Free Web NovelChapter 345: 345 Jujutsu Kaisen 10
When Satoru collapsed like that, the ones watching from under the tree rushed over to check on him. The reason this happened was simply because Satoru had let his guard down completely.
"Hey! Satoru, wake up!"
When Satoru didn’t regain consciousness, Suguru supported him while Ieiri used her Reverse Cursed Technique on him.
"Ugh! Achilles and the tortoise!"
Partly because I had held back, and thanks to Ieiri’s Reverse Cursed Technique, Satoru soon came to.
"Satoru, are you okay?"
"Y-yeah... my Limitless got pierced... what the hell..."
Gojo Satoru possessed the Limitless technique, the inherited technique of the Gojo clan.
Simply put, the Limitless technique uses the concept of infinity to manipulate space-time—truly the strongest technique in the universe. Even Gojo himself, who fought the king of curses Ryomen Sukuna, once boasted, "In terms of technique performance, I am overwhelmingly superior."
The basic structure is applying an infinite series converging toward zero to space, so that the closer an object within range gets to the user, the more infinitely subdivided the distance becomes without a lower limit. As a result, the approach speed converges to zero, and the time required to reach the Limitless user becomes infinite, creating an inviolable state where nothing—unless permitted by the user—can ever approach within a certain distance.
In other words, it treats space-time as a continuous function and controls its rate of distance change, with the direction of this spatial function modulated to derive into attraction (blue) and repulsion (red). Simply put, it can be seen as causing anything that touches the technique’s boundary to either have its movement converge to zero and stop, be pulled inward (-), or be pushed outward (+).
An interesting point is that besides Gojo Satoru, there are others in the Gojo clan who possess the Limitless technique. But even having it, it is so difficult to handle that without the fine cursed energy manipulation originating from the Six Eyes, it cannot be used. Hence, only Gojo Satoru, who was born with the Six Eyes, could properly wield the Limitless technique.
"You Gojo brat. That was the result of your confidence that you would never be pierced. The truth is, there’s no such thing as absolute in this world."
Really, even as I struck down, this guy didn’t dodge—he just kept standing there confidently.
"That’s true... but how did you pierce the Limitless?"
"There are many ways. Hold out your palm and use the Limitless."
When I said that, Satoru held out his hand and used the Limitless technique. I neutralized the active Limitless on his hand and slowly took hold of it.
"First: domain amplification. Wrapping yourself in a domain to neutralize the technique."
"A method like that..."
I released Satoru’s surprised hand, then again neutralized the Limitless active on his hand and slowly took hold of it.
"Second: technique neutralization through highly compressed positive energy."
"I-is that so..."
This time I released Satoru’s hand and distanced myself slightly. Then I lightly flicked my finger, and the palm of Satoru’s hand, still under the Limitless, was slightly cut and began to bleed a little.
"Third: someone skilled enough to warp or cut space itself."
As I continued explaining, Satoru’s expression grew darker. The second and third methods are things that only those at a level most ordinary sorcerers could never dream of reaching would be able to use.
"Fourth: tools that cancel techniques themselves. Fifth..."
"Eh... there’s more? Just how many weaknesses does the Limitless have?"
Satoru, as if he didn’t like having his technique exposed, spoke as if telling me to stop.
"If you say so, I’ll stop. Brat, if you keep acting up relying only on the Limitless, you’ll get seriously hurt someday."
When I said that, Satoru let out a deep sigh and spoke.
"Haah... this is awkward... I just learned today that my technique has so many weaknesses."
"Because it’s that strong of a technique, it’s been studied a lot. You can still take pride in it."
Then Yaga, who had been watching, said one thing.
"You brat, I knew this would happen someday. Count yourself lucky the Head Priest went easy on you. If it had been a real fight, you’d already be gone from this world. Weaknesses are just weaknesses—it’s up to you to overcome them. So strive forward!"
At Yaga’s words, Satoru made a bitter face and muttered.
"Easier said than done..."
"You brat!"
Knock!
"Ugh!"
While they were at it, I looked at Suguru and said.
"Hey, Bangs, come here for a moment."
"’Bangs’..."
This guy didn’t tie all his hair back like some—he wore a small portion of his left hair down. Because of that, in the future, he would be called "Bangs" by many people. At this point in time, I think I might have been the first to call him that.
Anyway, when I called Suguru, he came over.
"You smell heavily of cursed spirits—you’re a Cursed Spirit Manipulation user, aren’t you."
"Should I be surprised, or say ’as expected’... anyway, you’re right. It’s Cursed Spirit Manipulation."
"You have a treasure. To be honest, I rate Cursed Spirit Manipulation higher than the Limitless."
Suguru asked, surprised.
"Why do you think that?"
"Hmm... to use a game analogy, the Limitless starts at level 90 but can’t go higher, while Cursed Spirit Manipulation starts at level 1 but can go up to 100. If you put in the effort, you can become very strong. I don’t know if you’re putting in that effort, though."
Cursed Spirit Manipulation is a technique that allows one to tame and freely control cursed spirits. Aside from the difficulty of turning a defeated cursed spirit into a ball and swallowing it whole, like how the Ten Sacred Treasured Spell Technique can be used to access a shikigami’s abilities without fully summoning it, Cursed Spirit Manipulation can similarly use the techniques of cursed spirits without fully summoning them. In the original story, Kenjaku used it that way.
That’s why I rated it so highly. Of course, since I have the [Kill Steal] ability, I have no need for it myself. But Suguru didn’t yet know about that. Moreover, he wasn’t even particularly close with the cursed spirits he had tamed.
"Then how should I make the proper effort?"
