to how some of her Sanji-bound techniques are named after fast ballroom dances, her Brook-bound techniques are usually prefixed with Soul Waltz (ソウルワルツ / Souru Warutsu) and feature waltz-like motions mixed with Inari's usual fighting style.

Brook-bound Inari is the definition of dad jokes. She loves making them. While she can't really make skeleton puns because she's not a skeleton, she leans more on candy puns. She also drinks more tea, usually fruit tea. During the time-skip, Inari has picked up the shamisen as an instrument and plays it more frequently while bound to Brook, often together with him (though I'm not 100% sure about this idea yet).

Jinbe

Jinbe sees Inari like a student, even more so than Zoro does. He takes pride in his role as mentor and is very responsible, actively teaching her fishman karate when he notices that she's unconsciously trying to copy it from him and failing.

This is what Inari looks like when bound to Jinbe:

Look, she's got the teeth!

Jinbe grants her the elements of Water (obviously) and Earth. Now, Jinbe's special ability is a big one, because it allows Inari to breathe under water - which is a big one because it actually allows her to swim and dive. Surfing the surface of the water is something she can do with any water element master, but actually going beneath the water is something else. The way this works is with a technique called Blue Dolphin (青いイルカ / Aoi Iruka) that forms a dolphin-shaped bubble of water around Inari that she can use to swim, because her own water actually doesn't weaken her or other devil fruit users.

All of Inari's attacks while bound to Jinbe go by the naming system of Fishman Karate.

When bound to Jinbe, Inari shows a similarly calm, honorable side, though she is still impulsive and emotional as usual because the personality changes caused by her devil fruit can't completely overwrite her own traits. However, she seems generally more calculated.

Now, these things might seem a bit very powerful. But one important thing to remember that the sheer amount of abilities Inari has isn't really that much of an advantage. She has to figure out who gives her what abilities and learn to control them first before she can make anything of it. Depending on when her allegiance changed and how quickly it changes again, this can be a very difficult thing and requires her to be very versatile.

#one piece #one piece oc #oc: charlotte inari #kami kami no mi

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zachsgamejournal · 3 years ago

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PLAYING: Breath of Fire IV

Been awhile since I’ve discussed BOFIV...but it’s also been awhile since I’ve played it. This stretch has taken the story deeper and made it feel more adult.

So I don’t remember exactly what happened after speaking with the Wind Dragon (god), but it looks like he blew us to the top of a cold mountain. So we had to work our way through. This was the first time the game’s mobs felt like a real challenge, and I wasn’t sure we’d make it. But we did.

We came to the village of Chek, which appeared to be populated by children. I guess they’re just small people. They are summoners that bring forth gods to the realm, though they prefer to remain hidden. The village elder explains that dragons are gods that are brought forth by prayers (their village does the summoning). Twice, non-summoners tried to summon gods and screwed it up. One of those times resulted in Fou-Lu and Ryu. They were one being that was split into two, and separated by time. Fou-Lu became the first emperor of the Empire (but he was also summoned by the Empire--not 100%). It is their destiny to meet, and which ever one has more power will absorb the other. So we may lose Ryu to Fou-Lu.

Some of this is explained by the pillars of “smoke” that special mystics can see. They’re basically auras. These life streams become intertwined with others...blah, blah, blah.

We also learn that our robo-armor pal has someone inside it inside it who’s name is Ershin...I think. We use Ryu’s power to drop in and check on Ershin by entering her dream. Turns out she’s a half-god too, with no form, so got stuck in the armor. We use a local medium to extract her from the armor. Ershin the god’s real name is Dies.

Dies says we need to go summon the gods to discuss next steps. She wants to go back home, and resents humans for sucking her into this world. On the way to meet gods, Ershin the armor appears, not wishing to be left behind. Dies says that some residual magic of hers must be animating the suit of armor.

We leave Ershin. After a short dungeon, we meet the gods and do some intercutting between the gods in their very strange, not-dragon, forms and Fou-Lu.

The gods say that they are neutral and do not interfere with human concerns beyond what they were called in to do via prayer. So I guess if bad guys prayed to them, they’d acquiesce to their bidding. Ershin is really grumpy about it and just wants to go home. Nina seems really bothered by the gods’ passivity. The gods ultimately agree that if Ryu seeks out their dragon forms (around the world) they’d aid him in his quest.

Fou-Lu wakes up in a cabin with a woman (forgot her name). She helps nurse him back to health. She’s a farmer and hardworker. She’s also convinced her landlord and neighbors that Fou-Lu is a cousin that was hit on the head, so may talk funny.

Fou-Lu learns that there’s an active volcano near by. The villagers say there’s a god that lives with in, so he decides to confront the god. Some how, god-magic has turned a rock into a big, dumb rock monster that can speak--but not comprehend advanced ideas. Fou-Lu defeats the rock, calming the volcano and receiving praise and awe from the villagers.

The empire shows us, having been tipped off by the mayor, or landlord. Fou-Lu attempts to hid in the cabin. He wants to just defeat the imperial soldiers and make a run for it, but he has a hesitation. Maybe he cares for the lady that took care of him?? Speaking of this lady, she shows up and blocks the door, delaying the soldiers. This allows Fou-Lu to escape. The empire capture the woman and Fou-Lu makes a run for it.

While meeting with the gods, Ershin finds the empire has invaded Chek. He allows the elder villager to hide in his armor while he fends off the soldiers and evil captain that’s been antagonizing our group since the beginning. Ershin is defeated and left dying.

Our heroes arrive, finding Ershin. Nina is particularly affected by Ershin’s “death”, but Dies is confused: he was just armor. The village elder says the rest of the villagers went north to hide. The group wants to check on them before continuing their mission. On the way, they’re captured by a imperial woman named...forgot. But she’s nicer than the other dude and agrees to take us to check on the village. Upon arrival, we find the bad captain and it’s revealed that he’s hurt, if not killed, all the villagers looking for Ryu. Lady-captain is not happy his cruelty. He laughs it off and attacks our group.

Ryu turns into a Kaiser Dragon and starts killing all the soldiers. He’s about to kill the lady captain when Nina calms him down.

...that’s it for now...

For some reason, the game is starting to feel more mature. I feel like BoF3 has a more personal story. it starts very small, with a group of thieves in a small village, and slowly the world gets bigger as the scope of the story gets bigger. BoF4 starts a little bigger from the beginning: with lost princesses, politics between an empire and alliance, inter-national tensions, and magic dragon-gods. The game moves quick, with you constantly going somewhere new. It’s cool that there’s so many “cultures” in the game, but it’s also so chaotic, you don’t get to know any place or people.

For an open-world adventure, like Elder Scrolls, having unique villages is great because you can decide how much time you want to spend there. But as a linear rpg, you don’t get to know these places well.

#Zach's Game Journal #PLAYING #Breath of Fire IV #playstation #DuckStation #Emulators #JRPGs #Dragons #Video Games

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rui-ayaki-lower5 · 2 years ago

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"Ummm...let me think...mom, muichiro, gyomei-san...the one with the half and half haori...and the one with the butterflies in her hair....I've heard about the sound pillar from Gyutaro but ive never met him...he sounds loud though..." *Rui counts on his fingers as he speaks, he hums quietly as he thinks about if he's met any of the others but he doesn't think so but then remembers that his best friend and adoptive little sisters adoptive uncle reached the rank of pillar just before kazi* "And Ryu-san the dragon pillar is Tsuki's uncle so I've met him as well"

Hey Kazi...I found a wolf treat recipe in one of the books i found...I made some for you if that isn't rude...I may have put to much peanut-butter though...

“Rui, theres no such thing as too much peanut butter! Thank youuuu!”

Tail wags 500mph

#kny rui #demon slayer rui #demon slayer rui rp #kny rui rp #🕸responds #demon slayer rp blog #kny rp #demon slayer rp #demon slayer oc #rui ayaki lower5

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gabriel-gabdiel · 4 years ago

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Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword Chapter 57: Living Sin (Part 9)

Hiei does his best to take care of Usui Uonuma, who’s gunning for his Jagan. In turn, Yusuke deals with his old behemoth of an enemy who was once merely B-Class in power level.

Kenshin in turn deals with an enemy from his past with the assistance of one of the Spirit World ferry-girls.

Credit for the pictures goes to Ozzy Oz da Vyrus.

The original source of this idea comes from Chad Yang. I continued his story idea found here.

The rest of the chapters of my Yuyu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin crossover fan fiction are available here and here. Enjoy.

First | Previous | Next

Up above the Okushiri Military Base....

The flying fortress made of solidified reiatsu (spiritual pressure or pressurized spirit energy) care of the Quest-Class powers of Detective Daiji Matsudaira (the reincarnation of Aoshi Shinomori) landed on the helipad of the base, startling the soldiers there.

Yahiko had earlier requested Botan to fly even higher up than the flying castle with purple beams of light shooting out of it in order to get the drop on the structure.

Literally.

From 50 kilometers above the earth, Yahiko descended straight towards the moving castle, its concentrated jaki beams dissipating against the ghostly human missile and his neutralizing reiki.

He first skydived from the ferry-girl's oar (much to her surprise and chagrin) up in the stratosphere and did his imitation of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu's "RYU TSUI SEN! (DRAGON HAMMER FLASH!)" for starters.

The impact then cracked the topmost outer shell of the dense fortress.

A trickle of reiatsu leaked off of the spiritual construct, like scattering fireflies in the night.

He then did one of his own Revisal Techniques of the Kamiya Kasshin School, named, "DOU GAMI! (GOD ON EARTH!)", which rocked the castle further at its core and spread cracks all over its very foundations.

Daiji's solidified reiatsu then turned into a shower of outright sparks, the solidified energy sublimating and ionizing into pure spirit energy.

Finally, the Tokyo Samurai Spirit executed a "TEN GAMI! (GOD IN HEAVEN!)" that started the downward spiral of the moving building, the cracks turning into outright crags and debris as the teenaged ghost got jettisoned high above even the stratosphere, reaching instead all the way to the mesosphere.

