"Hachi, don't stop now."
Gently wagging his tail, the aged Hachi was no longer distracted by the weeds swaying in the breeze. Instead, he simply turned his head every so often to look back at his master.
Hasegumo followed behind Hachi, the two of them walking slowly along the perimeter of the lake.
Golden leaves were gradually shaken loose by a bleak wind. Autumn was deepening, and before they knew it, graduation had arrived.
"That guy Suguru... did he really leave without even saying goodbye?" Hasegumo sat on a rock and gently scratched Hachi's head.
The autumn chill seemed to have seeped into his bones, leaving his chest feeling uncharacteristically tight.
"Shoko is busy preparing for her exams, and Satoru is off crisscrossing the country to deal with high-level cursed spirits."
Feeling the dampness of Hachi's nose against his palm, Hasegumo murmured, "There's so much I could be doing, and yet, I feel like I can't leave this place. Is it because of you?"
There was no response. Hasegumo looked down; Hachi had slowly sprawled out on the ground. He appeared to have stopped breathing.
Just as Hasegumo reached out to check for a pulse—
"Woof!"
Hachi suddenly leaped up and playfully nudged his master's side with his head.
"Haha, you brat." Hasegumo leaned down, pressing his face against Hachi's.
He felt the dog's warmth, felt the fur that had lost its luster, and felt the heartbeat gradually slow... until it finally stopped.
The last sliver of light vanished from the sky, leaving an endless darkness to shroud the earth.
Hasegumo reached out to pat down the final handful of earth. Hearing footsteps behind him, he asked softly, "Principal Yaga, how do you view jujutsu sorcerers?"
"Sorcerers? We deal with death at every turn. We see people murdered by curses, and we must slay those curses with our own hands. It is an unpleasant profession." Masamichi Yaga walked up slowly and sat beside him. "It requires a certain level of madness and a high degree of motivation."
Yaga paused, then added, "No sorcerer dies without regrets. But... I don't think that answer suits you."
"I don't see the same madness in you that I see in the others. You once said your heart is driven by... gratitude, was it?"
"That's right." Hasegumo's voice lacked its usual sunniness, though it wasn't quite despairing. "Hachi died of old age."
"I see... are you sad?"
"For a dog, Hachi lived far longer than most of his kind." Hasegumo sat cross-legged, resting his chin on his hand as if describing a mundane fact. "To die because of age is not something to be sad about."
"Then what are you thinking?" Despite his vast experience with death and tragedy, Yaga couldn't quite grasp what was happening in Hasegumo's mind.
It was a chaotic, spinning cocktail of emotions: regret over the passing of a life mixed with a profound sense of gratitude for his own second chance at existence.
"This is the first time I've seen a life end naturally." Hasegumo patted his chest lightly. He felt something surging within him, something he couldn't quite put into words.
The two didn't speak again. They simply sat in silence.
As dawn broke, a sliver of light at the horizon began to wake the world. Watching the light creep across the land and reflect off the lake into his eyes, Hasegumo watched a bird fly overhead. Once again, he felt the sheer beauty of being alive.
"Principal Yaga, I'd like to take a long leave of absence."
"For how long?"
"About ten years."
"Flow" refers to a mental state where a human is so focused on a specific task that the brain automatically filters out all distractions. In this state, the body and mind are fully immersed, and cognition becomes exceptionally sharp.
The moment Hasegumo finished his sentence to Yaga, he entered a state of total Flow.
Through the extra subjective time provided by Shindigunken, he often found his mind wandering to unrelated thoughts even during combat. But in this state of Flow, there were no stray thoughts—only the singular pursuit of a goal.
Hachi's death hadn't sent him into a slump; instead, it had ignited a deeper reverence and gratitude for life.
Human life is not long. I must complete everything I want to do in this short time.I cannot waste my life. I must fulfill every dream.What is my dream?To reach the pinnacle of martial arts.How long will it take?A lifetime.How will I do it?Through gratitude for martial arts.
Hasegumo's right arm rested against his side. He wanted to give thanks; he wanted to pray for the sake of martial arts.
Without conscious effort, it happened naturally. The Reverse Cursed Technique, which he hadn't been able to grasp despite two years of study, manifested like an instinct. His missing left arm began to regrow.
Both hands slowly traced a circle from his sides, coming together in a prayer position at his chest.
"I thank the world for giving me life."
He opened his hands. His left hand maintained the gesture of prayer, while his right hand pulled back into a fist at his hip. His entire pool of Cursed Energy condensed into that fist as he threw a slow, deliberate straight punch.
