บท 55: I'm Naohiro

[Author Note]

Volume 4 has officially started!

Will cover Older Teen -> Adult Naohiro.

Disc: HrPrTeam (Joining the discord would be nice because we have a ton of weirdos. Evening it out would be amazing.)

Question: I know that Yuji stocks are high.

Does anyone still have investments in Kashimo stock? 💀

__________

Naohiro

A black barrier encases us both. Then, a fleshy, womb-like structure with a giant eye in the middle forms, with Naoya standing in front of it.

I smile before activating my anti-domain. "[Falling Blossom Emotion]."

With the injection of films that the sure-hit gives to its victims, Falling Blossom Emotion can counter them before they enter one's body.

Similarly to how my domain works, getting hit by the sure-hit a single time means you are under its rules.

I can't help but give him a genuine smile. "I'm extremely impressed that you were able to pull it off. I'm confused why you asked me to go all out even when you know that my domain would overwhelm yours."

Normally, there are a few ways to tell how refined a domain is: one is whether the domain is completed. Two is the stability of the structure. Finally, the third is seeing the effect on the user.

Surprisingly, he smiles back. "*Huff* *Huff* I wanted to see how my domain stacks up to more refined ones."

However, I notice something. "Is this your first time pulling off the complete domain?"

He widens his eyes. "What?"

I sit down in the middle. "You can barely hold this thing together. If you move an inch, the whole thing will shatter. You put too much cursed energy into it, making you nearly run dry as soon as it came out. Pumping above and beyond cursed energy is only needed when you are at a clear refinement disadvantage with another domain."

Naoya stands still but still ponders before snorting a laugh. "You are the only person who can sit down in someone's domain expansion and explain to them what they are doing wrong."

I continue. "While it can have a huge payoff, expanding a domain right from the jump can weaken you if it gets removed, so it should be used carefully."

He gives me a deadpan stare.

I raise an eyebrow. "What?"

Naoya keeps his deadpan stare. "You are the last person I want to hear that from."

What is he talking about?

Then it hits me. "I expand my domain a lot, don't I?"

He smirks. "You throw domains out like they are basic cursed energy reinforcement."

*BONK*

His domain shatters. "Well, I can afford to repeatedly use them. It's called an effective use of your technique."

However, his smirk stays on his face. "Sure, whatever you want to call it."

I huff a laugh. "In any case, you picked it up pretty quick. So, what is this thing about being a rogue cursed user? Gojo told me about it but didn't go into specifics. Also, why haven't I been attacked since returning?"

He flops his head back. "*Ugh* You really are a dense anime protagonist. Of course, no one will attack you; you're freakishly strong. Why follow some dumbass rule if it's going to get you killed?"

I rub the back of my head. "I guess you're right. What was it about the cursed user stuff, then?"

Naoya sits down. "If you want the specifics, you are rated as a special grade cursed user. You are also known as one of the most dangerous cursed users in history."

I smile. "Nice. Special grade, and I get a title."

He narrows his eyes. "It truly isn't nice. The higher-ups in Jujutsu society are going to be gunning for your head. Obviously, the Zenin opposed a rule since anyone who has known you for more than two seconds knows that you didn't kill that Geto guy."

Sighing, I stare up. "*Sigh* A guy named Kenjaku killed him and then sealed me in an object called the prison realm for a few years."

One of his eyebrows raised. "Then how the hell did you get so jacked during that time?"

I stretch my arms. "I was able to move inside, so why waste the time inside when I could be training?"

He looked at me like I was stupid. "So this Kenjaku guy didn't seal you but gave you a personalized training room?"

I laugh. "HAH, when you phrase it like that, he sure did."

Then I remember something important. "Oh yeah, I have a couple of half-curse friends that I want to bring inside the compound."

His mouth drops. "HUH!? How the hell did you make friends?"

I start to sweat. "They were strong, trustworthy people passionate about brothers, so we kind of hit it off."

His eyes narrow. "You aren't telling me something, aren't you?"

I start whistling. "I may or may not have used your name in a binding vow. Don't worry, I'm not going to break it, and even if I did, all you would need to do is change your name."

He stares at nothing. "You leave for three years, come back out of the blue, and use me in a binding vow."

