Rin pressed his hand tightly against his chest, the blood seeping through his fingers staining his school uniform red.
That kick just now had been fast and ruthless; he hadn't even had time to mobilize his hair for defense. The dull pain radiating from his chest felt as if it would tear him apart. He didn't need to think to know that several ribs must have been broken.
Fortunately, the Cursed Spirits he had absorbed in previous battles had already strengthened his body to a level far exceeding that of an ordinary person, making it even tougher than an average Second-Grade Cursed Spirit.
Although it was nowhere near the defense of the Bone Armor Cursed Spirit before him, it wasn't enough to kill him with a single kick.
He lay prone on the ground, his chest heaving violently. Every breath felt like it was pulling at his broken bones and sinews, bringing a piercing pain.
Rin gritted his teeth. The hand pressed against his chest suddenly ignited with a cluster of blackish-red Cursed Energy. Like a flickering ghostly flame, the energy continuously seeped into the wound through the gaps between his fingers.
Following that, a numbing sensation spread from the fracture in his chest, slowly replacing the previous excruciating pain.
He could clearly sense the Cursed Energy wrapping around the misaligned bones, gradually setting and repairing them.
Absorbing the corpses of Cursed Spirits brought not only physical enhancement but also the powerful regenerative abilities unique to Cursed Spirits.
Now, Rin could actively repair his wounds using Cursed Energy. While he couldn't achieve the rapid limb regeneration of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, he could steadily recover his health, buying himself time to catch his breath.
Taking advantage of the gap in his treatment, Rin quickly looked up in the direction of the Cursed Spirit.
The dust and smoke had not yet dissipated; he could only see a massive silhouette moving slowly through the grey mist. The heavy footsteps thudded on the ground like beating drums, each sound striking against Rin's taut nerves.
The Cursed Spirit's silhouette grew clearer. Its hideous bone armor glinted coldly, and its sinister blue eyes flickered in and out of sight within the smoke, carrying a suffocating pressure as it gradually closed in on him.
He couldn't wait any longer!
Rin clenched his teeth and propped himself up with his other hand, attempting to stand.
But as soon as he applied force, the sharp pain in his chest made him stumble, leaving him half-kneeling on the ground.
His Crimson Sharingan stared intently at the approaching shadow. His legs were slightly bent, gathering strength; he had to escape before the Cursed Spirit got close.
He wasn't a "physical monster" like Yuji Itadori, who could still fight a Special Grade Cursed Spirit head-on with several holes in his abdomen.
The most rational choice now was to escape to safety first, wait for his bones to heal and his Cursed Energy to recover, and then come back to settle the score with this Cursed Spirit.
More importantly, the Sharingan's copying of the Bone Armor Cursed Spirit's Cursed Technique was already half complete.
From the moment the Cursed Spirit first activated its bone blade transformation, Rin had quietly activated the copying process. This Cursed Spirit's Cursed Technique was far more precise and complex than the Silk Binding Cursed Technique, so it naturally took longer.
But as long as he could successfully copy it, combined with the Sharingan's Insight and the flexibility of the Silk Binding Cursed Technique, he was confident he could slay it, even if the Cursed Spirit had the advantage in speed and strength.
Just as Rin's foot lifted slightly, the Cursed Spirit in the dust suddenly let out a piercing sneer:
"Oh? Preparing to run away with your tail between your legs?"
The voice was drawn out, its tone rising at the end, filled with contempt.
"Where's that arrogance from earlier? Don't tell me you're already scared out of your wits and want to find a hole to crawl into?"
The Cursed Spirit continued forward, its tall figure casting an increasingly large shadow on the ground, nearly enveloping Rin completely.
Rin suppressed the anger in his heart and put the Cursed Spirit's mockery out of his mind. Just as he was about to exert force with his legs, two dull thuds suddenly came from behind—the sound of bone being thrust violently into the soil!
The next second, the ground beneath his feet shook violently! Countless pale bone spikes burst from the earth all around, surging upward with soil like bamboo shoots after rain, rapidly intertwining and closing in.
In the blink of an eye, a suffocating cage was woven around Rin.
It wasn't a neat fence, but a chaotic weave of countless white bones of varying thickness, the thickest being like an adult's arm.
Rin looked up abruptly; the jagged white bones had already grown over his head. The originally azure sky was sliced into tiny fragments, leaving only the cold bone walls standing before him like tombstones announcing death.
The path of escape was completely sealed.
Rin's foot, suspended in mid-air, slowly lowered, and his gaze gradually became firm.
He no longer tried to run. He moved his hand away from his chest; although the broken bones hadn't fully healed, they were all back in place, and at least wouldn't affect the upcoming battle.
