Chapter 55: Making the Sons of Horus "Great" Again
In fact, before Gojo Satoru was assigned by the Sorcerers Association to leave, he had already received a call from Mei Mei, learning the general circumstances.
He thought it was someone else, but it turned out the one fighting the Special Grade Cursed Spirit was that arrogant brat.
Gojo Satoru couldn't help but sigh that his judgment back then was indeed correct; this person consistently brought him different surprises every year.
However, what Gojo Satoru didn't expect was that he wasn't the only one who was attracted.
"Yo, Satoru."
Suguru Geto greeted Gojo Satoru quite nonchalantly.
In Gojo Satoru's line of sight, Suguru Geto stood atop a giant Cursed Spirit bird. Floating in the air beside him was a woman wearing a fox mask, whose aura indicated she was a troublesome Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
"!"
Gojo Satoru's emotions were highly agitated. He forcefully unwound the bandage wrapped around his head, revealing the crystal clear, azure Six Eyes.
"It can't be wrong, it's Geto himself!"
Ten years had passed since Suguru Geto's defection, but in Gojo Satoru's eyes, it felt like yesterday. For a moment, his mind went blank as countless thoughts rushed through, recalling the past.
Suddenly, a sharp pain struck the Six Eyes. A dazzling golden light in his field of vision rapidly magnified. Gojo Satoru, sensing a fatal threat from it, immediately woke up from his thoughts and instantly dodged!
When the golden slash hit the nearby mountain, a violent explosion occurred. Soon, a golden cross with a streak of red shot up into the sky, shining intensely in the darkness.
"Too exaggerated!"
The fierce airflow generated by the explosion caused Suguru Geto, who was standing on the monstrous bird in the sky, to lose control instantly. He immediately summoned another, larger Cursed Spirit to barely dodge the shockwave.
"An ordinary attack has this much power?"
The one who unleashed the golden slash was naturally Hikigaya Hachiman. How deep the feelings between Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto were was none of his business.
When he sensed that this battlefield was disturbed by outsiders, Hikigaya Hachiman materialized a golden mask and put it on his face. His hair color also changed to the same golden as Sanguinius, making it impossible to recognize him as Hikigaya Hachiman.
Hikigaya Hachiman had even sent a message to Gojo Satoru just now, proposing:
"I'll take care of this traitor for you."
But Hikigaya Hachiman saw Gojo Satoru's idiotic behavior just now. The Six Eyes were wide open, and he was just foolishly staring at Suguru Geto.
There was no reaction whatsoever.
Feeling helpless, Hikigaya Hachiman shook his head.
"Then I'll just cut both of you down."
There is no betrayal small enough to ignore. Hikigaya Hachiman inherently had little goodwill toward traitors.
All traitors should die.
Currently, Hikigaya Hachiman's [Archangel] mode still had about sixty seconds of activity time left.
Killing one Suguru Geto was more than enough.
The golden flames fiercely burning on the greatsword had the ability to incinerate Cursed Spirits, making them the bane of Cursed Spirits.
Even if Suguru Geto had countless Cursed Spirits, Hikigaya Hachiman could easily bring destruction down upon him.
"Wait."
Gojo Satoru snapped out of the deadly threat from Hikigaya Hachiman, and he recalled that Hachiman seemed to have said something to him—something about killing Suguru Geto.
"This guy, leave him to me."
Gojo Satoru said anxiously.
Fearing that Hikigaya Hachiman would strike first and kill Suguru Geto, Gojo Satoru immediately raised his hand, and a sphere glowing with a dazzling red light bloomed at his fingertips. He fired a blast at Suguru Geto.
This was one of Gojo Satoru's famous techniques besides [Limitless], certified by the Sorcerers Association as the strongest single-target burst technique in the Jujutsu world: [Hollow Purple].
It was also the only Cursed Technique in the entire Jujutsu world, apart from Hikigaya Hachiman's, that no one else dared to take head-on.
Gojo Satoru's eagerness to show off was, in Hikigaya Hachiman's eyes, a manifestation of guilt.
It wasn't that Hikigaya Hachiman looked down on Gojo Satoru. Unlike his usual arrogant self, the current "Strongest Sorcerer" only had panic in his eyes, not a trace of killing intent.
Compared to using [Hollow Purple] against his former friend, [Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void] would clearly be the better choice.
However, Hikigaya Hachiman didn't have the time to bother with the drama of "brothers turning against each other." He needed to quickly absorb this Cursed Spirit with the special Cursed Technique.
