Work Text:
Jujutsu Kaisen: -2
By Edward John Millard
Chapter 1: The Deal
Tomo Takezo was a highly cautious and guarded man. This had been the case ever since he joined the Hags, a group of Curse Users (1) connected with the Yakuza (2). He had usually gone for the less risky jobs for the organisation’s sake. This was why it was unusual for him to be observing a conversation between two powerful men who would, and could, easily kill him if they found out he was watching them. However, as a loyal man to his boss, (the leader of the Hags) he was willing to take on such a perilous assignment.
His task was simple; to learn what the two men were talking about. Unfortunately, this was not possible as they were some distance away and located in a large and busy multistorey shopping centre in Tokyo It was impossible to eavesdrop on their conversation without being noticed. On the other hand, this was fortunate as it meant they were unlikely to notice him. To tell what they were saying, Tomo was using his Clairvoyance Cursed technique (3). He had previously been briefed on who these men were.
The younger of the two men was tall, in his twenties and muscular. He had ear length, straight black hair, green eyes, thin black eye brows and a distinct vertical scar on the right-side corner of his mouth. He was wearing a dark shirt with matching trousers and shoes, as well as a light-coloured hoodie. The other, older man, who was in his late fifties, was also tall but slightly less muscular. His hair had been uniformly black but was now fading to grey with age and was largely tucked back behind his head. He had black eyes, long eyebrows with bushy ends and a long thin, black, English-style moustache that extended beyond both sides of his cheeks. He wore a light-coloured scarf, a dark coloured Yukata(top) and a striped Hakama(trousers). He also wore Zori Sandals.
The first man was Toji Fushiguro. He had been formerly known as Toji Zen’in before leaving Zen’in Clan (4) and was known as the Sorcerer Killer. He was a contract killer who specialised in killing Jujutsu Sorcerers (5). The latter man was Naobito Zen’in, a Jujutsu Sorcerer of Special Grade 1 rank (6) who was the current head of the Zen’in Clan. Despite being family, (Toji was Naobito’s nephew), Tomo knew it was highly unusual for these two to meet given their contentious relationship hence why Tomo’s boss was interested in what they were talking about.
Having discovered what they were discussing, Tomo thought about what could be done with this information. It was certainly a worthwhile find as if this information was used well, the Hags could ransom some serious money out of the Zen’in Clan. Tomo licked his lips in nervous anticipation and walked away.
In a dingy room that felt like a prison cell, a young boy of approximately 3 years old was sitting hugging his knees and trying his best not to cry. His only form of comfort was a surprisingly comfortable bed to sleep on and the healthy meals his guards regularly fed him. The reason for his melancholic mood was that he was being held in this room against his will, having been kidnapped several days ago from outside his home.
He brushed some of his spikey black hair and tears aside and reflected on what his beloved older step sister must be thinking of his mysterious disappearance. “Knowing Tsumiki, she’ll be out of her mind with worry.” he muttered to himself. It was without doubt that she would have contacted the authorities to save him. “It’s not like anyone-else in our family cares about us.” he thought resentfully.
Toji Fushiguro was on his way to one of his favourite pass times, gambling, when he got a call from his uncle Naobito. “What do you want, Old man?” Toji rudely greeted this obnoxious ghost from his past. “Hello, how do you do Toji?” Naobito replied with mock politeness. “It’s about our deal regarding Megumi.” “Megumi…? Oh right, my son.” Toji recalled and continued by asking. “Are we renegotiating his price for when I sell him to the Zen’in Clan?” “No, the deal has to be called off because your son has just been kidnapped.” Naobito answered bluntly. This stopped Toji in his tracks “Who did it?” Toji inquired.
“No idea. No-one has claimed responsibility, the police only said that he was likely taken near his home and no ransom demand has been issued.” Naobito responded “I assume you’re not going to do anything about it.” Toji coldly concluded. “You know our clan well, Toji. Your son’s cursed technique has yet to manifest and thus, much like yourself, he has no value to the Zen’in Clan. Hence, we will not waste our time with rescuing him, that is assuming he is even alive.” Toji felt a sudden pang of loathing towards the old man but quickly supressed it and calmly said “If I get him back, will the deal be upheld?” “Of course,” Naobito said. Toji proceeded to hang up, abruptly ending the conversation.
Chapter 2: Tracking
Toji reluctantly decided to give up on the gambling and set off in a mildly grouchy mood. “Trust the old man to spoil my fun.” he muttered as he made his way to his children’s home. Eventually he arrived and began investigating the surrounding area. Primarily he was looking for, or rather, tracking his son’s most recent scent and any recent, suspicious scents that were in the same location.
The reason he was able to do this was the same reason he was the black sheep of the Zen’in Clan. He was born with what is known as a Heavenly Restriction (7), a contract imposed on his body where he had no cursed energy (8). This is highly unusual as even Non-Jujutsu Sorcerers emit at least some amounts of cursed energy. Thus, he was incapable of using any Jujutsu that required cursed energy to perform such as cursed techniques. As a result, the Zen’in clan, who highly prized the inheritance of cursed techniques, collectively despised him, and tormented him routinely until he left the clan.
There was however an upside to this contract. His body’s physical capabilities were significantly enhanced including his physical strength, speed, reflexes, recovery from injury and durability. Moreover, he gained resistance to curses in general and his physical senses were sharpened to the point he could detect curse spirits (9) (whereas Non-Jujutsu Sorcerers could not). Finally, it made him undetectable via means involving cursed energy as he had none and this allowed him to easily pass through barriers (10) made from Jujutsu without being detected or stopped. This was because the barrier will treat him like an inanimate object that has no cursed energy.
Finally, using his enhanced sense of smell, he found the scents he was looking for and studied them to figure out who had taken his son. The scents suggested several older men took his son, implying his son had been targeted by an organised group. Furthermore, his experience as a contract killer who specialised in killing Jujutsu Sorcerers, meant he had interacted with those who made a living in the criminal underworld. He could tell from certain details in the men’s scents that they were experienced criminals associated with the Yakuza. Moreover, the faint residuals (11) of cursed energy left behind suggested they were curse users. “Is someone who knows me using my son to get back at me?” Toji mused cautiously. It was certainly possible as he had inevitably made some enemies in his line of work. He needed more information fast as it could rain soon and the trail of his son’s scent could be washed away forever.
