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CHAPTER START---
"I want to talk about everything," Kaori says, and Taiyo relaxes into his seat.
"I don't think we have time for that."
"Then I'll settle for Jujutsu, Cursed Energy, Life, Death, and Jujutsu Society. Do we have time for that?"
Taiyo chuckles. "Then you'd better talk fast and get to the point."
"Why did you insist on keeping your celebrity status after joining Jujutsu Society?"
"I like competing at the highest level. Having a lot of people vying for the same spot. That's the point of life. Look at that, answers two questions in one."
"Efficient. And I'm guessing you don't like how…secluded, Jujutsu Society is, right?"
"Among many, many things, yes."
"You'd rather it be public? Do you want to be a 'super hero' of some kind?"
Taiyo scoffs. "No. There aren't enough Cursed Energy users for a good competition. Right now, the best I can do is fight Gojo and hope he won't just be resigned to second place after I beat him."
"You want him to try reclaiming his top spot, assuming you can actually beat him."
"I will, eventually. And yeah, there isn't anyone else worth competing against. The Jujutsu world is too small."
"Small and wasteful," Kaori says, a deep scowl on her face. "Humans?"
"Ugh. Worthless. I loved competing in the Olympics because that was the best of humanity, but…after touching Cursed Energy, a waste of time. No Cursed Energy, no ability to compete, a worthless existence."
"Then I'm surprised you didn't join Geto."
"His plan to kill all the people in Japan would destroy Cursed Spirits, yeah. But Jujutsu is fair, so there wouldn't be any Jujutsu Sorcerers either until everything balances out again."
"Hmm, you think that's what would happen."
"That's how I see it. After all, why would Jujutsu allow sorcerers without a purpose?"
"But if Jujutsu is what you now love so much, and Geto is a threat to it—"
"Satoru Gojo won't let anyone hurt his precious friend. Not until Geto goes too far for even him to protect."
"And what does your perfect world look like?" Kaori asks.
"A world with more Jujutsu Sorcerers, enough for the Jujutsu Olympics. A worldwide event like no other." Taiyo closes his eyes and smiles as the crowd in the stadium cheers. "I can almost picture it…but there just aren't enough people."
"I see. But creating a world like that could get messy."
Taiyo turns to Kaori, hearing the excitement in her voice. "What about you? What's your perfect world?"
"Exactly what you described, and I'd get to research the evolution and optimization of Jujutsu and Cursed Energy for the entire event. Doesn't that sound amazing?"
They stare at each other for a moment, gauging the other's reaction to a glimmer of their true selves showing.
Then, Kaori smiles and extends her hand for him to shake, shrouding it in Cursed Energy.
"Whatever we discuss here must never be shared with anyone. Do you accept?"
"Better," Taiyo raises his fingers. "Simple Domain: Truth."
Kaori's eyes widen instantly, understanding and memorizing this ability.
"I accept your Binding Vow," Taiyo says.
"And I accept yours."
"So, my name is Taiyo Daburu. Who are you?"
Kaori isn't surprised by this. In fact, she is excited to see his reaction.
She sets her food on the seat between them and turns to face him, sitting up properly and carefully raising a hand to pick at the stitch on her forehead.
Taiyo quirks a brow at his, and grows worried when she slowly undoes the stitch and a perfectly straight cut reveals itself across her forehead, wrapping around the top of her head.
She then reaches up, grabs her hair, and lifts off the top of her head.
Taiyo's eyes widen as a living brain with a small mouth is revealed within, no blood, instead coated in a clear fluid as it pulses slowly.
The mouth on the brain speaks directly to him. "I am Kenjaku. And I have been formulating plans for over 1200 years, to create the world we just described…"
Taiyo takes a moment, then blinks and looks at the baseball game. "Alright, now can you cover that up before I lose my lunch?"
The mouth on the brain and Kaori's body laugh as Kenjaku seals his head up.
"Really glad I wasn't eating when you did that."
"Honestly, your reaction was pretty tame."
"So, 1200 years. Is your Innate Technique to tear out someone's brain and replace it with yours?"
"Essentially. I consume the brain, gaining their Innate Technique along the way, and the memories."
"So you have multiple Innate Techniques?"
"Three. But one of them is the technique that allows me to transfer, so really, I only have two that I can use in everyday life."
"Which are?"
"Antigravity System, the Innate Technique of this body, and a simple technique that doubles the force of my hits, in exchange for doubling the recoil."