"If I told you everything, it wouldn’t be fun. So I’ll give you a hint. Summon any cursed spirit."
When I told him to, Suguru summoned a cursed spirit that looked like an onion with a large mouth. I pointed at the cursed spirit and said.
"You. How much do you know about this one?"
"Roughly what kind of attacks it does, I guess?"
"Pathetic. You need to know more about your cursed spirits. That’s the hint."
Suguru made a troubled face.
"I have no idea what you mean... can’t you just tell me?"
"Using cheats makes the game boring. Think about it yourself. Anyway, I’ll be going now. Take good care of my younger sibling."
With that, I left Uraume in their care and returned to the mansion.
There was a reason I did this for them. Because I have the [Manifestation Reduction Technique] ability, I can understand and use any technique just by seeing it once. With this, I could now also use Tsukumo Yuki’s ’Star Rage’ and Geto Suguru’s ’Cursed Spirit Manipulation.’
In Geto Suguru’s case, in the future, he would feel inferior to Gojo Satoru and gradually experience a rift between the path he chose and Gojo’s overwhelming talent. That would shake his bond with Gojo as a comrade, eventually creating a large crack in his beliefs as a sorcerer and his view of humanity, leading to a tragic choice.
Of course, there were other reasons, but I think that was the biggest factor. So I told him that Cursed Spirit Manipulation could potentially surpass the Limitless. But since I also wanted to see how the original story progressed, I didn’t tell him in detail. It seemed I would have to watch whether Suguru would find the answer.
A few days later, Tsukumo came again.
"Let’s go for a ride."
"Hey, weren’t you doing research on curses and stuff? I guess you’re not going abroad anymore?"
"Well, after hearing what you said, I felt a bit of helplessness, I suppose? Lately, I’ve just been exorcising cursed spirits and making money."
It seemed Tsukumo had felt some loss of motivation after what I told her before.
"Where are you living now?"
"At a hotel. Honestly, I don’t have a house. I spent almost all my money traveling abroad, but lately, I’ve been doing missions and living off that, so I guess it’s gotten a bit better?"
"You’ve been living without thinking about the future. You’ll never get married that way."
"Well, whatever. It’ll happen when it happens, right? Anyway, let’s go for a ride."
"Fine, fine."
Tsukumo was wrong. In the original story, she lived single past her thirties and eventually died. She struggled until the very end to prevent the birth of cursed spirits, but in the end, she fell meaninglessly.
We rode the bikes around Tokyo and then went to a good restaurant to eat. It was a steak specialty place—pretty decent.
"Why don’t you just live at my place? There are plenty of empty rooms. You can save on hotel costs."
"Is that okay?"
"Yeah. And before long, some kids will be coming, so having a woman around would help with things I can’t handle for them."
"Huh? Kids?"
"Yes. Kids I’m bringing from the Zenin clan."
I was thinking of first bringing the twins—Maki and Mai from the Zenin clan. They’re still young and their techniques haven’t manifested yet, so they’re getting by for now, but in about a year when their techniques become apparent, they’ll soon be treated like trash by the clan. So I decided to take them in advance.
"The Zenin clan... They’re not going to give away their precious bloodline, are they?"
"That’s only if the technique is decent. If it’s not, they’re treated like cold rice."
"So the kids you want to bring are ones already discarded by the clan?"
"Yes."
"But why do you want to bring them?"
"That’s a secret."
"Good grief. Anyway, fine. I’m moving my stuff tomorrow. You’ll help, right?"
"Yeah, I’ll help."
Thus, Tsukumo Yuki joined our mansion.
Tsukumo didn’t have much luggage. Just her bike, a few clothes, and the materials she had gathered over time—we could just load them into my Wrangler and bring them. On the way, we stopped at a mart and bought necessary daily supplies.
"Wow~ the room is bigger than the hotel’s?"
"If you’re hungry, tell the maids. They’ll prepare a meal. And if you don’t have anything particularly important in your room, you can ask them to clean it too."
"Oh~ really? Looks like I made the right choice staying at a rich person’s place."
I helped Tsukumo briefly organize her luggage. And since the sorcerer household was going to increase, I needed a training ground—so I bought land in front of the island the mansion was on and was building a sturdy concrete structure.
The next day, Uraume came home and started taking various things back to school. Most of her luggage was game consoles. She was wearing her school uniform, probably already made by Jujutsu High. Unlike Ieiri’s, her top was white, and she wore a long skirt. It suited her surprisingly well.
"You’re not taking the computer?"
"I bought a new laptop."
This one had handled a computer for the first time recently, but she seemed to have gotten used to it quickly thanks to gaming. As expected, humans learn astonishingly fast when it’s for pleasure.
’Well, I learned computers through games too.’
I also asked Uraume how school life was.
"Is school bearable?"
"Except for that Satoru guy, it’s fine."
"Why? What’s wrong with Satoru?"
"He keeps picking fights. We’ve fought several times."
Things were getting interesting.
"Oh~ really? So how did it go?"
"I win almost every time. The weaknesses of the Limitless that brother told me about work quite well. And thanks to the Dantian Storage Technique, I also have the physical advantage."
That ordinary guy—now he’s getting beaten by Uraume too.
"Come to think of it, you only use neutral techniques. Don’t you use Reverse Cursed Technique? If you could use that too, you’d become even stronger."
"I’m more accustomed to neutral techniques."
"Is that so?"
This was probably largely due to Sukuna’s influence. Since Uraume was used as a living refrigerator, Sukuna likely never trained her in technique reversal.
"Still, practice it in advance just in case."
"I will do that."