He proceeded to call an old Korean associate of his named Shiu Kong, who had been a detective who had known Toji for 10 years. He had even babysat Megumi as Toji did not know how to take care of him. He now worked from time to time with Toji by helping him find contracts as well as assisting in and overseeing his contract kills for Toji’s employers. “Hi Toji, I do not have any contracts to give you right now. Now if this is not about business please hang up.” Shiu said, sounding bored. He had an average build, was dressed in a smart, 3-piece suit with matching black trousers, and top with a white shirt underneath along with green tie and smart brown shoes. His black hair was cut short and neat. His only facial hair was a small, barely visible moustache.
“Not sure if this counts as business but my son has been kidnaped and I need your assistance to track him down.” Toji concisely explained. “Megumi’s in trouble?” Shiu exclaimed sounding concerned. “That changes everything, give me your location and I’ll be there ASAP with a car.” “Right, see you soon.” Toji finished the call with that and gave Shiu his location via text message.
When he arrived, Toji got in and they drove off with the driver and passenger windows wound down so that Toji could direct Shiu in the direction of the scents trail. Soon they came to a part of Tokyo where following the trail required going on foot so they parked the car and got out. This was a good sign as it most likely meant they were close as their quarry would probably have done the same and therefore, they must be nearing their base of operations.
Unfortunately, shortly after leaving the car behind it began to rain and the scents trail disappeared as Toji had predicted it would. They noted their current location on their phones for later reference and returned to the car to seek shelter from the rain. “So Shiu, you got any ideas who could’ve taken him?” Toji inquired. “As a matter of fact, I do.” confided Shiu, looking at the location on his phone “Given the details of the kidnappers that you discerned via their scents and the location of where the trail went cold, I can reasonably conclude, (thanks to my time as a detective and dealings with the Jujutsu Sorcerer underworld), that Megumi was taken by the Hags.
“They are group of curse users connected with the Yakuza and are pretty nasty pieces of work to deal with.” Shiu elaborated. “Rumour has it they want to overthrow Jujutsu Sorcerer society to even the playing field between Jujutsu Sorcerers and Curse users as the current power dynamic is heavily in the former’s favour.”
“I would suggest approaching the boss of the hags to find out where Megumi is since there is a good chance the boss knows. However, that is easier said than done for two reasons.” Shiu continued. “The base is filled with strong curse users under the boss’s control and the boss is a cautious person who rarely exposes their location. Thus, I would warn against going in guns blazing and instead take a more tactful approach. Make the boss come to you.”
“How would I do that?” Toji asked. “I suggest that you take part in an annual event held by the Hags. Part of the prize for winning the event is an audience with the boss. The event is called Cursed Combat, an illegal cage fighting tournament where no cursed techniques, tools, and weapons (12) are allowed. Your only way of fighting is with your bare fists and cursed energy.” Shiu concluded.
Chapter 3: Preparation
At a secluded location, Toji sat while figuring out how to improve his chances of winning the Cursed Combat Event. It was true that his opponents as a rule could not use cursed techniques. On the other hand, he could not use cursed tools which is a big disadvantage for someone who lacked cursed energy Moreover, while his enhanced physical prowess and resistance to curses would help in the hand-to-hand combat only fights, his opponents could use cursed energy to reinforce their bodies and improve their offense and defence.
Finally, he had to be wary of the fact that some opponents may break the rules, to win by covertly using cursed techniques. None of his current cursed tools and conventional weapons could allow him to do the same; they were more designed for direct combat or assassination as opposed to a fist fight with a lot people watching.
The cursed tools in his arsenal included the Split Soul Katanna (13), Inverted Spear of Heaven (14), Chain of a Thousand Miles (15) and Playful Cloud (16) as well as many Fly-Head (17) Curse spirits. The conventional weaponry was a Katanna blade, a handgun with a silencer and a combat knife. He was able to carry all these weapons discretely because he also had a cursed spirit called an inventory curse that had the ability to store large amounts of objects within its large, caterpillar shaped, body. It could also shrink itself down so that Toji could swallow it and thus carry all his weapons around without drawing attention to them or allowing the cursed energy of the inventory curse to be detected.
The inventory curse also had a master-servant contract with Toji. This meant it was loyal to only him and knew instantly without words what weapon he needed at any time. This it provided during direct combat situations via its mouth while its long body was wrapped around Toji’s body. Having figured out his winning strategy Toji got up and stretched thinking. “Looks like I’ll have to see old man Muramasa about getting a new cursed tool.”
Typically, Toji bought valuable cursed tools with money from his contract kills. However, when he needed something specifically for a job that would be hard to find otherwise, he would ask Muramasa to make that cursed tool for him. Muramasa was not his real name, it was merely an alias. Toji thought it was a fitting name as historically Muramasa was also the name of a famous 16th century Japanese swordsmith whose blades were said to be cursed.
Cursed tools were made via a special ritual called a “bath.” This involved a weapon that was to become a cursed tool being soaked in a solution with cursed energy which was made from crushed venomous creatures. These creatures were chosen by the process of Kodoku (18). The bath took at least 10 months and 10 days but Muramasa was such a master of the process he could shorten it to 10 hours. In addition, his cursed technique of Cursed forging, allowed him to apply specific characteristics to the cursed tool for the right price. This made him ideal for short notice jobs.
“Greetings Toji, what can I do for you?” welcomed Muramasa. He was an older, squat, muscular man with wiry, white hair, beard, and moustache. He had bright blue eyes and wore protective gloves and clothing for handling poisonous creatures. “I need a cursed tool that can be used while lots of people watching me in a fighting ring without anyone noticing that I am using a it.” requested Toji.
“Hm…That’s an interesting request.” Muramasa pondered. “Ah! I know just the thing. How about a Bagh Nakh (19) that you can conceal within your clenched fist. Its blade can be made to extend and retract from in-between your fingers when you punch someone. As it retracts, it lets off a small, delayed pulse of the positive energy made from reverse cursed technique. (20) This heals the external damage of the wounds it inflicts, leaving no evidence of a weapon being used.”
“That sounds good.” Toji admitted “Just be sure to contact me once you’ve finished making it.” “No problem but payment first.” Muramasa demanded. “I personally prefer to pay after the job is done.” commented Toji. He paid up anyway for he knew he could trust Muramasa.
