I'm a demon in Tokyo!

Chapter 249 I Am Thunder—Five Thunder Techniques, Expert Level! Different Two-Foot Rescue Methods! Ranking Results?

On the empty arena stage, the Yin-Yang technique, powerful yet simple in form, burst forth.

It was now the turn of the 30-something seed, and he should be able to take the court in less than half an hour, or even ten minutes.

As he looked around, Uesugi Tetsu discovered that each branch of the Four Paths and Five Elements had different seed specialties, as well as many different sword styles and even the weapons they used.

It's quite difficult to target each one individually.

So, we need to change our approach...

As Uesugi Tetsu was pondering this, he noticed a barely perceptible wisp of thread drifting past his eyes.

He squinted slightly and recognized the thing as Sword Principle.

Whose child is leaving a sword lying around in public?

When Uesugi Tetsu turned his head again, he found that there were similar sword principles all over the venue, but they just floated in mid-air and did not touch the players or the audience.

Faced with Kenji, who was at least reasonably polite, Uesugi Tetsu focused his attention on studying him and tried to analyze him using his Eye of Interpretation.

—After all, he wouldn't be able to see these delicate sword principles until his sword theory progress reached 10%.

This indicates that its owner's understanding of swordsmanship surpasses that of himself.

Your insights are good, but they will soon be mine.

Thus, under the vision of the Eye of Interpretation, the speed at which the sword's movement swayed slowed down as time passed.

Finally, in Uesugi Tetsu's eyes, it almost froze.

Minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and even the two seeded players, Uesugi Tetsu, didn't notice.

"So this is what it feels like..."

Uesugi Tetsuya muttered to himself, feeling as if only a moment had passed, but he did not see any notification of a new progress in sword theory.

Perhaps it's because this tiny bit of insight hasn't reached 1% yet.

Under Nanjo Aimi's strange gaze, Uesugi Tetsu changed various hand gestures, rubbing his fingers together for a long time but managing to rub nothing out.

My first attempt to recreate the "visible sword principles" based on my previous understanding failed.

but--

Uesugi Tetsu reached out and pinched the unfamiliar sword principle that was swaying back and forth in front of him.

You can do it by pinching it with your fingers.

A burst of internal energy erupted from his fingertips, shifting away the wisp of sword principle that wouldn't normally be affected by matter.

"Ok?"

Not far away, a boy dressed in Taoist robes, who had been taking a nap, was startled awake from his sleep.

He looked around in confusion, then his gaze paused when he saw Uesugi Tetsuya, and his eyes suddenly became clear.

“Uesugi Tetsu?” The boy from the Katori Shinto school laughed. “Who do we have here? Someone who can directly move my sword principles.”

Sensing the gaze, Uesugi Tetsu looked at him.

The next instant, the relevant information appeared.

—Kei Kitada, the top disciple of the Katori Shinto-ryu Dojo in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, and also the number one seed in Katsushika Ward.

He is nineteen years old this year, but he has already obtained the qualification of "all can be taught without permission", and it seems that he has already embarked on the journey to become a sword master.

Similarly, they are strong contenders for the top three in this seeding battle.

However, there is very little information about Kitada Kei's battles and killings; in fact, it is extremely scarce.

Unfortunately, he had already completed the preliminary selection before I arrived...

The last recorded fight with him was five years ago when he won the championship in the National U16 Kendo Tournament.

At that time, most of his opponents were still ordinary people.

Soon, Uesugi Tetsu saw Kitada Kei, who had just woken up, quickly retract Kenri, who had floated throughout the entire arena.

It turns out that Kitada did not intentionally release these sword principles.

Uesugi Tetsu guessed that the other party had not condensed the sword principles for long, so he could not control them as freely as Ririko, or even form a "sword domain".

"So, my next stage should also be to first condense the 'physical' sword principles?"

This stage corresponds to 20% progress in Sword Theory?

"—Uesugi-senpai, it's been a long time! No wonder Nanjo-sama asked me to buy three smoothies just now!"

When Uesugi Tetsuya heard someone call his name, he looked up and saw a somewhat unexpected person.

He asked, somewhat taken aback, "Akechi Yuya?"

Holding three cups of smoothies, Akechi Yuya grinned at him, revealing a set of white teeth: "It's me!"

Uesugi Tetsu glanced at Nanjo Manami and nodded casually to her.

—The second seed from Arakawa District is actually this little brother, Yuya Akechi?

He had originally thought it would be either Makiya Hitomi, who was exceptionally calm and highly talented in Yin-Yang arts, or Hattori Ayako, who had already formed a contract with the three-star shikigami, Umi Ikko.

Because judging from the actual sword-fighting match, this young man was indeed slightly lacking.

But now...

Uesugi Tetsu took the grape-flavored smoothie, scooped out a spoonful, and nodded secretly.

It's been a while since I last saw him, and this wise little brother has indeed become quite capable.

Not only has he established a circulation of internal energy, but even his footwork and some other details demonstrate that his swordsmanship has made significant breakthroughs.