He reached a height about 70 kilometers or 43 miles away from earth.

The young samurai kid drove the Onmyouji's prison that whole distance from heaven to earth with a sky-cleaving, earth-shattering strike, or at least a strike powerful enough to send cloudy shockwaves behind them as they broke through the speed barrier.

"INGA GAMI! (KARMIC GOD!)"

Yahiko's first of two ultimate attacks had enough jaki-neutralizing power to push that huge pillar right into the middle of the military base like a meteorite. A shooting star.

The sublime mix of reiki (spirit energy) and jaki (negative energy) then ionized into their base forms, the kenki (swordsman energy) that bound them fading away into the ether.

All of these forms of energy were neutralized by Yahiko's own strange spirit energy. His own reiatsu or unique mixture of reiki and kenki.

His strike from his self-made sakabatou (Kenshin's reverse-edged sword that Yahiko manifested using his reiki) was powerful enough to warp time and space itself. Like a blunt version of the Jigen Tou.

Only a single helipad-sized spire of the formerly huge fortress was left by the time it crash-landed unto the base.

***

Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword

A Rurouni Kenshin/Yuyu Hakusho Crossover Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Original Concept by Chad Yang

The Kenshingumi will now take care of their loose ends before fighting the final boss of this arc. This battle is about to explode! FIGHT!

Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and Studio Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallop, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted materials that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 57: Living Sin (Part 9)

***

Back at Kitaoimisaki Park...

Usui Uonuma shook his head. The newbie member of the New Ten Swords, Kuronue, was outwitted by the legendary demon fox Youko Kurama as well.

If you wanted something done right, do it yourself.

Amidst the burned shadows and silhouettes that were once Kuronue stood Usui, his previously broken Tinbe practically whole now.

With it now capable of withstanding the heat and impact of multiple Jaou-En-Satsu Kokuryuha (Dragons of Darkness Flames) from Jaganshi (Evil Eye User) Hiei, the black serpentine flames were unable to affect the turtle shell one way or another.

But Uonuma knew that Jaganshi Hiei had one more ace up his sleeve. The Chojin's spies had briefed him about the fire demon and his ability to absorb the power of the fiery dragon beings unto himself.

As expected, Hiei boosted his speed and power tremendously by absorbing the flame dragons of the Kokuryuha right into his body, his youki (demon energy) rising to astonishing levels. To S-Level and beyond.

Under the old Reikai rules, Hiei's presence there would've been considered outright illegal. A demon that powerful shouldn't be in the Ningenkai (Human World).

A demon that powerful was on par with one of the Chojin's Ten Swords.

'So this demon's name is Hiei, huh?' thought the blind man, waxing nostalgic. That was also the name of the mountain where the old Juppon Gatana (Ten Swords) stronghold was.

What a curious demon. He had the speed of Souiro "Heaven Sword" Seta and the strength (or even firepower) of Makoto Shishio.

If Usui could conquer this strong demon, then he'd get one more step closer to standing as equals with the Youkiri (Demon-Slayer) Tenro.

To sit at the right hand of an unborn god. To be able to challenge an unborn god and become one himself.

Nah, perhaps that last one was still a bridge too far for him. But this, defeating the fire demon, wasn't.

The dragons roared and gnawed against the Tinbe but like a mountain standing above the earth with a crown of clouds, it wouldn't yield.

His Tinbe then reformed completely, but there was a gap the size of a sword slash right on its upper top left corner.

That was where Hiei focused his attack, sticking the tip of his Jaou-En-Satsu Ken (Sword of Darkness Flame) right into it, forcing its way in.

Hiei learned a lot from Kurama's little trick earlier with the Demon World Moss. This time around, the jaganshi found a weak point before the shield was able to fully heal or reconstitute itself.

Hiei's aura of youki and black flames flared to life, increasing the pressure on that one little crack, like a pressure cooker about to burst.

More cracks appeared on the shield as the pressure built up further and further. It reached the boiling point and then went beyond it. Through this one weakness, Hiei was able to focus his demonic energies and bust through.

The Tinbe cracked apart in twain and then into a million pieces, and from there Hiei released all of the Dragons of Darkness Flame unto Usui's hapless form.

However, that was actually a ruse.

The blind swordsman and spearman had actually activated a second illusion from Jine Udo's Jagan as Hiei attacked with the full power of the Kokuryuha inside of him, knowing full well that his Tinbe wasn't complete yet.

However, by making Hiei dream that he had broken the false Tinbe, this bought Usui enough time to completely manifest his real Tinbe with the small crack or gap finally filled in.

It was this shield that stopped the Dragons of Darkness Flame cold.

Usui baited Hiei into wasting his one shot at him and it worked. Hook, line, and sinker.

Every last one of the flame dragons crashed uselessly against the reinforced and complete Tinbe, like the waves of the ocean crashing against the sea wall or dam. The tides turned but the wall remained unperturbed.

Hiei's Jagan was now his...!

However, as Uonuma began his counter Rochin stab with the intension of pinning both Hiei and Kurama into the nearest wall like twin butterflies, something felt amiss.

His body then literally fell apart into tiny pieces of meat cubes, red mist spraying all around him.

Usui was able to seal the crack on his Tinbe, but the gap of time he needed to do his counterstrike was all Hiei required to strike back.

In that fraction of a fraction of a second, the super-powered fire demon slashed at him at the rate of a hundred times per second. Or more.

Before Usui could block one strike with his shield. Or counter with a thrown spear to the heart or face. Or even activate Jine's Jagan at the last second and create another illusion to fool Hiei with.

Moving faster than his sensitive hearing could detect. Or predict.

Moving faster than his mind could fathom.

Moving faster than sound itself.

***

About a hundred years ago, around the 1870s, inside Shishio's hidden fortress within Mount Hiei...

From out of the blue, Usui Uonuma asked Makoto Shishio a simple question.

"Between the Ten Ken (Heaven Sword) and myself, who is more powerful?" he had asked out of whimsy. "Who would win in a fight?"

Shishio chuckled, swirling the wine inside his wineglass as he considered Uonuma's unusual query. He decided to humor his former hitokiri (manslayer) rival.

"You can keep up with Sou-kun's speed up until he uses the Shun Ten Satsu (Instant Heaven Kill), which is him using both battoujutsu (sword-drawing techniques) and the Shukuchi (Reduced Earth) at the same time. If you're able to disable him before that, then you will win."

"Shun Ten Satsu, huh?" repeated Usui. "Why do you think that?"

Makoto drunk his drink in one shot and then gave the glass back to his courtesan and lover, Yumi Komagata.

"It's simple. You can counter anything you can hear, smell, sense, and react to, right? Sou-kun's Shun Ten Satsu is faster than sound. Your Shingan won't even hear him coming."

***

Back in 1993, at Mount Kannon...

Kenshin Himura sighed as he trudged on foot back to Mt. Kannon within the Hidaka Mountain Range of Hokkaido.

He had Kazuma Kuwabara place him near the mountain care of the trusty Jigen Tou (Dimension Sword).

Like in the case of the battle at Mount Kamui, Mount Kannon was outside of Okushiri.

Kenshin had absorbed enough spirit energy from all the Reikai Tantei (Spirit Detectives) earlier to manifest himself and his spiritual body on his own, without being wielded by any of them.

Although he was kind of curious what sort of powers would manifest if his sword were held by the likes of Yahiko Myojin, Natsuki Shinkai, Likka Ikumi, or Daiji Matsudaira.

Perhaps another time, they'd find out.

Most of the energy he soaked up came from Yusuke Urameshi, in fact. It should last him until the rest of the battle.

The fact that Yusuke's reiki was that immense was both reassuring and worrying.

Reassuring in that they had the big guns against the Shin Juppon Gatana (New Ten Swords) this time around. Worrying in that he wasn't sure if it was Rando's Kugai (World of Suffering) curse or Urameshi's own developing powers that led him to have this surplus of energy.

Without all those multiple seals that held back his power, Yusuke might still suffer from power incontinence. He might still be unable to control his full immeasurable strength.

Regardless, Himura had other concerns to deal with. He was busy taking care of this Chinese warrior earlier, who wounded him in battle that made it difficult for him to save Hajime Saito from Feng Xinhai's schemes and Toguro Ani's attempt at possession.

A Chinese warrior that ended up related to him and his dark past after all.

The stranger with white hair and crazed eyes that Kenshin fought was no stranger to him after all. He remembered who the man was.

The man's name was Enishi Yukishiro, all grown up. The younger brother of Kenshin's ex-wife, Tomoe.

Since Tomoe was Kenshin's ex-wife, that made Enishi his brother-in-law. A brother-in-law with a century-old grudge regarding Kenshin's (accidental) murder of Tomoe Himura (nee Yukishiro).

"...Tell me, Battousai. Is my sister smiling down on you from heaven?" so said Tomoe's brother, Enishi.

Enishi had somehow ended up in the Heisei Era and got himself mixed up in Kenshin's current affairs. Himura could've almost sworn that his brother-in-law had died back in the Bakumatsu.

The younger brother of Tomoe was one of many unsettled debts Kenshin left when he died fighting against Makoto Shishio back at Mount Hiei.

In their first meeting in a hundred years, Enishi even gave Kenshin the same wound that ultimately killed Tomoe.

Meanwhile, as Himura neared where he previously defeated the martial artist, the cross-shaped scar on his cheek flared with a twinge of pain. No, actually the cuts felt as painful and fresh to him as the first time they were made.

The scar somehow ached even more than the much deeper laceration on his chest that still hadn't fully healed.

Like a paper cut that microscopically tore through skin and thousands of nerve endings like a jagged handsaw.

As though Enishi's very presence had reactivated Tomoe's curse on him. The curse of the cross-shaped scar.

***

At the helipad of the Okushiri Military Base...

