I Sealed Sukuna’s Finger#427+428: Thoroughly Conquering Saeko Busujima, La Folia: You Forgot About Me? Huh?

At the same time, a hundred meters above Kiyomizu Stage, Bokue Keikain leisurely observed the battle below while holding the young Onmyōji girl in his arms.

Golden magnetic field energy naturally formed a barrier around him, blocking out the howling winds of the upper atmosphere.

"What in the world is..."

But compared to the still-relaxed young man, Yura's mouth had fallen open in shock as she stared at the scene below.

"Why is Tsuchigumo appearing in a place like this??"

"Who knows?"

Bokue shrugged with complete indifference.

He might be indifferent, but Yura was already completely panicking.

Tsuchigumo might not be a legendary demon on par with Hagoromo-Gitsune, but he was still one of the Great Demons—a powerful existence capable of commanding the Hundred Demons and dominating entire regions.

Yet now he'd suddenly appeared in Kyoto, in the most densely crowded area no less—Kiyomizu-dera Temple.

What the hell was the main family's barrier team even doing??

"We can't just watch! We have to get down there and stop this. That girl with the sword is about to reach her limit. If Tsuchigumo escapes from Kiyomizu-dera..."

At that thought, Yura squirmed, trying to break free from Bokue's embrace—completely forgetting they were a hundred meters in the air.

Fortunately, Bokue quickly pulled her back.

"No rush, no rush. Can't you see Busujima-senpai down there fighting her hardest? Let's just stay here and watch how she handles it."

"Busujima... senpai?"

Hearing that somewhat familiar form of address, Yura paused in slight confusion.

She stopped struggling and turned to look questioningly at the young man behind her.

"Wait, Brother, do you know that girl down there?"

"Of course I do. That's Busujima-senpai."

Bokue admitted it without the slightest hesitation.

"Busujima-senpai was originally a student at Tokyo Jujutsu High, but because Tokyo Jujutsu High got destroyed, she temporarily transferred to Kuoh Academy—the same school I attend... Yeah, that's basically it."

After casually explaining in just a couple sentences, Bokue's attention was immediately drawn back to the battle below.

The Kiyomizu Stage below had completely transformed into a crimson swamp. Thick plasma formed entirely from cursed energy spread across the entire platform, cascading down the stage's edges like lava waterfalls.

Saeko Busujima stood at the very center of this blood-red swamp, holding her blade with her head slightly lowered, completely motionless. Black markings like those from Sage Mode in Naruto appeared on her face, giving her a demonic appearance.

She no longer resembled the calm, cold swordswoman from before. Her slightly upturned eyes glowed with blood-red light covering her entire pupils, and with each breath, white mist burst from between her lips and teeth.

"Domain Expansion, huh? And an open-barrier type at that."

Tsuchigumo crouched down and scooped up a handful of blood-water from the ground, rubbing it between his fingers. The viscous red liquid had completely solidified, flowing through his fingers.

"I take back what I said earlier. Being able to perform Domain Expansion already makes you stronger than most Jujutsu Sorcerers. And an open-barrier type too... not bad. Now this is getting interesting! Hahaha!!"

He burst into laughter, simultaneously dropping his pipe. As if his interest had been piqued, he stood up and swung all four arms, preparing to charge forward.

But the next moment, Saeko's entire form vanished from her spot again.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Unlike her previous light, falling-cherry-blossom-like footwork, this time when the swordswoman disappeared, the ground where she'd stood erupted like an explosion, massive waves of blood shooting skyward.

This was the effect of extreme force collision.

At the same time, she'd already killed her way back in front of Tsuchigumo, her blood-red eyes locked on him as she swung her blade down.

The crimson blade light tore through the night. Even Tsuchigumo instinctively raised his arms to block against such murderous intent.

But the next second, he felt like part of his body had disappeared.

SHING—!

As that blade filled with infinite killing intent descended, an arm as thick as a bus flew into the sky. Massive amounts of blood instantly poured down like a flood.

Compared to earlier when she'd struggled just to cut Tsuchigumo's skin, the current Saeko Busujima seemed like a completely different person.

However, such terrifying power didn't come without a price.

CRACK!

The crisp sound of breaking bone rang out. Beneath the swordswoman's yukata, the arm that had just swung the blade twisted unnaturally. Scalding blood soaked through her sleeve at the elbow, turning the indigo fabric dark brown.

Yet Saeko seemed completely unbothered. She simply released her katana from her right hand, spinning mid-air to catch it with her left.

She would strike again!

"What the—??"

Tsuchigumo realized something was wrong and tried to dodge, but it was already too late.

The next moment, another arm on the opposite side of his body separated from his torso.

Correspondingly, Saeko's left hand—which had delivered the second strike—also made a breaking sound.

