Four hundred years ago in Japan, Jujutsu Society was not as peaceful as it was today. The winds were fierce, and the world was restless.
"Positive and negative energy have always opposed each other. Their interaction can produce a sure-hit effect. That man's lightning cannot be dodged."
People four hundred years ago naturally had a limited understanding of science, but as Jujutsu Sorcerers, they could still give a basic explanation of the principles using terms like "cursed energy" and "energy."
"Even so, that doesn't necessarily mean we can't..."
The man who said those words became a corpse during his challenge a month later. His supposed skill and talent were worthless against skill and talent of a higher caliber. Still, counting his opening remarks and the threats he made at the outset, he did manage to waste a full half minute of Hajime Kashimo's time.
Countless people in this world wanted to kill Hajime Kashimo.
He was not the only one.
Because this era belonged to Hajime Kashimo.
His unparalleled strength had made him a terrifying nightmare in the eyes of every Jujutsu Sorcerer. Most understood perfectly well that he was an insurmountable mountain, a summit forever beyond human comprehension.
Why was he so strong?
With that question in mind, and regrets of that kind in their hearts, Jujutsu Sorcerers challenged Hajime Kashimo to duels to the death.
From the very first challenger to the present, perhaps there had been victors, but those were only brief interludes. Every warrior who dared draw a blade had died there, without exception.
Lightning swept through, leaving not even bones behind.
Hajime Kashimo was strong enough to inspire despair.
Some even compared him to the former King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna. Hajime Kashimo himself offered no opinion on the matter-perhaps he, too, regretted never having fought that earthly god of slaughter.
What had Hajime Kashimo been like in his prime?
Probably younger than he was now, more forceful, and somewhat more ruthless. But wasn't he still in his prime?
He had never even opened a domain in battle!
What Jujutsu Sorcerer at that level couldn't use Domain Expansion?
Once they reached Special Grade, whenever a battle grew intense enough to force them to fight for their lives, didn't every last one of them launch a few probing techniques before opening with Domain Expansion without hesitation???
If you didn't open your domain, were you asking to be killed by your opponent's Domain Expansion? Most Jujutsu Sorcerers' domains had all sorts of peculiar abilities. Which Special Grade Sorcerer's domain wasn't nasty?
If he was already this terrifying in ordinary combat without opening a domain, who knew what other tricks the mighty Thunder God had up his sleeve?!
So many people watched and waited, all hoping...
They didn't ask for victory, but they at least wanted to prove their worth with their lives. At the very least, they had to force Hajime Kashimo to open his domain!
Unfortunately, everyone who held that hope died without fulfilling it. They couldn't understand why, after they opened their domains, Hajime Kashimo merely used a casual Hollow Wicker Basket to neutralize the sure-hit effect, then raised a hand and killed them with a bolt of lightning. Clean and decisive, without giving them the slightest chance to react.
Let a thousand armies come; one move would send them away.
"Domain Expansion!"
"Hollow Wicker Basket."
"Domain Expansion!!"
"Hollow Wicker Basket."
"Domain Expansion!!!"
"Hollow Wicker Basket."
It was always the same, without exception.
Even in a three-way battle, Hajime Kashimo remained just as calm. While the other two clashed domains, he leisurely formed the hand sign for Hollow Wicker Basket. Despite keeping both hands occupied, he fought two opponents alone and emerged unscathed and victorious.
"He faced someone else's fully expanded domain alone without expanding his own, then killed them in one strike."
That was the only conclusion the spectators ever reached.
And so their awe of Hajime Kashimo deepened with each passing day.
Gods could be called gods because all the strength mortals could imagine was insufficient to describe even an instant of what their bodies could contain. The "mindset of the strong" that man upheld had finally earned him a title in the mortal world.
[Thunder God]
Unrivaled power, unparalleled skill, boundless wisdom, unstoppable lightning, and finally, Hajime Kashimo's unimpeachable mindset of the strong.
As for suspecting that Hajime Kashimo had no domain?
What a joke. Were you insane?
Hajime Kashimo had killed plenty of powerhouses with domains. More than five Special Grades had died at his hands, and they still hadn't even figured out his innate cursed technique!
Besides, did you understand Special Grades, or did they? Hadn't you seen those supposed Special Grade powerhouses get carried off after lasting fewer than ten moves against Hajime Kashimo? If a monster like him couldn't use Domain Expansion, every Jujutsu Sorcerer in Japan might as well pack it in and go to bed.
Listening to the clamor around him, Hajime Kashimo walked through the courtyard with a wilted flower clenched in his hand.
He felt rather weary.
Weary of these dull days, weary of making no progress, weary of these fruitless pursuits.
