In the Jujutsu Kaisen manga, Mahoraga was originally struck by Megumi Fushiguro, and a mere ten-meter charge shattered its adaptation.
And now, the distance between the ox and Mahoraga was...
Six hundred meters.
"You're just going to admit defeat like that?"
A shadow clone rose with all its might from the shadows. A looked at Locke before him and said angrily:
"Boy, let me die with dignity. Don't humiliate me."
"Sorry, you can't die right now. You'll find the real body right after death. So stand up, and I'll deal with you later."
"?!"
Mahoraga looked at the person carrying cursed energy, tilted its head, and waited for the amplitude adjustment ritual to determine whether the person before it was a third party or the host.
The Third Raikage A had no cursed energy, and the multi-dimensional amplitude adjustment was not established.
The host's clone belonged to the host's cursed energy core, and the multi-dimensional amplitude adjustment was not established. Nor was it a third party.
In the end, the amplitude adjustment ritual made its judgment, and the only amplitude adjustment still in effect.
Reaching its conclusion, Mahoraga rapidly approached the shadow clone before it. The monster that had been fed by the Third Raikage A was now showing its terrifying power.
Locke, who had long been wary of Mahoraga, immediately made the pre-prepared hand sign to summon a shikigami.
"Summon Rabbit Escape!"
Before the words faded, countless rabbit shikigami burst from the shadows, forming a white wall before Locke to help him block Mahoraga's attack.
"Shadow Binding Killing Burial: Black Coffin"
Breaking through the rabbit barrier, just as Mahoraga's demon-sealing sword reached Locke, the shadow beneath his feet rose and condensed into a black coffin, tightly sealing him inside.
The sound of metal clashing came from within the black coffin. Locke glanced at the shadow beneath his feet and, realizing the real body still needed time, began forming seals to perform the most basic Shadow Imitation Technique.
Before Mahoraga could cut through the black coffin, it was once again caught by the Shadow Imitation Technique. But its resistance to control was far beyond Locke's imagination. He began to regret letting A feed Mahoraga so many techniques.
After A used lightning to stop the bleeding from his severed arm, he watched Locke fighting Mahoraga before him. A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes.
At that moment, A's mind recalled the shouts of his subordinates, as well as the expectations of everyone before he left the village. Involuntarily, he extended his left hand and aimed it at Locke's heart.
But after holding his hand up for a long time, he finally decided to lower it. He crossed his legs and quietly waited for the battle to end.
He had been defeated. He should not lose the pride of being the Raikage again. He could not bring shame to the name of A.
And Locke in the shadows, seeing this scene, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The aggregate of the four forces in his palm had now become extremely large.
Hey, it's almost there.
Faced with such a nearly homogeneous force, Mahoraga adapted much faster than he expected. The wheel of dharma above its head turned rapidly, and the shadow tentacles connected to Mahoraga's legs shattered like glass with a crisp sound.
At this critical moment, the sound of a charging ox suddenly came from afar. The heavy attack quickly reached Locke's ears, making him immediately realize the intention of another shadow clone.
Then, Locke's shadow clone pulled two swords from the shadows, coated them with Armament Haki, and immediately charged forward, determined to clash head-on with Mahoraga.
And the real body in the shadows made the final preparations.
Locke's technique was designed with reference to the Tailed Beast Ball, with the Yin-Yang ratio of the Tailed Beast Ball being 8:2—80% Yang energy, with the remaining 20% Yin responsible for form, compression, and stability.
But the forces he possessed were the Yin-Yang combination of chakra, the Yin of cursed energy, the Yang of Armament Haki, and the Yin of murderous intent fluctuations.
These four different yet similar forces were merged under his intuitive control.
With the bonus of three traits, Locke was a master who typically combined the four forces in an inverted 8:2 ratio.
Armament Haki was responsible for formation, chakra for stability, cursed energy for nourishment, and murderous intent fluctuations for compression.
Combined with the positive-negative pairing provided by the Reverse Cursed Technique and the secrets of the Shadow Flow, the "ball" that had always been out of control was now truly stable.
In fact, neither the battle with the Raikage nor the temporary amplitude adjustment were Locke's original plan. But perhaps due to the influence of Megumi Fushiguro's madness as a sorcerer and the traits of the same name, he no longer cared about that.
All he wanted was to fight.
Gathering himself, he looked at the small hole leading to the outside world above his head, a wide smile spreading across his face.
Time was up.
