Projection Cursed Technique

"I choose option three: awaken a second Innate Cursed Technique."

[Confirmed. Your reward has been issued.]

After the system's icy notification sounded,

the Cursed Energy inside Dai Li instantly surged, and he felt as though the entire world had slowed by half a beat.

Countless tiny streams seemed to race beneath his skin, while his Cursed Energy grew hot and expanded within him.

A muffled roar exploded deep in his mind as the imprint of an Innate Cursed Technique slowly took shape on his soul.

"You're engraving it straight onto my soul? That hurts like hell, damn it!"

In the world of Jujutsu, the soul took precedence over the body. Engraving a Cursed Technique directly onto the soul bypassed the body's slow awakening process and improved the efficiency of Cursed Energy output.

[The host has awakened the Innate Cursed Technique "Projection Cursed Technique."]

"Not a bad technique. I've finally got a way to attack at range instead of always having to fight up close with my fists and feet."

The technique was engraved directly onto Dai Li's soul. The moment the process finished, he completely understood his own technique.

["Projection Cursed Technique" is a "material manifestation type" technique. It uses Cursed Energy as fuel to reproduce temporary copies of objects in reality based on a Jujutsu Sorcerer's understanding of them.]

Regardless of whether Dai Li understood his technique, the system explained it to its host just as it had before.

[What the Projection Cursed Technique "projects" is not actual matter, but a temporary construct formed from Cursed Energy.]

[Once its supply of Cursed Energy is cut off, it rapidly breaks down and disappears. Under normal circumstances, it lasts only briefly. Keeping it in existence long-term requires a continuous expenditure of Cursed Energy.]

"I remember Jujutsu Kaisen already had a technique called the 'Construction Technique,' right? What's the difference between my technique and that one?"

[The "Construction Technique" creates tangible matter with an actual physical structure, mass, and material composition. Even after the technique is deactivated, or the sorcerer falls unconscious or dies, the creation remains in the world rather than vanishing into thin air.

The "Projection Cursed Technique" generates an informational simulacrum condensed from Cursed Energy. It has no actual molecular structure or inherent physical mass.

The simulacrum's existence depends entirely on the technique sustaining it. If the technique is interrupted, the simulacrum moves out of range, or it is forcibly destroyed, it immediately dissipates without leaving a trace. Ordinary people without Cursed Energy cannot even see its physical outline.]

What was this system even saying? None of that was easy to understand. To put it simply in my own words...

The Construction Technique's Cursed Energy output efficiency was extremely low. For a sorcerer at Mai Zenin's level, creating a single bullet a day with it was already her limit.

Yorozu, a powerful sorcerer from Sukuna's era, also possessed the Construction Technique. Her total Cursed Energy was at Special Grade levels, but her initial ability in direct combat might not even have reached Grade One.

Only after developing the energy-efficient Insect Armor and Liquid Metal had she reached the level of a Special Grade Sorcerer.

Because the objects it constructed were permanent physical entities, its Cursed Energy efficiency was extremely low. It was a technique that depended heavily on the sorcerer's total reserves, with a high ceiling but an extremely low floor.

My Projection Cursed Technique, on the other hand, doesn't need to generate actual matter. It only consumes Cursed Energy to maintain form and effect, making its output efficiency far higher than the Construction Technique's.

It also doesn't require a complete analysis of an object like the Construction Technique does. I only need to analyze its outward form and operating logic-its outline, movement patterns, displayed effects, and so on-to project it.

But for Cursed Tools imbued with special curses, I'll still need to handle them and get a feel for them before I can project them. And the stronger the curse, the more Cursed Energy the projection will require.

"Hey, did you find Sukuna's Finger?"

After hanging up the phone, Satoru Gojo approached the crater, hopped lightly over its edge, and landed squarely amid the rubble at the very center of the bottom.

"Gojo-sensei...

"You're back already?"

"Well, you don't know how to seal Sukuna's Finger. I figured you'd have found it by now, so I hung up and came down."

"But what's gotten into you? You never used to call me sensei so sweetly. Did that Hollow Technique: Blue make you fall for me?"

Satoru Gojo was practically wagging his tail as he looked at Dai Li, waiting for him to show admiration he could barely contain.

I should tell Satoru Gojo that I've awakened a second technique. He might be scatterbrained, but he protects his own. He wouldn't do anything to one of his students.

"The Cursed Energy in this Sukuna's Finger is gone. It's related to my technique. I've awakened a second one."

Upon hearing Dai Li's words, Satoru Gojo raised his arm, held it straight out, and turned his palm forward in a textbook stop gesture, signaling that he needed a moment and Dai Li should stop talking.

"Hold on. You packed a lot of information into that one little sentence."

"Your technique made the huge amount of cursed power inside Sukuna's Finger disappear?"

"Yes. That's also why I awakened a second technique."

Dai Li had no interest in slowly explaining everything to Satoru Gojo. With Gojo's intelligence, he would have no trouble understanding what Dai Li had said.

"Never mind. Show me your other technique first. Honestly, I'm more interested in that. As for the cursed power in Sukuna's Finger, it makes no difference once it's sealed anyway."

Dai Li said no more and chose to activate his second technique. For Satoru Gojo, who possessed the Six Eyes, a direct demonstration would be far quicker than a drawn-out explanation.

"Trace On."

The Projection Cursed Technique activated.

In an instant, Dai Li "projected" a Long-Handled Blade. A Red Ribbon was tied to the end of its handle, and the blade hovered in midair.

It was the Cursed Tool Maki Zenin had used earlier.

"I see. I think I've got the gist of it.

"It's similar to the Construction Technique, except the 'projected' object is made of Cursed Energy. Still, its structure and the curse contained within the Cursed Tool are practically identical to the original, and you can freely control the projected object with Cursed Energy."

"Can you dismiss it?"

Dai Li promptly stopped supplying Cursed Energy and dispelled the "projection."

The blade instantly dissolved into particles and vanished completely, leaving not even the Red Ribbon behind.

"This really is a good technique. Compared to the Construction Technique and its poor Cursed Energy efficiency, your Projection Cursed Technique is much better suited to combat."

"As for the cursed power disappearing from Sukuna's Finger, I'll explain things to Jujutsu High. Don't worry.

"But there's one thing I'd like to discuss with you."

Satoru Gojo made his position clear, explicitly assuring Dai Li that he would handle the Jujutsu Higher-Ups so Dai Li needn't worry too much. Still, there was something he wanted to discuss.

"What is it?"

"It'd be better to keep the fact that you have two techniques hidden. A Jujutsu Sorcerer of unknown origins who also has two techniques-what do you think those stubborn old geezers up top would make of that?"

A Jujutsu Sorcerer who met both those conditions...

"They'd think I was an ancient sorcerer resurrected through incarnation, right?"

"Correct. And then you'd be dead. They'd sentence you to execution, and I'd probably be the executioner.

"Those guys are terrified of anything they don't understand."

Getting sentenced to death right at the start is the classic protagonist setup. Not that I'm remotely envious. I'm not some Jiahao who insists on being different.

"So my suggestion is to use the Projection Cursed Technique you just awakened as your public technique and keep Life and Binding hidden.

"I haven't reported your technique yet, so no one besides me knows you have a second one."

"What do you think?"

Dai Li thought Satoru Gojo had a point. Life and Binding would be easy to conceal, while the Projection Cursed Technique was far more conspicuous.

"Very insightful."