Demon Sword
A Yuyu Hakusho/Rurouni Kenshin Crossover Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda
Original Concept by Chad Yang
The fearsome powers of Kaito's Sanction have now come into play. Who will come out on top?
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 41: Red Rose in the Darkness (Part 9)
Back inside the boiler room of an unattended cargo ship at Tokyo Bay...
"N-NATSUKO?" exclaimed Yu Kaito.
Yu was actually referring to his not-girlfriend and (bizarrely enough) Keiko Yukimura's "girl friend", Natsuko. Not to be confused.
The similarity in names between Natsuki Shinkai and Keiko's friend, Natsuko, reminded Kurama of the similarity in names between him, Shuichi Minamino and his stepbrother, Shuichi Hatenaka.
All the same, the fact remained that the Kanji Killer was able to pull a fast one on even the usually sharp and clever Kurama. This unexpected development could serve as a monkey wrench in the half-youko's plans to defeat Jine without ever drawing out the blade of the Demon Sword and manifesting his full capabilities as an upper-echelon youkai.
The last time Kurama went berserk, he almost killed Koenma Daio. The more he turned into the youko, the likelier it was for him to betray all his friends and family whom he'd been protecting all this time because he was too weak as a demon to abandon them at the time.
Because this was his true nature as a youko. Nothing more, nothing less. The fact that he almost achieved the now-mythical Class-X level when he wielded the Youtou Shinnoken, shamed as he was to admit it, excited him a little. Actually, a lot.
Kurama vowed to never use the power of the Demon Sword because he'd be corrupted by it far more than Kido did when he was handed its power.
"I know there's a reason why you gave that glasses-wearing dweeb the Demon Sword instead of wielding it yourself," said Jine, seemingly reading Kurama's thoughts.
"Other than denying yourself of your true nature, the Youtou Shinnoken can probably turn that one-trick pony into a formidable opponent, like that blond kid with shadow powers from before."
Yu gripped the Youtou Shinnoken tight. So he was excluded from the Aokigahara mission not because the Demon Sword had no effect on him, but instead because he had a more important role to fulfill in Kurama's eyes?
Unfazed, Kurama asked, "What's your next word? The shiritori game is still ongoing. If you aren't able to come up with a word, you lose the game."
"Terror," came Udo's offhand reply. "However, I don't think we'll be playing this game for long."
"Rook," came Kurama's answer. "What do you mean?"
"Kill," said Jine. "I mean, can you keep playing while this girl is suffocating?" As the Kanji Killer said those words, Natsuko's eyes widened from behind her glasses.
Natsuko stuttered and sputtered, unaware of what was going on.
"Natsuko!" shouted Kaito, his own spectacles almost slipping off of his face. "How is he doing that?"
"I'm using my original powers. The powers I've inherited from my past self. This is a special kind of Shin no Ippo that could stop a person's respiration and let him or her... choke to death." Jine held his tongue. He'd almost repeated his earlier answer, "Suffocate".
Yu felt the Kenshin inside the Demon Sword bristle in anger as Udo revealed, "I'm sick and tired of this nonviolent child's game. The only way to break my spell on the girl before she dies is by killing me. You can't do that in this territory, but perhaps if you cancel out your powers, then maybe we could go somewhere."
"Leech," said Shuichi as he continued the shiritori game while grabbing hold of Yu's shoulder reassuringly. "Relax. The Kanji Killer is bluffing. That is obviously not your companion, Natsuko. He also cannot choke her in this territory, even through his hypnotic powers."
"Child. Oh really? Can you really take that chance, Kaito or whoever you are? I know all about Natsuko. I know how she visits you in your dorm every day and plays videogames with you or acts like your editor for your papers. Do you really want to see her... expire simply because Kurama doesn't have the balls to use the power of the Demon Sword himself?"
Kurama scowled. Not only did Jine know about Natsuko, he even stalked her to the point of learning her daily routine. No wonder the Kanji Killer had never been caught by the police. Aside from being a policeman himself, he also did thorough research on every one of his victims.
"Darkness. Don't listen to him, Kaito-kun. This is just like the time he beheaded you. You know for a fact that he couldn't do any harm against anyone in your territory. Calm down. Trust me."
Yu looked back and forth Kurama and Jine, as though they were his good and bad consciousnesses; the devil and the angel on his shoulder.
"Septic. Can you really trust him, Kaito? Kurama's using you to do his dirty work for him. Also, does this look healthy to you at all? Your precious girlfriend is turning blue! She can't breathe! You can end all this by unsheathing that sword and finishing me off yourself."
At this point, Kaito wasn't quite sure whether Minamino truly was the angel or the devil. After all, what Jine said made sense. Why was Kurama using him as his pawn? Why couldn't he finish off Jine? Why must Natsuko be sacrificed?
"Curse. Please, Kaito-kun. Trust me. He can't commit any violent acts in this territory. Remember that."
On the other hand, Kaito remembered Kurama struggling against his youko self, telling him about how his bio-rhythm kept acting up and making him more belligerent than usual.
Even though Minaino didn't share the sentiment, Yu considered him his rival: His hyper-intelligent foe who was always ahead of the curve. He trusted the redhead's judgment.
"Enchant. Time is running out, Kaito. Has any other person used hypnosis to choke someone in your territory? Is that really a physically violent act or has this happened for the first time? Are you sure this is considered violence in your territory? Can you risk her life for such a gamble?"
Natsuko's own glasses tumbled out of her face (after she carefully put them on as a show of her identity), coughing and hacking from her inability to breathe. Meanwhile, Kurama had flashbacks that didn't belong to him of Kaoru Kamiya looking the same as Natsuko was at that moment.
"Minamino-kun, Natsuko is about to run out of breath! Is she an illusion or not?" blabbered Kaito in a panic.
"Twins. Kaito-kun, change of plans. Unsheathe the Demon Sword now," commanded Kurama, which startled both Udo and Yu. The Kanji Killer was expecting Kaito to instead betray Minamino.
"Wha...? O-Okay!" Kaito did as Kurama ordered him to, hoping against hope that it wasn't too late.
A word surfaced in the depths of Kaito's subconscious as soon as he drew the Youtou Shinnoken from its scabbard.
"Sanction."
Afterwards, the taboo words that were scrawled all over the floor and walls of the kudzu-covered boiler room... thousands of them that were thought up by Kurama and Jine... proceeded to travel like projected images across the gun-metal surface, onto Kaito's skin, and into the naked edge of the Demon Sword, their sheer numbers turning the blade black with their calligraphic "ink".