He slowly turned around to face the Cursed Spirit that had emerged from the dust.
The distance between them was now no more than ten paces.
Rin straightened his back, his Crimson Sharingan locking onto every movement of the Cursed Spirit as his left hand quietly formed a Finger Seal.
The black hair that had been hanging loose behind him moved without wind, flowing toward his right arm like a stream of ink. The strands of hair intertwined and condensed, making a faint rustling sound.
In just a moment, the once-soft hair transformed into a half-meter-long black arm blade. The blade glinted with a faint black light, while the remaining hair floated behind his head like venomous snakes on standby, waiting for an opportunity.
Seeing that Rin was no longer running, the Cursed Spirit let out a burst of arrogant laughter:
"Not running anymore? Finally brave enough to face me? Hahaha, interesting! But everything you do is in vain."
It raised its bone arm, the sharp bone blade pointing at Rin.
"Just let me kill you quietly; I will enjoy tasting your corpse!"
"Hmph."
Rin let out a disdainful snort, his gaze as sharp as a knife.
"I originally wanted to let you live a little longer, but I didn't expect you to be in such a hurry to die."
He glanced at the surrounding bone cage and said mockingly, "After releasing a Cursed Technique over such a large area, I wonder how much Cursed Energy you have left?"
Answering him was the Cursed Spirit's fierce attack.
"To kill you, it's enough!"
The Cursed Spirit roared, its figure suddenly charging forward. The arm blade carried a sharp wind that tore through the air, slashing straight for Rin's head. Its speed was even faster than before, clearly intending to deliver a fatal blow!
But this strike had already been captured clearly by the Sharingan.
Rin reacted extremely quickly. Instead of choosing to block it head-on, he slid to the side, narrowly avoiding the arm blade.
The sharp bone blade slashed down past his shoulder, slamming into the ground with a "boom" and kicking up a cloud of debris.
Without waiting for the Cursed Spirit to retract its arm, Rin immediately launched a counterattack. The black arm blade on his right arm, wrapped in dark-red Cursed Energy, slashed hard at the Cursed Spirit's back.
"Crack!"
With a crisp sound, the bone armor on the Cursed Spirit's back split open, revealing the pale skin beneath. Before it could heal, it was scorched by the Cursed Energy from the arm blade, emitting wisps of blue smoke.
Rin understood now. When used alone, the Silk Binding Cursed Technique indeed couldn't damage the bone armor. But by condensing the hair into an arm blade and using his body's strength to output Cursed Energy, the power would increase several-fold, enough to break through the defense.
With its bone armor broken, the Cursed Spirit cried out in pain and hurriedly twisted its body, its other bone arm striking at Rin with brute force.
Rin was prepared. The floating hair behind him instantly wove into a shield in front of him.
With a dull "thud," the bone arm slammed into the Hair Shield. The immense force sent Rin stumbling back several steps, but he used that counter-force to open up some distance.
But the Cursed Spirit gave him no chance to catch his breath, pouncing again with a roar.
For a time, the two figures were locked in combat within the bone cage.
The Cursed Spirit's attacks were wide and powerful, each strike heavy and forceful. The slashes of the bone blade and the sweeps of the bone leg made the surrounding bone cage creak and groan, as if it might collapse at any moment.
Rin didn't dare to take the hits directly, relying instead on the Sharingan's superior Insight and his agile movement to maneuver and counterattack amidst the Cursed Spirit's onslaught.
Every step he took landed in the gaps of the Cursed Spirit's attacks, like dancing on the edge of a blade. A single misstep would result in being sliced in half by the bone blade.
The good news was that Rin could clearly feel that the Cursed Spirit's strength was weaker than when it had kicked his chest earlier. Clearly, that bone cage had consumed a significant amount of its Cursed Energy.
But Rin's situation wasn't easy either; his Cursed Energy was down to half and was still being continuously consumed.
Most of his Cursed Energy was being used to maintain the Sharingan's Insight. Without the Sharingan to capture the Cursed Spirit's movements, with his current strength, he wouldn't even last three moves.
Facing the Cursed Spirit's tempestuous assault, Rin's figure flickered left and right. The Sharingan operated at full capacity, its Double Tomoe spinning rapidly. With every counterattack, the black arm blade let out a sharp whistle as it tore through the air, aiming for the gaps in the Cursed Spirit's joints. With every block, the Hair Shield trembled under the impact, leaving his arms numb.
The black blade formed of hair and the Cursed Spirit's bone armor clashed repeatedly, the crisp "clangs" ringing out incessantly. Mixed with Rin's heavy breathing and the Cursed Spirit's frenzied roars, they wove a battle song of life and death on this ravaged playground.