The wind from the punch brushed across the lake, causing only a slight ripple.
Zzt... Zzt...
Though there was nothing in front of him, Black Flash erupted from his knuckles, trailing black sparks through the air.
"I thank martial arts for giving my life direction."
As he threw that first punch, Hasegumo could clearly feel his Cursed Energy and physical strength—which had been stagnant for a long time—increase by a fraction.
The essence of Cursed Energy is emotion. Usually, this means a sorcerer experiences "cliff-like" growth triggered by a specific event. But for the current Hasegumo, that didn't apply. He only needed to keep punching. He would punch without end.
No limits. No shackles.
For Hasegumo, who had resolved to climb the peak of martial arts, this was only the beginning.
Focus, pray, and punch. That was enough.
"Did he just... enter a trance on his own?" Masamichi Yaga didn't try to interrupt. He moved back to a respectful distance, observing Hasegumo's movements as they transitioned from slightly stiff to fluidly rhythmic.
"Ten years... that's a bit much, kid."
"I'll have to arrange for someone to bring him food."
"I thought this kid was the exception... but I guess all sorcerers are inherently mad."
When an ordinary person enters a state of Flow, they are usually limited by their biology. Once a certain threshold is crossed, the body sends out alarm signals, forcing them out of the zone. Afterward, people often feel a sense of loss, knowing they cannot maintain that level of focus indefinitely.
But Hasegumo was different. Due to his unique constitution, no matter how exhausted he became, a period of sleep would restore his body to its absolute peak.
His immense physical durability and recovery ensured he wouldn't be forced out of Flow by physical collapse. Meanwhile, the martial realm of Shindigunken had essentially boosted his processing speed and mental activity—a deep development of the brain. On a mental level, he could remain in Flow for an entire day without succumbing to fatigue.
Slow prayer, slow punch. Feeling the nuance in every movement, correcting every disharmony.
Pray. Punch.
On the first day, his 10,000 Gratitude Punches took a full eighteen hours. When he finished, he collapsed onto the ground and fell into a deep sleep.
He woke to see the sun peeking over the horizon.
A beautifully packed bento box had been left beside him. He spent ten minutes taking care of his basic needs.
Pray. Punch.
He became faster and faster.
By the tenth day, something changed. The Cursed Energy condensed on Hasegumo's fist began to dissipate, only to re-condense across his entire body.
His punches no longer triggered Black Flash. Instead, they became swifter and more powerful. The wind from his fists whipped the calm lake into waves before they vanished into nothingness.
"My Innate Technique is changing..."
"I see."
Hasegumo finally grasped the core of Cursed Energy. It was a realization completely different from—even contrary to—that of a normal sorcerer.
The so-called "elimination of delay" in Cursed Energy and the "prevention of physical collapse" from over-attachment were merely the external manifestations of his technique.
The true function of Cursed Energy Liberation was the ability to change the very source of Cursed Energy production.
By driving himself with the emotion of gratitude, he no longer needed to generate negative energy and then convert it. He could generate positive energy directly from within—the so-called Reverse Cursed Energy.
As his understanding deepened, the aura surrounding Hasegumo began to fade. The dark, teal-tinted Cursed Energy shifted into a radiant gold. The unsettling, oppressive pressure typical of Cursed Energy vanished completely.
In its place was a faint, golden light—warm, gentle, and profoundly calming. Reflected on the surface of the lake, he looked like a deity.
Pray. Punch.
Day after day. A cycle without end.
Initially, Hasegumo's training by the lake drew curious onlookers, but as time passed, people eventually forgot he was there.
As his few remaining friends, Satoru Gojo and Shoko Ieiri would occasionally visit him from a distance during their free time.
"He's been in this state for two years now. How does Cloud-boy do it?" Satoru Gojo had recently completed his transition from student to teacher. His trendy sunglasses had been replaced by a dark blindfold. "Still, I'm really looking forward to it. When he finally 'descends the mountain,' is he really going to turn into a monster like Netero?"
"Is it really necessary to go that far?" Shoko couldn't wrap her head around it. "No communication with anyone... Principal Yaga said he plans to stick it out for ten years. Doesn't he get lonely?"
"Focusing on one thing to the exclusion of all else... everyone has that experience once in a while, right? Though most people are lucky if they last a few hours." Satoru used a cheerful tone to say something incredibly annoying. "But you, who had to cheat on your medical license exam, definitely wouldn't understand."
"Stupid man. Doing all that just for power is so boring." Shoko, currently unaware of the massive workload she would face in the future, stretched lazily. "Why can't everyone just live a relaxed life like me?"