Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

At the movie theater, Nanami Kento and Itadori, who had just met, were observing the scene, or more precisely, Nanami was guiding Itadori, a newcomer, through the task.

Tiger's combat abilities are gradually improving, so it's time for him to catch up in other areas as well, such as the normal process of exorcising cursed spirits, as well as some tips and methods.

So Gojo Satoru summoned the senior level one sorcerer, Nanami.

However, as this was their first meeting, Itadori didn't seem to have had time to adjust to Nanami's style.

The two followed the remains left at the scene all the way to the rooftop, where they encountered something that appeared to be a cursed spirit.

Tiger was about to make a move, but Nanami stopped him the next moment, indicating that he would handle this one, while the one behind him that had not been sensed was left to Tiger Staff.

"Remember to call me if you think you can't win."

"Aren't you underestimating me a little?"

Itadori's fighting spirit, which had just been raised, was extinguished by Nanami's words, accompanied by a somewhat resentful remark.

"This isn't about whether I look down on you or not. I'm an adult, and you're a child. I have an obligation to take care of you first."

As he spoke, he unbuttoned his suit jacket and loosened his tie, preparing for his next move.

Wearing a suit to work is a habit he developed when he was a corporate slave, but he gets very upset if his suit gets torn in a fight.

"Being treated like a child is worse than being looked down upon."

Feeling slighted, Itajimaru continued to complain, but facing the enemy in front of him, he still raised his fist in preparation.

"Becoming an adult is not an instantaneous process. The hair falling out on the pillow, the bread you like disappearing from the convenience store... these small moments of despair accumulate little by little before you truly grow up."

"Sometimes simply experiencing life and death isn't enough..."

Nanami is a reliable adult; he heard Itajō's complaints, but that's no excuse for him not to fulfill his duties.

He explained in a serious manner how to make the Japanese knotweed grow in a way that he thought was feasible.

Holding a short sword, while dodging attacks from a crawling enemy, Nanami explained the effects of her technique, both sharing information and explaining to Itajō the simplest way to use "binding," exchanging "information disclosure" for "power enhancement."

"Spell Revelation" is a very useful technique in actual combat. It seems to have little effect on Itajō now, but his future enemies are not only cursed spirits, are they?

Mistakes caused by insufficient information are something that should be avoided as much as possible. Nanami didn't want his junior to suffer the same loss, especially at the cost of the death of someone close to him. He didn't want his young junior to experience that kind of pain again.

The next moment, facing the charging cursed spirit, Nanami simply swung his sword with style, instantly severing the creature's limbs and torso in five places.

He was completely stunned by what he saw.

Why are there five wounds when only one strike was made? The spell's effect... or the weapon in my hand... This sense of déjà vu, could it be something created by Senior Yue Ren?

It's no wonder that Huzhang had such thoughts; it's simply because the things made by the Yue people are so distinctive. Regardless of their power, the first thing you'd think of upon seeing them is that they're more like works of art than weapons.

Before he could finish thinking about the problem, his honed sixth sense alerted him to danger. He instinctively dodged the punch and finished off his opponent with a beautiful dagger thrust.

(His original strength far surpassed that of ordinary people, his special techniques for using magical power, plus the weapon in his hand... I see, no wonder it was brought by that person.)

Nanami, who had been silently observing Itajō's situation, couldn't help but sigh after obtaining considerable information about Itajō. The boy in front of him seemed to be the same type as Koshijin and Gojō Satoru; he had the potential to intimidate people.

Shifting his gaze back to the now powerless "cursed spirit," he intended to deliver the final blow, but his habitual scanning revealed something amiss. Nanami, noticing the anomaly, widened his eyes, which had been hidden by his glasses...

The vocational college is nearing dusk.

Once again, leaving the two little ones with a "deep" memory, Echigo left the training ground with Kugizaki's thumbs-down "blessing".

The girl is a very emotional person; she never holds back her grievances and directly expresses her negative emotions through her actions.

The Yue people see this as a very interesting way to vent negative emotions, so they don't mind it and take it as a blessing from the other party for their hard work.

However, instead of going to the workshop to stockpile weapons or returning to his dormitory to rest, he went to the "school hospital".

