In front of a dilapidated thatched hut deep in the mountains of Gunma Prefecture.
Yoru placed the Scarlet Ore—irregular in shape but faintly glowing with an eerie red light—onto a wooden table.
Standing across from him was a withered old man with graying hair and one blind eye, though his right arm was exceptionally muscular.
The old man's name was Tetsu-sai, a legendary blacksmith who had lived in seclusion from the jujutsu world for many years; he was the candidate Masamichi Yaga had highly recommended.
"This is the material you mentioned?"
Tetsu-sai's remaining eye stared intently at the ore on the table. His originally clouded gaze now burst with a startling light.
He reached out a calloused hand, trembling as he gently stroked the rough surface.
"Incredible... simply incredible!"
"I've been forging cursed tools my entire life, and I've never seen an ore with such terrifying affinity for heat!"
"Sealed within this stone are hundreds of years of subterranean fire and the resentment and despair of countless souls!"
Tetsu-sai snapped his head up, staring at Yoru like a madman who had just seen a peerless beauty.
"Kid, what do you want to turn this into?"
Yoru smiled slightly, his tone calm but carrying an indisputable firmness.
"A sword."
"A tachi capable of withstanding the temperature of the sun."
"The temperature of the sun?"
Tetsu-sai froze for a moment before bursting into laughter, his voice echoing through the empty mountain forest.
"Arrogant brat! Even that Six Eyes kid from the Gojo family wouldn't dare claim he could master the power of the sun!"
"However... I like your arrogance!"
Tetsu-sai grabbed the ore and turned to enter the dilapidated forge where a furnace fire burned year-round.
"Get in here, kid! I can't forge this blade alone."
"It needs your fire to reshape it!"
For the next three days and nights.
The sound of hammering echoed relentlessly from the forge deep in the mountains.
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Every strike of the hammer was accompanied by a deafening roar and a shower of flying sparks.
Yoru stood by the furnace, shirtless.
Beads of sweat covered his muscles, which were as perfectly sculpted as a Greek statue.
"Breathe! Kid! Keep up that strange breathing of yours!"
Tetsu-sai shouted while swinging the hammer frantically.
"Total Concentration: Constant."
Yoru's eyes reflected the red glow of the furnace.
With every long breath, he infused a visible stream of scorching air into the ore that was being repeatedly folded and forged.
That was the source power of Sun Breathing.
Over these three days, Yoru wasn't just assisting in the forging; he was resonating with the Scarlet Ore on a soulful level.
He could feel the originally violent, hate-filled impurities being stripped away and purified bit by bit under the burning of the pure flames of Sun Breathing.
What remained was only the ultimate toughness and absolute obedience to high temperatures.
Dawn of the third day.
As the first light of dawn pierced through the mountain mist and shone through the forge window.
"Sizzle!"
Accompanied by a thick plume of white steam.
Tetsu-sai pulled the newly quenched tachi from the ice-cold spring water.
"It's done..."
Tetsu-sai slumped to the ground, panting heavily, his single eye filled with fanaticism and exhaustion.
"The most perfect work of my life..."
Yoru stepped forward, his gaze falling upon the blade.
It was an exceptionally slender tachi.
The scabbard and hilt were made of the finest ebony, devoid of unnecessary decoration, exuding an air of ancient lethality.
The moment Yoru gripped the hilt and slowly drew it from the scabbard.
"Clang!"
A crisp ring of the blade resounded through the forge.
On the pitch-black blade, an eerie red light flowed like molten lava.
The moment Yoru held it, an extremely familiar heat—as if linked by blood—instantly spread through his entire body from the hilt.
"This is..."
Yoru's pupils constricted suddenly.
He stared intently at the sword as countless images flashed through his mind.
In the fifth basement level of Shibuya in 2018.
In the abandoned nuclear power plant while fighting a Special Grade mutated cursed spirit, and in countless life-and-death moments while performing Sun Breathing.
This was the sword he had been holding!
Pitch-black, with a red-gleaming edge—a Special Grade Cursed Tool capable of perfectly carrying the extreme temperatures of a bright red blade!
