Tomie looked with satisfaction at Eichi, who stood before her with a struggling expression, his gaze wanting to move away but always returning to her.
The former Tomie was fixated on her own existence, believing herself to be the most beautiful.
She always insisted on using her own image to dominate everything.
This was actually not difficult to understand.
It was like many young masters and young ladies from Jujutsu Sorcerer Families who, in the early stages of combat, could not let go of their inhibitions and etiquette.
They would take a detour to avoid a dirty mud pit, giving Cursed Spirits more time to recover.
They would make unnecessary evasive maneuvers to avoid getting the Cursed Spirit's dirty blood or severed limbs on themselves, which would then give the struggling Cursed Spirit a chance to breathe and, in turn, put themselves in danger.
At this point, the bodyguards would need to step in, as in traditional, decaying Jujutsu Families, the lives of these young masters and young ladies were far more important than those of their bodyguards.
This was also one of the reasons why the Zenin Clan, despite looking down on non-Jujutsu Sorcerers, would establish the Kukuru Squad.
Tomie once had this kind of "inhibition" too.
But now, after repeated setbacks at the hands of Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers and growing once again in a perilous environment, Tomie had shed this inhibition.
Now, she was the incarnation of desire, and desire inherently had more than one face.
Therefore, Tomie no longer clung to her own appearance, but instead submitted to Eichi's desires, transforming into the person deepest within Eichi's heart.
"Come, come to me. I will fulfill all your desires."
Tomie extended her hand toward Eichi.
Eichi's gaze was completely drawn to that hand.
At the same time, countless images related to "desire" surfaced in Eichi's mind.
Just like Infinite Void stuffing a massive amount of junk information into an enemy's brain and overloading it.
At this moment, Eichi's mind was also filled with countless pieces of information related to desire, making it difficult for him to think of a way to break free.
'If this continues... it's no good... her Cursed Technique... has evolved... I must summon... Mahoraga...'
Thoughts that would normally take only an instant to complete now felt incredibly long.
Eichi clenched his fists and raised them, intending to summon Mahoraga.
Maximum Technique: Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel had been dispelled during the previous attack due to heavy damage.
Now, Eichi could only summon using the original method of the Ten Shadows Technique.
Similarly, since the Holy Grail was Eichi's external Cursed Technique and not an innate Cursed Technique carved into his body at birth, the shattering of the Domain did not cause Cursed Technique Burnout for the Ten Shadows Technique.
So Eichi could still use the Ten Shadows Technique.
Seeing Eichi's actions, Tomie frowned in displeasure.
Then she stepped forward, grabbed Eichi by the neck, and slammed him to the ground.
Her blood-stained right hand slowly unbuttoned Eichi's clothes, her fingers tracing over Eichi's body and leaving behind a painting made with Eichi's blood.
"Let's start here."
Tomie's fingers continuously moved over Eichi's internal organs, and after choosing her desired target, she began to extract it.
Tomie wanted to bring Eichi closer and closer to death, gradually eroding his will and bringing him under her control.
After gaining control of Eichi, the next would be Satoru and Sukuna.
Thinking of this, Tomie grinned, revealing a smile of assured victory.
"Nue."
A name was softly uttered by Eichi.
The next moment, countless bolts of lightning erupted from Eichi's body.
"Ah ah ah!"
Lightning continuously exploded across Tomie's body.
Tomie's body was blackened by the lightning.
The intense pain forced Tomie to temporarily move away from Eichi.
"You are not... her."
Eichi, enveloped in lightning, slowly rose, looking at Tomie as if she were already dead.
Then, the lightning around Eichi's body spread outward, forming a net of lightning that protected him.
Eichi's scorched body also rapidly recovered under Reverse Cursed Technique.
There were two conditions for summoning a Shikigami using the Ten Shadows Technique.
One was to form a hand sign, and the other was to call out its name.
Both steps had their own significance.
Forming a hand sign projected the hand shadow, giving the Shikigami the correct form.
Calling out the name imbued the Shikigami with the corresponding consciousness.
For example, Divine Dogs. If you form the Divine Dogs' hand sign and then call out Divine Dogs, the Shikigami Divine Dogs will be successfully summoned.
But if your hand sign is for Divine Dogs, and the name you call out is Nue, the shadow body you condense for the Shikigami with Cursed Energy will be unable to move due to a mismatch between software and hardware.
This also gave rise to two usages.
One was to only condense the body without calling the name. This would summon a shadow with form, but not a complete Shikigami, and thus it would not fear being completely destroyed.
However, because this shadow had no intelligence, you needed to continuously command it.
The second usage was to only call out the name.
The Shikigami's consciousness would activate, but it would not be able to find a body to inhabit.
What happened then?
The answer was possession.
After failing to find a matching body, the Shikigami whose name was called would attach itself to the summoner's shadow, allowing the summoner to use the abilities of the Ten Shadows Technique Shikigami.
Just now, Eichi only called out Nue but did not form a hand sign, directly loading Nue's abilities onto himself.
Eichi closed his eyes, suppressing the constantly expanding desires in his mind as much as possible, and with his remaining consciousness, began summoning Mahoraga.
"Mahoraga, adapt... then... eliminate her..."
Summoning Mahoraga through the normal method after so long, a hint of nostalgia appeared in Eichi's heart, but this nostalgia was quickly swallowed by the expanding desires.
Mahoraga's mouthless maw revealed a chilling smile, then it directly rushed out of the lightning cage protecting Eichi.
What followed was a race against time.
Would Tomie dominate Eichi with desire first, would Mahoraga find a way for Eichi to break free from Tomie's control first, or would Tomie be killed by Mahoraga first?
Eichi did not know the answer, because he was now wholeheartedly maintaining his last shred of consciousness.
Maintaining that small boat, which could capsize at any moment on a turbulent sea.
Crack.
While Eichi was in a bitter struggle.
Infinite Void and Malevolent Shrine, not far away, shattered once again.
"You're quite something, Satoru."
Sukuna grinned, looking at Satoru, this opponent who made him feel incredibly troubled.
"Likewise."
Satoru also looked arrogantly at Sukuna.
"But it seems we're winning."
Sukuna smiled, looking at the other battlefield where a bitter struggle was ongoing. He would not miss this opportunity, this chance to shake Satoru.
In reality, Satoru, with his Six Eyes, saw far more clearly than Sukuna.
The Cursed Energy within Eichi was incredibly chaotic, with only the last small area of Cursed Energy in his brain remaining normal.
On the other side, Mahoraga was constantly pursuing Tomie, but with Kenjaku's interference, it was difficult to succeed quickly.
"Daijobu."
Satoru waved his hand, as if completely unconcerned.
"As long as I deal with you first, and then deal with that bad woman who has repeatedly seduced my best friend, it'll be fine."
"Bastard!"
Sukuna looked displeased at Satoru, who was even more arrogant than him.
The next moment, their fists collided fiercely.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)