Zenin

The date was November 5, 2018.

Because of his arrival, Megumi Fushiguro and the others had reached the Fallen Star Palace ahead of schedule. Still, he hadn't expected Maki to have completed her healing around the 4th.

Truly worthy of a Heavenly Restriction.

Moreover, there was the date he had inferred in his previous life—November 8th, when Naoya attacked Yuji Itadori and Choso, among others.

And then there was this.

Yuta Okkotsu, as a woman.

Roughly speaking, she possessed about half as much cursed energy as he did with all his shikigami. However, the "pipe" restricting the flow of cursed energy—in other words, her cursed energy control—was quite crude.

With Rika included, she should be able to deal with Hajime Kashimo quickly.

—Come to think of it, Rika's gender hadn't changed. Only Okkotsu's had.

It was probably due to his appearance—the so-called butterfly effect. As a distant relative of the Gojo Clan, the large-scale purge he had carried out among the sorcerers of the three great clans had led to this result.

Naoya had attacked Yuji Itadori on November 3rd. He himself had gone to Shibuya before the night of November 4th. Now, having arrived at the Fallen Star Palace, it was November 5th.

Had the efficiency of Reverse Cursed Technique changed? Or perhaps, because she was a woman, she had been more meticulous in managing her injuries and recovery?

In any case, they should have already settled the matter of making Megumi Fushiguro the clan head.

Time was not pressing. In fact, because of him, farming points was no longer particularly urgent.

The most pressing matter was—

Find Angel first and ask whether she had ever used her technique on his corpse—

His past self.

They were Divine Dog Totality, Snake Nue, Ox Demon, Rabbit Escape, Toad, Round Deer, Max Elephant, and Mahoraga.

Great Serpent had been killed by a single punch from Mahoraga, while Tiger Funeral had also died because of Mahoraga.

Xuan leaned against the wall, listening in on the Zenin Clan's family affairs.

If Maki went to the Zenin Clan now, the one who awakened her technique instead would be Mai.

That was also his problem, so he needed to accompany Maki to retrieve the cursed tools. Other than one of the twins dying, there should have been no way to split their souls. The two sisters probably wouldn't run into any major trouble.

Then, he would use Angel to unseal the Prison Realm and awaken Satoru Gojo.

Satoru Gojo.

He had to fight him.

If fighting Sukuna was the main quest, then fighting Satoru Gojo was definitely a main quest too. Joining Jujutsu High's side and becoming Satoru Gojo's friend—did that mean he couldn't fight Satoru Gojo?

Infinite Void, Hollow Purple, Blue, Red—he didn't merely want to fight Satoru Gojo. Of course, he wanted to win as well.

Xuan summoned Kogane. This Kogane had a golden ring hovering above its head—it was obvious that Kenjaku had specially modified everyone's Kogane. Though Xuan did not know why, perhaps it was for surveillance, or perhaps it was simply Kenjaku's twisted sense of humor.

Dhruv
Points held: 25

Ryu Ishigori
Points held: 61
Colony: Sendai Colony

Kurourushi
Points held: 32

Uro Takako
Points held: 50

Hajime Kashimo
Points held: 35
Rules added: 1

Through the cursed energy stored within Round Deer, Xuan could heal himself without losing focus. Through Tiger Funeral's cursed energy and its low strike delay, he could increase the odds of landing a Black Flash at the cost of cursed energy.

Tiger Funeral's cursed energy was sharp in nature. With sharp-type cursed energy reinforcing them, Dismantle and Cleave would also become more powerful.

Then, because Nue's lightning differed from physical strikes and slashes, he could partially manifest his Domain to accelerate Piercing Ox—like a portal, charging from an orange gate toward a blue gate. The distance available for acceleration between the gates was limitless. Once Piercing Ox reached the level where it could destroy Mahoraga in a single blow, he would summon Nue, fully charged with electricity, and paralyze Mahoraga.

It would probably last around two seconds before adaptation allowed Mahoraga to move again. Once Piercing Ox accelerated to nearly three thousand times the speed of sound, it could destroy Mahoraga. The cursed-energy explosion produced by the collision would also ensure Mahoraga had no possibility of revival.

—The important point was:

How could Nue hit Mahoraga while both it and he were moving at high speed?

The method Xuan had once used to solve this was Max Elephant's Piercing Water, combined with Thunderclap, to achieve high-speed paralysis and paralyze Mahoraga.

Max Elephant...

He should modulate Max Elephant first.

Though Mahoraga might not necessarily pose a threat to him, Xuan was not pursuing the matter of remodulating Mahoraga.

He wanted to have a brawl with Mahoraga.

Of course, they absolutely could not brawl in an open area. Back in Muromachi, while fooling around, he had nearly been sliced straight in two by a fully adapted little Mahoraga using Dismantle. The surrounding mountains and forests had also been leveled.

Step.

Step.

"Yo, Maki."

The discussion inside had ended. Maki came out the door with a bag in hand.

"I think highly of you. As your ancestor, I approve of you becoming clan head."

"...Are you going back to the Zenin Clan too?"

Maki looked at Xuan, who had followed after her with a relaxed expression, puzzled.

"Didn't they say your old clan head was still being resuscitated? I'm going over to give him a little more life."

White cursed energy surfaced in Xuan's palm for an instant. Maki recognized it—it was an externally projected Reverse Cursed Technique.

"Didn't you have a pretty deep grudge against the Zenin Clan? And you're actually going back?"

"The Zenin Clan from five hundred years ago was the Zenin Clan from five hundred years ago. The current one is the current one."

"...Do as you like. But I'm only going back to pick up some cursed tools. I won't stay long. What about you? Megumi probably still has questions he wants to ask you, right?"

As Maki spoke, she walked ahead at a fast pace. But trying to shake Xuan with that kind of speed was far too naive.

"Sigh, young Fushiguro has tremendous potential. He can practice on his own for now—I'll guide him once I'm back."

In a flash, Xuan's figure merged into the shadows beside him.

"Hey, Itadori!"

Cursed energy scattered from Megumi's hand once again. He turned to look at Itadori beside him, and his gaze suddenly shook.

"Ah, Megumi, what's wrong?"

A sphere appeared in Itadori's hand. Though its shape was not a perfect ball, it had maintained its spherical form.

"Hey! How is that possible? How did you do it?"

Although Megumi had long known that Itadori's control over cursed energy was better than his after learning that he had landed Black Flash several times, seeing it happen right in front of him was still difficult to accept.

"Just following what Mr. Xuan said... plus a tiny little trick."

"What trick?"

"Like shaving off the corners. It's pretty much what Xuan said—just turn a square into a circle."

"How did I not think of that... Sigh!"

Itadori tried expanding the sphere outward. After enlarging it by two layers, it dispersed again due to structural instability.

Hidden within the shadows, Xuan looked at Naobito, who lay in the hospital half-charred.

"Do you want to survive?"

Drip. Drip.

In a place where funding for treatment had effectively been cut off, the white light in Xuan's hand shone conspicuously bright.

"Then make a binding vow with me."

"You must help Megumi Fushiguro and Maki Zenin gain a foothold in the Zenin Clan; you must abandon the Zenin Clan's vile customs and embrace the new society; and you must properly educate those—idiots—under your command."

Hah...

"You're at death's door... If you die from cursed energy-inflicted injuries, you won't become a cursed spirit. Did they calculate that, which is why they didn't invest any resources from non-sorcerers at all?"

Round Deer appeared beside Naobito. Under his shocked gaze, Round Deer lowered its head against Naobito's chest. The burn marks vanished at a visible rate, peeling away from his body like dead skin.

"Who... are you?"