CH1
Bird.
Toad.
Rabbit.
…
Toad.
Rabbit.
…
"You all right back there? You're still fidgeting, take it easy. You've already completed a few Grade 1 missions without me needing to step in."
I lift my head, my fingers still in the middle of contorting into the next hand sign. I look at Geto in the rear view mirror.
"I'm not fidgeting," I retort, "Just warming up is all..."
"Warming up. Sure. You've been warming up since you got in the car." Geto joked. I look out the window, the sun is almost about to set. It was noon when we set off so we've driven pretty far. I'm surprised they let the two of us travel on our lonesome, especially in a car. I didn't think that young Geto had acquired a license. I suppose that's Jujutsu Sorcerer privileges for you, but he still probably had to learn how to drive anyways.
"We're almost at the site, get ready."
I clap my hands, "I'm ready, I'm ready."
The car slows. I open the door and see what kind of place we're dealing with. An abandoned house. I think I saw something like this on the news a while ago. A father went crazy and offed his wife and son. Figures a sorcerer would be sent here.
"Geto, any idea what I might be dealing with?"
"Tsk tsk, you should do better research." He steps out of the car after me. "It's stigmatized property, a murder suicide a few months ago. The government didn't know if a cursed spirit developed here so we sent a Window to check. He didn't see anything either but the amount of cursed energy here..."
Nothing I didn't already know. "A vengeful curse..."
"Perhaps," Geto hums a bit, "Probably a Grade 2, I’d be surprised if it were a Grade 1."
He steps to the side, "You know the procedure."
"No alarm spirit this time?" When Geto would proctor a mission with me, he'd send a cursed spirit with me that synchronized with another so he'd know if I was in any danger.
"You never needed one anyways," Geto replied. "This is your final mission anyways, complete this flawlessly and you'll be a Semi-Grade 1 sorcerer."
I exhale and brace myself. He's right. I lift my right hand up, make a fist, and extend two fingers.
"Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness." I chant. "Purify that which is impure."
The air shifts. Even in the dusky sky, I can see the formation of the barrier. An inky mass drips from the sky and begins to cover our surroundings. Day turns to night and the density of cursed energy thickens.
"Excellent work, you know what to do now." Geto praised.
I inhale and relax. My hands shift into the next sign, stretched out with the thumbs intertwined in the form of wings. A round creature emerges from my shadow and leaps up, perching itself on my shoulder. As the shadows slowly flow off its body, its appearance becomes more apparent, green body, yellow beak, red wings.
"Natu. I choose you."
The Ten Shadows. The Zenin clan's prized technique corrupted and in the hands of someone who probably won't live up to its legendary potential. Instead of shikigami that take the form of animals, they instead manifest as Pokemon. I found my way to this world through some mysterious circumstances. I really do hope Arceus is real but the only proof that the Original One even exists lies in my technique. Somehow this alternate world of Jujutsu Kaisen I dropped into doesn't have Pokemon.
I wasn’t even able to be born here as a child so I could develop my skills in advance, full blown adult instead. According to Gojo, some people can just develop the ability to use Cursed Energy spontaneously later on. Despite my relatively short time in this world, I’ve climbed through the grades as quickly as I could, but only because I already knew how my summons worked. It was said that a sorcerer is nothing but a con artist. That everyone fakes it until they can make it. Or die, but that last part is better left unsaid.
I think Geto picked up on this. The guy was already grade 1 when we met and it was a little humiliating having to pick up the basics from someone far younger than me. But it was still invaluable.
I thank my lucky stars that I found myself in this world before the Hidden Inventory arc. All before everything went to shit. Me being here means I can change a few things. I could get Geto to stick around instead of becoming a terrorist. Knowing this puts a heavy weight on my mind but I just need to keep moving forwards, the strides come after baby steps.
Speaking of steps. I make it to the door of the abandoned house.
"Natu, future sight." I command. The round bird's eyes glow and a strange sense begins to occupy the back of my mind. It felt like daydreaming but a little more solid.
Future sight. Instead of Nue the man-faced bird that shoots lightning, I get a psychic bird with a penchant for precognition. It's not all-powerful, it just gives me a hint of what's coming, like a Spider-Sense. Natu can do way more but Future Sight is most useful right now in this situation.
