Choso sat drinking tea as Nobara sat across from him and asked, "You're really Ayanokoji's Older Brother?"
Choso glared at her and said, "I have no intentions of speaking with you."
Nobara looked annoyed, asking, "What's with you? You've been giving me death glares this entire time."
Choso's glare remained as he said, "Kechizu. You killed him."
"Who?"
Nobara asked this with a deadpan as Choso's rage flared up.
Nobara reached for her hammer, but Choso calmed himself and said, "At Yasohachi Bridge."
Nobara's eyes widened, asking, "What does that guy have to do with you?"
"He's my younger brother."
Nobara took a second to process it before saying, "Alright. I think I get why you hate me, but Ayanokoji killed one of them, too."
"He's my younger brother as well. It's different. He's family. You're just a friend of one member of the family."
Choso said this with venom as Nobara sighed and said, "I guess we didn't really think too hard about it. We fought them as if they were Curses and exorcised them before they could get their hands on Sukuna's finger."
Choso glared even more, saying, "Don't make light of their lives!"
Nobara shook her hand, saying, "That's not it. I'm saying if we had managed to talk with them, Ayanokoji probably would have understood the situation. We got too caught up... I got too caught up in exorcising Curses."
Choso's expression relaxed slightly as he asked, "Do you regret it?"
"Even after knowing that he was Ayanokoji's brother, I'm not sure. If I hadn't fought someone as strong as him, I'd never have landed a black flash and... I probably would have died in Shibuya along with Junpei."
Nobara said this with a complicated expression as Choso looked to her seriously.
"Sorry, it's just that I don't want to be left behind by Ayanokoji. He's an annoying prick at times, but... I looked up to him for how reliable he is. I guess... I want to be reliable like him. I guess I see him as an example of what I should be like for that kind of thing. Sorry. It's kind of a lame way to put it, but that's how I feel."
Nobara said this as Choso felt his own words resonate with him.
["Competent or not, Older Brothers serve as an example to their younger brothers. If I go down the wrong path, then my younger brothers can just avoid that path. And if I go down the proper path, my little brothers can follow after me."]
Choso's eyes widened as she asked, "So... do you see Kiyotaka as someone similar to an Older Brother?"
"Huh? Well... I don't know about that either, but I guess? Kinda?"
Nobara answered with this as Choso looked to her, thinking, 'I suppose it's time to put you to rest, Esso... Kechizu... Tanso. So that Kiyotaka can live his life with the people he cares about.'
Choso sighed and asked, "Can you tell me about Kiyo's time before Shibuya?"
"Kiyo? Aww, that's so cute. I'm totally going to tease him about it. Heh heh."
Nobara said this with a smirk as she began recounting everything.
Tsukumo Yuki stood off to the side as she thought, 'Death Womb Painting... His family's pretty complicated.'
Tsukumo stepped out and said, "Hey! I wanted to pop in and see how you're doing!"
Choso looked to her and said, "Tsukumo-San. Join us. She's sharing stories of my little brother."
Tsukumo sighed and said, "I gotta go have my talk with Tengen, so I'll actually have to pass."
Tsukumo smiled and looked to Choso, asking, "By the way. What kind of woman is your type?"
Choso looked confused as Nobara shouted, "Are you the one who taught that gorilla to ask that question?"
Tsukumo laughed and asked, "You mean that boisterous boy, Todo?"
Choso thought about the question and said, "A woman... I'm not sure since romance isn't something I'm prioritising right now, but... I would say a woman who can appreciate how amazing my brothers are would be nice."
"Well, they must be pretty amazing for you to base your tastes on that."
Tsukumo said this as Choso stared for a second, a redness seeping into his cheeks, and Nobara laughed, saying, "Haha, you're blushing."
Choso glared and shouted, "Shut it, you vile woman!"
Nobara just laughed as Tsukumo thought, 'That wasn't even intentional. Haha.'
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A barrier broke as Kenjaku walked through the hole and said, "You've outlived your usefulness and can no longer hold my interest."
He was referring to Choso, who stood there and said, "I'm not sure... if this counts as interest, but I have an immense urge to kill you."
Kenjaku sighed, asking, "Where's Tengen?"
"That talking thumb doesn't want to see you. Guess you're not well-liked."
Choso said this as Kenjaku smiled, saying, "Then I suppose you're disposable fodder. Please do try your best. The Culling Game has already served its purpose. The preparations for the Merger of all the non-sorcerers in Japan have ended."