"Get the HELL out of THERE! Sadojima Houji!" beckoned Yahiko as he sheathed his sakabatou while Botan herself swooped down from above then behind him.

He further chided, "That strike wasn't enough to take you down, right? No, you still have the Chojin's powers inside you, you dirty rat. Of course that wasn't enough!"

"You're being too loud, Yahiko! You're bothering the military people!" was what Botan resisted herself from saying, inwardly reminding the Kaoru inside her, 'He's supposed to be loud, you silly goose! The Chojin and his forces are invading Okushiri, remember? If not Hokkaido altogether!'

The aforementioned military base had long ago been put on high alert ever since supernatural beings started attacking different parts of the island at once.

Many of their deployed teams didn't return to the base hours after deployment.

"Stand aside, kid!" one of the soldiers said, who in Yahiko's eyes should've looked more shocked at seeing the seeming U.F.O. land in the middle of their base. "Civilians aren't allowed in here. This is now official military business!"

Another private attempted to grab hold of Myojin, only for him to slip his grasp. The teenaged version of Yahiko willed his ghostly self to become incorporeal.

The Jieitai or JSDF (Japanese Self-Defense Forces) then surrounded what was left of Daiji's solidified reiatsu structure, their guns cocked and ready to go.

What remained of Matsudaira's seal broke apart like a hatching egg.

And from there came forth the Onmyouji (Occult Priest) in all his glory, wearing a mix of a business suit with an occultist robe serving as his overcoat. The true right-hand man of the Overfiend.

With purple glowing eyes and a miasmic aura that flowed all over his body like thick black and crimson smoke from a smoldering flame, Houji spoke in askance.

"Why do you want to fight me, Myojin Yahiko? Do you bear a grudge against me? Do you hate me from the bottom of your heart?"

Yahiko was taken aback by the question. "W-What...?"

"Right now, you have no such hate in your heart," said Houji the Onmyouji. "You're fighting out of a sense of duty to your friends. To your idol, Himura Battousai. Otherwise, you'd have no such quarrel against me."

Or perhaps Sadojima was merely acting as the representative speaker to one other person.

Perhaps Myojin was actually talking to the Chojin (Overfiend) himself. The mastermind behind all these resurrected baddies from the Meiji Era to the Heisei Era.

Just who the hell was the Chojin anyway? Was he Makoto Shishio? Or someone else entirely?

The Onmyouji's ghoulish shikigami (familiars) with their tattered robes and sharp scythes flew at the gathered soldiers, who fired at them to no avail.

"STOP!" screamed both Yahiko and Botan at the familiars prior to the massacre that was about to take place.

None of the military men stood a chance against these supernatural beings.

***

Back in Hokkaido, far away from Okushiri, at the foot of Mt. Kannon...

Kenshin witnessed Enishi's strength firsthand.

The Chinese warrior had become so powerful he drove Himura Battousai himself from the forests of Okushiri all the way to a whole separate mountain range in Hokkaido, miles away from the island.

By pure willpower and hatred, Enishi grew strong enough to give pause to even the powered-up version of Battousai that had his own magical Demon Sword.

The Overfiend had indeed prepared for every last contingency. He was every bit as cunning as Youko Kurama himself.

Earlier, Kenshin's chest actually got hit by Enishi Yukishiro's ultimate attack, the Kofuku Zetsu Tou Sei or Kofuku Zettousei (Crouching Tiger Severing Sword Rush), as a counter to the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash).

Kenshin was also distracted by the fact that Tomoe's brother managed to find him a century later to enact his rightful revenge. His Jinchu.

That was why he was defeated by a technique Enishi must've trained over and over again to counter all sorts of battoujutsu strikes, including the ultimate one devised for the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.

Luckily, instead of doing the follow-up strike that would've also missed, Kenshin had the foresight to do a more powerful version of the Dou Ryu Sen on the ground that was enhanced by the vortex created by the succession technique.

This last-minute creative counter was what initially buried Enishi right into the heart of Mt. Kannon.

Regardless, Kenshin arrived back at his earlier starting point.

By Himura's estimation, only he or maybe Yusuke could take Yukishiro out one-on-one. Enishi should not be allowed to join forces with the rest of the Shin Ju.

***

Yahiko manifested his neutralizing reiki and kenki all over the military base with a sparkling blue and yellow light that blended together and formed a green glow. This then warded off the raggedy evil spirits that served as the Onmyouji's shikigami.

It was his own form of spirit pressure. His spirit energy interacted with his swordsman presence in a way that sealed or canceled out the spiritual power of his opponents.

Botan, in turn, flickered back and forth between her original shinigami (death goddess) form and Kaoru Kamiya's form as she saved the soldiers from being reaped by Houji's soul reapers by using her floating boat oar like a bokken (wooden sword) or naginata (glaive).

The two Kamiya Kasshin Ryu practitioners made short work of the familiars before they could take one life of the JSDF military corps.

"Please evacuate from here. You're no match against them," explained Botan to one of the soldiers before swatting multiple weakened shikigami away with her weaponized boat paddle.

One of Myojin's shikigami-dissipating swings swiped mere inches away from Houji's face, creating a thin cut over the bridge of his nose.

"Swinging a sword mindlessly at someone out of hatred is just violence. Kenshin taught me that," said Yahiko. "My duty as the Son of Tokyo Samurai is to defeat you. That is all. I'll even stake my life on it."

Sadojima smirked. "So be it. Samurai-san."

From behind Houji teleported the ever-reliable Gatekeeper Itsuki.

Yahiko turned towards the blue-haired shinigami and told her, "Quick, call Boke (Moron) and tell him to come here right now."

"Boke...?" trailed off Botan.

"KUWABARA! Kuwabara Kazuma! We need him here now! If he needs healing, heal him up as well! He and his space sword are the only ones who can take on that green-haired yoga guy and his goddamn portals!"

"All right! I'll call him! Jeez," said Botan, who turned on her communicator.

"Language, Yahiko!" reprimanded the Kaoru inside her in turn.

Afterwards, Itsuki summoned a multitude of warp gates, this time rectangular and doorway-shaped instead of circular and hole-shaped.

Inside each dimensional door was either the corpse (as well as ashes) or unconscious body of the many different Shin Juppon Gatana members.

It was through these gates that the Occult Priest blasted his purple beams of negative energy. Before, they served as destructive pillars of neon plasma. Now, they were probably used to give the killed or otherwise heavily injured Shin Ju another lease on life.

"Oh no," said Botan. "Not again. He's not going to revive all the New Ten again, is he? Jeez, we just defeated those goons! Learn how to stay down and give up!"

The shining eyes of Houji the Onmyouji then dimmed and faded away, replaced with his actual normal eyes.

"Ah, you returned. The snotty little brat. How does it feel to go back to zero after all the effort you've spent killing the Shin Ju? Like Sisyphus and his rock, right?"

The boisterous nature of the Chojin's conduit had returned. Houji was seemingly awakened from his brief slumber earlier, when he actually sounded "cool" and "aloof" for a hot minute.

"Hey," said Yahiko. "What happened to you earlier? You weren't the one talking, were you?"

Houji raised an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. It was the Chojin who talked to us back then, right?" asked Myojin. "Tell it to me straight: The Chojin is Shishio Makoto, isn't he? Of course, he is! Who else would start a war against the Spirit World with a team called the New Ten Swords? No one but him!"

The necromancer chuckled. "That's a... secret."

With a grunt, the samurai teen jumped and attacked the Chojin's right-hand man with a downward slash from the Jodan-no-Kamae (Fire Stance), which was then blocked by Houji's scythe.

They crossed blades, their different energies clashing against each other as arcs of lightning ripped through everywhere like light-filled cracks that broke through reality itself.

Houji's lack of formal training with his weapon was rendered moot due to his seemingly oceanic flow of negative energy that gave his simple block the weight of the world. Or at least the huge water pressure of the ocean depths.

However, regardless, the beams of purple plasma emanating from the dark priest flickered and wavered as it interacted with the reiatsu of Yahiko.

"That's it! You can do it, Yahiko!" said the Kaoru within Botan. "Show them why I consider you the number one pupil of the Kamiya Kasshin School!"

"Can you really do it, boy?" asked Houji, smirking. "Can you seal away the overflowing, overwhelming power of the Chojin himself? The Living Sin?"

The dimensional doors leading to the Shin Ju were then shut down. Or rather, slashed shut.

Gatekeeper Itsuki chuckled, his slashed eye that doubled as a dimensional portal opening. "He's here."

Sure enough, in one of the doors, the jaki beam was slashed in twain, the negative energy cut down by the spiritual might of the Jigen Tou.

It was from this door that Kazuma Kuwabara emerged, the transparent ghost of a recovering Sanosuke Sagara beside hiim.

"You called, Jo-chan (Missy)?" said Sano.

"YOSHA! (HELL YEAH!) Let's get this party started, samurai boy!" shouted Kazuma, the rambunctious teenager with bleached orange hair similarly styled like his best friend Yusuke Urameshi's hair.

***

And so there he was. Buried deep underneath Mt. Kannon itself like Son Goku the Monkey King from the literary masterpiece, "Journey to the West".

The rumbling inside the grumbling mountain roared deeper and harder. Like it was about to explode and turn into a volcano.

"...BATTOUSAI!" screamed Tomoe Yukishiro's little brother Enishi from underneath Kannon Mountain, spewing hot fire along with the brimstone and magma he was surrounded in.

His spectacles had long ago been lost or burned to smoke and ash by molten rock. The rest of his outfit remained intact though, probably protected by his body's significant aura.

Yukishiro crawled out of the hot magma pits of hell, or at least the otherwise dormant mountain in an explosion of fire, smoke, molten rock, and lava flow that scarred and burned the surrounding forest.

The singes and burns on Enishi's (literally) piping hot body, however, started healing right before Kenshin's eyes.

