Choso woke up, his face warped into horror as his pupils shrank and memories of things that never happened flooded into his mind, and his hand shook. He walked out of the bathroom as he held his head, sweating bullets.
"What?"
A table with plates full of pasta, as a hand gathered some of it on a fork, and fed it to Kechizu, who seemed overjoyed and happy. Kiyotaka sat in the seat, having fed him with a faint smile as he wiped Kechizu's face. Choso sat next to him with Esso sitting across from him, and Tanso sitting next to Esso. There were five embryos in clear glass containers on the table. The 5 other Death Womb Paintings.
Kiyotaka gathered some more on his fork as he raised it towards Choso's face, saying, "You, too, brother."
Choso inched closer, ready to take the bite, but the memory shattered as Choso broke a screen, having come back to his senses, saying, "What's happening? You're..."
He walked off still confused.
Kechizu held a loaf of bread, saying, "Bread, bread, bread!"
Kiyotaka looked to him and asked, "What's wrong, Nii-chan? Do I need to check on your health?"
Choso's eyes widened as he was crying and said, "I have to go. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka... What are you? I have to know. What am I?"
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Kiyotaka looked to [Geto], thinking, 'Not good. If he absorbs Mahito, then things will get even worse.'
Kiyotaka began raising his hands, struggling against the command [Geto] had made as he clasped them together and chanted, "Piercing Mass!"
[Geto] simply moved his head out of the way, dodging it with ease as he laughed and said, "So feisty."
Kiyotaka stared at this as his eyes focused, thinking, 'He can react that quickly?'
"Lay Down"
[Geto] chanted this as Kiyotaka's body slammed into the ground as he thought, 'I could fight back if I had all my Cursed Energy, but right now...'
[Geto] walked over to Todo and said, "My my. Aren't you too dangerous to be left on the board?" as he then chanted, "Contort" as Todo's hand twisted off and he gritted his teeth.
Kiyotaka glared at [Geto], thinking, 'Damn it!'
Mahito suddenly lunged at [Geto], only for the lunge to be avoided as Mahito said, "I knew that. After all, I was born from you humans."
Suddenly, Mahito started transforming into a sphere as he screamed and yelled.
[Geto] smiled and said, "The best part of Cursed Spirit Manipulation is the quantity of Curses that become available to you upon absorption. Even if you figure out how to beat one of them, I can just send out another over and over again until you're exhausted and unable to fight back."
Kiyotaka took a breath and shouted, "I already factored that in!"
[Geto] smiled and said, "Of course you have. You've experienced it, right? Using a Maximum Technique. The one against Jogo? It is an expression of the Cursed Technique at its highest, apart from one's Domain. The Maximum Technique of Cursed Spirit Manipulation is Uzumaki. It combines the absorbed Cursed Spirits into one, creating super-high-density Cursed Energy to attack your opponent with."
[Geto] began laughing as Kiyotaka thought, 'What's this guy's goal? Removing Gojo is a given since it'll give him free rein, but to do what?'
[Geto] stopped laughing and said, "We were talking about Uzumaki, right? Uzumaki is powerful, but it also means throwing away the quantity of options that serves as Cursed Spirit Manipulation's main strength. So it wasn't very tempting to me at first."
[Geto] frowned and said, "After all, I thought it was just a way to recycle low-level Cursed Spirits. But I was wrong. It displays its true value when a Cursed Spirit above Semi-Grade 1 is used in Uzumaki - and their technique is extracted."
[Geto] swallowed the sphere, forcing it down his throat as he looked up and said, "How foolish. Did you think I wouldn't notice the presence you left?"
Nishimiya was above on her broom, a lantern hanging on hr broom as it lit up several times like a signal.
Far away, Kamo looked and thought, 'The signal... our target is right below Nishimiya', as he strung three arrows on his bow, reinfocred them with Cursed Energy and fired them as many other arrows aimed at [Geto] who stood still, not taking a single hit, having grabbed an arrow that was about to hit him as he began dodging more arrows.
Miwa appeared behind him, thinking, 'I swung my sword relentlessly. Because I didn't want to die.'
She made a stance, creating a Simple Domain thinking, 'New Shadow Style...'
She held her sword ready to draw it, thinking, 'Put it all in! Everything I've experienced, as well as my future to come! Even if it means I'll never swing a sword again!'
She shouted, "Quick Draw!"
Kiyotaka managed to look as he shouted, "Don't do it, Miwa!"
Miwa swung her sword, only for [Geto] to catch the blade, break it and chant, "Maximum Technique: Uzumaki!" as he summoned a spiralling mass in the form of Mahito, and energy reached out towards Miwa.
The attack hit that area as dust blew up, as [Geto] vomited out blood, thinking, 'Kiyotaka truly has become strong enough to cause me to recoil from using Cursed Speech. How interesting.'
