A/N: Don't forget to check out my original novel: Can I Magic Please. It's like really good. đ
ANYWHOOO. ENJOY THE CHAPTER
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Morning sunlight streamed through Yuta Okkotsu's open window.
Books were piled everywhere.
Loose sheets of paper covered the floor.
Complex diagrams of barriers, innate domains, and cursed energy formulas lay scattered like the aftermath of a scholarly battlefield.
At the center of the chaos sat two boys.
Yuta knelt beside a notebook, pencil in hand.
Oden sat cross-legged opposite him, his blindfold still tied in place and an untouched rice ball resting forgotten at his side.
For the past two hours, neither of them had moved from that room.
Neither had noticed the passage of time.
Neither had eaten.
For Oden, that alone was proof that the subject was fascinating.
Yuta tapped the paper thoughtfully.
"So if we think of the innate domain as the source, then the barrier acts as the vessel."
Oden leaned forward.
"And the cursed technique is the effect being imposed on everything inside."
Yuta's eyes lit up.
"Exactly."
He quickly scribbled another note.
"But the issue is stabilization."
He pointed to a formula near the center of the page.
"If the barrier isn't perfectly anchored, the entire domain collapses."
Oden frowned.
"So you need three things."
He held up one finger.
"Your own world."
A second finger.
"A barrier to contain it."
A third finger.
"And enough control to force your technique onto reality."
Yuta nodded.
"That's the theory."
Oden tilted his head.
"Then what part are you stuck on?"
Yuta sighed.
"The barrier."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"I can feel my innate domain."
His voice dropped.
"I can even sense how Rika reacts when I try."
He stared at his notes.
"But the moment I attempt to shape the boundary, everything falls apart."
Oden thought for a moment.
Then he picked up a pencil and began sketching.
His drawing was crude.
A circle.
Another circle around it.
And a series of arrows pointing inward.
"What if you're forcing it too hard?"
Yuta blinked.
"What do you mean?"
Oden tapped the inner circle.
"Your innate domain is yours."
He tapped the outer circle.
"The barrier should accommodate it."
He drew a line connecting the two.
"It shouldn't dominate it."
Yuta stared at the sketch.
For several seconds he said nothing.
Then his eyes widened.
"...That actually makes sense."
Oden nodded as if it were obvious.
"When Snake wraps around me, it doesn't strangle me."
He folded his arms.
"It supports me."
Yuta looked down at his own notes.
Then back at Oden's crude drawing.
His heart began racing.
'Support... not suppression.'
He grabbed his pencil and immediately began revising his formulas.
Oden watched with interest.
"This Domain Expansion thing is incredible."
Yuta smiled.
"It really is."
Oden leaned back slightly.
"So if I learn one..."
He paused thoughtfully.
"...my attacks would automatically hit?"
Yuta nodded.
"In theory."
Oden placed a hand over his chest.
"I think I may be in love."
Yuta laughed.
The room gradually descended into a focused rhythm.
Ideas were proposed.
Rejected.
Refined.
Barrier equations were redrawn.
Theories were tested verbally.
At one point Oden suggested that a domain should be shaped like a snake's coils.
At another point, Yuta theorized that the user's emotional state played a larger role than most textbooks acknowledged.
Hours passed.
The pile of discarded papers grew.
Sunlight shifted across the floor.
Neither of them noticed.
Eventually, Yuta leaned back and exhaled.
"I think I understand it better now."
Oden nodded proudly.
"You're welcome."
Yuta smiled warmly.
"Thank you."
Oden tilted his head.
"For what?"
Yuta gestured around the room.
"For helping."
He looked down at the revised notes.
"I was stuck."
Oden picked up his rice ball at last.
"It was interesting."
He took a bite.
"And if you learn it, I get to see it and learn it too."
Yuta laughed.
"That's true."
At that exact moment, the sliding door opened.
Satoru Gojo stepped inside without knocking.
He took one look at the room.
Papers everywhere.
Barrier diagrams covering the floor.
Two first years sitting amid the chaos.
Gojo adjusted his blindfold and smiled.
"Well, well."
His grin widened.
"Looks like my two favorite special grades are tackling the pinnacle of jujutsu."
Oden immediately pointed at him.
"Sensei."
Yuta sat up straighter.
"Gojo-sensei."
Gojo placed his hands in his pockets and strolled casually into the room.
"I can help."
Both boys froze.
Yuta's eyes widened.
"Really?"
Oden nearly dropped his food.
"You know how to do Domain Expansion?"
Gojo placed a dramatic hand over his chest.
"Please."
He flicked his hair back.
"I'm Satoru Gojo."
Oden and Yuta leaned forward simultaneously.
Gojo's smile turned mischievous.
"But..."
He raised a single finger.
"I'll only help you if you do something for me first."
The two boys exchanged a glance.
Then turned back toward him in unison.
"What is it?"
---
The room fell silent.
Yuta Okkotsu leaned forward expectantly.
Oden Uzumaki narrowed his eyes behind his blindfold.
Then he folded his arms.
"No."
Gojo blinked.
"No?"
Oden nodded firmly.
"You are our teacher."
He pointed accusingly at Gojo.
