Demon Sword
A Yuyu Hakusho/Rurouni Kenshin Crossover Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda
Original Concept by Chad Yang
Things come to a head at the Aokigahara suicide pact of the Chikyusei.
Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and Studio Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallup, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.
Chapter 36: Red Rose in the Darkness (Part 4)
Right at the meeting place of the Chikyusei suicide pact in Aokigahara...
"It's happening! It's finally happening!" celebrated a cackling Karasu as he saw Kazuma Kuwabara get taken down (finally) by a golden lightning bolt shaped like an arrow from behind him, frying him to a crisp and electrocuting him to unconsciousness at the same time.
"SUZARKUURK!" warbled Kuwabara incoherently as he fell down in a boneless heap, twitching every which way as sparks and bolts of electricity traveled across his body.
The lanky, orange-haired ape would not get in the corvus's way of becoming Class-S. All Karasu needed to do now was blow up and kill each and every one of these poor unfortunate souls before him.
The demon had to hand it to Feng Xinhai, the mastermind behind the whole scheme: He was able to do something that only the likes of the crow was capable of, which was to stay one step ahead of Kurama.
'Never mind, that. Soon enough, I'll be the one who'll end up more than a match against Kurama. Then I'll show that human copycat killer Xinhai the difference between an S-Level demon and an S-Level human."
The Chinese Triad's Mountain Master nodded in acknowledgement of the Mad Bomber with open arms, the amputated part of his upper limbs covered in bloodied bandages and a sling.
"Go ahead, Karasu. This is your time in the limelight. They're awaiting your deliverance."
Karasu couldn't hold out for much longer. He was actually bluffing when he said to Yahiko Myojin and his "tag team partner", Natsuki Shinkai (Xinhai's daughter), that he could still control himself in his blond, pale-skinned mode while using only a portion of his power. When he was about to do a "Full Body Explosion", all bets were off.
Besides which, the pressure inside him had already begun to build up, the negative energy imparted to him by the Chojin care of Houji "Onmyouji" Sadojima (and his own not-so-insignificant Class-A demonic powers) leaking from his very pores. The thermodynamically favorable process had been initiated within him, and it was propagating so rapidly that he had barely enough self-control to contain himself.
A huge exothermic change in the form of released heat and the equally gigantic positive entropy change involving an incredible amount of gas discharge was about to take place thanks to the resulting reaction between the youki, jaki, and the highly combustible particles of pure, concentrated oxygen that was coursing all throughout Karasu's highly ignitable body. In short, he was about to blow thanks to the spiritual energy stored in chemical and ethereal bonds.
However, a portal opened from below the climaxing Karasu before blasting himself, the suicidal members of the Chikyusei cult, Xinhai (who should be able to survive the blast anyway), and the curly haired teen that looked about twenty to thirty years older than he really was.
The raven demon's mouth opened to form a silent scream as he saw two Kazuma Kuwabaras... one conscious and wielding the Jigen Tou while wearing the ceremonial robes required for the suicide pact, and the other unconscious and still smelling slightly of bacon and ozone... fade away altogether in a blur of misty white and deep blue.
'Two of them? Why are there two Kuwabaras? What's happening? What's going on...?' The next thing Karasu knew, he was already plummeting from the stratosphere, miles above Aokigahara... perhaps even the entirety of Japan. He fell from the sky, looking at the islands of the Land of the Rising Sun as though he were staring at a map of the damn country.
He could see Mount Fuji from where he was falling.
His subsequent explosion looked no more spectacular than a blast from a much nearer fireworks display; from that distance, many miles away from the earth's surface, he floated in a place that was usually reserved for weather balloons.
As the second Kuwabara rested his hand over his eyes to act as a visor of sorts, it looked like the promised explosion that was supposed to wipe out an entire group of suicidal Chikyusei members turned out to be nothing more than a dud.
Karasu went out with a whimper instead of a bang. From there, everything went to hell. A different explosion occurred.
"What's going on here?" demanded Xinhai as he unsheathed what appeared to be a long cane but was actually a nodachi without a sword hilt and attacked the conscious Kuwabara.
Meanwhile, the listless horde of the would-be suicide pact began to stir, as though waking up from their daze. Were they drugged? Were they themselves hypnotized by this charismatic madman with a long sword? Or perhaps they'd ended up drunk by their own depression? The second Kuwabara couldn't tell.
Many things happened at once. Just as soon as Feng attacked, a second bolt of lightning traveled, appropriately enough, at the speed of light towards the other Kazuma (to be specific, it traveled at about 92,000 miles or 148,000 kilometers per second).
The surrounding Chikyusei members began screaming for their lives (unironically), turning into a frenzy of feet and flailing arms, unaware of where to go, the threat of them forming into a stampede imminent.
Just as Kurama predicted, the Shin Juppon Gatana had several other "backups" as well aside from Itsuki when it came to dealing with Kuwabara. First, there was Rando and his copied Jigen Tou (whom even Kazuma forgot about), and next was the person who sniped the original wielder of the Dimension Sword in the first place.
It was around that time that the Kuwabara clone slashed at the electrical projectile in an arc, the transdimensional cut dissipating the electricity into nothingness. Because the slash could cut through long distances, it managed to reach the spear-shaped bolt even though it was traveling faster than any human could ever hope to be.
However, "Kuwabara's" skills and one-of-a-kind dimension-slicing talent weren't enough to allow him to cut an arrow-shaped electrical discharge traveling at 92,000 miles per second that knocked the other Kuwabara before him out.
Ergo, even though it was the Jigen Tou that unmistakably turned the electrostatic thunderbolt into harmless heat, light, and ozone, it wasn't "Kuwabara" who wielded it. It was instead "Kenshin Himura", the possessor and spirit guardian of the Demon Sword. To be more specific, "Kuwabara" somehow morphed himself into "Kenshin".
Xinhai himself was supernaturally quick in the sense that he was able to compete with the unthinkable speed of the hurled lightning bolt from out of the blue while wielding his unwieldy, elongated katana with his remaining hand. "BATTOUSAI! YOU'RE MINE!"
A weighty clash of steel and sparks later, Feng found himself at an impasse as well care of the sudden fluid appearance of the Oniwabanshu reincarnate, Detective-Investigator Daiji Matsudaira, his twin short swords crossing blades with the longsword.
To the mirth of Kenshin, the policeman was wearing the same trench coat he used to wear back in Meiji-Era Japan.
'Now where the heck did Shinomori Aoshi have the time to buy that?' the Demon Sword Guardian wondered.
Even after the Triad Mountain Master did a complete "Kanji Killer" kata of the Hei kanji (which was comprised of the kanji characters for one, eight, and ten), the dual-wielding detective was able to block all three calligraphic movements with ease.
