Chapter 7: Dead?
(3rd Person POV)
- Protection Mission Day 3 15:00 -
"Good work, everyone."
"We're inside the Jujutsu High's barrier now."
"What a relief," the Star Plasma Vessel Riko says.
"Yes."
"Satoru," Suguru Geto calls out to his best friend and fellow student.
"Hm?"
"You really worked hard this time."
Satoru Gojo, the crown jewel of the Gojo clan, their next successor, and the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer in the world, sighs and closes his eyes. His brilliant light blue eyes stop shining, signaling that he has stopped actively using his Limitless technique.
"I never wanna get stuck babysitting a brat again," he says.
"Heh?" Amanai Riko, hearing this, raises an eyebrow at him, daring him to say that again.
"Are you calling me a brat?"
"Of course, 'cause that's what you are."
"You white-haired menace! Say that again!"
"Anytime."
The two start bickering as Suguru and Riko's caretaker, Misato Kuroi, watch them smiling. Tension was high throughout the last three days, and now that it has left their shoulders, they can relax ... somewhat. Suguru, the dutiful young man and already Grade 1 Sorcerer, slightly frowns as he watches Riko. He has come to know the girl and still doesn't like what will have to happen, the 'Merger'.
Immortality is Master Tengen's innate technique that grants them eternal life. As implied by its name, Immortality allows users to prolong their lives, effectively granting them the potential for an infinite lifespan. However, this technique is not "de-ageing", meaning that the user cannot escape the physical changes brought upon by ageing.
Once a user of immortality reaches a certain age, the technique attempts to change bodies by undergoing an "evolution." This process causes the user's self-awareness and will to cease to exist, and the user becomes a shell of their former self as a result. To prevent this, the user must merge with a capable "Star Plasma Vessel" every five hundred years or so and rewrite their body's information. The cursed technique follows suit once the body is refreshed and evolution does not occur.
Star Plasma Vessels are young women with the potential to refresh Immortality by merging with the user. Some vessels have more potential than others, and they can communicate with each other even if one person has already merged with the immortal. The users cannot communicate with those who have become a part of them.
'When Yaga-sensei told us about Riko, he called the merger 'erasing'. He told us it wasn't right, but he couldn't give us a direct order. Politics are disgusting in Jujutsu society.'
Suguru was thinking.
"I'm glad," Misato Kuroi says
"Huh?"
"I'm glad that Riko can be this happy right now. I always hoped that she would find friends and get to smile. Seeing it now ... I'm glad."
Suguru smiles and nods his head.
"I agr-"
"AAAH!"
Hearing Riko's scream, they see a short sword impaling Satoru from behind. A tall, buff man with black hair holds the sword. Suguru can't believe what he's seeing right now as they are supposed to be inside the Jujutsu High Barriers. However, Toji ... or Asahi, who took the appearance of Toji, currently has no Cursed Energy.
Satoru looks down, then turns his head to look at Asahi and smiles.
"Have we met before?" he asks.
"Don't worry about it. I'm also terrible at remembering guys' names," Asahi smiles.
In the next moment, just before Satoru is about to use the attraction of Blue, Asahi takes the wakizashi and rushes towards Amanai Riko. The blade flashes through the air, and just as it is about to kill her, the same force pulls him back and flings him into the air. At the same time, a black portal appears, and Suguru summons a Curse Spirit to swallow Asahi.
*Boom*
"Satoru!" Suguru yells and is about to rush towards Satoru but is stopped by the latter, who smiles.
"I'm fine. I didn't make it in time with my technique, so he hit my lung. But I strengthened myself with Cursed Energy so the blade couldn't do more damage. Seriously, I'm fine. Prioritise Amanai first. I'll deal with this guy. Suguru, you two get her to Tengen-sama."
The Cursed Spirit that had swallowed Asahi shuddered as Suguru thought about what to do now. He had complete trust in Satoru's strength, but his injury had shaken him. He nodded his head.
"Be careful!" he says to his best friend and then turns to Amanai, "Let's go!"
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Satoru walks forward and mutters under his breath. He takes off his dark glasses.
