[FFML] [yyh][rk][xover] Demon Sword Chapter 35: Red Rose in the Darkness (Part 3)

[Abdiel]

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Demon Sword
A Yuyu Hakusho/Rurouni Kenshin Crossover Fan Fiction Story
By Chester Castañeda
chester.castaneda at gmail.com
gabriel_gabdiel at yahoo.com
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/223441/
Original concept by Chad Yang
chadjill at ms3.hinet.net
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/56473/

Will the Spirit World succeed in foiling the Chojin's plans in creating
the largest suicide pact in the history of Aokigahara (which is saying
a lot, considering what Aokigahara _is_)?


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Chapter 35: Red Rose in the Darkness (Part 3)

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Karasu was supposed to end up in Aokigahara after that last portal jump
care of Itsuki's transdimensional abilities. However, even though the
Gatekeeper threw everything and the kitchen sink at Kuwabara, the
wielder of the Dimensional Sword still managed to slice the portal and
"redirect" the Mad Bomber "member" back to Kawaguchiko.

Damn.

Karasu shook his head and harrumphed. He needn't have to worry. His
"boss", the Shinjuku Triad Mountain Master and mastermind behind the
Chikyusei, Feng Xinhai, should have a backup plan in place for this
little contingency as well.

On the other hand, Xinhai... who was also the reincarnation of Kenshin's
past nemesis, Raijuta Isurugi... also had to deal with another tactical
genius in Kurama. Which one of them would outwit the other in this shogi
game that pit the best of the best Reikai Tantei with the Chojin's own
elite Shin Juppon Gatana?

Karasu reassessed his bearings. He knew he went back to Kawaguchiko
because from a distance, he could hear the whining of police sirens. To
be more specific, he was right on top of the Kawaguchiko Station
building. If he didn't move fast, then Detective-Investigator Daiji
Matsudaira would be all over him again for sure, such that he mlght even
be forced to waste the precious jaki handed to him by the Onmyouji (the
trusted servant of the Chojin, Houji Sadojima).

Using the same "rocket boosters" he deployed against Kurama when they
finally reunited for the first time since their death match in the
Ankoku Bujutsukai, Karasu flew to the heavens in search for that secret
meeting place in the Sea of Trees, Aokigahara (also known as Japan's
most popular suicide spot located at the northwest base of Mount Fuji).

Or he would've done so had a spiky-haired young lad not flew up to the
sky along with him, intercepted him, and smashed his blunt sword into
his face, nearly cracking his facial mask open.

The raven demon should've realized something was amiss as soon as he
heard the loud explosion just after he activated his rocket boosters,
but he mistook it as noise from the thrusters on his feet.

The corvus retaliated with TNT that sent the flying teenager reeling,
but both still managed to land on their feet that left solid footprints
on the shingled roof.

"I didn't realize that the Spirit World was going all out this time
around. They're throwing in all sorts of warriors past and present, just
like the Chojin. You're now fighting fire with fire," appraised Karasu
as he adjusted his mask. "And who might you be? Why are you using a
blade with no edge?"

"I am Myojin Yahiko of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. A samurai," introduced
Yahiko as he fell into the most basic kendo stance, the Chudan-no-Kamae
or Water Stance. "I use a blade that I inherited from Himura Kenshin
himself, the sakabatou. Prepare yourself, you Shin Juppon Gatana scum."

"I have a name, boy, and it is Karasu. I am not defined by whom I'm
affiliated with."

"I know who you are. I've been briefed. You're a demonic explosives
expert and a Quest-Class demon. You're also an old enemy of the Reikai
Tantei and you were killed by Kurama. You've been doubling as 'The Mad
Bomber' and you've been terrorizing the city as a 'group' of 'suicide
bombers' since you were revived by the Chojin."

Karasu's muffled chuckle could be heard from underneath his mask as he
tossed his hair. "Impressive. You've done your homework."

"Actually, it's Kurama who told us everything about you. He has you all
figured out."

"Kurama, eh? How sweet. He even learned everything that happened to me
_after_ my revival thanks to the Chojin." Karasu narrowed his eyes as
he gauged his opponent's strength. "Class-B, huh? About B-Minus, from
the looks of things, although you could probably go as high as B-Plus if
you tried hard enough."

"What's your point? Just because your power has been boosted up, it
doesn't mean you'll have an easy time fighting me," returned Yahiko.

"On the contrary, did you know that if you have a power level higher
than your enemy, you could actually hide your manifested weapons and
spirit energy from him?" As soon as the Mad Bomber said those words, an
(appropriately named) Mad Bomb appeared beside Yahiko and clamped
itself firmly onto the resurrected samurai's calf like a bear trap.

It cackled as its metal claw dug deep into the boy's leg, drawing blood
(or rather, ectoplasm). "A Mad Bomb care of the Mad Bomber. Sounds
appropriate, doesn't it?" Karasu noted the irony of the situation.

"Kurama told us that you're going to pull something like this too,"
said Yahiko as he raised his sword high while the sentient Mad Bomb
counted the seconds before it detonated.

"H-Hey, what are you doing?" asked the grotesque face of the talking
bomb, its countdown interrupted.

"DOU GAMI!"

As soon as the Mad Bomb detonated, Yahiko countered with an Earth God to
the ground, the combined force of the explosion and his technique
hurtling him into the sky while saving his leg from harm.

"TEN GAMI!"

The God in Heaven move happened whenever the God on Earth technique he
used was powerful enough to make him airborne.

"You're a cheeky little brat, aren't you? Trace...!" Just as Karasu was
about to form another one of his pursuit bombs, a strike landed on the
back of his head, which made him reel and throw sticks of dynamite from
behind him.

The person responsible for the strike deflected the explosives and let
them blow up away from him from safe distances... or rather, away from
_her_.

"You... You're Xinhai's daughter!" exclaimed Karasu before planting a
bomb and avoiding Yahiko's downward, three-in-one strike intended for
his head. As for the samurai, he adjusted and countered the explosive...
this time a landmine... with a Ten Gami so that he'd get hurtled in
another direction before he got caught in an explosion.

The boy also did a Dou Ryu Sen right after executing the Dou Gami, which
caught Karasu flatfooted and opened him up to a shuddering riposte to
the throat that drew blood from him... or rather, ichor (a type of
ectoplasm seen in vengeful spirits such as himself).

"I'm no daughter of that monster. He's no father of mine," rebuffed the
lovely Natsuki Shinkai... formerly Xiaji Xinhai... as she twirled her
metal cane around and then adopted the looser, more rhythm-reliant
stance of a fencing expert.

"Good work, Cat Eyes. You nailed him!" praised Yahiko as he ran back to
the fray.

"I'm not Cat Eyes either, Myojin Yahiko! I'm Shinkai Natsuki, remember?"
chided Shinkai.