"Detective," hissed Xinhai.
"We meet again, One-Eight-Ten Killer. How's your arm?" the blue-eyed, tapered-chin reincarnation of the Last Okashira of the Oniwabanshu... Aoshi Shinomori... deadpanned through a grit-teethed monotone. He and the police car he "borrowed" from Detective-Specialist Aiko Tsunemori had made it outside the forest at the foot of Mount Fuji just in time.
"I know you're up there. The jig is up," declared "Kenshin" before he altogether shapeshifted again into the broom-haired visage of Mitsunari Yanagisawa... one of several Mushiyori City citizens whose special powers had been awakened thanks to Sensui's opening of the Reikai barrier to the Demon World.
Mitsunari had the power of Copy, which enabled him to duplicate all the memories and looks of whomsoever he touched. However, like Kurama predicted, neither Xinhai Feng nor Karasu were aware of who Yanagisawa was or what his powers were. The only one who could identify him from the Chojin's faction, Itsuki, was too busy battling Sanosuke Sagara at the moment.
"You're the one sniping people with thunderbolts, aren't you? You even knocked poor Kuwabara out, you son of a bitch!" Mitsunari called out. It was circumstances such as this that compelled Kurama to call for the assistance of the trio from Mushiyori City as backup against the formidable forces of the Shin Juppon Gatana.
"I have no idea who you are or what's going on, but you've impressed me, human. You're quite powerful to be able to copy the skills of both the infamous Battousai and one of Urameshi Yusuke's friends," declared the antenna-haired Suzaku as he emerged from the highest tree within the clearing.
The blond-with-red-highlights youkai and Leader of the Saint Beasts then eyed the sword that the literal copycat wielded.
"Oh, I see what's going on now. You were able to gain your special powers because you're wielding the Youtou Shinnoken, aren't you?" probed Suzaku, only for him to hear someone rebut, "You're half-right. Yana already has Copy Powers even before he got a hold of Himura Kenshin's magical blade."
From out of the darkest parts of the Sea of Trees... with the anemic-looking Asato Kido walking beside him... strolled the leader of the Spirit World Task Force assigned to keep Karasu from reaching Class-S by finishing off Xinhai's suicidal Chikyusei clientele.
"It was the Demon Sword that allowed him to copy special powers on top of the appearance and memory of any person he touched," explained the half-youko.
"What a needlessly complex gambit. I don't know whether to applaud you or to scoff at you," admitted Suzaku. "You're the one who killed Genbu, right? I vastly underestimated you. You were injured before you managed to figure out Genbu's weakness. Any of the three Shisejyu could've killed him without effort back then."
"I don't want to hear that from someone who used Yusuke's own girlfriend in order to distract him during battle," rebuked Kurama. "You're no better when it comes to schemes." The redhead was also aware that it was the Shisejyu leader who "rescued" Jine Udo by shooting the Ankoku-Raiko-Ha during Kurama's first fight with the original Kanji Killer.
Suzaku chuckled. "I'm not berating you because you were devious. I'm berating you because of how overcomplicated your plans are. You're just like Xinhai in that regard. Kidnapping a girl that proved to be Urameshi Yusuke's weakness was the smart and simple thing to do. I like to keep things simple."
Meanwhile, Feng himself chortled in reaction to hearing his name, finding mirth from Suzaku's insult.
"And what could you possibly gain out of assisting Xinhai's plans?" demanded Kurama while Kido hid underneath his collar like he didn't even want to be there in Aokigahara. This was understandable, in light of the fact that he didn't really know anyone there save for Yanagisawa, Kurama, and the real Kuwabara, who was twitching from one of Suzaku's electric arrows.
"The answer to that is also simple. The Demon Sword. I want it. Unlike those two Kanji Killer idiots, Xinhai and Jine, I actually intend to claim possession of the Youtou Shinnoken in order to increase my power a hundredfold. I have no interest in battling Himura Kenshin in a death match, Battousai or otherwise."
This time around, Xinhai scowled and did a behind-the-back slash at the reincarnated-ninja-turned-detective to keep him at bay. "You? Take possession of the Demon Sword that's guarded by the Youkiri Battousai? Don't make me laugh, small fry. You're not strong enough to handle the job."
Daiji responded by using the Ryusui no Ugoki and getting behind the mountain of muscle, his blades aimed at the man's immense back that sported the one-eight-ten scars that Jine gave to him, the twin kodachi ready to tear the Triad Dragon Head apart.
"Don't move," recommended Daiji. "If you move, you'll die."
"Oh, please. If you wanted to kill me, you would've done so back at the Hisashi Building," informed the Chinese man with a roll of his eyes. "You're incapable of killing me the way you are now."
"And you have a stump where your arm was. Things have changed, Xinhai," rebutted Matsudaira.
"That's the last thing I want to hear from a mere human," spat Suzaku at Xinhai's claim as tendrils of gilded light and crackles of electricity surrounded him like a full-body aura complete with a halo over his antenna-sporting head.
"You morons are suffering from tunnel vision, unable to see the bigger picture. You've let the golden opportunity of wielding one of the most powerful Reikai artifacts of all time pass you by in order to get a shot at taking down some filthy human who killed a lot of other humans like himself."
"And you're too simpleminded to think about anything else other than increasing your own power through cheap and unscrupulous means. You're no better than Kenshin's former enemies, the Hiruma Brothers. You're a weak, opportunistic demon seeking a shortcut to immense strength," Kurama said.
Although the redhead wasn't around during the fight against Rando, three of the Shisejyu, and the Hiruma Brothers at Genkai's Temple, his reaction to Kenshin's sword when he first wielded it allowed him total access to his memories, which was almost akin to Mitsunari's copy powers.
Speaking of Yanagisawa, he stood there, laidback as ever, one hand in his pocket while the other held the sheathed Demon Sword. "How are we going to do this, Kurama?" was the spiritually powered chameleon's way of asking, "What next?
"We're going to do this according to my rules," declared Suzaku as from all corners of the clearing came hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of shafts of light. His message was clear. Since Karasu exploded many miles away from them, the leader of the Shisejyu would be the one to claim the fruits of the Chikyusei's labor and kill the lambs that was meant for the crow demon.
"YANA! Suzaku has the ability to split himself into seven personas! The ones firing those arrows are his own clones! There are six more of him at the top of the trees!" shouted Kurama at the Mushiyori City Shapeshifter.