Not quite at the level of instantaneous regeneration as the Elder Toguro, but quick enough to survive a trip down a volcano and live to tell the tale. Still too quick compared to a normal mortal though.

Besides which, he wasn't supposed to only be burned from the fires of a river of magma anyway. It must've taken thousands of degrees of heat to even leave him slightly scalded at all.

His humongous amount of spirit energy kept him from suffering life-threatening injury. The same way Hiei or Yusuke would've survived such a predicament.

The red-hot blade of the Chinese-styled warrior didn't quite reach its melting point but it cooled down from the sheer blast of miasmic spirit energy from him.

If allowed to run rampant like the rest of the Ten Swords, Yukishiro could very well murder every last one of them. The Reikai Tantei, the Kenshingumi, and the Oniwabanshu.

All of them could die. This high-level martial artist could do what at least 8 of the 10 Shin Ju couldn't. He was a one-man army. He was like their Hajime Saito. A true wild card of sorts.

Kenshin foresaw it all through the Youtou Shinnoken.

The last thing Yahiko and the rest of the Reikai Senshi (Spirit World Warriors) needed right now while battling the Onmyouji and the Chojin's wealth of negative energy was a spanner in the works like Enishi.

***

The powers of most of the reincarnations or ghosts from the Meiji Era—most of Kenshin's comrades—were a result of how their spirit energy interacted with their swordsman energy or fighting spirit, creating what was known as reiatsu.

With Daiji Matsudaira (Aoshi Shinomori's reincarnation), it was the Quest-Class manifestation of objects and materials from his spirit energy.

With Natsuki Shinkai (Yutaro Tsukayama's reincarnation), it was the ability to manipulate kinetic momentum or acceleration, usually in the form of reflection or deflection.

With Likka Ikumi (Misao Makimachi's reincarnation), it was her skill to manifest her thoughts into reality, creating visual mirages or even holographic illusions seen by all.

With Sanosuke Sagara's soul, it was his pure fighting spirit that allowed his ghost to approach Regent-Class regeneration abilities, stamina, and pure brute force that allowed him to affect the physical plain like a rampaging poltergeist.

With Kaoru Kamiya's soul, it was a mix between Botan's soul reaper powers and Kaoru's past swordsmanship skills that allowed them to heal, boost, replenish, bind, manipulate, or otherwise enhance the spirit energy within them or of those around them.

With Kenshin Himura's soul, he became one with the Demon Sword, a demon-slaying blade that could arguably injure or kill a god. His own reiki, kenki, and reiatsu interacted with anyone who wielded his blade in ways that raised their very power levels.

Finally, with Yahiko Myojin's soul, his unique brand of spirit energy interacted with other spirit energy (whether it was human or demonic) in a way that suppressed or neutralized them into nothingness.

Yahiko's unique powers worked like how an acid and a base reacted quantitatively with each other when mixed until the acidity of the acid disappeared. Or how Hiei's Jaou-En-Satsu Kokuryuha was cancelled out by Shinobu Sensui's polar opposite power of Sei Kou Ki (Saint Light Ki).

Their reiatsu was different from the reiki and youki used by Yusuke Urameshi and their comrades due to the use of other forms of reiki within the Meiji Era reincarnations and the use of classic shinigami warrior techniques among the revived spirits.

Reiatsu was more comparable to something like Sensui's Saint Light Ki or Yusuke mixing his reiki and youki together to form something approaching Sei Kou Ki instead of either pure reiki or youki. Even jaki.

It was through these souls—these seeds of hope—that Koenma Daio intended to defeat the Chojin and his unnatural powers that defied death and the natural order of the Spirit World.

***

Kurama's board full of chess pieces were in their proper places, which kept the Chojin in check. They were practically on the verge of a checkmate, even.

The pawns were positioned to divide and conquer the Shin Juppon Gatana, with each Reikai Senshi paired up to their appropriate members.

Their source of power, Houji, had his borrowed negative energy suppressed by Yahiko. Their means of transportation, Itsuki, got sealed off by the Reikai's own Kuwabara and his Dimensional Sword.

Botan was there to heal and replenish reiki as well as assist Myojin tactics-wise care of Kaoru. Sanosuke himself was gradually recovering his spirit energy and fighting spirit for good measure as "Jo-chan" or the shinigami she fused with nursed his flickering body back to health.

Kuwabara regained his second wind even, which allowed him to not only create portals but to close or destroy them with his twin Dimension Swords.

This kept the annoying Gatekeeper from transporting jaki to the injured/dead Shin Ju or even getting the recovered members to help Houji out.

Even with his use of Sensui's seven personalities and the new powers it brought him, Kazuma kept him at bay.

As for the shikigami that served as the Onmyouji's infantry, Sanosuke punched them out with the "FUTAE NO KIWAMI! (DUAL EXTREME!)" while riding shotgun on Botan's oar.

So why did Myojin feel like something was amiss? Like he had a bad feeling about everything? Like something terrible was about to happen?

A new enemy descended from an unseen sky portal that Kuwabara noticed, slashed apart, and closed too late.

"Huh!?" was Yahiko's reaction to the new arrival. This distracted him even as he ended up on the verge of disarming the untrained Houji. "Who is that? Is it another replacement Shin Ju?"

Kuwabara said, "We've already confirmed that Toguro Ani and Kuronue replaced Suzaku and Udo Jine! It's not one of the New Ten! Must be one of the Dai Shin Kan instead!"

Sanosuke's jaw dropped. "No way...!" which made Botan and Kaoru ask in unison, "Who is that supposed to be, Sano?"

Kazuma jumped into action, intending to slash a portal and kick the newcomer into it, only for his Jigen Tou's energy to start unraveling before his eyes.

The woman in courtesan clothes smiled as she floated down using her umbrella as a parachute (like goddamn Mary Poppins, Botan realized), crimson energy emanating from her pale white skin.

"Ah, it's all coming together now." Houji cackled. "Welcome back, Komagata Yumi. Get rid of these insects for me, if you would please."

And so Makoto Shishio's personal courtesan and lover arrived, dressed in her classic Meiji Era garb but this time there was a hole in her chest where her heart used to be.

The very place where Shishio stabbed her in order to do a surprise attack on Battousai Himura.

Also, she had long fangs inside her mouth.

"Inner Blood Turmoil," Yumi said as she sapped Kuwabara of all his spirit energy using the Kyuuketsuki Kakuto Ryu (Vampire Martial Arts) that Rando stole from her.

"SHIT! Now even Shishio's girlfriend has superpowers too?!" said Sanosuke, remembering the woman whom he did a bridal carry with as they traversed Shishio's Mt. Hiei stronghold.

"...BLOOD WIND!" she screamed, releasing a red energy-sapping tornado at the Reikai Senshi.

***

Originally, Kenshin was barely able to defeat Enishi and get back in time and save Sanosuke Sagara, Kazuma Kuwabara, and Hajime Saito from the nefarious machinations of Karasu, Feng Xinhai, Usui Uonuma, and Gatekeeper Itsuki at Mt. Kamui.

But now that his detour was over, he had to get back to his original business.

He had to. Or else Enishi would undo everything they'd done so far to suppress the New Ten Swords from conquering the island of Okushiri as well as Hokkaido.

"Sessha (This one) wonders why even though I thought I'd never met you before, you seemed to know everything about me de gozaru (that you did)."

"'Sessha'? 'De gozaru'?" Enishi repeated the words with a snarl and a dismissive snort. "Are you kidding me, Battousai? Why is the most fearsome hitokiri of the Bakumatsu acting like a gentle fool with flowery samurai language? Enough of your lies!"

"This one never thought to see you again after a hundred years. I was sure you were already dead," confessed Kenshin.

"I did die. But I live again. Reincarnated in a new era," said Enishi. "I willed this weak new body I was reborn into to become even stronger than I already was before you died in the hands of Shishio Makoto."

'So he survived the Bakumatsu after all,' thought Kenshin, who believed that Enishi had died of starvation as a little boy in the ensuing revolution.

"Now I will enact the revenge that I was robbed of a hundred years ago! If you've been dispensing Tenchu (Heavenly Retribution) in your time as a hitokiri, then this is Jinchu (Earthly Retribution) for all your sins! Prepare yourself, Battousai! ZETSUGI...!"

From there, he didn't even give Himura the chance to breathe or any breathing room as he attacked, attacked, an attacked some more.

Tomoe's little brother had grown ridiculously strong. As though he'd been training the last hundred years for this one moment. Empowered purely by hate.

However, one way or another, Kenshin was able to contain Yukishiro's growing threat long enough to assist Saito's rescue or allow the Kenshingumi to go through their mission of taking out Houji.

Himura figured out how his Wattoujutsu (a mixture of Japanese swordsmanship and Chinese kung fu) worked after only seeing a couple of techniques from it.

The Demon Sword's blade then shone with an ethereal light before Kenshin's form changed altogether.

From a 30-year-old man, his body returned to his more youthful 15- to-16-year-old self.

The form he had before he developed the cross-shaped scars. When he was still known as the Hitokiri Battousai. This way, he could engage Enishi the same way he did against any other opponent.

Free of bias. Free of shame or guilt.

"SHUUGEKI TOU SEI! (KICKING SWORD RUSH!)"

This technique of Enishí's involved hitting his opponent from below then kicking the blunt side of his sword at the last second to maximize damage.

Thusly, Kenshin answered the technique back with his own, "SOU RYU SEN! (TWIN DRAGON FLASH!)"

"KAISHI TOU SEI! (BAYONET SWORD RUSH!)"

As for the Bayonet Sword Rush, it was a follow-up whirling counterattack or riposte involving Enishi putting the hilt of his sword against his opponent's sword to add momentum to his pivoting swing.

However, Kenshin had a similar counterstrike technique like that as well in the form of "RYU KAN SEN! (DRAGON WRAP FLASH!)"

"SHO HA TOU SEI! (PALM BREAK SWORD RUSH!)"