Chapter 4: Framerate
Having acquired the “Reverse Bagh Nakh,” as Muramasa called it, Toji met with Shiu to discuss how to enter the Hags base of operations to take part in the Cursed Combat. Thanks to his inventory curse, it was easy for Toji to take in all his weaponry without anyone noticing when he was searched or when he went through a Jujutsu screening process. The only other thing of note was that, when they asked him why he was there, the guards laughed, as the screening process had shown he had no cursed energy and thus they concluded he had no chance in the coming fights.
Used to this attitude, Toji ignored the guards and went into the changing rooms to get ready for his 1st round. What the clothing fighters wore was the same, martial art training shorts and kung fu shoes. Nothing more, nothing less. This was mainly to avoid concealed weapons but also, as the fighters were bare fisted, to make the fights as brutal as possible. The rules of the fight were simple, make your opponent submit, knocked them out or even kill them before they did the same to you. No rounds, no time limit and, of course, no cursed techniques or weapons.
Having changed, Toji entered the room where the fights took place. It was a large rectangular space with a raised, octagonal fighting ring in the centre with walls of metal chain-link fence coated with black vinyl. The floor of the ring was a canvas stretched over padding and plywood. Two colour coded doors were built into opposing ends of the fence through which the fighters entered the ring. The ring was largely surrounded by cheering crowds of standing people, several of whom were waving betting tickets. There were a few Toji recognised as people who had previously hired him to perform contract kills. These were the people who seemed inclined to cheer him on as he approached the ring as they knew what he was capable of. Those that did not know him were cheering his opponent who must have had more of a reputation.
His first opponent was a man called Taiki Zen’in who was of a short, stocky stature with spikey, short brown hair. Before going into the fight Toji had reasoned that he should avoid using the Reverse Bagh Nakh unless necessary to minimalize his chances of being caught cheating and being disqualified. Despite this limitation he felt confident about winning this fight because his opponent was a member of the same Zen’in clan that Toji once belonged to. This meant Toji would likely know a lot about his opponent’s capabilities.
The fight started slowly with a few non-committal exchanges of blows as the fighters felt each other out. Suddenly that changed. Toji let out a jab aimed at his opponent’s head that was a feint for a follow-up gut punch. As Taiki blocked the initial jab with his palm, Toji felt a strange sensation during which he could not move for a vital second and Taiki took this opportunity to hit the temporarily defenceless Toji. Once he was able to move again, Toji immediately backed off in surprise and give himself time to think. The crowds cheering intensified at the first successful blow being struck.
Toji figured Taiki had used a cursed technique in that last exchange to unfairly get the upper hand, and following a few more similar exchanges, he became sure of which inherited cursed technique of the Zen’in clan it was. It reminded him of Naobito Zen’in, particularly as some of Taiki’s movements were abnormally fast. It was known as Projection sorcery and essentially it divides one second into 24 frames of animation using the user’s field of view as the angle of view. The user can then trace a predetermined set of movements into those 24 frames and execute them in a single second. This allows the user to moves extremely fast. Moreover, anything touched by the user’s palm while the technique is active must also abide by the 24 frames per second rule or be immobilized for one second.
So how would Toji deal with this? He could Give Taiki away but proving that he had cheated would be hard given the nature of his cursed technique. Furthermore, Toji did not really care for the rules as, if the need arose, he was planning to break them himself. Instead, he decided to beat Taiki by countering his technique. First, he actively avoided Taiki’s palms to avoid being immobilized and used his physically enhanced body and senses to read, predict and outpace Taiki’s faster movements. The tide of the battle quickly turned and Taiki was getting increasingly desperate.
Finally, in a last-ditch effort to win where he performed a form of cursed energy manipulation passed down through the Three Great Families of Jujutsu society, those being the Zen’in, Gojo and Kamo clans. It is called Falling Blossom, Hidden Emotion, and it involves the user shrouding themselves in cursed energy that auto counters any incoming attacks. Typically, it was used as a counter to the guaranteed hit effect of Domain Expansions (21).
He seemed to be attempting to fend Toji off this ability but Toji, recognising the ability, closed in, and powered through the hostile aura of cursed energy via his enhanced durability and resistance to curses. He then finished off Taiki with a severe barrage of super strong blows thanks to his enhanced strength and speed. Taiki crumpled under the pressure of the blows and was knocked out cold. Toji did not bother to kill him as it was not necessary. The crowd had a mixed reaction. The people who were betting were largely booing and jeering Toji as they had lost a seemingly easy bet as they had expected little of the man without cursed energy.
Well as expected of the Sorcerer Killer, he has made an interesting first impression.” The boss of the Hags noted to himself.
Chapter 5: Inversion
Ignoring the crowd’s unkind reaction, Toji went into the changing rooms to see on the TV who his next fight would be with. It was scheduled to start soon and his next opponents name was Ken Awasaka. Toji noted that this fight probably would not be as easy as the man was not from one of the Big Three families that both Toji and Taiki were from, thus he had no idea what cursed technique Ken may use until he fought him.
Having taken a short break and readying himself for the next fight, Toji soon left the changing room and entered the fighting arena once more. He noticed that the crowd was a little quieter and more on edge than before, probably because they were less unanimously sure who would win. The two fighters both entered the ring and squared each other up. Ken was a lean man of average height and had long, bushy black hair. The fight soon began and not long after it was well underway that Toji notice something strange going on. His attacks were having next to no effect. This should not have been possible, even considering the fact that his opponents were using cursed energy to reinforce their body.
“What’s going on?” Toji wondered as he threw out a light punch that was a set up for follow up with a round house kick. Suddenly he stopped short. His cause for pause was evident as Toji’s light punch did way more damage to his opponents blocking arm than any of his previous and stronger attacks did. “Ah, I see what’s at work here.” concluded Toji. Ken must have some of damage inversion technique. This meant that weak attacks against Ken did massive damage and strong attacks did very little damage. It probably has an upper and lower limit to the damage it can invert since if it did not, something as weak as air resistance would severely damage Ken.
