Years passed quickly.
Techniques manifest at the age of four. Or around that age. Whether you can control Cursed Energy or not, they manifest.
From my understanding, my Technique didn't manifest at the age of four, it manifested when I died.
Is that because of the condition?
The turning back of time is something unreasonable.
That I can tell.
Something like that would need hundreds of incredibly hard conditions and rituals.
Or a few great sacrifices.
Out everyone in the entire world it is safe to say that I have the greatest and best understanding of Vows.
Aside from perhaps Sukuna. Though he is below me in understanding.
I think.
He never uses Vows much, merely because he has the overwhelming strength to simply not need them. So I assume I am better than him simply due to the overwhelming amount I have used during my life.
Or maybe he does and I simply don't see them. Vows usually are invisible.
Thats besides the point. Jujutsu is all about Give and Take.
Take something to be Given something.
So what exactly was Taken from me to Give me the ability to turn back time?
I can assume that since Innate Techniques are Rituals containing the entirety of their lineage into consideration, at least parentage.
I don't know my parents so I can't say much about that. Was something taken from them?
No. My Technique was unique in that my death was the trigger for activation…
Life and Death. The two most powerful forces of Rituals. Narauko explained it to me when he spoke of his Shikatsumi. Something unique and distinctly different from a Shikigami. Like the Yokai's controlled via Yokai Manipulation. Used via Cursed Energy yet not a Shikigami.
I pause.
Narauko said.
Narauko said…
Narauko…
Why…
Why did Narauko show so much interest in me?
He was unique in that.
He had many friends, and lovers too.
Yet he talked to me about Jujutsu over and over and over again.
I know not much about it, aside from Binding Vows, so I don't think there was much to gain from conversation with me.
I was the Weakest. He was the Strongest.
So why?
Whatever. I'll deal with that later.
For now, however, I need to deal with this.
I assume that the condition to aquire my technique was to both live my life and to die. Life and Death.
But that isn't nearly enough for something of this absurdity.
Murasaki's "Wish Upon a Star" was a disgusting technique, much stronger than mine. And the sacrifice was her ability to have a child. Which, all things considered, is an incredibly light sacrifice for such an absurd technique.
But Jujutsu is very personal. Heavenly Restrictions are a form of Binding Vow, and as such I know much about them. A vow made without your consent by the heavens.
Jujutsu is incredibly personal, meaning to Murasaki, the ability to have a child was worth literally everything else. Every bit of money, power and dominion she could've had with that absurd technique.
Something of mine was sacrificed to fuel this absurd technique.
But what?
It doesn't matter.
I lost it and I'm not getting it back. And this absurd technique is mine so why not simply enjoy it?
Either way, as I was saying, time passed quickly.
They say the older you are the faster time passes, and they're right.
But honestly I do not care for it.
I simply wish to get stronger…
Grade 2, eh?
I am 10 Years old at the moment. Six years passed by in an instant.
All I did was train.
Day and night. Like a madman.
Physical strengthening was a must. And to do so I had to eat like a madman too.
I stole from many people. Unlocking Cursed Energy was easy, I had already done it before after all. And even as The Weakest, having Cursed Energy made me much stronger than the average human being. Untrained human, at least.
Bread, meat, food. Everything and anything.
I didn't need a home, I needed to train.
I need a blade too.
A sword.
A Katana.
I need a weapon for I am weak.
And I want to be strong. Previously I didnt even wield a Cursed Tool. Merely a regular damaged Katana. I'm poor after all.
I've been practicing Simple Domain too.
I've made no progress.
Aside from the physical front, I haven't made any progress with Cursed Energy Manipulation.
And I have an incredibly low amount of it.
Slightly below the average human, actually.
What makes a Jujutsu Sorcerer is not the ampunt of Cursed Energy, but their ability to use it. However, usually those two things go in tandem- but for me…?
Yeah. Nope.
But that also makes me question my technique more.
Something like the reversal of time would need an absurd amount of Cursed Energy to happen. Meaning that for some reason my Technique doesn't use Cursed Energy.
At all.
Is it because the conditions are set in stone?
The need for my death to reverse time is an incredibly important factor. Death is an incredibly powerful condition for a technique.
But Cursed Energy is a resource essential to sorcery.
So I need more of it.
I can't use Revealing Ones Hand because I simply don't have a technique to reveal. Maybe aside from Simple Domain. But even that's a stretch.
So I need to make a permanent Vow… High weight over a long time.
Or I need to do what I did in my past life and make multiple temporary Vows at the most critical points of fights. Low weight over a short time.
What of high weight would I sacrifice though?
A sacrifice must be with something I am unwilling to part with…
My ability to steal? To take from others?
That would work. It essentially removes food, water and the ability to pillage off the table forever.
If someone I kill ever wields a good Cursed Tool, I can't take it.
And so I do that…
But not for my whole life.
I'm incredibly untalented. I doubt I'll be able to reach Grade 2 in this life.
Which means I'll probably be up against Sukuna in the future too. I'll die then too.
But I'll be generous and say I'll live till I'm 20.
"I hereby Sacrifice completely my ability to Steal, to take from others, permanently. In return, I wish for more Cursed Energy until I reach 20 years of age." I speak aloud. Doing Binding Vows in your head is fine, however by saying it out loud, the promise becomes more permanent. It feels more permanent. And that's what matters.
I pause.
Chains bind me.
I feel disgusted.
Like I always do.
I hate it with every ounce of my soul. I hate it. I hate it so much it's insane.
My Cursed Energy rose substantially. Around to an above average level. Of humans. Not Jujutsu Sorcerers.
That's it.
Slightly above average.
That's fine, I didn't expect much anyway.
But I need more…
I pause.
Most people don't know this, but Binding Vows are very malleable.