Choso's eyes widened, thinking, 'Already?! What happened?! Are Kiyotaka and the others okay?'
Kenjaku smirked, shifting the barrier into a theatre as he said, "Let me show you... one possible conclusion to this affair."
They sat in the seats as Kenjaku said, "In Shibuya, Tsukumo Yuki explained that merging with tengen, which I prefer to call optimising Cursed Energy, means [Becoming a Sorcerer]. But if you ask me, that's just a step before the merger. A verification process from the Culling game, essentially. I've said before that, unlike her, what I want isn't a world with Cursed Spirits. But I was surprised when she worried about the Japanese being used as Cursed Energy Resources. Or rather, it made me happy. The way she thinks is close to my own."
Kenjaku sighed, saying, "Anyways, I've gotten off-topic."
He went on saying, "From the beginning, I worked alongside sorcerers even while considering the potential of Cursed Spirits. Perhaps a new form of Cursed Energy could be born from advancing Cursed Spirits to a higher level. So I had high hopes for half-breeds between Cursed Spirits and Humans like you. Disappointing. You were all too ordinary."
Choso glared, saying, "If you talk about my little brothers again, I'll kill you without waiting for this slideshow to end.
Kenjaku let out a breath, saying, "Fine. Fine."
He smiled, saying, "After evolving, Tengen will be more like a Cursed Spirit than a human. So if all the non-sorcerers in Japan merge with Tengen, I think it'll become a Cursed Spirit bearing the Cursed Energy of a hundred million people. Maybe it'll be like [Uzumaki] and capable of extracting something too. With the level of control Kiyotaka has, it might even have enough intelligence and self-control to assume a humanoid form. A higher form of existence."
Choso glared at him, thinking, 'I told him not to mention my little brothers!'
Kenjaku smiled with morbid curiosity, saying, "I wonder what it will look like. Right now, I feel like a kid holding a crayon in front of a blank piece of paper."
The barrier returned to normal as Choso asked, "What exactly do you want?"
Kenjaku looked disgusted, saying, "Did you not understand anything I said?"
"No, I'm asking you. What do you get from this? What is it that motivates you?"
Choso asked this with furrowed brows as Kenjaku smiled and said, "I'm fascinated. I just think it'll be fascinating. But even with Kiyotaka, I'm not sure how it'll turn out. Perhaps it will be a higher form of existence, or his soul will become muddied by the 8 billion souls using it as a template. If that were to happen, what would be left to do?"
Kenjaku smiled and said, "I know. I'd laugh."
Choso clasped his hands together, chanting, "Piercing Blood!"
Kenjaku didn't even bother to dodge, chanting, "Disperse" as the blood's pressure disappeared, splattering helplessly on the ground.
Suddenly, the blood pool on the ground gathered and shot out at Kenjaku, who dodged, thinking, 'Not enough time for a chant.'
["Even if they can't move as fast, they can catch him while he's off guard or force movement. I'll admit that having more refined options is better than having many more options, but in a fight where your opponent is that much stronger than you, even one option failing is disastrous. Use everything at your disposal. Improvise. Explore yourself and your technique. Take inspiration from wherever you can find it. Alright, Choso?"
Kiyotaka said this as Choso nodded along, and Kiyotaka sighed, asking, "Got it, Onii-chan?"
Choso smiled and said, "Yah. I got it."]
Choso rushed in as they went into an exchange where Choso threw multiple combos of attacks, and Kenjaku began blocking the attacks as Kenjaku asked, "Oh? How cute. Did Kiyotaka teach you some martial arts?"
Choso threw a punch as Kenjaku dodged, and Choso opened a palm, and a bubble of blood was floating there as it exploded, splattering over Kenjaku's eyes as he blocked another combo of attacks, saying, "Blinding me won't be enough, Choso."
Kenjaku wiped the blood from his eyes as Choso felt something gripping his leg as he looked down and thought, 'He had Cursed Spirits crawl out from under? Kiyo told me he might do that, but it slipped from my-'
Then he felt Kenjaku's fist connect with his cheeks, who said, "I know you're just the vanguard. You're trying to reveal my full capabilities with Cursed Speech to Tsukumo, right? It's too bad you're not strong enough for me to reveal that. You're too ordinary."
Kenjaku stepped on Choso's face, saying, "Other than Kiyotaka, you and your brothers are just failures."
