Windrise
As soon as he reached the edge of the cliff overlooking Windrise, Kaito stopped in his tracks. He stood still, letting his gaze sweep across the expanse before him. For a moment, the world seemed still—as if even the wind was waiting for his reaction.
"Wow…" he murmured softly. "It's so much bigger when you see it in person."
Below lay a vast valley with seemingly endless green meadows. A gentle breeze blew, making the grass sway like calm green waves. But what truly captured his attention was a single, giant tree standing firmly in the center of Windrise. Its trunk was massive and ancient, with branches stretching out in all directions, as if it had witnessed the passage of time in Mondstadt for hundreds of years. Directly beneath the tree stood the Statue of the Seven—a symbol of the Anemo Archon and the freedom that is the soul of this city.
There was something different about this place. It wasn't just beautiful, it was sacred.
Kaito took a deep breath and then looked further out. With his keen observation, he quickly spotted three Hilichurl encampments scattered around the outskirts of Windrise. Thin smoke billowed from their campfires, and several masked figures could be seen pacing back and forth, clearly oblivious to the approaching danger.
"Alright," Kaito muttered with a slight grin. "Let's start with the closest one."
His body moved nimbly down the cliff. Each step felt light, as if the gravity here was a little kinder to him. As he approached the first encampment, his heartbeat calmed. It wasn't due to underestimating his opponent, but rather to a hard-to-conceal excitement.
He had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
Limitless.
The technique he had once only seen on screen was now truly within his grasp. A power that embodied the concept of infinity itself—a space that could never truly be touched.
In his mind, Kaito recalled its basic principles.
Limitless is a technique possessed by Gojo Satoru from the anime Jujutsu Kaisen. This technique embodies the concept of "Infinity," allowing the user to manipulate and distort space at will.
This technique has three main abilities: Mugen, Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue, and Cursed Technique Reversal: Red.
Mugen: The ability to distort the surrounding space so that anything approaching the user is slowed infinitely, meaning that attacks will never reach the user.
Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue: This technique converges infinite space into a single point, creating a void-like effect and generating an attractive force. The aforementioned center point sometimes manifests as a blue sphere.
Cursed Technique Reversal: Red: This technique reverses the effects of the enhanced technique and brings infinite divergence into reality, generating a repulsive force. This technique manifests as a small red sphere that can unleash immense explosive power in an instant.
In addition to these three techniques, Limitless possesses a technique with incredibly destructive power: Hollow Technique: Purple.
This technique combines Red and Blue. Infinity, convergence, and divergence collide, producing an imaginary mass that shoots forward. This technique has incredible explosive power, far surpassing that of Blue and Red. In the original story, Gojo destroyed all of Shinjuku using the Purple technique against Sukuna, but Kaito had no intention of using it here.
"Not yet," he thought. "It's too much."
…
Soon, he arrived at the first campsite. From behind a bush, Kaito observed for a moment. About twelve hilichurls were gathered there. Some carried crude wooden clubs, while two stood guard with simple crossbows. They seemed unguarded—laughing, shouting in their own indistinct language.
Kaito's steps out from hiding immediately attracted attention.
"Aaah—!"
A harsh scream echoed. The hilichurls turned their heads in unison, then without hesitation raised their weapons and charged at him.
Kaito only sighed softly. He cracked his neck to the side, his fingers clicking as he clenched his fist.
"Alright," he said calmly, almost bored. "Let's begin."
In a flash, his body disappeared from view.
The hilichurl archer hadn't even had time to pull the trigger when Kaito appeared right beside him. His hand imbued with Haki, a simple but powerful blow struck the side of the creature's head.
BAM!
The hilichurl's body was thrown and fell lifeless before it could utter a second sound.
"…Seriously?" Kaito snickered softly. "Died instantly?"
His tone was slightly disappointed, as if he had expected a more substantial resistance. He vanished again, and within seconds two more archers fell to the same fate.
Seeing their comrades fall so quickly, the other hilichurls went berserk. They screamed wildly and charged in unison, swinging their weapons with full force.
Kaito stopped moving.
He raised two fingers casually, pointing them at the group running toward him.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
The air between them suddenly distorted. A small blue sphere appeared, almost beautiful—but in an instant, it turned into a center of nothingness. The ground crackled, the air roared, and the hilichurls' bodies were dragged to a single point, colliding helplessly with each other.
A chaotic scream rang out, but it was short-lived.
Kaito glanced to the side and saw a blunt sword lying on the ground. The hilt was worn, the blade scarred—probably the property of an unlucky adventurer.
He picked up the sword.
"Pretty good."
As if contemplating something, Kaito coated the sword with Ryou Haki. His Haki flowed, enveloping the blade with an invisible yet heavy pressure. Kaito raised the sword with one hand and swung it without hesitation.
"Kamusari"
One slash.
A wave of energy shot straight forward, slicing through the air with a sharp sound.
SLASH!
A group of hilichurls sucked in by Blue were sliced cleanly in a single line. Their bodies fell apart, the slash continuing to destroy the campsite until it stopped after the largest hut was destroyed, and silence returned to the campsite.
Kaito lowered his sword and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Heh… Roger's technique is truly remarkable," he said with a small smile. "Combined with Limitless, the results are clean. Effective, without excessive destruction."
He replaced the sword on the ground and walked away. But before he completely left, Kaito paused and glanced at the giant tree in the distance—the Windrise Tree, standing majestically in the middle of the meadow.
A faint smile spread across his face.
Without another word, Kaito turned and continued on his way to the next campsite, leaving a silent trail behind him.