As I begin to reach for the door, I feel a prick in the back of my mind. I mentally scowled, there's probably a cursed spirit ready to ambush whoever opens the door. We are off to a good start.
"Natu, be my second eye." I channel cursed energy into my legs and kick the door down. The wood splinters and the door flies off a few feet. I look around while Natu looks straight ahead. The prickly feeling is gone but there's no dissolving corpse of a cursed spirit either.
"Well then, into the belly of the beast." I begin to walk in, stepping past the door I just caved in.
The first room I walked into was the living room, ironically named considering what went down here. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The table and chairs are intact. There were some cabinets that looked like the hinges could use a little grease. The cleaners did a good job, I mentally remark. Made me feel a little bad about breaking down the door because someone is going to have to fix that, but the cursed energy here was way denser. This was where the cursed spirit was born but it didn't go into a rampage afterwards.
Unusually coherent birth, I mentally noted, for what might be a vengeful spirit. The entire house didn’t turn into a domain either when I entered.
Natu hasn't reacted to anything so I continued forwards.
As I continued through the hallway, I noted how normal everything looked. The entire house was soaked in cursed energy but nothing stood out. The only sign that there was something here was the initial Future Sight trigger at the entrance. Natu suddenly chirped and looked at the door to my left. It was a closed door. I reach for the doorknob, no pricks. It swings inwards and I look in. Stairs leading to the bottom.
“Basement,” I murmured. "It is always a basement."
Stepping any further into a curse's domicile would be risky, so let's turn it into my own. I stop at the top of the stairs. I form my hands in the shape of a mouth, thumb, index, and ring all touching at the point. My shadow hazily lengthens as a short figure emerges.
"Croagunk, I choose you."
A dark blue bipedal frog appears at my side, its yellow eyes sharp and attentive, ready to take orders.
"Croagunk, we're going to fumigate the basement." I said. Croagunk nods once and starts inflating the sacs on its cheek. A purple gas hisses out of its mouth and begins to creep down the stairs.
At first, nothing.
And then a sharp shock went through my mind, Croagunk stiffened from the same warning.
I threw up a block with my arms, preemptively reinforcing it with cursed energy as a grey limb rocketed from the depths out of the poisonous smoke and struck me. The impact rattles my bones but I brace myself.
"Gotcha!" I grab the arm and brace myself against the wall, preventing it from traveling back down. "Croagunk, Poison Jab!"
Croagunk darts from between my legs, its hand glowing with toxic energy as the frog punches the arm. I hear a scream of agony from whatever was down in the basement as it tries to break its hand free from my grip.
"Natu! Get down there and show me what you see!"
Natu leaps down from my shoulder and hops down the elongated arm. In a few seconds, it reaches the bottom and visions flicker in my mind, I can see the cursed spirit. It's grey and humanoid. Its huge body sat in a fetal position while its head brushed against the top of the basement ceiling. It resembled a monster I commonly read about in my past, one that would kill anyone who would look at its face. Luckily for me, it doesn’t seem to have any violent behavior that would result from me seeing its face. Instead reacting because of my poison.
Its arms were extremely long and possibly boneless. No wonder the Window didn't see anything, it trapped itself in the basement somehow and its arms are its only means of interacting with anything within the house. This was going to be pretty simple, as long as it kept itself in the basement.
But of course, it was never going to be that easy. As soon as I thought that, the house began to rumble. I could see from Natu’s view that the other arm of the creature is starting to thrash and slam right through the basement wall. The arm I'm holding stretches out and knocks me against the wall. My grip loosens and it travels back down the stairs.
Future sight tells me to look at the living room. One of the cabinets in there shudders and a grey limb breaks through the doors and comes right at me.
Croakgunk jumps up and parries the limb away with another poison jab and tries to grab onto it. The limb quickly snakes away back into the cabinet and prick notifies me to take a look from above. The ceiling distorts as an outstretched hand appears and tries to grab my face.
I knock it to the side with a fist, trying to deflect the hand but it grabs my hand and pulls me up through the ceiling. I cover my eyes with my other arm expecting to collide with the wood but the transition is smooth and I land in the bedroom, the grey arm quickly shrinks back into another room on the second floor.
I quickly assess the situation. Croagunk is right below me while Natu is still in the basement.
The cursed spirit, let’s call it Stretchy Arms, is still in the basement with one arm firmly lodged into the walls. It appears the other hand is trying to bat away Croagunk who must've leapt down the stairs while I was dragged up here. Could it be that the arms are traveling through the walls of the house to attack us?
