Free Web NovelChapter 347: 347 Jujutsu Kaisen 12
"You all know the theory. ’Multiply the negative energy of cursed energy by another negative to create positive energy with a positive nature.’ When I say ’hyuu~ hyoit,’ I’m describing the feeling you get when creating it. Originally, Reverse Cursed Technique is something that, once you grasp it and understand the feeling, you can do it repeatedly. It’s just that reaching that stage is difficult. So I was describing the feeling."
"Right, right."
Ieiri nodded in agreement with my explanation. But Satoru and Suguru just sighed.
Actually, there were easier ways to teach them. I could manipulate the cursed energy of the person I’m teaching to induce it to turn into positive energy, or just directly impart Reverse Cursed Technique. But if I taught them Reverse Cursed Technique, various problems might arise. Especially the issue concerning ’Amanai Riko.’
"How about practicing ’Black Flash’ instead? You know Black Flash, right?"
When I asked, Suguru answered.
"Yes. Black Flash occurs when the time difference between a physical strike and the impact of cursed energy is within 0.000001 seconds. Also, the ratio between the cursed energy wrapped around the body, the cursed energy that strikes the opponent, and the cursed energy that applies to both must fit together perfectly."
"Have you ever experienced it?"
Both Suguru and Satoru shook their heads, saying they had never experienced it. Looking at this, the Limitless technique really is overpowered. Even Satoru, who has never experienced Black Flash, could still fight Uraume. Although he almost always lost.
"They say the difference between a sorcerer who has experienced Black Flash and one who hasn’t is as vast as heaven and earth. A sorcerer who successfully performs Black Flash enters a state similar to what sports call ’the zone.’ It’s a state of awakening a kind of ’sense,’ where things that normally require conscious effort become as natural as breathing, allowing for more precise manipulation of cursed energy, even if temporarily. So from now on, you two will fight me using only hand-to-hand combat with cursed energy, no techniques. Until you experience Black Flash."
"Alright! Perfect warm-up before swimming."
"Definitely."
From then on, I began receiving their attacks without counterattacking, only defending. Of course, I infused my cursed energy to facilitate Black Flash.
Tak! Pak! Tak tak! Chok!
"How can you handle the two of us attacking at once?"
"You two. Instead of thinking about winning, think about using Black Flash."
"Dammit! I know!"
Tak tak! Chok! Tak! Pak!
After about three hours of nonstop sparring, the two collapsed on the beach, gasping for breath, seemingly unable to fight any longer.
"Lunchtime is soon. I’ll prepare lunch, so you two rest for a while."
"Haah... even if you didn’t say that, I don’t have the energy to get up anymore."
I took the dinghy back to the yacht to prepare beer chicken to bring back to the island. Just then, Tsukumo, who had drunk too much the day before and slept in, was awake, so she came along. We gathered wood, lit a fire, and started grilling beer chicken.
"Oh~ smells delicious. Is it ready yet?"
"Wait. Chicken doesn’t grill that quickly."
Satoru and Suguru, who had been lying on the beach, smelled the chicken and asked when it would be ready. They must have been very hungry after using their bodies so much. When the chicken was almost done, Ieiri brought Uraume, who had been training at the back of the island. But she also brought Yaga, and her gaze toward him seemed somewhat dissatisfied.
"Huh? Did Sensei do something wrong? Why are you looking at him like that?"
"He was enjoying swimming alone behind the island."
"Eh~~!!?? Isn’t that unfair, Sensei!!?? While your students were training hard!!"
Yaga, looking somewhat embarrassed, scratched his head and said.
"The Head Priest was looking after you, so I got bored... haha!"
"This isn’t a ’haha’ situation, Sensei!"
"W-well, you trained hard in the morning, so I’ll let you rest in the afternoon. How about that?"
"Really... you just wanted to play too, Sensei."
Then I announced to everyone. The chicken was done.
"Come get your chicken. One whole chicken per person. I also grilled potatoes, so take some."
"Oh~ finally."
We spread a mat on the beach and began tearing into our chickens. I also provided bowls of salt, whole-grain mustard, and even vegetable salad.
"Hot hot..."
"So good!"
"I know, look at the juice!"
"The grilled potatoes are delicious too? The Head Priest is an amazing cook."
"I know, right. Hey Satoru, eat some salad."
"More nagging? You eat more!"
As expected, everyone ate well. Beer chicken cooked in a place like this never fails as long as you don’t burn it.
After finishing the meal and resting briefly, everyone returned to the yacht to change into swimsuits. When Uraume came out in her swimsuit, people gasped in admiration. Perhaps feeling shy, instead of a bikini, she chose a blue one-piece swimsuit with cutouts at the waist, which gave off an elegant yet stylish vibe and highlighted her well-proportioned figure. The cutouts at the waist added a subtle sexiness.