Overall, its strength should be above that of Samsung.

Unfortunately, it's far from reaching three and a half stars, and it's very likely that it can't even beat Chihaya Kuzuha in the True Sword Trial, let alone compare with the monsters from before.

After exchanging a few words of encouragement with Akechi Yuya, and waiting for the other to go back to warm up, Uesugi Tetsu clicked his tongue and sighed, "The fresh blood in Arakawa Ward isn't very good."

Nanjo Ai tasted the shaved ice in small bites, as if afraid of finishing it all: "Arakawa Ward is only so big... there aren't many people in total, it's already pretty good that two or three people can stand out."

Besides, you're here.

She pointed at Uesugi Tetsuya and said in an almost contemptuous tone, "With Uesugi Tetsuya, the number one guy in Arakawa Ward, aren't all the other seeds just rotten fish and shrimp?"

"No, no, no!"

Uesugi Tetsu immediately raised his hand, gesturing to Nanjo Manami the distance between himself and the curious gazes that followed.

……

Not long after, my younger brother, Akechi Yu, also took the stage.

The result was not much different from what Uesugi Tetsu had guessed.

Because his own strength was only slightly above three stars, Akechi Yuya even showed some difficulty when facing the puppet.

This alone is enough to make the ghosts and gods watching the arena shake their heads and rank him in the lower tier.

"I apologize, Nanjo-sama."

After stepping off the ring, Akechi Yu also lowered his head and took a breath, looking slightly strained.

He had naturally watched many top players compete before, which made him even more aware of the gap between them.

“There’s no need to blame yourself. You’ve done very well,” Nanjo Manami said calmly. “Guilt and disappointment won’t narrow the gap between you and them; they will motivate you.”

"besides."

Nanjo Manami poured the remaining shaved ice mixed with grape juice into her mouth, swallowed it all, and then raised her chin.

"Uesugi-kun, it's time to go on stage."

"Let them see for themselves the strength that matches their reputation."

She pouted, "Otherwise, there will be more trouble."

"Then I definitely won't make things difficult for you, Nanjo-nee."

Uesugi Tetsu waved to her, and after hanging up the Hannya Mask and the Four-Tailed Fox Jade Token, he slowly walked onto the arena and saw the puppet, which was not yet activated, several dozen meters away.

He sighed helplessly, pulled out the buzzing vibrator, and waited for Kaga Kiyomitsu to make his appearance.

—We haven't chopped anything for days, and our bodies are starting to rust!

As he watched the patterns on the puppet's surface gradually light up, Uesugi Tetsu calmly assumed a three-stage thrusting stance.

Actually, without these ranking rules and all those seeded players who had previously displayed their unique abilities, Uesugi Tetsuya wouldn't have planned to reveal much of his strength in front of so many people. He'd be lucky to even be able to defeat the puppets.

But since the atmosphere had already reached this point, he had no choice but to get involved.

The viscous, pale liquid enveloped the tip of Kaga Kiyomitsu's sword, but it did not fall to the ground.

Fine, purplish-black lightning and blazing qi blended together like water and milk, all surrounding the silvery-white, clear blade.

Stab it, stab it!
The thunder grew brighter, and the fierce energy surged more violently.

Although there were still only a few things surrounding the blade, the sense of pressure he exerted on the seeds watching him intently from the sidelines grew stronger and stronger.

"High-intensity compression."

Kitada Kei couldn't help but clap his hands and exclaim, "What an exquisite method of manipulating spiritual power and qi!"

At the same time, viewers in front of the live stream screen held their breath as the puppet's eyes gradually lit up.

"Good sword skills."

In the kitchen, Ririko, who was wearing an apron and preparing the food, commented with a smile before she even made a cut.

Under the watchful eyes of millions during the live stream, the puppet's pupils lit up completely.

It turned completely crimson!
In that instant, the three-in-one purplish-black blade of light swept across the puppet's neck.

"Roar……"

Beheaded.

The words fell along with the head, but before they even touched the ground of the arena, they were reduced to particles invisible to the naked eye by the thunder and the sorrow of parting.

It was scattered by the wind.

A tsunami of cheers erupted in front of countless screens.

On the stands, some of the demon-god level beings revealed undisguised admiration in their eyes and began to discuss it quietly with their colleagues, while others looked thoughtful, seemingly lost in thought.

Nanjo Ai immediately realized that Uesugi Tetsuya hadn't used much of his strength and was still hiding it.

These are all old moves from the real sword-fighting period, just with slightly improved stats.

—If we're just talking about this one sword strike, it should be fine for him to rank high or even in the top ten, but it might be a bit difficult to go any further.

hum!
Amidst Kaga Kiyomitsu's cheerful chime, Uesugi Tetsu sheathed his sword and slowly walked past the staff outside the arena.

"Lord Uesugi!"

The staff member, who was stunned once again, rushed over and said to him, "The preliminary ranking results will be discussed and voted on by multiple members of the organizing committee, and the results will be announced in the next few days."

"Thank you, I understand."