So, the obvious solution for Toji was to mix strong and weak attacks together in an unrelenting barrage of attacks, regardless of whether Ken’s technique was active or not. In doing this, Toji would do steady and consistent damage to his opponent. However, this soon turned the fight into a battle of attrition and endurance. Toji wanted to be more efficient than that. So, when he spotted an opening to do the following, he grabbed Ken by his long hair with one hand and pulled hard causing severe damage to Ken’s scalp due to the weak nature of the attack.
While still pulling his adversaries hair, Toji proceeded to repeatedly throw strong punches at Ken’s face with his other hand. Talk about being caught between a rock and hard place! If Ken kept his technique active, the unbearable pain and damage to his scalp would increase but if he deactivated it, he would take massive damage from Toji’s strong punches and risk being knocked out. Toji smiled, enjoying the dilemma his opponent was in but his joy was cut short when Ken suddenly surrendered before deactivating his technique.
Toji stopped punching and pulling once his victory was confirmed. He sighed in mild disappointment as he had been hoping to push his opponent to deactivate his technique and knock him out instead of making him surrender. This was a kind of private bet for Toji’s own personal amusement. As he looked at the crowd’s response to the outcome, he noticed it was more positive than the previous fight as more people had confidence that Toji would win.
Chapter 6: A Warriors Pride.
After another short break in the changing room, Toji returned to the fighting arena. He saw his next opponent approaching the ring. His name was Ryuji Hoshino, a tall, muscular mountain of a man with short ginger hair. Just before the fight was due to begin, Ryuji bowed to Toji saying “Let us have an honourable battle.” Toji gave a non-committal nod in response while thinking “You’re in the wrong place for that, pal.”
As the fight began, Toji immediately got the feeling that it would not be as easy as his previous fights. This was because Ryuji’s martial skill was a cut above Toji’s previous opponents. Furthermore, his use of cursed energy manipulation was considerably more refined and this meant his physical offense and defence was stronger as well. Toji was certain Ryuji had not used a technique yet.
Having previously backed off, Toji rushed forward when suddenly he froze in place and could only move after Ryuji struck him a few seconds later while he could not defend himself. However, this was not the only surprise that happened. Ryuji’s punch felt half-hearted and he now had a look of confused suspicion on his face as he looked at Toji instead of carrying on the fight. Toji tried to approach him again but again he was temporarily paralysed. This time however Ryuji did not punch Toji, instead he stood still for a few seconds as the confusion faded from his face and then he walked up to Toji.
He proceeded to whisper in Toji’s ear. “Toji, I suspect that someone in the audience is using a cursed technique to stop you from moving and make it easier for me to win. Shall we call off the fight so we can hunt down the culprit as I would rather not continue fighting in this dishonourable manner?” “There’s no need.” Toji whispered back. “I think I recognise this technique and thus I know how to deal with it. I should be able to track down the culprit after the fight. Just let whoever it is paralyse me one more time before we carry on.”
Toji and Ryuji moved apart and quickly approached each other as though they were carrying on like normal. As expected, Toji was paralysed again but this time he put all his enhanced physical strength into breaking free of the paralysis while Ryuji kept his distance. Initially the paralysis gave way slowly but surely and then suddenly released him. He knew it had worked out as intended as he heard and smelt with his enhanced senses from the crowd a dripping sound and the iron smell of spilt blood respectively. Toji nodded to Ryuji, a sign that it had worked out and they resumed their fight unabated.
As the fight resumed, Ryuji did something that impressed Toji. A split second after he landed punch against Toji’s blocking arms, a black flash of cursed energy erupted at the point of impact and Toji was hurled into edge of the ring. His arms felt like they had been wrenched off, but once he recovered and checked his injuries, he saw they just were badly bruised and luckily no bones were broken.
He was impressed because Ryuji had used an advanced form of cursed energy manipulation called Black Flash in which his cursed energy, that was infused into his punch, had hit Toji one millionth of a second after his fist made contact. This created a black flash of cursed energy and its impact is stronger by about the power of 2.5 of a normal attack infused with cursed energy, like a perfect frame critical hit in a video game.
Moreover, Toji knew that this required immense concentration to pull off and could not be done at will. Furthermore, once performed, the user enters a state athletes call the “Zone” where cursed energy manipulation becomes as natural as breathing. This meant it would easier to follow up with consecutive black flashes. Toji decided from then onwards to play it safe by primarily evasive action to prevent Ryuji from being able to land a black flash again.
Now Toji saw that Ryuji must be nearing the end of his time in the Zone as his cursed energy manipulation became sloppier than it was immediately after the black flash. In addition, both wanted to finish the fight fast as they were both injured and exhausted. Finally, Toji outmanoeuvred Ryuji by performing a “knee release,” an ancient martial art technique that eliminates starting movement and allows the user to drop down to the floor very quickly. This allowed Toji to avoid a high round house kick from Ryuji and counter from his low-down position with a Taido martial arts Manji kick to Ryuji’s temple.
The blow landed spot on and Toji used the momentum from the kick to spin around into a standing position facing his opponent. Ryuji was on the floor having been knocked by the last blow. The crowds’ jovial cheers were louder than ever as Ryuji woke up a few minutes later. Toji was nearby watching him having secured the win. Ryuji got up and made his way towards Toji with his arm outstretched for a hand shake. Toji did not look up for it as he was not there to make friends. While still holding out his hand, Ryuji said “You do not have to shake it if you do not want to but know that regardless of your lack of cursed energy, you are an incredible fighter. That Heavenly Restriction is quite something. Thank you for honouring my desire to have a fair fight.”
Toji shook Ryuji’s hand as, despite himself, he could not help but respect Ryuji. Both men left the arena happy at the outcome of the fight. “Well, he’s done quite well to get this far.” Gion Chobe praised mockingly. “But now that the betting is significantly in his favour, I think we should put a stop to his winning streak and score big time. Don’t you agree, Tsurumi?” “I’ll see to it.” agreed Tsurumi Kamo “And I’ll deal with our man’s failure.”
Chapter 7: Bluffing and Bloody Bout.
Before going to the changing rooms to get ready for his final fight, Toji went to track down the person who had interfered in his fight with Ryuji. He followed a fresh trail of blood from the arena into the men’s rest room. You see, the paralysing cursed technique was a Zen’in clan inherited cursed technique called Paralyzing Gaze where by looking at someone the user can envelop that person in an immobilizing aura. Its weakness was that using the technique causes eye strain that increases as the target resists the immobilization and can cause their eyes to bleed profusely if the target breaks free.
