Helplessness

"Henshin!"

Inside the barrier, Lin Yi faced the persistent harassment of Suguru Geto, an extremist who believed sorcerers stood above all else, and decisively switched his Technique: Two-Level Reversal into its second form.

In this form, Lin Yi could not use any cursed energy. In exchange, he gained the body of a Heavenly Tyrant—one with extremely high resistance to technique-based attacks, capable of outright negating some low-damage techniques, with vastly enhanced physical abilities and sharply heightened five senses and sixth sense.

The massive amount of cursed energy he possessed in his sorcerer form also transformed along with his shift in form, becoming the only Cursed Tool Lin Yi could construct that would exist permanently.

In Suguru Geto's eyes, Lin Yi had become that Heavenly Tyrant without cursed energy who had beaten him senseless.

But in Lin Yi's eyes, he called this second form of his: Knight!

As Lin Yi spoke the transformation phrase for his second form, the vast amount of cursed energy that had rapidly contracted into his dantian surged forth once more. Torrential cursed energy swirled around him, whipping up a violent gale.

The immense cursed energy, enough for Lin Yi to continuously materialize disposable offensive Cursed Tools, now surrounded his entire body and rapidly constructed the sole Cursed Tool he could use in this form.

His cursed energy became black fragments the size of fingernails, attaching themselves to Lin Yi's body and taking shape. Suguru Geto and the black guy, Miguel, were seeing such a peculiar technique for the first time and did not intervene. They also wanted to know what Lin Yi's technique truly was, and why it could manifest the form of a Heavenly Tyrant, a killer of sorcerers.

Within a few breaths, Lin Yi's transformation was complete.

Black was the main color, with purple lines embellishing the shoulders, hands, legs, and chest. The helmet was simple yet striking, with a pair of silver-white horn-like ornaments extending from the forehead to the top of the head, adding depth and recognizability to the design.

The body's lines were sleek, tightly fitting the contours of Lin Yi's muscles beneath his clothes and making him look powerfully built.

At his waist was a red decorative buckle and a silver belt, creating a sharp contrast with the overall black design.

But the most eye-catching feature was undoubtedly the pair of crimson compound eyes on Lin Yi's helmet.

Suguru Geto, a native Tokyoite, was anything but unfamiliar with Lin Yi's transformed appearance. He recognized it at a glance.

"Kamen Rider Joker?"

"Ha! I knew you'd recognize it, Suguru Geto. I'm starting to like you a little. Well then, see you around!"

Hearing Suguru Geto identify the true form of his Cursed Tool in an incredulous tone, Lin Yi's voice shot up several octaves with excitement. Then he stomped down hard.

The strength granted by temporarily obtaining the powerful physique of a Heavenly Tyrant, combined with the power boost of his Knight form, shattered the ground around Lin Yi with that single stomp. The earth trembled slightly as dust and gravel flew everywhere, obscuring their vision.

The four-winged pelican monster Suguru Geto had summoned had already shielded Geto and his two adopted daughters. As it flapped its wings, the dust dispersed, but Lin Yi was nowhere to be seen.

"He left the Curtain? I placed conditions on the Curtain."

Miguel watched Lin Yi leave the barrier, so shocked that he removed his sunglasses and turned to Suguru Geto.

He could not understand how Lin Yi had so easily passed through the barrier without forcibly breaking it. The barrier he had deployed had not been damaged either.

"A Curtain can't stop a non-living being with no cursed energy from entering or leaving. The targets of the conditions you imposed didn't include Cursed Tools either. Hahaha, hahahaha! How interesting, Miguel. There's actually a technique that can cheat like this. It only proves that I was right. Hahaha."

After his initial surprise, Suguru Geto understood how Lin Yi had escaped the barrier. Having grasped the key, he laughed a little maniacally. He signaled Miguel to dispel the barrier, then rode the pelican-like Cursed Spirit he had summoned with his two adopted daughters and Miguel, beginning their pursuit.

In the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Lin Yi ran at full speed.

Since Suguru Geto had already intercepted him, Lin Yi did the opposite and headed toward a densely populated area.

The second active effect of Technique: Two-Level Reversal was to completely abandon the massive amount of cursed energy in his body in exchange for the formidable body of a Heavenly Tyrant, along with a permanently existing constructed Cursed Tool that could be given one additional effect according to Lin Yi's wishes.

Ever since learning of this effect of his technique, Lin Yi had been considering what kind of permanent Cursed Tool he should construct.

