[Third Person POV]
It was finally the day of Hajime's rematch with Yasaka, and he was excited for it.
Despite his complete and utter loss the first time and his confidence that he'd be similarly trounced this time, he was still looking forward to the fight.
Like the last one, the fight wasn't about winning or losing but growing.
His assimilations all grew by immersing himself in the characters' personalities, and since he mostly assimilated combatants, combat was the fastest route to growing.
Fighting against someone like Yasaka was ideal, as he could drag the fight out, trying out more abilities and exerting as much strength as needed.
If he tried this on a low-class, they'd likely die before he made any significant progress.
That was also why he wanted to enter the higher levels of Sekigahara.
They contained better fighters, and with that, more opportunities for growth.
Ultimate-class fighters, the highest rank that usually signs up, were already extremely rare, and finding those whom he could fight was even rarer.
After all, no faction wanted to risk the lives of their top fighters for a spar with a child. If anything, they'd either try to kill him or have him join their faction in some way.
In the end, there was little he could do for growth without drawing too much attention. He already had eyes on him, but they weren't moving, not yet.
They'd want to see where he stands first before acting, so Hajime needed to ensure he could deal with those who would go after him.
He wasn't worried about faction leaders like Azazel, Sirzechs, Odin, etc.
Though they were the most dangerous, none of them were warmongers, and Azazel himself was an advocate for peace.
No, the real threat was those just below them: the Kokabiels, Zekrams, and Lokis of the world.
Those who were violent, greedy, powerful, and influential. Although these figures didn't run their faction, they formed a large group within it, causing problems for the leaders.
He couldn't risk fighting them.
He wasn't strong enough to kill them, and if he was, he couldn't deal with the consequences.
After all, despite their antagonistic attitudes towards their leaders, they still were allies on paper. They couldn't just let some random kid kill a prominent member of their pantheon and ignore it.
People like Zekram were the worst, though.
He was like the Danzo of the DXD world. He would do whatever he could to subvert the New Maou, always doing so in a way that wouldn't trace back to himself.
Greedy, ruthless, power-hungry.
Not someone to trust, but at the same time, their influence was too great to ignore completely. If they wanted something, they'd get it or make sure nobody else could have it.
Hajime knew that once he reached supreme-class, forming his faction would be easy.
While there were thousands of magic factions, organizations, and clans scattered throughout the world, most of them were below a certain threshold that brought any worldwide influence.
Of the hundred biggest organizations around the world, the top ten all had someone at or near transcendant-class, and only eight of the top hundred didn't have a supreme-class.
Being a supreme-class would, in theory, instantly put him among the hundred strongest factions power-wise.
He knew he'd still need members, connections, and resources to make it important, but everyone had to start somewhere.
At the very least, being strong enough to protect his faction and ward off most rivals and enemies was the best way to start.
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Inside Yasaka's gym, seven figures stood.
Five were standing off to the side, while the other two were in the center of the room, preparing to face off.
Yasaka had the gym heavily reinforced so she could effectively train herself and Kunou without accidentally destroying the place.
"We'll begin whenever you're ready, Hajime."
Hajime nodded at the older yokai, mentally preparing himself for the fight.
'Might as well start with some shock value,' he thought.
Activating his upgraded senjutsu, his face changed slightly, and red markings grew on his face, similar to how Jiraiya's sage mode looked but less frog-like.
Yasaka, seeing that Hajime was somehow a sage, immediately had her emotions in flux. Pride, happiness, confusion, and shock, with her face stuck in a surprised expression.
She didn't know what to think about this.
Having spent centuries trying to become a sage herself, planning on using the power of sages to reach transcendant-class without the leylines, and let someone else take her place, and strengthening the yokai faction, she knew better than anyone the difficulties of becoming a sage.
It wasn't something just anyone could do. Becoming a sage requires years of experience, practice, self-awareness, and so much more.
Sages were practically worshipped by yokai, as their existence represented the pinnacle of natural energy usage, a feat almost nobody could achieve.
