In the head of the house room
Uzumaki Makoto sat cross-legged on on a pillow placed on the tatami mat, his chin resting against his palm.
Across from him sat Uzumaki Yusuke and Uzumaki Tamaki.
Makoto's gaze lingered on Tamaki in particular.
She looked dead.
It had taken Yusuke nearly an hour to convince her to come here.
Makoto finally spoke.
"Tamaki," he said calmly, "are you not going to greet me? Have you become that disrespectful?"
"Father—" Yusuke started.
Makoto raised a hand and Yusuke shut up immediately.
Tamaki slowly lifted her eyes to meet Makoto's.
"I apologize, Father," she said quietly. "That was beyond rude of me. Welcome home."
Makoto nodded.
"Good."
Then his expression hardened.
"But wipe that pitiful look off your face," he continued. "No one told you to abandon your own child, so stop fishing for sympathy."
Yusuke shot to his feet.
"Father, you're being insensitive—"
Makoto didn't even look at him.
"The reason your wife could abandon her own son without even telling you," Makoto said coldly, "is because you are far too soft on her."
His eyes returned to Tamaki.
"That expression disgusts me," he added. "Some people are simply not meant to be mothers."
Yusuke clenched his fists.
"If you called Tamaki here just to disrespect her," he said, "then we're leaving."
Makoto's voice dropped.
"Sit down, Yusuke."
"You're no longer the head of the Uzumaki Clan," Yusuke snapped. "I'm not obligated to follow your orders."
Makoto looked at him.
"You're right," he said evenly. "But I'm not speaking to you as the head of the clan."
He leaned forward slightly.
"I'm speaking to you as your father."
Yusuke opened his mouth—
But Tamaki tugged lightly at his pants.
"Yusuke," she said softly, "Father is right. I failed as a mother. This isn't something to argue over."
She bowed her head.
"Please. Let's sit and listen to what Father has to say."
Yusuke hesitated.
Then he dropped back down onto the tatami mat.
Makoto nodded.
"Good."
He stood up and walked toward a reinforced safe built into the wall.
He entered a code and the safe opened.
From inside, he pulled out a massive book which looked ancient, thick, and worn with age.
Yusuke narrowed his eyes as Makoto returned and sat back down.
"Father," he said, "isn't that the book you used to read when I was a kid? What does it have to do with Oden?"
Makoto rested a hand on the cover.
"This book has everything to do with Oden," he said. "It contains the full history of our family—dating back over fourteen hundred years."
Yusuke blinked.
"That far?" he asked. "Is that even possible?"
Makoto shrugged.
"I wouldn't know," he said. "I've only been alive for seventy-one years. But if it was written down… it must be accurate."
Yusuke nodded slowly.
"I guess so."
Makoto smiled faintly then he clapped his hands together once.
"Alright," he said. "Before we begin explaining our family's history and how it connects to Oden—"
His eyes sharpened.
"You first need to learn the truth of this world."
Yusuke said, "The truth of the world you say."
"Well not necessarily the world," Makoto said, "But more of the Truth of Japan."
Yusuke frowned. Tamaki remained silent, eyes fixed on the floor.
"Long before nations, before empires and before even written history," Makoto continued, "humans felt fear. Grief. Hatred. Regret and those emotions did not simply vanish."
He tapped the book lightly.
"They accumulated."
Makoto lifted his gaze.
"And from that accumulation, something was born."
Cursed energy.
"It is the residue of negative human emotion," Makoto said. "Every fear left unspoken. Every hatred swallowed. Every regret that festers in the heart. Most people leak it unconsciously, like steam escaping from a crack."
Tamaki's fingers curled slightly.
"When cursed energy gathers in sufficient quantity," Makoto went on, "it gains form, a will and hunger."
He paused.
"These are cursed spirits."
Yusuke swallowed. "You're saying… monsters are born from human emotions?"
"Yes."
Makoto didn't hesitate.
"They gravitate toward suffering. So mostly Hospitals, Schools and Homes filled with resentment. Places where emotions stagnate."
Tamaki's breath hitched.
"And most humans," Makoto added, "cannot see them."
Yusuke let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
"This sounds insane," he said. "Supernatural energy, invisible monsters, this feels like something straight out of a manga."
Makoto turned his gaze to him.
"Tamaki almost died you know."
The room went still.
"…What?" Yusuke said.
Tamaki's head snapped up. "What do you mean, almost died?"
Makoto's voice remained calm.
"Five years ago," he said, "while I was away. You remember that period when Tamaki was constantly ill, had nightmares, fatigue and sudden fevers."
Yusuke nodded slowly. "The doctors said it was stress."
Makoto shook his head.
"No," he said. "She was being fed on."
Tamaki's face drained of color.
"A powerful curse had nested near her," Makoto continued. "Now that I know what happened, the curses were most probably draw in by her guilt and sadness of abandoning Yusuke."
Tamaki's hands began to tremble.
"And if it had been allowed to continue," Makoto said quietly, "her life would have ended without anyone understanding why."
Yusuke stood up abruptly, chair scraping.
"That's—no. That's impossible."
Makoto looked toward the door.
"Jiji," he called.
The door slid open.
The middle-aged man who had served as their bodyguard for five years stepped inside.
Jiji bowed politely. "Makoto-sama."
Makoto gestured toward him. "This man," he said, "is not merely a bodyguard."
Yusuke stared. "Jiji…?"
"He is a Scoceror," Makoto said. "One whose duty is to exorcise cursed spirits."
Jiji straightened slightly.
"I was instructed to remain silent," he said calmly. "Until the time was right."
Tamaki whispered, "All this time…"
Makoto nodded.
"Jiji contacted me while I was away," he said. "He informed me of the ridiculous concentration of curses spawning near Tamaki. If a sorcerer had not been stationed here permanently—"
He didn't finish the sentence as he didn't need to.
Yusuke ran a hand through his hair.
"This is too much," he said. "I need a break. I—this is insane."
Makoto laughed.
A sharp, unapologetic sound.
"Too bad," he said. "Because now we get to the important part."
Yusuke froze.
Makoto leaned forward, eyes sharp.
"Cursed techniques," he said. "These are Innate abilities possessed by sorcerers. Unique powers used to combat these curses."
He placed a hand on the ancient book again.
"Some are random," Makoto continued. "Some are rare. And some—"
His gaze sharpened.
"Are inherited."
Tamaki's breath caught.
"The Uzumaki family," Makoto said, "has carried a hereditary cursed technique for generations. One so old it predates modern sorcery."
Yusuke's voice was barely audible.
"…And Oden?"
Makoto nodded once.
"I have reason to believe," he said, "that Oden has inherited it."
The room fell into silence.
---
Elsewhere in the middle of a crowded Shinjuku Tokyo. Two best friends stood quite far from each other, the usual laughs and fun of being together long gone, what's left was a ton of tension. These two were Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo.
Gojo screamed "Killing every non-Scoceroris impossible."
Geto responded "You could do I right Satoru?" he then continued, "You are trying to convince me that its impossible, when you yourself could do it."
Satoru Gojo was left speechless.
Geto then said "Tell me Satoru. Are you the strongest because you are Satoru Gojo, or are you Satoru Gojo because you are the strongest?"
The confrontation ended with Satoru Gojo failing to kill the man he once considered he's best friend. And this one event turned Suguru Geto completely against Jujutsu Tech, and he would one day in the future become their biggest enemy.