Jine whistled. "Interesting. It's just like what happened to that kid with the shadow powers." The Kanji Killer turned towards Kaito. "What do want to do now?"
Yu realized that this was a wise move on the serial killer's part in light of the fact that he had no idea how "Sanction" worked when compared to "Taboo".
The problem was that even Kaito had no clue what his Demon-Sword-enhanced powers were. Instead of forbidden words like in Taboo, did Sanction reward those who said certain words that Yu approved of? What would happen if people said those words in this version of his powers?
Natsuko held her throat, attempting to gasp but unable to do so, as if there were something stuck in her esophagus, her skin turning increasingly pale as the seconds passed by.
For whatever reason, Kurama started murmuring to himself.
"Are you going crazy or senile, fox? Your friend's girlfriend is dying! Do something! Time is on my side this time around!"
Udo then realized that the surrounding kudzu meant to keep him inside were presently starting to reach all the way to the center of the boiler room, the vines threatening to entangle him and crush his bones like the flora version of coiling boa constrictors.
Meanwhile, the rest of the kudzu wrapped themselves around both Natsuko and Kaito, only this time around, instead of squeezing the life out of them, they moved the two from out of harm's way as Kurama engaged in combat against the Kanji Killer.
"Hang in there, Natsuko! Minamino-kun will kill that bastard and save you!" said Kaito.
"..." responded the sweat-filled and shivering Natsuko.
"I see! In this version of Kaito's territory, violence isn't prohibited anymore. Finally! I was getting bored with that other power of his!" Jine cackled as he turned the sea of greenery into chopped, diced, and julienned mush.
Amidst the rain of sliced kudzu emerged Kurama, his Rose Whip, and the Shoku Yo Shokubutsu, an acid-spewing, root-based tree of death that Minamino used to intimidate Ura Urashima in the Dark Tournament.
"Haven't you learned your lesson? Even Class-S assassins are no match against me, how much more you and your barely Class-A powers?" mocked the Kanji Killer as he had the redwood eat up the kudzu surrounding them like spaghetti before proceeding to cut apart Minamino's whip. "I might even use my Jagan right now!"
Instead of doing what he claimed he was about to do, Jine proceeded to petrify the Death Tree in mid-bite using the One-Sided Heart, intercept Kurama's dagger-like Plant Claw with his wakizashi, then kick the plant user into the gaping maw of his own creation.
However, just as the youko-in-human-guise was about to be eaten by a demonic tree, Udo heard Minamino say aloud, "I wish to turn into twins as a means to clone myself."
After Jine unfroze the Devourer Demon Plant and let it have Kurama for dinner, another Kurama appeared from behind it, completely unharmed. In his excitement, Udo ended up shredding both the Shoku Yo Shokubutsu and the semi-digested Shuichi inside it.
That was the confirmation that Kurogasa was waiting for. "So that's how this territory works! Your words can now be used to turn ideas into reality! What a splendid power! This is the power of gods! The Demon Sword is such an amazing Reikai artifact!"
'Sanction is the opposite of Taboo! Instead of punishing those who say the taboo word, it can warp reality itself!' Kaito realized. 'And Minamino-kun must have figured this out from the start! He didn't want me as part of the Aokigahara mission because my powers served as an even better method of dealing with this overpowered psychopath!'
Kaito was under the impression that the Demon Sword had no effect on him, unlike what happened to Mitsunari Yanagisawa and Asato Kido. Nothing happened when they said, "Hot" in Kaito's territory.
However, he remembered their surroundings got hotter as the word was said and repeated over and over, even though it was the middle of the night. The bespectacled, curly haired teenager's eyes widened.
A person who had the power of Sanction might as well be a god, or someone approaching one. None of the Shin Ju would've stood a chance against Kaito and Sanction.
However, there were some obvious drawbacks to this power that made Yu realize why it was important for Kurama to only reserve him as his ace up his sleeve in this particular juncture. It was a double-edged sword. It wasn't only Kaito who was afforded reality warping powers, but anyone within his territory.
The "sanctioned" words could be used against the owner of the territory as soon as it was said, thus rendering whatever advantages this power had null and void. The Kanji Killer himself realized the same thing as he said, "Now it's my turn! I want Kurama to die!"
Nothing happened. The "twin" of Kurama, meanwhile, murmured something before proceeding to attack the flabbergasted Jine.
"WHAT? How come he's still alive? He's cheating!" Udo shrieked as he crossed swords... katana versus Leaf Blade... against Minamino.
The Kanji Killer's plan to use Kurama as a guinea pig to see the extent of Sanction's abilities and simply follow the half-youko's lead wasn't panning out as he'd hoped.
'Is the non-killing rule still in effect, only this time it applies to anyone in my territory?' wondered Kaito while grabbing hold of the clammy hands of Natsuko. 'I have no idea, but I wish Kurama would do whatever it is he needs to do soon.'
Jine wracked his brain for the words that were used during their game of shiritori. Some were worthless for this fight, like "Entertainment" or "Ennui". Some were exactly what the doctor ordered.
"I want to raze everything before me with a flaming blade just like Xinhai Feng's or Shishio Makoto's."
There were plenty of kudzu to go around for Udo to burn as though he were using Shishio's Homura Dama. Meanwhile, Kaito felt Kenshin react to the mention of his fellow shadow hitokiri's name, even though Yu himelf had no idea who that was.
"Let the flames die," Kurama answered back, and Kaito's Sanction allowed that wish for death to materialize. "Let my plants propagate by themselves," he added, which allowed him to conserve youki as his demon plants started to bloom and grow without his help.
"I will exterminate this jungle of weeds!" Thusly, the nearest of the green kudzu turned brown and died with every touch of Jine's katana.
Kurama himself was about to say, "I want to exterminate Jine," when his opponent froze him in mid-sentence with the Shin no Ippo and said, "I want to exterminate Kurama!"
Udo still hadn't figured out why requests to kill Kurama weren't working within Sanction, but he wasn't about to risk dying by letting his opponent do the same to him.
However, nothing happened again. When Kurama completed, "I want to exterminate Jine!" after being released from the hold of the One-Sided Heart, Udo did the same thing the redhead did to avoid dying.
"I wish to turn into twins as a means to clone myself."
One Jine died, but another Jine appeared to take his place, which made his death moot.
That was the second problem with Kaito's Sanction. Even if one weren't creative with the way they could make use of sanctioned words to warp reality, all they really need to do was follow the example of someone else who did.
