Testing his hypothesis

It was the last day of 2005, and today was special.

In a small courtyard of the Zenin Clan estate, Naomitsu swung his wooden sword over and over. He had already repeated this motion more than ten thousand times.

Cursed energy coated the wooden sword with every swing, making it far more powerful than it would otherwise have been.

Crack-

With a sharp snap, the wooden sword broke.

"It broke again? That's the third one this month! Wooden swords are just too fragile! Unless I control my cursed energy perfectly, it's hard to keep them from breaking."

Grumbling, Naomitsu tossed away the wooden sword in his hand and picked up a new one.

More than half a year had passed since he had brought Naoya Zenin into line. During that time, Naomitsu had trained at every opportunity, occasionally sparring with Naoya Zenin as well.

His diligence had brought considerable rewards.

Naomitsu looked up at his cursed energy: [5876]. By jujutsu sorcerer classifications, he was already a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer.

Once his cursed energy exceeded ten thousand, he would be a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer.

"Ten thousand swings, and I only landed Black Flash once? What a ridiculously low success rate."

Naomitsu muttered in frustration as he swung again. The feeling of landing Black Flash was too elusive. There was no pattern to it at all; it came down entirely to luck.

But however difficult it was, Naomitsu had to keep practicing.

Without the Six Eyes, constant, dedicated practice was his only way to gain precise control over cursed energy.

"Mitsu-chan! Time to eat! You need to take breaks when you're training, too!"

Maki approached with a lunch box in her arms, while Mai followed clumsily behind her, carrying a large water bottle.

Over nearly a year, the two girls had grown accustomed to bringing Naomitsu food and water every day. They sometimes trained together, too, and the three had become very close.

The three ate together, chatting about recent events in the clan.

"Mai! Has the clan tested your cursed energy yet? I heard they test cursed energy and check for innate cursed techniques between the ages of three and six."

The sisters fell silent. Remembering their position in the clan, Naomitsu realized he had said the wrong thing.

"Mitsu-chan, you don't need to feel guilty. I was tested not long ago. My innate cursed technique is the Construction Technique.

"But I have so little cursed energy that it doesn't seem to be much use. Father gave me a harsh scolding."

Seeing Naomitsu lower his head, Mai moved closer and gently comforted him. She was so understanding despite her young age. Who knew how vicious that old bastard Ogi Zenin's words had been?

"Mai, I'm sorry."

Setting down his empty lunch box, Naomitsu hugged Mai, who stood two heads taller than him, and apologized sincerely.

"Mitsu-chan! I told you it's fine! We're family!"

Mai stroked Naomitsu's hair, a happy smile lighting up her face.

"Oh, Mitsu-chan, you'd better let go. Maki's getting jealous."

As they laughed and chatted, Mai noticed Maki standing with her arms crossed and her head tilted. She immediately covered her mouth and teased her older sister.

"Mai! What are you talking about!"

Maki grabbed her lunch box, ready to throw it at Mai. Mai stuck out her tongue at Maki and ran out of the bamboo grove, laughing.

Naomitsu smiled as he watched the sisters playfully chase each other into the distance.

A moment later, his smile faded, and his expression grew serious.

"It's almost time. After waiting a whole year, it's finally time to test my hypothesis."

Sitting cross-legged beneath the bamboo, Naomitsu closed his eyes and waited quietly. About half an hour later, noon passed.

"Here it comes!"

An enormous surge of cursed energy welled up inside his body. It was staggering, equaling the full results of a year of Naomitsu's arduous training.

And it felt as though it had always belonged to him. His body showed no sign of rejecting it, as if this were only natural, allowing him to wield and control it with ease.

"This much..."

Once the cursed energy had fully settled, Naomitsu raised his head and saw a number that shocked him.

[11752]

His cursed energy flowed endlessly, like a lake. For the first time, Naomitsu knew what it felt like to have more cursed energy than he could use.

"With my current cursed energy, I should be able to tame a second shikigami. Should I choose Rabbit Escape for group attacks and disruption, or Toad for restraining enemies with his long tongue?"

The Ten Shadows Technique was a summoning-type cursed technique that required its user to tame shikigami before using them. Once a shikigami was completely destroyed, it could never be used again.

Taming one meant defeating it single-handedly.

At two years old, the only shikigami Naomitsu was confident he could defeat were Rabbit Escape and Toad. Both were weak enough that he could now overwhelm them with sheer cursed energy.

"There's no rush. Let's test the strength of my cursed energy first."

Filled with anticipation and excitement, Naomitsu gripped his wooden sword. Cursed energy burst from his body and immediately poured into the blade.

Bang!

In an instant, the wooden sword exploded into countless splinters. It simply could not withstand such powerful cursed energy.

"Looks like I need a better weapon. With my cursed energy at this level, the precision I'd need to keep using a wooden sword without breaking it would probably be enough to learn Reverse Cursed Technique."

Naomitsu shook his head and did not pick up another wooden sword.

The brief test had confirmed his hypothesis. He had noticed the change in his cursed energy last year and formed a theory, and today's doubling had finally convinced him.

"If that's how it works, I won't have to worry about threats to my life. In another two years, never mind Ogi Zenin-even Satoru Gojo might be someone I could take on."

Of course, he meant Satoru Gojo as he was now, and only without Unlimited Void.

If Gojo learned Reverse Cursed Technique and could use Blue, Red, Purple, and Unlimited Void, Naomitsu would be no match for him, no matter how much cursed energy he had.

Unless he tamed Mahoraga.

"That's still too far off. For now, I'll keep building my strength little by little. Once I've tamed the shikigami, I'll see if I can learn Reverse Cursed Technique."

With a sigh, Naomitsu turned and fixed his gaze on the bamboo in the grove.

"I'll practice with this bamboo for now!"

Using his palm as a blade, he coated his hand in cursed energy and sliced cleanly through a bamboo stalk.

What followed was a long, tedious stretch of practice and training.

The bamboo grove sounded as though New Year's celebrations had begun. Bamboo burst with a continuous crackle like firecrackers, frightening birds into flight.

By evening, the ground resembled a chopstick factory, littered with bamboo fragments.

"I can keep it intact for three seconds now!"

An entire afternoon of continuously channeling cursed energy had produced clear results, but he was still far from being able to use Reverse Cursed Technique.

"Controlling cursed energy in my hands alone is this hard. It's difficult to imagine how I'd manage to control it throughout my whole body to heal myself. Still, once I learn Reverse Cursed Technique, being able to hover and fly for a little while would be pretty nice."

He tossed away the last piece of bamboo. The patch of grove around him had already been cleared out.

"Looks like I'll have to cut some wooden sticks and bring them over tomorrow. Otherwise, sooner or later I'll strip this whole bamboo grove bare."

Shaking his head, Naomitsu stretched and prepared to head back for dinner.