Her body simply couldn't withstand unleashing such tremendous power. A single strike was enough to shatter bones and tear tendons.

With both arms broken, Saeko stopped attacking, allowing her body to fall like a torn rag toward the blood-red swamp below, crashing straight into the viscous crimson waters.

Only after the blood-water shot skyward once more did Tsuchigumo's anguished cry finally reach them.

"GAAAAH! My arms! Damn Jujutsu Sorcerer, I'll make you—!"

But before he could finish, Saeko had already risen from the blood-water.

She'd pushed herself up using both hands.

The arms that had been broken from the overwhelming force had somehow been completely restored. With a light flick, she traced a crimson arc through the air, shaking off all the blood clinging to her blade. Then she raised her head once more, fixing her gaze—utterly devoid of reason—on the now-armless Tsuchigumo.

Near-invincible healing ability, plus attack power capable of one-shotting a Great Demon, combined with a completely instinct-driven fighting style with zero rational thought... Who would've guessed Busujima-senpai was actually a berserker?

Watching from above, Bokue thought to himself.

Now that he thought about it, back at the juvenile detention center when they'd encountered that cursed spirit that had eaten two of Sukuna's fingers, he'd always felt like Saeko seemed a bit... constipated. Like she wanted to unleash her ultimate move but couldn't quite squeeze it out.

Made sense now.

With that thought, Bokue released the young Onmyōji girl in his arms, casually using his magnetic field power to create a slowly descending sphere of light that enveloped Yura.

"Alright then, Yura, you just float down slowly. I'm heading down to check things out."

Before she could voice any objections, he leaped downward without waiting.

Meanwhile, below in the blood-red swamp, Tsuchigumo had already regained his stance. Crouched and breathing heavily, he gathered his strength to charge once more at the swordswoman who'd become a completely different person.

But the next second, he felt something land on top of his head.

At the same time, a young man's voice reached his ears.

"If I remember correctly, Yasaka-neesan's barrier should already be covering the entire Kansai region. To act this brazenly inside a nine-tailed celestial fox's barrier—I'm thinking you might have gone a bit crazy."

"What's on my head?? Get the hell off—"

Tsuchigumo swung his remaining arms to grab at his head.

But Bokue simply gave a light stomp, and Tsuchigumo's movements ceased. Then the young man took a step forward and jumped down from the demon's massive body.

Almost the instant he landed, the Great Demon's body behind him shattered into pieces.

A Great Demon of an era, ended just like that.

Bokue didn't even bother looking back. He waded step by step through the blood-water toward the swordswoman who hung her head low, having completely lost her reason. He tilted his head curiously.

"Bu—"

SHING!

Before he could even finish saying her name, Saeko—who'd been motionless like she'd disconnected just a second ago—launched an attack without warning, swinging her blade down at the young man before her.

But this strike was blocked by just a single finger from Bokue, who simultaneously raised his other hand to cup the swordswoman's cheek, his voice as relaxed as ever.

"What's wrong, Busujima-senpai? We've only been apart for half a summer vacation, and you already don't recognize me?"

"..."

As his words fell, the blade that had been pressing hard against Bokue's fingertip seemed to waver slightly.

At the same time, the blood-red color in Saeko's eyes faded somewhat, then began slowly receding. A halting murmur escaped from between her lips and teeth.

"Kouhai?"

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"That's right, it's your dear kouhai. Not that Tsuchigumo from before anymore."

On Kiyomizu Stage—now utterly devastated from the battle—Bokue Keikain held the swordswoman's cheeks between his thumbs and forefingers, gently pulling them outward repeatedly.

With each tug, the red glow in Saeko's eyes receded a bit more, until finally disappearing completely.

Having just survived a brutal fight, the swordswoman finally seemed to relax. All the accumulated exhaustion hit her at once, and her body swayed, about to collapse forward.

Fortunately, Bokue stood right in front of her and caught her in time.

"Hey hey hey, you alright, Senpai? Hanging in there?"

"I'm... fine..."

That earlier exhaustion—where she could barely stand—seemed almost like an illusion. Leaning against the young man's chest, Saeko rested for only two or three seconds before catching her breath somewhat. With effort, she raised her arms to push herself up from his embrace.

Naturally, Bokue didn't take advantage of the situation. Seeing Saeko could stand on her own, he released his hold and let her step back.

But the swordswoman still seemed concerned about something. Having just survived a desperate death match, her face—which should have been pale from exhaustion—instead showed a faint blush. Her gaze involuntarily darted away to the side.

"Um... so why did you suddenly appear here, Bokue?"

"What do you mean 'why'? I'm from Kyoto."

Bokue looked genuinely confused.

"No, that's not what I meant..."