I kneel to touch the place where the arm dragged me. My hand goes right through the floor and I can feel the edges are rough and splintered. Clever. I see now.
Or rather, I don't. The house is covered in an illusion to give it a sense of normalcy. I was lucky enough to tip toe around the wreckage when I passed through. The cabinet must've been destroyed earlier or when the arm broke through. It's an illusion that can only fool a sorcerer because we can't simply turn off our ability to see cursed matter that wants to be seen.
This house must be a wreck if Stretchy Arms can attack from so many angles. Not to mention it can just make more holes to attack from.
I lower myself back down the invisible hole and feel the house rumble some more.
Shit. Natu's second vision just cut out. Croagunk emerges from the basement, appearing a little scuffed but ultimately fine.
My last vision of the creature is of it clawing and punching the collapsing ceiling of the basement. It's trying to escape, the poison is surely doing some real damage. Natu rapidly hops out of the stairs and gets back onto my shoulder.
"Croagunk, we’re moving." The frog nods its head and three of us make for the entrance.
Outside, Geto’s sitting calmly on a folding stool.
“I can still feel the spirit,” he says with a half-smile. “Throwing in the towel already?”
"Not at all. Change of plans. Do you want Stretchy Arms for your collection?"
“Sutorechohi…Amusu?”
The side wall of the house shudders and wavers like a pond with something thrown in it and the cursed spirit breaks free. I’d bet the side of the house just got blown up. Its body unfolds grotesquely. As Stretchy's body straightens out, its long arms remain dragged on the ground.
I get into a fighting stance while Geto sighs, floating upward atop a winged cursed spirit he has summoned. “I’ll stay out of the way for now."
Stretchy Arms has stood straight up, it's humongous. The spirit is easily thirty, maybe forty feet tall. If I had to judge on size alone, it would be grade 1.
Now the real question, does it have a cursed technique? It definitely grew compared to what Natu was showing me. Does it have some sort of growing technique or was it merely an illusion and the arms are something else?
"Shit." I mutter. “All right then. You had your chance to die quietly in the basement.”
I channel cursed energy into my limbs while Croagunk leans down low. “Now we’ll have to do it the hard way.”
The cursed spirit’s head twitches, then snaps toward me. A flicker and a prick in my mind as a fist whips towards me. I leap up to dodge the strike.
"Croagunk, use Venoshock!"
Croagunk puffs out its cheeks and sprays a thick gunk at the arm. The toxin clings to its body like glue, sizzling where it touches the cursed flesh. A quick analysis tells me that this thing isn't as poisoned as I thought it would be. Venoshock would've chewed through the flesh and bone if it was.
I watch the cursed spirit ready another punch by compressing its arm to shoot out like a bullet. It must think I'm defenseless in the air.
When another fist shoots out at me in the air, Natu’s eyes flare with psychic power, and my body jerks sideways midair as Natu pulls me clear of the blow. I land on the arm, the whole thing pulsates with my impact, balancing myself as it returns to the spirit.
Pressing my feet against the arm, I leap up with Natu's psychic assistance. The thing's face looks even more grotesque up close. I grimace at the sight of the repeating faces dotted within the skin of the cursed spirit. They must have been the family that ended up birthing this abomination. That might be the source of the two abilities it displayed, Stretchy Arms here must be a fusion between two cursed spirits. Abnormal but I don't give it much thought.
"With me, Natu!" Natu's eyes glow and with it, my fist. I throw a psychically enhanced punch at the spirit's face. The impact sends the cursed spirit stepping back a few steps. I safely drop to the ground as Croagunk dashes up to rejoin me.
"As one! Croagunk, Low Kick! Let's bring this guy down!" Croagunk darts forward with me as our legs glow with cursed energy before we stomp into the cursed spirit's ankle with a wet pop and crack. The creature howls an indescribable noise as its knees buckle and crashes to the ground.
"Now, Toxic!"
Toxic. Arguably the strongest Poison move. It took a while to teach Croagunk that something like this was possible, a sure poisoning attack that rapidly increased in deadliness with time. The trade-off: it required a monumental charge-up. But this opponent was slow, I had time.
