Jujutsu Kaisen is a world overflowing with curses and death.
Negative emotions produced by humans generate cursed energy. Cursed energy condenses into cursed spirits. Cursed spirits cause harm to society and death to humans. To fight against them, organizations of sorcerers who use cursed energy arose.
In Japan alone, the number of abnormal deaths and disappearances exceeds ten thousand every year, most of them caused by the curses born from human negativity.
In this world, nearly every human possesses and produces cursed energy.
But most ordinary people cannot see curses. Their cursed energy constantly leaks out of their bodies. These people are called non-sorcerers.
There are others, however, who are born with the talent to see curses. Their cursed energy circulates internally without leaking. As long as they live, their energy will not spawn new curses. These people are called sorcerers.
Humans—cursed energy—cursed spirits—humans: the three form a closed loop, a strange dynamic balance.
This balance has one very clear manifestation:
The overall power of sorcerers and cursed spirits always tends toward equality.
At age six, Minamoto Soujun awakened his innate technique. This marked him as possessing the talent to become—a sorcerer.
His rapid physical growth finally returned to normal.
The pain from growing too fast, and the discomfort it caused on the soul's level, gradually faded away until it was gone.
Indeed, only after experiencing illness does one realize the blessing of ordinary health.
But some effects remained.
His appearance no longer matched his real age. He looked six or seven years older. Sending him to kindergarten or elementary school would have been awkward.
So his parents simply hired private tutors, keeping him at home to study. He did not resist. Relearning cultural knowledge gave him a fresh sense of enjoyment.
Now that his body was normal, his curiosity extended to everything.
"I want to learn martial arts!" Soujun said to Mrs. Minamoto.
A familiar female voice answered over the phone: "Handle little things like that yourself. If you need an adult, ask the nanny. Your father and I are busy, we'll talk later, mua~! Be good!"
The voice was gentle—but never lasted longer than a minute.
Every call was like that. Soujun was already used to it.
He calmly set the phone down.
He knew his parents were sorcerers. They knew about his innate technique. Neither side made any effort to hide it.
Mr. and Mrs. Minamoto were rarely at home.
At first, he thought they were constantly on missions, exorcising curses across Japan. Later, he realized he had been naive. They were simply off traveling abroad.
And what is the essence of cursed energy?
Negative emotion!
Exposed to it constantly, how could anyone not go mad? Sorcerers—just a bunch of lunatics.
To grow up safe until now was already no small feat.
Soujun often felt too sane to fit into this "warm three-person family." He had been a left-behind child since the beginning.
It was complicated, to say the least.
He stopped overthinking, explained his intent to the nanny, who clearly had been briefed, and she briskly took his hand and led him out.
The world was dangerous. Soujun could see what normal people could not. But that did not mean he dared to look at everything.
For example, the fly-headed thing he once held—he could not only see it but toy with it.
But now…
He glanced at the cursed spirit sprawled under the traffic light across the street. That one he dared not stare at. Because if it noticed, the one being toyed with would be him.
Soon the light turned green. He crossed with the nanny.
As they passed beneath the light, Soujun walked almost shoulder to shoulder with the curse, making no effort to avoid it.
The cursed spirit glared at him.
Soujun kept his gaze straight ahead, walking like any normal child, though a chill brushed against his legs, like standing in front of an open refrigerator.
They passed each other without incident.
Success!
He had tested this many times.
From the small fly-head, to the spirit just now.
Each trial involved stronger beings. He confirmed that as long as he pretended not to see, most curses would ignore him—unless he made eye contact, or unless the curse was intelligent enough to recognize the act.
Soujun nodded in satisfaction, scraped his foot against the pavement, and suddenly leapt onto a nearby railing?!
"Careful!"
The nanny cried out, spreading her arms like a mother bird shielding her chick.
Soujun spread his own arms, wobbling along the rail as though on a balance beam. After only a few steps, his face darkened and he jumped down.
Once he had been in his forties. Now he was six. Forty plus six, divided by two, roughly matched his mental age. But sometimes he would suddenly act six, sometimes suddenly forty. His behavior could be erratic.
Fusion takes time. He needed patience.
How had things developed into this?
Soujun held up a little pinwheel the nanny had just bought him.
He sat quietly in the waiting room while she registered him, chose a class, then led him into a training hall.
A group of toddlers stood before him.
Soujun was speechless.
Fortunately, the coach noticed and came over.
"You shouldn't be here."
Soujun's heart leapt.
Then the coach added: "You should be in the advanced class."
Ah…
Helpless, he followed the coach into another hall, this one filled with older kids.
Fine—
"Ha! Hei!"
The children's clear, youthful shouts echoed through the open room.
At the coach's instruction, Soujun changed into training clothes and joined them.
The coach taught Kyokushin Karate.
Compared to other karate styles, it emphasized actual combat. Different from "point-stop" practice, it stressed physical contact. In competition, protective gear was rarely encouraged. Aside from banning strikes to the head with fists and attacks to the groin, every other strike was permitted. Hands, feet, elbows, knees—no weight divisions. Also known as full-contact karate.
The coach demonstrated with a few shadow punches and moves. He had skill enough to teach Soujun well.
Soujun listened and followed obediently.
"You have real talent. Do you want to be my disciple?" the coach suddenly asked.
"I'll listen to Mom," Soujun replied, feigning childishness to refuse.
"Then I'll contact your parents later."
The coach grew excited, teaching with even more energy.
Life settled into a rhythm:
Up at six-thirty. Mornings with the tutor studying language, math, and English. Afternoons training in karate with the coach. Evenings spent reviewing and recording the day's attempts and discoveries.
From one place to another, exorcising a few low-level curses along the way, gaining little surprises. Who doesn't enjoy opening blind boxes? This way, he was already a sorcerer with some exorcism experience.
Day by day, life passed like this. Soujun was in no hurry. He studied, practiced, experimented steadily. Each day brought small progress. Full and content.
No matter how chaotic or dangerous the world, there were always taller shoulders to bear the burden. In that, he had clearly inherited Mr. and Mrs. Minamoto's "fine" tradition.
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