Jine then had an idea. He repeated the same phrase. Then repeated it again. And again. And again. Soon, Kurama was faced with thirty Kanji Killers.
The nearest ones froze Kurama into place with the Shin no Ippo, their combined forces nearly suffocating the half-youko the same way the "original" Jine did with the currently choking Natsuko.
Although he could not move his body, Kurama could use his youki to summon his bread-and-butter herbal monster, the Demon World Sensitive Plants. They were mutated mimosas that the half-youko used to fight against Karasu in the Ankoku Bujutsukai.
The close proximity of the Jine clones allowed the mimosa creatures to turn them into a buffet of serial killers. The entangling kudzu helped in keeping them corralled in one place.
Besides which, Jine didn't anticipate that his clones would move independently from each other, thus more often than not, they ended up getting in each other's way. The Jine collective's sheer numbers and combined One-Sided Heart still overwhelmed the sentient plants, though.
Even though he lacked the ability to vocalize thanks to the Jines freezing his vocal cords again, Minamino had enough demonic energy left to summon Parrot Grass that served as his loudspeaker to state, "I wish every Jine became a child."
Like a literal genie, Kaito's sanction didn't only turn every last one of the Kanji Killers into children, but combined them all into one person that turned into a child with swaddling clothes too big for him to wear.
"I want this curse lifted from me," said the adorable little boy Udo with large horse-like teeth, which allowed him to grow back into adulthood, but this time without his clone posse.
"I want Jine to die," came Shuichi's straightforward order to Sanction, but the Kanji Killer countered, "Kurama's words are lies," as soon as he read Minamino's bad intentions (swordsmen could read killing intent and malice faster than one could verbalize it, after all).
Jine covered his grinning mouth as though he just figured something out. 'Oh, so you can counter statements with other statements, huh?' he thought before whispering something.
They were at an impasse of sorts. Whatever it was that was said could very well be undone in a few words as long as sanctioned words were being used to do so. Like nothing happened. How was Kurama supposed to use the power of Sanction against Jine if the latter could easily do the same against him?
Just as the cackling Kanji Killer was about to say, "All of Kurama's words are lies," the half-youko said, "I want Jine to become mute."
The deadly words that Kurogasa was supposed to utter literally died in his throat, his vocal cords becoming useless. From there, Udo had no more ammunition left to use against Kurama. As a mute, he had no access to the Sanction powers, so it was one statement he could not undo after it was uttered.
Kaito then realized something. 'Wait a minute. Even when a word is whispered, it still counts as something that's said in my territory. Kurama must have whispered something that Jine couldn't hear, allowing him to nullify any statements that told him he was supposed to die.'
Yu understood what Kurama murmured earlier on. 'I am immortal.' That was the sentence he used to nullify all statements meant to kill him.
Meanwhile, Kurama wished he could suffocate Jine the same way he (attempted to) suffocate Natsuko, but time was of the essence and the girl was dying. Therefore, his next request to Kaito's Sanction was, "Eviscerate Jine."
In just two words, Jine ended up disemboweling himself with his own wakizashi, as though he were performing his own sepukku or ritual honorable suicide.
There was one problem, though. Even after Jine killed himself, Natsuko wouldn't stop choking. She was still suffocating, despite Udo's claims that she wouldn't die if he died.
"I wish Natsuko won't suffocate!" Kaito commanded Sanction far too late. His wish wasn't granted. The girl wasn't going to suffocate anymore because she was already dead.
In their panic to make sense of what Sanction was capable of while staving off the Kanji Killer's assault, they weren't able to save one of Keiko's best friends in the most straightforward way possible, the (in hindsight) seemingly obvious idea slipping past their attention thanks to tunnel vision.
"Why? Did Jine lie? Even after he died, Natsuko still choked to death!" cried Kaito to Minamino.
Kurama's eyes then widened as he saw a ghoulish Jine collect his guts with one hand, his toothy horse grin never leaving his face, his cackling implied by shining black eyes with no sclera on them. Like a beast's eyes.
Somewhere in the middle of their fight, Jine himself had wished that he was immortal. Even though he could not speak anymore, his gleeful, smug face spoke volumes.
"The new allowed word is 'Statue'. Jine is now a statue."
And Jine was a statue.
"K-Kaito-kun...!" The word "Statue" was never mentioned in the game of shiritori that Kurama and Kurogasa engaged in earlier. Then again, the Master of Taboo and Sanction always had the power to change the rules as he pleased.
"The new allowed word is 'Alive'. I wish Natsuko is alive again."
The recently deceased Natsuko's eyes fluttered open. "K-Kaito-sempai?"
The bespectacled nerd hushed the girl with a gentle tap of her lips as he chopped off and unwrapped Kurama's kudzu vines from himself and her.
He then bent down, picked up her glasses, and placed it on her head.
"Everything's going to be all right, Natsuko. I'll take care of things."
The girl hugged the wide-bodied geek. "I was so scared. I had the most awful dream. You were there and Yusuke's girly friend was there. I thought I'd died."
"You did die," said a grim Kurama, but Kaito waved his ex-classmate off.
"She's not dead anymore. That's what's important. We were still able to save her and defeat that deranged bad guy in the end."
"I-I'm dead? What is he talking about, Kaito-sempai?"
"No, you're not. You're alive. I just said you were." Yu gulped as he, for the first time in his life, mustered enough courage to say these words that he rendered as "Taboo" for fear of ruining his friendship with Natsuko.
"I like you very much. Will you go out with me? Will you be my girlfriend?"
Natsuko's lower lip quibbled as she turned away and said in hushed tones, "It took you long enough to ask me that. Baka."
"Kaito-kun, now is not the time..." Kurama began.
Seemingly delirious, Yu replied, "No, this is the perfect time for this!"
With his eyes shut, Kurama asked, "What happens as soon as you deactivate Sanction? You wished her to be alive using Sanction. She won't be after Sanction is gone."
All the color drained from Kaito's face as Natsuko looked at him in askance. "What is he talking about, Sempai?"
"T-Then I won't release Sanction. I'll keep it activated forever."
"Be reasonable. The Spirit World won't allow you to take hostage the Demon Sword, Kaito-kun."
"SCREW THE SPIRIT WORLD! If having this sword is the only way I could keep Natsuko from dying, then I'll keep this sword in my possession forever! Natsuko and I are immortal! We cannot be killed. You, however, are not immortal any longer, Minamino-kun."