That's why seeing a child who wasn't even ten years old manage to do what tens of thousands of older yokai have tried and failed to do caused her mind to come to a grinding halt.
It was only when she saw Hajime, carrying a glowing blue ball filled with natural energy and about to slam it into her face, that she broke from her surprise and blocked with her tail.
She was surprised by how fast he could move. While it was still nothing she couldn't handle, it was much faster than he was a few months ago.
Back then, his strength somehow surged to advanced-stage mid-class in a few days, and now he was nearing peak ultimate-class a few months later. Yasaka still remembered the Great War and the Devil Civil War, how Sirzechs and his friends had grown to become some of the strongest people alive in only a few short decades.
Thinking about their talent and how much it outstripped hers made her feel inadequate back then, as if her training didn't amount to anything. Even now, despite being able to match Sirzechs in raw power, which was wholly reliant on being connected to the leylines, a fight like that would still cause untold damage to Kyoto. Otherwise, she was only on Serafall's level.
But seeing Hajime's growth reignited a passion in her that had long since dimmed. She didn't know when it happened, but she guessed it was around the time she connected to the leylines.
She stopped growing and focused on keeping the yokai independent.
Afterward, she was too focused on work and put off any serious training.
It was only after Kunou was born and her husband left them that she began dedicating time to training, silently hoping that with her daughter's help, things might change somehow.
Any ideas or plans she had previously had for the yokai were now worthless.
Yasaka wouldn't force Hajime to help deal with her enemies, nor even have him train other yokai. He already said what he planned to do, and she was going to support him.
Besides, his plans were ultimately to help her, so there was a good chance he'd teach her the methods he used, which she could then try teaching to others.
All these thoughts took less than a second for Yasaka to process.
Though the spinning ball didn't cause any damage, it did mess up her fur slightly, which, though upsetting, was bound to happen in a fight.
Hajime, seeing Yasaka block the attack, decided on a different plan of action. Slamming a Rasengan on the ground, a cloud of dust rose, hiding him from her view and allowing him to continue with his plan.
Summoning three shadow clones, Hajime had one use water bending to pull air from the atmosphere while the others charged ahead.
Yasaka, who sensed several new and similar energy signatures, was curious but figured she could ask Hajime about it later.
Creating two balls of foxfire, she released each of them at the two energies coming toward her.
Surprisingly, they both dodged, replacing them with stones that were created alongside the dust cloud.
The explosions from the foxfire dispersed some of the dust, leading her to see what appeared to be clones of Hajime.
Clones were something almost nobody could use. Gods could create avatars to be in two places at once, but even then, the avatars weren't meant for combat. So, seeing Hajime create combat-capable clones, honestly, if he wasn't already on her side, Yasaka didn't know what she'd do to deal with him.
Someone like him, able to send these clones into combat without losing anything other than some energy, was the most horrifying thing for any faction leader.
For example, he could enter the Vatican in disguise, slaughter whoever he could, and not suffer any physical damage himself. He could cripple an entire faction's headquarters without ever leaving his home.
The clones closed in on Yasaka, but this time, she didn't attack, wanting to see what they had planned.
One clone's eyes started glowing before firing a red beam of energy from his eyes. Yasaka easily tanked the attack and prepared to attack the clone, but as she struck, a translucent, yellow, hexagonal-patterned dome erupted from the other clone, blocking the attack.
Though her attack didn't hit the clone, she noticed that the defending clone lost a good chunk of energy.
The laser clone then coated itself in lightning, quickly draining its energy, but drastically increasing its strength.
Punching toward Yasaka, she easily caught the attack, but before she could counter, she raised her other hand to block another laser, this one aimed at her face.
The clone she was holding replaced itself with another rock, getting some distance.
Taking the offensive, Yasaka rushed at the shield clone. The laser clone, trying to stop her, launched countless lightning attacks at her, hoping to slow her down, but it never stood a chance when even the original couldn't beat her.
Before her attacks landed, though, she felt something touch all her tails, pulling her away from the clones.
Turning, she saw several chains made of ice 'holding' her. Flexing her tail muscles, she easily broke the ice and struck toward the clone, who dodged with a replacement jutsu.
