Free Web NovelChapter 351: 351 Jujutsu Kaisen 16
We waited in front of Satoru like that. Then suddenly, lying collapsed, Satoru began to mutter.
"Hyuu~ hyoit... Hyuu~ hyoit..."
Gradually, Satoru’s wounds began to heal.
"He finally succeeded! But that’s kind of an ugly..."
Satoru was collapsed forward, his head on the ground, holding his stomach. Repeating ’hyuu~ hyoit’ in that position looked absolutely hideous.
"Hmm... should I just leave him like this?"
"Th-that’s probably for the best."
Suguru and I sat down near Satoru to rest. While resting, Suguru took the Inventory Cursed Spirit I had brought, turned it into a ball, and swallowed it.
"I heard cursed spirits taste terrible."
"Yeah, it’s like swallowing a rag used to clean up vomit. That taste is something only I know."
"That sounds rough. A brilliant technique, but with such a price."
"Well, can’t be helped."
"Come to think of it, I once saw an old book. It described a fight between a sorcerer using Cursed Spirit Manipulation and another sorcerer. It said that sorcerer used a powerful technique that gathered all the cursed spirits he had absorbed and fired them as one mass."
At that, Suguru looked surprised and asked.
"Wh-what?! Was there anything else!?"
"No, that was it. As I said before, Cursed Spirit Manipulation has a high ceiling. Work hard."
Now that things were over, I thought it would be fine to give Suguru another hint, so I said that. Suguru put his chin in his hand and fell deep into thought. If Suguru mastered the secret technique of Cursed Spirit Manipulation, ’Maximum: Uzumaki,’ he might be able to extract the techniques of cursed spirits. But how long it would take him to realize that was uncertain.
Just then, Satoru woke up. He seemed to have finally regained consciousness.
"Oh! Head Priest, Suguru!"
"Congratulations. You’ve finally mastered Reverse Cursed Technique."
"Yeah! At the moment of death, I finally grasped the core of cursed energy!"
Satoru was quite excited about having learned Reverse Cursed Technique.
"But what about Amanai and Kuroi?"
"I hid them. And the muscle-bound guy ran away after fighting me."
"I see. Then that means I’ll have a chance for revenge, right!?"
The moment he came to, this guy was already dreaming of revenge against Toji. This made me a bit worried about whether reviving Toji would be a good idea.
"Speaking of Amanai, report that the muscle-bound guy kidnapped her. That way, you won’t catch any flak, and I won’t be bothered either."
Suguru acknowledged that and agreed.
"That’s true. So, where do you plan to protect them?"
"I’m thinking of keeping them in the US for a while. Then, once the whole Tengen matter is settled, I’ll bring them back to Japan. Maybe about half a year? By then, the Association probably won’t care about the Star Plasma Vessel anymore."
"Half a year... understood."
"Then I’ll be going now."
I stood up to leave. Suguru thanked me.
"Thank you for your help, Head Priest. If it weren’t for you, we might all be dead."
"If you’re grateful, get stronger. So this doesn’t happen again."
"Yeah."
With that, I returned to the mansion. Then I told Tsukumo about what had happened.
"That’s a relief. I’m glad it worked out... Then we need to prepare for the possibility of Tengen going rampant."
"Yeah, but surprisingly, maybe nothing will happen."
"If nothing happens, I won’t forgive it! Because that would mean Star Plasma Vessels have been sacrificed all this time even though nothing would have happened."
"That’s true."
The next day, I started preparing passports and visas for Amanai and Kuroi. Then I had someone find a penthouse in Manhattan, a bit away from the tourist areas. Since I would also use this penthouse, I put considerable thought into purchasing it.
But I couldn’t go to the US immediately. Tengen might turn out to be fine, but with Tsukumo anxiously watching with her eyes wide open, I couldn’t just go to the US alone.
Two weeks passed. Tsukumo couldn’t wait any longer and suggested we go to Jujutsu High to check on the situation. So I went with her.