"Oh~ Uraume, you have a great figure. I couldn’t tell because your clothes were hiding it."
When Satoru said that admiringly, Ieiri spoke with a look of accomplishment.
"You guys should thank me. I picked it out carefully. But don’t stare too intently."
"Yeah, yeah."
What was interesting was that Uraume seemed a little shy about the attention. It seemed she had finally fully accepted herself as female. And although people didn’t say it out loud, Ieiri in her orange bikini also showed off her noticeable figure, while Tsukumo in her white bikini revealed a more mature beauty, drawing everyone’s attention.
We gathered water play equipment and returned to the island to fully enjoy the water. I took people on the banana boat and even taught them how to use the AquaBoost. Soon, everyone was skillfully enjoying themselves and having a great time. These kids had said they had no energy left, but after eating and resting, they played with just as much enthusiasm.
After spending two days training in the morning and playing in the afternoon, they finally succeeded in performing Black Flash. Unexpectedly, Suguru experienced it before Satoru. I had thought Satoru, with the Six Eyes, would be faster, but whether Suguru being faster was coincidence or instinct, I couldn’t say.
"Th-this is Black Flash..."
"Congratulations. You’ve finally taken a step forward as a sorcerer."
"So this is what it feels like... Now I understand why they say the difference between a sorcerer who has experienced Black Flash and one who hasn’t is like heaven and earth."
"Right?"
Then Satoru spoke to me in a sulky tone.
"I haven’t experienced it yet. Let’s do it quickly, Head Priest."
"Okay."
Whether because he thought he was falling behind or because of his determination to see it through, I couldn’t say, but the next day, Satoru also succeeded in manifesting Black Flash.
"Yes~! This feeling of euphoria is no joke, huh?"
"Right?"
When Satoru said that happily, Suguru agreed.
"Well done. I think we should have a party today. Yaga, is that okay?"
When I asked Yaga, perhaps pleased with his students’ growth, he immediately agreed.
"Alright! You’ve worked hard, so today is a party!"
"Ehh~ Sensei, you spent every day fishing or swimming. Of course you should agree."
"You brat!"
Knock!
"Ugh!"
Watching quietly, I noticed that Satoru habitually said things that seemed designed to earn him a hit. But that seemed to create a strange chemistry between Yaga and Satoru, making their relationship more special. Perhaps that’s why Satoru was so furious when Yaga died in the original story.
Anyway, I gathered everyone, brought them to the yacht, and specially prepared snow crab for them today.
"Oh~ snow crab! This will be good!"
"Right, worth having succeeded at Black Flash."
As Satoru and Suguru said that, Ieiri sighed and spoke.
"It’s nice to eat delicious things, but at this rate, I’ll just gain weight."
"Then move your body. Go swimming or something."
"I’m different from you brutes!"
"Yeah, yeah, you’re amazing."
But the funny thing was that even as she said that, Ieiri ate a lot of snow crab. She really couldn’t resist snow crab.
From the next day, Satoru and Suguru sparred with each other, experiencing Black Flash and gradually refining their understanding of cursed energy, which was improving. Tsukumo also sparred with them, assisting their training. Meanwhile, Uraume, having apparently succeeded in controlling her technique, began producing only very small explosion sounds, unlike the first day. At this level, the outdoor training could be considered a success.
"Does everyone have everything? Nothing forgotten?"
When the outdoor training ended and we were about to return to Tokyo, everyone looked very reluctant.
"Ah... I don’t want to go back. Going back to Tokyo just means dealing with more cursed spirits."
"I know. Summer is almost here, so cursed spirits will be running wild."
There was a reason cursed spirits run wild in summer: the sweltering heat causes people’s negative emotions to accumulate even more.
"Sensei, can’t you give us summer break? This is a violation of student human rights."
When Satoru grumbled, Yaga spoke as if it couldn’t be helped.
"As you know, compared to the increasing number of cursed spirits, there’s a shortage of sorcerers. There’s nothing we can do. Ultimately, we can only hope that more talented people enter our school."
Satoru sighed.
"I wish those curse user bastards would get their act together and help exorcise cursed spirits."
Hearing that, Suguru spoke somewhat pessimistically.
"The more people suffer, the more money they can make, so they wouldn’t want to stop it in the first place. That’s probably why we’re compensated accordingly. I think it’s a real shame."
As Suguru said, due to the low number of legitimate sorcerers, they could earn a lot of money. That’s why the families that produce excellent sorcerers could maintain wealth and power befitting their status.
Tsukumo, listening to them, looked at her juniors with pity. From her perspective, it seemed a bit sad that they were already worrying about such things at their young age.