These abilities were as annoying as they were clever, she mentally griped.
At her level, it was easy to deal with Hajime and his tricks, but that didn't make it any less annoying to deal with, especially since she was keeping herself at supreme-class strength.
Releasing a burst of foxfire around her, the two clones near her used most of their energy to defend, giving her an opening to launch an attack on them.
Grabbing them with her tails, they dispersed into smoke before she could do anything else. Not sensing those clones, she realized they likely disappeared once they lost all their energy.
Focusing on Hajime and the clone she assumed was controlling the ice, Yasaka launched several spears made of foxfire at them.
Hajime and his clone either blocked or dodged each spear before one lucky spear lodged itself in the clone, dispersing it.
Along with his already active sage mode, Hajime used a spell similar to the Raikage's lightning cloak, using his dragon slayer magic to enhance his body. On top of that, his body had grown slightly, becoming sharper and blacker, with a light layer of fur covering most of him and a dog-shaped bone mask covering his face, thanks to the grimm powers of The Hound.
Knowing he wouldn't match Yasaka magically, Hajime wanted to see how much he could match her physically right now, using his abilities.
Charging forward, he swung at her with all his might, but Yasaka blocked it with crossed arms.
What shocked everyone, though, was that Yasaka was pushed back by the attack. It was only a few inches, showcasing her tremendous strength, and with no physical injuries, it didn't seem like it did much, but it was impressive to be able to do anything to her in this fight.
Yasaka swung each of her tails like whips, each of them lashing out towards Hajime.
He dodged, but whenever he did, another tail would appear, forcing him back to avoid getting hit.
Whenever two or more tails were about to strike him, he'd activate Barrier for a few seconds and use Body Replacement Jutsu to get away.
As the fight dragged on, Hajime paid close attention to his assimilation percentage, which slowly ticked up. After the first few minutes, it reached 81%, and by the time 20 minutes had passed, it had only reached 87%.
Maybe there was something he was missing that might speed it up, but anything he thought of wasn't something that would happen in a fight.
Hajime shook his head. This wasn't the time to think about it. Besides, he could always test that later.
Yasaka kept bombarding him with her tails, and Hajime switched from dodging to parrying and blocking. As he fought, he slowly made his way to Yasaka to try to stop the attack, something she noticed and smiled at.
Slowly, as he drew nearer, Yasaka started letting up on her attacks, believing he planned something to try finishing the fight.
Normally, she would take fights seriously, but against Hajime, at least right now, it wasn't necessary.
She had already judged his strength could barely reach supreme-class with all these boosts, and was still weaker than a non-leyline-enhanced version of herself.
Stronger, more experienced, and with a powerful bloodline, there was little she needed to worry about in this fight, preferring, for now, to help Hajime refine his combat abilities in private.
Yasaka, too, was aware that strong opponents were needed to sharpen one's skills.
Hajime closed in on the yokai leader before him, before he got an idea that was something practically inspired by Jiraiya.
Creating another dust cloud and forming shadow clones once again, Hajime took advantage of the low visibility and multiple energy signatures to sneak behind Yasaka with a few clones.
While he and the clones kept fighting, distracting some of her tails, Yasaka cast a spell that quickly dispersed the dust.
With visibility coming back, Hajime knew it was time to strike.
Charging in close with the clones, they each grabbed a tail, while the original went after his target, the base of her tails. Located on the small of her back, the base of her tails was a highly sensitive spot like those of most animal yokai.
The second he got close with a lightning magic-covered hand, Yasaka instantly reacted.
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she reacted immediately and violently.
Her tails tensed before moving quickly, grabbing him, slamming him onto the floor, and 'punching' toward him.
In seconds, he was knocked unconscious before Yasaka realized what she had done.
Going over to check on him, she was relieved to see that he was fine. Though unconscious and injured, he would likely heal in a few days.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she picked him up and carried him inside to rest, with the spectating girls following her.
Meanwhile, Hajime, though unconscious, was hoping his plan had succeeded.
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Author's Note:
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!