From the Jodan Stance, Enishi swept his sword starting from over his head down to the ground. Afterwards, he then placed the palm of his hand on the sword's blunt side to push it forward at full force.

The answer to this move that resembled the Dragon Hammer Flash was the "RYU SHO SEN! (RISING DRAGON FLASH!)", which was the natural Ryu Tsui Sen counter that doubled as a two-handed sword block wherein the sword was held by its handle and tip with either hand.

"CHOU TEN TOU SEI! (UP-AND-DOWN SWORD RUSH!)"

This was Wattoujutsu's version of the Ryu Sho Sen. It allowed Enishi to leap upwards using his sword as his pole vault then attack from the air by pulling his sword towards him by its hilt cord immediately after jumping.

Kenshin drew out the fearsome technique with a feinted Ryu Tsui Sen only to do the "RYU KAN SEN ARASHI! (DRAGON WRAP FLASH STORM!) at the last second, the multi-hit forward somersault sword strikes catching Yukishiro off-guard.

"Ugh!" Enishi landed bad on his ankle, his knees buckling from the force of the centrifugal strikes, the chainsaw-like windmill of strikes drawing a fine mist and squall of blood. "Damn you, Battousai...!"

Kenshin cut Enishi's cursing short with a jarring punch to his jaw.

Battousai Himura had a Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu answer to every one of the white-haired young man's Wattoujutsu techniques. He took advantage of Enishi's barrage of hateful, unfocused strikes with clinical precision.

The fact that Himura didn't realize who exactly he was fighting against until the last second helped him figure out the proper counters to Enishi's Wattoujutsu early on and even bury him right inside the Kamui Mountain itself. Albeit temporarily.

Kenshin imagined he'd have a harder time with the kung fu master swordsman were he distracted by his guilt for killing Tomoe and knowing Enishi's identity from the start.

"Is that all you've got, Battousai?" demanded the scuffed-up, bleeding-from-the-mouth Enishi, who spat away blood as his veins—no, his very nerves themselves—hypertrophied or thickened enough to become visible underneath his skin with vascular density.

This was his Kyokei Myaku (Nerves of Insanity) in action.

***

It was bedlam at the Military Base of Okushiri.

Ten things were happening at once, and barely anyone could keep up.

More soldiers were deployed to rescue the fallen and suppress the invaders.

They waged war against the Onmyouji's shikigami, even though many of them couldn't even see the grim reaper familiars.

They had to use their special thermal goggles to detect and shoot the enemy, but neither bullets nor grenades worked on them.

Botan had more luck dissipating the strange creatures into the ether, but that was because it was part of her job description as a soul reaper.

She did double duty in casting her healing and reiki-replenishing spells on Yahiko, Sanosuke, and Kuwabara while at the same time defeating her share of scythe-wielding reapers created from wayward earthbound spirits infected with the Chojin's jaki.

Also, the bodies were really hitting the floor now. Not due to the Kenshingumi (they were basically all ghosts) or their Reikai Tantei comrade falling into a dead faint.

It was because the vampire (or perhaps succubus) Yumi bit the necks and absorbed the blood of all the nearest JSDF soldiers to power her Kyuuketsuki Kakuto Ryu.

As for Gatekeeper Itsuki, he and Kuwabara were having a portal contest of sorts. He kept making portals while Kazuma kept slicing them apart.

Regardless, it took much longer for Yahiko to seal the power of the Chojin, the borrowed ocean of jaki overflowing with immense pressure from within gleeful Sadojima.

"TSUI GAMI...!? (HAMMER OF GOD...!?)"

Myojin's attempt at the sword-breaking, jaki-neutralizing Hammer of God was thwarted with a simple yet shuddering one-handed scythe swipe that belied Houji's actual physical strength.

"So you intend to beat me at this level of strength?" asked a smug Sadojima before releasing a pillar of jaki that made Yahiko kneel before him, as though bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Yahiko felt like he had plunged deep underwater, drowning in negative energy as the oceanic water pressure increased further and further the deeper he went.

Myojin grunted, grit his teeth, and rose up against the harsh and dense waves of pure jaki that bore down on him in waves, his green aura of reiatsu resisting the crushing force of the Overfiend's distant yet overbearing presence.

Like a black sun whose dark rays and heat reached the earth all the way from space despite being millions of miles away.

It was a tug of war between the Chojin's power boosts and Yahiko's neutralization skill.

Thanks to Botan and Kaoru, the ghost of Sanosuke had healed up and reenergized himself with reiki enough to summon his signature Zanbatou (Horse-Chopping Sword) again at long last.

He had more bandages than usual, half of which were spirit seals from Botan that kept his ectoplasm from escaping his ghostly form.

"ZANBATOU ATE! (ZANBATOU DISTANCE HIT!)"

Sanosuke's Zanbatou Ate, based on Anji Yukyuzan's Tou Ate (Bladed Distance Hit), created a landslide aimed at Houji, who shielded himself with his shikigami ghouls.

"ZANKUU ZANBATOU ATE! (ZANBATOU VACUUM DISTANCE HIT!) "

As for his Zankuu Zanbatou Ate, Sanosuke aimed it at the ensuing Blood Wind air funnel that the courtesan in revealing clothing fired off at him.

The last thing Sano expected was to use that 12-foot longsword against Shishio's lover, the non-fighter known as Yumi.

***

Enishi did a low split-legged crouch, only to charge with an onslaught of strikes instead of doing another Zettousei when he saw Kenshin sink his stance low in kind instead of taking his bait and attacking with the Hirameki.

"SENRAN TOU SEI! (WAR SWORD RUSH!)"

"RYU SOU SEN! (DRAGON NEST FLASH!)"

Sparks flew everywhere as though they were in a steel mill or foundry as they parried and attacked each other with impunity, their swords crossing and chipping at their edges.

Blood and ectoplasm stained the ground soon afterward from both combatants.

Enishi moved faster than Kenshin could react. Like an unswattable fly. Or perhaps a whole swarm of flies. Locusts. Bees. Wasps, even. A plague of wasps. His twitch muscles able to react to attacks or counterattacks by lightning-fast reflexes.

It was like dealing with Soujiro Seta's Shukuchi all over again. Himura couldn't even predict Enishi's strikes by reading his sakki (bloodlust) because he was exuding hatred and killer instinct at all times. At every waking moment.

Like the polar opposite of the Heaven Sword. It was no different to deal with someone who lacked bloodlust compared to someone who always exuded bloodlust. There was no sudden spike of killer instinct you could use to read an opponent's moves.

This forced Kenshin to take the initiative and jump high into the air in order to become the aggressor for a change, even if only to draw out a counterstrike that he could then counter.

"RYU TSUI SEN! (DRAGON HAMMER FLASH!)"

Yukishiro countered by also leaping vertically before Kenshin could drop him with the Dragon Hammer Flash. Afterwards, at the point where his jump force was equal to Earth's gravity, he jumped even further, thus essentially doing a double jump or what was known to basketball players as an airwalk.

"SHIKKU TOU SEI! (SLASHER SWORD RUSH!)"

Kenshin's youtou (demon sword) and Enishi's watou (Chinese-style katana) clashed hard against each other, their impactful vibrations strong enough to shatter steel. However, their mystical swords forged from spirit energy and the life force of their very souls both held true.

However, Battousai or no Battousai, the scarless Kenshin realized he had to take Yukishiro out before his own feelings of despair, depression, shame, and remorse got the better of him.

For even now, he felt like he deserved to get hit by every last strike from Enishi for the sin of accidentally killing his ex-wife in an attempt to rescue her from her kidnapper.

"KUZU RYU SEN! (NINE-HEADED DRAGON FLASH!)"

"UGH!"

Like water crushing rock over time, the constant barrage of counters from earlier finally took its toll on Enishi, leading to several lapses of attention that the Battousai took advantage of to great effect.

Kenshin's persistence paid off, with that last multi-hit attack finally landing on his nerve-filled brother-in-law.

He then prepared to do a supersonic noutoujutsu (sword-sheathing technique). The same one he used to disable the super sensitive hearing of Usui Uonuma's Shingan.

"RYU MEI...! (DRAGON CRY...!)"

Kenshin stopped short of doing his high-pitched sheathing technique when he saw a familiar young woman with jet-black hair, doe eyes, a white kimono, and purple shawl appear out of the half-burnt forest.

She brought with her a nostalgic, heartbreaking scent.

"T-Tomoe...?!" stuttered Kenshin before Enishi's Watou ended up stabbing him right in his chest, on the same wound made by the Zettousei that got him earlier.

The pair of scars on his left cheek reappeared. Bleeding with fresh blood (or, in his case, ectoplasm).

***

Back at the Okushiri Military Base...

The Blood Wind dissipated from the strength of Sanosuke's vacuum slash, but Yumi herself blocked the wind pressure with her open, glowing-red umbrella serving as her shield.

Ah, yes. The Blood Wind.

The double-edged, energy-sapping red tornado created from the heat of the spirit energy it stole and the coldness of an injured body that was losing blood.

However, this woman somehow managed to do Blood Winds without the need to be injured. Or perhaps the hole in her chest served as her injury?

Sagara originally thought it was one of Rando's ultimate moves, only to remember something about him stealing techniques. So this energy-sapping technique was actually her move, wasn't it?

Regardless, what was a desperation move for Rando was a normal move for her. It all made sense now. Or at least that part did.

"How the hell did you get superpowers too, lady?" Sano demanded to Yumi. "You even went so far as to change yourself into a vampire! You really are something else!"

"Stop acting so friendly around me, you boorish lout," said Komagata to Sagara with half-lidded eyes, parrying his probing zanbatou stab from more than 12 feet away with her closed umbrella that doubled as her sword. "You should've stayed as a ghost in the Spirit World. You'll regret crossing paths with us again after a hundred years, Sagara Sanosuke."