Yanagisawa barely had time to react. In a split second, he transformed to Kuwabara in order to access the Jigen Tou, its spiritual energy wrapped around the Demon Sword and its scabbard, then he morphed into Kenshin in order to allow him to create four separate portals that served as an umbrella to the rain of Roku-Goku-Ankoku-Raiko-Ha or the Six Hell Dark Lightning Wave.
Lastly, the Kenshin doppelganger created a fifth portal right above Suzaku, such that the multitude of demonic energy arrows was now dropping straight towards him.
Back in Itsuki's pocket dimension...
"SANJO NO KIWAMI!" screamed Sanosuke as he pounded through the brick wall that Itsuki used as a shield and crushed the head of the Gatekeeper like a walnut, his brains spraying all over the zero-gravity dimension in little giblets.
At the same time, he sheared the wing of an airplane in half, followed by a portion of the Hishashi Building that the dimensional demon tore apart during an last encounter at Nishi-Shinjuku.
It was Sano's policy to fight without necessarily intending to finish off the opponent, although deaths were something that he accepted as a natural consequence of fighting. However, he had his back against the wall this time around and was forced to fight with killing intent because of the bizarre nature of Itsuki's powers.
A portal opened, and out came a completely healthy Itsuki. As the first portal started to close, another portal opened in order to "clean up" the mess that Sano made out of the "original" Itsuki.
The problem here, of course, was that there was no "original", and Zanza had been taking down an army of Itsukis one after another, like an endless nightmare.
"Is that all you got?" Sanosuke bluffed as yet another asteroid belt of waste and debris from the Human World bombarded him. The Gatekeeper might as well have in his possession the biggest landfill in the world that was even bigger than the Japanese artificial island known as Yume no Shima or Dream Island.
"No. That's not all I've got," confessed Itsuki as hundreds of his clones peered through window-sized portals that popped up from behind him like a gallery of Itsukis. "It's only a matter of time before you tire out. How much longer will you last, Himura Kenshin's trusted comrade?"
Sanosuke answered with another swing of his horse-cutting, pole-armed sword that produced an aerial version of the Futae no Kiwami, which was based on the Tou Ate or the ground-based, weapon-based version of the Dual Extreme that Yukyuzan Anji used against the resurrected street fighter once upon a time.
Right at the meeting place of the Chikyusei suicide pact in Aokigahara...
Instead of getting torn or blasted apart by wave upon wave of lightning bolts at speeds beyond the comprehension of any normal human (that only special instruments could measure), each discharge containing a billion volts and 10,000 to 200,000 amperes of current.
The only thing the deflected attack did was supercharge the Crimson Sparrow of the Saint Beasts, serving as fuel to an open flame. Nevertheless, it kept the (ironically) panicking suicide cult of the Chikyusei safe from harm.
"Ah. Looks like you've made a mistake... Yanagisawa, was it?" said Suzaku, his lips curved upwards while rivulets of crackling energy traveled through his hair antennas.
"All you did was make me stronger. Your powers nevertheless fascinate me. Kurama was wise to recruit you. He was even wiser to use the Demon Sword to magnify your powers. I have to wonder where Battousai ends and where you begin when it comes to your talents."
Suzaku pumped his fist forward, which prompted both the Kuwabara-looking Yanagisawa and Daiji to react. Meanwhile, Kurama and Kido themselves remained in the backdrop as of the moment, which made the Shisejyu Leader wonder what else could the two possibly have underneath their sleeves.
As usual for Daiji, it was Xinhai who blocked his way, and the detective had to marvel at how sharp and accurate the gigantic brute was with his stolen Nikaido Heiho techniques this time around.
When Matsudaira changed tactics and switched one of his kodachi for a gun, the giant reacted in kind, his stump for a right arm forming a fist made out of the dark flame of his own fiery shikigami.
"You've improved by leaps and bounds. Impress me some more," Feng dared Daiji as he picked up the ante of their sword fight, never switching to any other sword style other than Jine's.
Meanwhile, as Mitsunari attempted to create another portal to keep Suzaku's lightning fist attack from harming the fuel-enriching would-be karmic deaths of the gathered Chikyusei cult, the latter made a clicking sound with the roof of his mouth and his tongue.
"Tsk, tsk. Before anything else, let's get rid of that dangerous weapon!"
Thusly, using his other hand, Suzaku began to draw the energy from Yanagisawa's Jigen Tou unto himself, converting the spirit energy from the blade into pure electricity and charging himself with it. "Now let's see you try and to stop my attack using a mere sword. ANKOKU-RAIJIN-KEN!"
As Suzaku expected, Yanagisawa was at a panic, unable to figure out how to deal with the electrical discharge coming his way. What a pity; the kid had tremendous potential with his copying powers. However, in a split second, the human morphed into the Guardian of the Demon Sword and did something he never expected.
"AMAKAKERU RYU NO HIRAMEKI!"
The most powerful battoujutsu strike in all of creation split the air and created a localized vacuum that sucked up and neutralized the billions of volts of electricity and the 10,000 to 200,000 amperes of current into harmless heat, light, and ozone. Even light couldn't escape a miniature black hole, after all.
In reaction to the bone-chilling technique, the Aoshi inside Daiji shivered and gripped his chest in remembrance of the century-old duel the Battousai and the Okashira had, which almost distracted him long enough to get the top of his head sliced open care of the One-Eight-Ten Killer's horizontal slash.
It was through this dense void that the reawakened Battousai executed the second part of the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki, only this time he extended his reach by combining his Dragon Wrap Flash Spiral with the follow-up move of the Heaven Gliding Dragon Slash together, his momentum assisting his windup.
"You know, back when the Shisejyu were fighting the Reikai Tantei, I always wanted to do this to that Hiei fellow who killed Seiryu. No matter, I now have an even better test subject in my midst."
Kenshin's (or rather, Yanagisawa's) jaw dropped as his sword stopped mere inches from Suzaku's neck. The Crimson Sparrow's smile widened as his shoulders and chest swelled with mirth.
"This is the reason why, even though I'm only Class-A, I fear no swordsman with a steel sword, even an S-Level one like Xinhai or yourself, Battousai. Nice to meet you. I'm Suzaku. Remember my name."
From there, Suzaku used his control over the magnetic currents... something he had limited power over when he was still a mere Class-C demon killed by Yusuke's Shot Gun and Rei-Kou-Dan techniques... to hurl Kenshin across the clearing by giving the Youtou Shinnoken a positive charge and giving himself a negative charge, thus keeping a magnetic barrier between himself and the swordsman's blade.
Kurama summoned a Rose Whip and instructed Daiji, "That was just a distraction! He still wants to steal away Karasu's victims and turn himself into a Class-S demon by becoming their murderer! There are still six Suzakus up there!"
