Zen'in Maki didn't hold back in the slightest.
With Jujutsu High's top healer, Ieiri Shoko, just downstairs, and Akira with his Gardevoir providing support, Maki could go all out. As long as it didn't kill him, she was free to beat Fushiguro Megumi senseless.
Even though Megumi was known for his iron will, taking a hit like that would undoubtedly leave him with a bleeding head wound.
However, the second attack didn't land on Megumi. As his shadow technique formed, his body moved in tandem, albeit not as fast as Maki, but fast enough to reach superhuman levels.
He wore the same smirk Maki had earlier, as if to say, I was expecting that.
As Maki's blade clashed with Megumi's technique, he exhaled sharply and shouted, "Divine Dogs!"
A black wolf, half as tall as a human, leaped from Megumi's shadow, its claws sharp like blades, aiming straight for Maki's abdomen.
Maki swiftly countered, blocking the black dog's claws with her spear.
But from the shadows behind her, another white wolf leaped out, aiming for her back.
Maki snorted in disdain, remaining calm. She swung her spear in a wide arc, spinning it like a massive wheel, forcing both wolves and their summoner, Megumi, to retreat.
"So, this is the famed 'Ten Shadows Technique,' huh? Using shadows as a medium to summon ten different shikigami. You're currently using the first shikigami, Divine Dogs, right?"
"That's correct," Megumi replied with a nod.
"Show me the remaining nine shikigami as well. You've already revealed your cursed technique; you might as well go all out."
Maki repositioned herself, gesturing for Megumi to come at her again.
In jujutsu, revealing your technique wasn't always a requirement, but with a technique as well-known as the Zen'in Clan's signature move, the Ten Shadows Technique, the information was practically public knowledge, saving Megumi the trouble.
The black and white Divine Dogs circled around her, then dissolved back into the shadows in an instant.
Megumi shifted his hand signs, forming a new shape like a membrane.
"Toad!"
Four large green toads emerged from the shadows where the dogs had disappeared, surrounding Maki from all sides.
Each toad was less powerful in combat compared to the Divine Dogs, but they were smaller and lower to the ground, making it difficult for Maki's spear to hit them all at once.
Just as she crouched to counter with a low sweep, one of the toads in her blind spot opened its mouth, shooting out a long tongue that wrapped around Maki's ankle.
Though the toad couldn't fully unbalance her, it did manage to slow her movements.
In that brief moment, the other three toads also shot out their tongues, binding Maki's limbs like four ropes, holding her firmly in place.
Now, Megumi had the upper hand. Crossing his hands again, with his thumbs locked together in a flying bird gesture, he summoned another shikigami.
"Nue!"
A massive birdlike creature with a tiger-like face and crimson fur descended from the sky, its wings crackling with blue and white electricity.
Each shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique had its own unique abilities, blending physical and elemental attacks, making it one of the Zen'in Clan's most versatile and powerful techniques.
With the toads holding her down from the ground and Nue diving from the sky, Maki wasn't fazed at all. Instead, her grin widened even more, becoming almost feral.
"Good! Now you're worth defeating!"
Maki used her raw strength to tear through two of the toads' tongues in an instant. Then, with a swift motion, she bent low and kicked off the ground, snapping the other two bindings with sheer force, giving herself a moment of breathing room.
She lifted her spear high and faced the incoming Nue head-on.
The clash of electricity and steel sent sparks flying, and while Nue was forced to pull back, Maki's body stiffened, her teeth gritting from the shock.
"Damn, I'll need to reinforce my weapon with insulation after this," she muttered.
Her new spear had a metal shaft, making it stronger, but it was a poor conductor of electricity, leaving her muscles slightly numb.
Megumi, on the other hand, remained unharmed and calmly prepared another hand sign.
The toads retreated, and a new shikigami took their place.
"Great Serpent!"
A massive white-scaled snake, over ten meters long with a diameter of about one meter, slithered around Maki, slowly encircling her, cutting off her escape routes.
The serpent's tough scales were much harder to break than the toads' tongues. If it trapped Maki in a corner, victory would be Megumi's.
But Maki didn't blindly swing her spear this time. She had dealt with large monsters before. Using her spear as a pole, she leaped onto the serpent's body, deftly moving along its length toward its head.
Seeing this, Megumi smiled coldly and clapped his hands together.
In an instant, the serpent dissolved into nothingness.
No matter how large they appeared, the shikigami were essentially shadows infused with cursed energy. Without a steady flow of energy, they were nothing but air.
Maki, now five meters off the ground, suddenly had nothing to stand on. The result was predictable.
"Finish her, Nue!"
The crimson bird-shikigami dived like an airborne predator, charged with electricity.
With no way to dodge, Maki made no attempt to avoid the attack. She raised her spear, prepared to meet Nue's charge head-on.
The impact sent her crashing into the ground, sparks flying as she skidded across the rooftop, only stopping when she collided with the safety railing.
"Hey, does this count as my win?" Megumi asked Akira, still frowning.
Akira, arms crossed, didn't even glance at Nue, simply replying, "Not yet. Hey, Maki."
The Ten Shadows Technique was indeed powerful, but that didn't mean Megumi himself was already strong. If Akira had been fighting, he could have beaten Megumi even faster than Maki.
With a flash of steel, a short blade sliced through one of Nue's wings, and a disheveled Maki stood up, blood seeping from her cuts but with a fiercer aura than before.
"Don't get cocky so soon, Fushiguro," Maki snarled.
"Doesn't matter. How long can your injured body hold out?" Megumi retorted, spreading his hands as Nue faded back into the shadows.
"I can fight all night if I have to. Physical toughness is my only real advantage." Maki picked up her spear with one hand and her short sword with the other, effortlessly falling into her stance again.
Her movements were smooth and fluid, but something about them unsettled Megumi the more he watched.
"Stop staring. I don't have cursed energy. That's the price for having a body like this," Maki said bluntly.
"Heavenly Restriction."
A look of realization flashed in Megumi's eyes.
Heavenly Restriction was a jujutsu technique in which someone sacrificed one aspect of their life to gain a tremendous advantage in another, operating on the principle of equivalent exchange.
Revealing your cursed technique or using a barrier were examples of simple Restrictions.
Heavenly Restriction, however, was something you were born with, like a natural trait.
As a direct member of the Zen'in Clan, even if Maki hadn't inherited any cursed techniques, she shouldn't be unable to see cursed spirits. But her Heavenly Restriction had taken all the cursed energy that should've been hers and put it entirely into her physical body, turning her into a superhuman. Even Olympic champions were weaklings compared to her.
Maki used to complain about her condition.
What good was physical strength? In the Zen'in Clan, without cursed energy, she was seen as inferior.
But she quickly realized complaining was pointless. Instead, she focused on how to use her advantages to change the outdated beliefs of her clan.
"The injuries I've taken are far lighter than you think, and my stamina is even better. How about you? How much longer can you sustain summoning all these shikigami?"
At this, Megumi's scowl deepened further.