章 24: Hidden Inventory VII
*Alternate Title: The Enlightened One*
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In the outskirts of Tokyo, there lied a temple like building with shrines and other aesthetics making it worthy to be called a temple. But this place was no temple, it was a place where a cult gathered.
The cult of the 'Time Vessel Association'.
And walking down the hallway to the exit were two men, one was an average build adult man with short black hair that's longer on the top than the sides and the back and wears a generic black suit. He has dark eyes, thin eyebrows, and an even thinner mustache.
The other though was more remarkable, instead of having professional clothes. This man is a tall muscular man with mid-length straight black hair that reaches to his ears. He has green eyes, thin black eyebrows and a sharp scar over the right side of his mouth just on the edge of his lips.
He wears a tight fitting short sleeve shirt and sports tan baggy training pants with a black belt weaved through the waist, as well as black martial arts slippers.
On his right shoulder was a curse with an elongated body. It had the face of a human, always smiling with closed eyes and had no limbs.
The former was a man who works for the 'Time Vessel Association' named Shiu Kong.
The latter though was a mercenary.
The cult that hired a certain mercenary to take Gojo and Geto down. The two strongest sorcerers of the time had been taken out by a single person. Most people would laugh and think this is a joke if they heard this.
The two strongest sorcerers beaten by a man who possessed no curse energy would be the joke of the century to all sorcerers who would of heard about this. Though it sounds ridiculous, it was all true.
He was one who defied fate and changed it.
The person that single handedly did this was Zen'in Toji, the sorcerer killer.
"Well let's eat some grub with that cash. Take me to a place with a grand reception." He said to Shiu who was beside him.
"No way. I know you don't pay the bills for men you bastard." He pulled out a cigar and smoked it while chuckling. "I've decided that I'll only involve myself with you for either work... or in hell. Nowhere else."
Parting ways, Toji walked away from the temple and was about to leave the grounds but was stopped by someone. Someone he never expected to see nor be here.
He was shocked as he was filled with puzzlement.
"Yo. Long time no see."
"... are you serious?"
A man that he had personally killed was standing on his two feet. He had stabbed his throat, cut apart his leg dozen of times, gashed his side and stabbed through his brain. Yet here he was, acting like none of it ever happened.
The only indication of it ever happening was the blood on his face and clothes but no wounds could be found.
A man that stood here alive despite having supposedly died just moments ago.
The enlightened one.
Gojo had arrived and he had a crazed smile on him, unlike his normal smile. It wasn't full of arrogance. There was a feeling of freedom around him. Like he wasn't bound by the rules of this world any longer.
The closest feeling a human can ever describe to what Gojo was feeling at this moment-
Was absolute freedom.
Freedom from everything.
From rules and responsibility.
From pain and enjoyment.
Simply free from the world.
"Yeah. I'm alive and well." Gojo said while pointing to his bloodied head.
"A Reverse Curse Technique!"
"CORRECT!" His smile widened even further when he saw his opponents surprised face.
"I gave up fighting back when you crushed my throat. Pouring all into perfecting this technique. Cursed energy uses negative energy. It can fortify the body, but it can't regenerate it. That's why it's needed to multiply it with the same amount of curse energy to create positive. In other words, reverse curse technique!"
While Gojo was explaining, Toji only had one thought.
'Is he high? He's talking an awful lot.'
Gojo who was oblivious or simple didn't care about his opponent's thought continued his explanation in a daze. "But I couldn't do it at all... that is until now. The only person I knew who could do it can't explain for shit, either."
"But I finally got it when I was on my deathbed. The Core of Cursed Energy!"
"You lost because you didn't cut off my head... and because you didn't use that cursed tool when you stabbed me in the head."
"... lost?-" Toji pulled out a dagger out of the curse spirit's mouth.
"The fight has just begun."
"AH YEAH, I GUESS SO!! WELL I GUESS YOU'RE RIGHT!!!"
Just as they began fighting, Arai had entered the temple. He was full of sweat and breathed heavily. Having just seen Gojo wake up, he tried to talk to him but he instantly disappeared and vanished.
Just seeing Gojo float in the air was already surprising but now he could teleport. This made Arai reach a conclusion. Gojo had grown stronger when he stepped on death's door.
An enlightenment one can say which explains why he quoted Buddha himself.
That being is and will always be known as the 'Enlightened One'.
Arriving at the battlefield, Arai stood still shocked at the display of power being thrown around. Gojo's attitude changed since he 'awakened' but his fighting style did too. Before it was like a kid that had all the power and just threw it around although with really good precision.
But now... now it looked like a show. Every movement was fluid. A painting in action was the best comparison Arai could come up with.
His opponent was no slouch either. Wielding a chain and attaching it was a dagger with a jutte-like shaped blade. It's curse energy was odd just by feeling it, a weapon like that was easily special grade.
Not only that but Toji had an overwhelming physical capabilities. His movements although not as beautiful and elegant as Gojo was fast and precise.
Arai who saw Toji widened his eyes as he saw something he never expected.
But if one would compare the two monsters then it would be like this.
Gojo would be like a warrior who incorporated dancing into a fighting style while Toji was like a seasoned warrior who didn't care about how he looked. Simply going for the kill and not leaving any movements wasted.