"But you're both, come to think of it." Karasu went back to basics and
produced smoke bombs that obscured the vision of his two foes. "You're
both the daughter of Triad and Shin Ju member Xinhai Feng _and_ the
reincarnation of the young kid who almost got his arm cut off by
Xinhai's past self, Raijuta."

"CAT EYES!" screamed Yahiko as he did a Dou Gami and Dou Ryu Sen combo
in order to clear the smoke out. He was too late. Karasu had lifted
Natsuki by her collar.

In the corner of his eye, Karasu saw Yahiko jettison himself into the
air once again using the Ten Gami, with the intention of smashing the
demon's head open like a coconut with his reverse-edged blade. 'He
won't make it in time, though.'

"Xinhai will be upset to see a fruit like you plucked before you're
ripe, but I'm prepared to deal with the consequences. I'm about to
become a Class-S demon myself, after all," said the corvus as he was
about to move his hand into Natsuki's throat and blast her whole head
away. "Goodbye, Shinkai Natsuki."

"That's nice and all, but there's just one problem, buddy."

"What's that?"

"I'm not Shinkai Natsuki right now."

In the blink of an eye, Natsuki... or rather, her past self, the
inimitable Yutaro Tsukayama... caught Karasu in between his eyes with a
Kousa Dageki, which was a mix between a thrust and a vertical slash
rolled into one cross-armed move that snapped the youkai's head back.

The technique allowed the Yutaro-possessed Natsuki to tear herself away
from Karasu's grip before it became explosive. The impact of the blow
also allowed Yahiko to finally land his three-hit God Hammer on the
crow youkai's head, smashing him into the pavement.

"All right! We did it, Cat Eyes!"

Yahiko twirled around from Natsuki's subsequent slap.

"What was that for? You're Cat Eyes right now, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but don't call Tsuki-chan that! It upsets her! I'm me and she's
Tsuki-chan, got it?"

Yahiko scratched the back of his head. "So should _I_ call her Tsuki-
chan?"

"NO! Only I and that weirdo cosplaying best friend of hers can get to
call her that! Don't get ahead of yourself, Myojin Yahiko!"

"I think you're both getting ahead of yourselves," Karasu appeared from
behind the two bickering old buddies from a century ago, which gave them
enough of a fright to jump back ten feet away from the approaching dark
specter.

That proved to be a mistake.

Both youths (although, strictly speaking, Yahiko was no "youth" since
he was a hundred-year-old spirit) reeled as they jumped into aerial
mines that exploded from every direction, which left them in a pool of
ectoplasm and blood, twitching in agony, their mouths frozen in
soundless screams.

Meanwhile, Karasu walked patiently towards them while moving his
glowing, floating bombs with his mind and slight waves of his hand.
Soon, the entire rooftop ended up swarming with aerial mines and Trace
Eyes.

"No Class-B Reikai lackeys shall keep me from achieving Class-S power.
Even if Kurama thinks that he has every contingency covered, he has yet
to face someone as diabolical as Xinhai. That beautiful demon fox should
just wait patiently while I finally gain the power to fight him on equal
ground!"


===


Meanwhile, back in Itsuki's pocket dimension...

It was bedlam.

Kuwabara's arms had grown tired from all the swinging, slicing, and
teleporting he was forced to do. He felt like a one-man wrecking crew
tasked to bring down a skyscraper but armed with only a sledgehammer as
his wrecking tool of choice. Itsuki just wouldn't let up.

"I always approved of Xinhai's Chikyusei. Even though the man himself
was a phony and a copycat of modus operandi by people smarter and more
powerful than him, the Earth Club was still a brilliant idea of his
nonetheless."

After he sliced an ocean liner in half like how Moses would part the Red
Sea, Kazuma felt something grab the leg that Karasu almost blew up
earlier with his Mad Bomb. It was a hand attached to a disembodied arm.

"Xinhai gave desperate people the means to live out their murder
fantasies without getting caught, like a consequence-free kill from a
video game. He formulated ways for them to commit crimes without getting
caught, which drove up their bad karma and willingness to use extreme,
morally questionable methods to get what they want."

More hands started to grab Kuwabara even as he desperately lopped and
sliced them off of his body. Soon, even his sword arm was caught in the
spider's web of hands and severed flesh. The teenager could barely even
scream anymore, much less move, as two of the hands went after his neck.

'Shit! He got me! Itsuki really got me! Dammit, what's taking you so
long, Rooster Head?'

The last of the portals... the biggest one of them all... that Kuwabara
created earlier began to close, although it was at least big enough for
a truck to drive through.

"Xinhai searched for those with the intent to kill and gave them the
means to do so, which let their hearts plunge into sin and depravity.
However, none of them were ever as innocent, spotless, and righteous as
Shinobu before his descent to madness. In order to end up with the
blackest of darkness, there must first be the brightest of light. The
brighter the light, the sharper and darker the shadows."

The Asura-like Gatekeeper waved his multiple arms around and brought
forth what looked like two slabs of an entire metropolitan city from
above and below the immobile Kuwabara, who was now literally stuck
between a (gigantic) rock and a (similarly huge) hard place.

"Where have they taken Shinobu? What have your Reikai done to him?"
demanded Itsuki with folded arms and a grim scowl.

'Shinobu? Does he mean Sensui Shinobu? Man, I haven't heard _that_ name
in a long time... but I guess it's true that Sensui's body isn't with
him any longer.'

The hands that were choking Kazuma let go of their grip in order to let
him speak.

"I have no fucking idea what you're talking about, you green-haired
ladyboy. What the hell does the Spirit World have to do with Sensui
anyway? Maybe if you cleaned up your place from time to time, you
wouldn't have a problem finding him!"

"Wrong answer." As Itsuki turned his back, the hands telekinetically
brought the two blocks (as in literal blocks, complete with cracked
streets, fire hydrants, trees, and dilapidated real estate) of land
together with the intent of smashing Kuwabara like a gnat.

A honk of a horn caught Itsuki's attention. He turned in time to see a
truck... not from his own collection, it was brand new... drive then
float its way through the portal Kuwabara created and crash right into
the teal-haired dimensional demon.

This caused the incorporeal hands that took hold of Kazuma to disappear.
This allowed the high school student to create a fresh, new portal and
escape the collision course of the two miniature isles, which in turn
kept him from turning him into a ginger-haired flour tortilla.

The driver of the truck kicked the door open and jumped out before the
vehicle (and Itsuki along with it) crashed into half an ocean liner
that Kuwabara cut apart earlier, which produced a ball of fire right
out of an Eighties action film.

After the leg-injured and heavily bruised Kuwabara emerged from the
portal he created to avoid certain death, he "swam" right over his
savior... Kenshin Himura's most trusted companion, Sanosuke Sagara (nee
Higashidani)... and punched him on the face.

"What the hell took you so long? I almost died there, you fucking
asshole!"

"Jeez. You're welcome, _Gramps_."