The shadow clone, having received 100% of the power from the upgrade that restored his condition, now with the intuitive bonuses of [Martial Arts Genius] and [Mad Sorcerer], suddenly found it couldn't match Mahoraga's speed. Relying on prediction, it fought Mahoraga sword to sword.
When Mahoraga swung two blades, it could only swing one sword. But with that single sword, it could intuitively block Mahoraga's two attacks back and forth.
At this moment, the attacks of both sides were so fast that only afterimages remained. Smoke and dust rose, forming a storm that hid the location of the ox in the distance.
Another shadow clone rode on the ox, continuously supplying it with cursed energy enhancements.
After several hundred meters of charging, the ox was now far superior to the Third Raikage A's [Hell Stab] earlier.
Thinking about it, if Mahoraga hadn't adapted to A's strikes, this blow might have been completely wasted.
Click!
Under the continuous intense attacks, though the shadow blade in Locke's hand was coated with Armament Haki, it couldn't withstand Mahoraga's demon-sealing sword and shattered.
Mahoraga instantly slashed hundreds of times, turning the unarmed shadow clone into powder.
Mahoraga, having just gathered its strength, immediately sensed the strong wind behind it. The ox was less than ten meters away, its massive body wrapped in a full charge. Almost the moment it sensed it, it violently charged.
The immense inertia, wrapped in the long-accumulated force of impact, finally tore a wound in Mahoraga's body. But unfortunately, it had already adapted to such strikes, so the effect was minimal.
The shadow clone had already realized mid-charge that it was a dream to subdue Mahoraga with the ox. But as long as the ox could suppress Mahoraga, it was enough to prevent it from escaping with its adapted speed.
Understanding the clone's intention, the real body leaped from the shadows and used the collapsed ball like a Rasengan, pressing it directly onto Mahoraga's face.
Almost at the same moment, the shadow clone riding the ox suddenly retreated and leaped. Several shadow tentacles shot out, precisely wrapping around the real body's shadow.
[Shadow Clone/Shadow Mutual Swap]
The ox's powerful inertia crashed Mahoraga into the collapsing ball, causing it to lose control and instantly go berserk. The destructive force of chakra and cursed energy was far beyond Locke's expectations.
This collapsed ball, combining four different forces, suddenly expanded like nuclear fission, instantly becoming a giant energy sphere over ten meters in diameter, completely engulfing Mahoraga.
Locke in the air was violently buffeted by the energy wave's strong wind. In his peripheral vision, the Third Raikage A didn't try to avoid the collapsed ball. He still sat upright, slowly turning his head to cast one last look at Locke, and said calmly:
"Nara boy... Forget it. Let it be."
The Raikage A, who had already found peace, looked at the collapsed ball before him, closed his eyes, and spoke his final words:
"This is the ninja world. The victor takes everything, the loser loses everything. I hope you never have a day of defeat, Nara boy."
In the next second, he was completely engulfed by the ever-expanding collapsed ball. And Mahoraga, trapped at the core of the collapsed ball, initially suffered little damage—after all, it had adapted to chakra and cursed energy.
In the end, the collapsed ball was just an energy sphere mixed with chakra and cursed energy, not even a technique. But then, the murderous intent fluctuations it had never experienced burst forth, and the cursed energy and chakra underwent a chain reaction.
Mahoraga, which had never adapted to murderous intent fluctuations, was constantly strangled by this dark force that destroyed everything. The quadruple limit of the collapsed ball also prevented it from adapting. In the end, it was strangled.
The moment the collapsed ball exploded, black-red flames shot into the sky, wrapped in shockwaves that overturned everything around. The ground collapsed into a hundred-meter crater. The aftershocks of the surging chakra force rolled out in all directions like madness, leaving only blinding light and deafening roars between heaven and earth.
When all the smoke in the sky dispersed, only a massive crater remained, like a meteor impact site. The wheel of dharma above Mahoraga's head fell to the ground, rolled a few times, then turned into a wisp of flying ash and vanished without a trace.
[Trait System Unlocked]
[Current Upgraded Traits]
[Martial Arts Genius] [Mad Sorcerer] [Protagonist Halo (Pseudo) Gold]
[Current Traits Ready for Fusion]
[Martial Arts Genius] [Mad Sorcerer]
[New Trait Expected from Fusion]
[Battle Crazed Sorcerer's Bone: Silver]
——————————————————————————————————————————————
At the same time, in the Pure Land, the observer watched Locke without blinking, his eyes flickering with concern.
He wondered if this natural-born genius could cultivate Yin Release to the same height as he had, and what changes it would bring to the entire ninja world.