I'm a demon in Tokyo!

Chapter 250: A wave of the hand, and the thunderstorm dissipates! Seed rankings revealed! A brutal tournament format, the Sword Saint Grand Prize!

Above the dome, dark clouds hung like a city on the verge of collapse.

Thunderstorm raged.

A pale white lightning dragon appeared amidst the falling rain, constantly weaving through gaps in the clouds, only to be amplified by an unseen force at the moment of its descent, and then all of them were drawn to the same point—

On the rooftop of the Arakawa Ward Special Affairs Office.

A grand yet invisible barrier of Yin-Yang magic rose up, enveloping Uesugi Tetsuya, who was charred black all over and slowly exhaling as he opened his eyes.

It completely blocks all curious, puzzled, and veiled gazes from the outside world.

Extremely tough.

"The Five Thunder Technique has been broken through."

It was accompanied by words that sounded almost like whispers.

Uesugi Tetsuya's skin, charred black by the lightning, peeled away bit by bit, revealing the newborn, soft, white skin beneath, like that of a baby.

The purple light in his eyes subsided, and Uesugi Tetsu lowered his gaze to the panel and prompts that had appeared before him.

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

[Effect: Master the power of thunder.]

—At this moment, I am thunder.

[Because your Five Thunder Technique - Qi Harmony has been upgraded to Expert level, your Physique has increased by 3!]

[Because your Five Thunder Techniques - Qi Harmony has been upgraded to Expert level, your Spiritual Arts have increased by 5!]

[Because your Five Thunder Techniques - Qi Harmony has been upgraded to Expert level, your lightning affinity has greatly increased!]

[Because your Five Thunder Techniques - Qi Harmony has been upgraded to Expert level, your understanding of everything related to "thunder" has greatly deepened!]

"Has lightning affinity doubled again?"

Uesugi Tetsu reached out, removing all protective measures from his body, including his internal energy circulation, and caught the lightning bolt that had been slightly amplified by Nanjo Aimi.

Boom!

The thunderbolt struck with tremendous force, yet it only left a small black dot and winding lightning patterns on Uesugi Tetsuya's palm.

There is also a pain similar to numbness and itching that even ordinary people can tolerate.

If he were to raise his Qi circulation again and actively activate the Five Thunder Technique, then the lightning that had previously caused him considerable damage would have become toys that he could hold between his fingers.

Uesugi Tetsu stood up, his usual protective stance rising as he allowed the lightning to strike his head.

Hmm... I feel nothing.

He tightened his fingers, and the lightning that was about to fall stopped in mid-air, then shrunk and floated down according to his will, hovering in front of him.

The lightning generated by nature can indeed be manipulated at will.

Uesugi Tetsuya played with the lightning bolts, each as thick as a thread, and laughed happily.
"Thanks to Nanjo-nee's help, otherwise it would probably have taken several more days to break through."

—During this thunderstorm, Nanjo Aimi guided the lightning to the top of the Special Affairs Office to assist him in practicing the Five Thunder Technique.

—Nanjo Manami not only used Yin-Yang techniques to appropriately enhance the effect of the thunder, but more importantly, she raised a barrier to prevent outsiders from prying into her life.

From the moment Sky Dome One hovered over Tokyo, the first day of the Eastern Region Seed Station Qualifiers began, and attention became increasingly focused and active throughout the city.

If it weren't for Nanjo Manami, even if the thunderstorm were twice as bad, Uesugi Tetsu would have had to give up the idea of ​​training in the open air.

Because it's too easy for people to see.

If others, even opponents, witness the entire process, it would almost certainly indicate that Uesugi Tetsuya's Five Thunder Technique has made a breakthrough, so everyone should be careful.

That's not the case nowadays.

—Because Nanjo Manami's public statement was that she wanted to collect some thunderstorms to play with and study new Yin-Yang techniques.

Since she herself possessed a considerable amount of Yin-Yang techniques, this explanation was reasonably plausible and did not arouse much suspicion.

Uesugi Tetsu clenched his fist, causing the lightning in front of him to dissipate silently.

"Hmm... since the lightning element's resistance to attacks has improved so much, its striking ability should not be bad either."

He thought for a moment, then raised his finger toward the sky.

The Five Thunder Technique is activated.

Then, tiny, purplish-black lightning bolts burst forth from Uesugi Tetsu's fingertips.