"That portal I cut was made that wide so that you can enter immediately
just as Kurama originally planned, not waltz in with a truck like you
were Arnold Schwarzenegger or something!"

"Are you kidding me? I can't go in here without that truck in tow! I saw
how that scary guy you were fighting was hurling entire baseball fields
at you! It's a good thing I even found a truck to steal! I wasn't sure
it was enough to finish him off!"

"It probably didn't, but that's beside the point! Since when did you
learn how to drive, you time-displaced ghost?"

"I was born in the Meiji Era, but I didn't die back then! I was alive
when they invented automobiles, World's Oldest Teenager!"

"I don't want to hear that from an old-timer like you, Rooster Head!"

"Forty-year-old virgin!"

"Paintbrush Hair!"

"Yakuza Face!"

"Cockburn!"

"Soulless Ginger!"

"Karate Champ!"

As Kuwabara and Sagara attempted to rearranged each other's faces (by
tugging each other's mouths with their fingers, not by assault and
battery), out emerged a singed and burned Itsuki. "So this is Kurama's
plan? Even with the help of one of the Demon Sword Guardian's allies,
you'll still won't make it out here alive, Kuwabara-kun."

"Hey, Rooster Head. Looks like you're being underestimated. Are you
going to let that hippie-looking douchebag talk to you like that?" asked
Kazuma after almost biting off Sanosuke's finger.

"I guess he just doesn't know me as well as you do, Boke." Sanosuke
smirked as he put one hand on his pocket while he raised his other hand
upwards.

"I've fought your boss, Feather Shoulders. Oh wait, he's called 'Xinhai'
in this day and age, isn't he? Anyway, I haven't gotten the pleasure of
fighting you myself. I'm Sagara Sanosuke, but back in my street fighting
days, I was called..."

"...Ryu? From Street Fighter?" supposed Kuwabara, which earned him a
kick to his injured shin.

"GODAMMIT, BOKE! You ruined the moment! Who the hell is Ryu?" yelped
Sano before facing Itsuki and repeating. "Way back when, I used to be
called...!" before dodging a flying Volkswagen Beetle.

"I don't care what you're called. Neither of you are not going
anywhere," said Itsuki as his Kali-like arms gathered around him like
the unfurled feathers of a male peacock and hurled the asteroid-belt
remnants of the cityscape originally intended to crush Kazuma.

"I beg to differ. ZANBATOU!" Just like with Daiji Matsudaira and his
kodachi as well as Karasu and his numerous bombs, Sanosuke... using the
special clothes crafted for him and Yahiko by the Spirit World...
manifested his spirit energy into the form of a gigantic sword utilized
in olden times to cut down horse riders and the horses they rode on in
one swing (which was why it was also called, "Horse Cutter").

He then swung the blade that was as tall as he was (and he was already
quite tall) and grinded the wreckage headed towards him into dust,
pebbles, and small rock shards.

"Like I was saying... I was once called Zanza the Street Fighter. _Not_
Ryu from Street Fighter. The reason for that is because I was using
this sword called the zanbatou. Any questions?"

"You know, with the gigantic sword and the puffy hair, you could double
as a hero for an RPG," quipped Kuwabara.

"FUTAE NO KIWAMI!" screamed a teeth-gnashing Sagara as he gave an
uppercut to Kazuma that was arguably as damaging as the bomb wound to
his shin.


===


Back on the rooftop of the Kawaguchiko Station that was a car-ride away
from Aokigahara...

Yahiko and Natsuki (who was, incidentally, Yutaro's reincarnation in the
Heisei Era) had nowhere left to run or hide. Thanks to Karasu's unnamed
aerial bombs, their mobility was limited. What was worse was that they
had a hard time seeing where the hidden explosives were located even
though they floated in plain sight thanks to the fact that the corvus
demon were a level or two above them in strength.

Anytime a warrior was a level above another, he had the ability to hide
his powers, presence, and even the physical manifestation of his
spiritual or demonic energy. The two adjutant masters of the Kamiya
Kasshin Ryu were now running blind in a floating mine field with a
youkai explosives expert.

Yahiko winced as yet another mine blasted his shoulder. It was tough
avoiding Karasu's Trace Eyes enough as it was, with him having to sense
their presence instead of looking for them by sight; couple that with
the fact that the entire rooftop of the Kawaguchiko Station was now a
minefield, and it was plain to see that he and Natsuki barely had any
room to move, to say the least.

Meanwhile, Karasu walked to and fro the aerial mines with ease thanks to
the fact that as their creator, he could move them around and out of his
way with his mind. The crow demon added another level of difficulty in
maneuvering through the invisible minefield; he himself could finish
either of the two Kamiya Kasshin Ryu students off with his explosive
touch as well.

It wasn't Karasu whom they cornered; it was now Natsuki and Yahiko who
had nowhere to hide.

"If you two don't mind, I'll be on my way back to Aokigahara. It would
seem that my present comrade, Itsuki, has his hands full with that
grotesque Kuwabara. It's a shame, but it looks like I'll have to go to
that special Chikyusei Meeting by foot. Or maybe not..."

As soon as he trailed off, Karasu put his feet together and produced a
burst of flame that served as his rocket boosters out of Kawaguchiko.

"Oh no! Myojin Yahiko-kun, he's getting away!" shouted Natsuki as she
did her best to avoid the undetectable projectiles and homing bombs that
littered the landscape by concentrating on her fencing footwork and
doing a lot of Passata Sotto movements.

"No, he won't. GOD ON EARTH!" Yahiko struck Kenshin's mighty blade...
the reversed-edged one that the redhead used as a rurouni... on the
roof with a force powerful enough to detonate all the bombs around him.

"YAHIKO-KUN!" screamed Natsuki before a Trace Eyes flew past her head;
had it made impact, it would've blew her skull right open. Meanwhile,
at the back her mind, her past reincarnation, Yutaro, said, 'Oh shit,
that idiot...!'

Karasu looked back in time to see a Dragon Earth Flash blast him out
of his planned flight and right back on the roof of the station while
detonating several of his mines on his way down.

With a grunt, he stood back up even before the wisps of smoke on his
coat had dissipated altogether. He then beckoned his bat-winged homing
bombs to go straight to the origin of the Dou Ryu Sen.

However, before the smoke from Yahiko's own earth-shattering Dou Gami
and Dou Ryu Sen combination attack cleared, he'd already done a second
Dou Gami just in time, before the Trace Eyes arrived.

Actually, it wasn't a Dou Gami, but another Ten Gami, except this time
around, it jettisoned him horizontally towards the demon instead of
vertically. Furthermore, thanks to the Dou Ryu Sen, the path between him
and the raven was also free of aerial mines.

Even before an eye blink could happen, Myojin was already upon Karasu,
his own "rocket-boosted" God in Heaven heading the demon off the pass,
so to speak. The youkai reacted quickly enough to make his energy mines
and his Trace Eyes converge upon Yahiko, but the boyish warrior was one
step ahead of him.

