"Technique—Dark Tides."
The bald curse user knew Hayashi had figured out the structure of his technique, so he no longer held back and activated his cursed technique.
A black, foul-smelling aura instantly spread from his bare feet, forming a circle of decaying black energy around him, exuding a nauseating stench.
This was to prevent Hayashi from using his Time Flash to instantly kill him.
However, the curse user's face grew increasingly pale.
The samurai regained his mobility and launched an attack at Hayashi, but his movements were slow and mechanical.
Even with his mechanical movements, the samurai was more than enough to handle most jujutsu sorcerers, which is why so many had ended up nailed to the pillars.
It was clear that some had escaped the initial pillar attack, but they had been unable to fend off the samurai, leading to their downfall.
Hayashi didn't intend to keep dealing with the samurai. Something about him felt off, and the six banners behind him were particularly strange, though they hadn't revealed their purpose yet.
Hayashi knew the key was to take out the curse user behind everything.
"You think that will stop me?" Hayashi glanced at the black tide surrounding the curse user before flashing directly above his head.
"Hehe..." The bald curse user gave a stiff smile.
"A trap?" Hayashi realized too late as the black tide surged up like waves, enveloping his body.
His cursed energy armor quickly formed around him, but the black tide enveloped Hayashi completely.
A hissing sound like acid eating through metal filled the air. Hayashi could feel his cursed energy armor corroding as the black tide seeped inward.
"Is my basic cursed energy armor no longer enough?" Hayashi noticed that his initial cursed energy defense was becoming ineffective. It wasn't just his enemies getting stronger—it seemed the techniques used by the enemies in China were also different from those in Japan.
Of course, his basic cursed energy armor had its limits and couldn't absorb the cursed energy of this black tide. It was actively being corroded.
The bald curse user smiled at last. Once anyone was caught in his "Dark as Tides" technique, everything would be corroded. His earlier actions had been bait, luring Hayashi into the trap. Hayashi's strength had forced him to use this final move, or his plan would have failed.
If Hayashi wasn't eliminated, his samurai would no longer be able to continuously absorb fear and negative emotions, preventing it from reaching special-grade strength.
Although the samurai was currently only at first-grade level, with a steady flow of fear and negative emotions, it could grow into a special-grade cursed spirit.
As long as jujutsu sorcerers or humans entered this cursed-born domain, they would be suppressed by him. Few, if any, had Hayashi's level of strength.
Once the samurai reached special-grade, and as long as the curse user stayed hidden, no one would be able to resolve this situation. The longer time dragged on, the stronger the samurai would become.
But just as the bald curse user thought Hayashi was about to die, a red light shone from within the black tide.
"What's happening?" The curse user's heart tightened. Did Hayashi have another way to escape his "Dark Tides"? If so, things would get tricky.
The Crimson Armor now covered Hayashi's entire body, halting the corrosive effect of the black tide. It seemed the tide could no longer penetrate any further.
If even the Crimson Armor couldn't block the tide, Hayashi would have to reconsider whether this "pass" he had was worth it—or if it was just a scam.
With one slash, Hayashi cut through the black tide, refusing to give the curse user any more opportunities. With his other hand, he swung down, summoning a technique.
"Technique—Thunder Bagua!"
Blue lightning burst into existence. The bald curse user suddenly felt his body go numb, and in the next instant, he watched in terror as a samurai, even more vibrant and menacing than his own, appeared. The crimson-armored figure wielded a massive blue spectral spiked club, which came crashing down on his head.
A terrifying surge of power accompanied by a thunderous roar smashed into his skull.
This was no ordinary attack. The bald curse user didn't even have time to utter a word before his head was caved into his stomach. His entire body collapsed inward, reduced to a pile of mashed flesh.
Compared to Suka, this bald curse user had no chance to fight back and died instantly, cleanly.
"No... he's not dead." Hayashi's eyes narrowed. The pile of mashed flesh beneath his feet dissolved into a pool of black liquid, merging with the dark tide and seeping into the cracks in the ground before disappearing entirely.
Maybe he had died, or maybe he had escaped.
"This curse user is tricky," Hayashi thought. Normally, any curse user hit by his Thunderclap Eight Trigrams would die outright, leaving no chance for survival. But some people had unique escape methods, able to slip away in such situations.
Mahito was a prime example of this, possessing numerous ways to preserve his life.
As Hayashi debated whether to pursue further, the surrounding scenery began to change. The samurai standing at the gate began to fade, eventually vanishing completely.
The old town around him also faded away. The people nailed to the red pillars fell to the ground as the pillars disappeared, slowly regaining consciousness.
Soon, the entire ancient town was gone, and Hayashi realized he had left the cursed-born domain. The surroundings returned to normal.
But the bald curse user's fate—whether he was dead or had escaped—remained unknown.
Having tested the waters, Hayashi decided to consult Gojo Satoru about whether he could come here to earn some extra money. If Gojo refused, Hayashi would still return—ten million was no small sum. For most people, that was more than they could make in a lifetime.
Of course, it would be ideal if Gojo approved, saving Hayashi the trouble of finding another way around it.
Now that the curse incident had come to a conclusion, there was no need for Hayashi to linger. If he had more time, he wanted to visit the territories of Daxia Longque and Panlong to study their jujutsu practices, as there might be new discoveries.
However, he was running low on points. He needed to return to Japan and farm some more curses. There were too few curses in China, and they were mostly hidden, so he couldn't count on finding many here.
Three days later, Hayashi stepped out of the time-space gate, finding himself back at the airport. Everything looked the same as before, and the people frozen in time had resumed their movements.
"Hmm?" Miyata, who had been watching Hayashi closely, immediately noticed something was off. In just a moment, something had changed.
Hayashi's posture in his seat had shifted, and his clothes were now stained with black water, which had appeared out of nowhere.
"Passengers, please prepare for boarding."
The announcement echoed through the terminal, pulling Miyata out of his thoughts. He planned to follow Hayashi onto the plane to see what he was up to.
But something unexpected happened—Hayashi stood up and walked toward the restroom, seemingly not intending to board the plane.
"Didn't he just use the restroom? No, he's not going to the restroom..." Miyata quickly followed, but by the time he got there, Hayashi had disappeared inside.
No one knew that during Hayashi's brief stay at the airport, he had mastered a terrifying jujutsu technique and learned about the current state of China's curses and cursed spirits.