When the Archangel's sword was plunged into the Cursed Spirit's chest, the fiercely burning flames completely incinerated the Cursed Spirit's body, unexpectedly revealing the previously suicidal Fujiwara no Yoshifusa.
Fujiwara no Yoshifusa briefly regained self-awareness.
However, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa was still barely breathing, simply experiencing a moment of clarity before death, unable to change the reality that he was about to be killed by Hikigaya Hachiman.
Hikigaya Hachiman, having deactivated the [Archangel] mode, disappeared from the spot with Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, who had reverted from a Cursed Spirit to a human form on the ground.
"I lost."
Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's Cursed Spirit transformation failed to kill Hikigaya Hachiman. His tone was no longer condescending but deeply dejected.
Having once stood at the pinnacle of power, he never thought he would die in this desolate wilderness.
However, things had reached a point where they could not be reversed.
"You may dispose of this body as you wish."
The awakened Fujiwara no Yoshifusa realized that his Cursed Spirit transformation was definitely induced by this junior.
His fear of this young man deepened, yet Fujiwara no Yoshifusa held no resentment.
It was a fact that he was inferior, and survival of the fittest was his guiding principle anyway.
However, there was one thing Fujiwara no Yoshifusa needed to entrust, or he would die with regret.
"I have one request for you."
Hikigaya Hachiman watched as Fujiwara no Yoshifusa removed a jade ring from his finger.
"This is?"
"Inside are several secret treasures of the Fujiwara family, along with tokens proving my identity."
The burial objects Fujiwara no Yoshifusa carried with him were naturally valuable. The ring was crafted using a lost spatial technique, with a large internal space for storage.
"A thousand years ago, I foresaw the decline of the Fujiwara family a millennium later. For this reason, I sealed myself, hoping to continue the Fujiwara family's glory in this era of dwindling Jujutsu.
I am not telling you this so you will hand these secret treasures over to my descendants, but as compensation.
If the Fujiwara family faces a disaster of extinction in the future, I hope you can look upon these items and offer them some protection."
Due to his family's Cursed Technique sensitivity, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa knew that his descendants were still alive, but too weak.
Too weak to withstand the schemes that the hidden manipulators began a thousand years ago.
"Do not let my lineage die out..."
"I understand."
Hikigaya Hachiman nodded.
This was hardly a demanding request, merely to offer some protection.
Furthermore, Hikigaya Hachiman had a good relationship with Fujiwara Chika. Even if he only saved her, it wouldn't violate his agreement with Fujiwara no Yoshifusa.
"You can rest assured. I know a descendant of yours, and I have a good relationship with her."
"That is truly wonderful."
Upon hearing that it was a "her," Fujiwara no Yoshifusa looked incredibly relieved, as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted, despite being close to death.
"That's wonderful..."
Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's voice grew fainter. He closed his eyes in peace, his words unfinished.
"Then consider it... my advance payment for the..."
A breeze blew, and Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's entire body turned into a gust of wind and vanished, leaving only a white ring on the ground.
A purple gem shaped like an aster appeared in Hikigaya Hachiman's palm. With this, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, who had propelled the Fujiwara family to the peak of power a millennium ago, was completely dead.
Shinomiya Oko's mission was also complete.
Hikigaya Hachiman sent a short message to Yukinoshita Haruno.
"The incident is resolved."
Hikigaya Hachiman swallowed the aster gem directly. Since he had entered Spiritual Energy shutdown, [Crimson Blood Manipulation] alone could not provide him with enough security.
Normally, the human brain can only tolerate one Cursed Technique, but this was no issue for Hikigaya Hachiman.
Hikigaya Hachiman proactively deactivated the [Archangel] mode, recovering forty percent of the cooldown. Originally, he was supposed to enter a 24-hour Spiritual Energy shutdown.
Now, it was about a fifteen-hour Spiritual Energy shutdown, meaning he would be able to use his Spiritual Energy again around tomorrow evening.
When Hikigaya Hachiman consumed the Life Core, which was the Cursed Spirit form of Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, the names of the corresponding Cursed Techniques appeared in his mind.
Fujiwara no Yoshifusa had two Cursed Techniques. The one that forcibly induced the Cursed Technique shutdown was [Izanagi], and the one that made Cursed Technique effects disappear was [Izanami].
The former technique, [Izanagi], was completely demonstrated by Fujiwara no Yoshifusa.
The latter ability, [Izanami], was actually not as simple as Hikigaya Hachiman initially thought, which was merely Cursed Technique nullification.
[Izanami] deals with the laws of causality. It operates under the principle that as long as the technique user is within the range of an offensive Cursed Technique and is potentially subject to harm, [Izanami] can be activated, completely erasing the effect of that Cursed Technique attack.