"Y-Yahiko-kun... GO FOR IT!" Natsuki cheered while she herself did her
best to use Yutaro's ability to sense ki through feeling instead of
sight to avoid the multiple mines and living projectiles headed her way,
seemingly dancing through them.

"TSUI GAMI!" Just as Yahiko was about to deliver heavenly punishment
with a technique that earned him the nickname "The Sword Breaker" when
he was still alive, Karasu shifted his speed when the three-hit attack
was a mere hairbreadth away from him.

The corvus then grabbed hold of the resurrected samurai's collar then
blasted him towards the same mines with his explosive touch. All the
bombs that Myojin avoided earlier were now in his direct path, which
had him end up being blasted in every which way.

"That was an impressive gambit, kid. You could've taken me out in one
shot. Too bad it was an all-or-nothing deal. If you attack me, I'll
counter you multiple ways. You've lost. I should offer you some
chrysanthemums already. You're good as dead."

Karasu then jumped back while reflexively parting the aerial mines
around him to keep them from detonating on him as Natsuki sneaked past
the mines like a thief and almost gave him another Kousa Dageki that
would've put a hole in his head.

"Oh ho! You still have some fight in you, Xinhai's daughter? I saw what
you did to your father's arm. That was an impressive trick. I dare you
to do the same thing to me."

"Come here and find out, Masked Man," said Natsuki as Karasu waved his
arms around in order to place his mines and his homing bombs towards the
girl. However, Shinkai was one step ahead of him.

Using the fencing techniques her father taught to her when she was
young, Natsuki slinked, turned, and whirled around from the floating
and flying projectiles. None of them could touch her.

The aerial mine trap that Karasu set against Natsuki and countless
others was supposed to be foolproof. It only failed twice so far in his
lifetime: Against the Younger Toguro, who was a powerhouse that could
survive anything, and Kurama, who turned out to he the crow's murderer
and ultimate rival.

So who was this young lady who, even though she gave no indication that
she could see where the mines or Trace Eyes were, could dodge them with
ease? She even used her metal cane to unhinge the various tiles
underneath their feet and fling them in every which way so as to
decipher whether the area she was traveling towards was laden with
bombs or not.

Even Karasu's attempts at attacking the girl with his explosive touch,
landmines, and bear-trap-like Mad Bombs were perfectly neutralized
thanks to her superior footwork, parries, ripostes, counterattacks,
feints into time, redoublements, remises, recoveries, and other defense-
oriented, counterstrike-heavy techniques that discouraged the crow from
being too aggressive.

Furthermore, any hole in her iron defense was filled in by her past
self's jab-like Cross Strike that kept even the lightning-quick Karasu
at bay. She had the ability to, for a split-second, revert back to
Yutaro and pepper the demon with kendo shots to the throat, head, arms,
and the like, replacing her ripostes with kaeshi.

The one-woman tag team made it virtually impossible for Karasu to trap
her in his mines. As expected of Xinhai's offspring. No, actually, she
was even doing better than expected, considering she was nothing more
than a tragic back story of the Triad leader that doubled as a battery
for his immense, Class-S superpowers.

'Unlike the brat from earlier, Xinhai's daughter is so good at dodging
and blocking that she could probably manage to come out dry in rain
while avoiding raindrops,' Karasu realized after the umpteenth time his
head got snapped back by Natsuki's variety of thrusts. 'I've been going
about this all wrong.'

To Natsuki's surprise, Karasu turned his back on her. "You coward! Are
you running away?"

"Yes, I am," the corvus demon informed. "I just realized, you're too
much trouble to fight, but your pace is too slow and deliberate to stop
me. If you don't mind, I have an appointment to keep. I'll make sure to
say hi to your father for you."

"HEY! Wait a minute! That's not fair at all!" An aerial mine that
Shinkai neglected to detonate or dodge because of Karasu's distraction
exploding on her forearm, injuring it.

Just her luck; it was the same arm that Xinhai broke when she was a kid.
It was also the arm that her father's past self, Raijuta, nearly cleaved
off from her own past self, Yutaro.

She refocused her efforts to clear the mines with tiles and pieces of
rubble from around her while using her swordsman's sense to avoid and
prematurely detonate the flying Trace Eyes that homed in on her
location.

'I can't rush. If I rush, I'll be bombarded by the bombs that I missed.
But if I don't rush, Karasu will get away and my father's Chikyusei
suicide pact plan in Aokigahara will succeed!'

However, Karasu's theory proved correct. It was taking Natsuki too long
to clear a path towards the youkai. He'd already activated his rocket
boosters, but she was still too far away from him to stop him. She
tried rushing her defensive dance around the mines, but that only had
her end up in the wrong end of a mine or a Trace Eye.

'The pressure of having a time limit is ruining her rhythm. She works
best when the opponent is trapped in her counterstriking game, but as
soon her enemy is the one dictating the pace, she gets lost
altogether,' Karasu observed before he increased the number of mines
and Trace Eyes for good measure.

'Oh no, I won't make it...!' trailed off Natsuki as she fought off the
growing swarm of invisible bombs around her. They were endless, and she
made the mistake of concentrating too much on detonating each and every
one of them, which has left her in a trap of sorts that would ultimately
test her stamina more than anything else.

"Goodbye, Xinhai's daughter," Karasu bid his farewell to the ensnared
Shinkai, only to see a running Yahiko grab his ankle and twist it with
a shout of, "HADACHI!" dislocating it and preventing Karasu from gaining
enough control of his boosters to escape.

'That brat...!' thought the crow demon as he prepared himself for a
follow-up attack that never came. Instead, Yahiko ran straight towards
the invisible swarm that was converging all around Natsuki.

"Who are you supposed to be? Benkei?" asked Karasu with a derisive snort
as he squatted and popped his ankle back into place. Incidentally, Saito
no Musashibo Benkei was a warrior monk that served under Minamoto no
Yoshitsune. He was famous for dying while standing up at a bridge during
the Battle of Koromo River, his body riddled with arrows and covered in
wounds (his death was called the "Standing Death of Benkei").

Yahiko hoped that little joke wasn't an omen of some sorts as he plowed
through the aerial mines and blasted some of them away with the God on
Earth and Earth Dragon Flash combo. He was about to collapse when he
reached Natsuki.

"YOU IDIOT! What do you think you're doing?" both the voices of Natsuki
and Yutaro spat back in chorus at Yahiko as she let herself get hit by a
couple of aerial mines in order to protect the revived warrior from
getting hurt any further.

"He is indeed an idiot. Rejoice, for you can now both die as fools."

Karasu proceeded to concentrate a blast of volatile energy aimed
directly at the pair while the rest of his flock of bombs converged on
them. It was the same technique that would've finished Kurama off had
the fox demon not deployed his vampire plant on the crow youkai.

