“To think… yes… it had to be the Ten Shadows Technique…”
In the jujutsu world, there are hundreds of cursed techniques that involve shikigami, and another hundred that possess shadow-based properties.
But if you combine these two elements, there are indeed a few possibilities.
Narrowing it down further by excluding techniques that only possess a single shikigami, you’re left with two possibilities.
Namely, Cursed Spirit Manipulation and the Ten Shadows Technique.
And Kinoshita had never used cursed spirits in combat, though correspondingly, he had never fully summoned the shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique either.
Therefore, the debate between the two camps had always existed.
But in the end, Cursed Spirit Manipulation always held the upper hand in the arguments.
After all, everyone believed that the Ten Shadows Technique would only ever appear within the compound of the Zen’in clan.
If it weren’t for the Zen’in clan, people wouldn’t even consider the possibility of the Ten Shadows Technique.
However, the Ten Shadows Technique making it onto the list of speculations was naturally because the abilities Kinoshita displayed perfectly matched its shikigami.
Slashing was a simple technique to begin with; many techniques manifested as slashes.
Lightning, on the other hand, was quite “rare.” As a representative of positive polarity energy, cursed spirits possessing lightning were exceedingly scarce.
The Ten Shadows’ Nue just happened to be one of them.
Piercing Blood was essentially the pressurized firing of liquid; Max Elephant could satisfy this condition.
That evasion technique, like a snake shedding its skin, could be achieved by the Great Serpent.
Body reinforcement, and the acceleration technique that obliterated opponents like a suddenly appearing black shadow, was Piercing Ox.
All sorts of speculations pointed straight toward the Ten Shadows Technique.
“Ah… I have no more regrets. As you requested, I will withdraw my autonomous shikigami and retract my domain.”
“Ah, though saying this definitely makes it sound like I’m ‘showing off’ a bit.”
Kinoshita looked at Dhruv, who was retracting his shikigami, then hooked a finger, summoning Nue.
The parrot-sized Nue appeared before Dhruv, instantly piquing the old man’s interest.
“How can this be… A shikigami’s size and strength should be proportional to the cursed energy output. With the cursed energy radiating from you, your Nue should be even larger than my shikigami. So tiny… how is that possible?”
“It’s based on Reverse Cursed Technique.”
Dhruv stood up.
As cursed energy flooded his withered, dead-wood-like body, his physique suddenly swelled up.
Then, he knelt before Kinoshita.
“I will listen closely… Master.”
“Ah… old man, it’s just some basic theory, stop kneeling.”
Dhruv could hardly conceal the emotions in his heart.
“Reverse Cursed Technique… involves converting the cursed energy in one’s body into positive energy. I understand that much… But please tell me, how exactly do you use Reverse Cursed Technique… to control the size of a shikigami during summoning?” Find the original chapter at g.com.
“When you use Reverse Cursed Technique, you are undeniably converting a portion of your cursed energy into ‘positive energy.’ And this positive energy is not factored into your cursed energy output.”
“Y… Yes.”
“Therefore, by using Reverse Cursed Technique to rapidly convert a massive amount of cursed energy in your body into ‘positive energy’ within 0.3 seconds, you can restrict your total cursed energy output to the exact amount you need, thereby controlling the size of the shikigami.”
It was as if a lightbulb had gone off in Dhruv’s head.
He quickly began to attempt it—Kinoshita felt the old man before him instantly retract a massive amount of cursed energy—then, Dhruv let out a long sigh.
“I cannot do it on such short notice.”
“It’s fine. It took me a long time of trying before I managed it, too.”
“How long?”
“About half an hour, probably.”
“Haha…”
Dhruv knew that Kinoshita was a monster of talent, but he hadn’t expected his talent to be this absurd.
If he retracted his domain, assuming he didn’t constantly keep his shikigami roaming, he could probably maintain it for about six hours.
After six hours, the domain would dissipate.
And mastering the trick of using Reverse Cursed Technique to control cursed energy output would, by Dhruv’s estimation, take him about two days to perfect.
If he just wanted to pull it off roughly in the short term, it would take about three hours to summon a shikigami roughly the size of one to three grown men.
Kinoshita looked up at the sky, toward the black barrier.
“I’ve stayed in this colony long enough.”
“…Have you already accumulated a significant amount of points?”
“I still need five points.”
“I see.”
Dhruv nodded.
The next moment, Kinoshita’s figure vanished from Dhruv’s sight, leaving behind only a trail of lightning.
“I’m off.”
Following the roar of thunder, a faint, breezy voice drifted into Dhruv’s ears.
Dhruv sat in his chair, silently looking at the black barrier, before immersing himself in practicing the control of his cursed energy output.
———Tokyo No.
2 Colony———
“Kogane, how many points do I have?”
A man holding a long staff, wearing a white robe, with his hair tied up into two knots resembling deer antlers, stood atop the corpses of several sorcerers. Follow the newest chapters on novelping(.)com.
He leaned on the staff in his hand, biting his right thumb, his jaw working up and down in slight agitation.
“Your current score is 90 points.”
“Argh… I can’t find a decent opponent at all. It’s been four hundred years, yet the modern era has regressed compared to ancient times, hasn’t it? If this is the only level they have to offer, then perhaps Sukuna is the only opponent left for me…”
Hajime Kashimo swung the long staff in his hand, slamming it against the ground a few times.
“Sukuna… I hope Kenjaku didn’t lie to me. If there really are no opponents in this era who can make me get serious… I just have to keep looking… keep looking!”
Just as Kashimo lifted his staff, the Kogane floating beside him suddenly began to trace lines in the air.
“Ding-dong, ding-dong! A player has added a new rule. Rule 9: Players can now teleport between colonies.”
“Added a rule?”
Kashimo’s eyes lit up.
“Kogane! How many points are required to add a rule?”
“According to Rule 6, by expending 100 points, a player may negotiate with the Game Master to add a new rule.”
“Ah, is that so! I hope this guy is in my colony… Don’t make me get my hopes up for nothing…”
He killed faster than me…
his strength might be on par with mine.
More importantly, the rule added is ‘inter-colony travel,’ which means he’s also someone seeking to fight stronger opponents.
…Who could you be?
Kashimo thought for a moment and came to a decision.
I need to do the same as this guy.
But, the rules.
I need to think about them…
First, there’s the indispensable names, and then the scores that determine strength.
But if he added a rule, his score would have decreased, right?
So I need a rule that displays the number of rules added, and then add the colony he’s currently in…
It’s decided—first I’ll find this guy, defeat him, and then go defeat Sukuna.
Hajime Kashimo swung his Nyoi Staff, kicked off the ground, and vaulted into the air, landing on the rooftop of a building.
His eyes rapidly swept across areas erupting with cursed energy.
Then, he leaped again, his body tearing toward the nearest burst of cursed energy like a bolt of lightning—