The bolt of lightning pierced through the dark clouds in less than a tenth of a second, reaching the calm stratosphere.

Under the gaze of Uesugi Tetsu's Eye of Interpretation, the lightning that released almost no energy to him actually dissipated completely ten thousand meters away.

A kilometer is gone in an instant, ten thousand meters is gone in the blink of an eye.

Of course, lightning of similar intensity to what we just witnessed would lose its threat from a kilometer away.

At a distance of 10,000 meters, it is far less powerful than even the most ordinary static electricity.

Lost in thought, Uesugi Tetsu flicked his fingers again.

The lightning still shone.

However, this time the distance was within 100 meters.

After observing it repeatedly, he nodded in satisfaction.

—It can continuously release and fully recover to keep up with the consumption of the Five Thunder Technique basic attack, which can almost instantly kill a half-star ghost at a distance of about 100 meters.

As for demons that are not weak against lightning, then we might need to increase the quantity.

In other words, from this moment on, the human wave tactics for half-star and below have lost their meaning for Uesugi Tetsuya.

"Other than that?"

Uesugi Tetsu raised his palm, squinted his eyes, and observed the barely perceptible yet significantly altered Qi circulation on his skin.

He could feel that ever since the Five Thunder Technique broke through to the expert level, the circulation of Qi on his body surface had been changing with the passing of every second.

It seems that "thunder" has entered the cycle that was originally constructed by the interweaving of qi and spiritual power.
The perspective of the eye under the interpretation validates Uesugi Tetsuya's idea.

In his eyes, lightning containing a trace of the Guhuoniao's aura surged into him at the beginning of each cycle, and began to communicate and merge with the two "natives".

This time, it wasn't even Uesugi Tetsuya who was in charge, but rather a natural result of the Five Thunder Technique operating as it was.

The dual circulation of Qi is gradually transforming into a triple circulation.

Afterward, the energy circulation containing a large amount of thunder power will become more solid, more resilient, and also more...destructive.

"The plan to use the Five Thunder Method to deeply strengthen muscles and nerves can also be put on the agenda."

Because of the expert-level Five Thunder Technique's precise manipulation of lightning at a deep microscopic scale, coupled with the ability of the interpretive eye to "see" it—

Uesugi Tetsuya was able to repeatedly try and fail in the mortal world, constantly pushing the limits of how much lightning to use to stimulate how many physical bodies, thus bringing about greater improvement.

"The Qi Sea seems to have changed quite a bit..."

After gaining a general understanding of the external changes of the Five Thunder Technique, Uesugi Tetsuya, sensing the unusual movement in his Qi Sea, began to introspect.

The three distinct colors of the Qi Sea remain unchanged, continuing to expand into the endless darkness.

What has changed is above the Qi Sea.

Above the Qi Sea, several clusters of black thunderclouds suddenly appeared.

Although they were called thunderclouds, Uesugi Tetsu could sense that part of their essence was his daily "accumulation" of the Five Thunder Technique.

The other part is the reserve of the Five Thunder Technique.

To put it more simply, Uesugi Tetsuya can draw upon thunderclouds as if drawing from his dantian to unleash the Five Thunder Technique.

Uesugi Tetsu watched quietly for a while and found that these thunderclouds had no self-awareness and did not have any extra influence or connection with the three brothers of Qihai.

Moreover, these thunderclouds are even multiplying themselves at an extremely slow rate.

Even though it's far from comparable to the Qi Sea below, it's still a relatively outrageous phenomenon.

"After the Five Thunder Technique reaches the expert level, it has become independent of the release of spiritual power to a certain extent."

After a brief observation, Uesugi Tetsuya came to this conclusion.

No wonder the previous Qi circulation would automatically change into a triple phase.

He then withdrew his consciousness from the calm and expanding sea of ​​qi and tried out various new ways to use the Five Thunder Technique.

For example, generating lightning flashes remotely, or secretly guiding natural lightning strikes to move and fall according to one's will.

Uesugi Tetsu walked back and forth on the rooftop of the Special Affairs Department for quite some time, confirming that with the blessing of the Five Thunder Technique, his current speed was close to the speed he used when using the Eightfold Frame before his breakthrough.

If Yaekashi is used again, the speed will be several times greater than before.

At least in terms of "speed", Uesugi Tetsuya's stats have undergone a significant qualitative change.

