In the dead of night on the streets of Shibuya, the distant wail of alarms echoed faintly.
On the asphalt outside the pachinko parlor, a human-shaped crater several meters deep stood out starkly.
The surrounding ground was fractured like a spiderweb, with chunks of stone and asphalt scattered in every direction.
Rin dismissed the purple skeletal form of his Susanoo and stepped down along the edge of the crater.
At the bottom, Toji Fushiguro lay sprawled, his body covered in dust and blood.
His proud Heavenly Restriction physique had suffered unprecedented damage under that overwhelming, unreasonable force.
Three of his ribs were broken, his internal organs had shifted from the impact, and every breath brought a sharp, tearing pain.
Rin crouched slightly and casually pried the Special Grade Cursed Tool from Toji's stiff fingers.
The Inverted Spear of Heaven.
The blade had a peculiar jitte-like shape, heavy in his hand.
He could clearly sense the strange power embedded within it, an ability capable of forcibly interrupting any Cursed Technique.
"Technique nullification. Not bad. I'll be taking this."
With a thought, the space in Rin's right eye twisted as the Kamui vortex silently spun, pulling the weapon into its dimensional void.
Toji's gaze locked onto him, blood vessels bulging in his eyes from sheer unwillingness to accept defeat.
He swallowed the blood rising in his throat and, relying on his abnormal muscle control, forcibly realigned his broken ribs.
"Don't look at me like that… I haven't lost yet!"
With a beast-like roar, Toji pushed himself to his feet, swaying unsteadily at the bottom of the crater.
As he moved, a grotesque Cursed Spirit crawled out from his stomach. It had the face of a baby and a bloated, caterpillar-like body, coiling itself around his neck.
This was his weapon-storage Cursed Spirit, Ushi.
Toji thrust his hand into Ushi's mouth and pulled out a pitch-black chain with a hooked end.
Cursed Tool: Chain of a Thousand Miles.
As long as the hook at the front remained intact, the chain could extend without limit, making it an exceptional weapon for both close combat and mid-range control.
"I was careless just now, caught off guard by that purple shell of yours."
Toji spat out a mouthful of blood, gripping the Chain of a Thousand Miles with both hands as his muscles swelled once more.
He pushed his five senses to their absolute limits, his presence turning into that of a cornered lone wolf.
"Without that defense, in pure close combat, I will not lose!"
Hearing this stubborn declaration, Rin came to a stop.
He looked at Toji's heightened state of vigilance, a trace of mockery flashing through his eyes.
"Not lose? It seems you're still clinging to blind confidence in your close-quarters combat."
Rin loosened his collar and rolled his wrists and neck.
"Since you're so persistent, I'll shatter that illusion completely."
"This time, I won't hold back."
The moment his words fell, Toji moved first.
"Don't get carried away!"
Whoosh!
The chain tore through the air under Toji's monstrous strength, slicing straight toward Rin's throat with a sharp whistle.
Mid-flight, it twisted unnaturally, sealing off both his left and right escape routes.
Rin did not retreat. He advanced.
Facing the incoming strike, his body dipped with a minimal yet perfectly timed motion.
The chain brushed past his scalp, cutting away a few strands of black hair.
Seizing the instant opening as Toji shifted his momentum, Rin drove forward, slipping directly into Toji's inner blind spot.
"You're just throwing away your life!"
Toji reacted instantly. Seeing the chain miss, he abandoned it without hesitation and drove his right knee upward with explosive force, aiming straight for Rin's chest.
That strike was powerful enough to punch through steel.
Rin's expression did not change. His right hand shifted into a palm strike, chopping down sharply at the vulnerable point just above Toji's knee.
Bang!
The strike landed hard on the muscle, and Toji's entire right leg went numb in an instant.
The force behind his knee strike was abruptly stripped away.
In the next moment, Rin clenched his left hand into a fist and drove a clean, sharp uppercut upward, slamming it straight into Toji's chin.
Crack!
Toji's head snapped back violently, his mind going blank for a split second from the impact.
But as the Heavenly Restriction monster, his instincts reacted immediately. The moment his balance faltered, he yanked the Chain of a Thousand Miles back, trying to bind Rin with the returning chain.
"Good speed, but too many openings."
Rin's voice sounded right beside his ear.