Croagunk rapidly inflated and deflated its cheek sacs as it churned a deadly toxin within. Meanwhile, I whaled on Stretchy's face with Natu's assistance to keep it off balance. It's incredibly durable for sure.
A prick in my mind caused me to stop. Future Sight was still active and it was warning me.
"Stop churning, Croagunk! Leap away!" I quickly ordered. Croagunk's bright yellow eyes widened as it quickly sidestepped out of the way. Just in time, a fist rocketed out of the ground where it just was.
The cursed spirit screeches and rages at the missed blow. Its arms twist and contort like serpents, pounding the ground in frustration. I barely saw the blow coming, it probably used its illusions to make the ground appear as normal so it can sneak a blow in from behind.
“If you’re so eager to die! Then I’ll finish this quickly for you!” I hissed. This thing’s persistence was insane. Toxic could finish it off but I’d rather just get it over with. I form a fist over an open hand, a hand sign for summoning the Divine Dogs of the Ten Shadows Technique. But in my case, it’s the everloyal companion:
“Pikachu,” Shadows coil and spark around my feet. “I choose you.”
Shadow erupts into static. Electricity crackles through the air. A diminutive shape forms itself at my feet into the iconic yellow mouse of the franchise.
“Thunderbolt.”
And the world ignited.
Geto lands beside me, dusting his uniform with the same calm he started with.
“Not bad,” he says, glancing at the smoldering corpse. His curse technique activates, the dissipating remains forms into a small black orb in Geto’s hands. I watch as he swallows the ball, seeing if I can spot his expression break from the taste. I don’t see much of anything.
“You handled it well.”
“Well?” I pant. “I'd say that was flawless.”
He smirks. “Close to flawless.” He glanced at the ruined house, its appearance clear to see now that the cursed spirit maintaining the illusion was gone.
“No matter, it seems the house was already doomed to fall apart.” Geto shrugs. “So then, allow me to be the first to commend you for a job well done. Congratulations, Semi-Grade 1 Sorcerer Anon.”
///////
CH2
I rub my finger over the sigil on my ID.
Semi-Grade 1.
The promotion was a month ago but it still feels unreal. Grade 2 is the expected norm for a sorcerer however most of the cast easily exceeded that rank in the end, even if they were never officially ranked or promoted and now I’m expected to stand on the same level as them.
Unreal. But satisfying. Still, I can’t remain content, canon is rapidly approaching. The Ten Shadows itself carries special grade potential. I have yet to even unlock much of what it can do. There’s still so much I need to learn before I think I’m even remotely ready to hit the big leagues.
I shoot a quick text from my phone to Yaga for permission to use a training field for practice. It’s time to add another team member to the pool. Hopefully it won’t go as disastrously as the last ritual.
“Pika!”
I looked up, Pikachu and Croagunk stood in front of me. Today’s mission was a simple one: clearing out a cursed-spirit-infested apartment block. Nothing exceeded grade 3 from a quick scan so I just sent in the two alone to finish the job.
“You guys done?” I ask.
They nodded. “And anything to report?”
They shook their heads. As their summoner, I sort of get the gist of what my summons mean. They are sharper and a little more aware than your typical shikigami but I’m chalking that up to the fact that they are Pokemon.
“Alright, team, return.” My shadow lengthens, and Croagunk melts into it. Pikachu, on the other hand, stays solid.
I arch a brow. “...Return.”
“Chu.” He hops up onto my shoes and, with a swift leap, lands on my shoulder. Pikachu then turns around so he’s facing the same way as I.
I chuckle, “This is familiar.” I must look like a true blue Pokemon protagonist. A plucky shonen hero with a Pikachu on his shoulder. It reminds me of the following days after I arrived in this world.
I’m sweating, the room isn’t humid at all, but this is a make or break moment. If the man in front of me has noticed, he doesn’t let me know. It’s not someone I know. I thought I’d see Masamichi Yaga, but if I recall, he was only a teacher around this time.
He pulls out a stack of forms from his desk, scribbles something across the top, and slides it toward me.
I blink. “So, I’m being enrolled.”
“Usually, sorcerers as old as you aren’t. But you clearly didn’t know the regulations.” Our mystery man says, I think he’s the principal.
“Walking around in broad daylight with a shikigami around your shoulder, dispatching low-level cursed spirits, entering restricted areas, among other misdemeanors,” he listed, “Your ignorance is what offered you leniency. Our records show you aren't a registered Sorcerer nor do you come from any notable family.”