"K-Kaito-sempai, what are you saying? Y-You're scaring me..." said Natsuko with a tinge of squeakiness in her voice. "Is everything all right? Did something happen to me or...?"
"Don't be afraid, Natsuko. Even Minamino... no, Youko Kurama... won't be able to stop me. The new allowed word is 'God'. I am now God." A divine light flowed out of Kaito, reminiscent of Shinobu Sensui's Sacred Light Ki.
"Don't do this, Kaito-kun." Shuichi sighed as blossoms started sprouting from the kudzu behind him. "I don't believe Kenshin would allow you to take control of the Youtou Shinnoken this way either."
"Leave my territory, Kurama. Walk away and pretend that nothing happened. I don't want to hurt you. I'll deal with Reikai myself if I have to, but I won't let them keep me from my beloved," said Kaito as tears flowed from his glasses-covered eyes. "This is my final warning."
"I don't know what's going on, but... I don't want to leave Kaito-sempai's side either," decided Keiko's friend.
Before it occurred to Kaito to ban all sanctioned words before it could be used against him or mute Kurama (and his pet Parrot Grass too), the redhead whispered, "Sheathe the Demon Sword."
At the same time, Yu said, "Turn Kurama into a statue," which was exactly what happened. However, in mid-sentence, the Youtou Shinnoken was sheathed, so as a result, Sanction became Taboo, and Kaito inadvertently said one of the forbidden words. Ergo, he died. Meanwhile, without the powers of Sanction to support her life, Natsuko soon expired as well.
Even as Kaito and Natsuko collapsed on the ground, they still ended up grasping each other's hands.
"I hope you'd stop wasting our time with needless frivolities, fox." The effects of Sanction had worn off on Jine as well. He was neither mute nor a statue any longer.
Kurama grit his teeth as he took the Demon Sword away from the unmoving Kaito's grasp.
His bid to have Udo's soul ejected from his body so that the Spirit World could capture him and interrogate him regarding the Overfiend was all for naught due to the unexpected interference of Natsuko.
"Hold back and you're dead. Battousai will tell you as much. My projected fantasies are so perfect, even the likes of Enki, Mukuro, Yomi, and the Chojin would be fooled by it," said Jine while he looked at the reflection of his Jagan on his uchigatana.
He afterwards self-hypnotized himself in order to unleash the full potential of his current human body.
His head hung low in defeat, Kurama unsheathed the Youtou Shinnoken. From there, Shuichi Minamino no longer existed. There was only Youko Kurama. By merely releasing his youki, he ended up destroying the boiler room and most of the ship.
Kurama's red hair turned as silver as the moon, his clothes also transforming into something silken, baggy, and loose. His nails turned into claws. His eyes became more slanted as his pupils glinted a golden sheen.
"How lamentable. I wanted my 'other self' to enjoy his human life as long as he could. I could spare a few decades or so. This damn sword kept waking me up and altering my bio-rhythm. Now there's no one left for you to fool. What big eyes you have. What a long nose you have. What sharp teeth you have."
"Ah, so this must be your true nature. However, this does not satisfy me. Nothing less than a rematch against the Youkiri Battousai is called for. After awakening you, I will awaken Battousai Himura's most powerful self!"
The Legendary Youko Kurama regarded the Kanji Killer as if he were an insect buzzing around in his face. "Don't you realize you've awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with terrible resolve?"
They were out in the open now, the midnight sea breeze tossing their hair all around. From there, Jine started to cackle even crazier than usual as he raised his blades and braced himself for anything, his senses tense and ready.
"You might think I'm a bug, but I'm actually a snake. No bigger than your pinky finger but more powerful than a king. Come forth and face me, Battousai!"
They both charged at the same time as the Kanji Killer howled, "Die, Kurama! Die, Battousai! Die! Die! DIE...!"
The youko sheathed the sword as though preparing for a battoujutsu strike. However, no battoujutsu actually happened.
Something else occurred. Something that Jine should have expected from a master of deception. He should've known better.
"...DIE!"
One extra mention of the banned word was all it took to end the battle.
Before Jine Udo knew it, his body stiffened and glowed with a strange light. He didn't turn into a statue, but his soul had been ejected from his body.
Meanwhile, the one holding the sheathed sword was not Kurama, but instead a blinking, bemused Kaito. As for the supposedly deceased Natsuko, she was alive and well.
In fact, as soon as Jine's soul was ejected, the non-spectacle-wearing friend of Keiko did a long, hard gasp before going on all fours, coughing and hacking thanks to the two-minute period when she wasn't able to inhale at all.
"What just happened?" asked Yu.
"Be careful, we're still in your Taboo territory," warned Kurama as he slapped Kaito's shoulders in a friendly manner. "Thank you for your cooperation. I couldn't have done it without you."
"Wait, wait, wait, Minamino-kun. The Kanji Killer just got his soul ejected through Taboo, right?"
"He said a taboo word, so he was punished in accordance to the rules of your territory," confirmed Kurama.
"I need a minute," said Kaito as he rubbed his temples and adjusted his glasses. "Okay. I'm back. So what happened earlier, when Natsuko died and I revived her using Sanction? Also, what's with that ending fight with the Kanji Killer? How'd I become you? I'm so confused."
"Those were all illusions I made while we were in your Sanction territory." Kurama gave Kaito a wry smile. "The very first sentence I uttered was: I wish to 'blank' Jine by having the same hypnosis powers as he does."
Kaito searched the floor for the banned word that Kurama couldn't say. As soon as Sanction was deactivated for real, the graffiti words from the shiritori game returned on the boiler room walls and floor. 'Enchant. The sentence was, I wish to enchant Jine by having the same hypnosis powers as he does.'
Yu slapped his forehead and shook his head slowly. "You magnificent bastard. You found a way to win Sanction on the first move. You managed to out-hypnotize the hypnotist by using his own modus operandi against him."
Kurama nodded. "Bingo."
Kaito eyed the glowing body of Jine warily. "Is this real life or is this just fantasy, though? He could still be using his Jagan to pull another fast one on us."
Kurama wagged his finger. "He has no idea what happens when you say a taboo word in your Taboo territory, remember? Even my Jagan illusion showed you dying instead of freezing up with a glowing body and an ejected soul after saying the forbidden word. He's the real deal. We've gotten his soul."
Yu relaxed and deactivated Taboo. He then proceeded to say all the forbidden words Kurama and Jine came up with during their shiritori game in a fit of catharsis. "Kurama, you scare me. Even if it was an illusion, you showed me that you can keep me in line even with the powers of a god!"
