I'm a demon in Tokyo!

Chapter 299 Consciousness Slash! Use me as a whetstone to take the next step... and then, I will crush you!
First time.

Uesugi Tetsu and Ririko officially stood on opposite sides.

It's not about casual sparring, training, or practice where the outcome doesn't matter; as long as there's something to gain, that's fine.

To win or to lose.

If one side wins, it means the other side will lose no matter what.

There must be no third answer.

Ririko wants to win.

Regardless of the circumstances, they wanted to take victory from Uesugi Tetsuya.

Just like at the beginning.

—Upon hearing the unexpected challenge, the audience in the venue immediately erupted in cheers again.

Many voices expressed their confusion.

"They're such good friends, why are they starting to challenge each other now?"

"No, it was Tokugawa Ririko who challenged Uesugi Tetsuya... The latter clearly didn't have that idea."

"That's right! There are still two people above them who have never been challenged. They should all face them now!"

According to most viewers' opinions and suggestions, the script should now be that Uesugi Tetsuya and Ririko work together to win the first and second place in the seeding battle.

but.

"There's absolutely no way this woman would do that."

Although they were not in the same place, at the same time, Kujo Oborozuki on the high platform, Hozoin Inari in the audience, and Gen Shinsui in front of the television all thought the same thing.

Because this is a common trait among a certain type of person.

"Xiao Jin, watch carefully."

Yuan Xinshui calmly raised her hand, pointing at Lili, who was calmly moving her wrists on the arena.

"This is the strength of a true powerhouse, an undeniable powerhouse."

"Yeah……"

Kujouin Jin smiled dismissively: "Sister Xinshui, in my opinion, this Miss Tokugawa is more like a brute."

"Is that so?"

Yuan Xinshui paused, stared at Jiujieyuan Jin for a while, and after confirming that he meant it sincerely, nodded thoughtfully: "A brute, huh..."

"So, Xiao Jin, that's how you see her."

She looked away with a hint of regret.

It's such a waste to give such an exceptional talent to Jin Jiujieyuan.

Absolutely, it's a terrible waste.

"So, what do you think, Sister Xinshui?"

Having watched almost the entire elimination round today, Kyuuketsuin Jin pouted and said, "You clearly can't win, can you, that Miss Tokugawa?"

There was something else he didn't say—even Tokugawa's victory to this day owes a great deal to Uesugi Tetsu's katana.

Faced with Kujouin Jin's question, Gen Shinsui not only didn't answer, but instead asked in return,

"Xiao Jin, what do you consider to be the strongest?"

Before Jiujieyuan Jin could answer, Yuan Xinshui began to speak on her own.
Is physical strength the mark of a strong person? Is profound swordsmanship the mark of a strong person? Is mastery of magic the mark of a strong person? Is an iron will the mark of a strong person?
A person with abundant internal energy, abundant spiritual power, who has killed many people and slaughtered many demons is considered a strong person.
"Does having a lot of money, great power, long life, and high reputation make someone strong?"

Yuan Xinshui lowered her eyes, picked up the cup of unpleasantly refilled barley tea with her fingers, turned it upside down in front of Jiujieyuan Jin, and poured it onto the table with a splash.

The light brown barley tea instantly spread across the entire tabletop, then dripped into the handle placed under the table.

Amidst the silent dissuasion of Jiujieyuan Jin, whose mouth was half-open, Yuan Xinshui calmly and decisively denied it.
"In my opinion, none of them are true."

Kujouin Jin looked at her wooden table and handle, which were soaked with barley tea, with great heartache, but only waved her hand in front of her without daring to reach out and stop Yuan Xinshui.

Yuan Xinshui gently put down the teacup.

"Xiao Jin, the strong are forged by choices."

"Break free from worldly logic and rules, confront death with no chance of survival, make decisions that are completely opposite to everyone else's, and from now on follow your own thoughts and beliefs..."

The 'strong' are forged through countless choices that ordinary people would never make.

She smiled and swirled the teacup in her hand, responding to Jiujieyuan Jin's words from a few hours earlier, "I am also a strong person": "Little Jin, you see, you didn't dare to stop me."

Jiujieyuan Jin opened her mouth, but was speechless.

Yuan Xinshui continued,

The difference between a "reckless man" and a "strong man" is that the former is completely unaware of, or not fully aware of, what he is about to face.

But because of his so-called passion, he made a decision on a whim, swayed by a few words.

But the strong are different.

The strong are aware of their situation, understand everything before them, yet still choose to move forward.

Yuan Xinshui's voice was flat and even, as if recounting facts and experiences.

"Because the strong believe they can win, and they absolutely believe they will be the best in the world."

"—And this 'belief' comes from those choices that ordinary people could hardly imagine or would not make."

At the end, Yuan Xinshui paused for a moment.