After a full half hour, Uesugi Tetsu finally stretched contentedly and couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth into a smile.

—His breakthrough to the expert level of the Five Thunder Technique did not disappoint him!
—The Five Thunder Technique, which has undergone tremendous changes, could definitely become a trump card to turn the tide of battle in the seed war.

"Well, it's about time."

Looking at the still surging, relentless thunderstorm clouds, Uesugi Tetsu yawned, looking slightly dejected: "I think it's about time this rain stopped."

As he spoke, Uesugi Tetsu waved his hand.

As a result, all the lightning bolts that were crisscrossing the clouds suddenly stopped, expanded, and burst open.

The thunderstorm and showers that were supposed to last for an hour and a half were instantly dispelled!
The midday sun was setting.

On the street, countless pedestrians looked up in astonishment, and even people in cars stretched their eyes out of their vehicles, looking at the suddenly changed sky with confusion.

What... happened? Inside the Special Affairs Department building, Nanjo Manami, who had handed over some finishing work to the three little oxen and horses and was now taking a rare break, paused for a moment and looked out the window.

The thunderclouds have dispersed?

The next instant, she realized that it must have been Uesugi Tetsuya on the rooftop who did it.

Has his understanding of the Five Thunder Technique reached the point of "manipulating celestial phenomena"?

Nanjo Ai originally thought that Uesugi Tetsuya was far from reaching that level, and was probably only about to reach the previous stage before the celestial phenomenon.

Unexpectedly, this kid gave me a big surprise.

It hasn't been long since I taught him the Five Thunder Method on Line.
It seems like it's only been a little over a month?

Not bad.

Nanjo Manami's originally tired face was now tinged with joy.

It's really good.

Smiling, Nanjo Manami constructed a loudspeaker and addressed the people outside, saying that she wanted to give everyone good weather and that there was no need to panic.

So no one suspected anything, and traffic resumed.

The phone on her desk vibrated twice. Nanjo Manami picked it up and saw that it was a thank-you emoji from Uesugi Tetsu.

Because there are too many rivals and informants in Tokyo, Uesugi Tetsuya couldn't show himself in order to remain hidden, so he slipped away quietly.

[Tsuki-suna-chan: Nanjo-nee, thank you for your hard work. I'll treat you to a meal next time.]

[Nanjo Manami: Well, I know a new American BBQ place opened in Harajuku, and it's got tons of rave reviews. The only downside is it's expensive...you know what I mean.jpg]

[Moon Sand: Empty Wallet.jpg]

[Nanjo Manami: Stop fooling around. By the way, it seems like the preliminary ranking results came out just three minutes ago. Go check it out on the app.]

Staring at Nanjo Manami's answer on the screen, Uesugi Tetsuya exclaimed "Ah!"

Didn't the staff say yesterday that it would take several days to get the results? It's only been a day.

[Nanjo Manami: Actually, everyone decided on the rankings this morning. I guess the graphic designers just spent a little more time on it.]

Is this the efficiency of the Special Affairs Bureau? I love it!

Walking down the street, Uesugi Tetsu, who had changed his appearance using the Thousand Faces technique, first looked at various websites and platforms aimed at ordinary people and found that they were in an uproar.

—The Special Affairs Bureau's official account also published the rankings, allowing the public to see them immediately.

Instead of looking at the more important rankings first, Uesugi Tetsuya started reading the comments section with great interest.

[Is that all? Is this all the hype surrounding Uesugi Tetsuya is about?]

Why didn't Uesugi-sama get first place?! It's a conspiracy! It must be a conspiracy!

【Ahhh, Uesugi baby, you're still a baby...】

What's the ranking of Tang Dynasty wild chickens?

[First place is one thing, but who are the second and third place winners? Never even heard of them.]

Within minutes, hundreds of comments piled up, and each refresh added hundreds more. The comment section, with no entry requirements, was teeming with all sorts of strange and bizarre characters.

It was a chaotic mess.

Uesugi Tetsu clicked his tongue and then opened the Special Affairs Department APP.

Upon opening, the preliminary rankings popped up on the screen as a pop-up.

Uesugi Tetsuya still checked the comments section first.

The comments section of the Special Affairs Bureau APP, which has a very high threshold, is relatively normal, with most operators and extraordinary individuals believing that the ranking is not a problem.

Even if there is controversy, it is only between a few people or a few rankings.

Indeed, laymen and experts cannot be generalized.