A pensive Minamino said, "What you did kind of impressed me, in a way. I mean, what's the point of being immortal and a god if you have no one to share it with? You were willing to become a god for someone else. That's something to be envious about, I think."
Kaito didn't know how else to respond to that but laugh in a goofy way. "Oh, speaking of which, I do hope Natsuko still remembers me asking her out. I'd die if I have to confess again."
Kurama considered whether it was safe to trust Natsuko after she was brainwashed by Jine, but he presumed that since Udo's soul had been captured, the effects of her hypnosis should have worn off by now.
Kaito went beside the recovering Natsuko and patted her back as soon as she went into another coughing fit. "You okay? I'm so glad you're still alive."
As Kurama turned to check out Jine's petrified body and the soul that was floating in front of it, he saw something else before him an eye blink later. It was the frozen, diminutive form of Natsuko. She was the one who ended up saying the forbidden word.
In the middle of Kurama's mirage, Jine successfully made another hallucination on top of it.
"...Kaito-kun, LOOK OUT!" Kurama shouted out too late. Yu had already been stabbed. Stabbed by the real Kanji Killer, who'd been posing as Natsuko all this time.
Kaito's trauma from being hurt bad by Jine eventually led to complete deactivation of his powers, including its resulting effects. In turn, Natsuko's soul returned to her body, which roused her from her temporary out-of-body experience.
'I let my guard down too early!' Kurama cursed at himself under his breath.
"Are you done with your little games, fox?" reiterated Kurogasa as he wiped his bloody uchigatana clean. "How many more people are you going to sacrifice before you're satisfied? No more games. Pick up the Demon Sword. Give me the fight I've been yearning for."
"You've used your Jagan three times. You have no illusions left." Kurama used the prehensile vines of the surrounding kudzu to tend to Kaito's wounds and grab the Demon Sword by mentally controlling them as though they were extensions of his limbs.
"Three times? Really? Are you sure?"
"Once, when you pretended to kill us while under the antiviolence barrier of Taboo. Twice, when you made Natsuko choke to death even though you shouldn't be able to do that inside Taboo. Thrice, when you switched places with Natsuko and made her scream the forbidden word while making us think you've been defeated."
Jine drew his head back and laughed as though he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world. "Since when were you under the impression that she was choking to death? She's actually quite the fine actress, if I do say so myself. She had you fooled all this time."
Kurama gathered the remaining kudzu into one tangled mess beside him and Kaito. The point of using them to keep Jine inside the boiler room had long ago become meaningless. "So you have only one more illusion left? You better make it count."
Udo guffawed. "Maybe I should've finished off your nerdy friend, but all that would've accomplish is make you angry enough to perhaps change into your youko form. As formidable an enemy as he probably is, the one I'm really interested in fighting is the Youkiri Battousai."
"So you keep on saying, but sometimes even you just can't have what you want, no matter how hard you try," a golden-eyed Kurama said as his bio-rhythm acted up again. He was shedding his sheep's clothing once more.
"Nah. The night is still young. Isn't that right, Kitajima Maya-ojousan?"
Minamino felt his sweat run cold as he saw at the corner of his eyes "Natsuko" peel off her face mask to reveal that it truly was Maya all along who was with them all this time. "Is this another one of your projected fantasies?"
"Perish the thought. Like you said, I better make my last mirage count. In fairness to me, I've been making good use of every one of them so far."
Kurama begrudgingly agreed. This Maya sported the same bob cut as Natsuko, but her face was unmistakably Maya's. The Kitajima he saw the other day was probably wearing a wig to keep him from putting two and two together.
"One of my compatriots in the Shin Ju, Gein, is an expert when it comes to the most convincing disguises such as that skin mask. He made it with zero effort. This was nothing to him. What an amazing man."
"What do you intend to do? Are you going to use your hypnosis to choke her to death like you pretended to do earlier?" demanded Kurama.
Jine chuckled again. "Of course not. You're not like the pathetic rurouni that the Battousai eventually turned into a hundred years ago. Such tricks won't work on you, right? So if you would please, ojousan."
Maya proceeded to take Jine's wakizashi and slowly pierce her chest with it. Apparently, even the Kanji Killer knew how to be a sarcastic liar.
Kurama reacted instantly, summoning his kudzu with the intention of binding Kitajima, but he was interrupted by an attacking Kanji Killer. "Take the sword. Wake Battousai up. Do it or the girl dies by her own hands."
Minamino had flashbacks, but not of Kenshin desperately attempting to save Kaoru from Jine. Instead, it was Yusuke frantically trying to save Kuwabara from the Younger Toguro. He then had more memories start flooding in, this time his own and not someone else's.
Kurama had the same cold resolve he had now as he did back when Roto threatened to kill his mother in the Dark Martial Arts Tournament. Ditto when it came to him stealing the Mirror of Forlorn Hope to save his (at-the-time) dying mother. He also had several dire fates planned for Yomi when the latter threatened to blow up the airplane his mother was on at the time.
He even had long-buried memories of the death of Kuronue, who was caught in a bamboo booby trap because he went to retrieve a special pendant of his that he accidentally left behind, with his youko self unable to do anything for his partner-in-crime. However, by the time Kurama finally decided to take hold of the Youtou Shinnoken, it was already too late.
"Silly fox. She was never meant to live. She was only here to make you angry enough to use the full potential of the Demon Sword."
And so Maya, Shuichi's former classmate and childhood friend whose memories he attempted to wipe clean to protect her, proceeded to stab herself with a short sword on the chest.
It took 0.04 seconds for a transformed Youko Kurama wielding the Demon Sword to decapitate Jine Udo with the Sou Ryu Sen. His sword was not the sakabatou anymore, but the Youtou Shinnoken, so its blade flew out of its scabbard without any problem, its audible supersonic sharpness easily cutting through flesh and bone like they weren't even there.
As soon as the blade left its scabbard, Shuichi Minamino transformed into Youko Kurama. Also, even before the synapses of the original Kanji Killer's brain allowed him to react or even formulate a proper illusion against the might of the Demon Sword, his head had already rolled off his shoulders.
In fairness to the reawakened Youko Kurama, he didn't only kill the Kanji Killer, he also saved Maya from killing herself by snatching away the wakizashi she'd been handed just as she was about to plunge the dagger into her heart.
However, this remained true. After decades of bloodless use, the Youtou Shinnoken had finally tasted blood and taken a life. Human blood, at that. Neither Kenshin nor him could go back to how they were used to be.
