Pfft…
Watching the blood arrow he had fired still only produce a crater, Kamo Shizumi fell silent for a moment before suddenly laughing.
He was so angry that he ended up laughing.
The price of Kasumi Miwa having to spend the rest of her life as a mascot, all for the sake of one Uzumaki from Kenjaku.
That loving mother probably found the whole thing so amusing that he decided to give her a particularly powerful one.
No matter how much a maggot wriggles, it is still a maggot.
Damn this world of jujutsu.
Even taking out a loan requires being a major jujutsu tycoon to make it work…
It would be better to leave these little tricks for later, after his overall technique had matured and his strength had reached the level of a Grade 1 sorcerer.
Putting these thoughts aside for the moment, Kamo Shizumi rubbed his temples and roughly organized his current situation.
‘As long as I have cursed energy and blood, I can extract and convert them, firing blood arrows at roughly the level of conventional firearms.’
That was roughly how his offensive capability worked.
What about defense?
Fortunately, Blood Manipulation might not have many other remarkable qualities, but its ability to both attack and defend was practically carved into its very foundation.
After all, looking at the entire series, the only technique that received significant attention on the defensive side was Blood Manipulation, with Blood Armor and its various binding abilities.
My shield is even stronger than my spear!
Taking all of this into consideration, for a beginner like Kamo Shizumi who had just obtained Blood Manipulation, the most practical way to become stronger for now was to carry a small knife with him at all times.
When in doubt, hurt yourself first!
After figuring out this entire chain of logic, Kamo Shizumi sat in his seat and unconsciously furrowed his brows.
He had more or less figured out his current level of strength, but what exactly was his upper limit?
As his thoughts fluctuated, Kamo Shizumi silently manipulated his cursed energy and once again squeezed out a blood sphere through the wound, letting it float beside him.
Although there was some preconceived bias involved, he genuinely preferred controlling blood in this manner.
After all, the shape of the blood sphere could be changed freely.
Although keeping it slightly separated from his body consumed cursed energy, the amount was so tiny that it could practically be ignored.
It also allowed him to practice his proficiency in “remote manipulation.”
After all, Choso’s Supernova looked extremely useful.
There was no way he would not be tempted by such a method of planting a delayed attack.
Time to secretly learn from the master!
After extracting three blood spheres in succession, Kamo Shizumi raised his hand and touched his chest.
His breathing was slightly hurried.
Could it be caused by blood loss?
Kamo Shizumi glanced at the wound on his fingertip as it slowly began to heal, and his eyebrows rose slightly.
One had to admit that the foundation Kenjaku had given him was quite impressive.
His half-human, half-cursed-spirit constitution meant that Kamo Shizumi did not need to worry about going into shock from blood loss.
Although he had not yet learned Reverse Cursed Technique, his blood-production ability was already far beyond that of an ordinary human.
His current physical discomfort was mainly concentrated in his cursed energy consumption.
‘I probably used close to one-fifth of it…’
Converting that into another measurement, Kamo Shizumi was currently equivalent to a magazine-fed automatic rifle with roughly fifteen rounds.
Once I empty the magazine, I am out of ammo.
Of course, this method of conversion was rather crude.
The reason was simple.
When using a cursed technique, the total amount of cursed energy provides the basic supply from the moment the energy is invoked.
“Cursed Energy Efficiency” can reduce the amount consumed, while “Cursed Energy Output” increases the damage, ultimately producing something resembling a multiplicative effect.
Kamo Shizumi began scratching his head.
What even is all of this…?
No wonder everyone eventually just starts throwing elbows.
No matter how much you calculate and optimize everything, it still feels better to simply reinforce your body with cursed energy and punch someone.
As his thoughts continued to fluctuate, Kamo Shizumi watched the time on his phone approach midnight.
At that moment, the bus slowly came to a stop.
Through the window, he saw the outline of a convenience store outside.