The person who came to challenge him today was a swordsman, a young man who was still very young. His face retained a boyish innocence, and his sword guard had yet to acquire the rust of blood.
"What brings you here?"
Hajime Kashimo asked him.
"I hope to earn your recognition."
The boy's eyes held the naivety of his age, along with a vague yearning. To his credit, despite his youth, he already possessed a measure of the resolve a warrior ought to have.
"Very well."
Hajime Kashimo tentatively gathered a thread of lightning in his hand.
He remembered who this boy was.
Both his father and grandfather had died at his hands, all for an absurd conjecture, for an outcome that should never have been sought.
"Worth it?"
He wanted to ask that question, but swallowed it back down.
Out of respect for the dead and reverence for the martial path, Hajime Kashimo still led the young man to the training hall reserved for combat-to a warrior, holding back was an insult to both parties.
Hajime Kashimo stood there with his back perfectly straight, like a thin, withered bamboo stalk, or an ancient pine on a cliff weathered by centuries of wind and rain. He looked unremarkable, yet his intangible presence spread like a net over the entire space.
He extended a hand, signaling for the young man to strike first.
"Domain Expansion!!!"
The young man dispensed with martial courtesy and opened with his ultimate move.
"Hollow Wicker Basket!"
Hajime Kashimo formed a hand sign, deploying the technique every challenger knew all too well in less than half a second.
The young man seemed to understand that this was the one and only chance he would have in his lifetime, so he had gone all out from the moment he stepped into the training hall.
Vast quantities of cursed energy surged, condensing into an enclosed space.
Rain began to fall.
What was this domain's effect?
Hajime Kashimo studied the raindrops about to fall upon him. Then he saw it: as the drops descended, streaks of pure white passed through his body.
It seemed to be a domain with a sure-hit effect... fortunately, he had used Hollow Wicker Basket the moment the domain expanded.
Looking at the young man's hand again, he saw that at some point, the boy had gripped an unsheathed sword. Its design was strange. Hajime Kashimo had never seen it before, but he had heard a little about it.
Without question, this sword was a cursed tool.
A demon blade. Whatever else it might be, it had to be the work of one of those few swordsmiths. Unlike a curved tachi, this blade was perfectly straight, with wave-like patterns along its edge.
"A fine blade."
Hajime Kashimo offered the praise almost casually.
As a warrior, he ought to know something about powerful weapons. Though accustomed to fighting barehanded, Hajime Kashimo's judgment was sound. There was something seriously wrong with that blade.
"Please instruct me."
The young man's voice echoed through the domain.
The rain stopped in midair. The droplets split in two as a pure-white flash of steel swept in every direction, only three inches from Hajime Kashimo's neck.
This strike carried over a decade of training, certain annihilation within his domain, and the demon blade that man had forged. As long as it landed, even a god...
Hajime Kashimo could see the joy and excitement in the young man's eyes. He had something he wanted to say, but held it back-hadn't he once been just as ambitious, vowing to use his predecessors' glory to highlight his own courage?
Unfortunately, those three inches were a gulf no mortal could easily cross.
Hajime Kashimo nimbly evaded the killing stroke. Thanks to Hollow Wicker Basket, the domain's sure-hit effect had already been neutralized. No matter how devastating the strike might be, it was useless if it couldn't reach him.
In the end, the boy was still too young, too poorly prepared.
In the end, he was still a mortal, mediocre and powerless.
"Farewell."
Hajime Kashimo offered his customary final kindness. Lightning flashed in his hand, and a turn of his palm pierced the young man's body before sending him flying like a fallen leaf.
He had killed another genius who might have had a limitless future, another person who might have understood him. But this was the only thing he could do for them.
As the young man lay dying, he looked at the broken sword in his hand.
"Still not enough?"
"I'm sorry, Xia Xia. The payment I promised you, the future I wanted to paint for you..."
He died before he could finish. Hajime Kashimo gave him a swift end. He couldn't bring himself to torment an opponent after the battle. Wounds like these were beyond saving. Rather than watch the young man cling to life on the ground, he would let him die with dignity.
"Be satisfied. You were excellent."
Hajime Kashimo was fairly merciful toward the dead.
For a warrior, finishing an opponent off was mercy.
The domain was dissolving, yet Hajime Kashimo felt a gust of wind.
The instant the domain vanished, the young man's body disappeared, along with the broken half of his sword.
Someone with that speed used it to flee instead of launching a surprise attack?
Cowardly and useless.
Hajime Kashimo did not pursue. That person had thought too poorly of him. He wasn't the sort to retaliate after the fact. The young man had challenged him fair and square, and he had merely answered as a warrior. Whatever happened afterward... he wouldn't care.
He returned to the courtyard. The tea in his cup was still warm.
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