He found a young man in the rest room at a sink, washing away the blood that had been streaming from his eyes. Before Toji could go to confront him, a voice from behind him commanded “Don’t cause a ruckus, he’s one of our men so we’ll deal with him.” Toji turned and saw a large, muscular, bald man in the same fighting gear all the fighters wore. “Much appreciated, though I was going to leave him alone as his eyes are bleeding badly enough.” Lied Toji. “You were going to confront if I did not show up just now. Why?” asked the bald man, seeing through the deception.
“I wanted to make sure he didn’t interfere in with future fights.” Toji answered. “Really? I thought it was pay back for interfering in the fight. You are a more prideless man than I thought, Toji Zen’in,” the bald man mockingly said. Despite himself, Toji felt a pang of anger at being called that and spat back. “Aside from stopping me making a mess of the restroom, what are you here for?” “Firstly, to let you know that we will deal with that man in the rest room as he failed to stop you winning the last fight and so costing our betting ring a lot of money. He will pay dearly. Second, that we will win our money back in your final fight by making you lose of your own volition by forfeiting the fight.” proclaimed the Bald Man.
“How do you plan to do that?” scoffed Toji. “We’ll kill your son if you turn up to the next fight.” the bald man bluntly stated. Toji brushed that alarming threat aside by changing the subject, to keep his cool, by asking “Who are you?” “Tsurumi Kamo, your next and final opponent that is if you don’t do the smart thing and walk away before your son gets hurt.” Kamo warningly answered before entering the rest room leaving Toji alone in the hallway.
Toji was having mixed feelings as he returned to the changing room. He had two choices; stay, and fight thus risking Megumi being killed which would ruin his plans to save him or leave and try to find Megumi another way. The latter option seemed like the more sensible and safe choice. However, there were a few things to consider before he decided. Firstly, Shiu Kong had made it clear that this was the only surefire way to meet the boss in person and find Megumi, so giving up now may have resulted in failure. Moreover, there was a chance that Tsurumi was bluffing as why would the Hags kidnap Megumi only to kill him without getting a use out of him?
Furthermore, if Toji gave up now the Hags would be able to keep Megumi, their betting winnings and rid themselves of Toji without any effort. Toji at least wanted to raise some hell before he left, even if it meant risking his son’s life. Finally, he did not want to give up after all that effort especially as he hated working for free. Getting Megumi back would ensure he would be sold to the Zen’in Clan and earn Toji some money. If his son developed the inherited cursed technique of the Zen’in Clan, they would welcome him with open arms.
“His life with the Zen’in Clan would be a lot better than mine was.” Toji sadly mused to himself while mindlessly scratching the scar on the right corner of his mouth. An old wound from a hellish childhood. His mind made up, Toji got ready to fight.
Tsurumi could barely contain his surprise when Toji returned to the fighting ring. “Is your pride worth more than your son’s life?” Tsurumi inquired. “I’m just calling your bluff.” Toji smugly replied. “I don’t mind a good gamble.” “We shall see if that pays off.” Tsurumi retorted.
As they readied themselves for the imminent battle, Toji was thinking about what cursed technique Tsurumi Kamo would have. It would almost certainly be one of the inherited cursed techniques of the Kamo Clan, one of the Big Three Jujutsu sorcerer families along with the Gojo and Zen’in clans. Once the fight started his suspicions were confirmed.
Fighting Tsurumi was like fighting Ryuji but with a couple of key differences. Both had high martial skill and mastery of cursed energy manipulation. However, whilst Ryuji was fair, disciplined, and straight forward, Tsurumi was unfair, ill-disciplined, and unpredictable. He would on occasion step on Toji’s feet, pull his clothing and even spit in his face to gain an advantage. Unfortunately for Tsurumi, Toji was fine with fighting dirty as well.
The other key difference was that Tsurumi was using an inherited cursed technique of the Kamo clan called Blood Manipulation. It was highly treasured for its overall balance and versatility in combat at both long- and close-range engagements. As a former member of the Zen’in Clan Toji knew quite a bit about this cursed technique. As a consequence, he correctly assumed that that Tsurumi would not use the long-range capabilities of blood manipulation such as crimson binding, slicing exorcism and piercing blood.
This was because they all involved manipulating blood outside of the body of the user and thus it would be a dead giveaway that Tsurumi was using a cured technique and result in his disqualification from the fight. The main thing Toji had to be wary of was flowing red scale. This was when the user manipulates the blood within their own bodies to enhance their body’s physical capabilities, such as body temperature, pulse rate, number of red blood cells as well as boost the function of various body parts related to blood. It was essentially enhanced blood doping. As it was inside the body he could use it covertly.
This must also be why he was able to keep up with Toji even with his heavenly restriction as a factor. The fight was becoming increasingly bloody and brutal as they were fighting bare fisted. Soon their fists and faces were soon covered in bruises and blood. Toji then noticed something strange.
The bleeding on Tsurumi’s face had all but stopped and while his fists were still bleeding, Toji’s blows had started to do considerably less damage and did not seem to hinder Tsurumi as much as earlier. Tsurumi was also suddenly beginning to react extremely well to Toji’s moves. Finally, Toji’s fighting shorts were feeling strangely weighed down, making his movements more sluggish and making him expend more effort just to move.
Toji figured it all out when Tsurumi got his next direct punch on Toji’s abdomen at the point of impact Toji felt a sharp pain like he had been stabbed. Toji instinctively knocked away Tsurumi’s punching arm and felt what felt like metallic wires criss-crossing under Tsurumi’s skin.
Furthermore, when Toji backed off, to process what had happened, he saw that the blood vessels and muscles around Tsurumi’s eyes were pronounced, sticking out from the skin. “I see.” thought Toji. “He is quite the master of blood manipulation if he is doing this all at once as well as flowing red scale.
Toji had realised that Tsurumi was doing four things in addition to flowing red scale to win the fight. Firstly, he must be using blood edge to sharpen the blood on his fists so that his punches stabbed Toji when they made contact. Secondly, he must be using a variation of blood meteorite. This is when a user hardens their blood, usually to create a hardened projectile. However, in this case, Tsurumi was hardening the blood in the blood vessels below his skin to improve his body’s physical defence. This is quite dangerous as the risk of developing sudden thrombosis (blood clot) increases significantly which could cause a stroke or heart attack.