Late-night buses on the highway occasionally stopped at places like this, and these vehicles would generally rest for around twenty minutes.
“Everyone, please make use of the opportunity to use the restroom and replenish your water.”
Kamo Shizumi had no particular needs and was about to rest for a while when he saw that familiar pale figure crawling out of the bus.
It looked around, then moved toward the roadside and raised its hand to gently touch the pink flowers blooming on the branches above.
It looked rather strange, but Kamo Shizumi could roughly understand the logic behind its behavior.
The Four Disasters were themselves incarnations of aspects of nature.
According to the setting, Hanami represented humanity’s fear of nature, so it was naturally more closely connected to things like this.
Kamo Shizumi had originally thought that after a while, Hanami would crawl back into the luggage compartment.
Instead, he watched as it got back onto the bus.
And then casually took the seat beside him.
“…” ×2
It is not saying anything!
Watching this two-meter-tall humanoid monster curl itself up in the seat, Kamo Shizumi ultimately could not stand the silence and tried asking:
“Why did you get back on the bus?”
“It was unexpectedly uncomfortable down there.”
“Then you should have gotten on the bus from the beginning…”
“I have little experience with sitting. There were few seats.”
After making a couple of casual remarks, Kamo Shizumi could tell that this guy was not the same type as Mahito.
Compared to that sinister, malicious-child feeling Mahito gave off, this frightening-looking creature was actually much more honest and straightforward.
“What were you doing just now?”
Kamo Shizumi brought his right hand in front of himself and made a gentle stroking gesture.
That was the same movement Hanami had made earlier.
“I was feeding.”
It paused for a moment before repeating itself.
“We do not need to eat human food. Instead, I can replenish my energy by absorbing the vitality of things found in nature.”
Kamo Shizumi vaguely remembered this being mentioned in the original story as well.
He scratched his head and glanced out the window.
“But that flower did not die, did it?”
“…Do you know what season it is right now?”
Do not answer a question with another question!
However, Hanami did not seem to be waiting for an answer in the first place.
It simply continued speaking.
“It is the end of February, the season when Kawazu cherry blossoms bloom. These flowers only appear during this period, so… I do not want to eat them. I just want to look at them.”
That is surprisingly particular.
“Then are you just going to stay hungry?”
“I can simply perform photosynthesis after the sun comes up.”
What the heck!
You really are a weed!
But then again, Hanami was unexpectedly easy to talk to, which made Kamo Shizumi feel considerably more at ease.
Considering that they would more or less be colleagues from now on, remaining cold and distant forever would not be practical.
At worst, when he eventually turned against them and escaped to Tokyo Jujutsu High, he could just apologize a few extra times.
You cannot stop me from running toward a better future, can you?
After silently complaining to himself, Kamo Shizumi looked at the Kawazu cherry blossoms blooming in the distance.
After thinking for a moment, he raised his right hand.
“Hey, want me to perform a magic trick for you?”
“…?”
Kamo Shizumi snapped his fingers.
Under the control of his cursed energy, the extracted blood gathered into a sphere in midair.
After twisting for a moment, it compressed itself into the shape of a Kawazu cherry blossom.
“How is it? It looks pretty similar, right?”
Hanami had no expression.
It simply stared at Kamo Shizumi stiffly.
“Heh… It seems rather interesting.”
What is with that completely deadpan tone…?
Before he could complain, light appeared before his eyes and the scene distorted slightly.
[Distorted the “Everyone Except Cursed Spirits Is an Enemy” plot]
[Reward: 1 Free Attribute Point]
…Huh?
After a brief moment of confusion, Kamo Shizumi understood.
So Hanami is actually the super-racial knight, the Paul of the cursed-spirit community?!
It is literally a plant that gained sentience, yet somehow its killing instinct is even stronger than Jogo’s…
He guessed that if not for his half-human, half-cursed-spirit constitution, Hanami probably would not even have bothered talking to him.
But regardless…
I will take that 1 Free Attribute Point first!