The subsequent explosion was spectacular. If the station below hadn't
evacuated the passengers earlier, they would've by now.

'I can't believe I've wasted so much of my energy on those two
little...!' Karasu turned as he sensed movement from behind him.

Sure enough, it was Yahiko, carrying Natsuki, landing a couple of yards
from behind the corvus. The boy had done a God in Heaven just in time
before the whole cluster of mines and the youkai's energy beam blasted
them to Kingdom Come.

"These fools before you are about to kick your ass, you stringy haired
masked bastard," declared Myojin while holding Shinkai in the same way
a husband would his bride.

Meanwhile, the Yutaro inside Natsuki would've become as white as a sheet
had he control of their shared body. As it was, he instead felt warmth
in her cheeks while their shared heart palpitated.

"You okay, Cat Eyes?"

Yutaro felt Natsuki's chest tighten some more while the warm from her
cheeks traveled to all over her body. To Tsukayama's relief, Shinkai
socked Yahiko in the eye.

"Just how long were you planning to carry me?"

"Ow, all right! Fine! I'm putting you down! By the way, you're welcome!"
grumbled Yahiko while gingerly caressing his newly formed black eye.

"Sorry. T-Thank you for saving me back there," mumbled Shinkai as she
turned her back on Myojin.

Yahiko cleared his throat and said, "N-No problem."

"You're really started to annoy me, kid. Nothing has changed, though,"
said Karasu as he waved his arms and utilized another fraction of his
bordering-on-Class-S powers to create a fresh batch of airborne,
floating mines and Trace Eyes.

Even though Natsuki and Yahiko couldn't see the bombs, the both of them
could sense their overpowering presence the same way swordsmen would
sense kenki or swordsman energy as well as sakki or killer instinct.

"You're up to your old tricks again, huh? It won't work this time,"
said Yahiko.

"You've tried to take me down twice already. Haven't you learned your
lesson? Wasn't it the smartest human in your time, Einstein, who said
that insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over and
expecting different results?" answered Karasu.

"I doubt Einstein really said that, and we're not doing the same thing
again," countered Myojin, which prompted Shinkai to ask, "...Really?"

"No, we're not," reiterated Yahiko as the first of the invisible Trace
Eyes got closer and closer to the pair while the airborne mines floated
and expanded at a more leisurely pace.

"Come on, Cat Eyes."

Natsuki exhaled through her nostrils. "What is it, Urchin Head?"

"Let's do this. Let's use the Sword and Shield."

'The Sword and Shield! That's perfect! That could work against that
crow bastard!' said the true "Cat Eyes" within Shinkai's mind.
Meanwhile, the young half-Chinese, half-Japanese teen berated Yahiko,
"Didn't I tell you to stop calling me by that name?"

"But aren't you just the girl version of Cat Eyes?" Yahiko blinked,
then went into his favored Jodan-no-Kamae stance in anticipation of the
incoming bombs.

Natsuki raised her arms in surrender. "So what's the plan?"

"_Yutaro_ and I have this special tag-team technique wherein he served
as the Shield while I served as the Sword. I can't go into details right
now, so maybe he could walk you through the process," Myojin explained.

"Sword and Shield...?" reiterated Shinkai as she flipped over a tile
and pushed it forward with a thrust of her trusty metal cane, which
detonated the nearest of the homing bombs. "I think I know what you're
talking about, but I guess it's best that Yuta-kun help you out with
that..."

'No, Tsuki-chan. I know you'll do great on your own,' encouraged the
Yutaro inside Natsuki's mind. 'You were even doing my signature move,
the Cross Strike, with ease. All that kendo training you've went through
with Kaoru-san paid off. I know you can do the Sword and Shield with
Myojin Yahiko using your fencing and my kendo.'

"It doesn't matter to me whether it's you or Cat Eyes who does the Sword
and Shield with me," Yahiko admitted before he did a Dou-Gami-assisted
Dou Ryu Sen that blew the first wave of aerial mines away to explosive
oblivion.

Karasu reacted in kind by disappearing from their view altogether and
circling from behind the pair while sandwiching them with more mines and
homing bombs.

"Y'know... I'm sorry about calling you Cat Eyes earlier. It was just the
force of habit talking."

"Uh, no. It's no big deal," Shinkai waved Myojin off. "You know what?
You can call me anything you want as long as we're able to take that
lackey of my father down, Yahiko-kun." Natsuki smiled.

Myojin grinned back at her. "I like the sound of that, Natsuki."

Shinkai froze with sparkling eyes before her smile returned as she ran
after the impetuous Yahiko. 'He's a good guy after all...'

The second wave of wafting mines exploded all at the same time because
Karasu made his Trace Eyes detonate on a whole cluster of the glowing,
explosive spheres of demonic energy. However, the pair ended up
relatively unharmed as Shinkai again put her defensive prowess in full
display.

Every last movement of Natsuki's had purpose, rhyme, and reason. Tiles
and debris flew in order to help detonate bombs from the short
distance. Her weaving and bobbing movements allowed her to escape the
closest projectiles and mines. Most importantly, she served as Yahiko's
umbrella against the multiple explosives.

'I am the Shield. I am Yahiko-kun's Shield. That's all I need to be
right now,' thought Shinkai.

'What are these kids planning?' wondered the bomb expert as he threw
Molotov cocktails and cluster bombs at the pair while dancing around the
mine-riddled cage of his own making.

The one-man terrorist organization then saw Yahiko acting all Benkei-
like once again, running straight towards Karasu with reckless abandon
and letting mines that even the meticulous Natsuki missed explode all
around him like he were some sort of Kamikaze pilot.

'It doesn't matter if that boy has a shield in the form of Xinhai's
daughter. He's going to act recklessly regardless. Even a defensive
expert like her can't keep up,' assessed Karasu as he and Yahiko were
at running distance towards each other once more.

"Defensive Ougi: INGA GAMI!"

Predictably, the samurai did another downward strike... most of his
attacks were composed of downward strikes from the Fire Stance... so
the corvus reacted thusly and dodged the unsurprising strike while
tossing a Trinitrotoluene (TNT) bomb from his blindside.

Karasu flinched as the TNT was deflected and tossed back towards him,
which forced him to move away in the opposite direction... right towards
Yahiko's uppercut-like strike with his sword. 'How...?'

"Counterstrike Ougi: BANZEN GAMI!"

Even though the youthful looking revived spirit's Karmic God slash
missed, the empty air created by the powerful strike that detonated all
the surrounding mines at the same time reduced the air pressure enough
to let his follow-up riposte, the God Perfection, travel faster. The
lack of friction from the strike doubled the impact.

Nevertheless, because Myojin had to hold still and wait for Karasu to
backpedal while Natsuki covered his back, part of the partial vacuum
that formed from the Inga Gami had dissipated, so while the strike still
hurt, it wasn't at full power.

