Deep in the mountains on the outskirts of Tokyo stood Jujutsu High, concealed behind Tengen’s barrier and disguised from the outside as a Buddhist temple.
Inside the infirmary, the school doctor, dressed in a white coat over a dark-blue turtleneck, was complaining to the injured student lying on the bed.
“Seriously, Luke, every time you go on a cursed-spirit exorcism mission, you come back looking like this. You’re a Grade 1 Sorcerer, yet somehow you’re still impossible not to worry about…”
The beautiful doctor showed no mercy toward her patient.
The injured student was Luke Zenin.
As an outstanding student of Jujutsu High and the inheritor of one of the Three Great Families’ core techniques, Luke Zenin had once been highly regarded by the jujutsu world.
He had even been called one of the most promising sorcerers of the past decade.
Yet after receiving his Grade 1 Sorcerer certification, this supposed rising star had repeatedly struggled during cursed-spirit exorcism missions.
His mission success rate was only fifty percent.
Even against Grade 1 cursed spirits, which he should have been able to exorcise without much trouble, Luke performed with surprising difficulty.
With his rank and innate cursed technique, he should have been able to defeat Grade 1 cursed spirits consistently.
That was also how the grading system of the jujutsu world worked: a sorcerer’s grade was supposed to correspond to the level of missions they could reliably handle.
And yet, two days ago, Luke had been seriously injured by a Grade 1 cursed spirit.
If other sorcerers hadn’t happened to be nearby, the outcome might have been much worse.
His performance had naturally shocked quite a few people.
Rumors had already begun circulating in private, calling him the “disgrace of Grade 1 Sorcerers,” and he was showing signs of becoming a joke within the jujutsu world.
Shoko Ieiri didn’t hold back.
“Five months ago, Luke was still being called the most promising Grade 1 Sorcerer. Even Kusakabe-senpai, who’s widely recognized as the strongest Grade 1 Sorcerer, agreed with that.”
“If you can’t show talent worthy of your rank, you’re going to face a lot of criticism in the future. Especially from the higher-ups…”
Shoko gave him a reminder.
The jujutsu world was hardly a kind place.
The higher-ups above Jujutsu High were notorious for being authoritarian and rotten.
If Luke continued failing to display the ability expected of a Grade 1 Sorcerer, being demoted was only a matter of time.
Faced with a crisis that could affect his future, Luke barely reacted.
He waved a hand casually.
“Whatever. The title of Grade 1 Sorcerer was never that important to me. You don’t seriously think I care what the higher-ups think, do you, Shoko?”
Seeing his carefree attitude, Shoko replied irritably,
“You should get demoted sooner rather than later. Otherwise, every unnecessary injury you suffer just adds more work for medical personnel like us.”
Dark circles were clearly visible beneath the beautiful doctor’s eyes, accumulated from years of staying up late and working overtime.
She looked thoroughly exhausted.
Treating Luke after he was brought back with serious injuries had required Shoko to overuse her healing technique, adding even more stress to her workload.
Sensing her resentment, Luke gave an awkward smile.
“Sorry for causing you so much trouble. Then, if I may ask, can I leave the infirmary today?”
He glanced at the enormous scar across his chest, so deep that it had nearly torn him open.
During the mission two days ago, the Grade 1 cursed spirit had nearly ripped into his chest and torn out his organs.
Shoko leaned back against her chair.
“You can leave. But Luke, you’d better not make me see you in this infirmary for a third time this month. Otherwise, I’m going to be seriously pissed.”
Her tone was extremely direct.
Luke chuckled and hurriedly got out of bed.
After changing into his everyday clothes, he left the infirmary.
The moment he walked out through the gates of Jujutsu High, he saw a muscular old man dressed in the traditional clothing of a jujutsu family, his hair and beard completely white.
As soon as the old man saw Luke, he glared at him.
“Brat. I only just got back and already heard that you screwed things up again.”
The old man was Naobito Zenin, one of Luke’s elders and the current head of the Zenin clan.
He held considerable influence in the jujutsu world and was also a veteran Grade 1 Sorcerer.
Faced with the reprimand of such a respected elder, Luke simply spread his hands and sighed.
“Old man, why would you automatically assume I wouldn’t screw things up? Failure is basically the main theme of life.”
Naobito immediately clenched his fist.
“You damn brat, back then you were the one who—!”
Halfway through the sentence, Naobito abruptly stopped.
He glanced around Jujutsu High.
Although no one else was visible nearby, the old man clearly had no intention of discussing Luke’s situation on someone else’s territory.
His expression remained unpleasant.
He snorted.
“Come home with me first.”
“Okay.”
Luke followed the Zenin clan head down the mountain.
Only after they got into Naobito’s Toyota Century could the two speak freely.
Driving with one hand on the wheel, Naobito immediately started lecturing him.
“Brat, what exactly did you promise me back then?”
“You said you’d make a Binding Vow, raise the difficulty of your missions, sharpen yourself through combat, and grasp the core of cursed energy. You made it sound so convincing. And what happened?”