On the one hand, Ms. Shoko was under a lot of pressure during this period, so Echito often went to help her. On the other hand, Echito was also waiting, waiting for something that should be delivered.

Today, seeing the two corpses on the operating table, Yue Ren knew the time had come.

"They are human, but they have likely been modified, and with current methods, it's highly unlikely they can be restored... The specific reasons are unknown!"

On the operating table were two things that resembled cursed spirits, whose fighting abilities had been neutralized by Itajitsugi and Nanami. However, they were completely different from what they appeared to be. These two things were not cursed spirits at all, but humans who had been altered into this form by a spell.

Shoko sounded somewhat frustrated. As a medical professional, she was the first to sense that something was wrong. At this stage, it seemed that the situation was getting more and more serious, and even something like this had appeared, which even she couldn't do anything about.

This is the woman's predicament. Even though she is highly skilled and can save most people as long as they don't die, there are limits to her abilities.

She had witnessed her own powerlessness and had become accustomed to life slipping through her fingers.

"There's nothing we can do, Ms. Shoko. Simply using a reversal technique won't change the soul that has been 'modified'."

"soul?"

Shoko, who was only thinking about sharing information, gradually opened her eyes and immediately turned to look at Echijin—her apprentice. Did she know the reason why these two people had become like this?

Faced with the teacher's intense gaze, Yue Ren did not hide anything.

"It should be a technique that can directly change the soul. Because the state of the soul is changed, it affects the body. Therefore, the reversal technique has no effect, because the two targets are different."

The entirely new knowledge and theories challenged this woman's understanding of the world.

"In this world, the influence of the soul on the body is too great. For example, the Heavenly Curse is the binding of the 'soul' in this world, which reflects the 'injuries' on the soul in reality. This should be the effect of the spell."

"The reversal spell only produces energy that acts on the physical body, so it's not very useful. Even if the physical body can be reversed and restored to its original state, it will change again due to the different soul. To restore it, the root solution requires restoring the changed soul to its original state, but this requires the spirit holding the spell to be willing."

Moreover, the difficulty of using a spell is different for others and for oneself. A real person can manipulate their own soul at will, not only because it is their own spell, but also because they are a cursed spirit; however, the difficulty of turning someone they have modified back to their original state should be completely different.

This can be seen from the fact that Sukuna was unable to save Junpei, who had been transformed.

You should know that Su Nuo is a well-known learning genius. He can learn the difficult task of creating cursed objects with just one glance. However, he is unable to restore Shunping's condition, which shows that the spells related to the soul are extremely troublesome.

"..."

I see, no wonder. I should have realized it sooner. This guy is on par with Gojo...

The depth of research conducted by Yue Ren far exceeded Xiao Zi's understanding, so besides surprise, she could only sigh in admiration.

At the same time, I couldn't help but chuckle. He had already reached this level, so who would dare to call themselves his teacher? On the contrary, he had benefited greatly from just a few words.

"Looks like we've encountered a very troublesome enemy. I need to go check it out..."

"Is it alright? You've probably never seen such a unique technique before."

"Don't worry, teacher. You know I won't do things I'm not sure about."

Shoko sighed helplessly. Yes, her student was different from those two. He was someone everyone could trust completely. Her worries were probably unnecessary.

......

Leaving the college and seeing the sun already setting, Yue Ren knew he needed to hurry.

If I'm not mistaken, something will happen tonight: the boy who was just pulled back from the brink of darkness by Itadori's "light" will lose the most important person to him because of his scheming.

We must get there before Huzhang finishes his meal and leaves Shunping's house.

Thinking of this, Yue Ren directly strengthened his body with his magical power and rushed towards the location of the magical artifact that he had sensed being given to Tiger Staff.

the other side.

By a twist of fate, Itadori was invited to the home of his newly acquainted friend, Yoshino Junpei.

The latter's mother, Yoshino Nagi, gave him a very warm welcome, especially after Itadori became her son's friend, she prepared a very lavish dinner.

The pure-hearted nature and high emotional intelligence of the Japanese unicorn made the gap between the two souls much lighter.