"What? So Tengen just evolved safely!?"
"Yeah, that’s how it turned out, apparently. I was pretty concerned too, so I kept looking into it."
"Ha... really..."
When Satoru delivered the news, Tsukumo was incredulous. Frankly, I would be too.
"And don’t be surprised—Suguru and I have finally become special grades!"
"Well, that’s at least good news. So now there are five special grades in Japan?"
"Yeah."
"As expected, you guys got special grade. That’s a relief. It’s better that people we know and can talk to get it than some weirdos. Let’s do well from now on."
"Yeah."
But Suguru was nowhere to be seen. Uraume was probably busy playing games in her dorm—that much was obvious without even checking.
"Where’s Suguru? Ieiri isn’t here either."
"Ah, they’re both on missions. Lately, Suguru has been taking a lot of missions, saying he’s doing some kind of experiment."
"Really?"
He was probably diligently testing the hint I gave him. In the original, Satoru handled more missions after becoming special grade, but things had changed a bit.
Tsukumo chatted with the teachers at the school about this and that. From the way she was scratching her head in annoyance, she was probably hearing more details about Tengen. While she did that, I looked around the school. The school had a uniquely small number of students but was quite large in scale, with everything from an indoor gymnasium to a swimming pool—plenty to see.
After that, I went for a ride with Tsukumo, who was frustrated about Tengen. Today, she drove unusually fast. She must have been really fired up.
Now that the situation was over, one might ask whether Amanai and Kuroi could just live in Japan. But that wasn’t necessarily the case. The Time Vessel Association or curse user groups might retaliate, and the Sorcerer Association was still investigating the incident, so it couldn’t be helped. Plus, I had already coordinated with Satoru and the others to say "half a year," so changing that could complicate things and create awkward situations.
So I booked a hotel near the airport, took Amanai and Kuroi out of my inventory, healed them, and revived them.
"Huh? Where is this... Hisakawa-san, what’s going on..."
"This is a hotel near the airport. You two were on the brink of death, so I healed you here and woke you up."
"Then, what about the assimilation..."
"Tengen failed the assimilation and evolved, but nothing happened."
At that, Amanai’s face brightened considerably.
"Then I can go back to my normal life now?"
"No, not yet. I told the higher-ups that the people who did this to you kidnapped you, to avoid any trouble. So I need you to live in the US for a while. I’ve already informed the school, and I’ve prepared passports and visas, so there shouldn’t be any problems."
"I-is that so?"
Amanai Riko looked sad at the news that she wouldn’t be able to see her friends for a while.
"But don’t worry. Things should quiet down in half a year. Then you can come back to Japan, live at my mansion, and go back to school. The Star Plasma Vessel is no longer needed, so the Association’s support has been cut off, and there might be retaliation from curse users."
"I see. Okay."
"Do you know English?"
"Only a little..."
Amanai was still a middle school student, so her English seemed weak. Then Kuroi raised her hand and spoke.
"I know some. Even if we go to the US, it should be fine."
"Really? Still, just in case, I’ll assign a local who speaks Japanese, so if there’s anything you don’t understand, ask that person."
"Okay."
I handed Kuroi their newly made passports and visas, suitcases containing clothes and daily necessities, and a card with about 200 million yen. That should be enough for them to live comfortably for half a year.
The next day, I roughly disguised our faces and left for the US. Since it was their first time abroad, Amanai and Kuroi kept looking around excitedly. It was new to them, but to me, it felt like returning to my homeland after a long time.
"Wow~ Kuroi, there are only foreigners here!"
"That’s because it’s America, miss."
In Japan, Amanai and Kuroi had disguised their faces, but in New York, I had to disguise mine. I was somewhat famous, so someone might recognize me. So I pulled my hat down low, wore sunglasses, and guided them around.
Still, it was their first day in New York. After entering the penthouse, choosing rooms, and unpacking, I took them to see the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and other sights, letting them enjoy sightseeing. Their eyes sparkled as they took in the sights of New York, completely absorbed.