She caught a glimpse of disappointment in Kyujouin Jin's eyes as they swept over the controller.

Yuan Xinshui shook his head helplessly, scooped up all the barley tea that he had already caught with his internal energy, and threw it all out the window.
"Okay, Xiao Jin, look."

The girl picked up the dry joystick and waved it in front of him.

"This isn't broken at all... I'll clean your room for you later too."

……

"Here you go, Uesugi-kun."

Ririko threw Kaga Kiyomitsu out of her hand.

When Uesugi Tetsuya looked at her, the girl waved her hand.
"Fight you with your sword... I would never do something so greedy."

Ririko then turned her gaze to Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was secretly thrilled and trembling after falling into Uesugi Tetsu's hands.

"Besides, if I were to use Little Jia to beat you up, it wouldn't be happy either."

Uesugi Tetsu nodded and replied, "Then you don't have much of a chance left to win."

"is it?"

Ririko curved her lips into a smile.
"Uesugi-kun, you can give it a try."

—Even without Ririko saying it, Uesugi Tetsuya could sense it.

The top of my head, and all around me.

In mid-air, the dazzling sword heart, which he could not look away from, shone like a real sun, spreading sword principles and giving him an indescribable sense of suppression.

Ririko's sword domain had already unfolded, enveloping every part of the main arena.

However, it is different from the sword domain of young Kamiizumi, which possesses "divine perception".

Besides being able to slay people from a distance, Ririko's sword domain also seems to be able to quickly "understand" everything that happens within it?
Uesugi Tetsu didn't quite understand.

Ririko's sword domain is quite complex. Even after being exposed to it for so long, he still doesn't understand much about it, because he usually just gets attacked from all directions.

At that moment, a crisp "po" sound suddenly came from beside Uesugi Tetsuya.

With a slight ripple, a white dress fell to the ground, and the petite, two-foot-tall adult removed her white hat and placed it in front of her chest, speaking with a serious expression.
"Hmph! I'll protect Lord Che!"

This comical and adorable scene immediately created a joyful atmosphere in the audience.

Snapped.

Uesugi Tetsu slapped the girl's head.

He said to the startled girl, "Erchi, it's not your turn to make your appearance yet."

The two-foot-tall boy was stunned for a moment, and a slight look of grievance appeared on his pitiful little face.

Despite having improved so much before the seeding battle, is it still impossible to truly help Lord Che...?

This idea was shattered in the next instant by Uesugi Tetsuya: "Because there are more important and crucial battles to come."

He crouched down, bringing his gaze level with the girl's, and said softly,

"So this time, I'm counting on you to cheer me on from the sidelines." The young man's face flushed slightly.
"Mmm...okay."

The Second-Foot Master has appeared now, originally intending to get back at Ririko for what he lost before, but it seems he has no chance now.

She was a little unhappy.

However, the girl lowered her head, tapping her finger and muttering to herself, "Lord Che's words cannot be refuted."

So the two-foot-tall man walked alone to the edge of the arena, watching Uesugi Tetsuya with a slightly nervous expression.

"Hey, it's about time this childish game ended."

Ririko frowned slightly, a rare occurrence for her.

She exhaled and loosely clenched her hands, causing Uesugi Tetsu's gaze to immediately turn serious.

No, not just Uesugi Tetsuya.

Even if the ordinary spectators and Onmyoji in the audience didn't know what kind of acrobatics were being performed, any expert in cold weapons could immediately sense it.

Ririko is holding a "knife" in her hand!
This was not the Qi Blade or Spirit Blade that Uesugi Tetsu had previously condensed, but a true, empty "air blade"!
—No sword is better than a sword!

At this moment, Lin Ren, who had been defeated by Ririko earlier, and Kitamura Yoyu sighed in complete acknowledgment.

If Ririko had used this move earlier, she could have easily defeated them even without that sword.

"You can do it like this? Turns out, not everything in comics is just a hoax..."

Uesugi Tetsuya maximized the power of his Eye of Deciphering, causing his "vision" to expand in a spherical shape centered on himself.

then.

Eightfold...

Ririko looked up and her gaze fell directly on Uesugi Tetsu's ankle.

—Both legs were severed?!
Uesugi Tetsu couldn't help but feel puzzled.

The Flame Armor hadn't lit up, the Qi circulation was intact, and even Ririko herself was standing at a distance without making a move...

How did she manage to deliver that slash?
boom!
Uesugi Tetsu fell to the ground, and Yaegaki's power scattered in all directions.

The surface of the ring shattered as a result, and a thin layer of smoke rose up.

In a short while, the smoke and dust were torn apart by the invisible blade, revealing a pair of blazing yet icy eyes behind it.

"—Uesugi, at such a crucial moment, actually tripped and fell flat on his face?"

The director and viewers alike expressed their confusion.

But unlike them, some knew that the culprit who caused Uesugi Tetsuya to fall was—

"Consciousness Slash".