Choso glared up at him, saying, "What would you even know... of my brothers?"
"Oh, did I hurt your feelings? I guess Kiyotaka is my favourite child. Yes. I think that's the term. Sorry, but there's no second or third place or anything like that."
Kenjaku said this as Choso tried to get free, only for a swarm of Curses to hit him and push him back as Kenjaku asked, "Do you know what it means to be a Special Grade Sorcerer?"
Choso lay there hurt as Kenjaku said, "[Someone who can overthrow a country singlehandedly]. Gojo obviously qualifies. Geto, too. Because Cursed Spirit Manipulation could produce an entire army of monsters. Many hands make light work. I think that's how that saying goes. Even if they're just low-grade Cursed Spirits after enhancing them with my Cursed Energy, swarming them, and giving them orders, they can take out Grade 1 Sorcerers on your level."
Kenjaku laughed and said, "I know Kiyotaka has reached Special Grade level as well. If he or Okkotsu had stayed behind, you all might have stood a chance, but in that case, joining the Culling Game and taking out your allies and then dealing with them last could have been a solution."
Choso lay there thinking, 'I... have failed as an older brother. Protecting my brothers... bearing their burdens... becoming their role model... That is what it means to be an [Onii-Chan]. I am not at all fascinating. Even facing this piece of shit father, I can't land a single hit on him, but... even if you praise Kiyotaka, who deserves all the praise I can give him... I cannot let you say that our other little brothers are not fascinating!'
[Nobara then asked, "Are you sure about putting a guy who uses projectiles against Kenjaku, who can just command them not to hit with Cursed Speech?"
Kiyotaka stood there and said, "I've personally seen his monstrous strength in my fight against him in Shibuya. Choso is best suited to fight Kenjaku alongside Tsukumo-san. Because of his bias, Kenjaku won't see that my older brother and what he should be capable of is actually quite fascinating."
Choso stood there with a smile.]
Choso got up as blood surged, and he thought, 'So...'
"Death Painting Brotherrrs!"
'Please lend me...'
"Fiiiiire!!"
'Your strength!!'
Choso felt his brothers pushing on his back to encourage him. Eso, Kechizu, Tanso and Kiyotaka spoke out to him.
"Big Brother...
"Elder Brother..."
"Nii-sama..."
"Choso..."
They all spoke together, saying, "You can do it."
Kenjaku looked to him, thinking, 'What's with this sudden outburst? Throwing a tantrum?'
Choso smiled as blood converged in his hands, and he smiled, saying, "Yeahhh!!! Leave it to me!!'
Choso clasped his hands together as he chanted, "Ties Of Blood That Bind Us Together. Convergence Of Relation. Maximum Technique: All-Piercing Blood!"
Kenjaku's eyes widened, thinking, 'A Maximum technique? I've never seen blood manipulation taken to this level!'
Choso's hands vibrated so fast that he struggled to keep them together as the attack fired, and Kenjaku's eyes widened as he tilted his head with visible discomfort, dodging it, but his ear was cut clean off, thinking, 'Fascinating... fascinating!'
Kenjaku smiled gleefully and said, "Kiyotaka is amazing! Even turning ordinary trash like you into something of value!"
[Choso smiled as he walked up to Kiyotaka, who was practising Piercing Mass as he patted his head and said, "Replicating my technique is really amazing, Kiyotaka. I'm proud of you, little brother."
"Right now mine is faster but... I'm sure you can find a way to improve yours as well."
Kiyotaka said this as Choso's sweat dropped, and said, "I'm not the type to learn things easily. I do things on instinct."
"That's fine. Did you know that not a single member of the Kamo Clan with Blood Manipulation has ever unlocked a Domain or Maximum technique?"
Kiyotaka asked this as Choso shook his head, saying, "I have been asleep for a long time."
"It's because they never understood the essence of Blood Manipulation. It's blood. Family."
Kiyotaka said this as Choso's eyes widened and he smiled.]
Kenjaku ran towards Choso, only for a hole to appear in his stomach as he looked back, seeing a turret made of blood and thought, 'That attack... created a turret?!!'
Choso smiled, saying, "Like Eso. Elegantly."
Choso rushed forward, shouting, "Like Tanso. To the point!" as he formed a blade out of blood.
Several more beams of blood began hitting Kenjaku in the legs, making him think, 'It's automatically firing free of Choso's directions or will? I'm taking too many hits and losing too much blood. I can't move because of my injuries! Too many attacks for the regular Reverse Cursed Technique!'