Saeko realized her question had come out rather absurdly and quickly rephrased.

"I mean, why did you appear at Kiyomizu-dera at this exact moment..."

"Oh, you're asking about that. I was just taking my little sister out for the evening."

Bokue spread his hands.

"Didn't expect that the moment we reached the temple entrance, we'd see tourists fleeing. When we came inside, I found you going toe-to-toe with Tsuchigumo. Though I really didn't expect someone whose usual fighting style is so calm and collected would turn into such a wild berserker after Domain Expansion. Totally a berserker class."

Gulp...

Completely unprepared for the young man to so casually expose what she'd desperately tried to hide, Saeko's body trembled slightly.

"S-so you saw everything..."

"Oh yeah, I saw it all. The whole thing."

Bokue's tone was perfectly frank.

Saeko: "..."

While she normally disliked people who were two-faced and hypocritical, right now Saeko genuinely wished Bokue would be a little less honest.

At the very least, seeing how desperately she wanted to conceal her Domain Expansion's characteristics, couldn't he just go along with it and say he hadn't seen anything??

"...By the way, where's your little sister?"

After a brief silence, Saeko suddenly looked up and glanced around, forcibly yanking the conversation in a different direction with somewhat stilted phrasing.

"I remember you said you came here with your sister..."

"You dummy!"

Before she could finish, the swordswoman heard a young girl's slightly immature voice scolding from above.

Saeko looked up in surprise to see a middle-school-aged girl in a white yukata descending slowly from above, enclosed in a golden sphere of light. When it reached about half a meter from the ground, the sphere suddenly dispersed. The white-yukata-clad girl leaped out and charged straight at the young man, raising her small fists to pummel his chest repeatedly.

"Dummy! Dummy! What do you mean 'float down slowly' and then just jump down yourself?? And the moment you see a pretty lady you can't even walk straight! You said she was just a senpai, but the second you meet you're already hugging her and pinching her cheeks!"

"Alright, alright. In that situation, I couldn't exactly bring you down with me, Yura."

Bokue simply ignored Yura's tiny fists and scooped her up in his arms.

The familiar scent instantly enveloped her. The young Onmyōji girl immediately lost all fighting spirit, her flailing fists going limp as she obediently settled against his chest.

Bokue continued explaining:

"After all, there was still that huge Tsuchigumo down here. If we'd come down together and you'd gotten attacked, that would've been bad, right?"

Yura's face flushed red with displeasure. "But that Tsuchigumo couldn't beat you anyway, Brother! You could've handled him with one hand, right?"

"...Yeah."

Bokue nodded.

Actually, "one hand" was still overselling it. More accurately, a single glance or even just a thought would've done the job.

"See??"

Getting confirmation, Yura's eyes widened. Her cheeks puffed up like an inflated pufferfish.

"You just wanted an excuse to get handsy with that pretty lady! Player!"

"That's not true..."

While the siblings' little comedy routine played out, Saeko stood awkwardly to the side.

She wanted to clarify that Bokue hadn't gotten "handsy" with her, but at the same time, being called a "pretty lady" made her feel somewhat pleased.

Everyone likes being complimented, after all.

But just then, two different ringtones suddenly interrupted the scene on Kiyomizu Stage.

The young Onmyōji girl who'd been verbally tearing into her brother just a second ago stopped what she was doing, looking down at the phone ringing from inside her yukata sleeve.

"W-wait, Brother, put me down first. I have a call..."

"What a coincidence. Me too."

Bokue also felt his phone vibrating through the thin yukata fabric.

"Ah, it's Ryuji-niisan calling."

Back on the ground, Yura pulled out her phone and glanced at it, instinctively speaking aloud.

"I've got a call too, so I'll step away."

Bokue consciously put some distance between them, moving over to stand beside the swordswoman.

He hadn't told anyone else in the main family about coming back. If Ryuji on the other end found out he was right next to his biological little sister, he'd probably rush over immediately and explode.

Plus, he needed to take his own call. It wouldn't do to have the conversations overlap.

With that thought, Bokue answered his phone.

"Hello? It's me."

"Ah, good evening, Bokue-kun."

The moment the call connected, a certain silver-haired princess's voice came through from the other end.

Huh? La Folia?

Bokue blinked in slight surprise. "Oh, La Folia! Good evening. Why the sudden call at this hour..."

"My, my. Looks like Bokue-kun really did forget completely."

Hearing that opening, the silver-haired princess on the other end immediately developed an edge of displeasure in her tone.

"You didn't forget, did you, Bokue-kun? Yesterday at lunch, you promised us..."

Hiss—!

Hearing that, the young man suddenly realized with a jolt.

He'd completely forgotten about his dinner plans tonight with La Folia and Sayaka!