It was still enough to get Karasu to fly like his namesake scavenger
bird, though.

The crow tumbled midair until his flailing body went upright once more,
his legs wobbly as he landed on his feet. His eyes then glowed as a hint
of gold traveled towards his raven locks, from their roots to their
tips.

'It was the girl! It was she who kept my TNT from reaching that zero-
defense nincompoop!'

Sure enough, as Karasu anticipated, Shinkai stood behind Yahiko,
flinging debris in every which way while herding the samurai away from
the asteroid belt of aerial mines.

'They're fighting just like that turtle-shield-wielding blind bastard,'
assessed the Mad Bomber, remembering one of his fellow Shin Ju. 'As long
as she's around, that idiot kid doesn't need to worry about his
lackluster defense.'

"What's the matter, Karasu? Don't like eating crow?" taunted Yahiko as
he calmly stepped towards the raven demon without minding aerial mines
at all, because Natsuki was there to serve as his flexible metallic
umbrella in the face of the firestorm before him.

'If that's the case, then the best way to defeat this Sword and Shield
nonsense is to...' Using his mind, he turned the glowing energy balls of
his own boosted-up youki into cluster bombs that exploded on impact with
the Trace Eyes and produced even more, smaller bombs that exploded on
impact too.

Yahiko fired off another Dou Ryu Sen, flew off with a Ten Gami, then
produced a Ryu Tsui Sen that he combined with his three-hit Tsui Gami.
The faster Karasu threw several demonic grenades to ward off those
combos. Myojin wasn't his target anyway.

"Yahiko-kun, run! These aren't ordinary mines! They're napalm!" shouted
Natsuki as her cane grew red-hot from the incendiary bombs that was
just about to melt off the tiles of the roof of Kawaguchiko Station (or
what was left of it because of the explosives-ridden battle).

'Napalm...' mouthed Yahiko as he blew the advancing Karasu away with an
Inga Gami that he landed even in the midst of all the smoke, fire, and
debris flying around them.

Shinkai didn't bother parrying the napalm bombs hidden within the aerial
mines; she instead concentrated on keeping the Trace Eyes from gaining
contact with the floating bombs while again dodging the already
gathering blaze from behind her.

"Even a shield has its breaking point," declared Karasu as he remotely
detonated all the mines within Natsuki's vicinity and charged up his
explosive energy beam borne out of his own youki and the Chojin's jaki.
"You've reached yours, Shinkai Natsuki. Once the shield is broken, the
wielder of the sword is exposed."

"Defensive Ougi... HAWATARI!" declared Yahiko as he managed to deflect
Karasu's energy blast by crossing his wrists and getting his hand to
aim skywards instead of directly at Natsuki.

Meanwhile, Shinkai detonated the incendiary cluster bombs away from her
and escaped the ensuing fire before it swallowed her altogether.

"You moron. Cat Eyes and Natsuki aren't the only ones serving as the
shield. I am too. No self-respecting master of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu
wouldn't know how to defend himself or others. We are the Sword That
Protects; the sword that doubles as a shield!" rebuked Yahiko.

"Yahiko-kun! Let's finish him off!" declared Natsuki as she ran towards
the interlocked combatants.

"The arrogance of you two insects...!" hissed Karasu from underneath his
mask as smoke and fire billowed from it. "You two are going to finish me
off? Don't you know who you're talking to?"

With his mind, like with his energy minefield, Karasu redirected the ray
of energy that missed Shinkai by a mile and made it snake back towards
her.

"...Dammit!" cursed Yahiko as he contemplated letting go of Karasu in
order to save Natsuki, but the girl's smirk and wink calmed his nerves.
The spiky-haired lad shifted his focus back to the crow demon. "There's
a lot about us you don't know."

"Where are you even getting your confidence from, boy?" said Karasu as
he moved in to touch Myojin's noggin with the intention of literally
blowing his brains out (if spirits had brains and internal organs).

However, it was at that exact moment that Yahiko executed the
"Counterstrike Ougi!" of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, the "HADOME!" that
utilized the strength of the opponent to throw him back and keep him
unbalanced.

This then gave Yahiko the time to do the "DOU GAMI!" that blasted Karasu
in a pillar of dirt and rocks while the boy himself cleared out of the
way with a "TEN GAMI!" for good measure that sent him airborne.
Thankfully, none of the converted cluster bombs were anywhere near his
flight path.

By the time Karasu realized what was happening, it was too late. Natsuki
crossed her wrists, her eyes glowing with the knowledge passed down by
her past self, Yutaro, as she deflected the incoming energy blast with
her own figure-eight, "MUGEN DAI NO HYOGO!"

A moebius strip of Karasu's energy beam traveled back from whence it
came and crashed mightily unto the hapless demon, triggering the nearby
cluster bombs and forming a conflagration that trapped the masked man in
black in an inglorious blaze.

Yahiko landed beside Natsuki a minute later. "Damn, girl. I've never
seen anything like that. I didn't think you can use Cat Eyes' counter
technique on energy beams too!"

"I didn't think so either," said Yutaro as he took over the exhausted
Natsuki's body. "This reincarnation of mine is something else, isn't
she? You even seemed enamored enough by her to give her a bridal carry!
What would Tsubame-chan say if she found out?"

Yahiko yelped, "You jerk! Shut your mouth!" and was about to slap the
taste out of Yutaro's mouth when Natsuki took over the conversation.

"Ugh! Yuta-kun! Don't go stealing my body without my permission!
That's... rude!" derided Natsuki while covering herself up with her
arms. She then peered at Yahiko's direction with a sidelong glance and
asked, "What?"

Myojin avoided her direct gaze while scratching the back of his head.
"Oh, uh... Nothing! Nothing. I just wanted to say thanks for saving my
bacon out there," said the Tokyo Samurai Descendant while sheathing his
inherited sakabatou.

"Oh. Uh. You're welcome."

"You're a quick learner, Natsuki. I owe you my life. Well, technically
I'm dead, but whatever."

She quickly turned her back on him. "Don't get me wrong. I was just
doing my job. I-It's not as if I saved you out of gratitude or
anything."

"O-kay...?" He tilted his head to the side and said, "Again, you're
welcome." He snorted and looked towards the flaming sky. 'Jeez, what's
up with her? I guess she's still mad about the bridal carry. Youngsters
these days...'

Shinkai backed up and stood beside the teenaged-looking samurai. "At
any rate, we're now even."

"Er... Fine." Yahiko ruffled his hair. Seriously, what was up with this
girl?

"Karasu is still alive, though," reminded Natsuki as she stretched and
went into the basic en garde stance of fencing. "Demons don't die that
easily."

"I know, I know." Yahiko grabbed the hilt of his blade. He was no
battoujutsu expert like Kenshin, but he knew enough sword-drawing
techniques to surprise many an opponent. "We both already knew that."