Choso's hand burst from his body, grabbing Kenjaku as he pulled himself forward, shouting, "Like Kechizu! Freely!"
Choso swung the blade at Kenjaku's head, shouting, "Like Kiyotaka! Efficiently!" while thinking, 'You can only affect me or the blood turret with Cursed Speech. Choose which you want to die to!'
"Heal."
The injuries on his legs healed in an instant, and he used his right leg to kick Choso right before the blood blade touched his head, sending him flying into a wall as he began dodging the turret fire, thinking, 'Not as fast as the maximum technique it was made from or even Piercing blood.'
He looked at it and chanted, "Disperse", as the turret made of blood melted into a pool of blood.
Choso stared up at him and thought, 'He did it. He used the Reverse Cursed Technique through Cursed Speech. It's faster than the normal Reverse Cursed Technique and automatic. That was your trump card! You just revealed it!'
"I might be an only child, but... you're damn awesome, Onii-Chan!!"
Tsukumo said this as she walked through an opening in the barrier.
Choso looked at her, saying, "Tsu-kumo..."
Tsukumo smiled, giving him a thumbs up and saying, "Nice fighto, boy. Now leave the rest to me."
Choso then collapsed, unconscious, as the barrier below opened up, allowing Tengen to retrieve him.
Tsukumo stood there and said, "My type is a hard-working, muddy guy. You though... I'll have to beat you up..."
Kenjaku looked to her, thinking, 'Tsukumo Yuki... since they gave her the [Special-Grade] designation, the administration should have information on her Cursed Technique, but despite that and my right to access through my leadership of the Kamo Clan, I haven't been able to get it from them.'
Kenjaku waved his hand as a Cursed Spirit crawled out of a black space, and Tsukumo asked, "That Cursed Spirit... is imported, right?"
"A Curse from an asian god that can remove any obstacles. Yes... a Special grade Cursed spirit. One that can entangle a concept with its technique's target."
Kenjaku said this as the Cursed Spirit stood above him, and he said, "Please show me what you can do."
Tsukumo held a ball, saying, "[Garuda]!!" as she proceeded to kick Garuda at full force, and the ball tore through the Cursed Spirit's head as it died, and Kenjaku just looked completely confused as Tsukumo ran up to him, asking, "Are you afraid to get close because you don't know my techniques? Guess I'll just tell you. It's [Mass]."
Tsukumo punched Kenjaku, sending him flying through the barrier as he got up thinking, 'That hit me so hard it tore a hole in the sunyata barrier's circular definition... [Mass], huh?'
Kenjaku looked at his broken arm and said, "That's the Technique's Target Concept... !! Such overwhelming mass to a point that its concept couldn't be contained semantically or pragmatically."
Tsukumo smiled and winked, saying, "Yep!! That's my Cursed Technique!! Imbuing Virtual Mass into myself... [Bom Ba Ye]. And [Garuda] is a Shikigami that has been turned into a Cursed Tool by my Cursed Technique!! It's the only other target of [Bom Ba Ye] besides me!!"
Kenjaku healed himself through regular Reverse Cursed Technique rather than using it through Cursed Speech, which used up more Cursed Energy. Such regenerative speed and healing automation weren't necessary at the moment.
Kenjaku looked to Tsukumo, thinking, 'She hasn't gotten any slower. So I can assume... the added mass has no real effect on the sorcerer? Since she can ignore concepts, then none of the high-grade Cursed Spirits I have left after Shibuya are usable. And just by myself, is it even possible to hunt... this wild beast?'
Tsukumo looked to Kenjaku, thinking, 'High-speed and automated Healing through Cursed Speech. Probably a Reversal that allows him to give his own body commands. Probably no recoil damage and more sensitive to his commands, too. Body Swapping, Cursed Spirit Manipulation and Cursed Speech. That's three Cursed Techniques. Without an external storage mechanism like Okkotsu, you'll overload your brain if you have too many Cursed Techniques. I doubt he'd risk having four.'
Kenjaku looked to Tsukumo , thinking, 'Considering Jujutsu Tech's definition of [Special-Grade] Tsukumo Yuki might even have an extension technique with high Cursed Energy Output as her trump card.'
They both looked at each other thinking, 'What a pain...!!'
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To Be Continued
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Rating Out Of 10 For This Chapter?
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