"I see. And I'm guessing you're the person who had a bounty on me, right?"
"Yes, that was me. After all, I had to know if you were truly deserving of the Special Grade Rank."
"I couldn't leave campus for weeks because of that."
"Not my intended outcome. But I dropped it after seeing your fight with Satoru Gojo. Entertaining that monster, even for a little while, makes you more than worthy of being Special Grade."
"Right, so. What have you been planning for 1200 years?"
"Where should I start?"
"From the beginning. This is more than worth my time," Taiyo gets up and begins walking away. "I'm going to need a snack for this…"
A minute later, Taiyo is sitting comfortably with his shoes off, eating pastries, listening to Kenjaku.
"What do you know of Tengen and Sukuna?"
"Tengen. The Barrier Master who suppressed Cursed Spirits across Japan. Sukuna, a Cursed Spirit from around a thousand years ago, that's about it."
"So only the public details, understood. Well, Tengen and I met when we were in our teenage years. Different clans, but we bonded over our love of Jujutsu. And when she began preaching of peaceful Jujutsu, I was one of her first supporters.
Eventually, we became much more than friends, but our interests grew apart as we grew closer as people. Tengen wanted to limit Jujutsu, but I wanted it to be wild and free. I wanted to see what happens when humans can use it as they please, and how optimized it can become as the ages pass."
"Like Domain Expansion," Taiyo says. "I was told that a thousand years ago, they would simply be battlefield-changing tools. But now modern Domain Expansions almost all include a 'sure hit' effect to instantly kill the opponent. A weapon optimized over time."
Kenjaku smiles. "Exactly! Now imagine what even more high-level Jujutsu users fighting could come up with! That's all I wanted, a Jujutsu Olympics of my own."
"How?"
"Well. I pitched the idea to Tengen, but she quickly turned against me. Instead, she united the clans that would follow her and created the foundation for the modern Jujutsu world. My plan was to inspire all-out war and allow the generations to grow under that stress.
That way, humanity can advance even more, but things have changed. Soon after our battle, while I took years to find and train my second body, using my Innate Technique for the first time, she grew.
Her Innate Technique is not 'Immortality' like she says. But 'Evolution'. She is beloved by Jujutsu, destined to become one with it. For that reason, we devised the ritual for her to absorb a new body every couple of centuries to prevent herself from fully becoming one with Cursed Energy.
The result of that wouldn't be for or against humanity, but merely a tool without free will. Effectively more Cursed Spirit than human, unable to maintain her precious Barriers."
"You're the one who sent Toji after the vessel."
"Yes. I tried over the years. But Tengen is a founding member of what we now know to be the Gojo Clan.
That's why only the Gojo Clan has the Six Eyes and Limitless. And only one user of the Six Eyes can ever exist at a time. They always appear when Tengen needs protection for a new vessel to be sacrificed.
I tried to disrupt the ritual so many times over the years, but the Six Eyes always appear to stop me. Even when I killed the Six Eyes user as a baby, another person manifested it just in time to stop me…annoying."
"But Toji was able to disrupt it, how?"
"Toji's Heavenly Restriction makes him the exception to the will of Jujutsu. In exchange for having zero Cursed Energy, Jujutsu treats him like an ordinary object. Because of this he was able to shatter destiny and disrupt the ritual, causing Tengen to begin evolving into a higher state."
"But I heard another sacrifice was prepared in time."
"No, it wasn't. That's just a lie they told to maintain the peace of the Jujutsu world."
'So, Toji and Maki are the same. Then, if I split Maki and Mai…Maki will be liberated from Jujutsu. That's dangerous…'
"I see. So, part one of your plan is complete. Now what?"
Kenjaku shrugs. "Honestly, with a monster like Satoru Gojo existing, I figured I could wait a hundred years for him to die, then begin the next part. I'm sure Tengen's internal Barriers will buy me that much time."
"Internal Barriers?"
"I use Barriers to separate the three Innate Techniques co-existing in my body to prevent mental overload. Tengen can surely do something similar to slow her evolution. After all, in regards to Barriers, we're about equal, but I'd give her the edge since she has so much Cursed Energy."
"The Six Eyes would just appear to stop you again, right?"
"Most likely," Kenjaku sighs. "I have a method to seal Satoru Gojo. If I manage that, he will be locked away in a place where no time passes, preventing another Six Eyes from existing.
