His days as a teacher flew by. After laying out his teaching guidelines, Naomitsu followed Satoru Gojo's example and started slacking off.
Of course, by slacking off, he meant training in secret.
Five months passed in the blink of an eye. With nearly half a year gone, Naomitsu's birthday came around again.
His birthday was always the day Naomitsu looked forward to most each year. His cursed energy doubled, and his Binding Vow weakened year by year. Just thinking about it excited him.
"One minute left!"
Naomitsu counted down silently, taking one last look at the number above his head.
[435200]
In a moment, it would double.
One second, two seconds. When he opened his eyes again, the number above his head had changed. The original four hundred and thirty thousand had become a terrifying [870400].
A few seconds later, the number dropped by another ten percent. The final figure settled at [783360].
"That ten percent deduction alone would be enough for a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer."
Every jujutsu sorcerer's cursed energy reserves were fixed at birth. Satoru Gojo's supposedly inexhaustible cursed energy, for instance, was essentially due to the Six Eyes replenishing it quickly, not a high maximum capacity.
Even the vengeful spirit Rika's supposedly endless cursed energy was, at its core, a matter of replenishment outpacing expenditure rather than limitless reserves.
Otherwise, her full-power Cursed Energy Cannon would not have merely destroyed one of Suguru Geto's arms and seriously wounded him. Geto had not even been at his peak then.
Judging by his own cursed energy, Naomitsu estimated that Rika's maximum reserves were only between five hundred thousand and one million.
Naomitsu had seen Satoru Gojo's reserves, which hovered around five million. Sukuna, who possessed the most cursed energy at full strength with all twenty fingers, should have been even more terrifying than Gojo, very likely reaching ten million.
Otherwise, with the cursed energy he had, he would have long since died fighting so many jujutsu sorcerers in succession.
"In a few more years, even Sukuna won't be anything to fear. But for my own safety, I still need to master a domain and subjugate Mahoraga."
Mahoraga was different from the other shikigami: no one else could intervene to help. Whoever killed him would claim him, so Naomitsu had to find a deserted place and face him alone.
"Before that, I'll subjugate Great Serpent, then Round Deer. I'll build my domain during the fight. I have enough cursed energy now."
Previously, Naomitsu had worried about running out of cursed energy and exhausting himself, so he had always proceeded cautiously, prioritizing safety. But now that his cursed energy had reached over seven hundred thousand, closing in on Satoru Gojo, he could attempt the subjugations.
And he had chosen his targets carefully.
Great Serpent went without saying; he could handle that one easily. Round Deer, meanwhile, was essentially a shikigami that could use Reverse Cursed Technique. Their offensive power was not particularly strong, and they posed little threat to Naomitsu.
Naomitsu had no intention of attempting to subjugate the most dangerous ones, Piercing Ox and Tiger Funeral, yet.
"I'll use the mountain behind the last Summer Festival as the subjugation site!"
With his decision made, Naomitsu wasted no time. He immediately set out for the place where Noritoshi Kamo had fought the cursed spirit during the previous Summer Festival.
Steep mountains rose around dense, lush woods, filled with the calls of cicadas and birds.
"All right, I'm here. Once I confirm no one's around, I can start."
After using Nue to scout the area, Naomitsu selected a clearing and began his first solo subjugation battle.
"Let's start with Great Serpent!"
Great Serpent was a long snake, ranging from five to twenty meters in length depending on the cursed energy output. They could burrow underground to launch surprise attacks from hiding.
As the subjugation ritual began, Naomitsu stayed airborne on Nue and watched. The moment Great Serpent appeared, they became a sitting duck.
Cursed energy gathered in his palm.
Naomitsu planned to test the waters with ten thousand cursed energy first. If that did not work, he would increase the output to fifty thousand.
Deep blue cursed energy gathered in his palm as he aimed at the twelve-meter-long white serpent below.
Boom!!!
The deafening blast tore apart earth and trees, leaving a crater. Great Serpent had been blown into several pieces and was on the verge of death.
Naomitsu jumped down from the air. After landing steadily, he began subjugating Great Serpent. Nothing unexpected happened, and he succeeded with ease.
Round Deer, however, would not be so simple.
"Subjugating Round Deer isn't the main priority. Thinking through my domain during the battle matters more. I'll keep trying, take it slowly. There's no rush."
Before beginning the subjugation, Naomitsu set his objective. After all, if he got carried away fighting and forgot his real purpose, all this would have been for nothing.
"Come on!"
The shikigami subjugation ritual began again, but Naomitsu's attitude was completely different this time. He focused all his attention, preparing to face Round Deer.
"There they are!"
Round Deer was a deer with a completely white body. A halo hovered above their head, making them resemble both an angel and Mahoraga.
Their body was about the size of a rhinoceros. Their means of attack did not look particularly powerful, while their regenerative ability remained unknown.
"Let's test it first!"
Naomitsu closed in, briefly testing Round Deer's offensive strength with his fists. His fist collided with their antlers, and he was sent flying dozens of meters.
They're strong, too!
Naomitsu took advantage of the momentum to compress his cursed energy, aiming at Round Deer dozens of meters away and firing Cursed Energy Cannons. Each shot contained 1,000 points, enough to easily kill a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit.
After firing continuously for ten minutes and spending 10,000 cursed energy, the dust shrouding Round Deer dispersed, revealing them completely unharmed.
"That regeneration speed... is terrifying!"
Undeterred, Naomitsu increased his output from one thousand per shot to ten thousand.
Boom!!!
The powerful cursed energy blasted the left side of Round Deer's body to pieces. But the next second, the halo above their head shone brilliantly, and their injuries instantly healed.
"How is this any different from Mahoraga?"
Naomitsu laughed in frustration, temporarily abandoning the idea of killing Round Deer in one hit. He began fighting them desperately instead. He had Reverse Cursed Technique too, after all.
No matter how many times he was sent flying, his Reverse Cursed Technique could heal him instantly.
His reserves of over seven hundred thousand cursed energy gave him confidence. Even if the fight lasted from morning until night, he would keep them company.
As he fought, Naomitsu also grew steadily more familiar with combining the Ten Shadows shikigami. He experimented with several moves similar to The Well's Unknown Abyss.
But clearly, those moves did no real damage.
Time slipped by unnoticed. Before he knew it, dusk had passed and night had fallen. This was Naomitsu's longest shikigami subjugation yet.
Still, the combat experience he gained was certainly solid.
Several times, Round Deer rammed him hard enough to split his head open and leave him bleeding. He relied on Reverse Cursed Technique to repeatedly restore his ability to fight.
"Heal! Heal! Heal!"
Watching Round Deer recover over and over, Naomitsu began to crack. Yet he did not dare release all his remaining cursed energy at once. If that failed to defeat Round Deer, it would mean the subjugation had failed.
And since no one else was present, that meant Naomitsu would fight until his cursed energy ran out and the shikigami killed him.
"Die here? No!"
Naomitsu's gaze hardened. How much effort had he put into becoming stronger? When it came to domains alone, he had spent practically every waking moment studying at both Tokyo Jujutsu High and Kyoto Jujutsu High.
"I'll give it everything!"
Naomitsu was blasted away once more. With six hundred thousand cursed energy still in his body, he took his stance and put his domain into practice for the first time.
"Domain Expansion!"
Before you continue