“This is the ninth time you’ve been hospitalized in the past five months, isn’t it?”
“Black Flash, Reverse Cursed Technique, Cursed Technique Reversal, Cursed Technique Fusion, Domain Expansion—which of those things you talked about have you actually mastered?”
Naobito kept going, his sharp gaze fixed on Luke in the back seat through the rearview mirror.
Luke guiltily looked away.
He scratched his head and gave a vague answer.
“Soon, soon. During this mission, when I was fighting on the edge between life and death, I felt like I was really close to the core of cursed energy. If some guy hadn’t suddenly appeared and interfered with my fight, I might’ve landed Black Flash…”
“So you didn’t land Black Flash.”
The old clan head mercilessly exposed the truth.
Black Flash was a special application of cursed energy.
The activation condition was extremely strict.
When the difference in timing between a physical strike and the impact of cursed energy fell within 0.000001 seconds, space distorted and black light flashed at the point of impact.
Landing Black Flash depended heavily on luck and one’s condition.
It was essentially an extremely low-probability critical hit.
Even so, the benefits were enormous.
Most directly, the destructive power of the attack itself increased dramatically.
Beyond that, a sorcerer who landed Black Flash could draw out 120% of their potential and enter a state similar to flow or sudden enlightenment.
Their condition improved.
Their comprehension increased.
It became much easier to break through one’s limits during battle and undergo a fundamental transformation.
The chances of grasping high-level cursed-energy techniques also increased.
The problem was that Black Flash relied heavily on luck.
No sorcerer could produce it freely whenever they wanted.
The reason Luke had repeatedly put himself in danger during missions was precisely because he wanted to force himself into the state necessary to land Black Flash.
He had almost succeeded this time.
Just when Luke felt like Black Flash was about to emerge, some white-haired guy wearing a blindfold suddenly appeared and instantly killed his mission target.
But failure was still failure.
Faced with Naobito’s questioning, Luke continued making promises.
“Next time. Definitely next time. I’ll land Black Flash.”
Naobito immediately exploded.
“You still want there to be a next time?!”
His roar was so loud that Luke’s eardrums hurt.
Luke immediately argued back.
“Damn old man, why are you yelling so loud?!”
“How am I supposed to improve if I never challenge my limits? Don’t underestimate my determination to climb to the very peak of jujutsu!”
Luke pushed back just as forcefully.
Naobito’s beard practically stood on end from anger.
“Determination? Brat, do you mean determination to get yourself killed?! Do you think you’re Satoru Gojo?!”
The old clan head was genuinely angry now.
Five months ago, Luke had managed to convince him with that exact argument, persuading Naobito to allow him to take risks.
But over the past five months, Luke had repeatedly put his life on the line searching for opportunities to break through.
Instead of making much progress, he had repeatedly landed himself in dangerous situations.
By now, Naobito had completely stopped believing Luke’s argument.
Luke’s idea of using life-and-death pressure to comprehend Reverse Cursed Technique, Cursed Technique Reversal, and Cursed Technique Fusion wasn’t impossible.
Someone really had achieved exactly that.
But his name was Satoru Gojo.
The pinnacle of the modern jujutsu world.
The undisputed strongest of the modern era.
As the head of another one of the Three Great Families, Naobito naturally hoped the Zenin clan could produce someone capable of standing alongside Gojo.
He genuinely appreciated Luke’s energetic fighting spirit and had given him the chance to try.
After all, the Zenin clan’s inherited Ten Shadows Technique wasn’t necessarily inferior to the Gojo clan’s Limitless.
Their ancestors had once even killed each other in a duel before the aristocracy.
But reality had proven one thing.
The strongest of the modern era was the strongest of the modern era.
Satoru Gojo was a unique exception who couldn’t simply be replicated.
Naobito no longer intended to let Luke keep risking his life.
Even though Luke had failed to awaken the way Gojo once had, inheriting the Ten Shadows Technique alone already made him an extremely valuable talent.
Naobito lowered his expectations.
He sighed and advised the young man sitting in the back seat,
“You don’t need to become Satoru Gojo. You can just become yourself. You’re already doing well enough…”
Luke didn’t answer.
He only stared absentmindedly out the window, his thoughts elsewhere.
Seeing him like that, Naobito felt helpless.
Then the old clan head’s mouth twitched as he suddenly teased,
“Ever since the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, you’ve seemed especially impatient. Are you upset because that Okkotsu brat stole the spotlight?”
The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons had been a major disaster in the jujutsu world five months ago.
Its mastermind had been a traitor from Jujutsu High, a former Special Grade Sorcerer.
During that disaster, Yuta Okkotsu, also a student at Jujutsu High, defeated that Special Grade Sorcerer and ended the crisis, instantly becoming famous.
Yuta Okkotsu and Luke Zenin were classmates.
Despite his young age, Yuta already possessed the strength of a Special Grade Sorcerer.
Compared directly, Luke was clearly far behind him.
