When the Little Head Controlled the Big Head

The moment he said that, Kana Shizumi saw every figure before him pause noticeably.

It was like being in the middle of an intense firefight in some FPS game when the computer suddenly lagged for a second... You just knew that piece of crap was scanning the disk again!

Then—

Kana Shizumi watched the red-eyed puppets all retreat, until one figure without any particularly distinguishing features stepped forward.

Under the moonlight, Kana Shizumi finally got a clear look at the other's face.

He was about five foot nine, dressed in Kyoto Jujutsu High's standard uniform. At a glance, he looked no different from an ordinary person, but his exposed, perfectly round head gave off an unmistakably inhuman feeling...

Just as mentioned before, this thing was a mechanical puppet.

It had a wooden frame, its dark, muted yellow outline reflecting beneath the moonlight... It seemed to have been painted as well.

Seeing it during the day would have been fine, but seeing it in the middle of the night really made it feel haunted.

As for his true identity...

He went by Mechamaru at Kyoto Jujutsu High. His real name was Kokichi Muta.

As one of Heavenly Restriction's "victims," the Monkey King had traded cursed energy for an extraordinary body, while Kokichi Muta had traded his body for cursed energy.

His real body was extremely frail and unable to move about in the outside world. He had been born without a right hand, and he had no sensation below the waist.

He even needed life-support equipment to stay conscious in his daily life. In a sense, he was "paralyzed."

Your body was frail, but your technique made up for it perfectly.

Puppet Manipulation.

It was a technique that distributed and infused cursed energy, allowing him to control certain objects through specific methods.

And thanks to the boost brought by Heavenly Restriction, this guy's Puppet Manipulation had been greatly enhanced as well.

With a technique range that could practically cover the entire country, along with cursed energy output refined for explosive bursts, Kokichi Muta's jujutsu had considerable utility under the right conditions...

Whether it was gathering intelligence or charging into battle screaming "Banzai," it could handle either just fine.

Back when Kana Shizumi had read the original work, he had been struck by one thought.

This idiot could clearly have stayed in the rear and harassed enemies through remote-controlled puppets... Even if his attack power failed to keep up later on, it would still have been a solid means of gathering intelligence.

But what did he do?

The little head controlled the big head. He made a deal with Kenjaku and Mahito just to date someone, then turned around and sold out all of Jujutsu High's intelligence.

That might have been a little unfair, since in the original work, this kid had shown concern for his other classmates too... But that was all there was to it.

The scenes of everyone getting hurt weren't nearly as "riveting" as Miwa looking back once.

And what Kana Shizumi found most incomprehensible was this guy's way of thinking.

—What the hell was this guy thinking?

Theoretically, a Barrier Technique master like Kenjaku would definitely have set up a two-way Binding Vow to prevent Kokichi Muta from proactively revealing information from this side.

But as he had said... Before deciding to make a deal with the cursed spirits, had he never considered setting up some contingencies?

For example, preparing a puppet beforehand, then contacting Gojo directly after becoming a traitor.

"Boss, I became a traitor so I could date someone. Remember to come bail me out later!"

Setting everything else aside, Jail-sensei really might have agreed with his personality... Of course, maybe he wasn't familiar with Gojo, but couldn't he at least have come clean to Utahime?

Instead, he set up no backup plan whatsoever. He had merely cobbled together an EVA Unit and buried it in the mountains, waiting to have a mecha battle with Kenjaku and Mahito.

Bro seriously seemed to think he could solo two Special Grades...

In the end, he died, and nothing got done.

The girl he loved became a mascot and nearly got happily erased by Jail Mom's Spiral.

From the original work's perspective, he had basically made no contribution at all. Instead, he gave Mahito another creepy close-up reaction image.

All that could be said was that his decision-making had gone completely to hell.

Kana Shizumi was still thinking about this random nonsense when the mechanical puppet spoke first.

"Who are you?"

The voice layered over itself, like a microphone with too much static, making his ears itch.

"Just a nobody passing through. My affairs aren't important. What matters is that I can solve your problem."

The moment those words left his mouth, the other's eyes flickered faintly, and he continued speaking without pause.

"No... I sensed fluctuations in cursed energy just now, and there was the outline of blood energy coiling around you. I remember now. You're that 'aberration' Kamo kept talking about."

He raised his right hand and pointed it at Kana Shizumi from afar.

"The enemy who isn't recorded in the Kamo family register, yet can use Crimson Blood Manipulation."

—The information had been shared.

But that was hardly surprising. There had to be information exchange within Kyoto Jujutsu High.

"Having a memorable technique isn't necessarily a good thing..."

With a sigh, Kana Shizumi took half a step back and spoke evenly.

"Though I'd like to say there's been some misunderstanding... But at this point, explanations are useless, right? So, what do you plan to do?"

The mechanical puppet fell silent for a moment before raising his right hand.

His fingers spread slightly, revealing the vague shape within his palm... Upon seeing it, Kana Shizumi tensed his body a little.

This guy's attacks were simple: flames directly converted from cursed energy, or another type of impact cannon.

Because he used mechanical puppets, reloading and charging up again were basically never an issue... In an emergency, he could even treat the puppets as expendable items, somewhat like Mei Mei's "Bird Strike."

Honestly, without an overwhelming gap in strength, this guy's Puppet Manipulation was quite a troublesome technique.

After all, enough ants could kill an elephant.

"You hurt a Zenin student. I won't let you go. But before that... what exactly do you want from me?"

After a brief pause, the mechanical puppet's red eyes began to flicker faintly.

"I don't remember ever revealing my real name to the outside world. How did you know?"

Though he had not dropped his attacking stance, that manner of speaking was itself a form of "compromise."

Stirring up the other party's desire to converse was only a means. The prerequisite was being able to talk normally.

Only then came the "killing blow."

Kana Shizumi smiled.

"Those things aren't important. What I want to say is... I can help you stand up and experience life with your own body. So? Do you want to escape your current predicament of paralysis?"

"...!"

The mechanical puppet before him was silent for a long while before lowering his right hand.

"Who exactly are you?"

The moment he heard that, Kana Shizumi understood.

This kid.

The little head had started controlling the big head...