Rin's nerves suddenly tensed, his Crimson Sharingan fixed intently on the Bone Armor Cursed Spirit, even his breathing became lighter.
The Cursed Spirit, which had been thrashing wildly just moments ago, now seemed to have been paused, the blue light around its body dimming significantly.
Only its pair of eerie blue evil eyes remained, staring coldly at him. The previous madness was gone from its gaze, replaced by a sense of scrutiny and oppression, as if a different controller had taken over.
This is bad, Geto Suguru has personally taken over!
Rin's heart sank, and he instantly understood.
This steady aura was definitely not something an ordinary Cursed Spirit could possess; only Geto Suguru would have such a oppressive presence.
Sure enough, the next second, the Bone Armor Cursed Spirit slowly spoke, its voice carrying Geto Suguru's characteristic calm and sharpness:
"Jujutsu Sorcerer, you are quite good. But if this is all you've got, you will die next."
Before the words finished, the Cursed Spirit's gaping bone jaw snapped shut, and an ear-splitting grinding sound came from its throat.
That was the sound of bones rapidly wriggling!
Rin's pupils suddenly dilated. In the vision of his Sharingan, several bone spikes gleaming with cold light were rapidly condensing from the Cursed Spirit's throat, their tips flickering with an eerie blue Cursed Energy.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The bone spikes shot out, moving so fast they almost became afterimages, aiming directly for Rin's face, chest, and other vital points.
Fortunately, Rin was already on alert. His two-tomoe Sharingan instantly captured the trajectory of the bone spikes, and his brain worked rapidly. He was still in a stalemate with the Cursed Spirit using his hair, unable to move significantly, and could only rely on his reserved hair for defense.
When Rin first attacked the Cursed Spirit, he hadn't used all his hair for binding; he had deliberately left a third of his hair suspended behind him, precisely to deal with unexpected situations.
Seeing the bone spikes attack, he immediately channeled his Cursed Energy, and the hair behind him suddenly exploded!
The dark hair, like steel whips imbued with life, instantly intertwined to form a dense "Hair Shield," blocking in front of Rin.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!" With a few muffled thuds, the bone spikes struck the Hair Shield fiercely. Their tips penetrated several layers of hair but were then tightly entangled by the subsequent strands, unable to advance another inch.
Rin looked at the bone spikes just a few centimeters from his nose, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his back. If he hadn't prepared a contingency earlier, he would probably have had his throat pierced by the bone spikes by now.
He dared not delay and immediately controlled the Hair Shield to crush the bone spikes. But just then, the hair entwined around the Cursed Spirit suddenly experienced a violent tug!
Rin quickly looked up, only to see the Bone Armor Cursed Spirit suddenly brace itself on one foot, its other leg stretched straight upwards.
The bone armor on its leg deformed and contracted at a visible speed, instantly transforming into a half-meter long sharp bone blade, its body entwined with blue Cursed Energy flickering like flames.
"Rip!"
The bone blade, carrying a sharp wind that tore through the air, fiercely slashed at the hair wrapped around its body.
Those strands of hair, originally as tough as steel cables, were like paper in front of the bone blade, instantly severed, with faint wisps of blue Cursed Energy smoke rising from the severed ends.
The Cursed Spirit stumbled half a step, kicking up a cloud of dust as it landed on one foot. The bone blade slowly retracted, transforming back into leg armor, leaving only broken strands of hair scattered on the ground, slowly dissipating like black rags.
"Damn it!" Rin's face darkened.
He had not hardened the binding hair to its extreme to conserve Cursed Energy, thinking the Cursed Spirit would be unable to resist once entangled. He hadn't expected a Cursed Spirit controlled by Geto Suguru to launch such a fierce counterattack under these circumstances.
Without time to think further, Rin immediately channeled Cursed Energy. The front ends of eight strands of black hair instantly hardened into sharp spears, cutting through the air and shooting towards the Cursed Spirit. This time, he dared not hold back; each strand of hair was entwined with dense Cursed Energy, its tip glowing black.
However, the Cursed Spirit controlled by Geto Suguru reacted more than a notch faster than before.
It roared, stomped its foot hard on the ground, and its massive body shot out like an arrow from a bow, moving so fast it almost left afterimages, charging fiercely towards Rin.
Rin controlled his hair to follow closely, but the Cursed Spirit's speed was simply too great. The hair was always half a beat behind, only able to follow it but unable to catch up.
The Cursed Spirit moved nimbly across the playground, the wind it generated kicking up dust from the ground. Each step was heavy and powerful. In an instant, it closed the distance with Rin, its fierce aura pressing down like a tangible force.
Seeing only three steps remaining between them, Rin suddenly curved his lips into a slight smile, his left hand having already secretly formed a Cursed Seal behind his back.
He had long anticipated that Geto Suguru would control the Cursed Spirit to engage in close combat!
His Sharingan had tracked the Cursed Spirit's movements the entire time. From the moment it started moving, Rin had planned his counterattack route.
He was not as reckless as the previous Long-Haired Cursed Spirit; he always kept contingencies in every battle. The eight strands of hair that were chasing earlier were just bait; the real killing move was yet to come.
