Name: Jin Itadori
Species: Human?
Age: 28 years old
Class: Adventurer
Level: 32
• Strength: 41
• Agility: 42
• Dexterity: 32
• Intelligence: 15 → 17
• Luck: 3
• Magic Power: 39
• Cursed Energy: 41
• Health: 61
Available skill points: 0
Skills:
• Luck: lvl 4 (new)
• Forge: lvl 5 (new)
• Flee: lvl 6 (new)
• One-Handed Sword: lvl 3
• Hand-to-Hand Combat: lvl 1 (new)
• Cooking: lvl 4 (new)
• Reading: lvl 6 (new)
• Gore Resistance: lvl 1 (new)
• Poison Resistance: lvl 5 (new)
• Magic: none
Cursed Technique:
• Cursed Energy Manipulation: lvl 4
• Vow: lvl 3 (new)
• Artificial Cursed Corpse Creation: lvl 2 (new)
Items: Vanir Mask, Chunchunmaru, Bow, Silver Flesh, Megumin's Amulet, and Dynamite
[Skill pending learning: Barrier Creation]
"You've been staring at that thing for a while now," Nayuta declared while observing Jin from the side.
The latter glanced at the curious little girl out of the corner of his eye before sketching a small teasing smile on his face.
"Are you curious, by any chance?" he asked, waiting for her reaction.
"… No," she lied, pretending to observe the surroundings of the forest outside the city of Sendai.
Nayuta's reaction made Jin smile even more, but he decided to ignore her curiosity for the moment.
Anyway, he didn't have time for that.
"You got here very quickly," Kenjaku declared after observing Jin's arrival in the clearing.
The sky was tinged with purple due to the twilight, but this phenomenon did nothing to diminish the allure of the sorcerer in Jin's eyes.
He would even say it added a touch of mystery to the woman standing before him.
"Logical, since I'm the one who expressed the need to see you," Jin replied as he approached.
Just as he was about to take the lead, he felt a slight tug on the bottom of his shirt.
He looked down and found Nayuta beside him, staring at Kenjaku with eyes filled with complex emotions.
Jin detected wariness in them, but also confusion.
"Problem?" he asked in a curious tone at this unusual attitude.
Nayuta slowly nodded without taking her eyes off Kenjaku for a single instant after hearing her father's question.
"She smells like me… but a little differently. Who is she?" she said, narrowing her eyes.
While Nayuta instinctively created distance between herself and the "stranger," Kenjaku observed the little girl with barely concealed interest.
"Darling… what is the identity of this child?" Kenjaku asked after visually inspecting the kid.
Physically, Nayuta resembled neither Jin nor Kaori. Yet Kenjaku could perceive a certain familiarity in the cursed energy residues emitted by the little girl.
An unforeseen situation for Jin, because he had estimated that the influence of the soul information from Wasuke and the former Jin would be enough to alter that of Kaori.
'I need to study the soul more,' he thought inwardly.
He still knew far too little on the subject.
"She is my crea—… my daughter," he replied in an assured tone after a brief hesitation.
Nayuta was a creation of his hands; that was a fact. Beyond that truth, Jin refused to sow the slightest feeling of dissatisfaction in the little girl's heart.
The last overpowered man he had read about who created superhumans without treating them humanely had ended up stuck on a golden throne.
'She won't be the last one I create… but the elite among them will have to receive special treatment,' he thought inwardly.
"My daughter? Interesting~" Kenjaku murmured, placing a finger on her lower lip before her eyes fixed on Nayuta again.
The little girl remained frozen by Jin's declaration. Usually, she was the only one who called him by a familial title.
'Has he finally accepted?' she wondered, tightening her small hand on Jin's shirt.
The desire to protect that broad back grew even stronger within her, without her understanding that her creator had spoken that way primarily out of instinctive self-interest.
As for whether Jin's feelings would evolve again, as they had with Yuji…
No one could truly predict that except fate.
"I'm not here to introduce you to my child," Jin said as he advanced toward Kenjaku.
The woman nodded at his words before adopting a more serious expression on her originally playful face.
