Sora prepares a hand seal.
“Ninth Technique. Deploy.”
Sennen Tengu, charging forward from the front, clenched his back teeth hard.
(He was hiding his cursed energy until the last possible moment. What a sly little brat.)
The gale rushing toward Sora grew even stronger.
And with that, Sennen Tengu laughed.
(He's made a mistake. What he's about to unleash is the same thing he used to reattach Ao's arm.)
The Ninth Incantation bracelet Sora picked up from Mikage's storehouse had a special characteristic: it would glow when the incantation was activated.
The Tengu saw right through it and began to make more inferences.
The battle with an Onmyoji isn't a simple test of strength or cursed energy.
Crippling the opponent's hand to play our advantageous one.
Sora's tool glowed when he activated the Ninth Technique just now.
(That little brat got close to Ao to activate the incantation. This means Ueno Sora's Ninth Technique is a short-range type!)
He concludes that all he has to do is not get close to Ueno Sora.
(All I need to do is make him waste his technique, catch him off guard, and then strike...!)
Right before Sora, Sennen Tengu swung his fan hard.
"Backdraft."
Sora's eyebrow twitched slightly.
"Hm?"
Tengu gauged the distance to Sora and stopped just at the edge of the technique’s range.
"Oh, so you won't activate the technique?"
It was obvious to anyone that the goal was to make the technique fail.
"He can stop from that speed!?"
"Amazing…"
"He stopped dead in his tracks!?"
Sora, having realized the Tengu's goal, remains motionless with his hand sign still formed.
This
time, they faced each other from an even closer distance.
The
Tengu looked down on him, trying to taunt him.
"What's wrong, are you not going to activate your technique?"
"…"
"Or perhaps it can't reach this far, little one?"
"He's really egging him on."
"Is this guy actually thinking about his fighting strategy?"
"I've never heard of a monster that taunts you like this..."
"It's like a person-to-person fight..."
"Sora, don't fall for his provocation!"
As the number of viewers increased, many comments flowed by.
Sora's never-before-seen Ninth Technique, and an unidentified monster.
The number of viewers watching this has climbed into the millions.
Everyone thought, "Sora was outsmarted."
Sora's Ninth Technique is a short-range type. He has no choice but to use another incantation here.
The opponent's provocation to use the Ninth Technique is obvious. There is no need to fall for it.
"If that's the case, he'll have to use another technique, right?"
"If he teams up with Ao, they can win easily, can't they?"
"The strongest sibling duo...!"
"Why isn't Sora moving?"
"Well, of course he wouldn't use the Ninth Technique."
"Sora, what are you going to do...?"
In an instant, Sora continued.
“Ninth Technique.”
“--------!?”
The Ninth Technique bracelet glowed.
"Fuaa!?"
"He's using it even though he was baited into it!?"
"Wait, isn't that a short-range technique?"
"What's going on!?"
"If he misses, he'll be wide open for an attack!?"
Just like the comments, the Tengu was also surprised inwardly.
(It's not a short-range technique? Is that why he didn't activate it even when I stopped?)
"The distance!"
The Tengu's prediction was correct.
The Ninth Technique────is a short-range technique.
The official name of that tool is Kukri.
In the past, it was one of Sora's favorite tools.
"────Water Life Thread"
＊
Sennen Tengu distanced himself, a frown on his face.
"Nothing happened."
"It already has."
"Nonsense. Just admit you failed with your technique…"
It was then that the Tengu finally seemed to notice something was off.
"My legs... they won't move?"
The Tengu's legs wouldn't twitch, as if they were sewn to the ground with thread.
"The Ninth Technique is an evolution of the Water-Life Thread. You see, with the Water-Life Thread, you can only create one or two threads from your hand."
He wove pale blue threads around himself.
"The power and durability were good, but it lacked in quantity. So, I decided to create a technique that could produce a lot of threads."
Although
the power and strength were reduced, there were many fine water-life
threads.
During the Heian period, Onmyoji called the Ninth
Technique by this name.
"....Invisible threads huh!!"
"That's right."
"Hmph! Pretty amazing, right?" I said, puffing out my chest.
How
hard was it to make this?
The threads are so thin that
it's impossible to process them one by one in my head, so I decided
to let the tools do the processing for me.
Because
of this, it has become a very draining technique. The tools also
break easily.
But just like when I held Ao's arm
earlier, I can also heal people.
It's my favorite technique.
"Kinda plain."
"Invisible threads, huh? Sounds strong, but you can't see them on the screen."
"I thought it would be flashier."
"But his smug face is cute, so it's all good."
"Smug bean."
“Are?”
That's not the reaction I
expected.
Well, I guess you really can't see it through a
screen.
I sometimes can't see it even when I strain my eyes.
Uuun, I started to worry that I should have used a different technique, but then the Tengu made his move.
"A technique of this level...!"
"But it's enough for me."
Ao circled around behind the Tengu and swung his sword.
The sound ‘byuun’ from the wind can be heard.
“...are, he is gone.”
The Tengu dodged Ao's attack and is now floating above us.
It seems he severed the countless threads with wind.
"No matter the era, the way onmyoji fight remains the same. They're cunning and use tricks. Things like invisible threads are just like the Seimei family."
"I'm not a power-type onmyoji."
My true nature lies in the number of moves I make. If it were just a matter of brute force, my abilities wouldn't even come close to Seimei's.
Ao muttered, "You can do it if you try."
"But isn't it annoying when you can't break through someone who not only has overwhelming power but also a multitude of attacks?"
"No. You're mean."
"Right, right?"
Are, did you just say I have a bad personality?
"Oh well... Third Technique, deploy."
He took out a charm from his pocket and summoned the sword he had stored away.
"Let's finish this soon."
Ao, who was standing next to me, was holding his sword just like me and making a mudra with one hand.
Of course, the person watching is Tengu.
Ao muttered.
"A chance to cook Tengu..."
"He's still saying it www"
"Don't eat Tengu www"
"You can't eat it www"