Yoshino Junpei, a boy who had suffered from a series of problems such as school bullying, felt true "warmth" in Itadori's gentle nature and showed a hearty smile he had never shown before during their conversation.

For the first time, he felt the warmth of being looked at on equal terms by the 'soul'.

However, Itadori's earnest self-reflection during their subsequent conversation gave this boy, who was about to be swallowed by darkness, a glimmer of hope.

But what he didn't know was that the darkness that had initially embraced him had no intention of letting him go.

Lying alone on his bed in his room, Shunping was completely unaware that something unclean had been placed in his home.

He pondered Tiger's words, and at the same time, he secretly resolved not to tarnish his mother's smile.

Just then, he faintly heard a knocking sound from downstairs.

(Is it Japanese knotweed? Did you forget something?)

Logically, no one should be looking for him or his mother at this time. The only thing he could think of was that Huzhang, who had just left, had returned.

With these questions in mind, he went downstairs.

On the table, his mother was still asleep, covered with the clothes he had added for her. Seeing this, Shunping smiled gently.

"They're here."

As Shunpei opened the door, his smile froze, because behind the door was not the Itajō he had expected, but another boy of similar age, whose handsome appearance and faintly upturned lips made his presence impossible to ignore.

"Hello, you're Yoshino Junpei, right?"

"Yes, may I ask who you are?"

"Kawasaki Koshito, Itadori Yuujin's classmate, a second-year student at the Jujutsu High School, has come to retrieve something that was left at your house."

Seeing that the boy's expression was normal, Yue Ren secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed he hadn't arrived too late, but...

Tch, I'm getting more and more envious of Gojo Satoru's mobility. I need to find something that suits me, otherwise I'll easily make mistakes and be exhausted from forced marches.

Although Japan is not very large, it still takes a considerable amount of time to travel between different regions, even by walking distance.

Because he didn't have Gojo Satoru's special way of moving, he was exhausted like a dead dog just a minute ago, which was really torturous.

Hearing that he was Itajitsugi's classmate, the boy's guard lowered considerably, but knowing that he was also a sorcerer, and not being naive enough to assume that all sorcerers were like Itajitsugi, he still asked cautiously:

"What is this? Why is it in my house? Did the Japanese knotweed fall from it?"

Yue Ren nodded secretly. He was indeed a promising talent. He was alert, calm, and intelligent. Although his skills didn't seem particularly strong, he was definitely a potential talent who could develop in other fields. It would be a waste if he were to perish like in the original story.

So he spoke directly, and right off the bat, he played his trump card.

"The cursed spirit you met wasn't helping you to see you happy and fulfilled. And Haddock is an extremely special being; he's at the heart of some conspirators' plans, and everything surrounding him is a huge, dangerous vortex. And you..."

The Yue man paused for a moment, then exuded a certain aura.

"And just like that, they easily dragged their loved ones into this mess!"

Upon hearing this, Shunping's pupils widened instantly.

(What on earth is this guy saying...?)

These two sentences were so shocking that he didn't know what to do for a moment. Should he be surprised that the other person knew about Mr. "Real Person", or about the special nature of "Wutong", or about the situation he and his mother were talking about?

Seeing that the effect had been achieved, Yue Ren smiled slightly and continued, "The boy is now completely dumbfounded."

"The danger I'm referring to is right now. The current situation is that your house has been placed with a 'top-grade cursed object' that can attract curses. If you don't want your mother to be separated from you forever in the next half hour, I suggest you let me in to find that thing."

Startled, Shunping instinctively took a few steps back, making way for the Yue people.

The latter didn't stand on ceremony and went straight into the room.

"Excuse me."

Upon entering the living room from the entrance hall, one hardly needs to search to spot the top-grade cursed artifact—"Sukuna's Finger"—on the table where Shunpei's mother is lying.

It was just something I did casually, without any attempt to hide it.

Lu Suo can only bully the ignorant high school student Shunping. If you use this thing to do fingerprint detection or something, it will be full of loopholes.

The Yue man casually stepped forward, picked it up, and then showed it to Shunping who had followed him.

He spoke as the other person's eyes widened.