It wasn’t strange that Naobito would assume Luke’s recent behavior came from rivalry between young sorcerers.
Sure enough, the moment Naobito mentioned the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons and Yuta Okkotsu, Luke turned his gaze back toward him.
His expression became slightly strange, his lips moving as though he wanted to say something.
In the end, he returned to his usual casual expression.
“If you want to think I’m doing all this because I’m competing with Yuta, then go ahead…”
Naobito immediately smiled as though his guess had been confirmed.
“Heh, brat. You may not be able to compare with Satoru Gojo, but you still have a chance to stand alongside that Okkotsu kid in the future.”
“As long as you can patiently tame all ten shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique and obtain the most important one—Mahoraga.”
The ten shikigami Naobito mentioned were the unique ability of Luke’s Ten Shadows Technique.
Luke could use shadows to summon ten different shikigami in sequence.
The strongest among them was Mahoraga, a superweapon of jujutsu so powerful that even the combined strength of the first nine shikigami couldn’t defeat it.
Mahoraga possessed an extremely special ability—
Adaptation.
As long as it wasn’t killed in a single attack, it could gradually analyze and adapt to an opponent’s methods until those attacks became completely ineffective, allowing Mahoraga to counter and kill the opponent instead.
To put it in gaming terms, Mahoraga was like an absurdly easy-to-use character with monstrous stats and a completely unfair mechanic.
Even if the sorcerer using it were practically paralyzed, simply summoning Mahoraga would be enough to crush large numbers of powerful sorcerers and climb the rankings with ease.
The problem was that controlling a shikigami required the Ten Shadows user to defeat it one-on-one first.
Since none of the first nine shikigami could kill Mahoraga in a single blow, previous Ten Shadows users had treated Mahoraga as a disposable suicide weapon—a final trump card used to drag a powerful enemy down with them.
Naobito, however, believed Luke genuinely had a chance to master it.
He laughed.
“Brat, you young people really do come up with interesting ideas. I have to admit, using a Binding Vow to create a method for taming Mahoraga was clever.”
At the mention of his plan, a smile finally appeared on Luke’s face.
A problem that had plagued generations of Ten Shadows users seemed to have found an answer in his generation.
There was only one way to tame Mahoraga.
Luke needed to produce an attack with the destructive power of a Special Grade Sorcerer and kill it in a single blow.
But none of the Ten Shadows shikigami possessed that kind of overwhelming output.
Luke had therefore proposed another idea.
Why not save the cursed energy he refined every day and use it all at once during the Mahoraga taming ritual in exchange for one extremely powerful single-target attack?
Based on that idea, he established a Binding Vow.
In exchange for restricting himself to only fifty percent of his cursed energy during ordinary training and cursed-spirit exorcism missions, the cursed energy he saved would accumulate, allowing him to unleash one exceptionally powerful burst when taming Mahoraga.
In other words, the longer Luke accumulated cursed energy, the greater his chances of successfully taming Mahoraga.
The reduction in his available cursed energy had greatly weakened him in everyday combat.
Battles against Grade 1 cursed spirits that he once could have won easily had now become dangerously difficult.
But as long as he ultimately tamed Mahoraga, every sacrifice would be worth it.
Naobito thought exactly the same way.
“Brat, you already have a path to becoming a Special Grade Sorcerer. What you need now isn’t to compete with everyone else. You need to patiently accumulate cursed energy.”
“Once you master Mahoraga, you won’t be much worse than that Okkotsu kid.”
Naobito’s voice was filled with expectation.
A Ten Shadows user capable of taming Mahoraga would unquestionably qualify as a Special Grade Sorcerer.
Among the Special Grade Sorcerers currently alive, the Zenin clan didn’t have a single representative.
They had been completely overshadowed by the Gojo clan.
Luke, however, remained somewhat resistant to the plan.
He clicked his tongue.
“Old man, you know how much cursed energy I have. Even if I save half of it every single day, I have no idea how many decades it’ll take before I accumulate enough to reach the standard needed to tame Mahoraga.”
Naobito didn’t care.
“So what? It’s only twenty or thirty years.”
Then the old clan head began seriously lecturing him.
“You young people are always impatient. Let me tell you something: endurance isn’t the same as admitting defeat. Endurance means knowing how to accept things and having the strength to hold on.”
“Don’t worry about pressure from outside. I’ll shoulder all of it for you.”
“The future belongs to young people like you.”
Naobito patiently tried to persuade him.
From his perspective, rather than letting Luke repeatedly gamble with his life for some vague chance of awakening his potential, it was far better to wait patiently for a few decades until his accumulated strength finally bore fruit.
Luke, however, looked utterly hopeless.
Naobito thought Luke had decades to wait.
But Luke knew perfectly well that he didn’t.
Even the old man himself was running out of time.
Ever since the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons ended, the countdown toward an even greater and more terrifying disaster had already begun.
No one in the jujutsu world knew what would happen over the coming year.
Luke did.
Because he was a transmigrator who knew the future course of this world.
It really helps the fic grow!