Sano left his cumbersome giant sword behind, charged unimpeded, and backhanded the woman. "Nothing personal, Neechan. We can't let you or your psycho boyfriend run amok again in this era either."

"...Bastard! You dare hit a lady?! Youki Duantoutai! (Spirit Guillotine!)" Yumi reeled from the slap that caught her by surprise but then kept Sanosuke at bay with the Spirit Guillotines.

"...Son of a bitch! Rando stole that move from you too?!" said Yahiko before breaking the paper-thin waves of demon energy with "Men (Head)" strikes from the Fire Stance and flying skyward with the God in Heaven technique.

"Not exactly," Yumi chatted with a nonchalant smirk. "I stole some of Rando's moves myself in exchange for the moves he stole from me. Tit-for-tat."

As for Sanosuke, his follow-up attempt at chopping Komagata in half with his 12-foot sword led to it getting blasted full of huge holes care of Itsuki. This made the zanbatou look like a macroscopic slice of grey Swiss cheese.

The scattershot blasts responsible for Sano's predicament originated from a gun attached to Itsuki's right arm. It shot out miniature black holes the size of pinholes but had event horizons the size of bowling balls or bigger. They ate up any type of matter nearest them.

It was a (literal) handgun with black holes as its bullets that the Gatekeeper developed through the help of Shinobu Sensui's Kazuya personality.

Itsuki's Black Hole Gun also ate up chunks of Sano's ghostly flesh whole.

"GUUAAAHH!"

The Gatekeeper had taken advantage of Sanosuke's moment of hesitation in killing Yumi. Sano remembered mid-swing how she had originally died by Shishio's hand and then had her corpse burn along with his in a sudden unintended funeral pyre.

Meanwhile, as the flying Myojin attacked Yumi from above, Botan attacked from below. She flew on her oar mere inches from the ground before getting off her ride and using her forward momentum to smash her paddle right into the vampire. She then let the more athletic Kaoru inside her do the rest.

Using jaki and youki together, the succubus imbued her foldable fan and her closed umbrella with enough blood-red energy to stop the oar cold with a cross-block. She then unfurled her umbrella in time to also prevent Yahiko's Ryu Tsui Sen from hitting her noggin.

From this close proximity, she then used her Inner Blood Turmoil to absorb her attackers' spirit energy unto herself, sapping the two of their reiki and making their souls flicker and fade.

Neither the living nor the dead were safe from this vampire queen.

***

"GOU TSUI TOU SEI! (FALLING BLADE SWORD RUSH!)" screamed Enishi after impaling the distracted Kenshin in the chest.

The Falling Blade Sword Rush allowed the white-haired martial artist to pin Battousai at last, lifting him high up and over his head with his sword and upper-body strength.

"At last. At long last. You're going to die, Battousai! You scum! You criminal! You took away everything from me! Now I will return the favor and take away everything from you! This is my Jinchu!"

The Guardian of the Youtou Shinnoken grunted and coughed, his eyes unable to tear themselves away at the visage and silhouette of his ex-wife Tomoe Yukishiro.

Red tears streamed down his cheeks and bloodstained scar.

"T-Tomoe? I-Is that really you?" he mumbled in disbelief, as though not even noticing Enishi's watou inside of him.

He was no longer Hitokiri Battousai (Battousai the Manslayer). Instead, he transformed back to Rurouni Kenshin (Kenshin the Vagabond).

"Tomoe" then told Enishi with an old man's deep voice, "My apologies. This is the best help I can give you for now. That damn Okashira stole all of the jaki that the Chojin gave me and sealed me and my precious Iwanbos away with it, turning the energy into solidified reiatsu."

"You did splendidly, Gein," said Enishi, who smiled for once. He couldn't face the reanimated corpse of his elder sister eye-to-eye, though. "Now please take that puppet away. I don't want you to soil my sister's memory with it."

Kenshin went pale. He'd been duped by one of Gein's puppets. However, his trickery paid off. He didn't feel like hurting Tomoe's little brother any longer.

"Did you know what I went through to get to this moment, Battousai? As an orphaned boy, I ate human flesh in the battlefield to survive. I was adopted by a rich couple, only for me to kill them because I hated how happy they were. I ended up becoming an arms dealer using their wealth for good measure. I then found out you already died, which sapped me of my will to live. Only to be reborn in this era after I found out you became the Demon Sword's guardian."

Enishi dragged Kenshin's bloody (or ectoplasmic) body all over the forest at the foot of Mt. Kannon, savoring the moment before pulling his sword out and stomping on the Battousai's bleeding wound for good measure.

"I'm not sure whether I should wield your damn sword myself or just destroy you along with that sword. Oh well. It doesn't matter. You could die a thousand deaths and it won't bring back my sister. Even after I died, I couldn't find her anymore. I've lost her forever. All that's left is to make you feel the despair I felt when you stole her away from me."

***

Back at the Okushiri Military Base...

Chaos continued. Fires broke out everywhere. The wind howled like wolves to the moon. The base crumbled and turned into shambles. It was Hell on Earth.

Hell in Hokkaido.

Komagata's Inner Blood Turmoil created her own version of reiatsu—her youki mixed with the Kenshingumi's reiki, the blood of the soldiers she fed on, and the Chojin's jaki—before releasing that pent-up energy towards Yahiko in the form of the "BLOOD FIRE WAVE!" projectile.

However, thinking fast on her feet, Botan purified the surplus of jaki around them then used it to replenish the reiki she and Myojin lost from being in contact with Yumi.

'Wow. She's doing the thing! The same thing Urameshi did when he got hold of the Meikai's crystal ball thingy,' thought Kuwabara. 'She's purifying jaki into reiki!'

Again, Botan used spirit bandages that doubled as spiritual energy seals, acting more like a priestess than Hinageshi the Shrine Maiden or Houji the Onmyouji.

"Nice one, Tanuki-chan!" said Yahiko. "I mean, thank you, Botan."

Botan smiled at the samurai boy. "You're welcome. Now go get 'em."

'This woman is seriously getting on my nerves,' thought Yumi while eyeing the ferry-girl whose astral body housed two souls instead of just one.

A rejuvenated Myojin then did the sword-breaking "TSUI GAMI!" to neutralize the Blood Fire Wave and the pinhole-sized black holes that Itsuki's sneaky Kazuya personality shot right into his heart and head with the Black Hole Gun.

The samurai kid kept moving forward, practically swimming in the thick of "it", with "it" being the Chojin's ocean of jaki.

Meanwhile, Houji frowned, his arms crossed. 'This goddamn brat! For Chojin's sake, he sure is persistent.'

He thought that the Chojin allowing him more access to his boundless negative energy—enough jaki to, quite frankly, revive the long-dead kingdom of Meikai (Nether World)—was sufficient to neutralize the neutralizer.

However, Houji's jaki output remained relatively low and it even started dwindling.

Like opening your water main at full capacity yet still ending up with less water than you expected when filling up your bathtub. Defying the very will of the Overfiend himself.

'The boy is starting to get better control of his neutralization powers, isn't he?' the Onmyouji thought, tapping his scythe's handle to the ground impatiently.

To Yumi and Itsuki, he only had one command. "Kill him."

Yumi then made it rain blood like the Battousai would back in the Bakumatsu.

A literal rain of blood poured down on them, but each droplet contained razor-sharp scalpels. A bloody rain that cut you apart in order to induce a thicker bloodbath afterwards. It pelted the ground like suppressive fire from a machine gun.

She aptly named the technique, "Bloody Rain."

It was the bloodsucker's way of creating the energy-absorbing Blood Wind without having to sacrifice all the plasma that she had already drained from her other victims.

"I don't know who you are, lady, but you leave that boy alone!" said Kuwabara, who finally had time to intervene.

***

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the island...

Yusuke Urameshi had actually been in a punching match with Toguro Ototo all this time.

Right in the middle of Okushiri Island, in fact. Along the Tsurikake River.

Instead of playing with the percentages of his power, the Younger Toguro instead went all out from the start, displaying 100% of his full strength.

'His B-Level strength,' was Yusuke's unsaid sentiment. He recalled how easily he manhandled the A-Level Rando earlier now that he wasn't faced with any distractions or dirty tactics.

So dealing with Toguro should be a cakewalk now, right?

In kind, Urameshi himself released his first pair of Spirit Cuffs. Just like the good ol' days, they ended up in a slugfest that turned the peaceful river into roiling rapids from the shockwaves of their punches.

"You've struggled in every encounter you've faced with the Chojin's forces so far yet won every time," said the Younger Toguro. "Why is that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, man," said Yusuke before blasting the gigantic hulking grey behemoth before him with the "SHOT GUN!" technique, bombarding him with the purest of reiki bullets.

The vascular and muscular Toguro pressed on, healing the missing pieces of his flesh instantly like his older brother would.

An impressive feat a power level or two ago. To Yusuke, it had somehow become old hat. Any S-Level worth their salt should be able to regenerate fast enough as long as they had an abundance of spirit or demon energy inside them.

"I took on Rando, Souther (Xinhai), Suzaku, the blind guy (Usui), and the rest of the Chojin's New Ten Swords fair and square. All I'm doing now is killing time and keeping you from ruining Kurama's plans to take your new gang out. Right until your big bad boss, the Chojin, shows up."

Toguro's eyes narrowed behind his shades. 'His reiki is... overflowing. It almost reminds me of the Chojin's own jaki. Immeasurable.'

Yusuke dodged the Shi Dan (Finger Flip Bullets) by reflex even though he had a feeling he could survive direct hits from Toguro's unnaturally strong finger flicks at this point in time.

It was a B-Level against an S-Level (albeit one who was holding his strength back), after all.

The Shi Dan were even more powerful than the strongest human punches, capable of blasting through concrete, but against Urameshi's wealth of spirit energy, he doubted that they'd even penetrate his skin.

Even with his powers sealed, he teetered from being a high A-Level to a low S-Level.

'Are you hiding your present power level, Toguro? Is your 100% form not your full power?' Urameshi thought.

