Chapter 45

I appear in front of him and swing down my sword.

Hinokami Kagura: Dance

A massive stream of fire appears when I swing my sword down. I can see Yu Long jump away from me to dodge my attack, but it is a mistake. I take a deep breath and shout.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!"

A massive torrent of wind appears from my mouth and hits the monkey youkai. I can see him trying to block my attack using his Youjutsu, but the barrier cracks, and he gets thrown into the barrier.

I did not let him rest and appeared in front of him, then thrust my sword.

Hinokami Kagura: Sunflower Thrust

Yu Long raises his staff and blocks my direct attack, but the fire released by my sword hurts him. I blink a little when I see him disappear into a puff of smoke and quickly jump to the left when my danger sense screams at me.

I can see Yu Long stab the ground using his staff and create a massive crater. I land on the ground and see Yu Long has a burn injury, but not enough to take him down. Is that a substitute technique? Interesting.

"That hurts. You are truly a strong man, Ryan! Let's do this! Clone technique!"

I widen my eyes when I see a hundred of Yu Long appear in the arena. I grin at the sight in front of me and take a high stance. I dash forward and start to dance.

Hinokami Kagura: Sun Halo Dragon Dance

I swing my sword while running around the arena. I ignore the hit I get from the clone and continue to focus on attacking. When I see five of Yu Long come at me, I twist my body and create an afterimage to fool the monkey youkai.

Hinokami Kagura: Fake Rainbow

However, it was not as effective as I thought because more Yu Long came toward me. While it does not fool him, it is enough for me to continue my dance. I continue to slice my way through the clones that are coming with me, and when I see five clones throw their staff at me, I take a deep breath and unleash two consecutive horizontal arcing slashes around me to strike incoming attacks.

Hinokami Kagura: Raging Sun

Two crescent fires appear to destroy the incoming attack, and I follow that attack by screaming.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!"

My roar destroys a good chunk of them, but there are still a lot of the clones charging at me. I put my sword away and take a deep breath. I jump high into the air and swing my hands forward.

"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!"

A long whirlwind appears, wreaking havoc on the arena and destroying a good chunk of the clones, but I did not stop there. When I land, I take a wide stance, spreading my arms wide and causing a fast wind barrier to form. A magic circle appears underneath me, and I move my arms counterclockwise.

"Shattering Light: Sky Drill!"

Alongside the whirlwind, a massive tornado appears in the middle of the arena and destroys all the clones alongside the real Yu Long. I take my sword and jump at Yu Long, who falls to the ground. I put my sword on his neck and said.

"You lose."

Instead of being angry at me, he grins and says,

"Yeah. It is my loss."

After he says that, the entire arena starts to cheer, and confetti starts to fall down to the arena. I help him get up and say.

"Good fight."

Yu Long releases a loud laugh and says.

"That is a good one. I know that you did not have a hard time fighting me."

"That is not true. The only reason why I can win is that your clone is going down in a single hit, and you did not attack me alongside them. You can defeat me if you fight me head-on and your clone to be your support."

He looks at me for a few seconds before slapping his forehead.

"Dammit! I really need to quit that kind of habit. My teacher already warned me about this, and it turned into reality."

"Yeah! Listen to your elder, you brat!"

I look to the side and see a tiger youkai glaring at Yu Long. Is he Yu Long's teacher? Maybe.

"Shut up, you old geezer! I already know it!"

"Then show it!"

I laugh a little as Yu Long grumbles while walking out of the arena. The host walks up to me and says.

"That's it, folks! This tournament's winner is Kyoto University!"

The host put a crown on my head and gave me a trophy. I raise the trophy high and hear the people cheer for me. When they calm down a little, the host continues.

"Can all the participants come?"

Shigeru and Se-Ah get into the arena, and they get the crowns as well. While Shigeru did not appear much, he was still part of the team.

"As a reward for the winning team, the three of you shall get one million yen each!"

The others smile because it is a lot of money. However, it did not stop there.

"As for your second reward, someone special will be the one giving it to you guys."

After the host said that, lightning hit the ground between us and the host. A second later, Susanoo appeared in front of us.

"Bwahahaha! Good fight!"

One by one, the three of us kneel in front of Susanoo. While Susanoo asks me not to kneel in front of him every time we see each other, this is a public event, and I need to show respect to one of the Gods of this country.

"As for your reward, I shall grant the three of you a boon each. If you need something for me, pray, and I shall grant your request. However, beware that I shall not grant anything that I think was an insulting request, and your boons are void."

"Thank you, my lord!"

We say as one, and I can see Susanoo nod his head with a grin on his face.

"Good! Continue to train and become the shining star that shows the world the might of our country!"