Yeah, that was all on purpose, I didn’t know where Jujutsu society operated so I intended to attract the attention. Though that last point came as a surprise, apparently I do exist in this world, birth certificate and everything.
“So…” I clear my throat. “What happens now?”
“You’ll attend classes,” the principal replies as he stamps the forms with a sharp thunk. “Learn the basics every Jujutsu Sorcerer should know before you ever step onto a battlefield again. You’ll receive supervised missions only. Do not attempt unsanctioned exorcisms again.”
“Right,” I say. “Sorry about that.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” he says, I couldn’t tell if he meant it or if he’s just humoring me. “You clearly have the ability. And we can always use more sorcerers.”
Just then, I hear someone speak on the other side of the door.
“-ru, it would be incredibly rude to barge in.”
“Relax, Suguru!”
The door swings open and one figure saunters in while the other stays at the entrance. Both are immediately recognizable, Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto.
“Satoru Gojo,” the principal says, exhausted already. “Is there a reason you’re in my office? And without notice?”
“We were bored,” Gojo says, grinning. “Heard there was a transfer student. Didn’t expect him to be… Uh… So mature. What are you, late twenties, thirties?”
“XX.”
Geto raises a brow. “Unusual for someone to enroll that late.”
Gojo cackled. “You’re an old man!” He snatches the form off the desk, scanning it. “And a first year at that!”
I can see how Gojo manages to irritate everyone he meets.
“Gojo…” The principal growls.
Gojo waves a lazy hand. “Relax, Sensei, we’re just being friendly.” He steps closer, peering at me. “So, mystery man. What’s your deal?”
“I don’t know if I have one.”
“Everyone’s got a deal.” Gojo grins wider. “Tell you what, lemme take a closer look. I’ll figure you out.”
The principal stands. “Enough. Gojo, Geto. Leave.”
“I got it, I got it.” Gojo puts his hands up in mock surrender.
Geto bows politely before leaving. Gojo lingers a heartbeat longer, giving me a two-finger salute.
“See you around, old man.”
The door shuts behind me and I can feel the tension melt away. After Gojo and Geto left, I was just given the crash course on how Jujutsu High works. It’s a lot more personable since classes are so small, I was told that there are only two other first years in my class so I shouldn’t have too much trouble getting to know my classmates despite my age. If I'm remembering this correctly, the two should be Haibara and Nanami.
Gojo and Geto were in their second year but I was informed I would be seeing them more often than not. Supposedly, they also come on first year missions as back up.
I looked at the map I was given. The campus is big but the dormitory shouldn’t be too hard to find, just make a left here, continue on until…
and…
Standing in front of the dorm doors were the duo from earlier. Geto looked mildly apologetic. Gojo, on the other hand, stood smug with his hands in his pocket.
He removed one hand from his pocket and adjusted his shades down a bit, locking eyes with me. Christ, was this guy really just waiting for me?
“I can't possibly be that intriguing.” I remark.
“Are you kidding? I can get the gist on most sorcerers the moment I meet them. But something about you…”
Could he be talking about the fact I’m a foreigner to this world? I wouldn’t be surprised that the Six Eyes can pick up on that. I would be surprised if he could make that guess, there’s a million other things that could be wrong with me before suspecting unwilling dimensional travel.
“The quickest way to find out is for you to show me!”
Jujutsu Sorcerer Gojo Satoru wants to battle!
“If I say no?”
Gojo tilts his head. “Then I’ll misunderstand.”
“…What does that mean?”
“It means I’ll assume you said yes.”
This guy…
“You’ll get used to it,” Geto remarks.
“Maybe.” He adds a moment later.
Geto gives me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as they lead me around to the training grounds.
It's a large rectangular sandy clearing. I stand at one edge while Gojo saunters to the other side.
“Since I’m sooo generous, old man, I’ll let you have the first move. In fact, if you can land a single attack on me, I’ll do anything you want,” Gojo says. He faux stretches before me. “Show me your Technique.”
I silently nod. Fine. Let's do this.
Channel the feeling of negativity.
Enclose a fist over an open hand.
And a chant to tie it together.
“Pikachu, I need you!”
My shadow coalesces and a yellow streak erupts out of it. Pikachu lands on his two feet in front of me, his cheeks sparking with electricity.
