Silence fell over the battlefield for a few seconds.
Then despair — the quiet kind that doesn't announce itself, just moves through the ranks like a current. The teacher's death was enough. It lifted the Zenin's confidence and added a brutality to their strikes that hadn't been there before.
Michizane saw what had happened.
And the poison was still spreading through him — steady, patient, like it knew it would win eventually.
Until —
His body erupted with blood.
He forced the poison out through sheer will — then used Reverse Cursed Technique.
The Zenin's confidence didn't last long after that. The shock ran through all of them at once — he had never been wounded before this fight. None of them had known until that moment that he could use Reversal. It was the one variable that had fallen completely outside their plan.
I turned the emotion-reading skill on.
The fear creeping through the Zenin ranks. The exhaustion in the Sugawara lines. Everything clear and sharp.
Then I pointed it toward Michizane.
Emptiness.
The same emptiness as always — but heavier this time. The teacher had died in front of him. A comrade in war, someone he'd likely known for years. And still — no grief. No anger. Not even a flinch.
He was the embodiment of perfection in battle.
More than that —
He raised his sword toward them.
He lowered his head and took his stance — surrounded on every side, but looking in only one direction.
Confusion spread across his opponents' faces. They shifted into defensive positions.
Then he spoke:
Infinite Sword Spiral.
Before I could blink —
Everyone dropped. Their remains scattered through the air above them.
A technique that ignores distance?
Even I — with an observer's ability to track everything happening around me — couldn't follow the sword's movement. I didn't see the cuts. I didn't see the attack. I saw a combat stance, and then I saw the result.
I activated the consciousness entry skill immediately.
Attemptfailed.
I tried again.
Attemptfailed.
I stopped.
And understood.
Is it possible? Has his consciousness become impossible to enter?
The shift was sudden enough to freeze everyone for a few seconds.
The balance had changed in a handful of moments — and his response to the teacher's death wasn't tears or a shout. It was a single strike. That dropped everyone around him.
He was the image of what a real commander looks like.
Leon couldn't ignore what had happened.
He moved directly toward Michizane.
On the other side, soldiers rushed to surround the wounded commanders — but were cut off before they could reach them. The overlapping skirmishes in every direction reminded me of the Shibuya battle. But this time the sides were matched — and that made every exchange carry real weight.
I shouldn't be enjoying this.
But I was.
Leon didn't give Michizane a single moment to breathe. The moment he arrived he jumped and came straight for the neck.
In this era, a sword isn't just a weapon — it's an extension of the cursed technique itself. Even those with complex abilities fight with blades. It was the embodiment of their civilization and its peak at the same time.
Leon aimed to take his head.
Michizane deflected the strike with the edge of his blade and redirected him cleanly — sending him into the air.
Then he accelerated toward him before he landed and hit him again while he was still airborne. He followed with a chain of cursed energy strikes that finished off what remained of Leon's armor.
Leon hadn't recovered from the black flash he'd taken in the previous fight — and the damage was stacking now.
Then —
A yellow light appeared around him.
And every wound was gone.
It wasn't Reversal. It wasn't healing from outside.
What was that?
Leon smiled — the smile of someone who enjoys seeing the question in their opponent's eyes:
— Surprised? What you just saw is the nature of my bond with this sword. It's a living cursed sword. The spirit of the lion dwells inside it. Through a cursed contract that binds my heart to his, we share all damage between us — and I can redirect it to him as well. And because of his ability to nullify cursed techniques, destroying him is impossible.
*Why would he reveal his abilities to his opponent?*
Then a message appeared in front of me:
— By disclosing his cursed contract and explaining it to his opponent, his capacity to communicate with the sword reaches its maximum level — as a condition of the contract itself.
I understood the full picture now.
An opponent who could be called immortal. His ability rivaled Hakari's domain technique — but of an entirely different nature. Not individual immunity, but a partnership that made nullification and healing two sides of the same thing.
Is this thepeakeraofjujutsu that Sukuna lived through? Even ordinary clan members carry this kind of power?
Michizane smiled slightly.
He looked at Leon and said:
— A real opponent. For the first time.
A pause. Then:
— What's your name, warrior?
Leon answered with a confident smile:
— They call me The Lion's Heart. But you can call me Leon!
Michizane released his cursed energy fully. And looked at him.
— Then I'll make sure you get an ending worthy of a warrior !
— I can't guarantee that'll happen — but I appreciate it. Haha.
In the blink of an eye — Michizane's sword reached Leon's neck!!
He avoided it. And countered in the same moment.
The speed at which they moved wasn't human. It's not an exaggeration to say it exceeded Toji's speed by several levels .
They exchanged strikes at a pace that left everyone around them unable to follow what was happening.
Except me.
I kept watching — and waited to see which one would fall first !!
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