Sure enough, while smelling of napalm, TNT, and other explosive
materials he conjured up solely from his demonic energy (as expected of
a Quest-Class youkai), Karasu emerged from the blaze, his face mask
destroyed, his hair as golden as the setting sun, and his crooked smile
a mixture of the frustration of high noon and the calmness of twilight.

"Looks like he's about to blow up," observed Yahiko. "Literally."

"Actually, it looks like he just went Super Saiyan," quipped Natsuki,
but she only ended up making Myojin stare at her quizzically. "Oops, I
forgot. You're literally a grandpa, so of course you wouldn't know
anything about anime or Dragon Ball."

"Who are you calling a grandpa, you gender-confused maitre d'?" snapped
Myojin at Shinkai while she grabbed her sides and responded, "All you
need to do now is call me a whippersnapper and tell me to get off your
lawn, gramps!"

Karasu interrupted the pair's banter by declaring, "I didn't believe you
two bugs would get this far or be this irritating. I'm going to burn you
up now like ants under a magnifying lens using rays of concentrated
sunshine."

The bodies of the two fighters tensed. Yahiko murmured, "Remember what
Kurama said about what happens to Karasu if he doesn't have his mask
on?"

Shinkai nodded at Myojin, remembering how the demon fox mentioned that
Karasu was the Mad Bomber who almost took Daiji's life when they first
met at Kabukicho. "He becomes a suicide bomber without having to commit
suicide. A person-sized explosive."

"Oh, so you already know what's going to happen next? What a shame. I
wanted it to be a surprise."

Karasu cackled as he breathed in the unique smell of napalm, gunpowder,
and other combustible components into his mouth and nostrils along with
lots and lots of oxygen.

The oxidized ingredients swirled inside his body and turned him into a
true blockbuster (the bomb, not the term used for successful movies).

"Are you really willing to risk using up all your energy before you can
even reach Aokigahara? Even if you're already at the threshold of
becoming Class-S, I doubt you can produce an explosion large enough to
jumpstart the suicide pact," Yahiko called Karasu's bluff.

"Risk using up all of my energy? You're flattering yourselves too much.
Even with a Full Body Explosion, that wouldn't be enough to use up the
jaki that's stored inside me. No, I'm just going to spend a little more
than usual to remove the vermin before me. I will cleanse this world of
imperfection so only the perfect will remain... like Kurama."

Myojin chuckled at Karasu mentioning the demon fox.

"What's so funny, young man?"

"Well, you're wrong on both counts. I'm not a young man, and even now,
it's not us 'imperfect' ones you're obsessed over, but the person who
killed and defeated you," said Yahiko.

As if on cue, a shining blade ripped right through the fabric of reality
as out came forth Kazuma Kuwabara, one of the best (or perhaps "worst")
examples of the imperfections that plague all three worlds, although the
curly haired youth was injured from head to toe thanks to his fight with
Itsuki.

"You...!" snarled Karasu, his golden hair glowing even brighter, his
body about to burst with a mixture of explosive elements, oxygen, jaki,
and youki that turned him into a walking Molotov cocktail.

"Yeah, me. Oh, are you about to explode? Good. Let me just teleport you
to the stratosphere so that you won't have an opportunity in finishing
off your cult as though you're some poisoned Kool-Aid from a Doomsday
Cult!"

It was actually cyanide-laced _Flavor Aid_ that finished off the
People's Temple cult in Jonestown, but Kuwabara's point remained true.

Karasu gnashed his teeth, but he did not wail. "What happened to Itsuki?
He was supposed to take care of you."

"Yeah, but Kurama realized Sensui's boyfriend is the New Ten Sword's
greatest asset when it came to transporting you people around, so of
course all of his plans up until now was reserved for neutralizing
Itsuki and keeping you from reaching that suicide site."

As Kuwabara talked, the tear in space and time that led directly to
Itsuki's dimension closed and healed itself to nothingness.

"You mean Rooster Head was actually able to...?" began Yahiko.

Kuwabara turned, grinned at the samurai, and gave him a thumb's up sign
of approval. "Yup. Itsuki's hands are now full of cock."

Both Myojin and Shinkai blanched and facepalmed at Kazuma's joke in
poor taste while the Master of the Dimension Sword guffawed alone.

The ginger-haired teenager then shifted his attention back to the crow
youkai. "So what are you going to do now? Blow up? Feel free to do so,
because I have enough juice left in my Jigen Tou to send you to outer
space before you can harm a hair on anyone's head."

"So it was Kurama who's responsible for this?"

Karasu's wide irises and agape mouth trembled and quivered in place
before he raised his head up high and went into hysterics.

"Of course it was him. It's always going to be him. He's the only one
who could outsmart the likes of me... or even Xinhai."

"Do you surrender, you crow bastard?" probed Kazuma. "I've gotten even
better at teleporting people around. I'm better than Shishiwakamaru or
Onji, in fact."

"You were the only person they teleported _at all_, you grotesque
simian," retorted Karasu.

"And I've gotten enough practice from my past experience to improve my
own teleportation skills. What are you going to do now?" riposted
Kazuma.

"Just how fast can you swing that sword? Are you faster than an
explosion? Let's find out," the raven dared while charging at the trio,
his aura hot enough to melt concrete and vaporize roof tiles, which
prompted Kuwabara to raise his Jigen Tou at the approaching crow demon.

Karasu fell into a portal before the three realized what had happened.

"You did it, man! Mission accomplished! You...!" Yahiko cheered at
Kuwabara, expecting Karasu to safely explode in the sky like some sort
of gigantic firework, but the samurai spirit's words died in his lips
as he saw the pale, quivering, and sweaty face of his (admittedly
ghoulish-looking) compatriot.

"That wasn't me! Oh shit, did Itsuki beat Rooster Head and teleport
Karasu back to...!"

"No, Itsuki didn't. And neither did you. It was _I_ who did it," said a
voice from behind the trio. "It's too bad, but it looks like Xinhai
Feng in one step ahead of you losers once again."

The Reikai Tantei, the shinigami-like spirit, and the reincarnation of a
kendo master turned Chinese mafia princess turned in unison to see the
kabuki-looking demon known as Rando snickering with his inappropriately
high-pitched voice, his blue-and-red markings glowing as brightly as the
pulsating Jigen Tou he wielded with his right hand.

"AH! I forgot! It's been a couple of months ago, but that technique-
stealing asshole stole my technique!" came Kuwabara's redundant
revelation. "Dammit, Itsuki isn't the only one who could pass through
different dimensions! Rando is capable of it too! I should've told
Kurama about this earlier, dammit! There's no way he could've known!"

Indeed, the master of ninety-nine stolen techniques ended up stealing
not only Yusuke Urameshi's Rei-Gan during their battle (which turned
into a You-Gan in the kabuki demon's hands), but also Kazuma Kuwabara's
Jigen Tou for good measure, thus allowing the Shin Ju some "insurance"
when it comes to trandimensionl transportation even without Itsuki's
help.