“Pika!”
“So this is your technique,” Gojo says. “Shikigami summoned using shadows as an intermediary.”
His eyes widened and he lifted his shades up to look at Pikachu.
“Woah, woah, woah. That's the Ten Shadows Technique!” He looks back at me and grins. “Didn’t take you for one of those stuffy Zenins, old man.”
“I don’t know anything about a Zenin,” I lied. “I’m completely new to sorcery.”
“I’ll see about that.”
Gojo puts his hands in his pockets. “Ready when you are.”
I'm under no illusions right now. This is a scripted loss if I've ever seen one. I can’t do domain amplification or have any way of negating Infinity. Even if I could, I wouldn’t be able to match Gojo physically. Still…
I straighten myself. “Pikachu! Quick Attack!” All we can do right now is try our best.
In an instant, Pikachu lunges forwards, leaving behind a trail of white light. Gojo stands and smiles as he watches Pikachu stop right in place a few inches from Gojo’s face, as if there was an invisible wall between the two.
“Pika!?”
“A forcefield!?” I said as I feigned surprise.
“The correct term would be barrier,” Gojo lectured. “But that’s not it either. This is my Technique, Limitless.”
Pikachu dropped to the floor and tried to Quick Attack again, darting left and right before attempting to slam into Gojo’s side to no avail.
“And, this is an application of my Technique, Infinity.” Gojo continued, amused by Pikachu’s attempts to reach him. “I'm sure you can guess what it's doing.”
“Thunderbolt!” I ordered. Pikachu obeys and sends out a searing bolt of lightning point blank at Gojo.
However, just like earlier, the lightning stops dead in its tracks in front of Gojo.
“Now it’s my turn,” Gojo continued to smirk as I suddenly felt myself get pulled in his direction. “You can’t hide behind your Shikigami for forever.”
He’s going for a Blue enhanced punch. Where is he going to throw it? Anywhere where it would be land would be devastating but…
I raise my arms up, fists covering my chin while my arms cover my chest and I tuck in my gut. I think about what would happen if I were to get hit. My bones would break, my chest would cave in. I think about what should happen if my opponent hits me. Their fist should break, their arm should splinter. With those thoughts, Cursed energy swells up and reinforces my arms.
“A nice try but…” Gojo taunted, the force of attraction from Blue increased and I could see him aim a punch for my unguarded gut. This is going to hurt a lot.
“Pika!” Pikachu shouted. He dove between the two of us, intent on shielding me from the blow itself.
BAM!
The effects were instant. Even with Pikachu taking the brunt of the impact, my vision still flickered with darkness and stars. I heaved and gasped, I couldn't breathe. And in the corner of my vision, I could see Gojo lift a leg as he prepared to kick me as well.
A pause and then Gojo let loose another devastating hit.
My senses couldn't be more overwhelmed than they were right now but those stars in my vision turned into fireworks. Pikachu and I were sent flying and crashed into a soft cursed spirit that Geto had summoned not a few moments ago.
“Did you really need to go this hard on him?” he asked while frowning. This was clearly too much force to be used against someone that was rather new to Jujutsu.
Gojo stuck his tongue out.
“Yah.” He remarked. “Felt like I had to avenge my ancestor.”
Geto raised a brow at that statement. Meanwhile, I was trying to not vomit out my soul while picking myself up. I made a raspy chuckle.
Gojo looked profoundly annoyed at the sound.
“It’s my win.” I coughed. No blood I noticed, that's good. Pikachu is alright too. As alright as someone who ate two devastating blows can be. He was still materialized and giving Gojo the meanest stink eye he could muster.
“Huh?” Geto looked at me and back at Gojo, expecting a retort or rejection of the statement.
“When you bleghh attacked me and Pikachu…” I gave up trying to pick myself up and rolled over on my back to hopefully alleviate the agony. Pikachu did the same.
“That attracting force from the punch and the rejecting force from your shield canceled out and allowed my summon to get in a small electric shock.” I continued, “That pause before you weeze kicked me, that was the effects of Pikachu's paralysis. One hit and it's my win.”
Of course, part of that explanation was pure bullshitting on my part. I, who should have no idea who Gojo Satoru is, should as a result have no idea how Infinity works. However, Infinity should be a perfect defense yet somehow Pikachu’s Static ability was able to proc.
