The sky was covered in a blanket of gray. The air smelled of damp earth and spiritual decay.
Naoya walked slowly along the wooded path at the edge of the Narato region. His steps were soft, silent, almost elegant. He wore his dark blue yukata, with the Zen'in Clan emblem discreetly embroidered on the chest. His face wore a blank expression, as if nothing around him was worth his time. And perhaps, to him, it wasn't anymore.
"Today I'll test the new technique..." he murmured with a crooked smile. "If it works the way I think it will... then I'm closer to leaving that filth that calls itself a clan behind."
A Grade 2 cursed spirit had been sighted in that area, feeding on the villagers' fear. It wasn't a worthy enemy. That was precisely why he had chosen it. He didn't want a challenge; he wanted prey. An experiment.
"The Clock Hunt" was about to begin.
[Perspective: Cursed Spirit]
From the shadows of an old, abandoned temple, the creature stalked. Its body was long and skinny, covered in rotting bandages, with small eyes scattered across its face. It fed on human fear, but visitors had rarely come lately.
He felt an energy approaching. It wasn't fear. It was something worse.
Contempt.
The spirit snarled, its throat filled with black bubbles. Whoever came close... it would devour them. Like it had before. Like it always did.
[Perspective: Naoya]
"Ah, there you are," Naoya said, seeing the hunched figure among the temple ruins.
He didn't draw any weapons. He didn't take a stance. He just walked to the center of the field and smiled as if he were seeing a cockroach.
"Do you know why I'm here? Not to kill you. Not out of duty. I came to perfect time... something your existence will allow me to break."
He reached out to the side. His cursed technique vibrated slightly in the air. A small distortion activated in his eyes. A flicker. A leap.
The spirit launched itself at him.
But Naoya was no longer there.
A snap of space, and Naoya appeared behind the spirit with a soft "tik," jabbing his elbow into its back.
"Too slow," he whispered in its ear. "First leap, 0.2 seconds forward."
The spirit twisted, its back cracking from the impact. It spun around quickly, slashing its claw at him.
Naoya disappeared again.
Tik.
0.3 seconds.
He reappeared on top of a tree.
"You can't touch me. Do you understand, trash? By the time you raise your hand, I'll have finished killing you sometime later."
[Perspective: Cursed Spirit]
What was that?
The creature screamed, thrashing the air like a panicked animal. It couldn't sense its energy, couldn't track its aura. Each blow was aimed at an empty space where Naoya was no longer.
"What's happening?! I can't... anticipate it!"
A stab. A cut. Another. In the back, in the side. Minimal, surgical wounds. They didn't kill him. They weakened him.
They humiliated him.
[Perspective: Naoya]
Naoya appeared in front of the spirit, arms crossed.
"What does it feel like? Being trapped in time... like an insect in amber."
"GRHHHHHHAAAARG!" the spirit roared, extending its monstrous mouth.
Naoya disappeared.
Tick. 0.6 seconds.
He appeared within range of the spirit and shattered its jaw with a single punch. The sound was dry. Bone splintered.
"Do you think this is a game? I'm not an exorcist who's come to 'purify.' I came to test the superiority of time. Every leap makes me more perfect."
Tick. 0.7 seconds.
Strike to the knee.
Tick. 0.8 seconds.
Kick to the throat.
Tick. 1.0 seconds.
Elbow to the skull.
Tick. 1.2 seconds.
Spin behind his back, cursed knife straight to the neck.
Naoya couldn't stop grinning. His expression was wild, demented.
"I'm building a technique that will break the rules of this world. And you... you're just the first step."
[Perspective: Cursed Spirit]
Everything was dark. He didn't understand what was happening. His senses were no longer responding. Time had no meaning. He was being struck from the future. He was being wounded in the present by attacks from the past.
The pain was constant. The humiliation, unbearable.
"This human… isn't normal…"
And then he heard it. The words.
"Weakness… is a sin."
[Perspective: Naoya]
The words echoed through his mind. He couldn't remember which anime it was from. It didn't matter.
They were right.
"The weak don't deserve to exist," he said, plunging the knife into the base of the spirit's skull. "Their only function is to be test fodder."
With one last time jump, Naoya appeared before the spirit as it fell to its knees. He looked into its eyes.
"Do you know what your mistake was? Existing in my timeline."
The knife flashed. And the spirit's head fell to the ground.
[Epilogue]
Naoya wiped his hand with a white handkerchief.
The field was silent.
His heart beat calmly. Not from the battle. But from the sensation.
The control of time.
Absolute power.
Efficient cruelty.
—Soon… I'll move not just seconds.
—But minutes. Hours