"No, no… you rely too much on your speed," Kenjaku complained in a disapproving tone after dodging Jin's punch.
Immediately after, she closed in to grab his collar and hurl him into the air.
The move itself recalled a judo throw, but it drew its essence from an even older martial art.
"Grr…" Jin groaned before staggering back to his feet from the cracked ground, shattered by the impact.
'Damn it, she's not holding back,' he thought while "materializing" two revolvers to fire at Kenjaku.
The latter simply applied higher gravity around herself to redirect the projectiles toward the ground before closing the distance again.
Jin quickly tossed his weapons at her, then immediately drew a "fake" Chunchunmaru to prepare for the coming fight.
Crack.
The impact of Kenjaku's cursed-energy-reinforced fist easily shattered the low-quality blade, but Jin's eyes didn't waver for a second.
He had anticipated it.
"What?" Kenjaku thought after witnessing the absurd scene before her.
Jin bit down on a shard of the broken blade mid-air.
Blood.
The piece of metal left an iron taste in his mouth, but he paid it no mind whatsoever.
Without a shadow of hesitation, he reinforced the steel shard with cursed energy and hurled it toward the nape of Kenjaku's neck.
'She can't use gravity anymore!' he thought mentally as excitement flickered in his eyes.
Gravity manipulation.
This innate technique once belonged to Kaori Itadori before Kenjaku obtained it through her body.
It consists of lightening gravitational force over a given scale, but it can also increase it with the aid of Reverse Cursed Technique.
A prodigious power.
However, it has a flaw at its core: a delay between each use that Kenjaku cannot bypass without a vow.
Jin hadn't fired those shots at random.
"No one ever told you women don't like overly insistent men~?" Kenjaku declared after being stabbed in the nape.
Blood gushed like a fountain from the wound, but Kenjaku's eyes showed no panic at her situation.
On the contrary, she sketched a wide smile.
"Blood Manipulation – Supernova," she whispered.
(Image)
Flee.
Jin immediately used the Flee skill to create distance, but he couldn't escape the range of the explosion.
"Grr…" he let out a pained groan but decided to abandon the idea of using his innate technique for another purchase.
'The two revolvers will already cost me dearly; I'll have to avoid another online purchase because of the fees,' he thought while using Reverse Cursed Technique to resist the explosions of blood spheres around him.
Online purchase.
It is a derivative technique of Jin's Domain Expansion, just like Higuruma's hammer and Hakari's jackpot.
It consists of making purchases—or even loans—from the causal market, but there are additional fees to pay.
Of course, these can increase depending on the situation and the speed at which the product must be delivered.
According to Jin's analysis, it is smarter to invoke the Domain Expansion for a major purchase and use online purchase for decent items.
"Wise decision, but a bit late," Kenjaku declared before using a blood blade to sever Jin's arm.
He immediately tried to counter the attack, but the cooldown on the gravity technique was over.
Kenjaku applied it instantly.
Jin collapsed to the ground.
"I-I lost again," Jin admitted while staring at the starry sky, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
One month.
He had spent an entire month living in the forest after awakening his Domain Expansion.
The training had been brutal.
Jin spent his time "surviving" in the woods until Kenjaku found him.
What happened when Kenjaku found him?
A fight!
There was no ceremony, no ancient martial arts in this godforsaken place.
Kenjaku wasn't teaching him how to fight—she was teaching him how to win!
The millennium-old sorcerer hadn't survived all these years solely thanks to her innate technique.
There was also resilience involved.
She wanted to instill it in her husband one way or another: the last one standing is the only true winner in a conflict.
Hence the idea of this infernal game of hide-and-seek in the woods around Sendai, which Jin perceived as pure torture.
All of this explains why Jin had had dark circles under his eyes for quite some time.
He barely slept because of this crazy woman!
"You're such a sore loser~" Kenjaku teased while removing the gravitational pressure.
There were no heavy bleedings at the spot where his arm had been severed because Jin hadn't stopped his Reverse Cursed Technique.
"I can say you have real talent for hide-and-Flee; it really became hell trying to find your cursed energy residues *kiss*," she said while giving him a consolatory peck.
Jin gave a self-deprecating smile, but he couldn't hide the spark of satisfaction within him.
Kenjaku's teachings were showing results.
'Even though I love the idea of being alone in a forest with a beautiful woman, I'd prefer not to have to run from her like prey,' he thought while recalling the hell he had lived through.
