Second Technique

A simple analysis.

Kenjaku made his judgment and knew that Kana Shizumi had successfully gathered the Cursed Objects.

At the same time, however, Kenjaku did not know his exact destination—could this guy be sensing me through blood?

Having practiced Crimson Blood Manipulation in the Kamo Clan for so long, Kana Shizumi had reason to believe that Kenjaku was the only person in the world who had deeply grasped its many applications.

So blood was the bond connecting him and Kenjaku?

Damn, that sounded kind of messed up... But the thought did not last long before it was quickly buried beneath the thoughts that followed.

Because the theory itself did not quite add up.

After all, if it was blood-based sensing, it could not explain why Kenjaku did not even retain a sense of direction.

In the original story, Choso's connection with his brothers had been fairly "specific," yet it somehow could not hold up on Kenjaku's end?

Was there some flaw involved...?

Kana Shizumi had accurately caught that subtle point.

At the same time, he did not dare jump to conclusions... Considering Kenjaku's personality, Jail Mom might have selectively revealed information and could even be fishing for a response.

What if he failed to probe anything out of him, only for Kenjaku to realize that this kid had ulterior motives?

Since such an outcome had to be avoided as much as possible, Kana Shizumi needed to proceed cautiously until the matter was "settled" or he had "one hundred percent certainty."

In short.

He had now obtained a relatively important piece of intelligence: Kenjaku probably could not track or analyze Kana Shizumi's precise destination once he left.

But he could sense the various changes occurring within his body...

"Unblemished, are you listening to me?"

A voice came from beside him. Kana Shizumi snapped back to attention and happened to see Kenjaku looking at him.

That gaze was calm as water and devoid of emotion, making it impossible to tell what Kenjaku was thinking at the moment.

He was difficult to read. That was the most troubling and unsettling part of dealing with Jail Mom.

Using the motion of covering his face and rubbing his eyes as cover... Kana Shizumi hurriedly adjusted his expression and composure. When he raised his head again, his face looked much more natural.

"Sorry, I just thought of some inspiration regarding Crimson Blood Manipulation, so I got a little distracted..."

"Oh, you mean this?"

It had only been an excuse to brush him off, but unexpectedly, Kenjaku showed intense interest.

Jail Mom rose to his feet, held his right hand level before him, and made a spreading gesture. A smile appeared on his face, giving him an exceedingly subtle expression.

"You mean the one from before, right?"

Kenjaku lightly waved his right hand through the air. The wine on the table floated up and gathered beside him into a small ball of liquid.

It condensed until it hovered over the pad of his right finger, spinning continuously like a gloomy mass of dark matter steadily collapsing inward...

At the sight of it, Kana Shizumi could not help letting out a mental yelp.

If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought Kenjaku had just formed a Spiral with his bare hand.

What were you trying to do? Kill me outright and reclaim the energy...?

"Using Crimson Blood Manipulation to suspend blood around oneself, turning the blood into a medium for cursed energy and gathering large amounts of it within, while incorporating part of the concept behind 'Convergence.'"

Compress, gather, rotate.

That was how it worked...

"Until it condenses into an obscure, tiny sphere... Since blood itself serves as the medium, it also possesses a considerable degree of concealment."

And then.

"Tiny, inconspicuous, and without any obvious cursed energy fluctuations. There will not even be any sign of 'activation' before it is triggered."

Kenjaku smiled as he watched the floating ball of wine before him, then remarked with something like admiration.

"It is practically a cursed technique landmine... A very good concept, Unblemished."

That was no small compliment.

But it was only natural.

After all, Choso had come up with this himself over the more than hundred years he had been imprisoned alone.

As an advanced application of Crimson Blood Manipulation, the concept absolutely had corresponding practical value. Kenjaku's appraisal only reinforced that judgment...

Supernova truly deserved its reputation as a devastating first-strike weapon. It made sense that Kenjaku had been caught by it in the original story.

But correspondingly... the fact that this guy could see through its construction and logic at a glance was terrifying in its own way.

The same cursed technique probably would not work on him... He was practically the Gold Saint of Jujutsu Society.

Besides.

Kana Shizumi thoughtfully looked at the liquid that had fallen back down into the wineglass.

That move Kenjaku had just shown off was far from simple.

From the original story, it was known that Brain possessed multiple cursed techniques, and even by the end of the plot, it had never been clearly stated exactly how many he had...

And that move just now.

"Was that Anti-Gravity?"

He had shown it once during the Tengen Defense Battle. As a technique that controlled weight, Kana Shizumi's understanding of it had remained fairly superficial.

But Kenjaku's degree of application was clearly not limited to that...

"This guy seemed capable of much more precise control?"

He could apply anti-gravity control over a specific area, draw out part of a liquid, and then limit the affected range so that it hovered completely over his hand.

That sequence of actions emphasized the sheer strength of his "control." Kenjaku's understanding of weight-based techniques was likely extremely deep as well.

Trying to summarize Kenjaku's current displayed combat capabilities...

Cursed Spirit Manipulation, plus the ability to manually form tiny Spirals with Maximum Technique.

The Anti-Gravity Technique, which he could turn into a Domain and apply to himself, while also using for finer selective control.

An open-barrier Domain and a thousand years of combat experience...

Tch, could you not make me look forward to this so much?

A guy that strong was still nothing but a stray dog before Satoru Gojo, liable to get kicked away in seconds.

Kana Shizumi was pessimistic about his own future too... Could he really rise to that kind of overwhelmingly superior level of power?

"While I cannot offer any constructive advice, I do approve of your spirit of research. After all..."

Kenjaku paused, freeing his right hand to stroke his chin before adopting a thoughtful expression.

"Though it is only theoretical, you do indeed have a strong possibility of possessing a second cursed technique."