"That means teaching us is your job."
Yuta looked between them nervously.
Oden continued with absolute seriousness.
"You should teach us Domain Expansion whether we help you or not."
Gojo placed a hand over his chest.
"I'm wounded."
Oden ignored him.
"Also, what exactly are we supposed to help you with?"
Gojo smiled brightly.
"I'll tell you after you agree."
Oden stared at him for a long moment.
"...That sounds suspicious."
"That's because it is."
Yuta rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Maybe we should at least hear him out?"
Oden pointed at Yuta.
"Do not encourage him."
Gojo clapped his hands together.
"Wonderful! Glad we're all in agreement."
"We are not."
But Gojo was already walking toward them.
"To properly teach Domain Expansion, there is only one effective method."
He placed a hand on each of their shoulders.
Oden frowned.
"What are youâ"
The world vanished.
The room dissolved.
Space twisted violently.
A single heartbeat laterâ
The three of them stood in the center of an abandoned hospital.
Moonlight filtered through shattered windows.
Rust stained the walls.
Broken wheelchairs lay overturned in the corridors.
The smell of mold and decay hung heavily in the air.
Yuta blinked.
"...How did we get here?"
Oden looked around.
"...Can you do that whenever you want?"
Gojo grinned.
"Pretty much."
Oden crossed his arms.
"That is extremely unfair."
Several curses lurked nearby.
Small.
Misshapen.
No stronger than Grade 4.
They had been feeding on the stagnant negativity saturating the building.
The moment they sensed Gojo, Yuta, and Oden, they froze.
Instinct screamed at them.
Run.
Gojo stepped casually into the corridor.
The curses began scrambling away in blind panic.
He chuckled.
"It feels a little ridiculous using a Domain Expansion on something this weak."
Oden and Yuta immediately stiffened.
Gojo turned back toward them.
"Grab onto me."
Yuta obeyed instantly.
Oden hesitated.
Gojo smiled beneath his blindfold.
"And don't let go if you don't want your brains fried."
Oden moved so fast he nearly tackled Gojo.
Both boys gripped him tightly.
Gojo raised one hand.
The atmosphere changed.
Reality seemed to hold its breath.
Then he spoke.
"Domain Expansion."
For one infinitesimal moment, the world stopped.
"Unlimited Void."
Space ruptured.
The abandoned hospital vanished.
The universe unfolded.
Oden's breath caught in his throat.
Yuta's eyes widened in awe.
They floated in an endless cosmos.
Stars stretched infinitely in every direction.
Planets drifted in impossible silence.
Distances lost meaning.
Time itself became irrelevant.
At the center of this boundless universe stood Satoru Gojo.
Untouchable.
Absolute.
The fleeing Grade 4 curses froze instantly.
Their bodies locked in place.
Their minds overwhelmed by the sheer flood of information.
Everything.
Nothing.
All possibilities.
All knowledge.
All sensations.
Every concept in existence forced into their tiny consciousnesses at once.
They could no longer move.
No longer think.
No longer act.
Gojo's voice echoed calmly through the infinite void.
"This is my domain."
Oden trembled slightly.
Even with Gojo shielding them, the sensation was overwhelming.
Yuta stared at the stars in wonder.
Gojo folded his arms.
"A Domain Expansion is the realization of your innate domain."
He gestured around them.
"This is my world."
His voice was quiet.
Yet it seemed to resonate across the universe itself.
"Within this space, my technique is brought to its absolute form."
He glanced toward the paralyzed curses.
"Unlimited Void forces targets to perceive infinite information."
"They receive everything, and therefore can process nothing."
Oden's mouth hung open.
"...This is insane."
Gojo smiled.
"Exactly."
Yuta looked around with reverent awe.
"So this is the pinnacle of jujutsu..."
Gojo nodded.
"The strongest expression of a sorcerer's soul."
Oden slowly turned in place, staring at the endless stars.
For perhaps the first time in his life, he found himself completely speechless.
Gojo's voice softened.
"And this is why cursed energy control matters."
He pointed at Oden.
"You can't brute-force something like this."
He pointed at Yuta.
"It requires precision."
"Balance."
"Identity."
"Understanding."
Oden swallowed.
'I need one.'
Not as a desire.
As a necessity.
Gojo suddenly clapped his hands.
The infinite cosmos shattered like glass.
Reality reassembled.
In the next instant, they were standing once more in the abandoned hospital corridor.
The Grade 4 curses collapsed lifelessly to the floor before dissolving into ash.
Yuta exhaled shakily.
Oden remained frozen in place.
Then he slowly turned toward Gojo.
"...That was the coolest thing I have ever seen."
Gojo grinned.
"I know."
Yuta nodded in complete agreement.
Gojo slipped his hands into his pockets.
"Now then."
His expression became more serious.
"The reason I brought you here."
Oden immediately narrowed his eyes.
"So there was a catch."
"There's always a catch."
Gojo looked directly at Oden.
"I need your help."
Oden blinked.
"...My help?"
Gojo nodded.
"Specifically with a boy named Fushiguro Megumi."
The name meant nothing to Oden.
But the way Gojo said itâ
With genuine expectationâ
Told him this was not a simple favor.
---
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