The maximum limit for the Cursed Technique nullification effect of [Izanami] is the Cursed Energy total of the user itself. If the destructive power exceeds this amount, [Izanami] cannot erase the technique.
For any attack aimed at the user or any technique that encompasses the user within its range, [Izanami] can forcibly erase the Cursed Technique effect.
This was Hikigaya Hachiman's understanding regarding ranged Cursed Techniques. The truly tricky part of [Izanami] is actually its application to close-combat Cursed Techniques.
Many Sorcerers use physical attacks, either close-quarters combat (Taijutsu) or Cursed Tools.
[Izanami] can also be effective against them. By merely waving his hand, he can erase the effect of that Cursed Technique, along with the area used to execute it.
In other words, if Todo Aoi were to attack Hikigaya Hachiman with Black Flash, using Izanami would erase the strike effect of Black Flash and also Todo's arm.
The effect is the same for Cursed Tools.
This means the era of the jock fighting is over. Hikigaya Hachiman, who inherited the [Izanami] Cursed Technique, would become the nightmare of close-combat Sorcerers.
Regarding the other Cursed Technique, [Izanagi], the puppets summoned by Hikigaya Hachiman when casting it were not the white-robed shadows they saw when Fujiwara no Yoshifusa used it earlier.
Hikigaya Hachiman was dumbfounded. The puppets he summoned using [Izanagi] to take the damage were actually a group of Astartes soldiers in red power armor.
Hikigaya Hachiman saw the familiar skull and the symbol of the Blood Angels Legion—a pair of wings next to a blood drop.
Isn't this the Blood Angels?
[Izanagi] seems to directly create corresponding puppets based on Hikigaya Hachiman's deepest impressions.
But to use the Blood Angels as puppets to suffer attacks is something Hikigaya Hachiman definitely wouldn't do.
He couldn't overcome the psychological barrier; these were his brothers.
Hikigaya Hachiman's hand trembled as he removed the helmet of one of the Blood Angels. As expected, the helmet was empty. The inside of the armor was hollow, containing nothing. Clearly, the Cursed Technique only created an empty shell.
But even if it was just an empty shell, Hikigaya Hachiman couldn't bring himself to let his brothers be desecrated by others.
Hikigaya Hachiman changed his perspective.
If they weren't his brothers, then the enemy could be allowed to strike them.
When Hikigaya Hachiman used [Izanagi], he did not focus on the crimson livery of the Blood Angels, but instead chose a different Legion with a dark green/light blue color scheme and a golden eye as its Legion symbol.
This was the livery of the Sons of Horus, the Legion led by Horus, the Warmaster of the Imperium and the leader of the Imperial traitors.
During the Great Crusade, the predecessor of the Sons of Horus was the Luna Wolves. After Horus was granted the title of Warmaster by the Emperor, they were renamed the Sons of Horus.
During the Great Heresy, not all Sons of Horus were traitors. A portion of the Sons of Horus disdained their Primarch, reverted to their original name Luna Wolves, and fiercely fought back against their former brothers alongside the loyalists.
Hikigaya Hachiman still held some respect for these individuals.
Other than them, the rest were damned traitors!
By using the Sons of Horus as puppets to absorb damage when casting Izanagi, Hikigaya Hachiman had absolutely no psychological burden.
Hikigaya Hachiman was using this sacrificial method to make the Sons of Horus "great" again!
When Hikigaya Hachiman used a detection technique, he immediately sensed Gojo Satoru's location.
There were quite a few Cursed Spirit corpses outside, and blood flowed like a river.
There was no body of Suguru Geto on the field; Gojo Satoru must have let him go, and the place had returned to its original appearance.
When Hikigaya Hachiman found Gojo Satoru, the man was sitting atop a decapitated Cursed Spirit, with his arms crossed, looking as miserable as if he had eaten a bitter gourd.
Next to him was an additional, seemingly very angry man with a buzz cut, whose eyes were fitted with Cursed Tools resembling glasses.
The middle-aged man's face was dark, and he seemed to be scolding Gojo Satoru.
"Satoru, you're almost 30. How can you still not tell what's important?
Geto can't come back.
He is our enemy now."
That was Masamichi Yaga, Gojo Satoru's and Suguru Geto's teacher, and currently the principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Gojo Satoru was already tired of Masamichi Yaga's sermon. When he saw Hikigaya Hachiman walking over from a distance, he looked as if he had seen a savior.
"Old man, look at Hachiman!"
Hikigaya Hachiman also had something to discuss with Masamichi Yaga because of the items in the ring.
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