Itadori blinked, a bit slow to react. Give him a fight? What does that mean? Is he going to personally train him? Or...
This doubtful thought had just surfaced, hadn't even formed a complete sentence—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...
Suddenly, the sound of something tearing through the air erupted from all sides of the courtyard! It was so fast it surpassed his nerve reflexes!
Itadori didn't even see what it was. He only felt the light before him suddenly darken. Eight massive shadows, completely different in form, size, and aura, seemed to burst from the ground, as if spreading from the shadow that stretched from Genji himself, instantly surrounding him in the center of a tight circle less than ten meters in diameter!
"What—?!"
Itadori's pupils suddenly constricted to pinpricks. The hairs on his body stood on end, and an extreme sense of crisis hit him like ice water! He instinctively wanted to jump back, but as soon as he moved his feet, he abruptly stopped—because the retreat path behind him was completely blocked by two even more ominous, compressed auras!
His eyes widened as he looked around.
To the left front, Jade Dog Black and Jade Dog White stood side by side, their bodies lowered, teeth bared, growling. One black, one white, like twin yin and yang, blocking his flanks for evasion. Their eyes held not the loyalty and agility of before, but the cold, calculating stare of apex predators.
To the right front, an elephant the size of a hill, like a moving mountain of flesh, its trunk swaying, radiating a crushing coercion.
Beside it, the Ox lowered its head, its thick horn pointed at Itadori, its hooves digging into the ground with a dull thud-thud, the earth trembling slightly with each dig, ready to charge.
On the left, the Crane spread its pair of giant wings, made of wind and lightning energy, hovering at low altitude, electric serpents jumping and crackling at the tips of its wings, sealing the sky.
The thick, long body of the Great Snake coiled between the veranda pillars and trees, its tongue flickering, its golden vertical pupils emotionless, taking advantage of the complex terrain to block escape routes.
On the right, the agile and swift Tiger burial was like a white lightning bolt, leaving countless afterimages in the confined space, a divine beast with wings emanating a terrifying majesty.
Except for three shikigami in supporting positions that hadn't joined in, the Pokémon in Zen'in Genji's hands were now all standing before Itadori.
With such a lineup, unless it was a special-grade sorcerer, no one would dare say they could handle it calmly.
Itadori's mouth fell open, looking at the eight shikigami that had been casually pulled out, any one of which would be enough to make a Grade 1 sorcerer struggle on the battlefield, but now they surrounded him like they were being thrown around without care. His brain felt a bit fried, only able to utter meaningless syllables.
What's happening?! The promised "fight"... Is this the way to give it?! Eight against one?! Or eight against one with this kind of specs?! Lord Zen'in Genji, is there a misunderstanding about "combat training"?! This looks more like an execution ground!
"Go, Itadori."
I noticed that Genji had somehow sat back down in the veranda and even picked up his teacup again to take a leisurely sip. He wasn't even looking at the surrounded Itadori, his deep indigo eyes just subtly "scanning" the battlefield, and then, in a flat tone, as if greeting a kindergarten sports day, he uttered those three words.
Itadori: "..." The corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. Go? Go how? How am I supposed to go in such a desperate situation?! And what's with your "lovely weather today" casual attitude, hey! I'm the one who's surrounded!
Ignoring Itadori's internal frantic complaints and his expression that was about to collapse, Genji set down his teacup, propped his chin on one hand, and his gaze seemed to fall on the courtyard, but if you looked closely, an unknown seriousness lurked in the depths of his deep indigo eyes.
His thoughts drifted to another direction—a field that had interested him a thousand years ago, but due to limitations of conditions, he had never been able to delve into.
Black Flash.
A special phenomenon that occurs when the margin of error between cursed energy and a physical strike is within 0.000001 seconds, increasing the strike's power to the power of 2.5. It could be called a "critical hit."
A thousand years ago, Genji had noticed this extremely rare phenomenon. Occasionally, in the midst of a fierce life-or-death battle, a sorcerer would inexplicably land a strike far exceeding their normal level, enveloped in black lightning. But the sample size was too small for him to conduct systematic observation and research. And the trigger was completely random, without regularity, as if it were just luck.
He had tried to understand it. But the most suitable close-combat expert by his side, his younger brother Zen'in Sei, was a Heavenly Restriction user with no cursed energy in his body, so naturally, he could never trigger a Black Flash.
As for Sukuna... forget it, that guy wasn't very cooperative with communication.
Itadori's body had astonishing inclusivity and adaptability to cursed energy, his combat instincts were top-notch, his growth potential was immense, and more importantly, he was "tough" enough to explode under intense pressure. Moreover, as a "trainee," Itadori couldn't refuse any "training" content organized by Genji, including this near-lethal "siege."
"So..." Genji thought calmly, his gaze seeming to pierce through the figures of the shikigami, falling directly on the pink-haired boy in the center, who was tense and alert. "Come on, Tiger Emperor, let me see your potential."
"Then," Genji shifted his thoughts slightly, giving clear instructions to the eight shikigami. "Begin. Aim to 'defeat' him, attack freely. Be careful to avoid fatal injuries."
As if receiving a silent command.
Roooar—!
Moo—!
Hiss—!
The eight shikigami moved simultaneously!
Itadori's shouts, the sounds of fists and feet, cursing, the roars of the shikigami, and the sound of breaking objects instantly intertwined.
And Genji sat quietly in the veranda, the flow of data in his deep indigo eyes silently rushing, like the most rigorous scientist, beginning to record every struggle, every burst of power, and the possibility that might occasionally flare under extreme conditions...
Black Flash lightning.