*SCHHHLLICK*
The Curse Spirit is cut apart with one swing by Asahi, and he stands there holding a shorter version of the original Japanese broadsword with a fur tsuba and a dark handle. This weapon is called the Split Soul Katana but is a shorter/smaller version. Asahi, after killing Toji Fushiguro, has taken his time and 'fed' his knife all of the materials and weapons Toji had. This included the Split Soul Katana, the Inverted Spear of Heaven, the Chain of a Thousand Miles, Playful Cloud and all other non-cursed weapons. But that's not all. Asahi could have the knife absorb all sorts of materials. So he had a crazy idea: to have it absorb the Inventory Curse. The idea might sound stupid, but it worked, and with it, a new feature was unlocked.
Now, Asahi could access different forms of his essence while having his knife taken on the form of the Inventory Curse. So the Inventory Curse was no longer a Cursed Spirit but a different form of his knife. Honestly, the Essence was overpowered and very useful.
Asahi stands there with the shorter version of the Split Soul Katana and grins down on Satoru as the Cursed Spirit disintegrates.
"Hm, the Star Plasma Vessel is running," Asahi remarks, seeing Suguru Geto taking her to Tengen.
"The bounty of Amanai has already been taken down, you idiot," Gojo says.
"Because I took it down, prideful bastard. When facing people without openings like you, you must first create ups and downs leading to several false goals ... or you have the right 'tools' for it. I suppose that also works. Without a timer on her bounty, you wouldn't have released your technique until the very end."
"That so?" Gojo asks with a smile on his face.
<Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue>
Satoru uses 'Blue', targeting Asahi and trying to crush him immediately. But Asahi's speed is too much for the young Satoru to handle, and he flashes away.
*BOOM*
Satoru looks around, failing to see Asahi's fast figure as he runs towards the distant target, Riko Amanai. Now, one might wonder why Asahi would target the Star Plasma Vessel. He isn't Toji Fushiguro, despite having taken on his appearance. Asahi has a plan, and for this plan to succeed, he needs to act the part. His actions in this world will fundamentally change fate and the outcome of the 'canon' story.
In a second, Asahi attacks Riko once again. Thankfully, Suguru is fast enough to react and protects her with a Cursed Spirit, taking the blow of Asahi's attack.
*Shing*
Several more black portals open around Suguru, and he sends out multiple Cursed Spirits to attack and intercept Asahi and prevent him from reaching Riko. With the Split Soul Katana in hand, Asahi flashes his arm through the air and the Cursed Spirits as if they were made of butter. Suguru gets in between Riko and Asahi, sending out more spirits. Asahi then appears before him and delivers a high kick towards him, smashing his face to the ground. Luckily, his advance is stopped as a powerful, attractive force pulls him backwards.
*Wooosh*
Suguru, who was just kicked to the ground, groans and stands back up. Riko looks at him with fear, which fuels his resolve further. He pushes himself further and runs towards Tengen while Asahi crashes through several buildings.
*CRASH*
*BOOOM*
*BOOOM*
Smoke and debris fly through the air and on the ground as his body finally stops flying and is embedded into a wall. After a second, he walks back out without a single injury whatsoever. But this has nothing to do with the massive healing factor he has acquired and is just his new durability. His speed, strength and durability are higher than what it was when he was fighting Toji. His physique has grown to another level, thanks to first killing Toji and absorbing his power and abilities with the knife and then ... absorbing him.
Thanks to the abilities he absorbed from Muzan and his spawn, Asahi has gained the ability to absorb humans and use it to grow more powerful. So he has benefitted double from killing Toji. He also gained the Heavenly Restriction, but that doesn't bother him in the slightest. Asahi has already reached the maximum in terms of pure strength without the use of Cursed Energy, but thanks to his knife, he can still get Cursed Energy as well, should he simply cut his inability for Cursed Energy. He has already broken or rather 'cut' through the laws of this world.
The Heavenly Restriction has transformed into a Heavenly Buff.
Asahi feels another attack incoming and flashes away. Like a speeding bullet, he zooms from tree to tree and from rooftop to rooftop. He closes in on Satoru's position and then runs along the ground, shooting forward. He doesn't use his maximum speed for a reason only he knows, but in mid-flight, he changes the weapon he holds to the Inverted Spear of Heaven and swings its full power towards Gojo's head.
