Domain: Three Births, All Things

Domain Expansion! A black sphere enveloped Naomitsu and Round Deer. The outside world was completely sealed off, leaving only a black sphere ten meters in diameter.

Inside the domain, the landscape changed completely.

The entire world was pale white. Naomitsu sat cross-legged atop the Azure Lotus, with a gnarled, ancient Bodhi Tree growing behind him.

About ten meters below Naomitsu, Round Deer was restrained, unable to move.

"The Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things."

As Naomitsu finished speaking atop the Azure Lotus, his lone figure became three.

"Domain! Three Births, All Things!"

Naomitsu had been thinking about this domain for a long time. If he was going to have a domain, he wanted the strongest one.

Three Births, All Things encompassed everything in the world. To Naomitsu, it was the most difficult domain to create, but also the one with the highest ceiling.

At its inception, the domain contained only Naomitsu, the Azure Lotus, and the Bodhi Tree.

Every Domain Expansion was a contest of strength. Time and cursed energy expenditure formed the rope in this tug-of-war.

Inside the domain, cursed energy could not be recovered or replenished. Anyone who exhausted their cursed energy would die within the domain and become a "template."

The next time the domain expanded, anyone caught by its sure-hit effect would have to compete against both Naomitsu and that template in a tug-of-war of cursed energy expenditure.

In other words, whoever had the most cursed energy was the strongest within this domain.

And with Naomitsu's Three Births, All Things, his side started its first tug-of-war with three participants. His opponent, Round Deer, stood all alone.

At that moment, Round Deer's cursed energy also became visible. Above its head, the number [48000] was gradually decreasing.

"Three Births, All Things. Three identical copies of me means six hundred thousand cursed energy. I've got the advantage. This one's a guaranteed win."

Round Deer would not only become his shikigami, but also a template within his domain, lending him strength during his next Domain Expansion.

"I never thought it would actually work! All that thought and effort paid off!"

Naomitsu's greatest advantage was his cursed energy. Naturally, he intended to capitalize on it and use his domain to create an unstoppable, lethal weapon.

Time wore on, and Round Deer's cursed energy gradually dwindled in the tug-of-war. An hour later, it collapsed, twitching.

Naomitsu walked down and subdued the shikigami, completing the Subjugation Ritual.

Within the domain, a lifelike statue of Round Deer stood beside the Bodhi Tree.

Three Births, All Things-Round Deer was the first thing Naomitsu had brought into being. In time, this domain would become a thriving landscape where all things flourished.

Outside the domain, the black sphere shattered, and Naomitsu slowly emerged.

Above his head, his six hundred thousand cursed energy had dropped to five hundred thousand. As he was now, he would struggle even against a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit.

The reason was simple: because of his Binding Vow, he could only use half his cursed energy.

"I should head back first! That used up too much cursed energy. Staying out in the wilderness is too dangerous."

Returning from the mountain to the Zenin Clan, Naomitsu found that neither Maki nor her sister had gone to bed. They stood at the entrance waiting for him, their eyes filled with concern and worry.

"Nao-chan! What were you doing today?"

"Ms. Utahime Iori came to our school and said you'd suddenly disappeared. Now that you're back, I'll call her and let her know you're safe."

Naomitsu nodded to Maki, then turned and patted the teary-eyed Mai.

In front of him, the little girl showed none of her usual argumentative side.

She did not act like an older sister, either. Instead, she was more like a clingy younger sister.

Maki, on the other hand, fit the role of an older sister better. She often kept her affection hidden, yet cared about Naomitsu more than anyone.

With her older sister Maki no longer there, Mai immediately lost all restraint. She spread her arms and hugged Naomitsu tightly. They had only been apart for a day, yet she had missed him this much.

"All right, I'm back now, aren't I?"

After dealing with the two sisters, Naomitsu returned to his room, utterly exhausted. He suddenly realized that Round Deer was easier to handle than his two clingy older sisters.

"Still, the domain's range was too small earlier. What would it look like if I increased my cursed energy output?"

Settling down, Naomitsu began reviewing the earlier battle. He also found himself looking forward to seeing just how powerful his domain would be when unleashed at full strength.

"I'll save Three Births, All Things at full power for Piercing Ox next time."

As for Mahoraga, Naomitsu was not arrogant enough to challenge it yet.

Even if his Three Births, All Things domain was absurdly powerful, it still fell short against Mahoraga's ability to adapt.

Still, Naomitsu already knew how he would deal with Mahoraga.

An overwhelming discharge of cursed energy!

At its core, Satoru Gojo's Purple was also a discharge of cursed energy, only with Limitless incorporated into it. What Naomitsu intended to unleash was cursed energy on the million-point scale.

As long as the quantity was large enough, he could give even Mahoraga more than its fill.

"I should get to bed early. A whole day of fighting wore me out. When I get to school tomorrow, Utahime Iori is bound to lecture me again.

"And there's that bunch of students. I haven't checked on them in a while. Tomorrow will be the perfect chance to use my newly subdued Round Deer and see how much they've improved."

Imagining his students' frustrated faces, Naomitsu drifted off to sleep with a smile.

At dawn, Naomitsu woke to find freshly cooked fried eggs and a rice ball on the tatami.

He did not need to think to know his two older sisters had prepared them. The fact that he had reached a height of 160 centimeters at six years old owed no small amount to them.

"But... isn't this a little too much?"

The fried eggs were five eggs combined into one enormous serving. As for the rice ball, it was an entire rice cooker's worth of rice molded into a ball the size of a basketball.

"I mean, yesterday's fighting did leave me really hungry... but not this hungry, right? Whatever. I'll eat first."

After eating half the rice ball and polishing off the eggs, Naomitsu had certainly done his stint as a rice-devouring sage. He fed the rest to the Divine Dogs. No one would ever find out.

With his belly bulging, Naomitsu arrived at Kyoto Jujutsu High.

Out on Kyoto Jujutsu High's athletic field, Nobara Kugisaki and the other two were already running early that morning. Their speed was neither fast nor slow, holding steady at a three-minute pace. They were probably warming up.

Naomitsu stepped onto the field. As the three passed him, he told them that he would be testing the results of their training that day.

"Teacher? What time?"

Nobara Kugisaki, who was at the back, turned around and jogged in place as she asked.

"Starts at nine! Ends at twelve!"

Leaving them with that, Naomitsu headed to the faculty office. Utahime Iori was still waiting for him there.

"So you remembered to come back?"

The moment Naomitsu entered, he saw Utahime Iori standing with her hands on her hips. Her face was flushed with anger, and her puffed-out cheeks looked adorable.

"Utahime, I had something to take care of yesterday."

"How many times have you told me that?! Do you even teach three classes a month? You still get your full salary every month!" Utahime Iori was not buying it.

Naomitsu was speechless. "Teacher, you're employing child labor. If you keep pushing me, I'll quit."