Sweet Rain from the Heavens

By the time they found the bodies of Kawahara and the others, it was already late. The cursed energy Long Xi had left behind had protected their remains from further harm.

But... the bodies were still a gruesome sight...

There was no wind in the ruins.

Only the fires in the distance, not yet fully extinguished, crackled away. Severed electrical cables hung beside the walls, occasionally spitting blue-white sparks.

Long Xi did not let Yuta Okkotsu help move the first body.

He simply bent down himself, straightened Kawahara's tattered coat, and tucked his broken ID back into his breast pocket.

He had never really known this man.

They could not even have been called friends.

Kawahara might have had his own schemes, his own mission, perhaps even something he wanted from Long Xi.

But once they were willing to put their lives on the line to stand in front of him, none of that mattered anymore.

Long Xi was not a particularly good person.

He feared death, loved scheming, and was arrogant and blindly overconfident. He feared pain, feared death, feared death... His first instinct in danger was always to figure out how to survive.

But he knew who deserved to be remembered.

Who deserved to have someone collect their debts for them, even after they were buried.

Who should never have died here. Just like the proper death Yuji Itadori had spoken of, Long Xi finally, truly understood it now.

What made a death proper, and what made it wrong.

Yuta Okkotsu stood beside him, watching as Long Xi painstakingly pieced their bodies together as completely as he could.

He said nothing...

He moved a chunk of collapsed wall aside, helping clear a relatively clean patch of ground, then continued waiting as Long Xi cleaned up his friends' remains.

Together, they laid the bodies to rest one by one.

Under these circumstances, there were not even any gravestones, only crude markers fashioned from bent lengths of rebar.

Long Xi covered them with the final handful of earth, his palms smeared with mud and blood.

Beside him, Yuta Okkotsu used his cursed energy to create a protective curtain.

"Kawahara... you guys can rest here for now..."

He stood there for a long time before speaking softly.

Then he fell into another long silence...

If what this instance corresponded to really was the future...

If there was another chance...

He lowered his hands, his knuckles giving a faint crack.

"I'll cut down Kurourushi and that old bastard right at the start..."

Yuta Okkotsu's eyes returned to their usual appearance. He did not say much, but he could clearly feel the intense anger buried in Long Xi's words.

It was not impotent rage, but a focused fury that was utterly terrifying.

But... how could he not understand how Long Xi felt? If anything, he probably understood all too well.

"I'm sorry... if I'd gotten here a little sooner..."

"This isn't your fault, Okkotsu... thank you for getting the girls out..."

"..."

"Sorry, could you let me be alone for a while?"

"...I understand how you feel, but please don't take too long... we don't have much time left either."

Looking at Long Xi's condition, Yuta Okkotsu knew there was no point in saying anything more. He merely gave him a sympathetic glance, then walked away.

[Prison Xi, you okay?]

[Try to look on the bright side. This is an instance, after all. If you get another chance, you can save them.]

[Believe in yourself!]

Watching the chat messages scroll past his eyes, Long Xi took a deep breath. His Reverse Cursed Technique was still running.

Every part of his body was undergoing a process of tearing apart and rebuilding. There was no way that could feel pleasant.

It hurt so much he wanted to cry.

But he could not cry. The Reverse Cursed Technique constantly circulating through his body was powerful indeed, but his own cursed energy carried the properties of flame.

Even if he shed tears, they would be burned dry a second later...

"All right, I'm not that fragile..."

"You remember what that old bastard said before he died, right?"

[Kenjaku! Right! He mentioned Kenjaku before, streamer. Does that mean you've been exposed now?!]

"Strictly speaking, not only have I been exposed, there's a bounty on me too... though I'm still not entirely sure why."

"With that brain of his set on merging the whole world into some great thunder cursed spirit, why's he got his eye on me too?"

"Is there anything else special about me?"

Long Xi froze as soon as he said that.

Okay... if we're talking about anything special, I've already shown a few little, unimportant things.

The talent to reach Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer in a little over ten days, an output efficiency comparable to two-fifths of the Six Eyes, two ridiculously powerful cursed techniques already revealed, having elbowed Sukuna, being a transmigrator, knowing far too many things I shouldn't...

Seems like any one of those could be a reason to elbow me to death. But would he really have nothing better to do than elbow me?

Clearly, the facts spoke for themselves.

"...I honestly don't know what he sees in me. Who the hell knows whether Kogane has a bounty on me too?!"

[Wait, aren't you going to crash?]

[It's fine, I've got Photoshop ready. I'll make you a slightly nicer Kobe edit!]

Looking at the livestream chat, he saw how instantly their attitude changed once they realized he had recovered.

Long Xi's face stiffened again. In the end, he took a deep breath, though the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.

"If you're going to Photoshop me, at least make it a good one!"

[100,000-follower milestone rewards issued.]

[Obtained Innate Cursed Technique: Sweet Rain from the Heavens (LV.1).]

[Obtained Character Creation Card ×1 (Create a new character!).]

[Bonus reward for killing a Special Grade: Livestream Assistant Card ×1.]

[Achievement unlocked: The Primordial Elder's End.]

[Achievement reward: Greatly increased physical strength.]

After arguing with his viewers for ages and ultimately receiving dozens of Prison Xi edits of himself, Long Xi finally magnanimously forgave them.

A laugh would help it all pass...

Rather than fuss over their nonsense, he might as well take a look at his new ability!

He immediately tried his other innate cursed technique, and a power unlike his flames spread through his body.

His entire body was like parched earth finally receiving sweet rain, and it actually began to recover slowly.

Sweet Rain from the Heavens, a healing and support cursed technique.

It could create rainfall around him and alter the local weather, restoring stamina, stabilizing cursed energy, and supporting Reverse Cursed Technique.

More importantly, this technique had room to grow.

...But for some reason, this feels awfully familiar. My next ability isn't going to turn me into a giant thunder bear that bites people, is it?

Hard not to think that's where this is going...

Long Xi pushed his wild thoughts aside and rolled his shoulders a little.

His bones gave faint cracks, but much of his fatigue had faded.

His physical strength had changed too.

If he had to find a point of comparison, he could now smash through a reinforced concrete wall with one punch.

He was already approaching the level of the early "Tiger of West Junior High."

Of course, comparing himself to the Tiger Heavenly Emperor was out of the question.

Other people were Grade 1 or Special Grade.

The Tiger Heavenly Emperor was Dragon-level at minimum.

Even in the series next door, he could qualify as Dragon-level. If Long Xi tried to compare himself to him now, he would probably get run over like a speed bump.

"You've gotten stronger again."

Yuta Okkotsu suddenly spoke.

Long Xi turned around. He had sensed a while ago that Okkotsu was not far away, but he had not expected his perception to be so sharp.

His improvement was not even that significant compared with before...

Yuta Okkotsu watched the now-steady flow of cursed energy around him, his expression complicated.

"The nature of your cursed energy changed just now. And it wasn't Reverse Cursed Technique or anything like that..."

Long Xi spread his hands and spoke with apparent helplessness.

"Just a little insight. Think of it as a new way to use my power. It's not that earth-shattering, is it?"

"This is far more than a little."

Yuta Okkotsu spoke very seriously.

He had seen far too many powerful people.

Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, the two principals, that guy from India, and himself.

But Long Xi's rate of growth was still impossible to ignore. Gojo-sensei had said before that there was something off about that missing student.

Now, though, "something off" was rapidly turning from a description into a warning.

It was... so outrageous that it was becoming impossible to believe.

"Haha..."

Long Xi gave a few awkward chuckles.

It looked like convincing him would take quite a bit of effort again...