Heavenly Restriction

Even though he had guessed that the visitors meant trouble, Shinji Zenin had no intention of attacking right away.

He genuinely wanted to know why Shinichi Zenin had returned to Hiraizumi.

So, after considerable thought, he took the initiative to greet U, who stood off to the side, as a gesture of goodwill.

She looked barely older than Megumi. Whichever way he considered it, she was most likely the niece he had never met.

Shinichi Zenin had a lousy personality, but from what Shinji knew of him, he probably would not chase a girl young enough to be his daughter.

Yet her prolonged silence made Shinji start to doubt himself.

Surely... he wouldn't, would he?

"Zenin Clan head, why waste so much breath on him? Why not just go beat him up?"

Gojo Gen rolled his neck and readied himself for combat. "Beat him first, then question him. Won't that tell us what he's after?"

"If he won't talk, stuff him in a sewer for half an hour. Keep soaking him until he's willing to speak."

Ever since Jianxia had defeated him a few days earlier, Gojo Gen had developed an obsession with sewers.

Even a dog by the roadside, after getting kicked by him, would have to be stuffed into a sewer for a beggar's-chicken-style spa treatment.

Shinichi Zenin shuddered. He had never heard of the sewer Gojo Gen mentioned, but his instincts told him it was nothing good.

Shinji Zenin shook his head. If he had wanted to solve the problem through violence, he would never have greeted them in the first place.

"No, Gojo Clan head. The city is crowded. If we start fighting recklessly, plenty of innocent people will get hurt." Then Shinji Zenin looked at Shinichi Zenin and U, who had remained silent all this time.

"So, big brother, to keep this from becoming difficult for both of us, could you tell me why you've returned to Hiraizumi?"

But the instant Shinji Zenin finished speaking, U vanished.

So fast.

The thought had barely crossed Shinji Zenin's mind when U thrust a short blade at his throat.

Someone else, however, was even faster.

Smack!

Gojo Gen reached out and caught the blade. Protected by Limitless, he had no need to worry about getting hurt.

The sharp blade stopped less than a centimeter from Shinji's neck, unable to advance any farther.

"I noticed it earlier... not even my Six Eyes can track you, because there's not so much as a trace of cursed energy in your body."

Gojo Gen had already removed his blindfold, revealing his Six Eyes as he scrutinized U, who had struck first.

Even ordinary people who were not jujutsu sorcerers had some amount of cursed energy inside them.

And as long as cursed energy existed, the Six Eyes could lock onto it.

But this woman was the first jujutsu sorcerer he had ever encountered whose movements his Six Eyes could not track.

If U had not been carrying a cursed tool inside her clothes, she really would have been invisible to Gojo Gen.

"Heavenly Restriction, right?" Having voiced his suspicion, Gojo Gen actually relaxed a little. "In that case, why don't we find somewhere more suitable to talk?"

Then Gojo Gen grabbed U's wrist, and the two vanished from the streets of Hiraizumi in an instant.

They moved so fast that the passersby did not even notice.

Shinichi Zenin stared blankly at the spot where U had disappeared, then looked at Shinji Zenin, who was smiling at him, and Kamo Michisada beside him, whose fingertips were beginning to glow red.

"Heh, can we settle this peacefully?"

Five kilometers from Hiraizumi, in a forest without even a name, Gojo Gen and U appeared.

Using Blue's attraction, a Limitless sorcerer could compress the distance between the starting point and destination indefinitely, producing an effect akin to teleportation.

A thousand years later, after Satoru Gojo was sealed in the Prison Realm and subsequently released, he used precisely this method to appear instantly beside Kenjaku, who had taken over Suguru Geto's body.

As a fellow sorcerer with both the Six Eyes and Limitless, Gojo Gen could naturally do the same.

Gojo Gen and U were now in free fall. With Limitless protecting him, Gojo Gen remained perfectly calm. His right hand clamped tightly around U's wrist, preventing her escape.

Heavenly Restriction was an innate binding vow that traded all cursed energy for extraordinary physical capabilities, granting an advantage in close combat against most jujutsu sorcerers. This type was called "inverse."

Of course, an entirely opposite form of Heavenly Restriction also existed, sacrificing physical strength for immense cursed energy reserves and cursed technique range. This was called "forward."

But the Six Eyes and Limitless, with their absurd mechanics and raw power, clearly fell outside that majority.

Even with the formidable body granted by Heavenly Restriction, U still fell a little short against Gojo Gen, whose body was reinforced with cursed energy.

Crash!

The two slammed into the ground, sending an enormous cloud of dust billowing into the air.

Gojo Gen immediately rose without a scratch, but U, whom he had been restraining, was nowhere to be seen.

She could escape even under those circumstances...?

Gojo Gen had intended to overpower and restrain her until she could no longer fight. He had not expected U to break free during their fall.

Raising his guard, Gojo Gen began surveying his surroundings with the Six Eyes.

He could see a small object filled with cursed energy darting rapidly around him-the cursed tool she carried.

Since the Gojo Clan had yet to reach its future size, information about the Six Eyes and Limitless was not common knowledge at this point.

U had no idea what cursed technique her opponent possessed, or what kind of constitution he had.

But even without that information, a member of the Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad would not back down.

Whoosh!

With a rush of air, U sprang out from beside a large tree behind Gojo Gen. Still holding the same short blade, she thrust it toward the center of his back.

But the blade could not even approach Gojo Gen's body. Instead, he reacted with a backhanded punch that drove U into the ground.

"Normally, I don't mind revealing my cursed technique, but since I have the advantage, let me keep a little mystery."

U scrambled up from the ground to counterattack, only to be greeted by Gojo Gen's iron fist, blazing with blue light.

"Blue Fist."

By imbuing his fist with Blue's attraction, he could make every attack land as a precise critical hit. It was one of Limitless's derivative applications.

Gojo Gen had no intention of wasting too much time here. After all, there was still a Shinichi Zenin back in the city who needed dealing with.

Although Shinichi Zenin would probably be reduced to something the size of a bowl's rim by the time he returned, Gojo Gen would never miss a chance to join the fun.

Facing the rapidly approaching Blue Fist, U bit her lip.

It looks like I'll have to use the thing meant specifically for Sukuna ahead of schedule.

Faced with a life-or-death crisis, the full potential of her Heavenly Restriction body erupted. With the Blue Fist less than ten centimeters away, U pushed off with both legs and shot backward.

"Don't make my job more complicated, beautiful lady."

Gojo Gen had no intention of letting her escape. He shot after her, the blue light around his hand still blazing.

He saw U pull the cursed tool from inside her clothes, but thought nothing of it. After all, no attack could breach his Limitless.

Then U planted her feet on the ground. Rather than retreating farther, she prepared to meet Gojo Gen's attack.

Their figures flashed past each other. For a moment, the forest was so quiet that only the wind could be heard.

Drip. Drip.

Blood fell onto the soil with dull patters. The first exchange had already reached its conclusion.

Gojo Gen's expression turned grave. Pressing a hand over the wound on the right side of his abdomen, he looked at the strangely shaped cursed tool, then sighed.

"Things really took a sudden turn for the worse."