Without even turning around, Rin extended his left arm and caught the incoming chain between his fingers.
"What?!"
Toji's pupils shrank sharply.
Catching the chain barehanded? The grip strength required to halt the momentum of the Chain of a Thousand Miles was beyond reason.
"Come here."
The muscles beneath Rin's trench coat tightened, and a terrifying force surged along the chain.
Toji's massive body was ripped off the ground and dragged forward with one hand.
Suspended in midair, he had no footing to resist and could only watch as Rin's attack closed in.
Rin leapt upward, his right leg carving a sharp half-moon arc through the air.
Uchiha-style taijutsu: Shadow of the Dancing Leaf.
The heavy whip-like kick slammed into Toji's chest and abdomen.
Boom!
The sound of bones breaking rang out as Toji was driven back into the already shattered crater.
The impact collapsed the rock layers at the bottom, sending dust billowing into the air.
"Urg! Cough…!"
Toji coughed up mouthfuls of blood as the chain slipped weakly from his grasp.
This time, he could no longer stand.
His internal organs felt as though they had been twisted together. The recovery ability of his Heavenly Restriction body had reached its limit, on the verge of collapse after Rin's relentless taijutsu assault.
Despair.
An overwhelming sense of powerlessness completely swallowed the Sorcerer Killer.
He had always believed that the physical peak gained by abandoning Cursed Energy was the ultimate paradox.
As long as he didn't face something unreasonable like Gojo Satoru's abilities, he should have been invincible in close combat.
But today, the black-haired youth before him had crushed him using nothing but the most basic strikes.
That flawless fusion of speed, strength, and technique felt like instinct forged through countless life-and-death battles, so far beyond him that he could not even hope to reach it.
The dust slowly settled.
Rin landed lightly at the bottom of the crater and stepped onto Toji's chest.
The pressure from the leather boot made it hard for Toji to breathe.
Rin leaned down and grabbed the weapon-storage Cursed Spirit coiled around Toji's neck.
"Ee—!"
Ushi let out a terrified cry, trying to retreat back into Toji's body, but Rin dragged it out with one hand and casually threw it into the Kamui dimension.
"This storage is decent. I'll be taking the Chain of a Thousand Miles as well."
Rin looked down at Toji, whose face had turned deathly pale, his tone calm and indifferent.
"So, do you still think your close combat is strong?"
A bitter smile pulled at Toji's lips.
He stopped struggling. The wild arrogance in his eyes had faded, leaving only quiet defeat.
"I lost."
His voice was hoarse as he accepted it without resistance.
"Do whatever you want with me. In this line of work, dying at the hands of someone stronger isn't worth complaining about. I just don't understand… what kind of hell did a monster like you crawl out of?"
"That's none of your concern."
Rin lifted his foot from Toji's chest.
He had no intention of killing Toji.
Though the man was a mercenary through and through, his strength ranked among the very top in the entire jujutsu world.
Keeping him was far more valuable than killing him.
Besides, he had already taken his tools.
"I'm a fair person. Since I've taken your cursed tools, I'll leave you a way out."
Rin turned his back to Toji at the bottom of the crater.
"The Star Religious Group has already been burned to the ground by me. Not to mention, from today onward, your so-called bounty hunter career is over. Since I'm the one who spared your life, you'll work for me from now on."
Toji froze for a moment, then let out a weak laugh.
"Work for you? I'm expensive. If there's no money, I won't even bother lifting a blade."
"Money? That kind of thing is as easy to come by as I please."
Rin tilted his head slightly, glancing at him from the corner of his eye.
"Follow me, and I can offer you something far more interesting than the scraps you win at pachinko. For example… trampling those old fools of the Zen'in Clan who once looked down on you."
At the mention of the Zen'in Clan, Toji's laughter stopped.
His gaze sharpened instantly.
That was the humiliation he could never let go of.
Staring at Rin's retreating figure, Toji Fushiguro slowly pushed himself upright and wiped the blood from his face.
"The Zen'in Clan…"
He bared his teeth in a grin more sinister than a demon's.
"Deal, boss."
____
Yo Guys! New fic dropped, and it's updating daily! This one's actually insane 🔥
The Boys: Evil Ryan, Plundering The Metaverse
Search it up or click my pen name, then go to Works.
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Warning: The MC is Evil and despicable.
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