Jujutsu Kaisen: Yearning to Become an Immortal God

The Automatic Counter Iai Technique was not an Innate Technique. It was a universal cursed art that any sorcerer could potentially learn! Mahito currently could not switch Innate Techniques, but he could still use universal shell arts. This did not conflict with his Soul Creation.

Mahito turned around slowly, but by the time he had finished turning, he was already beside the woman. He lightly swung Mist Cutter. The woman stood motionless like a doll, not because she had failed to react, but because, to her, this was not dangerous at all.

"I've been waiting for you!" the Shadow Crocodile sorcerer roared. A pitch-black shadow expanded without limit, wrapping around Mahito—or at least, it should have.

The shadow had barely surged out from beneath the Shadow Crocodile sorcerer's feet before it stopped. Love Rendezvous! The Shadow Crocodile's marked star was not adjacent to the woman's marked star, so the shadow carrying the Shadow Crocodile sorcerer could not reach her at all.

Mist Cutter's tip gently brushed across the woman's throat. Her eyes widened. She wanted to speak, but those words would never leave her mouth. She opened her mouth blankly as blood spilled from the corners of her lips. Mahito wrapped an arm around her waist and gently lowered her to the ground. Rain fell upon her, soaking her through.

Mahito swung Mist Cutter for the third time, this time at the Pressure sorcerer. The Pressure sorcerer reacted with incredible speed. Though he did not know why Shadow Crocodile had failed to spread his shadow, he did not wait to die. The instant Mahito appeared before him, he activated his technique—

"Idiot, don't activate your technique! He's already completely learned Lord Ogi's Automatic Counter Iai Technique!" the Ame-no-Habakiri sorcerer shouted. But it was too late.

Mahito brushed past the Pressure sorcerer. A line of blood appeared around the sorcerer's waist. Only then did he remember the nature of Ogi Zenin's iai slash:

If it was merely an ordinary blade fight without Cursed Energy, that was one thing. But if one used a Cursed Technique to attack, Falling Blossom Emotion combined with the iai slash would cut them down before their attack could even be launched. This was the ultimate preemptive strike. As long as one was within the slash's range, no sorcerer could survive.

So that's how it is... That was why Lord Ogi's Innate Technique, despite being nothing more than the unremarkable Blazing Melt, was still rated as a Special Grade 1 Sorcerer. How powerful, Lord Ogi. The Pressure sorcerer thought regretfully. Unfortunately, that very strength became nourishment for the King of Curses, forging the blade that would slaughter the Zenin Clan.

The Pressure sorcerer's body split in half and collapsed to the ground, his blood pressed down by the curtain of rain.

Mahito took a step. The Shadow Crocodile sorcerer's pupils dilated. That single step had brought Mahito directly before him. Mahito twisted his wrist, and Mist Cutter fell for the fourth time.

The Shadow Crocodile sorcerer twisted aside by a hair's breadth. Mist Cutter's tip skimmed across his clothes and tore open his kimono. Mahito's eyes opened slightly. The Shadow Crocodile sorcerer gasped for breath, then revealed a relaxed smile. "Since I know you've learned Lord Ogi's Automatic Counter Iai Slash, why would I use Cursed Energy to fight you? Don't joke around. Do you think I can't fight without Cursed Energy? Zenin Clan sorcerers are masters at both close and long-range combat!"

He pulled a short blade from his sleeve and assumed a fighting stance. The next instant, a fist slammed into his face. The enormous impact flattened his features, crushing his entire face inward. His body flew backward under that immense force like a cannonball, smashing into the walls of the Zenin Clan compound in an instant with a thunderous crash.

"Who said I had to use a blade to kill?" Mahito let Mist Cutter hang naturally at his side. Looking at the last sorcerer, he smiled. "Well? Are you going to run?"

The Ame-no-Habakiri sorcerer swallowed unconsciously and looked toward the passage leading to the Zenin Clan's main residence. Naoya Zenin stood there, staring grimly in this direction. The moment the Ame-no-Habakiri sorcerer looked over, he met Naoya Zenin's furious glare.