Jine had actually deployed his Jagan way before Youko Kurama could counter him with Kenshin's finishing move, which was battoujutsu. The image of the decapitated Udo was replaced with the headless body of Maya Kitajima instead.
Kurama's blood turned cold, his transformation into the youko aborted by his own shock.
Minamino had accidentally killed the person he was supposed to protect, which (ironically enough) was exactly what happened to Kenshin when he attempted to rescue his wife, Tomoe Yukishiro.
"I got you now, Battousai. You've been fooled by me, Jine Udo, and my Jagan!" said the Kanji Killer before scourging the shell-shocked Kurama with his signature "Hei" symbol of his Nikaido Heiho technique at the side of the youko's robes where his kidneys would've been located.
The youko didn't even flinch as he turned and delivered a follow-up scabbard blow to the head that would've crushed Kurogasa's head had the serial killer not moved away that split-second.
Then again, even though Udo was only clipped by Kurama's counterattack, his head still flowed with blood, covering his face in a crimson mask. Also, cold rage enveloped Shuichi's heart until he wasn't Shuichi any longer.
The subsequent Ryu Sou Sen was a blur of whirling steel.
Jine was ripped to shreds by combo after combo that he couldn't block or deflect at all. Meanwhile, the youko himself had his silver hair turn into the bright orange hair of Kenshin Himura, as though he were shifting back and forth from Kurama the Demon Fox to Battousai the Demon-Slayer.
They shared the same golden eyes, though.
Youko Kurama, while in perfect synch with the Youkiri Battousai in ways that made it difficult to know where the demon fox ended and the demon-slayer began, shot volley after volley of techniques against the Kanji Killer.
"That's it! Finally! That's the Battousai I've been longing to fight! My rematch with you is finally at hand!" Jine licked the blood flowing from his cracked skull. The concussion he most likely had was probably giving him delusions of grandeur. Kurama wouldn't put that past him.
"You've made a terrible mistake wasting your powers to make me angrier than before, Jine. It's like you have a death wish or something. Are you really this desperate to lose again?"
"No. I have no intention of losing. I will win. However, I won't win against a weakling. It's only through fighting the strongest hitokiri turned strongest youkiri that I can test my mettle!"
Just as the Youkiri Battousai possessing Youko Kurama was about to attack with a Ryu Sou Sen, Ryu Tsui Sen, or any of the Ryu Kan Sen variants... perhaps he could combine all of his techniques in one attack thanks to the unbelievable speed... something else happened that the neither the youko nor the demon-slayer expected.
Jine's Evil Eyes glowed a different color than before. Only demons could see this color; it was invisible to the eyes of normal human beings. It was ultraviolet.
"Thanks to your rage and despair after your childhood sweetheart died by your own hand, I've now reached S-Level. It's your suffering that's feeding my Jagan right now. Everything is going according to plan."
Udo whispered something the same way Kurama did when they were fighting inside the Sanction territory of Kaito earlier. Because he was a demon fox with sharp hearing, it was only natural that the youko picked it up.
"Slow down," he had said.
Even though the silver-haired youkai envisioned perfectly how to do the techniques, his body wouldn't follow his mind's commands, as though it were short-circuiting at the last minute whenever his blade was about to come into contact with Jine's flesh.
Kurama was moving too slow, just as Udo commanded. The Black Hat Assassin turned Kanji Killer was simply full of surprises.
The ex-policeman took advantage of every slip-up and stuttering movement with his own elaborate Nikaido Heiho counterstrikes, which left the youko's white vest and silver hair dyed with his own blood.
"What's the matter, Battousai? Is that all you've got? Show me more!" commanded Jine, and to Kurama's chagrin, the Kenshin inside him followed suit. Was it his orders that made him move quickly again or did he get over the might of Udo's powered-up Jagan?
Kurama didn't have time to ponder such things. However, Jine used the reflection of his uchigatana to hypnotize himself into moving at the same pace as Kurama did, thus allowing him to keep up with the speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.
None of Kenshin's attacks were able to penetrate through Udo's defenses. "I now truly have a power that's greater than that of a king. Even the world leaders of both the Human World and the Demon World will bow before me. Perhaps even the Chojin himself will do so."
"I will not allow you to control me like you did Maya," swore Kurama.
To counter each and every last one of Jine's strikes (which looked like a tidal wave of steel at this point), Kurama had to resort to creating a continuous version of the Ryu Sou Sen to stem the proverbial tide of the Kanji Killer's Nikaido Heiho.
Youko Kurama's silver hair had now turned into orange and even his loose silken robes were transformed into Kenshin's blue-and-white garb during the Bakumatsu, specifically his days as the Hitokiri Battousai.
Kurama had lost two of his identities in the span of mere minutes. He didn't even know who he was anymore.
Jine then looked straight at the Youkiri Battousai's golden eyes and said, "I, Jine Udo, order you to be my slave. You will do everything that I want."
To the youko's horror, while wearing Kenshin's face (that for some reason lacked the cross-shaped scar), he mouthed, "What is your command, master?" even as his buzz saw strikes destroyed everything in his path, from the boiler room to Udo's defenses.
Jine ordered, "You will not kill me. You will not hurt me." And so Kurama obeyed. The Kanji Killer proceeded to slice up the supposed legendary youkai thief that gave even the Three Kings a run for their money in terms of influence and power. Like a lamb ready for slaughter.
It was already over before it started. As Kurama suspected, the only reason he was able to still fight Jine after the serial killer activated the full power of the Jagan was because he commanded him to do so.
Kurma had been under the control of the Kanji Killer's Jagan as soon as the latter turned Class-S. Jine scowled. "Can't you free yourself from my hypnosis, Battousai?"
"Is that an order?" a lightheaded Kurama asked as he defended himself the best that he could from Udo's slashes.
"No. This is an actual order, though: Stop moving."
Kurama obeyed Jine again, and even though his mind and instincts did their best to rebel against the command, his body would not listen. That was when the Kanji Killer began chopping his limbs off, save for the one holding the Demon Sword.
The youko didn't scream, so Kurogasa ordered him to scream. When he did as he was told, his master changed his mind and told him to shut up. His head was fuzzy. At the back of his mind, he wondered why he was so angry in the first place.
So some girl ended up dead by his hand; so what? She was never important to him. He only met her again a couple of days ago. On that note, why did he care so much about the human mother of the human he possessed? Why did she matter to him so much anyway?