There was just no way that the likes of Rando, Xinhai, Usui, Saito, or Suzaku would end up stronger than the Toguro Ototo himself.

Then again, while it took Toguro 50 years to reach B-Level, it took only 10 years for Sensui to reach S-Level. Meanwhile, it took less than 3 years for Yusuke to surpass them both and take on a centuries-old S-Level archdemon, Yomi, to the brink of defeat.

To Toguro, Urameshi asked, "What happened to you deciding to stay in Hell for 100 million years to atone for all the crimes you've committed? Were you plucked from Hell by the Chojin and forced to work for him? Answer me, Toguro!"

"...We're not so different, you and I."

"OH, COME ON! Not this tired cliché again!" the teenaged living warhead told off the demonized human strongman in between bone-crushing punches.

He didn't want to hear such things from someone much weaker than him.

***

The veiny (actually nervy) Enishi got talkative all of a sudden, Kenshin realized.

His life story was as unfortunate as the vagabond expected. Maybe even more so. So he even killed a family after he was given a new lease in life? How much of a monster had he become?

This was a lot for Himura to take in. He could barely breathe right now; much less digest Yukishiro's words.

Meanwhile, Enishi snarled in remembrance of the things he'd been through. The people he killed. The opportunities of happiness he turned his back on in favor of a century-old grudge.

The innocents he murdered in order to harden his heart enough to take on a monster like the Battousai. When he died, he resisted the reincarnation cycle for so long, hoping against hope he'd find Himura's soul in the afterlife and drag him to Hell along with him, torturing him for a million years.

However, his chance had finally arrived only a few decades ago. He reentered the reincarnation cycle and avoided becoming an insect or a slug, getting instead the body of a Chinese boy with his memories of the past as a Japanese man intact somehow.

He then trained his body in martial arts, went to prison more than a few times, became a career criminal, and climbed the ranks of organized Chinese crime known as The Triad (what the Shanghai Arms Dealers eventually developed into a hundred years down the line).

In fact, until a few couple of years ago, Enishi occupied the position of Dragon Head that his protégé, Feng Xinhai, currently had. He had a Chinese name himself, but he long ago abandoned that identity in order to completely become Enishi Yukishiro.

He dedicated himself into becoming what he was in his past life and more.

It was because the Chojin himself reawakened his soul's past memories for the purpose of taking down Kenshin Himura.

Under the guidance of the Chojin and his reformed Shin Juppon Gatana, he even learned how to use his spiritual powers on top of reviving the lost martial arts of Wattoujutsu. He studied the Japanese language.

He began slaying demons himself by helping fund technology that linked the Demon World to the Human World with the money he made by being the Triad Dragon Head.

And now, while serving under Tenro the Demon-Slayer's Yakuza Family as one of his enforcers, he finally crossed paths with the man who stole his happiness a hundred years ago.

His revenge, his Jinchu, was literally a hundred years in the making.

"I will kill you now and then the rest of your friends afterwards. I'll break apart the Demon Sword or steal it for myself. Become its new master. From there, in the Spirit World, I will also hunt your ghost and kill you again until all memory of you is erased. Suffer like I did. Suffer for eternity, Battousai!"

Something stirred inside Kenshin when he heard those words. It was one thing for Enishi to swear to kill him. However, what did the rest of his comrades have to do with his revenge? Was he really going to kill the Kenshingumi or even the Reikai Tantei and the Oniwabanshu all in the name of his Jinchu?

Just as Enishi prepared to finish Himura off, a shinigami flew between them like a bolt from the blue.

The woman who sported a black kimono and raven hair zeroed in not on Enishi and Kenshin but instead on the Tomoe puppet of the Puppet Master.

'Ah, I remember her,' thought the Guardian of the Demon Sword. He met that death goddess before while assisting the training of Sanosuke and Yahiko when they first arrived in the Human World.

From his limited interactions with the shinigami, Kenshin surmised that she mainly did research work for Koenma Daio, not unlike the child inspector Sayaka.

'Ayame, was it? She's the shinigami that Kurama assigned to the Southeast Quadrant of Okushiri. Did she follow us all the way here?'

***

Yusuke wanted to end the fight with Toguro using one gigaton punch or one Chou Rei-Gan (Mega Spirit Gun), but he held back. Kept his cool.

He wanted to bet on a "maybe". As in, "Maybe Toguro is holding back and is about to show me something more amazing than 100% of his power".

Otherwise, Urameshi would've already blasted Toguro back to Hell where he belonged and had a 100 million year sentence to serve. From there, the teenager would've waited for the Chojin or someone to arrive and force him use 100% of his power instead.

Finishing this fight early presented too much of a risk. Like eating an unripe fruit or something. Besides which, if Yusuke went all out, he'd wipe out several mountain ranges and riverbanks off of the map.

But maybe he was risking hundreds of thousands of lives over his own selfish whims.

'Fine. I'll push a little harder, then.'

The ensuing "REI-KOU-DAN! (SPIRIT WAVE BULLET!)" that fissured the surrounding ground and threatened to break the world in half was mostly absorbed by Younger Toguro's beefy body.

Toguro's 100% form before might instead be his 000.1% now. Maybe he'd been training all this time in Hell. Training from Hell.

Or maybe this was all wishful thinking on Urameshi's part now that he had outgrown his boogeyman from his past.

Yusuke put his hip into his last punch, manhandling the "ultimate" form of Toguro that earlier on threw him around like a rag doll the first time they fought.

"You want to rise to your greatest potential, but unfortunately you've already been there and done that and more. You've become too powerful," Toguro said after fixing his twisted neck that had his head staring straight behind him.

"You're not somehow begging for mercy, are you?" asked Yusuke as he hit another bone-crushing uppercut to Toguro's jaw.

"...Nothing challenges you anymore, but you don't want to sever your attachment to this world of weaklings."

Toguro flexed and did a full-powered tackling punch with enough force to move or even obliterate mountains. Alas, this version of Yusuke ate mountains for breakfast ever since achieving S-Level during his fight against Sensui.

This was nothing to him. Drop a building on him, and he'd wonder if it was raining.

He hated to think in such a way, but to him fighting Toguro now was akin to fighting Kuwabara. It didn't help that the behemoth fought straightforwardly and without trickery, unlike Xinhai and Rando.

"You honestly sound pathetic now, Toguro. What happened to you? Keiko can hit harder than that. Put your hips into it!"

But nothing major really happened to Toguro after dying back in the Ankoku Bujutsukai (Dark Martial Arts Tournament). It was Urameshi who had changed.

Any of the current roster of Roku Youkai (Six Demons) could take him on and turn him into roadkill, to be honest.

Toguro's form doubled or even tripled in size. He was now doing his "100% of 100%" technique that had him stake his very soul's life force in order to unleash his fullest potential.

However, his fullest potential ended up just B-Plus in the end. Not even at A-Level.

'Quit messing around and go 1,000% power or something already, Toguro!' Yusuke inwardly begged. But that never happened. He kept dealing with a Toguro who could barely make him flinch.

"In order to continue to live the lie you call your life, you're someone strong pretending to be weak so you could fit in with the rest of the weaklings."

"Stop yammering! I'm more impressed with your big mouth than any of your punches!"

Yusuke did his signature finger gun pose and focused his ocean of reiki at a single point of his index finger, gathering all that limitless energy into one concentrated shot.

"Great fighters refuse to lose, but you refuse to win just to get back that feeling and exhilaration of conquering something greater than you. So what do you do now that you're in a world where nothing is greater than you?"

"Jeez. Shut up already."

Yusuke sighed. If Toguro really was going to unleash a new superpower on him, he would've done so by now. Meanwhile, he himself hadn't even worked up a sweat.

Was this some sort of long-con, "Sun Tzu's Art of War" deal? Was Toguro hiding his power level like he always had, using only a small percentage of his potential? Or was this indeed his limits after his defeat in the Dark Tournament?

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I have been a little careless in my fights lately. However, in the end, I kept winning anyway. So who cares? It's my curse, I know. REI-GAN!"

***

Back at the foot of Mt. Kannon...

Ayame the Shinigami grabbed hold of the corpse puppet of Gein and cut off its spiritual connection with the mad scientist using her reaper powers.

She then said to Enishi, "There's no way your sister is smiling down on you in heaven! Not while you're doing something as terrible as this, stalking Himura-san for decades! A whole century!"

Enishi scowled at the impudent ferry-girl. How dare she say such things to him.

"What do you know? How can you possibly know the pain I've been through? The pain that my sister and her fiancé suffered from? You're nothing but a stranger! You have nothing to do with me!"

Kenshin tried standing up, but Enishi kicked his chest wound and pinned him down with a foot stomp. "And as for you, stay down! I'm not done with you yet!"

Yukishiro was about to punch Koenma's ferry-girl away when she chanted an incantation that led to the body double of his sister Tomoe to frown at him and cry tears of blood.

"Don't you hear it? Don't you hear the cries of despair of your dearly departed sister Tomoe from a hundred years ago? The last thing she wants to see is you suffering or making everyone suffer along with you!"

Enishi shook and shuddered before he himself screamed in anguish, screaming until his throat became ragged. Clutching his chest at that baleful look that rocked him to his very core.

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Enough of your lies, Reikai! I don't believe any of them for a second!

However, he couldn't for the life of him kill even a puppet of his sister. Any young woman who reminded him of his sister, he couldn't bring himself to kill.

He damn well tried to though, his hatred rising. His cognitive dissonance assuring him these were all lies. That his sister had wanted to kill Battousai all along to avenge her fiancé's death.

That the rumor of how Battousai pledged to not kill ever since he killed Enishi's sister was just a rumor.

That Enishi hadn't wasted his multiple chances at a new lease on life for nothing.

He slashed the Tomoe corpse puppet apart with the Sho Ha Tou Sei, his own tears flowing down as he did so. Nauseated by the act, he moved away and puked soon after.