Thirdly he was focusing flowing red scale into his extraocular muscles (eye muscles) to raise his dynamic visual acuity (enhancing his eyesight) which explained his exceptional reactions to Toji faster movements. Finally, he had allowed some of his blood to land on Toji’s shorts which allowed him to weigh Toji down.
Toji had deal with these problems fast or he was finished. Firstly, he tore off his shorts as there was no rule against fighting in his underpants. This got rid of the blood weighing him down. Secondly, he allowed Tsurumi to land another body blow on him so that he could pretend to cough into one of his hands as if recovering from the blow. As he did, the inventory cursed spirit within him released the reverse Bagh Nakh into his mouth and he coughed it into the hand covering his mouth. This armed himself without anyone noticing. Lastly, he swallowed some blood from his bloody fist and then spat the blood into Tsurumi’s eyes to rob him off his enhanced eyesight.
As Tsurumi, blinded, tried to wipe the blood from his eyes, Toji punched his throat and with the reverse Bagh Nakh pierced his windpipe with its retractable blade. While Tsurumi gasped for breath Toji finished him off with another blow to the head, the reverse Bagh Nakh stabbing into his brain. Tsurumi’s lifeless body collapsed onto the floor of the ring.
Toji had won the fight, feeling pleased at how smoothly that last part went. He left the ring and returned to the changing room after acknowledging the announcement of his victory.
The reverse Bagh Nakh had worked perfectly. It had allowed Toji to win with a cursed tool without anyone realising he was doing so due to the lack of physical evidence on Tsurumi’s corpse. However, after Toji’s victory was announced and people had left the fighting arena, Tsurumi’s corpse was brought before his boss, Gion Chobe, the leader of the Hags. For a few seconds nothing happened. Suddenly Tsurumi sat up as if returned from the dead, his breathing was normal and his brain was intact.
“Your reverse cursed technique is quite impressive, to be able heal your brain as well as the rest of your body. It is why you are my prize fighter as it has helped you last so long fighting multiple times in the arena without suffering any long-term trauma.” Gion noted. “Toji must have used a concealed cursed tool in his fist to stab my wind pipe and brain.” Tsurumi confided. “Should we disqualify him for breaking the rules?”
“No, not while we do not have any hard proof to justify disqualifying him for cheating. Moreover, if it got out that people are breaking the rules of cursed combat, our betting business is ruined.” Gion answered. “We must be smarter. To prevent arousing suspicion, have him brought to me as the prize for winning and I will convince him of our plan for his son.”
“Interesting. Are you planning to recruit him to our cause?” asked Tsurumi. “Indeed.” Gion confirmed.
Chapter 8: Ten Shadows.
Having changed back into his usual combat garb of a black, tight fitting compress t-shirt, white martial art training pants and black Kung Fu shoes, Toji was led by several members of the Hags to a private room to meet their boss. As he entered the room, he saw a man who must have been the Boss of the Hags. He was sitting in a chair in the centre of the room. There was nothing particularly distinctive about the square room except for the beams running underneath the ceiling and an alcove to the right of the boss that was largely obscured by a large screen.
Toji’s enhanced senses told him that several armed men were hiding behind the screen and that one of them was his previous opponent Tsurumi Kamo. “He must’ve used reverse cursed technique to survive those wounds.” thought Toji. The boss must have had these men hidden to keep himself safe while giving his guests a false sense of privacy.
Toji did not need to worry as he still had his inventory curse within him in case things went south. “Congratulations on your victory Toji Fushiguro, my name is Gion Chobe.” said the Boss in greeting. He was of moderate height and slightly plump yet muscular in build with dyed blonde short curly hair. He wore a three-piece suit that was a dark, burgundy, colour and immaculately polished leather shoes. “No problem, my opponents were pretty unimpressive.” Toji coyly replied, smiling as he heard Tsurumi grind his teeth in anger from behind the screen.
“I’ll take that into consideration for when we next hold the event.” responded Gion reassuringly. “Now onto business. Usually, I would present with the other winnings but we both know that is not what you are here for, is it? You want to know where your son is.” Toji nodded affirmatively. “I will tell you on one condition - join our organisation. Before you give answer, I will tell you something interesting about your son that I doubt even you know.” offered Gion.
Despite having absolutely no intention of joining the Hag, Toji was curious to hear what Gion knew about his son and so decided to hear him out. “You see, one of my men codenamed “Oracle” has a cursed technique called Clairvoyance. This allows the user to know something about anything he is looking at for example the subject of your deal with Naobito Zen’in.” explained Gion.
“However, it has its limits. These are that it is such an inefficient technique in terms of the amount of cursed energy it consumes as well as the complexity of the information it discovers which compounds this drawback. Oracle was left unable to use it for several days after finding out what you had discussed with the head of the Zen’in clan. Thanks to that information, I became curious as to what cursed technique Megumi would manifest at 5-6 years of age. Originally, I was planning to use it to justify raising price of ransom to the Zen’in clan but when Oracle told me what it was, I changed my mind.” elaborated Gion
“This was because, according to Oracle, your son will manifest the Ten Shadows Cursed Technique. (22) As a former member of the Zen’in clan, you must know what that means, right Toji?” asked Gion.
“If Megumi was sold to the Zen’in as you originally planned, he would likely be used by them against the Gojo Clan. The Gojo clan currently stands at the pinnacle of the Jujutsu Sorcerer world because one of their own - a young man by the name of Satoru Gojo, was born with both the Six Eyes (23) and the Limitless Cursed Technique (24). This makes him potentially the strongest sorcerer of the modern age.” Stated Gion.
Seeing where this explanation was likely to go, Toji sniffed and then did a convincing sneeze. As he did so, he palmed the shrunken inventory curse from his mouth and then put his arm back down by his side with the palm facing away from Gion. The inventory curse enlarged and unfurled its body quietly behind Toji’s back and readied itself for battle.