"B-But Kurama! What am I supposed to do?" asked Asato as the redhead left him high and dry.
Wordlessly, as Yanagisawa-Kenshin stood up on wobbly feet while using his sword as a crutch, the reincarnated Aoshi rushed forth, tapped Yana on the shoulder, and "tagged" himself into the fray, moving in to attack the glowing (and seemingly swordsman-proof) Suzaku.
Following suit, Mitsunari turned into Daiji as well (memories and all), the Youtou Shinnoken separating into twin kodachi as he served as Matsudaira's "shadow clone" replacement against the imposing Xinhai.
Daiji attacked with a Onmyou Hasshi that backfired immediately, with both kodachi ending up going straight back towards him thanks to Suzaku's control over magnetism and metal. "Didn't you hear what I said, Detective? No swordsman is a match against me, even shinobi like yourself."
Using his water-flow movement, Matsudaira avoided getting run through by his own blades, caught the both of them, then turned one of the blades into a gun that he fired off at the Crimson Sparrow. That was also a bad idea, and this time around, even his Ryusui no Ugoki wasn't enough to keep him from dodging all the deflected bullets.
All the same, he weaved through the hail of lead and managed to bring the tips of his blades (the gun returned to its original kodachi form) and have them land almost a hairbreadth away from Suzaku's jugular and eye respectively. However, if Suzaku had the power to halt speeding bullets, then he had more than enough power to keep a trench-coated man with metal blades from stabbing him.
Daiji had enough common sense to let go of his kodachi and simply kick Suzaku's teeth in, which was an attack that managed to land. All the same, the copper had to grab hold of his same blades again to keep them from stabbing him to death, the electromagnetic steel controlled by Suzaku's mind.
Then, while he was distracted, that was when the Shisejyu Leader blasted the policeman with a Storm of Torment Fist that sent him into convulsions.
Meanwhile, the Daiji doppelganger held his own against the One-Eight-Ten Killer, but he was too busy to actually be of help to the original Matsudaira.
"Why don't you turn into the Battousai and give me a worthwhile fight?" Feng dared Yanagisawa, but the broom-haired shapeshifter knew enough about Kurama and his tactical abilities to strictly stick to the original game plan.
"What did I tell you, Detective? No swordsman in this world is a match against me," mocked Suzaku as he fired off blast after electrical blast of the Ankoku-Raijin-Ken at the copper.
A second wave of thunderbolt arrows began falling on the hapless Chikyusei members, their proposed (and belated) suicide pact now finally complete.
Even Kurama couldn't cut down the trees housing the other clones of Suzaku fast enough to save all of the electrocuted and fried-to-a-crisp members of Xinhai's cult. What Karasu failed to do thanks to the desperate efforts of the Reikai Tantei and the Kenshingumi, Suzaku was able to fulfill, by hook and by crook.
One by one, like birds falling off their nests, came the rest of the Seven Suzaku. He was the seven, and the seven was he.
From what Kurama remembered, Yusuke had to use up his life energy in order to kill off Suzaku, because if only one of his clones were to survive, he'd be resurrected.
It was certainly frustrating that, after everything was said and done, they had an enemy that kept coming back to life, as though nothing happened. As though their attempts to kill him were for naught.
'What kind of power does the Chojin and his jaki possess, anyway?' wondered the half-youko.
As soon as the hypersonic-to-lightspeed blasts came hitting the Chikyusei members, Kurama, Yanagisawa, and Kido took out something from their pockets and put it on their ears.
"Yes! YES! YES! Finally! I'm going to be an S-Level! I'm again at the same league as that bastard, Urameshi Yusuke! If he's going to have some sort of bullshit power up, then so will I! Fair's fair!" hooted and hollered the Crimson Sparrow as he awaited the prize he stole away from Karasu. If he was a problem to deal with at Class-A, what more at Class-S?
Back at the rooftop of the Kawaguchiko Station...
Much to Rando's irritation, Feng Xinhai wasn't the only Xinhai to totally humiliate him with his immense power; there was also Natsuki "Shinkai" Xinhai, who had him trapped in the endless spiral of her fencing technique's Tactical Wheel.
Even when fighting her standalone, she was a handful to deal with. Every time he attacked her with anything close-range, like one of the Byakko's Claw grappling techniques, she found a way to use her variety of parries to stuff down his attacks. When he added feints to his attack or did a combination of attacks, she could read his movements and do a counterattack instead.
Finally, when he began anticipating the counterattacks to counter them with his own attacks... the Gaki Dorota Bu, in particular, had him get swallowed by a gaki and spit out at certain blind spots... she'd be a step ahead still, turning her counterattack into a feint and countering his counter attempt.
The mind games by themselves left Rando exhausted, but the fact of the matter was that every time he was countered, he got double the impact because Yahiko was also there to play offense. The Myojin kid entered in and out within the youkai's striking range unimpeded because Xinhai's daughter kept blocking his assaults and creating openings for the samurai to exploit.
He attempted to give himself some breathing room by going the long-range route. Nevertheless, every time he attempted to blast an assortment of projectiles at them... from the You Gan to the Hadou Ken, the Reppu Ken to the Kikou Ken... the pair was able to dodge all of them, while in Natsuki's case, she actually had the ability to deflect them back at the pasty-skinned demon.
He couldn't even use the Blood Fire Wave at the pair unless Natsuki's deflection happened to hit him directly, in which case the Inner Blood Turmoil would automatically turn the demon energy to blood energy, which would allow him to blast a shot or two that they also dodged.
Rando was careful not to use anything more powerful than a Psycho Shot in light of the fact that the girl had the Mugen Dai no Hyogo in her arsenal, which meant she could deflect full-force and with interest any energy-based blast he could produce.
Rando shifted from one type of energy to another using his special energy-transforming technique, the Ibuki, then attempted to do something different, like the World of Suffering (which made opponents become emphatic to the pain of nearby people) or the Shoryu Ken (a type of rising uppercut).
All the same, he couldn't cut the distance between his fist's striking range and the sword's striking range because of Yahiko's constant use of the Dou Gami and Dou Ryu Sen. It was also because of Natsuki's parries and ripostes, counterattacks, and feints into time.
Her Shield to Yahiko Myojin's Sword was so impenetrable that there wasn't a scratch on the samurai or herself, no matter what sort of special technique or projectile that Rando produced.
The fight they were having was just like the fight Rando had against Yahiko and Sanosuke when he first met them, after they were recently resurrected by the Spirit World. However, this time around, instead of Myojin acting as a shield to Sanosuke's constant aggression, it was the samurai boy who was the aggressor and Natsuki serving as his defense.