The blond Karasu grinned from within the closing portal and snorted at
the panicking soldiers of the Spirit World.

"As much as I hate him for being such an arrogant bastard who's full of
himself because he reached Class-S through unconventional means, it
looks like Xinhai is more than a match against your friend's tactical
genius."

Natsuki knelt down and punched the ground. "So this is all my father's
fault, isn't it?" She then swung her head back at her companions and
shouted, "K-Kuwabara Kazuma! You have to go! You aren't sure where
exactly in Aokigahara Karasu is headed! You need to get to him "

"I'm way ahead of you, sister!" Kuwabara screamed back as he created a
portal that shortened his sprint towards the other portal that Karasu
fell into.

"...Like I'll let you do that!" shrieked Rando as he slashed his own
path towards Kuwabara using his copied Dimension Sword. However,
someone else ended up intercepting him instead. "You...!"

"Yeah. Me," said Yahiko as he exited through the second portal the
redheaded, pale-faced demon made. "What's the matter? You're now taking
orders from the man who blasted you away with your own wind technique?"

Prior to teaming up with Kenshin and the Spirit World Detectives, the
recently revived Yahiko and Sanosuke crossed swords and exchanged fists
with Rando.

However, once the two reunited with Himura (and Kaoru Kamiya... sort
of...) after more than a century, the overeager Xinhai interjected
himself into the battle and blasted away the copycat demon so that _he_
could test his might against Battousai and the Kenshingumi.

Now, like a low-tier pawn, Rando ended up taking orders from the very
same human who interrupted his match against two other humans he had a
stalemate against... one of which was now getting in the way of him
fulfilling his mission as part of the Shin Juppon Gatana.

Blinded by anger at Yahiko's correct assessment in regards to the
demon's place in the Shin Ju's hierarchy, Rando swung his Jigen Tou at
close-range against the samurai. The youkai soon realized the
repercussions of his actions after Myojin showed him why he also earned
the nickname, "Sword Breaker".

"TSUI GAMI!" the three-hit, trouncing strikes of the God Hammer broke
Rando's Jigen Tou like glass, the shards of youki light scattering
every which way. "Go get Karasu, Boke!" called out Yahiko as a form of
encouragement.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT, _YAHIKO-CHAN_!" Kuwabara screeched at the guffawing
Myojin as he successfully passed through the portal that Karasu went
through before it closed altogether.

Meanwhile, Rando repurposed the dissipating youki from his broken Jigen
Tou into a concentrated ball of energy using the Shaolin-based technique
of Ibuki to turn transform the ki into anything he desired.

However, as soon as the demon fired off his concussive Hadou Ken,
Natsuki prematurely detonated the wave of demonic energy the same way
she did with Karasu's aerial minefield: With large bits of debris and
Yutaro's signature move, the Kousa Dageki. The Sword and Shield had a
new target.

"I won't let someone who was defeated by my father defeat me in turn,"
said Shinkai. "I will not remain in Xinhai Feng's shadow. I will surpass
him and beat him."

"So you're Xinhai's brat," said Rando as he rubbed his jaw. "Maybe I can
get a measure of revenge against your bastard of a father by killing one
of his power sources."

"I won't let you do as you please, Rando," chimed in Yahiko. "In fact,
let's pick up where we left off since the last time we fought, shall
we?"

"You certainly talk big for someone who has never fought me one-on-one,"
spat Rando with a harrumph.

"I'll lay down my pride as a samurai in order to keep you from getting
in our way," said Myojin as he again went into the basic kendo Water
Stance. "We'll keep you occupied the same way Sano is keeping your
dimensionally gifted friend busy."

"Huh. Really? I wonder about that."

The pair of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu Masters ended up flanking Rando while the
demon recited a mantra in preparation of another major technique he
stole from various monks, priests, and martial artists.


===


In Aokigahara, in the middle of a clearing in the forest full of trees,
human bones, and corpses of various people who'd committed suicide
there...

'I made it just in time,' thought Karasu.

The crow demon had arrived on the dot, despite earlier difficulties.

There were about a hundred or so members of the Chikyusei Murder Club
that had already gathered around the middle of the Sea of Trees. They
were guided and herded by none other than their leader, Feng Xinhai,
who was dressed in a sharp business suit (as expected of a Triad boss).

However, the Triad Dragon Head's half-amputated arm had ended up in a
splinter due to his momentous battle against two of his main
"batteries" (and victims), Daiji Matsudaira and his own daughter,
Natsuki Shinkai.

Xinhai nodded at Karasu just as he was finishing his speech. "...And so
we arrive here at our final destination. We've ended up in Aokigahara
because time has stopped for us, and we couldn't stand to continue
living in such a cruel, illogical world. Even though we're alive, we're
not really living. This is the ultimate solution for us that have no
other answers left. Empty husks are meant to be discarded, burned away,
and cleansed from this world. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust."

"...Amen," quipped the corvus. Soon enough, all eyes were on Karasu.
Glassy, unseeing eyes. The youkai wasn't about to kill anyone; they were
for intents and purposes already dead.

They kept on staring all the while. The Mad Bomber supposed he was
already quite the sight to behold... the epitome of Adolf Hitler's Aryan
Ideal, in a sense, thanks to his long, flowing blond curls and his
perfect alabaster skin.

The only other specimen of perfection Karasu had ever come upon was, of
course, Kurama. In order for the special to thrive, the imperfect must
be removed.

The blond raven was just about to explode, like the loins of an intent
lover nearing his climax. He could barely hold himself back when those
two pests... Yahiko and Natsuki... kept him away from his instant shot
at an effortless power up. Nothing was going to stop him now.

Those clouded irises of the gathered throng of strangers... they were
humans anyway, so they didn't matter in the least... shone like mirrors
as the glow from within the Mad Bomber grew brighter and brighter.

"WAIT A GODDAMN MINUTE, KARASU!"

No. Not him.

From the portal Rando created and whence Karasu came emerged Kuwabara
like a grotesque, fully grown baby emerging from Mother Nature's womb;
like some sort of farcical insult to pregnancy.

What was he doing there? Was he going to stand in his way again? How did
this gigantic joke back in the Ankoku Bujutsukai manage to become such a
bother?

And why was Xinhai just standing there? 'Do something! Keep him away
from me! I need to complete this mission. The only way I could face
Kurama again and have my rematch is if I'm a Class-S like him! Wasn't
this all part of your plan?'

A lightning bolt from the heavens shaped like an arrow shocked Kuwabara
into unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, Karasu cackled as he felt himself burn from the inside out,
awaiting release of the swirling chaos from within him.


===


To Be Continued...

Next: One step ahead.

Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi,
Shueisha, Fuji TV, and Studio Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful
property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios,
Fuji TV, Studio Gallop, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also
covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to
mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

Heto na,
Abdiel
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