“This means that the Gojo Clan wield a powerful degree of influence over the other Jujutsu clans such as the Kamo and Zen’in clan.” Gion went on “The Gojo and Zen’in clans are on particularly bad terms because in a previous era their respective clan leaders fought and killed each other. The head of the Gojo clan at the time has the same capabilities as Satoru Gojo while the head of the Zen’in from that time had the same cursed technique as Megumi will have. Thus, the Zen’in of today will use him to steal back influence from the Gojo clan as their trump card Satoru Gojo will not be as untouchable to a user of the Ten Shadows cursed technique such as your son.”
“Now Satoru Gojo is also a threat to us curse users as his existence puts the Jujutsu sorcerers who oppose us at a huge advantage. This forces us to act more discretely and makes us unable to shift the balance of power between Jujutsu sorcerers and curse users in the latter’s favour. So, l am planning to use Megumi to kill Satoru Gojo which would benefit curse users such as the Hags immensely.” Concluded Gion. “So, what do you think?” Gion asked eagerly. “Will you join us and help your son kill Satoru Gojo? You could even use this as an opportunity to get revenge of the Zen’in who treated you so harshly.”
To Gion’s surprise Toji gave a derisive snort of laughter and refused with a condescending “Nah.” He had already made up his mind and had only let Gion carry on to confirm what he thought Gion was going to say. The reason for his refusal was that the Zen’in clan were more likely to take good care of Megumi. Unlike the Hags they were much less likely to risk getting Megumi killed by sending him off to fight Satoru Gojo. Furthermore, he had no intention of joining the Hags and he no longer cared about getting revenge on the Zen’in clan. More over the revelation about his son had given him an idea for later regarding his deal with Naobito Zen’in.
As soon as he said “Nah,” his inventory curse ejected a swarm of fly head cursed spirits from its mouth. While leaving Toji alone, these fly heads proceeded to cluster around Gion and his men. This was because they were attracted to cursed energy like moths to a flame. Toji took advantage of the distraction this created to pull out a handgun with a silencer and fired a shot at every other person in the room. Gion fell backwards over his chair as a bullet struck him in the forehead and all the body guards died from the shots aimed at them except for Tsurumi. The latter had survived by deflecting the bullet with his arm that was reinforced with cursed energy and a more powerful version of the blood hardening he had used during their fight in the ring.
Toji put the handgun back into his inventory curse and took out the Split Soul Katanna cursed tool. As he did so Tsurumi collected the blood from his wound on his arm into his palm and then clapped his hands together with the fingers extended out in front of him towards Toji. He used a part of the blood manipulation technique known as Convergence to compress and condense the blood between his hands to its limit while imbuing it with cursed energy reinforcement. With the charging phase complete, he followed up with Piercing Blood, during which he released the condensed blood like a blood-red laser beam at Toji from between his fingers.
Toji easily evaded the Piercing Blood projectile and leapt at Tsurumi with the intent of slashing him with his Split Soul Katanna. Tsurumi tried, in vain, to block the incoming slash with his arms reinforced with cursed energy and blood hardening. The Spit Soul Katanna cleaved through his arms and neck like a hot knife through butter. Toji caught Tsurumi’s head and with his other hand swapped the Split Soul Katanna out for the Inverted Spear of Heaven cursed tool from his inventory curse.
Toji used the Inverted Spear of Heaven to stab Tsurumi’s brain. This damaged it beyond the healing capabilities of Reverse Cursed technique as well as preventing Tsurumi from using blood manipulation to keep his brain alive or returning from death as a Vengeful Cursed Spirit. (25) He died from an attack imbued with cursed energy. He dropped the head of Tsurumi and turned around to see Gion get up while removing the bullet that had lodged in his forehead.
Toji noticed that the shallow wound, where the bullet had been lodged, was not bleeding and was seemingly cauterised. “You have some kind of energy conversion cursed technique?” Toji asked. “Indeed” Gion confirmed. “It allows me to convert my cursed energy into other forms of energy for a variety of uses. I can also convert the energy imbued onto inanimate objects into other forms of energy but I must be in contact with the object first. I stopped the bullet by converting its kinetic energy into thermal energy.”
As Gion finished his explanation, Toji noticed something interesting. Gion’s cursed energy increased significantly which must be a result of a binding vow. (26) In which in exchange for revealing his ability to his opponent, he gains a boost to his cursed energy. Gion then made a curious hand sign, known as a Shakti Mudra in Yoga, and shouted “Domain Expansion, E=mc2”. The room faded to pitch black darkness then lit up into a white void as Toji and Gion were surrounded by structures that looked like the various particles of large atoms.
“Now is your last chance Toji, join my organisation or die within my Domain.” declared Gion. Toji smiled and cockily replied “Take your best shot.” Gion attacked by having several of the atoms expand in size and hurl themselves at Toji. To Gion’s surprise, Toji evaded them with ease and then ran to the edge of the domain and vanished. “How?” Gion wondered aloud. Suddenly a sharp pain stabbed into his shoulder and the surrounding domain was dispelled. Moreover, Gion found he could not use his cursed technique.
Before he could figure out what had happened, someone who was behind him and proceeded to wrap a chain around his neck and used it to lift him from the floor just enough so that he would not be strangled by the chain but forced to stand on his tippy toes. Toji, who had done all of this, stepped in front of the dangling Gion, holding the Playful Cloud Cursed tool in his hands. “How did y-Arggh?!” Gion began to inquire before being cut off by Toji striking his arm with a vicious blow with Play Cloud that broke the bone. “Figure that out on your own, I’m asking the questions, where is my son?” Toji coldly responded.
Chapter 9: Homecoming
“Go to hell” Gion gasped out through the pain. Toji broke his other arm the same way he had the other one. “You’ll never see Megumi again if you keep hurting me.” Gion desperately spat out. Toji proceeded to bash Gion repeatedly, avoiding vital areas as well as the legs so that Gion did not die from the injuries or losing his footing. “Stop, I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you.” Yelped Gion after taking a dozen blows. “He is in an apartment building we use for hostages as part of our base in Kyoto, room 5 on the 1st floor. It is a central room with no windows.” “Thanks” Toji calmly said before pulling on the other end of the chain wrapped around Gion’s neck lifting him off the floor, strangling him to death.