"Inside and outside the arena," Tokugawa Ryuji and Minamoto Shinsui thought at the same time.

The Mind Slash is a technique that only a master swordsman who has reached an extremely high level in both swordsmanship and mental state can use.

Its characteristic is that it can ignore spatial distance and any obstacles, and directly strike the opponent with its own gaze.

Execute on sight.

This move has no wind-up or recovery animation, yet it makes the opponent feel as if they have been hit, making it extremely useful.

However, the drawback is that the person being slashed must also have a certain level of swordsmanship, otherwise they will not be able to feel it at all.

On the arena, just as Ririko arrived in front of him, Uesugi Tetsuya, who hadn't even stood up yet, felt his legs, which should have been severed, return to his senses.

And, unharmed.

Although I still don't quite understand what just happened.

But looking at Ririko in front of him, whose blood and energy were surging out like a tidal wave, Uesugi Tetsu already knew what he had to do.

The swords that came slashing down weren't just the ones Ririko held in her hand.

At the same time, there were also those invisible swords belonging to the Sword Domain attacking from all directions.

The Qi and blood of the human body's Great Elixir erupt.

In Ririko's hands, there are air blades that can extend and retract at will, as well as sword domains that cover everything with no blind spots.

—It seems that Uesugi Tetsuya was in dire straits from the very beginning.

—But that's only because many of these moves were being used by Ririko for the first time.

However, there's only this one that needs to be blocked.

Uesugi Tetsu raised his arm across Kaga Kiyomitsu, causing blinding sparks to erupt continuously.

clang!
Under intense wind pressure, all the smoke and dust vanished in an instant.

The air knife cannot advance an inch.

Behind them, hundreds of slashes from the sword domain rained down like rain!
The fiery armor appeared for a moment and then dimmed.

With an extremely sufficient supply of spiritual energy, it was restored to its perfect state in just a short interval.

I felt a slight vibration in my back.

Amidst the bursts of sparks, Uesugi Tetsuya's eyes, hidden behind the red Hannya mask, curved into a smile as he chuckled.
"Ririko, I won't be so lenient as to keep these too."

"I know."

His response was met with countless sharp teeth formed from his slashes.

boom!
The Flame Armor could no longer hold on and shattered with a crash!
The remaining half of the teeth fell into an extremely complex cycle of qi, and were swallowed up in an instant, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.

But the flashes of sword light between the two only lasted a dozen or so times before all those sharp teeth had transformed into the original essence of the Natural Flow of Mindfulness—

Three-stage breakthrough!
This time, Uesugi Tetsu's eyes finally changed.

He lightly touched the ground with his toes and immediately caught up with Lili, who had retreated dozens of meters, also dodging most of the dense three-stage attacks.

Even the remaining portion was enough to shatter Uesugi Tetsuya's qi circulation and truly strike his hardened body.

Fresh blood gushed out.

At the same time, Ririko, who was originally retreating rapidly, seemed to have anticipated this and added all the force of her retreat to her backhand slash!
Before their blades clashed, Ririko's gaze immediately fell on Uesugi Tetsu's neck.

The consciousness decapitation would slow down Uesugi Tetsuya's movements by at least one beat.

In this way, a proper strike could cleanly and decisively decapitate him.

Eyes locked on.

cut!
Consciousness Slash, activated...?!

呲呲呲!
The tangible and intangible blades clashed, and the immense force knocked the air sword from Ririko's hand.

Taking advantage of the situation, Kaga Kiyomitsu pressed his advantage and drew blood from Ririko's shoulder.

Having missed her first attack, Ririko immediately retreated to a distance of over a hundred meters.

She stood there, gazing at Uesugi Tetsuya, who was swaying as he stood up in the distance, a slight doubt rising in her eyes.

The consciousness strike just now should have clearly hit his neck and successfully decapitated him.

The conscious strike on the ankle just now was indeed effective.

—But why was that slash still delivered with all of Uesugi Tetsu's might?

Lilizi was completely baffled.

She glanced at the tiny wound on her shoulder and noticed that there was no sticky paleness or deep blackness present.

"When fighting you, there's no need to use those impure things."

Uesugi Tetsu touched his neck with his palm, quickly pulling himself out of the familiar sensation.

He listened to Kaga Kiyomitsu's somewhat chaotic thoughts and spoke to Ririko.
"Use me as a whetstone and move on to the next step."

Kaga Kiyomitsu's blade tip fell, pointing directly at Ririko's heart.

Red Prajna gave a low, sinister laugh.

"—Then, I will crush you."

Ririko remained silent, then reached out and grasped the new air blade from nothingness.

She also pointed the blade at Uesugi Tetsuya's left chest, revealing a bright smile.

"Uesugi-kun, I'm really looking forward to it."

(End of this chapter)