It was around after the hundredth strike wherein the concussive force of yet another Dou Gami plus Tsui Gami combo (that Rando had no defense against) that the demon realized he was about to lose. Badly.
Strike after strike, Rando was beaten up to a pulp, the only thing keeping him standing was his Iron Body Technique that buffered physical attacks unless they contained spiritual energy in them.
Come to think of it, the strikes were probably powered by kenki or sword energy anyway, so the protection was moot. He was fast losing consciousness. The Yahiko-Natsuki pair was faring even better than the Yahiko-Sanosuke pair against him, mostly because Yahiko, who had experience in fighting him, had been advising Natsuki all this time.
Rando's knees buckled as Natsuki shifted personalities with her past self, Yutaro Tsukayama, which resulted in "him" and Yahiko alternating Tsui Gami and Kousa Dageki shots to his skull that rattled his brain. Even though demonic anatomy and human anatomy differed in some respects, a concussion was a concussion, Iron Body Technique or no Iron Body Technique.
'I don't want to lose. I don't want all my hard work up until this point to be wasted just because both Urameshi Yusuke and Xinhai Feng cheated their way to becoming S-Level. I will not be defeated by these brats!'
In desperation, Rando tried yet another gambit by firing off every last projectile in his arsenal into an amalgamation of different energies to the point that they shone like Sensui's Sei Kou Ki. It was the same tactic he used against a full-power Yusuke in their battle at Genkai's temple.
"MUGEN DAI NO HYOGO!" came Natsuki's counterstrike deflection, but Rando was actually expecting that. He received the brunt of the blast full-on with the Inner Blood Turmoil, turning it all into chiki (blood energy) even as the swirling chaos of power churned his insides into butter and made him cough blood... which ironically powered up his Vampire Martial Arts Technique some more.
From there, instead of doing an energy-sucking Blood Wind that offered double-edged damage to himself and his opponent, Rando opted to use his crimson energy to produce, "BLOODY RAIN!"
Razor-sharp scalpels in the form of a raging red rainstorm descending from ominous nimbus clouds of crimson pelted Rando's two opponents. As expected, Natsuki blocked the incoming projectiles from the heavens like an iron umbrella.
Meanwhile, Myojin himself did a Ten Gami that sent him airborne, high above the barrage of stabbing death and the clouds that created them, his body doing a full tumble in order to give his subsequent "RYU TSUI SEN!" extra impact.
"I was expecting that! GRAVITON THUNDER!" countered Rando with his anti-air technique, seeing that the flying Tokyo Samurai had no defense against it now that his "shield" was preoccupied.
But even before the electrical discharge overflowing with millions and millions of volts that would've made even Suzaku proud could go into contact with Yahiko, Natsuki used her Passata Roto crouch and breezy footwork (while getting bloodied in the process) to get past the rain of scalpels, then did a Beat Parry Riposte combo that made Rando see stars.
It was over. The double team of Natsuki and Yahiko (arguably a triple team, since Yutaro was also there to assist) had overwhelmed Rando. However, the kabuki youkai's persistent frustration and willingness to win spurred him onwards even as Yahiko's Ryu Tsui Sen nearly split his cranium in half.
"BLOOD WIND!"
Right at the meeting place of the Chikyusei suicide pact in Aokigahara...
Suzaku winced as the members of the Chikyusei squealed like pigs while the sparks and explosions from his electric arrows were just about to start a fire of sorts. The cacophonous sounds were annoying, but they were also music to his ears.
Kido himself had gone into a fetal position and covered his ears while the other Daiji (actually Yanagisawa) was herded deep into the woods by a disturbed Xinhai, away from the almost inhuman screeches.
Suzaku and the rest of his six clones looked around in confusion. Where was the sudden infusion of energy following the murder of multiple people wishing to commit suicide in what happened to be Japan's most popular suicide destination?
Sure, the karmic energies within the forest was already giving him an energy boost of sorts, but it wasn't potent enough to get him past the hurdle between Class-A and Class-S power.
The Crimson Sparrow looked in askance at Xinhai, who was busy "playing tag" with "Detective Matsudaira" at the moment, their figures ant-like from their sheer distance. Feng could offer him no answers even if he tried.
Was the jaki of utter despair and horror reserved for Karasu alone? Was Suzaku required to blast the victims all at the same time with a bomb-like explosion? Why wasn't he feeling any different? Where was his S-Level reward?
"It seems that your simpleminded scheme didn't work out according to plan, Suzaku," commented Kurama, which the Shisejyu leader managed to hear despite the high-pitched howls of the dying Chikyusei members. "The best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray. Apparently, this also applies to the plans of demons."
"Silence, you redheaded stepchild and half-human bastard!" came Suzaku's (rather accurate) rebuke.
He wanted to do the Six Hell Dark Lightning Wave on the smug half-youko... perhaps even a Seven Hell Dark Lightning Wave or Shichi-Goku-Ankoku-Raiko-Ha since he himself would be doing it along with his six doppelgangers... but he had a splitting headache at the moment, and the ground seemed like the deck of a boat.
He soon saw that that his six other selves were suffering from this phantom tremor that didn't affect Kurama and the others in the least.
After the screams from the dying Earth Club people stopped, Kurama removed something from his ears... these turned out to be organic earplugs made from hawthorn that were bound together with a vine. Kido himself took off his own organic sound blocker. Meanwhile, the fake Daiji (Yanagisawa) was too far away to need plant earplugs.
"What's going on? Why are you wearing earplugs?" mumbled Suzaku as he and the rest of himself... or rather, themselves... stumbled around like drunks.
"Do you know what the mandrake plant is, Suzaku?" asked Kurama while the real Matsudaira remained out of commission at his feet, not unlike the real Kuwabara after he was also struck with an energy bolt. The only people who were conscious that were allies of Reikai, it would seem, was Asato Kido, Mitsunari Yanagisawa, and Shuichi "Kurama" Minamino.
"Mandrakes, also known as mandragoras, are poisonous plants belonging to the nightshade family. Their roots were such that they resembled human beings, while they themselves contained quite a lot of hallucinogenic tropane alkaloids that helped them appear human-like. Legend has it that their shrieks could kill humans. Naturally, these aren't enough to murder demons, but their screams of pain were still quite effective in ruining your eardrums and giving you vertigo."
Xinhai smiled and blasted fire from his reconstituted shikigami hand that finally kept the buzzing fly of the Matsudaira double away from him. He'd overhead Kurama's conversation with the Seven Suzakus.
"Oh, I get it now! Well-played! To defeat people who could make duplicates of themselves and create dimensional portals, you fought fire with fire. When did you switch the Chikyusei members with your mandragora duplicates?"