Essentially, Toji had easily evaded Gion’s attack within his domain as heavenly restriction meant he had no cursed energy and thus the domain could not lock on to him with its guaranteed hit effect. Toji was then able to exit easily and enter the domain. This was because domains involve creating a barrier that Toji can pass through due to his lack of cursed energy. He then re-entered the domain behind Gion and stabbed Gion in the shoulder with the inverted spear of heaven. This dispelled the domain and prevented Gion from using his cursed technique. He then took out the Chain of a Thousand Miles cursed tool and threw it over one of the wooden beams near the ceiling and wrapped the hanging end around Gion’s Neck.
Toji did the same thing to Gion’s head and the other body guards heads that he did to Tsurumi’s head. He then found the key to the room using his enhanced senses. He had his inventory curse swallow the corpses, exorcized the fly head swarm, and tidied up the room so that it looked like as it was when he had arrived. He would have to discretely dispose of the corpses later. Toji left the room, locking the door behind him and putting the key in his inventory curse which shrunk down so that he could swallow it before exiting the Tokyo base of the Hags. All this was achieved before the alarm was raised.
He called Shiu Kong and said “We’ve got to get to Kyoto as soon as possible to pick up my son at the Hags base there. Hopefully we will get there before the Hag’s realise their boss is missing. Bring the car around.” Luckily the alarm was not raised as they reached the building that Shiu had said was the base of the Hags in Kyoto at night. “I suppose my clean-up effort was effective” Toji thought.
They parked a safe distance away and Toji stealthily approached the Hags base, making sure to equip himself with his pistol with a silencer and a combat knife. Infiltrating it was easy as its main form of protection from intruders was a Jujutsu barrier which Toji easily passed through due to his lack of cursed energy. He continued up to the 1st floor and quickly located Room 5. Using his enhanced senses to check that Megumi was inside the room, he thankfully found his son was asleep as getting him out awake would have been awkward.
A guard was stationed outside the room. Toji got as close as he could without alerting the guard to his presence and then shot the guard dead with his pistol. Quick as lightning, Toji caught the guard’s crumpling corpse before it hit the ground to prevent the noise of the impact alerting anyone else. He used his senses to survey his surroundings and make sure no-one was coming towards the room. He found the key to the room on the guard, entered Room 5 and ever so quietly left the building with Megumi in his arms.
They got back into Shiu’s car and drove back to Toji’s children’s residence where Toji gently put Megumi back into his own bed. Just as they were leaving the sun rose and Toji averted his eyes from its glare saying “I could use some sleep myself, then I’ll track down that Oracle member of the Hags.”
“Megumi” cried Tsumiki in astonishment upon entering him bedroom to open the curtains. Megumi woke up from her shout, and while rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes began to say “Why are you being so loud Tsu-” and stopped short as he saw he was in his own room. “Is this a dream?” he wondered aloud. “I do not believe it is but, whatever the case, I’m just so relieved you are home, safe and sound.” Tsumiki clarified. They proceeded to hug each other and Tsumiki asked him what had happened. “It is odd that you do not know how you got back here. Well, I had better contact the authorities who are looking for you and let them know you are okay.” Tsumiki said after he finished explaining what had happened and left to make the necessary phone calls.
Megumi walked around his home, drinking in the cosy feeling that doing so brought to him. He noticed something strange as he passed a selection of framed photos on the table. Usually, they were all covered in thick dust due to the estranged relationship Megumi and Tsumiki had with their respective parents. They had little if any sentimental value in the children’s hearts.
Now they were all dusted and one of the photos was had been moved about in its frame. It was of Megumi’s mother who was holding a younger Megumi in her arms. Suddenly a wild idea of Megumi’s father rescuing him from the kidnappers crossed his mind but he dismissed it thinking. “Like that ever happened. Tsumiki probably cleaned the photos while I was gone.” And paid the situation no more mind.
Chapter 10: A New deal.
“I have got my son back, in one piece, so I trust that our deal is back to how it was?” Toji smugly asked over the phone a few days later. “I suppose it is.” Naobito replied tersely. “Is that all Toji?” “Not quite” Toji answered. “You remember that man I dropped off at the Zen’in Clan’s residence, after retrieving my son, who goes by the name Tomo Takezo also known as the Oracle? He was a member of the Hags organisation that fell apart after their leader was killed.”
“Yes, at your suggestion in a letter attached to him, we verified that his cursed technique was indeed clairvoyance and that it could tell what a person’s cursed technique was even before it manifested. You said as much in your letter.” Naobito admitted. “Are you hoping to raise the price of your son in our current deal as it is now confirmed that he has an inherited cursed technique?”
“No” confided Toji. “He has the Ten Shadows cursed technique, meaning if he joins the Zen’in clan as per our original agreement, he will likely be made the next head of the clan which would put him more at risk of clashing with Satoru Gojo in the future. So as the current head of the Zen’in clan, I want you to write in your will that my son Megumi will only be made the next head of the Zen’in Clan, instead of your son Naoya, if Satoru Gojo is killed or incapacitated for any reason.”
“Clever Toji” thought Naobito. “This will guarantee Megumi’s safety. I would rather not make him the head of the Clan over my children and any of those things happening to Satoru Gojo are unlikely to happen anytime soon. If they do happen then the rest of the clan will welcome Megumi as the next head of the clan given that his cursed technique is the most prized cursed technique of the Zen’in clan. Moreover, with Satoru Gojo gone, Megumi would give the Zen’in clan unbridled influence over the Gojo clan.”
“Alright, for now we have a new deal.” Agreed Naobito. “Glad to hear it.” Toji replied and rudely hung up. Toji pocketed his mobile phone feeling mildly pleased with himself. As he thought back over the recent events of the last few days, he recalled the night he rescued his son. He recalled how warm and light his son felt in his arms, and remembered the happiest time in his life, with the woman he loved, who saved his soul from the curse of the Zen’in clan and gave him their blessing, their Megumi. (Megumi is a Japanese, feminine given name that means blessing or grace)
He recalled Megumi’s mothers last words “Please take care of Megumi.” He had considered staying at his children’s house that night and become a responsible father but ultimately chose not to. “I don’t care anymore; I’ve done enough for him.” he reasoned before leaving the house that night. Toji’s mind came back to the present and he walked on wondering what to do next, maybe find somewhere to gamble at?
Little did he know that his decision that night in his children’s home would drastically affect the fates of not only himself and his children but also many others in the future.
The End.