"So this is the taste of authentic American hamburgers!"
"It’s delicious, but now I understand why Americans are overweight. It tastes like my blood vessels are exploding. And the portions are enormous."
"That’s true. If you let your guard down, gaining weight will happen in an instant."
"I suppose so. I’ll need to watch our diet during the half year we’re in the US."
After enjoying their sightseeing, I showed them the mart near the penthouse and places not to go at night. It was evening by the time we returned to the penthouse. Then I started looking for a helper. I’d done this kind of thing several times in other universes, so I found someone quickly.
The person I found was a woman who had just graduated from college and needed money to open her own shop, so she was looking for a short-term job. She had a good personality and seemed like she’d get along well with Amanai and the others, so I hired her immediately.
"Well then, see you next time. If you run out of money or have any problems, contact me immediately."
"Okay. Thank you for your concern."
After wrapping up the New York affairs, I said goodbye to Amanai and the others and returned to Japan.
"Did everything go well in the US?"
"Yeah, they should be fine."
"That’s a relief."
Tsukumo had been worried about Amanai and the others too.
When I arrived back in Japan, I had another task. I needed to welcome the second set of new family members—the Hasaba sisters. The Hasaba sisters lived with their parents in the countryside until they lost them to a powerful cursed spirit. Their parents had voluntarily tried to stop the cursed spirit for the sake of the village, but the villagers didn’t understand and blamed the Hasaba family for the continuing cursed spirit damage.
As a result, the young Hasaba sisters had no one to protect them. They survived by stealing food from the village, but eventually, the villagers caught them, abused them, and even threatened their lives.
In the original story, Suguru, sent from the school, discovered this, became enraged, and massacred all the villagers. That incident was the starting point for Suguru to walk a different path from the school.
I drove my car and used [Jack Sparrow’s Compass] to find the way. It was deep in the countryside, so the journey took quite a while—nearly five hours.
Upon arriving at the village, I began looking for the Hasaba sisters. It seemed I would find them surprisingly quickly. The house where the sisters were staying was covered in graffiti like "Die," "Get out of the village," and piled with all kinds of trash, a mess that looked like a garbage dump. Fortunately, it seemed they hadn’t yet been caught and abused by the villagers.
I parked the car in front of the house and went inside. The inside was just as much of a disaster. When I entered, I sensed someone quickly hiding, so I followed that presence. It led me to a room. My Kenbunshoku Haki detected two young children hiding in the closet of that room, so I spoke in front of it, careful not to startle the sisters.
"I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help. Your parents died, and you’ve had a hard time, haven’t you? You don’t need to worry anymore. This big brother will protect you and let you eat delicious food."
After a moment of silence, a small voice came from inside the closet.
"I-is that true?"
"Shh! Be quiet! Don’t trust him!"
I chuckled and spoke again.
"You can see them, right? The monsters wandering outside. I can see them too. We have the ability to see things others can’t. That’s why people don’t understand. There are kids like you at my home. So come with me."
As I said, there were cursed spirits wandering outside the village—quite powerful ones at that. Those cursed spirits had probably killed the sisters’ parents. But I had no intention of exorcising them. I had no desire whatsoever to help this disgusting village.
The two whispered to each other for a moment, then slowly opened the closet door and came out. Still not entirely convinced, the sisters held hands tightly, trembling. They hadn’t been eating properly, so their bodies were thin, and their clothes were stained from not being washed.
I picked up the children and carried them out of the house, put them in the car, and immediately drove off. Because if the villagers saw the sisters, they would probably cause trouble. So I first drove out of the village, parked in a quiet place, changed their clothes, and handed them a lunchbox. The sisters began eating ravenously.
"No one’s going to take it from you, so eat slowly. Drink some water too."
"It’s so delicious."
"I’m glad."
I waited for the sisters to finish their lunchbox, then drove off again. Probably full, the sisters fell asleep immediately in the back seat.