The only thing that carried relevance to him now was fulfilling the desires of his lord almighty, Jine Udo. The Kanji Killer. His one true master that conquered him body and soul and outwitted him at every turn. He deserved to be his master in every way possible.
"This is... boring," realized Jine too late. He considered releasing the youko from his control, but then he wouldn't actually be fighting with his full power if he did that. It was the Youkiri Battousai's fault for not overcoming his Jagan's hypnosis anyway.
"How disappointing. I expected more from you, Battousai."
"W-What are your next orders, Jine Udo-sama?" asked the nigh-limbless youko as he swam in his own blood while using the Youtou Shinnoken as his means of moving his stumpy body. Unfortunately for him, the magical sword did not give him any Toguro-Ani-like regeneration powers.
The S-Level Jine shut his eyes in disgust and ordered, "I don't care. Kill yourself." He snorted. "I didn't want my duel to end like this. Where is my epic battle with the Strongest Manslayer turned Strongest Demon-Slayer? Why did it have to end this way?"
He never felt so empty in his life. Would the Chojin even present a bigger challenge to him than Battousai? He hoped so. He now had the Demon Sword in his possession, after all.
He opened his eyes, expecting to see Kurama disembowel himself, only to be greeted by a darkness that wouldn't go away.
'Wha...?'
The now blinded, eyeless Jine wailed and gnashed his teeth, screaming and demanding, "WHY? HOW? WHAT HAPPENED? BATTOUSAI! KURAMA!"
Youko Kurama didn't bother explaining anything to the sightless Kanji Killer (although he still remembered how everything went down). He instead bound him with the remnants of the kudzu that was supposed to keep him inside the ship's boiler room.
As Maya was about to stab herself earlier, Kurama froze her with the kenki-projection technique Kenshin apparently knew that was similar in execution to the Shin no Ippo (called Kanashibari), but wasn't as powerful as the Nikaido Heiho succession move.
This allowed the transformed youko extra time to pluck one of the Black Hat Assassin's twin Jagan, put it inside the head of one of his remaining mandrake mannequins, and have it reflect the unsuspecting Kanji Killer's illusions back at him.
The serial killer still managed to inflict damage upon Kurama with the whirling dervish that was the Nikaido Heiho Ryu, but as soon as that one hypnotic eye was plucked, it was all over for Jine.
Incidentally, the shrunken humanoid mandrake head was directly connected to Kurama's mind via penetrative roots that accessed the youko's nerves, thus allowing him control of the Evil Eye.
Thankfully, due to his earlier "practice run" when it came to creating fantasies via his wish to have Jagan powers insiude Kaito's Sanction territory, Minamino was able to make a convincing-enough dream that fooled even Udo.
As the delusion ended, that was when the youko plucked Udo's remaining Jagan, thus rendering him completely blind and unable to utilize his dangerous powers against anyone.
The silver-haired, golden-eyed, pale-skinned, narrow-eyed, and lithe-built youko stared at himself through his reflection on the Youtou Shinnoken's blade, sighed, and slowly slipped the naked steel back into its scabbard.
'It's okay,' reassured Kenshin. 'You haven't overused the powers of the Youtou Shinnoken for too long.'
To confirm the spirit guardian's words, Kurama proceeded to look at himself at the nearest mirror he could find, which was a circular glass pane that overlooked the deck and the sea.
He exhaled the breath he didn't realize he was holding. There he was, with his long red hair, green eyes, normal complexion, and casual (if torn) clothes. Shuichi Minamino still existed.
He made the right decision by attacking that way. He had not crossed the line, passed the threshold, or went beyond the point of no return. He didn't permanently turn back into the youko.
He didn't transform into Kenshin's most powerful form either. He was... Kurama. A demon "trapped" inside the body of a human boy. A wolf that was comfortable in sheep's clothing. A fox pretending to be a lamb.
It was just the way he liked it. He wouldn't have it any other way. This was simply who he was now. He was both human and demonic.
He heard someone moan and stir. He looked over his shoulder. The blind Jine had lost his voice screaming his heart out in pain and in defeat. The Kanji Killer couldn't even kill himself like he did when he was first defeated by Kenshin.
As for Kaito, he was soundly sleeping, seemingly mummified by the kudzu that surrounded his body, his wounds healing slowly but surely thanks to Kurama's medicinal herbs. Afterwards, Minamino's eyes alighted upon Maya Kitajima's prone figure.
"Kitajima!" Kurama hobbled towards his ex-classmate from middle school. "Are you okay?"
"...Didn't I tell you to call me Maya from now on?" murmured the bob-cut-sporting Kitajima.
Kurama scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. I've forgot."
"You won't make me forget everything again, are you?"
Kurama shook his head. "I think you can handle the truth now, Maya."
A red-faced Maya giggled in spite of herself. "M-Maybe if you put 'san' after it, it'd be less embarrassing."
"You were the one who insisted on me calling you Maya."
"Ah, fine! Whatever!" Kitajima pouted, but then smiled as Kurama stroked her hair. "Minamino-kun... No, Kurama."
"Yes?"
"I had the strangest dream about you. You didn't use that memory-erasing pollen on me again, did you?"
"Hmmm. I wonder..."
Maya lightly punched Kurama's shoulder. "Come on!" she chided.
As shared by Kurama and Maya, a memory of the past (or what could've been) showed something else had (or could've) transpired in the heat of the battle...
Kurama was too stunned and perplexed by the turn of events to actually follow a coherent plan on the fly as Maya attempted to commit suicide with Jine's short sword while under his hypnosis.
Acting on instinct, he focused all of his attention towards Maya and snatching away the wakizashi in her grip, neglecting to notice Jine heading at the same direction.
As a result, even though Shuichi prevented his childhood friend and middle school "sweetheart" from committing brainwashed suicide, he could not stop Jine from tearing her into pieces like a broken mannequin in order to etch the "Hei" character on the distracted Kurama's stomach.
He'd earlier imagined he'd rescue Maya like the countless times he rescued his mother from harm by demons and disease, but in the end, this childhood friend of his whose love for him was never meant to be ended up as nothing more than a pawn, just like with Game Master Tsukihito Amanuma.
Shinobu Sensui forced Kurama to kill Amanuma once upon a time. Sure, the boy was revived by Koenma with his pacifier (which weakened his powers enough to allow S-Level Sensui to avoid getting trapped by the Mafuu Kan), but the fact remained that Tsukihito was "executed" by the half-youko. He was never meant to live and used as bait, just like with Maya.
