Kurogai had long intended to obtain mutant blood, and Professor X was powerless to stop him. This was a certainty.
When Kurogai arrived at the X-Mansion, he was already confident that Charles Xavier wouldn't be able to harm him. If there had been even the slightest risk, Kurogai wouldn't have come here. And with no means to restrain him, what did Kurogai have to fear?
This was why he dared to openly declare his purpose, with no need for subterfuge.
"You've gone too far!"
Professor X stared at Kurogai, his expression dark. He had believed he had always treated Kurogai with compassion, yet now Kurogai was committing this betrayal. How could he not be furious?
"So, Cyclops isn't dead, just injured," Kurogai said coldly, as though merely stating a fact. He knew the situation well. He had been the one to strike first. The mutants had done nothing to provoke him, which was why Kurogai had spared Scott's life.
In truth, it was difficult to determine who was truly right or wrong. Kurogai sought to increase his strength and was naturally led to target mutants. That fate had been sealed the moment he acquired Logan's blood and awakened the third ring.
On the other hand, Professor X was unwavering in his mission to protect mutants. And the deeper that conviction ran, the greater his anger now burned.
This was the source of the stalemate. Kurogai hadn't killed Cyclops because he held no interest in exterminating the X-Men — there was no benefit to it. He wasn't a butcher.
"I won't allow you!"
Professor X's voice was laced with fury, and in the next instant, a surge of psychic energy exploded from his mind, directly targeting Kurogai.
He had made his decision. No matter the cost, he would stop Kurogai here. He couldn't allow him to harm the mutants. This was his duty — the mission he'd devoted his life to.
Even knowing his psychic power might not surprass Kurogai's, Charles was determined to try. A lifetime of study and mastery of psychic abilities had left him with experience that could tip the scales. Perhaps it would be enough.
In an instant, a powerful psychic force burst from Professor X, rapidly closing in on Kurogai's mind, attempting to shatter his defenses and breach his consciousness.
"If you had a chance before, you've lost it the moment I defeated Cyclops. You're no match for me now, Professor."
Kurogai's gaze was cold, his voice detached, and his words carried a meaning Charles couldn't fully grasp.
Only Kurogai understood the depth of what he'd just said. After acquiring Cyclops's genetic DNA, he had awakened a new, formidable ability — Tsukuyomi, one of the most fearsome techniques of mental domination. With it, no one could stand against him in a battle of minds.
In an instant, Kurogai's amethyst-gold heterochromatic eyes began to shift, darkening to blood-red. Three tomoe rotated ominously before merging into the shape of a sinister, spinning pinwheel.
The Mangekyō Sharingan had awakened.
Tsukuyomi — Activate.
In a blink, Kurogai cast the technique. Professor X felt his assaulting psychic energy yanked into a blood-red void. Before him loomed a crimson moon, and the ground was littered with crosses. Strapped to one of them was himself.
"Where… what is this place?" Professor X muttered in shock, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.
Could this be Kurogai's inner world? He quickly dismissed the thought as impossible.
Kurogai appeared before him, his presence cold and unwavering. "This is the world of Tsukuyomi. In here, time, space, and reality itself are shaped by my will. No speed, no strength, no resistance matters against this power."
It wasn't merely an illusion — it felt more tangible than reality.
"Impossible!" Charles exclaimed, his mind reeling. "You… built a world with your psychic energy? How could you achieve such total control — over time, mass, space? That's beyond impossible!"
Yet the weight of the chains binding him felt real. The pain, the oppressive atmosphere — everything was indistinguishable from the physical world.
In that moment, Professor X realized Kurogai wasn't exaggerating. He had forged a complete psychic realm. Charles could even feel time passing within it.
What Charles didn't know was that Kurogai's ability wasn't born from mental training alone. Tsukuyomi was an ancient, unnatural art of illusion and domination — a technique that transcended ordinary mental abilities.
Unfortunately for Professor X, Kurogai wasn't about to explain.
"I don't have time to waste," Kurogai murmured. "From this moment, every second you spend here, you'll feel a blade pierce your heart. Again, and again."
As he spoke, a long, gleaming blade materialized in his hand. Without hesitation, Kurogai drove it into Professor X's chest.
"It's just the mind. It's not real. I won't feel anything," Charles told himself, clinging to rationality.
But as one agonizing second passed, the Professor's consciousness snapped. In the real world, only a fleeting instant elapsed before his mind collapsed under the strain.
That was the terror of Tsukuyomi — days, weeks, even years could pass in its domain, while mere moments slipped by in reality.
"He's stubborn, I'll give him that," Kurogai said quietly as the Mangekyō Sharingan faded from his eyes. He looked down at Professor X, now unconscious, and spoke as if delivering a final judgment.
"But no one escapes Tsukuyomi… not even you."
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