Abilities

"Greetings, Master."

Sugawara Satoru bowed slightly to the young man in black-and-yellow monk's robes standing outside the estate.

During the Nara Era, the traditions of Esoteric Buddhism had been brought to Japan from the Tang Dynasty. Buddhism had flourished from then on, but by the Heian Era, faith had gradually shifted toward Shinto.

Several warrior monks followed the monk before him. He clearly belonged to the entourage of someone in the imperial family, and Sugawara Satoru dared not slight him.

"Greetings, Patron Sugawara. This humble monk has come at the Fujiwara Clan head's request to investigate the Rope Person incident. Has your household discovered any clues?"

The monk had delicate features and an air of serene Buddhist detachment. A dark gleam flickered in his narrow eyes, and unlike an ordinary person, he had a black line of stitches across his forehead.

Sugawara Satoru knew little about the monks of Tōdai-ji. At the mention of the Fujiwara Clan, his expression darkened slightly.

"Master, we have only just found a few avenues to investigate. We haven't uncovered any evidence yet."

The Rope Person incident had caused far too great a stir. Had it involved only the Sugawara Clan, they could have handled it privately, but now even the Chūgū had been alerted. Sugawara Satoru knew they could no longer keep that child.

"...Is this the child?"

The monk's hand tightened slightly beneath his wide sleeve.

On their way here, the young heir of the Sugawara Clan had already given him a rough account of what had happened.

They had moved Alluka into a dark room.

Ever since the Sugawara Clan's warriors had begun to suspect she was responsible for all those deaths, none of them had dared approach her.

The little girl did not seem upset about being locked up here. Her beautiful blue eyes glistened as she looked toward the monk entering through the door.

"Are you here to take me away, big brother?"

An innocent smile spread across her fair face.

"Yes."

The monk bowed slightly and turned the Buddhist prayer beads in his hand.

"What's your name, big brother?"

Alluka tilted her head, a flicker of excitement shining in her eyes.

She did not actually like places this dark, so naturally, she was happy to be allowed out.

"This humble monk's Dharma name is Genkai."

The young man paused briefly before giving his Dharma name.

Sugawara Satoru watched nervously, hoping to see what would happen, but the child merely lowered her head in boredom and said nothing more.

He wondered what exactly this child's ability was, but he would have no further chance to investigate it.

The monks took Alluka to an ancient temple in the woods.

The imposing old temple lay hidden among overlapping mountain ridges. Its brackets and sweeping eaves wound like the mountains themselves, while two rows of Stone Lanterns stood along the Approach Path as votive lights. The magnificent complex was nothing like the temple where they had been staying.

"Lord Fujiwara has asked us to investigate this child."

Sugawara Satoru was also afraid Alluka might accidentally kill the Fujiwara Clan head. If that happened, Her Majesty the Empress at the Chūgū would undoubtedly lash out in fury and blame their clan.

He had already reported both of Alluka's unusual traits.

As the Emperor's father-in-law, the Fujiwara Clan head would naturally never appear in person before someone this dangerous.

This child could turn a person into a monster, and she possessed an enormous quantity of cursed energy that no one alive could rival.

The Fujiwara Clan's methods of recruiting for the Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad and the Five Void Generals were exceptionally brutal.

They selected gifted children from across the country and made them fight to the death. Only the last children standing qualified to enter the Fujiwara Clan's elite forces.

As for the child who had created so many Rope Persons, if that truly was her cursed technique, it had both advantages and drawbacks.

The Fujiwara Clan did not mind sacrificing a few people to obtain the results they wanted.

If this child could truly grant cursed energy to the clan's elite, the Kamo, Abe, and Sugawara Clans would have no power left to resist them.

The monks changed Alluka into fresh clothes, a set of ocher monk's robes that were neither new nor particularly worn. Throughout the journey, she had kept her head lowered without speaking.

Just as they were about to reach the Main Hall, the little child asked softly, "Big Brother Genkai, will you hold me?"

The black-haired child raised her head against the light. Her catlike blue eyes curved slightly as she gave him the faintest smile.

"Hm?"

The wind ruffled the monk's loose robes.

He was somewhat surprised by the child's sudden request, but remembering her peculiarities, he bent down slightly and picked her up.

"Big Brother Genkai, will you lift me up high?"

The doors of the main sanctuary were right before them, yet the child refused to go any farther.

The monk gave a soft sigh and lifted her up.

He did not know whether he was imagining it, but as he lifted her, he seemed to hear shrill laughter in the air.

"Big Brother Genkai, will you give me a kiss?"

Alluka giggled in the monk's arms.

The monk glanced awkwardly at the hall doors just a few steps away, then lowered his head and lightly pressed his lips to the crown of Alluka's black hair.

The next second, the child in his arms had transformed.

Wisps of murky air poured from the child's facial features. Her beautiful catlike eyes were already gone, replaced by two black holes that resembled whirlpools.

"Do you have a wish?"

The monstrous child stiffly turned her face toward him.

Her deathly pale skin pressed against his ear. Her icy breath felt like rustling insects crawling over him, trying to burrow through his skin and devour his flesh.

The scalp-prickling sensation made the monk shudder involuntarily.

When he did not answer, the monster giggled and repeated her question.

"Do you have a wish?"

Her palm was like a block of ice, pressed firmly against the stitched monk's neck.

The patch of skin beneath it felt as though it had been swept by a bitter wind, turning stiff and numb.

Her shrill, eerie voice seared his nerves like sinister karmic flames, making him physically ill.

The young man with stitches across his forehead slowly raised his eyes and met the gaze of the Fujiwara Clan head's younger brother inside the hall.

In that instant, he understood what the man's eyes were telling him.

He set the child on the ground with some awkwardness and asked, feigning calm, "Can you tell me what your ability is?"

"Ability?"

The monster with black holes for facial features tilted her head and stared fixedly at him for a long moment. She repeated the word in a puzzled, shrill voice, then spread her pale, lifeless face into a rather terrifying grin.

"My ability is... granting wishes."

Once she had answered his question, the aura of death gradually faded from the child's features, and color returned to her pale face.

Everything looked as though nothing had happened at all.

The monk slowly raised his sleeve. In that brief moment, cold sweat had broken out across his forehead without him even noticing.

Huh? Are some of you lovelies having trouble following this?

Sugawara is Gojo, Abe seems to be Zenin, and Fujiwara is the clan that Takako Uro, the Sky Manipulation woman from Sendai, and Uraume belonged to.

In the Heian Era, the Fujiwara Clan held absolute power and produced many empresses. The selection process for the Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad was based on the battle royale in the Ryomen Sukuna urban legend, the Mononobe Tengoku version. The one-eyed cat drew on both modern and ancient sources when writing Sukuna.

The Sky Manipulation woman, Takako Uro, spoke of Kenjaku without the slightest respect, which shows that Brain wasn't doing particularly well in the Heian Era.

All of this comes from later in the manga, so anime-only fans might not understand. I made up Brain's Dharma name and all that. If it turns out to be too far off, I'll change it later.

These people will test Alluka's abilities. After all, used properly, she's about as deadly as Sukuna, hahaha. I wanted to keep the Heian story short, but the more I wrote, the longer it got.

The modern-day Tengen has already successfully assimilated two Star Plasma Vessels. Counting Riko, he's lived for at least 1,500 years, and Kenjaku and Tengen are close friends, so I'm guessing he was already a brain by this point.