He jerked his head back and faced Mahito directly, letting out a furious roar. "I will never—"

A silver gleam appeared before his eyes and pierced through his brain in an instant. When fear distracted him and drew his gaze toward Naoya Zenin, Mahito decisively threw Mist Cutter. The sound of the blade cutting through the air was drowned out by the torrential rain. By the time the Ame-no-Habakiri sorcerer turned his gaze back, Mist Cutter had reached the center of his brow. Before he could finish speaking, the blade pierced his brain and killed him.

Mahito switched from Soul Creation back to Tsukumogami Manipulation. He raised his hand, and Mist Cutter let out a crisp whine. Seemingly displeased, she slowly pulled herself out of Ame-no-Habakiri's brain and flew back into Mahito's hand. Mahito flicked the blade, and rain washed the blood and flesh from Mist Cutter's body.

He raised his head to look at the last person in the Zenin Clan compound and smiled. "Naoya Zenin, now then, who is the arrogant one?"

Naoya Zenin took a deep breath, lowered his body into a sprinter's starting stance, and roared with a twisted expression.

"Captain Hei! Special Grade 1 Sorcerer! Naoya Zenin!"

"Here to receive your instruction—!!!"

Roar of Fury, the True Dragon Shines Bright

With a tremendous crash, the gates of the Zenin Clan residence were blasted open. Amid the wind and rain, a figure was hurled with immense force into the residence's reception hall.

Naoya Zenin rolled through the reception hall two or three times before finally stopping. He struggled to breathe. A clear wound ran across his chest. Mist Cutter's tip had not cut him directly in half. Instead, it had brushed over his chest as gently as a hand caressing a lover. His heart was nearly exposed, its pounding echoing in Naoya Zenin's ears. He was somehow still alive. He raised his head toward the main seat, where the Zenin Clan head looked down upon him.

Naoya Zenin clutched his chest tightly, but blood continued to pour from it. He spoke the final words of the Zenin Clan head's son: "Projection Sorcery... doesn't work on it!"

The clan head rose from the main seat and moved to Naoya Zenin's side. He stretched out a hand, gently covering Naoya Zenin's face, and drew a deep breath.

The wind and rain suddenly intensified. The reception hall creaked. Thunder rumbled overhead, as though some great being carrying the might of heaven and earth had descended here. Sure enough, someone limped in through the doorway.

Mahito crossed every obstacle and reached the very heart of the Zenin Clan. The Zenin Clan head was waiting for him here.

The clan head removed his hand from Naoya Zenin's face. When it moved away, Naoya Zenin's once-open eyes had already closed. He slowly exhaled, rose from his crouched position, and looked at Mahito.

Though he had fought his way through the Zenin Clan, Mahito's clothes remained immaculate. He walked in from the wind and rain with lightning flashing behind him, carrying a long, broad blade. Every step of his wooden sandals gave off a crisp clack that not even the thunder overhead could drown out.

Mahito raised his head. His mismatched eyes lit up quietly, like a demon god opening its eyes. Overwhelming pressure seeped into the clan head's heart. This was the Cursed Spirit that had slaughtered the Zenin Clan.

"The legendary King of Curses," the clan head said quietly. "Your reputation is well deserved."

"I never expected the first compliment I received upon arriving at the Zenin Clan to come from its sole remaining clan head," Mahito said.

The clan head's heart stirred slightly. Of course, he was not the last Zenin. The Zenin Clan's remaining elderly, weak, women, and children were still in the underground training ground. They were the clan's seeds. Even if they lost their standing among the Big Three Families, as long as those people remained alive, the Zenin Clan would not truly be exterminated. All that remained would be to find a patron and rise again.

The clan head suddenly realized that with the King of Curses' current exceptional condition and senses, it was impossible for him not to know that many people remained in the underground training ground. Yet the Lord of Curses had explicitly stated that the clan head was the final Zenin. The clan head thought, Could it be...?

"Shell Spirits... can possess compassion too?" the clan head sighed.

"We were never supposed to be like this," Mahito said flatly. "My Immortality Method was never something I considered worth hiding. In fact, I even told others the principles behind it and openly sold immortality."

"If the Zenin Clan had wanted it, you could have sent sorcerers to ask me. But you did not. You humiliated me."