Uesugi Tetsu looked at the black and gold preliminary rankings again and found his name at the very top.

【TOP5: Uesugi Tetsu】

"what?"

Uesugi Tetsu blinked in surprise.

It's not that the ranking is too low.

It was too high... something he hadn't expected.

After all, I used some outdated techniques in yesterday's attack, so ranking around tenth would be more reasonable.

However, Uesugi Tetsuya was also unclear about the specific criteria for this ranking.

He looked up again.

【TOP4: Tsuchimikado Arashi】

[TOP3: Kamo Teruichi]

[TOP2: Kitada Kei]

【TOP1: Yuan Jingshui】

The ranking was somewhat expected.

Even though he wasn't present when the two or three killed the puppets, just from the name "Kamo" and the sword principles released by Kitada Kei, Uesugi Tetsu knew that these two would definitely be at the forefront.

As for the TOP1, it has to be Genji Shizumi, who wielded that sword.

That sword strike would have been more than capable of killing a puppet; it could have easily killed even a Grand Master.

Having demonstrated this skill in the preliminary rounds, he was undoubtedly the undisputed number one.

Uesugi Tetsu glanced at the rankings again and found a few familiar names.

First up is [TOP6: Takizawa Kai], the first "turret" player he encountered upon entering the venue.

He is a seed from the same region as Saito Ryuichi, who is ranked in the TOP10.

As for Saito Ryuichi, Uesugi Tetsuya knew without a doubt that he was controlling the score again—putting everything else aside, he was at least much stronger than their own second seed.

Next is [TOP12: Tokugawa Haruhiko].

Glancing at the somewhat familiar name, Uesugi Tetsu didn't pay much attention.

He's nothing more than a clown.

If they dare to provoke me or Ririko again, I'll just kick them to death. I doubt this guy is much stronger than Kurobe.

Finally, there's the little brother who's ranked last.

[TOP46: Yuya Akechi]

It's already quite good that my little brother didn't rank last; it's a reward for his diligent practice during this period.

Now that the preliminary rankings have been determined, what is the purpose of these rankings?

Having noted down all the rankings and names, Uesugi Tetsuya, filled with questions, clicked on the Special Affairs Department's official account and saw a long string of official announcements describing the rules in a very rigorous tone.

It took Uesugi Tetsuya several seconds to read the announcement several times before he finally grasped its general meaning.

—The preliminary rankings are actually the rankings of the 128 seeded teams in the Eastern Conference knockout stage.

The top four seeds from Tokyo's 23 wards occupy the top 49 spots, the top four from other regions occupy the middle 32 spots, and the generals who made it through the open rounds and Swiss rounds occupy the bottom 42 spots.

As for its specific function, the announcement explicitly stated that only a portion of it would be revealed.

— That is, the 128-seat elimination tournament is not random, or the opponents are assigned one-on-one according to some pattern, and then the winner enters the next round of the regular elimination tournament.

The first round will still eliminate 64 seats, but the remaining 64 seats will be [65-128 seats].

The specific elimination rules are as follows—

[After the elimination rounds began, all 128 contestants were present.]

Each contestant has only three challenge opportunities, and can only challenge contestants ranked up to 10 places higher than themselves.

Once you enter the TOP10, you can only challenge others one by one.

Successfully completing a challenge does not consume an opportunity, but failing to complete a challenge will consume one.

When you run out of challenge attempts, you can no longer challenge for a higher position, but you still need to accept challenges from others to maintain your current seat.

Uesugi Tetsu narrowed his eyes.

This knockout tournament format virtually eliminates all elements of luck that would otherwise exist in the competition.

—As long as you are strong enough, you can definitely make it into the top ten.

This avoids the situation where a player with top-ten potential is inexplicably matched with Minamoto Shizumizu or Uesugi Tetsu in the first round and thus forced to be eliminated.

This competition format is absolutely brutal.

The announcement naturally included more than just the competition format... the reward system for the knockout stage was also listed below!
Uesugi Tetsu looked down again.

All 128 players who advance to the knockout stage will receive generous rewards.

The higher you rank, the richer the rewards.

[The final top ten will receive a super prize jointly awarded by the Special Affairs Department, various Onmyoji families, major academies, and the esteemed Sword Saint, in order of their ranking!]

The rewards are as follows:

　At the end of the month, I'm asking everyone for a monthly pass!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)