"I understand, but…" she said in an understanding voice before shifting to a more serious tone.
"This child is not ordinary. May I question her for a short moment?" Kenjaku asked as she approached Nayuta.
Jin felt slightly uneasy but ultimately nodded toward the sorcerer.
Jin's reaction brought a brief sincere smile to Kenjaku's face before she intensely fixed her gaze on Nayuta's eyes.
"Tell me, you mentioned feeling a scent similar to mine inside you. Can you elaborate?" she asked in a gentle tone.
Nayuta did not answer immediately and cast a discreet glance toward Jin. The creature was silently asking for permission to speak.
At first, Jin nodded, but he froze midway.
'The scent Nayuta mentioned when talking about Wasuke and me… is it really cursed energy?' he wondered inwardly.
A sorcerer's cursed energy is never identical to another's; each possesses traits unique to them.
For example, Hakari's energy is described as rough by others, while Yuji described Yuta's as intimidating.
Jin had always believed that Nayuta's sensitivity to others' "scent" was merely a way of describing their presence. Yet, judging by Kenjaku's reaction, things seemed different.
The sorcerer appeared extremely interested in this trait of Nayuta's.
"Go ahead, you can speak without fear," Jin declared after sorting out his chaotic thoughts.
Now, there was no point in questioning further. Might as well leave it to an expert in jujutsu.
"It's hard to describe… Beyond the flames emitted by people, there is also this sphere inside them that gives off a strong scent…"
Nayuta placed a finger on her lower lip while searching for her words, then pointed to her small chest.
"It's like Dad's core inside my body… but mine is paler. As if it were an attempt at imitation," she explained.
Silence fell over the clearing.
Unfortunately, it was broken by a scene Jin would never have believed he'd witness.
"MAGNIFICENT, simply magnificent!" Kenjaku suddenly exclaimed.
Before anyone could react, she grabbed Nayuta in her arms with a sudden gesture.
"What are you doing?" Jin asked, frowning.
Nayuta also frowned but couldn't free herself from the unknown woman's embrace.
"Don't you understand? This child can discern the outline of the soul!" Kenjaku declared, turning toward Jin while still holding Nayuta in her arms.
Jin froze at this revelation.
"What?!" he let out inadvertently after understanding Kenjaku's words.
The soul.
It possesses no real offensive capability in the jujutsu world, but its importance is far from negligible.
If it is damaged, it is almost impossible to heal it by orthodox means.
'There are few beings capable of attacking the soul, but those who can are always formidable,' he thought, recalling Toji in the cemetery.
Toji could injure the soul and ignore physical resistance thanks to the Split Soul Katana. However, Yuji and Sukuna had shown the same ability without using a cursed weapon.
A situation made possible by the particularity of Yuji Itadori.
He is an incarnated being, but his soul was not crushed by the curse of Sukuna's finger.
An abnormal situation, because Choso had crushed his host's soul by his mere presence in the latter's body.
All of this meant two things at that moment:
Either Yaga's artificial cursed corpses possessed a terrifying potential, or the particularity of the soul cores in Nayuta's body had caused this phenomenon.
"Darling~ can you leave her with me? I promise I won't bother you about Yuji," Kenjaku asked while grabbing his hands.
Strangely, she executed perfect puppy-dog eyes to obtain Nayuta.
However…
"No," Jin answered without the slightest hesitation.
Who the hell would abandon a treasure for a pussy?
Not a broke single father.
…
**Author's Note:** I'm going to be honest with you, my dear readers. I will never abandon this work unless I face a truly serious personal problem.
This Monday, I had to deal with the side effects of the treatment prescribed by my doctor (fever). Fortunately, it stopped on Wednesday, but another problem arose: depression.
Luckily, I managed to get through it thanks to a friend—the same one who pushed me to write this fanfic because he accused me of being incapable of finishing a story, lol.
So on Saturday I was feeling good, but since I was looking for a hairdresser in a city where I've just moved… I preferred to publish today so as not to harm the quality.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I plan to post three today if possible (yes, I want to make up for my delay and I feel good and free).
So vote! I unlock a bonus at 60 stones and the second at 140! Vote, vote!