Chapitre 48: Flames
What kind of curse possesses flames?
In Minamoto Sōjun's hypothesis, it is most likely a curse generated from negative emotions, with anger as its primary representation.
Although it's only a theoretical possibility, at least he had a starting point.
He decided to go out.
This time, unlike when he would leave a clone behind during a mission or when exorcising curses, he planned to go further away. A clone might not be enough, so he needed to go in person.
To assimilate a fire curse spirit—
Of course, a fire sorcerer would also work. He would also take the opportunity to check out the top ten barriers and determine how far Tengen had progressed.
Minamoto Sōjun did not have a strong desire to collect techniques; his principles of action did not change based on the strength of any given technique.
His belief that his own techniques were the strongest was deeply rooted in his mind. He believed that every qualified sorcerer should hold this conviction.
He had always explored technique development and expansion, and the tree of his knowledge had already grown new branches, becoming more and more lush.
Techniques acquired through assimilation were only used for reference and comparison.
For instance, he could now replicate the space technique of the Grasshopper Head with perfect control, enhanced by the impact of Black Flash on space, to achieve the same result.
Similarly, he could manipulate the Clone technique from the Paper Sack Head, and his control over distance had far surpassed it, gradually replacing it with his own technique.
And then there were the marionette techniques from even earlier…
Using the knowledge in his mind to understand curses, and through painstaking development, creating spells that brought him a sense of fulfillment and ease of use.
He was a person who believed in the power within oneself.
…
Minamoto Sōjun bid farewell to the people around him and left the school alone.
This time, his plan was rather casual. Simply put, he would head south, then north, return home for a bit, and finally go back to the school.
As for finding a fire curse, he never had high hopes for luck.
The school could offer some help in such times, as their intelligence network was always reliable.
On his own, he had spent years searching for storage curse spirits without finding many, and the only one he had seen was the swollen-headed curse spirit that Fushiguro Zen'ichi had brought. He had taken the special-grade cursed tool, but it couldn't be kept for himself—he could only watch as it bonded with Gojo Satoru, feeling a pang of envy.
He felt somewhat helpless; his luck was unbelievably bad, so he needed to add an extra layer of insurance and consider other strategies.
First, he needed to look for places with a high concentration of people, where anger-inducing events were common.
Rush hour traffic in a city; being in a hurry only to face long lines that progressed at a snail's pace, encountering people cutting in line, staff who were inefficient and kept apologizing; workplace pressure, unfair treatment, heavy tasks, and conflicts between coworkers…
There was a lot of anger around.
Minamoto Sōjun wandered through the busy city streets, surrounded by people rushing with purpose, feeling out of place.
These angry… directions. Yes, he thought of a term, the direction was too scattered and lacked unity, making it difficult to condense into a curse spirit.
Perhaps he should look for something that could widely induce negative emotions, like a fear of volcanoes.
But at this point, volcano heads probably hadn't formed yet.
Minamoto Sōjun's eyes flickered.
If it came to that, he had glanced at the curse sorcerer files before setting out, and there were a few who had fire techniques…
Let's see if he could find them.
Minamoto Sōjun visited Mount Fuji, where many Asama shrines were devoted to the belief in the mountain. The belief in fire had given rise to many deities, among the most famous being Kagutsuchi.
Kagutsuchi, in Japanese mythology, was an important deity, often associated with fire or volcanoes.
As the child of the deities Izanagi and Izanami, he symbolized the power of fire. However, fire's destructive nature led to tragedy when Izanami was burned while giving birth to Kagutsuchi, ultimately causing her death. In a fit of rage, Izanagi drew his ten-handed sword and decapitated Kagutsuchi…
Another widely revered deity was the Arakami, also associated with fire worship.
It was often enshrined in hearths or kitchens, and some believed it resided in hooks or stoves.
Arakami was easily angered and was considered a wrathful god, harboring a strong dislike for women.
People would make snakes out of straw or sacrifice cattle to appease it.
Arakami had three forms: worshiped indoors as a fire deity, worshiped outdoors as a guardian deity of homes or villages, and as a protector of cattle and horses…
Minamoto Sōjun reminisced about the myths he had heard.
There were many such myths, and while their authenticity could be debated, they certainly held some logic.
For example, Kagutsuchi's name reflected its nature; "Kagutsuchi" itself implied "frenzied" and "intense," fitting the image of a fire god perfectly.
But with so many gaps, how could people believe it?
What Minamoto Sōjun needed to do was find the connections between these stories and reality.
Fire was a force that could bring both warmth and light, as well as destruction and ruin.
With eight million deities—an umbrella term—there were countless gods, spirits, and urban legends associated with fire.
Minamoto Sōjun took his time, learning about one place after another.
From the southern to the northern regions, traveling from Kagoshima to Aomori only took about ten and a half hours by car. Adding the time spent stopping and searching, five of Sōjun's clones working together over a few days would be more than enough.
This wasn't just a normal trip; he was a sorcerer.
…
Kyoto, renowned as the ancient capital, had been the seat of Japan's imperial power for over 1200 years since the Heian period.
It still retained much of the layout and planning of Tang dynasty Chang'an and Luoyang.
Minamoto Sōjun walked through the narrow streets, feeling a unique sense of time travel.
Here, there were the oldest temples and the most well-known shrines.
Minamoto Sōjun was very interested in these legends of gods and Buddhas, knowing that even in negative emotions, if fear and guilt related to sacred things were combined, they could create unusual curse types.
"You're looking for fire spirits?"
Kyoto residents always took pride in their cultural heritage.
Minamoto Sōjun encountered an elderly local on the street and asked for information.
"There are so many, like fire from the heavens, human souls, and the Do-gara-shaku."
The first two were easy to understand—flames caused by natural disasters like lightning or the so-called ghost fire, which could be scientifically explained as phosphorescence, and urban legends related to them.
As for the latter…
"Do-gara-shaku is a gourd-like monster that glows with blue-white light and flies around at night," the old man said, scratching his bald head, showing a missing front tooth as he smiled.
"That's nonsense. It's clearly a long spoon-shaped monster flying around. Why would it be called 'Do-gara-shaku'?" one of the man's companions interjected.
"Have you seen it?" The old man's reply made the companion fall silent.
The companion scratched his head, finally reacting: "You… have you seen it before?"
The old man didn't respond, his expression suddenly darkening as he turned to look at Minamoto Sōjun.
"Now that you mention it, I have seen the Do-gara-shaku," he paused and asked mysteriously, "Why do you young people ask about this?"
"Oh, I'm just researching folklore…" Minamoto Sōjun replied.
Before he could finish, the old man couldn't hold back his desire to share: "They say it's a glowing monster shaped like a gourd, but it's actually just a fireball with a tail flying around. The blue-white fire is called yin fire, and when I poured water on it, the fire flared up even more."
You're really brave, old man.
"When did you see it?" Minamoto Sōjun asked.
"Oh, just… last night," the old man said, grinning and scratching his head.
No way? You believe that?
He fell silent, a look of hesitation crossing his face as he seemed to be holding back.
The companion, still listening intently, was surprised when the old man suddenly stopped talking, hurriedly pressing, "What happened next? What happened then?"
The old man said nothing, tugging his companion away as they walked off.
As they walked far enough away, Minamoto Sōjun could still hear them speaking:
"Hey, keep talking!"
"Why did you leave half the story out?"
"Don't worry about it, let's go…"
Minamoto Sōjun looked away, holding a strand of tainted cursed energy he had intercepted, low in power and harmless to ordinary people.
But it was the fire he was looking for.
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone