As the crimson lights rearranged into glowing text, Sulien Daelan felt a surge of mysterious power coursing through him. Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho, Kido—the four core disciplines every Shinigami mastered at the Soul Academy, the backbone of their strength.
Zanjutsu: swordsmanship, wielding a Zanpakutō, a blade born from the Shinigami's soul, their second life.
Hakuda: hand-to-hand combat, pure physical prowess.
Hoho: high-speed movement, known as Shunpo, akin to the Quincy's Hirenkyaku or the Arrancar's Sonido.
Kido: spells divided into Hadō for destruction, Bakudō for binding, and Kaido for healing, with sequences 1 to 99, each higher number unleashing greater devastation.
As Sulien absorbed the system's newbie gift package, his gaze flicked to the unselected cards. Their fog lifted, revealing a gallery of villains so formidable they'd make anyone despair: Madara Uchiha, Dio Brando, Griffith, Frieza, Doflamingo, Meruem, Muzan Kibutsuji, Naraku… and Gray Wolf?
Sulien blinked. "What the—? Gray Wolf? Did you bribe the system to sneak in here?"
Before he could dwell on the absurdity, his consciousness snapped out of the bizarre system space, plummeting back to reality. The cursed spirit's gaping maw loomed before him, its rancid stench flooding his senses. Only a heartbeat had passed, but Sulien was no longer the terrified prey. A calm, calculating smirk replaced his fear, his eyes gleaming with certainty.
As the cursed spirit lunged to swallow his head, Sulien moved. His hand shot forward, plunging into the creature's maw. The beast froze, sensing a chilling power radiating from its former prey. Sulien's gaze, once filled with dread, now dripped with disdain. Though lacking true sentience, the cursed spirit's animal instincts screamed: Danger! Danger! Panic flashed in its eyes, urging it to flee.
Too late.
"Hadō #1: Thrust!" Sulien's voice was a low, steady chant. A small shockwave erupted from his fingertips, piercing the cursed spirit's skull like a bullet through meat. In an instant, the creature disintegrated into ash, vanishing into nothingness.
Exhilaration lit up Sulien's face. First Kido cast? Nailed it! "Hold up… in Jujutsu Kaisen's world, one Kido equals one innate technique. If I master all Kido…" His lips curled into a smug, Dragon-Proud-Sky grin, visions of godlike power dancing in his head.
---
Meanwhile, outside a derelict factory blocks away, two figures stood in the twilight.
"Shino, your son's barely a week old. Shouldn't you be home with him?" A young man in dark sunglasses glanced at his companion, dressed in traditional robes. "Word is the black market's already put a bounty on him."
The man called Shino—Shino Gojo, head of the Gojo clan—scoffed. "The elders are treating that kid like a priceless gem, afraid he'll shatter if they blink. As for the bounty?" His voice turned icy. "One billion yen to take the life of a Six Eyes heir? They're underestimating the Gojo clan. They'll come crawling and leave in body bags."
His newborn son, Satoru Gojo, had been born under the clan's watchful eyes, hailed as the Six Eyes prodigy. The man beside him, Masamichi Yaga, Jujutsu High's stern director, pressed on. "Still, better safe than sorry. And with your wife passing just days ago, you should—"
"Enough, Yaga!" Shino's growl cut him off, his eyes blazing with raw hatred. His teeth ground audibly. "Those damned cursed spirits stole Kana's chance to hold her son. Until every last one is eradicated, how can I face her in the afterlife?"
Kana Mizuki, Shino's wife, had become Kana Gojo upon marriage. A week ago, she'd been attacked by a cursed spirit in the hospital delivery room. With her dying breath, she brought Satoru into the world, then slipped away.
Yaga sighed, watching fury pour from Shino like a tangible force. He said no more, instead raising a hand to form a seal. "Born of darkness, from dark to darker. Filth and defilement, be purged."
A massive black sphere unfurled, enveloping the abandoned factory—the Curtain, a barrier to conceal their work. Cursed spirits, born from humanity's negative emotions, thrived in places like this. The factory had been the site of a deadly explosion, claiming workers' lives. Abandoned by its owner, it became a breeding ground for curses.
Inside, Shino and Yaga surveyed the scorched walls and shattered machinery, relics of the tragedy. From a door deep within, Shino sensed a chilling pulse of cursed energy. Their target was close.
But the cursed spirit, enraged by intruders in its domain, struck first. With a thunderous CRASH, the rusted iron door exploded, jagged shards embedding into concrete walls with terrifying force. Shino and Yaga stood unfazed, their gazes locked on the emerging creature.
It was humanoid, yet monstrous—charred black, with a grotesque face and glowing, magma-like fluid coursing through exposed veins. No one would mistake it for human. In a flash, it blurred forward, claws slicing the air toward Shino's head.
As the Gojo clan's head, Shino barely blinked. A casual hand blocked the attack. But the cursed spirit wasn't done. Its cursed energy surged, the magma-like substance in its veins flaring. With a BANG, a small explosion erupted from its palm.
The shockwave pushed Shino back several meters, his arm singed black and smoking. "Shino!" Yaga shouted, alarm creeping into his voice.
Shino shook out his arm, smirking. "Overreacting much, Yaga?" He'd channeled cursed energy to shield himself, escaping real harm.
"Scared me for a second. Glad you're fine," Yaga muttered, relieved.
"If a first-grade cursed spirit took me out that easily, I'd be a laughingstock," Shino said. Their brief clash had confirmed the creature's rank. "Didn't expect its technique to be explosions, though."
First-grade cursed spirits were nothing new to Shino, but an explosion-based technique? That was rare. What piqued his interest was the synergy with his own fire-based technique. Time to see whose flames burned hotter.
Shino lunged, faster than the cursed spirit's earlier charge. In half a breath, he flanked its right side, exploiting a gap in its guard. The cursed spirit's pupils shrank, scrambling to defend, but it was too late.
"Blue Flame!" Shino's palm pressed against the creature's side, a vibrant azure fire erupting with his command.
Blue Flame, Shino's innate technique, summoned cerulean fire indistinguishable from normal flames—until it touched a cursed spirit. Then, it fed on their cursed energy, amplifying its damage exponentially until the target was ash. In moments, the blue blaze consumed the cursed spirit.
But as its body crumbled, leaving only a head, something eerie happened. Its eyes cleared, human-like, and broken words spilled from its mouth. "Agh… explosion… fire… escape… home… darling…"
Shino and Yaga froze, stunned. This was a first-grade cursed spirit—Shino's judgment was ironclad. It had shown no signs of special-grade sentience during their fight. The only explanation? This creature was born from the souls of the explosion's victims, fused with the factory's cursed energy.
Shino's plan to vent his rage through exorcism backfired. His face darkened, a hollow ache settling in his chest. Silent, he and Yaga left the factory, the weight of the encounter heavy on their shoulders.
Outside, as the Curtain dissolved, a lone figure stood waiting in front of the factory.