"I will not naïvely assume that you humiliated me because I am a Cursed Spirit. You stood above others for too long, so long that you no longer understood reverence. And I am your executioner."

The clan head mulled over Mahito's words and found himself unable to refute them. Just as Mahito had said, this had nothing to do with whether he was a Cursed Spirit or not. Cursed Spirits were also imprisoned in the underground training ground, caught specifically for sorcerers to practice killing.

In truth, exploiting Cursed Spirits was nothing unusual among the Big Three Families. Not just the Big Three Families—even the entire Jujutsu Society made use of Cursed Spirits.

If it was not a matter of Cursed Spirits, then what was it? It was power.

As one of the Big Three Families of Jujutsu Society, the Zenin Clan possessed arrogance ingrained in its bones. The entire world was supposed to revolve around the Big Three Families, and everyone else was supposed to obey their orders. Mahito was a Cursed Spirit, so they ordered him around. But if Mahito had not been a Cursed Spirit, would the Zenin Clan have refrained from ordering him around?

They had truly kicked an iron plate this time.

Compared to the spirit before him, the Zenin Clan seemed more like unreasonable Shell Spirits. How laughable. How... tragic.

The clan head wore a light-colored haori over a dark kimono. He removed the outer haori and casually tossed it over Naoya Zenin, covering his corpse. Then he walked forward, drawing one hand back into the wide sleeve of his kimono before pulling it out through the chest opening and stripping half the kimono away, exposing one side of his bare torso.

"My technique is called Projection Sorcery," the clan head said. "Technique disclosure!"

"Since you were born in the modern era, you should know about movies. When filming a movie, the film reel moves. That is the principle behind Projection Sorcery."

"When activated, the user divides one second into twenty-four frames. Using the user's field of vision as the frame, they then imitate actions designed in advance within that field."

"The predesigned actions cannot be corrected midway through. If one performs movements that excessively disregard the laws of physics or their intended trajectory, they themselves will be frozen."

"When the technique is activated, anyone touched by the user's palm must also move in units of one twenty-fourth of a second. If they fail, their movements become disordered and they are frozen for one second."

This was how Naoya Zenin had been defeated by the clan-killer in the original story. Naoya Zenin had clearly touched the killer with Projection Sorcery, so he concluded that the killer would definitely be frozen for one second. He made no preparations at all. Yet the killer had already been prepared. The instant he was touched, he threw a punch. Naoya Zenin had never expected that counterattack and was defeated immediately.

The clan head strode forward to the center of the reception hall. Though he was also middle-aged, there were barely any wrinkles on his face. He combed his white hair into a slicked-back style and had long, narrow eyebrows and two upturned English-style mustaches.

"Cursed Spirit, well done. You have awakened the Zenin Clan at last. I once heard someone say that ignorance was never an obstacle to survival—arrogance was. Never before have I understood the meaning of those words so clearly," the clan head declared, his voice like thunder.

He had finally completed all his preparations.

His kimono hung half-off his body, exposing one side of his bare torso. He stood upright, every line of muscle as clear as though it had been sculpted.

He had deliberately styled his hair back and worn a pair of English-style mustaches, looking nothing like a samurai. Yet at this very moment, he seemed more like a samurai than anyone in the Zenin Clan. Usually, he was always laughing and fooling around without a trace of seriousness. But at this moment of life and death, he rose carrying overwhelming presence, all death resting upon his shoulders.

Mahito smiled. "I thought you would be angrier, considering I killed the Zenin Clan."

"It seems you still do not understand sorcerers," the clan head said.

"I would like to hear more."

"A sorcerer's Cursed Energy comes from negative emotions. Our negative emotions are refined by the Cursed Energy Core and flow into every part of our bodies."

"The more exceptional the Jujutsu Sorcerer, the more Cursed Energy they can extract from negative emotions. This Cursed Energy exists alongside us. The angrier we are, the more afraid we are, the more pressure we carry, the stronger we become—the more... invincible!"

The clan head's voice had initially been as calm as a lake, but the more he explained, the louder it became. By the end, his voice was like thunder exploding beside Mahito's ears!

"Cursed Spirit, do you think I am calm right now?"

"No. I am angrier and more afraid than I have ever been!"