*Cling*
Once again, an attractive force stops Asahi's momentum, pulls him and the ground around him into the air and then catapults him backwards.
"Heh..."
*ZOOOO-- BOOOOM*
*CRASH*
...
'I can't imagine anyone who knows my technique coming at me without a plan,' Gojo thinks.
"Is that Cursed Tool your precious trump card? Sorry, but I won't let you get close!" Gojo says, looking at the spot where Asahi crashed. But as he looks at the place, he no longer sees him. Asahi's speed is just far too high for Gojo to have any way to deal with it.
*Wooosh*
He can only see and hear the ripples Asahi's movements make through the change in air pressure and movement.
'Since he has no Cursed Energy, I can't read his presence. And I can't rely only on instinct. There's that Cursed Spirit wrapped around him. I need to follow his presence ... Even so, he's too damn fast.'
*Woosh*
Suddenly, Asahi appears with a wakizashi and slashes at Gojo. The blade stops before it can reach him since Gojo activated Limitless already, stopping the attack. Asahi disappears again and reappears on another side, attacking again and again. His blade slashes through the air on all sides, not giving Gojo a chance to react, but also not really doing anything at the moment.
<Cursed Technique Lapse - Maximum Cursed Energy Output: Blue>
A highly amplified version of Blue is unleashed when Gojo charges his technique to its full power to achieve maximum cursed energy output. This produces a gigantic field of attraction capable of clearing out an entire area. Satoru destroys any possible hiding spot by clearing out the area and reducing the surroundings to nothing.
"Now there's no cover," Satoru says and looks around, "He can't launch surprise attacks."
Satoru has a smile on his face, when he sees something small moving at high speeds away from his position. His eyes widen when he realises that the presence belongs to Asahi.
'Amanai!!'
Satoru is reminded of Asahi's true goal and believes he used the wide-area attack he just used to distract him and use the chance to rush towards Amanai and Geto to kill the two.
Fuelled by desperation, Gojo reinforces his body with enormous amounts of Cursed Energy, pushing himself more than ever. His steps leave small imprints on the ground, and as he does so, using his Six Eyes, time slows down. He reaches out his hand and unleashes another powerful <Lapse: Blue> the furthest distance he can.
A large blue sphere, consisting of attractive force, starts pulling back Asahi's speeding figure. However, something happens. In the fraction of a second, before Gojo unleashes his technique, Asahi stops moving forward and instead turns around. His feet hit the ground and push his body forward, towards Gojo. The ground shakes as he uses a new top speed since starting the fight of Mach 20. His momentum added to the attractive force of Gojo's blue, makes Asahi a blur that suddenly appears in front of Gojo.
The white-haired youth can't do anything. His Six Eyes are fast enough to realise what is happening as he observes Asahi close in on his position, but his body can't move since he used the same <Lapse: Blue> to pull himself forward. His body can't react in time, and so he has to witness the Inverted Spear of Heaven close in on him.
The Inverted Spear of Heaven is a special-grade cursed tool that can nullify cursed techniques on contact. It nullifies Gojo's Infinity and pierces his throat, drawing blood for the second time this fight.
"Kkaackkk ...."
Blood flows out of Gojo's mouth, and he doesn't give up. He grabs the Cursed Tool with both hands, trying to pull it out. But Asahi doesn't allow that. He ruthlessly swings the Inverted Spear of Heaven through his abdomen, causing a large wound to open and massive blood to flow out. But he isn't finished yet. There isn't a grin on his face while he pierces the weapon all over Gojo's body, turning him into a sieve.
In a show of remarkable tenacity, Satoru reflectively uses <Lapse: Blue> again. But it is over at this point. Asahi moves around and punches Gojo in the face.
*BANG*
Asahi delivers hundreds of punches all over Satoru's body in a series of advanced moves. He hits his legs away under him and stabs his head with a regular knife, not his Essence, ending the fight for good.
...
*Sigh*
"That was the first step ... on to the next one."
__________________________________________
I tried to change the fight a bit and I think it was ok. Satoru's arrogance was used and before someone starts complaining and calling me or the MC an idiot, just wait. The next chapter will illustrate why.
I hope you can still enjoy it.
Weekly Power Status
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