"So that's how it is..."
Yoru suddenly laughed, a mix of relief and shock.
He finally understood everything.
'That sword from the future wasn't something conjured by the system out of thin air, nor was it some legacy that originally existed in the jujutsu world.'
'It was me...'
'I forged it with my own hands in this era.'
Images of 2018 surfaced in his mind:
Satoru Gojo had casually tossed this sword to him, saying it was a trial reward he had forcibly snatched from those Rotten Oranges, later officially gifting it to him after his Special Grade evaluation.
Who would have thought that "Shiranui," a treasure highly valued by the higher-ups and even ranked at the top of Special Grade Cursed Tools, was actually given new life by him today.
The gears of fate had perfectly closed the loop at this moment.
This sword had crossed twelve years of time, being secretly stored by Jujutsu High, eventually passing through Satoru Gojo's hands and returning to its creator.
It was a sense of destiny that couldn't be described in words.
"Kid, this blade doesn't have a name yet."
Tetsu-sai looked at the pensive Yoru and said in a raspy voice:
"It was born from the fires of hell beneath the earth and fused with your power, which is as pure as the sun."
"Give it a name."
Yoru gently stroked the cold yet scorching blade, a flash of tenderness in his eyes.
"Shiranui."
He whispered the name.
"A rootless fire burning in the dark of night, a light that severs all evil."
"Let's call it... Shiranui."
As soon as he spoke, Yoru lightly sliced his thumb across the blade.
A drop of blood seeped into the sword, and the dark red light instantly flared, as if responding to its master's call. The temperature in the entire forge surged!
Tetsu-sai's pupils shrank as he recoiled half a step in shock:
"This blade... it has already surpassed the scope of a Special Grade Cursed Tool. It has its own soul!"
To test the new sword's power, Yoru stepped out of the thatched hut and faced a small hill several dozen meters away.
He took a deep breath, his Total Concentration: Constant breathing rhythm instantly peaking. Shiranui's blade glowed with a blinding red light.
"Sun Breathing, First Form..."
"Dance!"
"Boom!"
A brilliant red light swept past like a knife through butter. The top of the hill was sliced off cleanly, and the cut surface was instantly crystallized by the extreme heat, appearing as smooth as a mirror!
[SYSTEM: DETECTED HOST HAS OBTAINED EXCLUSIVE WEAPON: SPECIAL GRADE CURSED TOOL: SHIRANUI!]
[DUE TO THE HIGH COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN THE WEAPON AND THE HOST'S SOUL, SUN BREATHING POWER IS INCREASED BY 30%!]
[HIDDEN TRAIT UNLOCKED: INDESTRUCTIBLE (UNDER THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE HOST'S BREATHING TECHNIQUE, THIS WEAPON CANNOT BE DESTROYED BY CONVENTIONAL MEANS).]
Hearing the system prompt in his mind and seeing the leveled hilltop, Yoru satisfiedly sheathed Shiranui.
With this old partner, he could finally unleash a hundred percent of his strength.
Just then.
The flip phone placed nearby vibrated violently. Yoru picked it up; the screen displayed an emergency text from Satoru Gojo.
There were only a few short words, yet they carried a rare gravity:
"The mission has changed. The Star Religious Group and Q Organization have both made their move."
"Return to Tokyo immediately!"
Yoru's gaze instantly sharpened.
The Star Plasma Vessel escort mission—the turning point in the fates of Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto in the original story.
Was the man known as the "Sorcerer Killer" finally about to make his entrance?
"It seems the first blood Shiranui tastes will have to be the real deal."
Yoru strapped Shiranui to his back and, without a moment's pause, turned and sprinted into the vast mountain forest.
Destination: Tokyo!
Gripping this divine weapon that had crossed through time, Yoru wanted to see.
This time, who could possibly kill someone he wanted to protect right in front of him!
[ Author's Note : If you're loving the story, a power_stone, review or comment means the world!
Want 40+ chapters ahead right now? patre0n.c0m/Royal_ink ]