Jugo was back in the Tenebrous World, before him, dozens of artifacts were scattered across an obsidian table.
There were all sorts of things, mostly weapons, but there was also a gourd, a straw hat, a candle, a skull...
Each of these items was cursed.
It took Jugo a long time to gather everyone, but he succeeded.
Akayuki was there, though Afro didn't even know he'd lost his sword. He was currently taking a deep nap, holding a staff that Toji had placed in the sword's spot. Afro clearly recognized the difference, sleeping with a furrowed brow, but it was irrelevant at the moment.
Jugo sighed, beginning the ritual he had prepared.
Using the power of the purple heart, in addition to the power of the historical void, the table moved as it transformed into a perfect circle, a pentagram formed above the objects, around the table, the floor rose like thin pillars until they were slightly above the tables, from which blue flames ignited.
Jugo began the ritual, speaking not in ancient Hermes, but in the language of the abyss. He took the purple heart and let its power pour over him as he focused on the historical void.
Slowly, above each object, a hazy shadow formed, the shadows were the connection of these cursed objects to the past.
The next moment, Jugo moved, altering the curses directly onto himself. He sensed the connection to each of these objects, he didn't change anything about them, only took their origin and attached it to himself.
When everything went dark, the purple heart grew less bright, absorbing energy from the Tenebrous World to recharge itself, but Jugo didn't notice, his eyes were closed.
Each of these items had no connection to demonic beings, each became cursed due to unforeseen circumstances.
Accumulation of negative emotions is the most common explanation, but it's also possible that some of the energy from a demonic dimension leaked out and these objects absorbed it.
The power of each one was quite weak, very weak, but for Jugo that didn't matter much, what mattered was that each of these items had been present in the past.
Jugo felt a flood of memories invade his mind, some of the items were so old that they predated even the ninjas, others were only a few decades old, but overall, each one had its own story.
Jugo wasn't seeing the whole story, instead, he was seeing the effect of each of their curses.
Every life taken, every cursed existence, every pain, every misfortune, every interaction that caused harm to the beings surrounding these objects.
Jugo saw everything.
Each new memory, each consequence, caused Jugo's potion, which had been dormant for months, to stir again.
Jugo lay there for several minutes, perhaps hours, he couldn't say for sure, but when he awoke, his eyes seemed colder than usual, his mind clouded by all that concentrated curse.
Ancient Bane...
Jugo had just finished digesting his potion, he didn't care, he didn't care that his power had grown at least twice as much. Instead, a coldness still crept across his face, he felt... empty.
Even Bind couldn't prevent it because it wasn't mental damage, instead it was time itself.
Ancient Bane involves not only the consequences of curses, but the very concept of time is tied to it, now he understood why he had managed to enter the historical void, albeit with very limited use, but the fact was that time was linked to this sequence.
Jugo felt empty because, although he hadn't retained all the memories of those things, he still felt the flow of time for each one, in other words, his mind could have passed thousands of years in an instant.
It took Jugo a while to remember who he was and what he was doing there, for him, there had only been one thing for thousands of years, endless curses.
He witnessed the death of many, he saw the misfortune of many more...
He felt something similar when he advanced towards Wraith, he felt it again with the giant Tenseigan, but this time it was purely his own fault. A normal Ancient Bane only needed to create curses and wait, living his life in the meantime, he, on the other hand, transferred ancient curses to himself.
This time it seemed much worse. It wasn't something external, Jugo altered those curses within himself as if he had placed them there himself hundreds or thousands of years earlier, so everything he saw was as if he had witnessed it personally.
The curses were not truly brief, not mere fragments, but rather a continuous flow, sometimes it could take hours for someone to die from a curse, while at other times it took years. Jugo witnessed every consequence connected to those people.
Taking a deep breath, Jugo knew he needed to work on his mindset immediately, so he left the Tenebrous World and went to look for Kin and Guren, no, he first went to Mizugakure and dragged a confused Mei away.
After that, he dragged Guren and Kin into the room and locked himself in with them.
Jugo decided to use carnal pleasures to cope with the emotional distance.
The room wasn't opened for 3 days after that. Yugito, who passed by, with her cat senses, heard everything and ran away quickly. She even had to feed the three idiotic dogs that were starving.
All she could manage to do was call Jugo a beast.