"Hundred Refinements - Piercing Blood."
Blood compressed to its limit shot out at supersonic speed.
Noticing Kenjaku's starting Move, Eichi immediately deduced his target by the direction Kenjaku's hands were pointing.
Eichi timely dodged Kenjaku's attack by tilting his head.
Subsequently, a pure white Dharma Wheel appeared above Eichi's head.
Failing to land a hit, Kenjaku immediately retreated to avoid being caught by the continuously expanding shadow.
"Great Serpent, Rabbit Escape."
The Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel rotated.
From the edge of the rapidly expanding shadow, a giant white serpent shot out like a dangerous and deadly hunter lurking in a river.
Its gaping maw lunged at Kenjaku.
"Blood Manipulation: Crimson Scale Surge."
Kenjaku's retreating speed increased once more.
The Great Serpent bit at empty air, then its neck suddenly began to swell.
"Hmm?"
Seeing the Great Serpent's unusual action, a hint of alarm rose in Kenjaku's heart.
A mass of blood condensed in Kenjaku's hand.
Pffft.
The charging Great Serpent suddenly spat out what was in its mouth.
Countless Rabbit Escapes flew towards Kenjaku like white cannonballs.
"Blood Manipulation: Crimson Bind."
"Nurikabe."
Crimson Bind was a step too late, only binding the Great Serpent's head after it had already spat out the Rabbit Escapes.
However, Kenjaku quickly made a new countermeasure.
A cursed tool resembling a tile or a stone was thrown by Kenjaku.
Immediately, a wall dozens of meters high appeared in front of Kenjaku.
Imaginary Cursed Spirit: Nurikabe.
Nurikabe is a well-known yokai in Japan.
He appears at night and suddenly traps you within an unavoidable wall.
Its ability to prevent passage is stronger than its defensive power.
However, Rabbit Escape is not a Shikigami known for its power.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
One Rabbit Escape after another collided with Nurikabe.
Then, under the immense recoil, the Rabbit Escapes exploded one by one, turning into shadows and returning to Eichi's shadow.
The moment Nurikabe appeared, Kenjaku, unnoticed by everyone, dropped a nail-like object covered in Talismanic Incantations onto the ground.
Then he stomped it into the ground.
"Hundred Refinements - Piercing Blood!"
Successfully escaping the shadow domain formed by Eichi's shadow, Kenjaku struck the Piercing Blood pose.
On the other side, dark shadows crept up Eichi's body.
Eichi clasped his hands together, and the image of Max Elephant faintly appeared on his body.
"Hundred Refinements: Piercing Water!"
The dark red blood arrow and blue water stream collided, then burst apart violently.
Both parties' vision was obscured by blood and water.
"Blood Manipulation: Crimson Reaping!"
Kenjaku gathered blood and made it spin rapidly.
Soon, a blood-colored flying wheel was created.
The flying wheel grew larger and larger, then was thrown by Kenjaku in Eichi's direction.
This Crimson Reaping, which reminded Eichi of the Eightfold Light Wheel, cut through the blood and water in the air, flying towards Eichi's location.
However, to Kenjaku's surprise...
Eichi did not make any Move.
He was directly split in two by the blood-colored flying wheel.
"Shadow Clone, where is the main body?"
Kenjaku immediately began searching for Eichi's main body.
"Not good!"
An alarm suddenly blared in Kenjaku's heart.
He immediately turned around and crossed his arms in front of him.
Eichi's fist was already within reach.
'That shadow is Nue!'
Kenjaku's eyes widened as he looked at the ground where more than half of Eichi's body was exposed.
It was the shadow of a raptor cast by the moonlight.
Before using Ultimate Art: Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel.
Eichi could only summon two Shikigami simultaneously.
And Eichi had already used both slots before finding Kenjaku.
One was Nue, with a wingspan of dozens of meters, who brought Eichi and Artoria here.
The other was Mahoraga, who went to support Maki and Inumaki Toge.
Therefore, at the start of the battle, Eichi first used Ultimate Art: Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel.
This was to summon other Shikigami without dismissing Nue.
And Nue, left behind by Eichi, had now completed its mission.
While Kenjaku's attention was entirely on Eichi...
It quietly cast its shadow behind Kenjaku, in a place he couldn't see.
It wasn't until Eichi traversed through the shadow to get behind him that Kenjaku perceived the danger through that faint Cursed Energy fluctuation.
Bang.
Crack.
Eichi's Cursed Energy-wrapped fist heavily struck Kenjaku's crossed arms in front of him.
The crisp sound of bones shattering came from where the fist and arms collided.
Kenjaku dug his feet into the ground to prevent himself from being sent flying by this heavy punch.
Falling into the shadow domain Eichi had created earlier.
Just as Eichi was about to pursue, Nurikabe, under Kenjaku's command, trapped Eichi in place.
Eichi didn't hesitate, swinging his fist again and directly smashing Nurikabe to pieces.
The difference in power was too great; Nurikabe couldn't even withstand one of Eichi's attacks.
Through the hole in Nurikabe, Eichi once again locked onto Kenjaku's position.
The Great Serpent was already swimming through the shadows towards Kenjaku's position.
Although its head was still bound by the blood-turned-ropes, the Great Serpent still had powerful predatory Moves like constriction.
"Blood Manipulation: Blood Blade."
Kenjaku suddenly jumped, and blood transformed into a long blade, severing the Great Serpent's head.
The shadow immediately extended, pulling the severed head back to reattach it.
"Got you."
Eichi's voice came from behind Kenjaku.
Kenjaku immediately condensed a second Blood Blade and slashed towards the direction Eichi's voice had come from.
But it was too late.
The shadow had already spread beneath Kenjaku.
Kenjaku had been pulled into Eichi's shadow domain.
Here, it was Eichi's home ground.
"Moo!"
Piercing Ox burst out from the shadow.
Its horns blocked Kenjaku's Blood Blade, then charged at Kenjaku with undiminished momentum.
The impact at almost zero distance wasn't extremely high in damage, but it was not something a human body could withstand.
Kenjaku immediately used Reverse Cursed Technique to begin repairing his injuries.
'No further pursuit?'
After landing, Kenjaku held a mass of fresh blood in one hand, while the other hand already reached for a new cursed tool.
He didn't carry many cursed tools on him.
But it didn't matter; the moment the battle began...
He had already instructed his Shikigami to go to a nearby stronghold.
As long as he held out for a little while, he would be able to decide whether to fight or retreat.
Drip.
Kenjaku, who was using Reverse Cursed Technique, suddenly felt a coolness on his face.
"Is it raining?"
Kenjaku touched his face and found that what made him feel cold was raindrops.
"No, this is…"
Kenjaku suddenly looked at the ground covered by shadows.
The rain was falling from the ground towards the sky.
"This way, your Blood Manipulation won't be able to maintain its precision, right?"
To maintain the effectiveness of the Cursed Technique, Blood Manipulation always keeps the blood's coagulation reaction turned off from the moment it's released.
Therefore, the blood manipulated by Blood Manipulation is more easily dissolved in water than other blood.
In addition, when blood is infiltrated by water, the red blood cells in the blood will swell due to changes in osmotic pressure and cause the cell membrane to rupture.
This leads to external blood being affected by rainwater and becoming uncontrollable.
Now, if Kenjaku wants to use Blood Manipulation, he can only use the blood within his own body.
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