Kurama let out a long-withheld exhale. "As soon as Kuwabara-kun was struck down by Suzaku and all the Chikyusei members were in a panic, I began replacing people with the mandrake clones. I used the roots from the interconnected trees of Aokigahara itself to transfer your would-be victims right out of here into the entrance of the forest, where all of Detective Matsudaira's fellow cops are waiting for them. They should help blow the Kanji Killer case wide open now."
"Absolutely amazing," Xinhai applauded with open admiration, not at all minding the presumably first-to-second-degree burns his hand-shaped fires was doing to his healthy hand, his sword stuck to the ground.
"You bastard...!" Suzaku lashed out with another one of his Storm of Torment Fists, but he soon found himself sailing across the clearing while seeing his headless body collapse like a puppet whose strings have been cut. "Wha...?"
"That was for the cheap shot earlier, you electric eel asshole," said the reawakened Kuwabara after finally regaining his senses, the squeals from the dying mandrake clones rousing him up from his deep slumber, his head pounding after he suffered through the rough equivalent of urinating near a livewire.
Meanwhile, the remaining six of Suzaku's Seven fired off Lightning Storm of Torment projectiles at every direction, which prompted Kurama to grab hold of the slowly recovering and still out-of-sorts Detective Matsudaira (the real one) and jump away from the wild yet inaccurate shots.
Kido had hidden himself behind one of the bushes, grumbling at how he was starting to doubt that he even had a role in this shogi game Kurama had set up between himself and the newest enemies of the Spirit World. He was about as useful as a human appendix.
ARRGGGH!" cried out another one of Suzaku's vertigo-suffering, eardrum-shattered clones as Kuwabara sliced him apart from head to crotch with his Jigen Tou. He ran interference for Kurama by slashing apart lightning bolts and doing the same unto the compromised Saint Beast leader's doppelgangers.
The brief nap was just what the ginger-haired teen needed in order to get over the exhausting fight he had with Itsuki and Karasu earlier. Meanwhile, even Kurama was able to take down one of Suzaku's clones even while he was on a strategic retreat of sorts.
The small, isolated bonfires soon combined into a full-on forest blaze that could very well take out Aokigahara from the map of Japan if left unimpeded.
In this burning inferno hid Xinhai, who all but abandoned his duel with the fake Daiji in favor of fighting someone who, in his eyes, was a worthier opponent.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked the Daiji-transformed Mitsunari as he blocked the backhanded swing from Xinhai's nodachi that would've cut through both Kurama and the real Detective Matsudaira.
"Out of my way, doppelganger! Our fight was already over from the start," drawled Xinhai as he pushed Yanagisawa away from him. "You're nothing but a copycat anyway."
"What a hypocritical thing to say, you copycat killer," said the Matsudaira duplicate. "Once I touched the detective, I was able to see all his memories. You have no idea what he'd been through after you killed his wife in front of him. It's his feelings and emotions that's compelling me to fight on!"
"But you're still not him, though." As Feng said those words, the ceremonial Chikyusei robes of Mitsunari was torn apart in shreds.
"H-How...? B-But I blocked your...!" stuttered "Daiji".
"No, you didn't. And if you were Detective Matsudaira, you'd figure out what had happened," said Xinhai as he smiled with perfectly even teeth that wasn't anything like his overbite from before.
As Suzaku's clones dropped like flies from the efforts of both Kuwabara and Kurama (who'd found a safe spot for the trench-coated Daiji to rest, which was right beside the hiding Kido), the Crimson Sparrow screamed, "Enough of this nonsense! KAIFUKU!"
Incidentally, the Kaifuku was the technique that rendered Suzaku nearly immortal. Earlier, it was revealed that as long as any one of the Suzaku Seven survived, he'd always revive like a phoenix rising from its own ashes. That was what the Prism of Seven Restoration basically did... the last surviving Suzaku would reenergize himself using the ghosts of the fallen Suzakus.
The resurrection technique also allowed Suzaku to repair the damage done to him by the screeching mandragoras earlier. His aim wasn't compromised by vertigo any longer.
"Oh shi...!" Kuwabara barely had time to exit into a portal before Suzaku's more accurate Lightning Storm of Torment blasted the tree stump he was standing on into a smoking crater.
Unfortunately for the teen, in his panic and because of his past trauma from getting zapped by the Shisejyu, he ended up at another part of Aokigahara, far away from the site of the suicide pact. He cursed under his breath and sprinted back towards the origin of the smoke while creating portals to cut the distance from time to time.
All around Kurama, Yanagisawa, Kido, Matsudaira, Xinhai, and Suzaku, the forest fire grew bigger and bigger. Soon enough, none of them would have the power to deal with the hungry firestorm, regardless of how high their power levels were.
As Kurama was about to engage Suzaku into battle, the mountainous figure of Xinhai barreled through the clearing. For his part, the Saint Beast elected to act as a sniper once more, shooting out light-speed arrows that could only be dodged if one were to see him pull the trigger of his Ankoku-Raiko-Ha bow.
"As Detective Matsudaira claimed, you really are an avid copycat killer, Xinhai Feng," said Kurama as his Rose Whip clashed mightily against the One-Eight-Ten Killer's longsword, the sparks flying from their battle rendered indistinguishable from the rest of the sparks produced by the surrounding flames.
"I don't know whether I should feel sorry for you or be impressed at how accurately you copied Udo Jine's Nikaido Heiho."
In the middle of the exchange between a calligraphic-swinging sword and an organic, barbed whip, Xinhai admitted, "Your methodical planning has rendered this Shin Ju mission a complete failure. You fascinate me almost as much as the Youkiri Battousai does. But all is not lost. Perhaps if I drive you into a corner, then you'll finally wield the Demon Sword and resurrect my greatest rival."
With that said, Feng grabbed hold of the Rose Whip using his fiery hand, wrapped it around his flaming fingers, and tugged Kurama with all his strength just as Suzaku was about to fire another one of his lightning bolts.
"The best-laid plans of youkai and ningen, was it?" mocked the Electric Phoenix of the Saint Beasts. However, to Suzaku's surprise, the real Daiji intercepted his attack with his kodachi.
Just as the Crimson Sparrow was about to chide the resurrected Aoshi for his foolishness, the Ankoku-Raiko-Ha energy bolt traveled from the blade to a chain that was coiled in a spiral around the blade to another short sword from behind Daiji that also had the chain wrapped around it and was stuck into the ground, the electricity dissipating into the earth harmlessly.
Suzaku also noticed that instead of traditional bindings, the sword contained a rubberized handle so that it wouldn't conduct electricity; as expected of a Quest-Class being who could turn his spirit energy into any tangible item he could imagine.