Now!
Rin inwardly roared. The remaining hair behind him instantly straightened, like arrows poised to strike, and shot forward fiercely, their tips aimed directly at the Cursed Spirit's weakest point, its skull.
Almost simultaneously, the eight strands of hair that had been chasing the Cursed Spirit also suddenly accelerated, abandoning the pursuit of the Cursed Spirit's body and instead wrapping around its limbs, forming a pincer attack from front and back.
In Rin's plan, the Cursed Spirit would either raise its hand to block the hair above its head or dodge. Whichever option it chose, its speed would decrease, and it would then be entangled by the hair from behind, unable to break free.
"This time, I definitely won't give you a chance!" Rin's eyes were sharp, staring intently at the Cursed Spirit.
But the next second, an unexpected change occurred!
Just as the hair was about to touch the Cursed Spirit, it suddenly let out a deafening roar, and its limbs exerted force. With a "boom!" the plastic track beneath the Cursed Spirit's feet instantly exploded into a half-meter deep crater, sending gravel flying.
And its figure, like a rocket, shot into the air, avoiding the pincer attack from above and below!
The two strands of hair only caught a cloud of smoke. The missed hair swayed in the air, having lost its target.
Rin's pupils constricted, his eyes filled with shock. He never expected the Cursed Spirit could break free in such a brutal and swift manner under such a close pincer attack, nor did he expect this seemingly clumsy Bone Armor Cursed Spirit could maintain balance in the air!
The Cursed Spirit in the air stretched its body, and the bone armor on its right arm instantly transformed into a bone blade even longer than before, blue Cursed Energy burning fiercely on its body.
Using the immense force of its dive, it descended like a falling meteor, with a world-destroying momentum, directly at Rin!
A massive shadow instantly enveloped Rin, and the biting cold wind stung his cheeks.
Rin's body stiffened for a moment, even his breathing slowed by half a beat. The distance was too close; the distant hair couldn't be retracted in time. He could only rely on his own body to dodge!
Just as the bone blade was about to touch his shoulder, instinct surged through his limbs like an electric current.
The precise Insight of his Sharingan allowed him to instinctively lunge sideways!
His shoulder scraped the ground as he rolled, his school uniform torn by the gravel, and his skin burned with pain.
Rin awkwardly dodged the bone blade, but where he had just stood, the Cursed Spirit's bone blade had carved a one-meter deep crater, sending gravel flying, and the Cursed Spirit's body was obscured by the splashing dust.
Rin quickly propped himself up, but before he could stand firm, the dust enveloped him like a thick fog, instantly blurring his vision. Just then, a sharp whooshing sound broke through the depths of the smoke—it was the sound of a leg bone rapidly swinging through the air!
Before he could react, a bone leg, imbued with brute force, violently kicked out from the dust, precisely striking his chest.
"Bang!"
With a dull thud, Rin felt a massive force surge like a tide, and his body flew backward like a kite with a broken string.
He arced through the air, his back hitting the ground heavily first, then rolling like a rag doll, the gravel crunching, grass clippings clinging to his school uniform, each roll accompanied by the sharp pain of bones colliding.
He rolled for more than ten meters until he crashed into a student's corpse, finally coming to a stop.
He curled up on the ground, his bangs soaked with cold sweat, clinging to his pale face, his chest heaving violently. After a long while, he squeezed out a suppressed groan from his throat, a trace of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.
On the rooftop, Miguel watched the scene on the playground, unable to help but frown. He reached up and touched his bald head, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness:
"Hey, Geto, aren't you going a bit too far?"
He turned to look at Geto Suguru, who was controlling the Cursed Spirit nearby, his eyes full of worry.
"That little guy only just awakened his Cursed Energy. He's still just a kid, after all. If this keeps up, he might not make it."
Every attack by the Cursed Spirit just now was personally controlled by Geto Suguru, from the bone spike surprise attack to the aerial slash, and finally that kick—each move carried a deadly intent.
Geto Suguru's face was also somewhat grim. He stared intently at Rin, who was curled up on the ground in the playground, his hands unconsciously clenched, his fingertips white from the effort.
A mix of self-reproach and heartache clogged his throat, feeling worse than if he himself were injured. Hadn't he already made up his mind to protect this child who had been bullied by "monkeys"?
But now, he was personally pushing Rin to the brink.
He looked at the slender figure, his throat bobbed, and finally, it turned into a deep sigh.
But the next second, his eyes became firm again, his tone carrying an undeniable seriousness:
"There's no other way. If I don't intervene, with his talent, it's very likely that the Cursed Spirit would be the one to fall first."
He turned to Miguel, his voice low but powerful:
"We must believe in Rin; he is stronger than you think. Only by experiencing desperation can he truly understand that this world needs to change, and our ideals are the only way out."
Miguel looked at Geto Suguru's serious demeanor, opened his mouth, and finally nodded helplessly: "Alright, I'll listen to you. What do we do next?"
Geto Suguru's gaze returned to Rin, his tone certain: "I guess he will definitely try to escape next."