"I am furious that you treated my clansmen this way. You butchered my family until they were scattered in pieces. You threw my son's corpse before me."

"At the same time, I am afraid. I fear what will become of the Zenin Clan's future if I die. I fear how the other Big Three Families will treat the Zenin Clan after it loses the protection of its elite Jujutsu Sorcerers. I fear even more that after me, the Zenin Clan will never return to its current standing."

"But, Cursed Spirit, listen carefully."

"What are Jujutsu Sorcerers? They are creatures who can make use of this anger and fear!"

"They turn anger and fear into tangible Cursed Energy—this is what it means to be a Jujutsu Sorcerer!"

The clan head extended a fist toward Mahito. Though he was filled with rage at this moment, the corners of his mouth curled upward in a smile. His voice returned from a roar to calmness, each word clear and deliberate.

"Zenin Clan head. Naobito Zenin. At your service—!!!"

Thunder exploded in the sky outside. For an instant, daylight appeared. Lightning illuminated heaven and earth as brightly as noon, accompanied by thunder powerful enough to scatter everything.

Projection Sorcery!

Naobito Zenin activated Projection Sorcery without hesitation. His time within that second was divided into twenty-four actions. Starting, stepping, running—one movement after another compressed into a sequence of images.

Mahito pushed his senses to their limit. He could clearly see Naobito Zenin's movements. They were not ordinary running motions, but twenty-four separate movements, as though time itself had begun to stutter and frame after frame appeared before his eyes.

Mahito gripped his blade with both hands and imagined how Naobito Zenin would attack him.

Naoya Zenin's technique was identical to Naobito Zenin's, but there was a clear difference in their proficiency. Naoya Zenin had absolute faith in his technique. Once he touched Mahito, he instinctively assumed Mahito would be frozen and that he could attack freely. But Naobito Zenin would never make such a mistake.

Naoya Zenin had died because of that confidence. So what would Naobito Zenin do? Naobito Zenin's answer was—head-on! Collision!

Mahito's pupils dilated. Since Projection Sorcery required actions to be preset before moving, the possibility of a counterattack had to be considered during the preset. A direct frontal charge was the stupidest possible choice, because it was the easiest position from which to counterattack. How could Naobito Zenin dare do this?!

Mahito did not hesitate. Mist Cutter slashed diagonally downward. Mist Cutter was originally a long, broad blade. Combined with Mahito's arm span, its attack range exceeded three meters. This diagonal slash covered every space in front of him. Naobito Zenin could only crash into Mist Cutter, and with Mist Cutter's sharpness, it would split Naobito Zenin in two as easily as a hot knife through butter...

...Would it?

A streak of black appeared around Naobito Zenin's fist. Black Flash!

Setting a preset action as a frontal charge truly was the stupidest choice. But what if that frontal charge carried a Black Flash? Was it still a stupid action?

Naobito Zenin answered with facts.

Black Flash smashed fiercely into Mist Cutter. Mist Cutter, which severed all things, actually let out a mournful cry. The Severing Line did not imprint itself upon Black Flash at all, because Naobito Zenin had not struck the blade's edge. He had struck the flat of the blade. He had predicted Mahito's swing trajectory!

Mahito understood immediately. He had been led into a trap!

Earlier, Naobito Zenin had learned from Naoya Zenin that Projection Sorcery did not work on Mahito. Naobito Zenin had already judged the condition that rendered Projection Sorcery ineffective—Mahito could see the twenty-four actions in one second with his naked eye. For Mahito as he was now, he could certainly discern Naobito Zenin's movement trajectory precisely.

Could anyone see twenty-four actions in one second with the naked eye? Though common sense told Naobito Zenin that this was absurd, such people truly existed in this world—and there was more than one. Toji Fushiguro, who had been cast out by his family, and Satoru Gojo, hailed as the strongest of the modern era, both possessed that ability.

Then there was no reason to be surprised by one more Mahito!

Thus, any detour would be useless against Mahito. He did not need to predict Naobito Zenin's movements at divine speed. He could see Naobito Zenin circling with his naked eye, raise Mist Cutter, and wait for Naobito Zenin to crash into it.

Then all he had to do was not circle around.

