Nurarihyon-No-Mago Layering Explanation

==Layering Explanation==
The fundamental battle which Yokai have against each other is the battle of "overpowering/seizing the other Yokai's fear"Nurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 68 as without their opponent "fearing" them their abilities become completely ineffectiveNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 96 and their innate resistances are easily bypassNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 70. So the action of gaining "layers" is through "overpowering/seizing" the "fear" of another Yokai which previously didn't "fear" you. This would be scalable to every single "fear" based technique since they all derive their functionality from the same source, requiring the opponent to "fear" them.
With this explanation let's actually quantify the amount of "layers" Rikuo would have.
(Notes - </> signifies a layer differential between the two, = denotes equality between the two and "</>" denotes superiority or inferiority to another, but not large enough to signify a layer differential between the two)
Normal humans who aren't Onmyōji or don't have Onmyo have their innate resistances bypass the the passive existence of Yokai, regardless of strength or "class"Nurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 1, these same exact Yokai can't effect or overcome Beginning of Series Rikuo's "fear" while he can overcome and seize their "fear", allowing his abilities and strength to damage them.
After several years of aging and unlocking more and more of his Yokai bloodline Rikuo's "fear" has greatly increased, to the point of being capable of overpowering Gyuki's casual "fear" with Meikyo ShusuiNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 15, with Gyuki's casual "fear" being above Beginning of Series Rikuo's "fear" since a much stronger version of Rikuo that can produce more "fear" was incapable of doing so until he used Meikyo Shisui.
This same exact version of Meikyo Shisui was able to overpower the "fear" of Tamazuki before his activation of "Devil Hammer"Nurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 43, someone who has more "fear" compared to Gyuki casual "fear" given he's a clan leader of a major clanNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 46, and clan leaders gain substantial boost towards their "fear" depending on the amount of members they haveNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 35, but this differential isn't quantifiable. After activating "Devil Hammer" Tamazuki's fear dramatically increasesNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 45, to the point he can induce "fear" upon Yura, a Onmyoji who wasn't effected by the presence of Tamazuki before he activated "Devil Hammer", this version of Tamazuki proceeds to overpower Rikuo's "fear", including his Meikyo Shisui, but after being beaten upon by Tamazuki for an substantial amount of time Nura unconsciously unlocks "Kyoka Suigetsu", an ability which completely overpowers the "fear" of Tamazuki, allowing Rikuo to finally defeat him.
After being defeated by his grandfather Rikuo was send to Tōno Village to become stronger, during his first interaction in this village Rikuo had his "fear" overcame by a simple Yokai dog, which everyone in the village heavily implies to be extremely weak within their perceptionNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 69, after this embarrassing encounter Rikuo tries to leave the village but is apprehended by Itaku, which takes him in to learn "possess" or the simple ability to "break" another Yokai's fear, allowing them to cut through and damage stronger Yokai. During this training Kidomaru visits the main house of the village and speaks with the village head, after the conversation is over he decides to leave until he sees Rikuo who just got done doing some training, his subordinates which were currently with him decide to attack Rikuo but he was able to affect them with his Meikyo ShisuiNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 71, but Kidomaru's casual "fear" was able to "break" Rikuo's Meikyo Shisui, negating the ability, with Kidomaru claiming Rikuo's fear as "weak" compared to his grandfather'sNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 72. Itaku saves Rikuo before he's killed by Kidomaru, during their fight Rikuo re-learns "Kyoka Suigetsu", which greatly increased his "fear" to the point of overcoming Kidomaru's casual "fear", after this interaction is over Kidomaruo decides to leave for good while Rikuo gathers his Yokai's alongside the Tono Yokai's as well.
After arriving in Kyoto Rikuo and his Yokai fight through and beat multiple strong Yokai until they're soundly defeated by Tsuchigumo, because of this defeat Gyuki arrives and takes Rikuo to a scared temple to make him stronger by constantly fighting for three days straightNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 97, during this training Gyuki releases his true "fear"Nurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 98, which completely overpowered Rikuo despite possessing "Meikyo Shisui" and "Kyoka Suigetsu". While training Rikuo learns "equip"Nurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 110, a technique which his father created, allowing "half" yokai's to "equip" the "fears" of other Yokai, converting the human side of the Yokai into "fear", drastically increasing their "fear" and strength in the processNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 127, after learning his technique Rikuo became strong enough to "break" Gyuki's "fear"Nurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 108, something his previous self couldn't do. Given his new founded strength Rikuo goes on and fights multiple strong opponent's, like Tsuchigumo and Hagoromo Gitsune's Underlings, which prove to be very relative towards his current level of "fear"Nurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 121.
After Hagoromo Gitsune gives birth to "Nue" or "Abe no Seimei" in actuality, Rikuo returns home, a massive time-skip happens for about six monthsNurarihyon-No-Mag: Chapter 168, during this six months Rikuo has been constantly trainingNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 169, greatly increasing his "fear" in the process, to the point he's considered a completely different person after he released his true "fear". With him being able to casually induce "fear" upon Raiden after releasing his true "fear", with Raiden being capable of fighting evenlyNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 166 against a casual Tokyo Arc Rikuo Nura who should at least be comparable to his Kyoto self.
Abe no Seimei or "Nue" was objectively the strongest Yokai/Onmyōji during this period of timeNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 72, being directly shown so multiple times, such as a weakened Abe no SeimeiNurarhiyon-No-Mago: Chapter 132 being capable of casually catching and destroying Kyoto Arc Rikuo Nura's Nenekirimaru with nothing but his finger, with characters like Kidomaru or Tsuchigumo being incapable of cracking the sword, much less completely destroy it, placing him massively above people like Kyoto and Tokyo Arc Rikuo as Nenekirimaru is still stronger than Tyoko Arc Rikuo's "fear"-enhanced sword.
After regaining Nenekirimaru Rikuo's "fear" greatly increased, doing so to the point that Rikuo was able to fight relatively against Abe no SeimeiNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 209 alongside Hagoromo Gitsune but his Jutsu toured through both like paper, with Hagoromo Gitsune believing it can "tear through everything". But after Rikuo "equipped" Hagoromo GitsuneNurarihyon-No-Mago: Chapter 210 Rikuo was able to casually overcome and destroy this Jutus.
Baseline Humans < Passive Existence of weak Yokai (1) < Beginning of Series Rikuo Nura (2) "<" Casual Gyuki = Gyuki Arc Rikuo Nura < Gyuki Arc Meikyo Shisu (3) = Shikoku Arc Meikyo Shisui “>” Pre-Devil’s Hammer Tamazuki = Shikoku Arc Rikuo Nura ">/-" Shikoku Arc Yura < Post-Devil’s Hammer Tamazuki (4) < Shikoku Arc Kyoka Suigetsu (5) > Tono Arc Pre “Possession” Rikuo "<" Tono Arc Dog "<" Casual Kidomaru’s Fear < Tono Arc/Kyoto Arc Post “Possession” Kyoka Suigetsu ">" Shikoku Arc Kyoka Suigetsu < True Power Gyuki (6) "<" Post Training Kyoto Arc Rikuo Nura "=/>" Kyoto Arc Hagoromo’s Gitsune’s Underlings > Tokyo Arc Rikuo Nura (7) < Abe no Seimei (8) “>” Cleansing Arc Rikuo and Hagoromo Gitsune < Abe no Seimei's Jutsu (9) < Hagoromo Gitsune Equipped Rikuo Nura (10).
8 Layers for Base and Equipped Rikuo Nura - 10 Layers for Hagoromo Gitsune Equipped Rikuo Nura.
==References==
Category:Nurarihyon no Mago