The attracting force from Blue was somehow able to overcome the infinite distance between Gojo and I for an infinitesimal amount of time. Was it inexperience perhaps? Or could Infinity not neutralize the effects of its own cursed technique?
Gojo looked up as if he didn't want to match my gaze and furiously rubbed his hair.
“Gah!” He exclaimed.
“No way! You let a new sorcerer get the drop on you!” Geto laughed.
“Shut it Suguru!”
In an instant, Gojo stood over me.
“That mistake was just a one time thing, don't expect another opening like that again, old man!” He yelled.
I shakily smiled.
“The deal was you’d do anything, right?” I really didn't think Gojo would make a deal like this. But if he was going to follow through on it then…
“Yeah yeah.” Gojo drawled.
“Sounds like you have a history with my Technique or someone that also has it.”
The pragmatic play would be to tell Gojo about Kenjaku. However, there's no way of knowing whether he'll actually take this seriously. Teen Gojo is strong but Kenjaku would have a way of avoiding him or taking care of him. Somehow.
Nevermind how I would actually be able to prove this is true. Do I spin it as someone I need to take revenge on? Ask Gojo to ice everyone with stitches on their head?
No, what I need right now is to get stronger myself. Strength and secrecy.
“Give me information on the Ten Shadows Technique and also to not tell anyone about my technique.”
The Gojo clan would have detailed records on a technique that managed to kill one of their most powerful ancestors. This was probably where Megumi learned the bulk of what the Ten Shadows was capable of. While my summons were different, perhaps the base of the technique was still much the same.
“You really aren't a Zenin are you?” Gojo asked.
I shook my head slowly. “Based on your attitude, it doesn't sound like something I want to be a part of anyways.”
Dealing with the Zenins wouldn't be a good time. Frankly I'm assuming that the strangeness I've imparted to their crown jewel and my maturity means that I would be an outsider. Liable to be assassinated at some point by some that would want me gone before I grow strong enough. Not strong enough to be independent yet not young enough to drink the Zenin's Kool-Aid and be conditioned into the role they want me.
Gojo grinned. “Sounds good to me. I'll play along.”
I blinked. That was easy.
Gojo turned to Geto.
“I’m not gonna tattle and neither is Suguru, right?” Geto shakes his head with a small smile. “In fact, I think it would be hilarious to deny the Zenin a chance at their prized technique.”
A lightning bolt lances out and again fails to strike Gojo. Gojo looks at Pikachu, amused at the attempt. Pikachu looked frustrated and stopped.
“I’ll tell you what I already know about your technique. Your Shikigami are clearly different from what I've read about.” Gojo started.
“If the base is the same… Then you, as the name suggests, have nine more summons of differing abilities.” He walks around Pikachu, u bothered by the look the Pokemon is giving him. “Given that your first is unlike the Divine Dogs, there's no telling what the proceeding summons will be like.”
“Tame them all and you might actually have an iota of a chance of beating me for real, old man.” Gojo ends.
“I see.” Nothing I already didn't know. He's right on one part. Pikachu replaced the first summon. Would Nue even be a bird? It could even be a fish.
“How do I tame them?” I ask, it's getting easier to breathe.
“That is something that should come to you innately.” Basically, go figure it out yourself.
Gojo begins to walk away. “I'll drop some scrolls off later, if I can find any. Smell you later, old man.”
Geto doesn't follow, instead he summons another cursed spirit. It's unsightly looking, as all cursed spirits normally are. It's reddish-purple, its body is mostly a mouth with no eyes but elongated to fit in multiple legs and arms across its worm-like body.
“Sorry for all this, this guy will take you to the medical office and I'll ask Shoko to patch you up.” Geto walks away, following Gojo. The cursed spirit picks me up gently and carries me across the campus. Pikachu scampers on as well.
“Well? How was it fighting the future strongest?” I asked Pikachu.
Pikachu scrunches his face. Clearly displeased at the recent ordeal.
I laugh and then wince at the lingering pain. “Yeah, don't worry. We’ll get stronger and then we will put up a better fight.”
Knowing what's coming isn't enough. I will need to be strong enough to actually do something about it.
“We’ll have to.”
I look over at Pikachu. “After some rest, let's see who our next partner is.”
Pikachu locks eyes with me. His expression shifted from one of frustration to resolve, as if he understood our overall goal and what I meant.
He nodded.