It was not that he had to use a frontal charge. It was that he could only use a frontal charge. That was Naobito Zenin's true thought.

Since a frontal charge had been determined as necessary, what would Mahito, wielding Mist Cutter that severed all things, choose?

Only a massive diagonal slash that covered all space ahead was the optimal solution! Within that enormous diagonal strike, everything above, below, and directly in front could be covered.

Naobito Zenin had preset his actions because he believed Mahito would definitely use that massive diagonal slash. If Mahito had not chosen the optimal solution—if he had used a broad horizontal sweep that ignored attacks from above and below, or a direct Gatotsu—Naobito Zenin, facing Mist Cutter's blade edge, would certainly have died.

But Mahito had chosen exactly that massive diagonal slash. The optimal solution!

At this moment, Naobito Zenin's blood boiled. It felt as though every drop of blood in his body had ignited. He had not merely predicted correctly. He imagined his clansmen's deaths, the Zenin Clan's arrogance, the family's decline after failure, everything.

At last, he turned all that anger and fear, arrogance and uncertainty into Cursed Energy.

Resonance. Then he threw his fist. Black Flash manifested!

Mahito caught sight of cracks appearing on Mist Cutter. The Tsukumogami forged from an ancient blade had suffered grievous damage after taking Black Flash head-on. Mahito decisively released it. Mist Cutter let out an unwilling whine and flew away with the force of the impact.

The unexpected Black Flash knocked Mist Cutter aside, and Naobito Zenin finally entered Mahito's guard. His fist clenched. His entire body tensed, his muscles all twitching from the excessive force. Veins pulsed on his forehead as though his entire body had been filled with power.

Mahito immediately used Soul Creation. Jiro Awasaka, Strength-Weakness Reversal!

The next instant, Naobito Zenin's fist struck Mahito's abdomen.

As long as it was not Black Flash, even a fully charged punch could not harm him. At that moment, Mahito could kill Naobito Zenin in a single strike, just as he had killed Jinichi Zenin.

But black flames burned upon that fist.

Black Flash! A second Black Flash!

With an explosive burst of air, Strength-Weakness Reversal was pierced through without resistance. Mahito's abdomen was blasted open. Yet the devastating force had not fully dissipated. It passed through his abdomen and spread outward in all directions. Mahito's body resembled a commoner in cloth robes struck by a cannonball fired from afar.

As his body burst apart, he was flung backward. As the destructive force erupted, a powerful shockwave formed, sweeping Mahito away like a dead leaf caught in a storm.

The power of Black Flash grew alongside a Jujutsu Sorcerer's development. In terms of raw force, even Naobito Zenin, as clan head, was far inferior to Special Grade 1 Sorcerer Jinichi Zenin. Jinichi Zenin's Black Flash could directly blast Mahito's flesh into pulp, but Naobito Zenin could not.

While still airborne, Mahito wanted to use Soul Creation again. Naoya Zenin had attacked him earlier, and his body had already been stained with Naobito Zenin's—

Mahito did not hesitate. Mist Cutter slashed diagonally downward. Mist Cutter was originally a long, broad blade. Combined with Mahito's arm span, its attack range exceeded three meters. This diagonal slash covered every space in front of him. Naobito Zenin could only crash into Mist Cutter, and with Mist Cutter's sharpness, it would split Naobito Zenin in two as easily as a hot knife through butter...

...Would it?

A streak of black appeared around Naobito Zenin's fist. Black Flash!

Setting a preset action as a frontal charge truly was the stupidest choice. But what if that frontal charge carried a Black Flash? Was it still a stupid action?

Naobito Zenin answered with facts.

Black Flash smashed fiercely into Mist Cutter. Mist Cutter, which severed all things, actually let out a mournful cry. The Severing Line did not imprint itself upon Black Flash at all, because Naobito Zenin had not struck the blade's edge. He had struck the flat of the blade. He had predicted Mahito's swing trajectory!

Mahito understood immediately. He had been led into a trap!

Earlier, Naobito Zenin had learned from Naoya Zenin that Projection Sorcery did not work on Mahito. Naobito Zenin had already judged the condition that rendered Projection Sorcery ineffective—