You can add conditions whenever you wish.
However, those conditions may only be to limit yourself further, not to lessen the load. Well, you can- but it will dramatically reduce what you gained by the Vow.
After all, a Binding Vow like this is a vow made to yourself. You may change it however you may see fit. Though its another story when talking about Vows between two people.
So I'll add a punishment.
Death?
No. Death means nothing to me as I simply regress through time due to my Technique.
So something else then…
No.
The answer is right there…
But I won't add it.
I'll keep it locked away in my memory until I find a time for it.
The sudden burst in Cursed Energy would more than likely come in handy.
But I do need to take care of it a little.
A Binding Vow is permanent.
Right now, I gained a great boost of Cursed Energy.
That is because I need to steal to survive at the moment. I need to steal in order to eat.
The ability to steal is incredibly important to me.
Yet, even if I were to gain money and not need to steal anymore, my Cursed Energy would not drop. Because Vows are permanent.
However, the Binding Vow updates with my updates.
If I were to add the punishment and update the Vow when I no longer need to steal at all to survive- the amount of Cursed Energy I have will drop substantially.
Because the need is gone and it stops being a Sacrifice.
So in order to properly utilize my Vow, I need to be poor.
I'm forced to be poor, eh?
Now that I've had a taste of freedom…
This is revolting.
Me being bound to being poor disgusts me.
Everything that binds me is disgusting.
That is a fact.
My Cursed Energy flares. No. It rises. It rises a great amount. To a below Average Sorcerer.
Huh?
Why did that…
I see!
It's like Sukuna. To Sukuna, the very act of being told what to do, even by himself, are something he hates more than anything else in the world. That causes Binding Vows that relate to that aspect of 'Being Told What to Do' to become more potent for Sukuna.
My genuine disgust and hate for being bound, and thus Binding Vows in general, become more potent.
After all, I am Free.
Though what kind of freedom is this?
After all I'm still bound.
I'll do as many disgusting things I have to in order to gain my freedom.
It may not be a Binding Vow.
But upon saying that, I felt something shift within me.
I still don't exactly know what it is.
Freedom, I mean.
It's lofty.
It'll be a long time until I'm truly free. True freedom comes with power. That I do not have. For even now, I am The Weakest.
Still a Grade 4.
That I can assume with ease. No way I'm not.
I want to become The Strongest.
But first of all I need physical strengthening.
Another need. Gross.
And then I'll enter Edo Jujutsu High.
There I can properly do things.
Right now I have no clue how to grow.
I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Which direction I'm supposed to step.
The natural talent of both high output and high reserves is not available to me. Focusing on Manipulation is an option… But I doubt even Michizane, with those Six Eyes he had, would be able to utilize Cursed Energy of my amount any well.
Or he probably would. He is the Strongest, after all. Or rather, used to be the Strongest…
Actually, now that I'm before Sukuna and Naruoko defeated Michizane, would it be 'was' the Strongest or 'is' the Strongest?
I frown.
This odd thought eats away at my mind.
Well whatever. For now I simply need to determine my next step.
But I'm not sure… I'm so aimless. I am not free and it is disgusting. To become free and unbound, I need strength. More than just strength, I need to become the Strongest. Yet I have no clue how to do that.
I'm untalented. No, beyond that. It is safe to say that I am the greatest, biggest lump of non-talent to ever exist.
I can't just use my gut feelings to guide me here, I need a plan. A concrete one.
First, I need to sort out my food and water situation…
Food and water. Food and water. Food and water…
I could work?
No. The only reason I became a Jujutsu Sorcerer is because I'm untalented. And when I say untalented, I mean untalented in everything. Absolutely everything.
I couldn't work a normal job- and trust me, I've tried. Numerous times at that.
I tried to work as a blacksmith for a while. It was practically impossible for me to do anything without screwing it up.
I tried to work as a cook for a while. I cut myself so many times I could hardly count.
I don't have the talent for any job. Being a sorcerer was just the only job I could have without being fired for my lack of talent.
Or, the most immediately possible Job. I had been working Odd Jobs all my life until someone from the Fujiwara clan noticed I could both see curses and manipulate cursed energy to some degree.
But I was enrolled into Edo Jujutsu High as a spy for the Onmyōji. Fujiwara to be more specific. Fujiwara. Damn, how much I hate with all my soul those Fujiwara.
No.
Hate is… it's wrong. Very wrong.
No.
They disgust me.
I do not fault the Fujiwara. They put me under those Binding Vows of subservience because I am me. I am the Weakest. A being fit only to be a pawn.
Unlike The Strongest, there cannot be two of the Weakest. It's a singular of the greatest degree. Just like how the Strongest are usually lonely since there is no one on their level, with everyone below- So is the Weakest. Every single person on this Earth is above me. In talent. In nature. In friends. In everything.
I am the one below everyone. Even now, nothing can change that nature.
The Eternal Grade 4.
Hah.
I wasn't even fit to be a part of their Assassination squad. Of course I wasn't, I'm too weak to assassinate anyone.
So I do not fault them.
They disgust me because they bind me.
And everything that binds me is disgusting.
That is also my nature. To be disgusted at those who bind. And to feel disgusted on the behalf of the bound.
But the issue of food and water still exists.
I could try and make due with hunting…
No, I would die of old age before I could learn how to hunt well enough to sustain myself. Let alone of hunger.
Odd Jobs.
Once I became eleven I was taken in by the Fujiwara.
I only have to last until then. I'll be bound to them again…
But no matter. It's fine.
I can do this.
I've done it before, after all.
//AN//
So there we go. Second chapter. MC's lives will be very short. Sometimes 1 or 2 chapters, sometimes 1 or 2 lines. It depends on what he's doing. But the lives will get longer once I've gotten to the juicy bits.