The Mark of the Kanji Killer seared through the half-youko's skin, making him bite his lip hard enough to draw blood, his fangs puncturing his mouth.
Like during his fight against Sensui after killing Yusuke Urameshi, Kurama's transformation into the Legendary Demon Fox of the Demon World happened before he even realized it, his canines becoming longer and his fingernails turning into claws.
As he understood it, Feng Xinhai used the same technique to draw energy from both the trauma and suffering of Natsuki Shinkai (Yutaro Tsukayama's reincarnation) and Daiji Matsudaira (Aoshi Shinomori's reincarnation). Keiko herself was in a coma thanks to Seiryu's attempt to do the same to her.
Unlike with the illusion Kurama induced by plucking Jine's Jagan and having his remaining eye stare at his other eye, thus hypnotizing himself, the Kanji Killer still had one more fantasy left. He had not used it to fool Shuichi into killing Maya.
Therefore, as soon as Jine passed the boundary of Class-A and turned Class-S, the next evolution of his Jagan had even more reserved power than ever before.
Kurama knew, because as soon as Udo unleashed his Hyouki no Jutsu or "Grasp of the Demon" self-hypnosis technique, instead of merely matching Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu's speed strike for strike, he overwhelmed the supposedly invincible Youkiri Battousai.
No matter what sort of seed, herb, or plant life the powered-up Youko Kurama threw at Jine, he easily shredded it or used his Jagan to make it self-destruct or kill itself.
Bamboo shoots were turned into fine mulch. The Kudzu Weed suffocated the Shimaneki Seed. The Vampire Plant had to be killed by the demon fox because Jine hypnotized it go after its own master instead.
Kurama's true fight against the Nikaido Heiho Ryu master (as opposed to the illusory fight) lasted a whole half hour that seemed like an eternity. The extra energy boost allowed Jine to accomplish things he couldn't have done had he wasted that one last illusion on Kurama.
"Prepare yourself! This is the ultimate evolution of Nikaido Heiho, the Jagan, and the Shin no Ippo! I will have full control of both your body and mind!"
For example, Udo could "order" Kurama's body to hyperventilate. Or have one of his lungs collapse unto itself. Or make his muscles cramp up. Even with the comparatively tougher constitution of a demon, such antics took its toll on the youkai.
Instead of panicking, the youko felt insulted that a mere human could do such things to him. He started using more and more the power of the Youtou Shinnoken to undo the damage that Jine's Jagan was inflicting upon him. Did the Demon Sword give him healing powers? He could've sworn that it didn't.
How dare Jine. How dare he make a mockery of the feared youko. A mere human. Kurama made his Plant Claw wrap itself around the Youtou Shinnoken tightly until it became a literal extension of his body.
Afterwards, a Ryu Tsui Sen was able to slip past Jine's formidable defense. Also, a Ryu Kan Sen. The battoujutsu and the follow-up saya blow sliced and battered Kurogasa up, even though Kurama's speed never actually changed.
The fact that his attacks were penetrating made Udo cackle even harder, as though he were delirious with joy. "Yes, yes! This is how you defeated me before! No matter how fast I became, you still managed to go faster!"
Jine had lost so much blood, a Ryu Sou Sen would've finished him off long before battoujutsu would've killed him. The youkiri inside Kurama didn't want to take any chances, though. This led to him sheathing the Youtou Shinnoken and going into battoujutsu stance.
Even with the sword sheathed and its power hidden, Youko Kurama couldn't revert to Shuichi Minamino. He'd been using the power of the Demon Sword for too long. He could no longer change back.
Just as he'd expected. Just as he... feared?
With his Jagan glowing ultraviolet, the Kanji Killer ordered, "I, Jine Udo, order you to not kill me. To not hurt me," as his eyes met with Kurama's.
Youko Kurama quickly realized that he had no choice but to obey.
The youko's pride kept him from giving up entirely, compelling him to keep on fighting even in the face of S-Level Evil Eyes that were capable of not only fooling the mind with mirages, but outright brainwashing anyone and anything.
"If you're able to overcome this, then you truly deserve the title of the Strongest, Battousai!" said Jine, and as a response, every split-second, the Youkiri Battousai's visage and form replaced Youko Kurama's, their bodies shifting back and forth from shinigami to youkai.
It was then that part of Kurama's brain felt like he didn't need to disobey Jine's orders at all while another splinter of his psyche started panicking. Was his mind about to break?
"Time to die, Youkiri Battousai!" howled Jine, his uchigatana raised up high, his Jagan prepared to deliver another powerful command. "I want your blood to clot within one of your arteries to the point of it rupturing!"
The power to control not only the conscious functions of the brain but also the involuntary operations of the organs that was normally out of the conscious mind's jurisdiction: That was the full power of Udo's Class-S Jagan with his energy fully replenished.
The youko could not disobey Jine's command to not hurt him. Technically.
However, he had enough presence of mind to unsheathe his sword and, as the Kanji Killer was about to manipulate another one of his bodily functions, he had him stare at his own Jagan using the reflection of his eyes on the Youtou Shinnoken's blade.
Therefore, Kurama didn't actually do anything to directly hurt or kill Jine. However, the youkai did enough to have the Kanji Killer's attempt at giving him a blood clot backfire.
Thus, it was Ex-Officer Takumi Hamada who had his arterial blood flow obstructed, which caused his artery to rupture and some of his brain cells to suddenly die. In other words, he had a stroke then and there after he was hoisted by his own petard.
This freed the youko from the serial killer's earlier spell. He sheathed the Youtou Shinnoken again then delivered a swift battoujutsu strike right at Jine's Jagan, slicing the eyeballs in twain along with his dying brain.
Kurama had no choice. It was either him or Jine. He had no other options available. He had tainted the Demon Sword with human blood. However, even though he was able to avenge the death of Maya Kitajima, he could never bring her back.
Nor could he bring back Shuichi Minamino, come to think of it.
To Be Continued...
Next: Misao Makimachi.
Yes, Kaito's Sanction power is essentially the Ars Magna power of Aurelius Izzard of "A Certain Magical Index" fame. Incidentally, Izzard is a reality warper who can turn thought into truth as long as he's able to make some sort of chant out of it.
As for Jine's Jagan or Evil Eyes, it's obviously modeled after the three-times-a-day illusions created by "jaganshi" Ban Mido of "Getbackers" fame. Finally, the S-Level version of the Jagan is modeled after the Geass power of Lelouch Ramperouge of "Code Geass" fame.
Heto na,
Abdiel