That's a start. Sealing him in the Prison Realm is the most vital part. I've been cultivating some Cursed Spirits inside an Empty Barrier with attributes that I'll need as well."
"Empty Barrier?"
"Oh," Kenjaku sees the academic hunger in Taiyo's eyes. "If we work together, I'll teach you everything I know about Jujutsu, but for now, let's not get too sidetracked."
Taiyo nods.
"Right, so those Special Grade Cursed Spirits will have Innate Techniques I designed, since I've spent centuries cultivating them. Then I can either get them to work with us, or—"
"Get Cursed Spirit Manipulation by eating Suguru Geto's brain, I see."
"I was hoping you could help me with that. I give you the tools to beat Satoru Gojo and become the strongest, you give me Suguru Geto's corpse, a fair trade, right?"
"I made a deal with Gojo that I can't attack Geto unless he starts it. And if the higher-ups order it, I have to refuse and tell Gojo."
Kenjaku frowns. "Damn it. Annoying, but not too difficult to work around."
"If you can work around that, sure, so far I'm interested, but what's next?"
"Well. Satoru Gojo sealed, Cursed Spirit Manipulation acquired, Idle Transfiguration under my control. Then we'd take Tengen. She's more Cursed Spirit than human right now, so I'd easily control her and invert her Barriers.
Causing a surge of Cursed Spirits and Cursed Energy. Then I use Idle Transfiguration to awaken Cursed Energy in thousands of people across Japan, and those who aren't viable, I'll merge with Cursed Objects and incarnate people into them."
"Wait, what? Sorry, but you lost me at the part with 'Cursed Objects' and 'Incarnate'."
"Oh, right. Over the centuries, I've made Binding Vows with powerful and skilled sorcerers. Upon their death, I stored them as Cursed Objects, allowing me to have a back door to their souls. Using this, I can have them effectively possess a living person and reshape their body to match.
That way, we can have the strongest from each era in the battle. After that, I'd form a giant tournament with the Barriers and force them to fight. The surging Cursed Energy and abundance of Cursed Spirits would generate enough energy for me to then merge it into Tengen to create the ultimate Cursed Spirit."
Kenjaku cackles wildly as Taiyo just stares at her.
"So all of this…to make Godzilla?"
Kenjaku frowns, glaring at him. "Don't make it sound so simple."
"And what's the plan afterward? You get to study Cursed Energy and Jujutsu as all the strongest sorcerers clash, then a Cursed Energy Kaiju forms…and?"
"Sukuna fight it."
"Sukuna? That finger I had was his, one of the twenty. Is his soul so vast that he was split into twenty Cursed Objects? Was that your doing?"
"No. After he saw the process once, he performed it on himself. And he thought it would be more fun to give himself more chances to appear throughout history. If the right person consumes a finger, he possesses them."
"So can you have twenty Sukunas?"
"No. Each finger is just a gate to his soul. If a person eats one, it merges with them. This can be undone, but that takes special know-how. Don't think of them as a set amount of his power. It's more qualitative than that. If you kill a person who ate one finger, that power is divided among the other nineteen. But there are breakpoints where he'll have enough energy to perform certain feats."
"I see. And he was able to learn this process instantly, so you think he'd come up with something spectacular against the Kaiju."
"I'm not calling it 'the Kaiju', but yes, that's the plan. If anyone can optimize Jujutsu and solve it, Sukuna can."
"Do you believe he'd beat Gojo?"
Kenjaku thinks about it for a moment, and doesn't like the answer.
"Normally, I'd never doubt Sukuna. But, I've been preparing for over a thousand years, and Jujutsu believe Satoru Gojo is enough to stop me so close to the finish line. And that man certainly is a monster in his own right. So, I don't know. However, Jujutsu Sorceres are tricksters, so I'm sure Sukuna would come up with something.
Whether or not it would be enough. Well, they don't call him the King Of Curses for nothing. And that moniker alone is enough to kill most people. But I don't think it'll be easy this time, only because, he is Satoru Gojo…"
They talk for a few more minutes about the specifics of Kenjaku's plan, pouring over his past and gathered knowledge, considering every angle as he excitedly delves into the details.
And while Kenjaku feels that he has finally found someone who understands, who he can connect with.
Taiyo looks at him with a sad expression and shakes his head.
"It's no wonder they've been kicking your ass for a thousand years," Taiyo says. "From the foundation to the end result, this plan sucks…"
END CHAPTER---
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pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]
You.tube: @KeanuEugene [Giving away all my writing knowledge]