-461- Alright, that's enough

In the realm of jujutsu, the technique of manipulating lightning, known as "Rai-ho," is derived from the Wood element and is categorized within the Five Elements.

Rai-ho is renowned for its immense power, not only causing significant destruction but also surpassing other elemental techniques in speed.

However, lightning is also notorious for its volatility. Its control is extremely challenging, and a slight mishap could lead to a loss of control and harm to others.

As a result, very few onmyoji specialize in Rai-ho, and even fewer focus exclusively on mastering it. Even if one were to search throughout the entire Onmyoji Agency, finding individuals with this specialization would be exceedingly rare.

Nevertheless, in the past, there was a exorcist in the Onmyou Agency who specialized in Rai-ho.

That individual was Tsuchimikado Chizuru.

As mentioned before, Tsuchimikado Chizuru had a unique jujutsu specialty: Rai-ho.

Utilizing Rai-ho, Tsuchimikado Chizuru was once among the top five in the exorcist division solely based on destructive capabilities.

She frequently displayed her formidable power, affecting everything around her, causing considerable consternation among the higher-ups in the agency.

Now, as the adopted daughter of Tsuchimikado Chizuru, Natsume inherited Rai-ho.

While it's not her sole focus, she predominantly studied it.

At this moment, Natsume employed Rai-ho in her jujutsu.

"Crush all the evil in this world! Shatter the malevolent spirits! Lightning of Exorcism!"

Under Natsume's resounding cry, lightning transformed into flashes, streaking towards the front.

"Boom!"

Amidst a staggering explosion, the flashes clashed with the wall of flames, creating a fierce blast. Flames and lightning scattered all over the training ground until they were halted by the barrier at the boundary.

Rozen's fire-based talisman was effortlessly blocked by Natsume, and in a direct confrontation, she held her ground.

Although Rozen possessed significantly more jutsuryoku, Natsume's jujutsu showcased astonishing strength, stopping the blaze. This display emphasized the true power of Rai-ho.

"Order!"

Natsume, like Rozen before, confidently released a talisman.

It was a Wood-based talisman.

However, the inscriptions on the talisman weren't related to releasing Wood energy. It was an original technique, converting Wood energy into lightning—a jujutsu of unprecedented nature.

As a result, the Wood-based talisman transformed into a lightning bolt, shooting through the air at an astonishing speed, heading towards the front.

"Well done."

Rozen raised an eyebrow, a playful grin on his lips, as he retrieved another set of talisman.

He held three talisman this time: one for the Fire element, one for Earth, and one for Metal.

"Order!"

Rozen chanted the incantations, activating each talisman in succession.

First, the Fire talisman erupted into flames. Then, the flames were absorbed by the Earth talisman, creating a massive rolling boulder.

Finally, the Metal talisman adhered to the boulder, absorbing all the Earth energy and causing a massive steel spear to shoot forth as if bursting from the ground.

"Fire begets Earth! Earth begets Metal! The Five Elements interact, generating and overcoming one another! Metal overcomes Wood! Break!"

The colossal steel spear became like a shot fired from a cannon, cutting through the air and hurtling toward the oncoming lightning.

"Boom!"

With a resounding explosion, the steel spear collided with the lightning after a brief struggle, overpowering and shattering it.

After two successive interactions among the elements, the steel spear's power had reached an undeniable level. Combined with Metal's advantage over Wood (since lightning, despite its strength, ultimately originated from Wood energy), even the potent Rai-ho was vanquished.

In an instant, the massive steel spear as if breaking the sound barrier, heading directly for Natsume.

"...!?"

Natsume was momentarily surprised but then gritted her teeth and shouted,

"Heed my call! Hekireki!"

As she spoke, a burst of lightning erupted in front of Natsume, intercepting the steel spear.

Upon closer inspection, the radiant lightning faintly formed a blurry figure resembling the deity's weapon "Vajra," a symbol of Indra.

However, it shone brilliantly with a golden hue, resembling a gemstone.

It was...

"A shikigami?"

Rozen furrowed his brow.

Indeed.

What materialized before Natsume was the shikigami - "Hekireki," a type of ethereal guardian capable of performing jujutsu under the master's guidance. It served as a second set of hands and mouth for the practitioner, executing jujutsu directly from the practitioner's body without the need for incantations and hand seals.

The lightning-formed shikigami entered Natsume's body as soon as it was summoned, causing her entire being to crackle and thunder.

"Ha!"

The next second, Natsume raised her right hand and released her jujutsu without using any talisman or chanting.

"Boom!"

Amidst the thunderous roar, the radiant lightning transformed into flashes, heading directly towards Rozen without the use of talisman or incantations, striking in his direction.

This is Hekireki, capable of directly releasing Jujutsu without needing incantations, talisman, or hand seals—a shikigami.

Rozen immediately swapped the elemental talisman in his hand to protective talisman and deployed them to create a barrier.

"Boom!"

The lightning struck the barrier, causing shockwaves and violent vibrations, making the barrier waver.

"It's not over!"

Natsume declared defiantly, extending both hands to concentrate her Jujutsu.

In an instant, lightning bolts shot forth like a torrential rain, engulfing Rozen's direction.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The sounds of lightning striking the barrier resonated continuously, filling the air with explosions and causing electric arcs to crawl across the training ground, shaking the entire space and making the air vibrate.

Rozen deployed several protective talisman, expanding the barrier.

However, under the relentless assault of the formidable lightning, the barrier still seemed on the verge of shattering, shaking violently.

If it weren't for Rozen's tremendous Jujutsu prowess and the considerable power infused into the protective talisman, trying to cast dozens of them, the barrier would have shattered long ago.

Of course, using protective talisman also required Jujutsu energy. Being able to cast dozens of them was a display of extraordinary Jujutsu power—a luxury most couldn't afford.

Rozen watched the incessant lightning strikes outside the barrier and smirked.

"In that case, I won't hold back either."

Rozen's Jujutsu energy surged throughout his body as he raised his hand, forming hand seals.

Seeing this, Natsume knew what Rozen was about to do and was instantly alarmed.

"Not good!"

Natsume exclaimed in shock.

And at this moment...

"Come forth, Hokuto."

Rozen's calm and composed call rang out, saturating the entire training ground with astonishing spiritual energy.

"Clang!"

Dazzling light ribbons formed in the sky above the training ground and gradually elongated.

The next second, a sleek dragon appeared in the air, its clear eyes gazing downward.

"Go!"

Upon Rozen's command, Hokuto immediately let out a joyful dragon's roar, and its dragon tail swung heavily, crashing down before Natsume.

"Thud!"

The entire training ground trembled abruptly, creating a strong impact.

"Yah!"

Natsume screamed, and her entire being was sent flying by the impact, as if blown away by a violent storm, engulfed in the aftermath.

Hekireki emerged from her, flickering like static.

That was a fracture phenomenon. When a shikigami experienced external attacks or when the spiritual body appeared unstable, this phenomenon would occur.

Hekireki separated from Natsume, its form dissolving along with the fracture phenomenon.

Natsume, on the other hand, was protected by a barrier formed by a hastily deployed protective talisman, unharmed.

"Alright, that's enough."

Rozen retracted the hand that had cast the protective talisman, gathered his Jujutsu energy, and announced it in this manner.

Hokuto immediately frolicked in mid-air, displaying a carefree demeanor.