Anyway, we finished preparations and set off for Tokyo. Having grown close to her juniors during their time on the island, Tsukumo played card games and chatted happily with them during the journey.
"Well then, Head Priest, Tsukumo, see you next time. Thanks for helping with training."
"That was fun. Uraume, see you at school."
Upon arriving at the mansion and finishing our cleanup, everyone returned to their respective homes. Since they had two days of rest after returning, they didn’t go straight to school but went home. I sent them off, used [Life Magic] to quickly clean the yacht, then went to my room to rest.
Time passed, and summer approached. This summer’s Taijin-kyo gathering was held at the main headquarters’ campground. In true summer fashion, we had water gun fights, idol performances, and fireworks. Unfortunately, as the gathering grew larger, it became harder to take the believers elsewhere, but thankfully, the believers enjoyed themselves, so that was a relief.
And gradually, I began using funds to start support projects for Taijin-kyo. I helped believers who were in difficult circumstances, hired those who had lost jobs or been laid off to become Taijin-kyo staff if they were suitable, and also helped arrange other jobs for them.
Among them, for those in very poor health, I visited them personally and treated them. People called this a divine miracle, and some began believing in me with all their hearts. As a result, overly zealous followers appeared, and some even took to the streets to proselytize. I needed to restrain them. It seemed there were always fanatical people everywhere.
Tsukumo was also very worried about this problem.
"At this rate, it might turn into a cult."
"I’m keeping it in check, so you don’t need to worry about that."
As I managed Taijin-kyo, before I knew it, summer had passed and autumn was approaching. Whenever Uraume came home, she grumbled about the increase in cursed spirits being annoying. Summer truly was the season when cursed spirits swarmed. Satoru, Suguru, and Ieiri must have had a hard time too, and Tsukumo was also frequently called out.
"Now that it’s autumn, the frequency of cursed spirit appearances should decrease. Summer really is exhausting."
"Didn’t you used to not care about that and go abroad to do research?"
"I used to, but I found myself worrying about the kids at school. It’s not easy to just focus on myself anymore."
Whether because she remembered the kids she’d grown fond of during the outdoor training complaining, Tsukumo had spent this season helping exorcise cursed spirits diligently. In return, she seemed to have earned a lot of money.
Then, a black sedan arrived at our mansion. They introduced themselves as being from the ’Kamo clan.’ I told the security guards to let them in.
"The Kamo clan visiting the mansion—what brings you here?"
"We have come to propose a marriage."
They made an absurd statement and showed me a photograph of a handsome young man dressed in onmyoji attire.
"We are aware that the Head Priest has a younger sister attending Jujutsu High. Our clan wishes to welcome her. Through this opportunity, we sincerely hope that the Hisakawa family and the Kamo clan can move toward a more cooperative relationship."
In short, they wanted to form a marriage alliance through a wedding. And Uraume is a special grade sorcerer. Gaining such an outstanding sorcerer would naturally elevate their own standing. This wasn’t merely a marriage—it was a strategic choice to solidify power and influence.
"I’m sorry, but I cannot accept the marriage proposal. I have a policy of not forcing marriage unless both parties are mutually interested."
At my words, the Kamo clan members’ expressions soured.
"However, I am more than willing to accept cooperation."
"We are grateful enough for those words alone. Although the marriage proposal is disappointing, we should be satisfied that our two clans have established a cooperative relationship."
During the Heian period, the golden age of sorcery, many sorcerer clans flourished, but among them, three particularly outstanding families existed. These families have maintained their status as prestigious houses in the Japanese sorcery world to this day, wielding powerful influence. Those three families are the Zenin clan, the Gojo clan, and the Kamo clan.
Currently, the Zenin clan holds the most influence. While the Gojo clan’s techniques are heavily focused on the Limitless and Six Eyes, the Zenin clan has expanded its power by welcoming individuals with excellent techniques as sons- or daughters-in-law across generations, and their financial power is also considerable. The Kamo clan is somewhat ambiguous but inherited the lineage of onmyoji, valuing tradition, and maintains close ties with the higher-ups.
Those families would not simply leave alone a newly emerged family with special grade sorcerers. With two special grade sorcerers, they wouldn’t pick a direct fight, but for the sake of their own positions and power, it was very likely they would continue approaching us like this in the future.
After the Kamo clan members left, Tsukumo, who had been watching, sighed and said.
"Those three families never change. They were like that in my day too."
"Really? I guess you received a lot of marriage proposals?"
"Yeah. Ever since I was at the school, they kept bothering me like that."
"But there might have been a good man among them."
"No way. The three great families are rigid and view women merely as tools for the clan. If I had married back then, I’d probably be suffering a lot now."
Well, just looking at the Zenin clan in the original story makes that clear.