Kenjaku's training method was mentally exhausting, but his control over cursed energy and the Lurk skill had improved tremendously.
Jin had to learn to sleep while concealing his presence, but also to remain vigilant at all times.
This caution wasn't acquired without hardship, as he had to endure several unpleasant experiences.
As for the most memorable one? Let's just say waking up forcibly because of a spear in the gut is unpleasant.
Jin had never experienced such a brutal awakening in either of his lives!
"Is it today?" Jin asked after calm settled over the clearing.
Kenjaku remained silent for a moment before silently nodding.
Jin's training was over.
Normally, Kenjaku had planned to train Jin longer than just one month.
However, there had been unforeseen elements for both her and Jin.
The first was the nature of Jin's innate technique, which Kenjaku had observed.
Even if she didn't know everything about it, it was simply impossible to train Jin without a lot of money.
The other reason wasn't only financial, but also familial.
Jin couldn't stay in the forest without seeing Yuji from time to time at Wasuke's place.
"Okay, I'm heading back," he said while reattaching his severed arm from the fight.
He had a good level in Reverse Cursed Technique, but he preferred to conserve his cursed energy by reattaching his arm without regenerating it from scratch.
"You're not taking the kid with you?" Kenjaku questioned while looking at Jin's back with a strange glint in her eyes.
Jin remained silent for a moment before glancing over his shoulder toward a tree not far from Kenjaku.
"You heard?" he asked toward the bushes.
After living like prey for an entire month, Jin had developed a heightened sensitivity to cursed energy.
If Kenjaku had trouble finding him, it wasn't just a matter of energy control or using the Lurk skill.
Jin had acquired a fine perception of any strange presence around him.
There was a slight noise before Nayuta descended from the tree with agile movements.
It was clear she had evolved tremendously.
"Dad… I-I want to stay a little longer; my understanding of my power has improved a lot and—" Nayuta's voice grew louder and louder.
At first she spoke in a hesitant tone, but the little girl's conviction strengthened as she spoke.
Jin stared at her for a moment, then let out a sigh mixed with various emotions.
There was frustration, helplessness, but also understanding.
Nayuta loved him sincerely.
However, she remained true to her rational nature. Jin couldn't make her stronger right now, but Kenjaku could.
"Since when did I raise a rebellious kid?" he thought, comparing his daughter to a certain emo-Uchiha.
Nayuta felt uneasy at her father's words but didn't have time to dwell on them.
Her father's lips opened again.
"You can stay, but don't forget your origins," he said, giving Nayuta a reassuring smile.
He didn't want the little girl to feel abandoned.
"Dad!!" Nayuta's serious and determined air shattered before she closed the distance between them at unexpected speed to hug her creator.
"I-I'll protect you sniff I-I'll become stronger, I promise," she stammered while rubbing her snot on Jin's clothes.
'Was she always this sensitive?' he thought inwardly, frowning slightly toward Kenjaku.
The woman simply shrugged as if Nayuta's actions had nothing to do with her.
Yet Jin's instinct told him Kenjaku was trying to steal his child.
But he had no proof.
For now, he decided to comfort the child one last time before their separation.
…
"Oh, it's my favorite indebted client!" the Goblin rejoiced while observing Jin's arrival in the causal market.
Unlike their first meeting, Jin's facial expression showed no emotion.
He wasn't in a good mood after his wife had manipulated his creation to convince her to stay with her.
"You don't look very happy; do you need something?" it asked, as if it weren't obvious.
Jin simply handed it a notepad.
Because of the month spent in the damp forest, the pages of the notepad weren't really presentable.
But the Goblin didn't care.
It observed the contract Jin gave it before looking at its client in shock.
"Are you insane?" it questioned.
[Transaction number — 002]
[Object of the agreement: Tsubaki, shikigami version]
[Description: Client Jin Itadori consents to cede his soul . If that is not sufficient, then a weakened version of the product must be offered.]
[Other notes: The soul will be recovered after the client's death. However, it is possible to pay with a sufficiently precious object.]
[Payment due date: upon the client's death]
[Warning: The soul will be delivered to the Goblins after death if Jin Itadori cannot provide anything as precious as the power offered by the causal market.]
[Contract drafted and approved by the administrator of the causal market.]
[Please sign here.]
[Congratulations, you have obtained the cursed sword Tsubaki.]
(Image)
…
Author's note: I'll release a bonus chapter after 650 stones. So vote!!