But despite that, one can easily see who was winning. Gojo was just playing around with that smile of his. Unfortunately for Toji, Gojo didn't wait any longer.
Two of his fingers straightened as a red glow gathered from seemingly nowhere to the tip of them forming into a dense red orb.
[Curse Technique Reversal: Red.]
The new technique Gojo released sent a red orb that flew at an incalculable speed straight to Toji blowing him away across buildings.
He landed on the temple with blood coming flowing down his head. Luckily with his instincts, he had blocked the blow with his hand or else more damage would of been done.
"Hah... damn monster." Toji said with a smile on his face.
Toji chuckled and stood back up with little to no effort. Despite bleeding and suffering internal injuries, his face showed no pain.
"This guy just took that blow and shrugged it off like its nothing?!" Arai who saw this was even more surprised. This fight was simply out of his league and all he could do was watch with his mouth wide open.
Toji went back to the fray and striked at Gojo while the latter just floated in the air.
Both had similar thoughts, their regrets were starting to show. Gojo regretting not being able to save the girl he was supposed to protect while Toji was feeling unease at his composure.
The dagger which Toji wielded had the powerful ability to stop a curse energy technique. A special grade tool so powerful that it could even affect Gojo in his enlightened state. It was a powerful tool and it had a fitting name.
The 'Inverted Spear of Heaven'.
But this weapon was not the only thing from the heavens.
"Throughout the Heavens and Earth, I alone am the honored one."
Teleporting out of the spear's way, Gojo pointed to Toji with his index. A purple energy came from his fingers into a purple orb that had one purpose.
Destroy everything.
The 'Red and 'Blue' of Infinity.
The Attraction and Repulsion of matter formed into a technique which scientist would be baffled at. It was an Imaginary technique as it defied the logic of this world.
When one combines these two, they will get-
[Hollow Purple.]
The instant Gojo awakened, it became a battle with a clear victor.
Toji was there still standing, but his entire left side of his body was gone. Blood flowed down his wounds, his left arm was on the floor in a pool of blood. His eyes on the verge of closing, not because of death.
But because he had realized his demeanor. He was a selfish person who only cared about money, but he was wrong. He deluded himself into fighting Gojo instead of running away. Wanting to fight the strongest and defeat him.
"I thought I had discarded that pride..." His voice was low as if he was talking to himself.
Looking up, he could see Gojo gliding down landing in front of him with no smile on his face. No ounce of hatred, arrogance nor victory.
"Any last words."
"Nah..."
Toji was about to let go but stopped himself as he remembered something. It was his only reason to be alive.
"My kid will get sold to the Zen'in clan in 2 or 3 years... do whatever you want."
His eyes finally closed as he fell to the ground with half of his body missing. His last thoughts unknown as he perished, dropping his weapon.
Gojo who saw this did not lift his hand to help him and just watched. Looking at the corpse of his enemy, Arai who was nearby finally broke out of his daze. The fight was simply too incredible to not be captivated by it.
"Uh Gojo we should go look for the vessel."
"Amanai."
"Huh?"
He turned back to look at Arai dead in the eyes.
"She wasn't a vessel. Her name was Amanai."
His tone was a threatening one yet it was oddly calm making him more frightening than before. Not because he was scary, but it was a kind of authority. Like a God telling a mortal to kneel before him.
"R-right, sorry. I didn't mean it that way."
Arai's words faltered as he almost unconsciously bowed to Gojo. Though Gojo seemed unfazed at his apology and disappeared out of sight.
When Gojo was gone, Arai turned his attention to the body of Toji. His eyes narrowed down at the gaping hole but his thoughts were unknown.
Later on, Geto met up with Gojo at the headquarters of the Time Vessel Association. He had far better sense than Arai did and was able to instantly tell that Gojo was completely different from before.
Both in personality and power.
The three of them went to the secret basement and found Amanai, the vessel. Her head had a hole right through it and they could see she was still bleeding. Her face still had a smile that seemed sad but filled with hope.
It is a shame that hope only brought her demise.
The people who were here were non-sorcerers but they knew what they had done. Killed an innocent girl who just wanted to live her own life. Aware of their crimes yet the only thing they did was smile.
A fake smile.
A smile filled with nothing but glee as they watched Gojo hold the corpse of the one he was supposed to protect.
"Should we... kill them all?" Gojo said looking at the sorcerers still clapping. "I'll probably feel nothing even if I did..."
"No. There's no meaning to that. As far as I can tell, the main offenders who did this already fled. They can't escape from the situation now and were a problematic organization to begin with before. They'll soon be dismantled soon enough."
Though Geto said this, he was looking down all the time not daring to look at Gojo. As if he was saying it from a textbook, but did not really mean any of it.
"'Meaning'... is there a need for that."
"It's important. Especially for sorcerers."
Arai could see the torment going to the two of them. Unlike him, they knew the girl and bonded with her during the course of these past days. He had never interacted with her nor her bodyguard.
The regret, pain and loss that they felt could not be transferred to him.
Still, this event not only cemented into Gojo and Geto's life. But Arai's as well.
As it drove him, to gather more power.
A blessing can be disguised as a curse.
And a blessing can be originated from a curse.
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WutDelusional
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