"It's a lightning rod," came Daiji's simple explanation before he produced another rubberized-handle kodachi, sliced the chain on the short sword he was holding, and did the Ryusui no Ugoki to avoid all the subsequent thunderbolts that the screaming and frustrated Suzaku shot off, the wavy, liquid patterns of the shinobi reincarnation confusing him and his aim.
Meanwhile, Kurama himself had long ago let go of his Rose Whip and created a sword from a blade of grass, his Leaf Blade serving as his answer to the one-armed Xinhai's alternating one, eight, and ten character slashes that had the flourish of brushstrokes.
The former demon fox couldn't tell whether he'd improved when facing against the Nikaido Heiho, or Feng's version of the Nikaido Heiho was inherently inferior.
"If you finish Suzaku off now without letting him split off into seven bodies, you'll be able to kill him," Kurama informed Daiji.
"Like a swordsman would ever be able to finish me off!" spat Suzaku just as he received a roundhouse kick to the ribs and an uppercut to the chin for good measure. In fairness to Daiji, that was a logical response to the Shisejyu's not-so-empty threats; if a swordsman couldn't beat him, then why not become a championship-level kenpo fighter?
The Shinomori reincarnation halted from delivering a spinning heel kick as soon as he saw Suzaku struck by lightning from above, which actually helped kill the forest fire because the bolt out of the blue turned all the surrounding, oxygen-rich mountain air into ozone in an instant.
The detective narrowed his eyes. Judging by the electricity that was probably coursing through the Saint Beast leader's veins like blood, there was no way he could do anymore close-contact hits against him. He'd be electrocuted as a result. A change of tactics was in order.
Avoiding an Ankoku-Raijin-Ken that seared though his short hairs and dried out his goose-bumped skin, Daiji turned and delivered a "Kaiten Kenbu: ROKUREN!" at Suzaku's blind spot.
"Didn't you hear what I said earlier? No swordsman alive could beat me thanks to magnetism!"
Suzaku took complete control of the magnetic field around him, turned and shifted his polarity so that he'd repel the metal away from him, which was exactly what he did to Yanagisawa's "Kenshin" disguise and the Demon Sword.
To Suzaku's shock and awe, one of the kodachi ended up gutting him even as his magnetic barrier kept the other blade from touching him. It then dawned to him that the blade that Detective Matsudaira used as a lightning rod had been magnetized, such that even as he used magnetic power to repel all metal away from him, the blade would still have a polarity opposite to the polarity of his own magnetic barrier, thus attracting the metal instead of pushing it away.
In fright, Suzaku reversed the polarity of his barrier again to remove the blade from his person before the policeman ripped him apart using it, only to end up getting stabbed again by the other blade, this time through the chest.
"I could've turned my blades ceramic or even platinum, but I believe that this is the best course of action as of the moment," deadpanned Daiji as the electricity from the cold, clammy body of the bleeding Suzaku died down, which enabled him to remove his kodachi. "I'm a detective right now, but once upon a time, I was also a master of the shinobi arts."
"Now I understand why Xinhai let you live for so long in order to use you as his personal jaki battery. You're an interesting fellow yourself, Detective." As Suzaku crumpled to his feet, he chanted the words, "Ankoku-Yo-Ro-Jin," which signaled to Kurama that despite Daiji's best efforts, the Shisejyu was still able to survive like the hydra-headed problem that he was.
The Crimson Sparrow split into seven demons again before he expired.
"ROKU-GOKU-ANKOKU-RAIKO-HA!" the six surviving Suzaku chorused. Even the Ryusui no Ugoki was not enough to deal with the full might of an up-close-and-persona Prism of Six Lightning Storm of Torment. The water-like movement probably even assisted in transmitting the continuous blasts of energy better.
Thankfully, Matsudaira didn't even need to dodge. The interconnected roots from the innumerable trees of Aokigahara themselves served as the detective's protection (and insulation) from the endless barrage of lightning strikes, one after another.
That was also Daiji's cue to switch places with Kurama and again face the One-Eight-Ten Killer he'd been searching for so long.
As Kurama and Daiji went in opposite directions in order to change "dancing partners", so to speak, they heard an amused Xinhai observe, "Is this another part of your plan? To switch opponents every once in a while to keep them guessing?"
"You've only been using Nikaido Heiho all this time, Xinhai! What gives? Why can't you make use of your other techniques, like your fencing or your past self's Shinko Ryu?" questioned the Aoshi reincarnation.
"I guess you'll just have to figure that one out by yourself," chortled the Triad Mountain Master as the two ended up chopping more of the living trees that surrounded them instead of limbs and body parts.
Like with the Okunenju Roots that Kurama used in his Makai Tournament fight against the S-Level Shigure, the ancient trees on the base of Mount Fuji served as the redhead's gigantic living weapon of mass destruction against the devastating and unrelenting lightning strikes of the six enraged Suzakus headed his way.
The entire scene of a sea of living trees that was half being burned by fire and billowing smoke while it was repeatedly struck by lightning was reminiscent of a volcanic or dirty thunderstorm, wherein a volcanic eruption full of fire and brimstone was accompanied by lightning strikes caused by thick volcanic plumes that acted as nimbus clouds.
It was the very picture of doomsday.
Because of the sheer number of branches, roots, and trees headed their way, threatening to suffocate them with their hyper-accelerated growth, the Six of the Suzaku Seven opted to combine and concentrate their blasts while at the same time moving side-by-side, their implacable march staying unimpeded even with the full brunt of Kurama's overwhelming plant-based powers.
Their mission was simple. The only way to stop the Living Aokigahara from crushing them under its own seemingly cancerous growth and unending thickets was to kill the person controlling it, which was the demon-turned-human Minamino.
The battle between Daiji and Xinhai appeared to be at an impasse, but the detective couldn't help but feel that something was amiss, especially in light of the fact that the Triad Dragon Head had yet to use two of his most powerful attacks: The Tornado Ripper and the Sonic Shockwave.
Strange. What was even stranger was that all this time, the scar that the One-Eight-Ten Killer put on Detective Matsudaira's chest had not burned like during the last time they fought.
Also, for some reason, Matsudaira's body felt like lead. He was slowing down as the fight drew on. Was this Feng's plan all along? To fight a protracted battle and turn it into a war of attrition, with the bulky man's stronger stamina winning out in the end?
'No. That's not quite right...'
"How disappointing. The original was no better than his doppelganger. Even you haven't figured out what's wrong with this picture," said Xinhai as he kept slashing away at the lethargic Daiji over and over with multiple and varied combinations of his one, eight, and ten character strikes.
Though the Nikaido Heiho style looked predictable on paper, the fact of the matter was that horizontal, diagonal, and vertical slashes were all tenets of every last sword style in existence, so it was actually a flexible and variable technique.
However, even after fighting him before, this was the first time Matsudaira ever saw Xinhai move so fluidly... almost as fluidly as Jine Udo himself.
Something dawned to Daiji. 'Wait a second...!'
Xinhai took the sparkle of recognition in Daiji's blue eyes as his cue to bring up the tempo of their fight and finish the detective off. "It was an honor fighting you, Detective."
A split-second later, the Demon Sword ended up slashing into Xinhai's face; it was a robe-wearing "Kenshin", his blade embedded deep into Feng's nose, cutting it in half, the only thing keeping the spirit guardian from slicing his head like a melon was his fiery hand blocking his sword.
"...B-Battousai!"
As Feng pushed him off, "Kenshin" tumbled to his knees, his face and body returning to that of Yanagisawa, his wounds from his battle with the muscle-bound ox still present. It took all of his energy to rasp out, "That's not Xinhai! It's...!" The broom-haired shapeshifter had to turn into Himura again to keep "Xinhai" from cleaving him apart.
"You're spoiling the fun!" said the One-Eight-Ten Killer. "Don't you hate it when people spoil the ending before you could read the book or watch the movie all the way through? That's what you're doing right now!"
It was then that the detective decided to stab his knee with his sword. As though woken from a haze, the policeman suddenly found himself in crippling pain. All over his body were slashes and cuts that he could've sworn he'd avoided... but he actually didn't. He'd been tricked by none other than...!
"O-Officer Hamada?" blurted out Daiji in recognition of his fellow officer's face. Even though he had strange, inky-black eyes this time around, he was unmistakably Officer Takumi Hamada.
They both belonged to the same precinct and station, although Detective Matsudaira outranked the older officer. Hamada was the same cop that ended up hurt when the Kanji Killer killed a key witness in the Quintuplet Murder Case.
What was going on? Daiji expected to meet Jine Udo, the "true" Kanji Killer whom Xinhai copied to hide his own crimes. This was all based on the swordsman's insistence of using only Nikaido Heiho as his only sword style.
Kurama also mentioned that the real Udo had the hypnotic powers of the Evil Eye, which allowed him to trick the detective into thinking he was in a deadlock when in fact he was being slowly but surely bled out like a chicken.
Was the fact that he looked like Takumi a result of hypnosis too?
Even Kurama had to turn his head and pay attention to what was happening in the Daiji-Xinhai fight although he himself already had his hands full with the six Suzakus.
"Udo Jine...?"
However, it wasn't Officer Hamada that Kurama saw (the redhead never even met the officer that he thought the Kanji Killer was merely impersonating) but instead Jine Udo.
Both his memories of the crazed serial killer a few weeks ago and Kenshin's own remembrances of the insane hitokiri and Shinsengumi member intermingled in his head, confirming his suspicions as correct.
It was around the time when "Kenshin" pushed the skeletal Takumi/Udo back with several quick sword-sheathing and sword-drawing movements that both Daiji and Kurama realized the truth.
Jine Udo was Takumi Hamada. Hamada wasn't injured when the witness to the Quintuplet Murder Case was killed. He was the one who killed Akio Oogata. He was the Kanji Killer whom the police never caught because he left no witnesses or a pattern to follow when it came to his murders.
Takumi Hamada was the reincarnation of Jine Udo, and he looked like his past self to boot.
"Ah, it looks like the jig is up. And here I thought I could go back to being Hamada Takumi after the coast is clear," said Jine with a helpless shrug. "Of course, if I were to kill you both right now, I'd have a chance at keeping my job."
Daiji gulped as he remembered all the times Officer Hamada... no, Udo... got assigned to cases to hunt help hunt down the Kanji Killer when he himself was probably the one erasing evidence and finding the witnesses he neglected to kill.
In fact, he was probably using his job as a policeman to look for potential victims while keeping the police itself off of his tracks; like an inside job. Everything made sense now.
All this time, the detective was swapping stories and sharing the growing pains of Likka Ikumi, his dead wife's little sister, with Jine near the water cooler, never suspecting that the original Kanji Killer was right under his nose.
His rage boiling underneath his stony mask of a face, Matsudaira swept past the overly cautious fake Kenshin and openly attacked Udo, the black-sheep copper obliging him.
The Nikaido Heiho master barely had time to breathe as Daiji chained together the Gokou Juji, the Onmyou Hasshi, and the Jissen Kenbu together before finishing with a Kaiten Kenbu Rokuren that almost disarmed Jine.
His gym training in order for his body to keep up with Aoshi Shinomori's Oniwanbanshu ninjutsu techniques had paid dividends.
"You're amazing too! I can barely keep up! It's like I'm fighting the Hitokiri Battousai himself or even the Youkiri Battousai with the speed you're going!" prattled a happily grinning Udo. For the second time since he'd started battling in Aokigahara while impersonating Xinhai, an opponent of his drew blood.
"However, if I were you, I wouldn't be too concerned about me. You have bigger problems to deal with."
The purple eyes of the Kenshin-possessed yet slightly scuffed-up Yanagisawa flickered in understanding. "Kurama! That Jine guy got you too! You fought him earlier as well, didn't you?"
Kurama realized this as well. Instead of stabbing himself like Daiji did to wake himself up from the Jagan-induced illusion, he pulled out a seed from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil found somewhere in Mount Rengoku (he got it from Botan, who used the fruit in order to cure Keiko of the amnesiac effects of the lotus blossoms in the Elysian Fields), and swallowed it.
Kurama's eyes widened as his memories from the past as a youko overwhelmed him, particularly the moment when he attempted to steal the Demon Sword in order to gain enough power to take on his former partner, Yomi, who had become even more powerful than he was since he betrayed him.
However, the demon fox had no time to reminisce. Cured of Jine's hypnosis, Kurama looked down in time to see the stream of blood on his sopping-wet pant leg and the pool of blood below it.
He didn't collapse... it took more than a stab wound to take out a youkai like him... but he did figure out why his control over the Aokigahara trees had diminished as time passed by.
Had he not woken up from the hallucination of the Evil Eye, he would've bled to death.
Then there was also the fact that nothing was stopping the six unstoppable, hive-minded Suzakus from turning the Reikai Tantei into vague humanoid silhouettes on the (literal) Sea of Trees, especially now that Kurama had to use half of his demon energy to keep himself from bleeding out.
To Be Continued...
Next: Ace up his sleeve.
Insert author notes here.
Heto na,
Abdiel