Even though she wasn't the real Tomoe.

'I have to do this. I have to destroy all their lies!'

He had waited for so long and come so far. In the end, it should still matter, right? If it didn't matter then what was the point of all this?

It was all Battousai's fault. He was the one who ruined his life. He was the one who forced him to suffer like this. Everything was perfect until he came along.

Even in the afterlife, Himura haunted him.

"Himura Battousai must die! Suffer! Die a thousand deaths! A million deaths! I won't rest until he has suffered as much as I have and MORE!"

Yukishiro prepared to do his ultimate attack on Kenshin, only for Ayame to get in his way.

This looked mighty familiar.

He hesitated for a whole second in cleaving the shinigami in half. Here was another woman the same age as his sister. Everywhere he looked, such maidens like her kept reminding him of what he had lost.

A second was an eternity in a fight, though.

Kenshin rose up and blocked Enishi's ensuing sword strike even though, unbeknownst to him, his brother-in-law intended to miss Ayame by a mile anyway.

Himura's heart swelled at doing so. Here and now, the vagabond was able to do the sword block that he failed to do against Shishio.

Had he done the same block against his hitokiri successor, would he have survived their mutually assured destruction? Had he not given up back then and decided to fight on, would he have been able to come back to Tokyo with the rest of the Kenshingumi? With Miss Kaoru?

Kenshin really wished he had fought on instead of giving up and dying along with Shishio. That he did.

"...I will fight to the end to protect those I hold dear! That is my truth!"

Himura's resolve in defeating Enishi finally hardened after wavering for so long, his cross-shaped scar seemingly glowing with a red bioluminescent light.

The crouching tiger faced off against the unhidden dragon one more time.

"KOFUKU ZETTOUSEI! (CROUCHING TIGER SEVERING SWORD RUSH!)"

"AMAKAKERU RYU NO HIRAMEKI! (HEAVENS GLIDING DRAGON FLASH!)"

Last time, the tiger was able to cut deep wounds into the flying serpent even though it was driven deep underground by sharp dragon claws.

Would the tiger finish what it had started? Or would the dragon have something hidden behind its upward flight into the heavens?

***

Kazuma attempted to create a portal to serve as a shield over Yahiko, only for Itsuki to seal that portal with Kazuya's Black Hole Gun, the twin rips in space-time canceling each other out.

However, Kuwabara expected the maneuver and teleported right in front of Itsuki in order to slash apart the firearm at pointblank range with the Jigen Tou.

"Motherfucker...!" shouted the foul-mouthed Kazuya possessing Itsuki's body, grasping his damaged handgun.

Itsuki then awoke Sensui's George personality in order to gain access to a hyperdimensional gun vault filled with Tommy guns, pistols, Desert Eagles, mini guns, shotguns, AK-47 rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and bazookas.

He had actually restocked his gun collection by stealing many of the armaments and ammunition available in the very military base they were invading right then and there. Knowing full well that ordinary guns were more useful against living, flesh-and-blood beings like Kuwabara versus the solidified souls of shinigami and ghosts from the past.

In retrospect, this made Houji's efforts to shoot Yahiko, a ghost, with a gun moot. However, Itsuki at least had a backup plan.

"I'll kill you all!" said Hitoshi. "I will purify the Human World by getting rid of all the humans!" His shtick was that he wished for human extinction.

However, before he could use one magazine or clip from his guns, he got pummeled to submission by a revived Sanosuke Sagara.

Botan had healed up the wounds of Sano's ghost yet again with purified jaki turned into reiki. He then got the jump on the green-haired youkai through brute strength instead of fancy teleportation techniques.

'Her again?' thought Houji, noticing how Battousai's woman served the same function as he did with the rest of the Shin Ju. 'That Reikai shinigami is making this mission of ours needlessly difficult.'

Furthermore, every attempt Itsuki made to get away from Sagara was blocked by Kuwabara, who himself punched the demon back into portals of his own that redirected him towards Sano's waiting fists and "FUTAE NO KIWAMI!"

"All right, enough of this!" declared Yumi, who shifted from targeting Yahiko to focusing her Spirit Guillotines and Blood Fire Waves at the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu kendoist turned shinigami Botan/Kaoru Kamiya.

Kaoru assisted Botan in deploying evasive maneuvers against the succubus, with her using the reiki-imbued boat paddle to bat and parry away the projectiles headed towards her before flying away from the bloodsucker.

She then ended up blocking the scythe of the unskilled but jaki-empowered Houji, which kept her from taking flight and escaping. "Keep still like a good girl."

Finally, a black hole appeared where her chest used to be. It was actually a dimensional rift that sucked the ferry-girl's ghostly flesh and ectoplasm away.

Gatekeeper Itsuki then closed the portal that mortally wounded Botan/Kaoru with a wave of his hand.

The ferry-girl's jaw opened, clenched, and froze at a silent scream, her red eyes rolling upwards until only her eye whites were visible.

"KAORUUU! BOTAAAAAN! NOOOO!" said Yahiko with an anguished, bloodcurdling shriek of his own.

Itsuki's mouth curved upwards in curiosity. 'What will you do now, Samurai-san? Is this enough to break you into pieces like what happened to my dearest Shinobu (Sensui) when he saw the Black Chapter Tapes?'

***

Back at the foot of Mt. Kannon...

As Enishi Yukishiro's heart wavered, Kenshin Himura's resolve hardened. Tempered by his will to protect those around him.

The Kofuku Zetsu Tou Sei should've countered the Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash by avoiding the first slash completely and countering the second slash with a well-time riposte, unfazed or even aided by the void created by the first slash.

The Zettousei was seemingly designed to break apart or deconstruct the Hirameki, as demonstrated earlier by Kenshin barely surviving it the first time it was used.

It should've halved the effectiveness of the second slash, but by Kenshin drawing the sword low and removing the ground-based leverage of his crouch, Enishi stood no chance.

Kenshin's much faster and stronger Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash hit low to weaken Enishi's strong crouch then hit high with the multiplied centrifugal force of the follow-up second strike of his ougi, the Crouching Tiger Severing Sword Rush buckling under pressure.

Enishi's counter was ultimately overpowered by the much stronger and better applied succession technique.

However, like before, even after his counter was countered by a more experienced, worldlier version of Battousai guarding a powerful demonic sword, he still kept standing.

Sure, Yukishiro shook like a leaf and heaved belabored breaths because his double-edged, hypertrophied Nerves of Insanity multiplied his pain to the point where an ordinary man would've blacked out in a dead faint.

But he wouldn't go down. He refused to go down. He'd rather die than go down.

Whether he was thrown into magma inside a mountain or cut down to oblivion with the Legendary Youtou Shinnoken (Demon Sword: The True Blade), his willpower continued to defy fate and destiny itself.

He braced himself for Battousai to deliver the finishing blow, relying on his twitch reflexes and his thick pulsating nerves that were practically on fire at this point to launch another counter.

Instead, Kenshin told him, "You didn't really mean to raise your sword at Miss Ayame, did you? Cutting down the fake Tomoe puppet to you was like ripping your heart out."

He spat, "What of it, Battousai?! That's just a puppet I tore apart, not my real sister! My sister that you killed!"

"It doesn't matter if the puppet was fake or not. Ripping her apart hurt you at your core. The pain you felt is real."

"DAMN YOU TO HELL! Push me any further, and I'll do the same to the shinigami!"

Himura replied, "Even though you've murdered others because you couldn't stand how happy they were, you hesitated in killing Ayame-dono. She reminded you too much of Tomoe to go through with it, didn't she?"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME, BASTARD! Her murderer has no right to do so!"

"...In the end, what stopped you was your sister. So I ask you the same question you asked me. Is your sister smiling down on you from heaven?"

Delirious, he started having visions.

Visions of his sister taking care of him when he was sick with the flu, sleeping at his bedside. Cooking for him. Taking care of him. Serving as the only family and mother figure that he ever knew.

His revenge against Kenshin was all he had left. All that mattered. His only reason for being, since Battousai robbed him of the original reason for his being. Without this one goal, he'd be nothing.

He could do anything as long as his sister was smiling back at him.

He closed his eyes. All he could see—the face he claimed was a lie made by the Spirit World—was his sister frowning at him with sad eyes full of pity.

The things he'd ignored earlier that bothered him also started making sense.

Why his sister threw herself in between Battousai and the leader of the Yaminobu.

Why his sister stayed with Battousai for so long and even became his wife (being a deep cover agent wasn't enough to explain that away).

Why Battousai vowed never to kill after "easily" killing so many people for such a long time.

'He did that because he felt guilty after killing my sister! And everyone around him! He's a criminal who's celebrated as a hero because he killed during a war when it's 'legal' to do so!'

He opened his eyes. The image of his unhappy, melancholic sister coalesced into Shinigami Ayame's face while bearing the same grim expression with her mouth.

He fell to his knees and broke down bawling. A broken man.

It wasn't the strike from a mystical demonic blade or the most powerful technique of a ghostly guardian from the Bakumatsu that brought him down to his knees.

No. It was him realizing his sister's disapproval of his Jinchu that unraveled his single-minded determination to kill Kenshin and/or make him suffer for an eternity and a day.

Only sheer willpower kept Enishi standing. So when Kenshin broke even that, he had nothing left.

His will to fight went away. All that was left was anguish, despair, and hopelessness.

"Neesan... Neesan...! (Big sis... Big sis...!)"

What was he supposed to do now?

***

To Be Continued...

The main event is about to start, and it's a doozy. Tenro will finally make his appearance to complete the Okushiri Arc!

Ciao, Abdiel

#kenshin himura #yukishiro enishi #jinchu #hiei #yusuke urameshi #usui uonuma #toguro ototo #toguro #jaganshi hiei #yuyu hakusho #幽☆遊☆白書 #rurouni kenshin #るろうに剣心 #demon sword #youtou shinnoken #妖刀真の剣

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