{Gojo's POV}
'I wonder how he'll handle this.'
Yuji was an extreme case. His talent is definitely one of the highest but a diamond in the rough. It's going to take some time to get him where he needs to be but knowing him it will be no issue. Tatsuya is another extreme case, his origin and everything about it is exactly how he says. His talent is another thing.
It's almost like he's similar to me, no, more similar to him.
'Suguru, if only... hah~ you missed out on one hell of a student.'
Tatsuya's technique seemed to be the complete opposite of Suguru's curse spirit manipulation. Instead of taking the cursed spirits and controlling them, Tatsuya takes them and inherits a trait or traits from them. The question was the limits and exactly the amount. Does a higher-quality curse mean more traits or does it all follow the same pattern despite grade?
I watched as the snake slammed him into the wall, the impact cracking concrete and throwing up a brief cloud of dust. But then I saw it.
His black eyes clouded, shifting into a murky grey, but that wasn't what caught me. No — the real spectacle was the shrine. A structure of black and ashen grey rose behind him for only a second, a flickering mirage to anyone else… but my Six Eyes don't lie.
It wasn't whole — the edges bled into the air like smoke, details lost in the haze. Still, I could tell it wasn't weakness causing that, but inexperience. The most solid piece was the torii gate, pitch black and etched in crisp, perfect lines, like it had been carved by a master. At its center glowed a black symbol, stark against the dark wood — a sky, rendered so precisely it almost seemed to shift as I looked at it.
'Interesting.'
With the transition of his eyes, Tatsuya's whole demeanor seemed to shift. It was still him, my Six Eyes told me that, but it also wasn't him. I wonder if that shrine is affecting him. Suguru had a weakness when he ate the curses that it tasted like shit but Tatsuya didn't say a word about taste. Then, I wonder if it was possible that the shrine affects his emotions in a way through the digestion process...
'No that couldn't be because he said that it was there before he ate his first curse.'
That's when it hit me.
'The shrine… could it represent a certain figure... is that figure affecting him? Is his bloodline more than what I thought?'
Everything about him screamed unordinary. It was something that a random person shouldn't have in all honesty. He would have to be someone from a clan but there is no clan that I know of similar or remotely close to him.
"Hahaha~ Tatsu-kun oh Tatsu-kun, you really are weird!" A smile for the future spread on my face as I continued watching.
---
{Tatsuya's POV}
I felt it — that cold energy flooding through my veins like liquid ice. Each pulse sent a faint chill crawling across my skin, and as it circulated more and more, my senses stretched outward in every direction. I could feel all of central Tokyo, every street, every flicker of movement, as if a map had unfolded in my mind in perfect, layered 3D.
Drip~
Drip~
"Wow."
The flood of information was too much — like a crushing weight pressing against my skull — and blood began to seep from my nose, my ears, the corners of my eyes. The copper taste hit my tongue, warm and metallic, but I didn't even flinch. Pain seemed to not register; all I cared about was pulling my senses back. Thankfully, after a few seconds, that overwhelming map shrank like receding tides, and now it was only me, the cursed spirit, and Gojo-sensei on a rooftop watching down on me.
So strange.
The world felt sharper, more saturated with my enhanced senses. The snake, which should have had an entirely black body, now had a red mark between its head and body, right where the jaw could open. The marking almost pulsed in my vision, like it was daring me to strike. Something inside me told me to attack there.
"How?" I whispered, but received no answer. Not that I was expecting one.
Just like with my senses, I tried to urge this energy to leave my body. Nothing happened. It sat there, thrumming in my chest, refusing to obey no matter how much I willed it.
'Kill it!'
'Huh?'
A faint whisper echoed in my mind, confusing me. Then, suddenly, a name along with a vague memory formed, flaring in my head as if someone had lit a lantern in a pitch-black room.
"So, this requires physical contact," I muttered. My eyes locked on the snake, which was frozen for some reason. I guess it realized we were in completely different leagues. Of course, it couldn't compare to someone as great as me.
I walked toward it slowly. Each step felt heavier, the air between us taut with tension. It didn't dare move. I could feel my smile widening, my emotions turning more and more sadistic. The shiver running down my spine wasn't fear; it was exhilaration.
My hands gripped the red-marked spot, the scales cold and slick beneath my fingers, muscles twitching weakly under my grip, and I spoke the name from that strange memory.
"Inverted Sky."
A violent shudder ripped through the snake's body, its muscles knotting and convulsing under my palms. The air around the contact point rippled like heat haze, distorting its form for a heartbeat before the flesh itself twisted unnaturally inward. A wet, crunching pop echoed in my ears as bone and sinew buckled under the impossible inversion.
The snake's body warped violently, unable to withstand the pressure. The technique was simple — as long as I made direct contact, I could invert whatever part I touched…
It was a shame it only worked on things with cursed energy; I wouldn't dare use it on anyone or anything without it. But these mongrels, crawling around and ruining their gifts… haha~ they would meet their ultimate demise!
Swoosh~
After the snake's death, a golden orb the size of a pill appeared in front of me. Without hesitation, I grabbed it and swallowed. Unlike last time, I didn't pass out before experiencing the full effects.
It's just as I thought. When I eat an orb, I gain a trait from that cursed spirit.
As soon as the orb slid down my throat with its bland taste, a faint warmth spread through my chest and out to my limbs. My stiff body loosened. Movement became easier — not to an extreme degree, and nowhere near a snake's natural dexterity — but I could definitely rival an above-average gymnast now.
"Haha~" I laughed under my breath, my grin still that same sadistic one. I wanted a feast, but there was something else — an itch beneath my skin, a pull in my gut — that I couldn't quite place.
Fwoo~
"Gojo-sensei, this feels amazing!"
"Tatsuya, do you think you can go back?"
"Hmm~, I don't know, Sensei. This feels more natural."
"I see. So you hadn't fully awakened your ability yet or maybe, once you run out of cursed energy, it'll deactivate on its own. However…" He raised his blindfold for a second time in front of me. "That technique isn't using any cursed energy. This is probably your ability's true form."
"I don't care, honestly, Gojo-sensei. This freedom… I can't even describe it."
"Pfft~, are you some protagonist? Calm down!"
"Haha~" Gojo-sensei was really easy to get along with.
"By the way, Tatsuya, before you learn R.C.T, you shouldn't expand your senses that far again."
"What's R.C.T?"
"Don't worry about it for now. You haven't even mastered the basics."
"Okay. Are we going back?"
"Yeah, they just finished as well."
Gojo-sensei grabbed my shoulder like before, and the surroundings vanished all the same.