I quickly speak up. "So what about those four people you are training now?"

He looks like he will explode before he scratches his hair and sighs. "We will talk about this later. Currently, I'm training Ranta, Maki, and Mai, with the newer addition being Toji's son, Megumi Fushiguro."

I smile. "The Ten Shadows, kid. I asked Gojo to bring him here if anything happened to me."

Naoya had a neutral look. "Since he was a Zenin, we offered a name change, but he was adamant that he kept Fushiguro because of his sister. I'm not going to lie; it's creepy how much he is attached to her. His sister is nothing special, but since they were both taken in, she will also be a new clan member."

I give him a smirk. "I'd like to meet everyone. I've finally figured out how to split the connection between the two sisters, and no, it won't involve hurting them."

He gives me a side eye but stands up. "Alright, I'll get them."

...

A few minutes later, he returns to the training field, and a line of children follows him like ducklings. I do notice, however, that one of them has spiky black hair and is staring into the sky.

It's the Mahoraga merchant!

After arriving at the training field, Naoya introduced me in a monotone voice. "Here is my brother, Naohiro. I'm only really doing this for Megumi since the rest of you know, but you guys will be interacting with him from now on."

I get judging stares. The little shits.

Standing up, I walk over to the twins. "I'm Naohiro, and I'll first turn off that stupid connection holding you two back."

Maki and Mai recoil, but I put my hand on their heads and close my eyes to see similar souls tangled together with weird strings.

If this were me of the past who couldn't understand manipulation, it would take me a little while, but I quickly uncoiled them and severed the connection.

Just then, Maki fell over and started breathing fairly heavily. Her cursed energy was taken, and Mai's cursed energy shot up to a semi-grade-one sorcerer's level.

I smiled. "Now Maki has her heavenly restriction unlocked, and Mai now has the amount of cursed energy that she was supposed to have."

The looks I receive are one of a man who did the impossible.

Since none of them are talking, I'll do the honors. "Now that the connection problem is solved, I will work with you, Megumi. I'm unsure what to do with you, Ranta, so stay with Naoya for now. I'll need to talk to Megumi about a few things or one BIG thing."

Rather than receiving replies, Maki and Mai nod together.

Ranta speaks up with wide eyes. "Understood, master Naohiro!"

Master? Well, if it works for him, I guess.

Megumi speaks up. "Are you just as weird as the Gojo guy...hey!?

Rather than arguing with a child, I pick him up by the back of his shirt and drag him away from the rest of the group.

While he gets dragged, I notice a tick mark. "What the heck is your deal?"

My gaze turns serious as I tilt my head to look at him. "We are going to lay some ground rules. The first thing is that attitude needs to go. Second, we are going to talk about your tenth Shikigami. If you can utilize your cursed technique, you'll become a walking calamity. However, if you don't do anything, all you will ever be is potential man."

He glares at me and grumbles before crossing his arms and mumbling. "*mumble* at least that Gojo guy wasn't an asshole."

I smile as a thought hits me. "I've thought of something. Until I'm satisfied with your progress as a sorcerer, you'll be known as potential man."

His eyebrow raises. "Potential man?"

I nod. "Yes, you will be the potential man from now on. Also, we are going to talk about Mahoraga."

His eyes widen to unimaginable heights. "How do you know abou-"

My eyes narrow as I drop him on the ground after making our way to a different training field. "The Ten Shadows aren't particularly strong in a normal sense, but one constant in the users makes it rival the strongest techniques, Mahoraga. If you drag someone into its subjugation ritual 99.99% of the time, the other person will die without exception. However, the user will die as well."

He keeps his widened eyes and doesn't speak.

I continue. "No one in history has CURRENTLY tamed Mahoraga, so it's used as a suicidal technique to kill the other person in the ritual. You're going to become strong enough to not rely on it. I'm going to hammer that point into your potential skull. I also want to see if it's possible for you to tame it, so we will do some test runs with it."

Fighting Mahoraga will also give me useful training. Fighting one of the strongest beings in the entire verse will help me understand my current level.

Is it ethically wrong to use Megumi's technique for my training?

Probably, but I couldn't care less.

He stutters. "H-how are you going to do that? You'll die."

I have a shit-eating grin on my face. "Don't worry, I'm the strongest."