After all, in this form, he had lost all cursed energy and techniques that could be used for long-range attacks. All he had was brute strength—pure stats.

But the world of Jujutsu Kaisen was one that valued both stats and mechanics. Especially when dealing with Cursed Spirits, raw stats alone were useless. Unless he could blow up a planet with one punch, no amount of strength would let him directly kill a Cursed Spirit. While he could kill sorcerers, without the enhancement of cursed energy, sorcerers who had mastered techniques could gain a second life as Cursed Spirits. Some powerful sorcerers would even retain the consciousness they had as humans and keep causing him trouble.

That left Lin Yi with a difficult problem. He did not want to attract the attention of the Japanese Official Jujutsu Society, yet he wanted to operate as an undocumented sorcerer in Shinjuku and take jobs for money. Therefore, the permanent Cursed Tool constructed in this form could not be too conspicuous.

After much thought, Lin Yi decided that his permanent Cursed Tool in this form would be a suit of fitted armor. But in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, what kind of fitted armor could he wear outside without ordinary people immediately thinking something was wrong with him?

The answer was cosplay!

As the birthplace of an intensely two-dimensional culture and thriving otaku culture, especially in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, cosplayers in costumes could be seen on the streets every day of the year. Even in other areas, they were hardly an unusual sight.

All he needed to do was choose armor from an anime or tokusatsu work that looked decent and could provide bonuses to the Heavenly Tyrant body of this form.

Lin Yi then set his sights on the Kamen Rider IP, one of Japan's three major tokusatsu franchises. He chose Kamen Rider Joker, the form Shotaro Hidari transformed into alone in Kamen Rider W, the first work of the second decade of Heisei Kamen Rider, as the armor for his permanent Cursed Tool.

Lin Yi had originally wanted to use Kamen Rider Zero-One, the first Reiwa Kamen Rider series and one that shared his name, as the armor for his permanent Cursed Tool. But then he realized the timing did not match, and it could easily draw unnecessary attention from Toei, so he chose Kamen Rider Joker instead.

It was handsome enough, simple and stylish enough, cool enough, and it would not seem out of place.

And Lin Yi gave his Kamen Rider Joker armor only one additional effect: Devour!

He had not expected that this spur-of-the-moment idea, mixed with a bit of careful consideration, would actually work. The second form of Technique: Two-Level Reversal: Kamen Rider.

Its appearance was identical to Kamen Rider Joker's. It was a permanent Cursed Tool constructed from the immense cursed energy on Lin Yi's body after he switched forms and gained the physique of a Heavenly Tyrant. It could provide comprehensive enhancements to the transformed user and absorb cursed energy from the air to repair itself.

Its only effect: Devour.

In this form, whether he killed Cursed Spirits or sorcerers, he could absorb 0.1 percent of all their attributes and feed them back into himself.

In other words, if Lin Yi killed enough Cursed Spirits in this form, both forms of his Technique: Two-Level Reversal would grow stronger.

Lin Yi covered more than ten kilometers in less than a few minutes and returned to a crowded street. That was after he had deliberately restrained his speed.

Just as he had expected, the pedestrians paid no attention to Lin Yi, who was dressed in a Kamen Rider costume. At most, they gave him an extra glance and thought his costume was really high-quality, just like it looked on television.

Lin Yi did not cancel his transformation and vigilantly observed his surroundings.

He could no longer take a flight home. The only reason he had returned to Shinjuku Ward was to continue circling around Suguru Geto. In such a densely populated area, and in broad daylight, Suguru Geto's group would not dare act recklessly. They would attract the attention of the Japanese Official Jujutsu Society.

Even if he truly had to choose a side, temporarily standing with the Japanese Official Jujutsu Society was still better than getting involved with an extremist like Suguru Geto.

As Lin Yi scanned his surroundings warily, he spotted Suguru Geto in the crowd as well.

"Oh my, Mr. Ichiro really is clever. Meeting in a place like this means even I wouldn't dare casually set up a barrier. But is this really all right? Mr. Ichiro, you don't seem very eager to get involved with the Jujutsu Society either."

"Still better than being pestered by you."

"It seems Mr. Ichiro misunderstands me quite deeply. In that case, why don't we find somewhere around here and have a proper talk? In a place like this, Mr. Ichiro, you won't have to worry about me making a move."

"Tch. Looks like I don't have a choice. But you're paying for everything!"

"Of course. I told you, I'm very rich."

Amid the surging crowd, Lin Yi and Suguru Geto disappeared from sight.

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