……

A dozen minutes later, the preliminary rankings for the seeds in Tokyo's 23 wards officially ended.

The recorded broadcasts were released directly by the official account, and various clips and edits began to circulate on video platforms.

The name of Uesugi Tetsu is spreading once again.

Of course, this time it includes many seeds as well.

Soon, videos appeared with covers that read "XXX Preliminary Ranking Results" and titles like "Uesugi Tetsu, Minamoto Shizumi, Tsuchimikado Arashi, Saito Ryuichi, Kitada Kei... have concluded today!"

The comments section quickly filled with fans of each contestant and rational analyses of the players.

—On his way home, Uesugi Tetsuya took out the small black metal piece he had received and examined it.

According to the staff, the serial number will appear on the blank front of the medal after the official ranking results are released.

Meanwhile, the subsequent match schedule will be released, and the significance of this ranking sequence will be revealed.

"The dog tag says yes."

After playing with the metal piece for a while, Uesugi Tetsuya stuffed it into his pocket.

Throwing it into the storage backpack might prevent it from achieving its original effect, which would be another hassle.

After glancing at the weather forecast on his phone, Uesugi Tetsu discovered that there would be thunderstorms tomorrow night.

But that’s tomorrow too.

Anyway, let's go home and have dinner first.

—The door wasn't locked, and Uesugi Tetsu pushed it open, immediately smelling the aroma of food wafting from upstairs.

Uesugi Tetsuya's face lit up with joy, thinking to himself that Ririko was truly an exceptional roommate.

Without her, I guess I would only be able to order a cheap bento box to heat up and eat at night... no, I mean, I would only be able to buy a cheap bento box to heat up.

Yaegaki made a move, and Uesugi Tetsuya ran upstairs in a few steps.

On the spacious dining table, there were only two large bowls of egg fried rice.

"I started my practice quite late, so I didn't have time to prepare complicated meals."

Ririko, who had already started shoveling rice into her mouth, puffed out her cheeks and mumbled something indistinctly.

"Where is the time to stop?" After the two wisps of water evaporated on his palms, Uesugi Tetsu immediately sat down and picked up his chopsticks. "Riki! You're practically my long-lost godfather!"

Amidst the aroma of fried rice, Ririko's intermittent voice drifted over: "By the way, there are three things you could improve on that knife you used today."

"Listen."

Uesugi Tetsu, who was eating heartily, nodded to her.

So, while eating, Ririko explained her insights in great detail.

When Uesugi Tetsu put down his empty rice bowl, he was surprised to find that his proficiency in the Natural Rishin-ryu style had increased by about ten points.

"Do you understand everything?"

"How could you not understand chewing it up and feeding it to someone else?"

Ririko smiled after hearing this: "That's settled then, I'm going to wash the dishes."

"okay."

Uesugi Tetsuya, who was happily moving to the sofa, took out his phone and opened the pile of messages from Huijue that had accumulated during the meal.

[Huijue: Uesugi, the negative energy on the surface of the Jizo statue has been removed. This negative energy has been transferred to Buddha statues in local temples; it's a mutually beneficial arrangement.]

[Huijue: Actually, even if it were removed, it should have been returned to you. But because this humble monk needs to review the temple's records, I have to pay some... protection money? tribute? or rent? Anyway, that's the gist of it.]

[Huijue: Then, in the past few days, this humble monk found two specific, highly probable solutions in the files.]

Just as Uesugi Tetsuya was about to send a "you've worked hard" emoji, he subconsciously sat up straight and looked down.

[Huijue: Firstly, after blessing the Ksitigarbha image with a special secret method, it is thrown into the body of the "aggregate of evil thoughts". After about one or two months, the power of vows within will automatically flow out.]

In this way, your shikigami will be restored to its original state, but you will also gain a malevolent thought that has become a Buddha.

As for special secret techniques, you may either perform them yourself, or I may teach them to you, Uesugi.

[Huijue: The second method... is for you, Uesugi, to personally direct your thoughts deep into the Jizo statue and actively absorb the power of wishes with your shikigami.]

Because of the seal, the power of will remains unchanged, and can be refined and absorbed by your shikigami little by little.

However, this requires strong mental cultivation and a deep connection with the shikigami itself, because once you enter it, you will be trapped in a very realistic illusion created by the shikigami itself.

If you're not careful, even you, Uesugi, could easily become lost and succumb to this illusion.

Ririko's state of mind is perfectly acceptable, but this humble monk is unaware of her relationship with this shikigami.

[Huijue: The choice is ultimately up to Uesugi.]

[Huijue: I will return to Tokyo in a few days, and then I will return the Ksitigarbha statue to you.]

[Moon Sand: Thank you, Master (seriously.jpg).]

……

Noon the next day.

On the rooftop, amidst the unexpected thunderstorm, Uesugi Tetsuya, his skin charred black, opened his eyes, which were filled with a vibrant, deep purple light.

【Five Thunder Techniques - Qi Harmony (Expert 5/5600)】

[Effect: Master the power of thunder.]

—At this moment, I am thunder.

(End of this chapter)