Yamata no Great Serpent, a Special Grade Cursed Object

Naomitsu narrowed his eyes as he looked at Yunmeng. His next words made her mouth drop open in shock.

"Did you eat a Special Grade Cursed Object?"

Yunmeng fell silent. When she looked up again, Naomitsu's face was cold. In that instant, her heart sank.

"Don't worry. I won't kill you. Tell me why you came here."

Seeing that Naomitsu didn't seem to be lying, Yunmeng told him what she had been through lately.

She had been an ordinary jujutsu sorcerer, usually only capable of dealing with Grade 2 and Grade 3 cursed spirits in the countryside.

But one day, while fighting a Water Cursed Spirit, she had accidentally swallowed water from a deep pool.

Everything had changed after that.

??

Deep within her soul, a beautiful, long-haired woman standing six feet three inches tall had suddenly appeared, seated on a Skeleton Throne.

The woman had fair skin, and her hair spilled over the Skeleton Throne like a waterfall. Her eyes were like stars; a single look into them inspired an urge to submit.

From the woman, Yunmeng learned that she was Yamata no Great Serpent, the first King of Curses of the Heian Period.

What Yunmeng had accidentally swallowed was a cursed object-one of the eight serpent heads, dissolved in the water.

Because her soul was naturally stronger than a non-sorcerer's, the incarnation had not robbed her of control over her body. Instead, like Itadori, she had Yamata no Great Serpent residing within her.

"A serpent head? What does that have to do with you coming here?"

Now that Yunmeng had started talking, she held nothing back.

"I came to Kyoto Jujutsu High because I've been hunted all this time. Most of the other hosts who incarnated the serpent heads have already been taken over by Yamata no Great Serpent.

"And their goal is to fight over the remaining heads. Every head they consume causes their cursed energy to surge. Once all eight heads are gathered, Yamata no Great Serpent will return to this world."

The information Yunmeng brought Naomitsu was nothing short of explosive. Yamata no Great Serpent, a monster comparable to Sukuna, was about to come back to life too.

Still... I wonder if Yamata no Great Serpent could beat Satoru Gojo...

"Teacher! What should I do?"

Naomitsu remained perfectly composed. He circled Yunmeng, looking her over, then announced a decision she could hardly believe.

"Let her out. I'll have a chat with her."

Yunmeng was uneasy. "Really? If I let her out... I'm afraid I won't be able to control her! She might hurt you!"

Naomitsu waved a hand. "Don't worry. Let her out."

Yunmeng nodded. A second later, her body began to change.

Her black hair turned azure blue and grew long enough to trail across the floor. Her black eyes became sky-blue, serpentine slit pupils.

Her entire bearing underwent a dramatic transformation too. It was as though a farm girl had become an empress who ruled the world.

"You stand before me! Why do you not kneel?"

The woman looked down her nose at him, intent on asserting her dominance the moment she appeared.

"You're not Sukuna! Look at you, putting on airs! You're just Yamata no Great Serpent! Who do you think you're impressing?"

Those words hit like the Little Boy atomic bomb, instantly setting Yamata no Great Serpent off. Her slit pupils contracted, and her azure hair turned into water snakes that lunged at Naomitsu.

"Human! You have angered a god!"

"A water snake dares call herself a god?"

In a war of words, Yamata no Great Serpent was no match for Naomitsu. And in a contest of strength, with only one serpent head, she was getting thoroughly beaten.

The little water snakes formed from her hair couldn't even get past the Divine Dogs.

Of course, that only applied to Naomitsu's Divine Dogs. If they had been Megumi Fushiguro's, the water snakes would have killed them in an instant instead.

"I shall tear you apart!"

Yamata no Great Serpent opened her mouth wide, and slender snakes formed from cursed energy emerged one after another. Unlike the snakes made from her hair, these quickly regenerated when cut in half.

"Who do you think you are, Orochimaru? Opening your mouth and sticking out snakes! Let's see you make a snake spit out a sword!"

Cursed Energy Cannons fired one after another, Naomitsu picking his targets off like a sniper. In moments, all several dozen slender snakes had been wiped out.

"Human!"

Yamata no Great Serpent's voice grew shrill and piercing. Every strand of her hair turned into a serpent head and reared high, while her slit pupils radiated intense malice.

And she actually spat a sword out of her mouth. That sword was her cursed technique-the Kusanagi Sword.

Yamata no Great Serpent drew the sword from her mouth, looking ready to chop Naomitsu into pieces.

"So you're not a mage after all? Turns out you're a female warrior?"

Looking at Yamata no Great Serpent's stance with the Kusanagi Sword, Naomitsu could tell at a glance that she wasn't bluffing.

Thrusts, splits, slices, chops, rising cuts, slashes...

Yamata no Great Serpent was harder to deal with than Naomitsu had imagined. After all, she was only one of the eight serpent heads, and her strength was far below Sukuna's.

Without the Soul Liberation Blade, Naomitsu could only keep dodging while summoning the Divine Dogs and Rabbit Escape, firing Cursed Energy Cannons to keep her occupied.

He had no idea what would happen if the Kusanagi Sword wounded him.

"Good thing it's only one head. If there were a few more and she had a domain, she'd be even harder to handle."

Once he had suppressed Yamata no Great Serpent, Naomitsu gave her no further openings. He assumed his stance and unleashed the power of his domain.

"Domain Expansion!"

"Three Births, All Things!"

Enveloped by the domain, Yamata no Great Serpent's movements stiffened. The cursed energy within her was draining at an alarming rate.

"Tch. Human, we will meet again. And when we do, you will die."

Realizing she couldn't kill Naomitsu, Yamata no Great Serpent spat out a bitter threat before retreating into Yunmeng's body, allowing her to regain control.

"Haah... haah..."

Yunmeng had watched the entire fight between Naomitsu and Yamata no Great Serpent. She had never imagined that the teacher before her could be so powerful.

From the looks of it, coming to Kyoto Jujutsu High had definitely been the right choice.

In fact, she had originally planned to go to Tokyo Jujutsu High to find Satoru Gojo. But after learning that he was rarely at the school, she had come to Kyoto Jujutsu High instead.

She hadn't expected the very first teacher she met to be so formidable.

While Naomitsu was dealing with Yamata no Great Serpent, everyone else had finished their assessments too.

In the first year's midyear assessment, no one except Yuta Okkotsu had passed. The others would continue training through the second half of the year to prepare for the year-end assessment.

"Big Brother Naomitsu! I'm sorry! I didn't pass!"

Over lunch, Zhenwei looked guilty. She was already strong enough, really, but without cursed energy, she was ultimately no match for Aoi Todo's Black Flash.

Zhenwei's combat prowess had earned Aoi Todo's recognition. In fact, when he learned that she was only six or seven years old, he had been overcome with shame.

"It's okay, little one. There's still the year-end assessment. Besides, everyone has seen how strong you are."

He patted Zhenwei's little head, and she immediately perked up. Naomitsu suspected that if he had been there earlier, she might actually have beaten Aoi Todo.

Zhenwei's battle intelligence seemed to rise depending on whether he was around.

"Big Brother Naomitsu! Zhenwei will train hard and earn your recognition!"