He used the Reverse Curse technique to heal his throat and looked to the dust, saying, "New Shadow Style, huh? I'm glad. It's nice facing someone with a bit of knowledge."
The dust settled to reveal that Kusakabe had blocked the attack as Miwa exclaimed, "Kusakabe-san!"
Utahime and Nishimiya were there as well, and Nishimiya shouted, "There's no point is you're out in front, Sensei!"
Utahime then shouted back, "I couldn't help it!"
Utahime looked to [Geto], thinking, 'You would have hated this Satoru. Seeing him like this... No wonder you got caught off guard.'
Utahime took a breath, thinking, 'That idiot... am I really missing him right now? Maybe it's because of Ayanokoji that I understand him better now.'
Kiyotaka realised something, thinking, 'I can move now, but... I'm low on Cursed Energy. 25%? No. 20%'
Panda and Kamo stood behind him as Kamo said, "That man has Satoruu Gojo... and the Prison Realm, huh?"
Panda then said, "Apparently."
Kiyotaka stood up and said, "Whatever is using Suguru Geto's body is as old as Jujutsu Society itself."
Choso arrived as he stared at [Geto], who said, "Hey, Choso."
Kiyotaka looked to him, thinking, 'He's experiencing emotional turmoil? Why? Did he fly off the deep end from his failure to avenge his brothers? No. It doesn't look like that. More like confusion and anger.'
Choso then thought, 'I have three parents. My mother, the cursed Spirit that impregnated my Mother, and the man who mixed his blood into the affair...' as an image of Noritoshi Kamo came into Choso's mind. He had stritches across his forehead as he thought, 'The one who toyed with my mother...'
He finally made the connection, thinking, 'The loathesome-'
[Geto] smiles and said, "Looks like you've realised it."
Choso gripped his hands, saying, "So that's how it is!"
He glared, shouting, "Kamo Noritsohi!"
Utahime and Kusakabe looked shocked, saying, "Kamo?!"
Panda looked shocked as well, saying, "Noritoshi?"
Kamo pointed to him and asked, "Me?!"
Kiyotaka sighed and said, "Not you. That one. The Worst Sorcerer in history."
[Kamo Noritoshi] smiled and said, "Kamo Noritoshi is merely one of the many names I've had. Call me whatever you like."
Choso gritted his teeth and shouted, "How dare you... How dare you make me try to kill Ayanokoji?! My little brother!"
Kiyotaka deadpanned, thinking, 'Brother?'
Atsuomi stepped out of the shadows and said, "Well, it looks like everything has gone according to our plans."
[Kamo Noritoshi] smiled and said, "Indeed. Our Kiyotaka truly has proven himself to be an ultimate force of chaos that even I can't control completely."
Todo sighed and said, "You two don't get to call my besto friendo as [yours]. Dont' say stupid things like that."
[Kamo Noritoshi] looked surprised and asked, "Why not? We made him together after all."
Many deadpanned and turned green in the face in disgust.
Kiyotaka stared at [Kamo Noritoshi] and Atsuomi and said, "To think that I have two parents and both of them are some of the worst people imaginable."
Choso walked towards [Kamo Noritoshi] when Uruame arrived between them and said, "Stand down, third-rate. Don't keep me waiting any longer."
Choso swung his arm, shouting, "Move it! I'm his older brother!"
Choso then thought, 'It's a side effect of my technique. I can feel any changes to my blood-related siblings, no matter how far away they are. Death. For every living being, that is their last and greatest change. The instant I woke up, I strongly sensed the death and rebirth of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. And after everything that's been said, I'm sure of it. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka must also be my blood-related younger brother!'
He looked to [Kamo Noritoshi] and Uraume and thought, 'If Kamo Noritoshi has been extending his life by transferring bodies, then it's not an impossible idea.'
Choso prepared a Piercing blood as he thought, 'Which means I... must use my full strength to perform my duty as the older brother!'
Kamo looked shocked, shouting, "Blood Manipulation?!!"
Choso began to vibrate his hand as both Kamo and Kiyotaka thought, 'So much pressure!'
The attack fired as Uraume blocked it with her hands, struggling to hold it off and thinking, 'It's fast! So this is piercing blood?!'
Choso prepared another convergence, swinging his arm as the blood sliced through the ground like a blade and towards [Kamo Noritoshi], who dodged. An Abacus Shikigami appeared next to Atsuomi as the air visibly froze in place, blocking Choso's attack as Uraume dodged.
Kiyotaka stared at Atsuomi, thinking, 'A Cursed Technique? Since when?'
Choso gripped his hand as blood began lifting the earth beneath [Kamo Noritoshi], and Choso rushed up, making Kiyotaka think, 'He still has a lot of Cursed Energy left over.'
Choso fed blood into the rock as it travelled up to attack [Kamo Noritoshi], who avoided taking damage as Choso fired another Piercing Blood and [Kamo Noritoshi] used a flying Cursed Spirit to avoid it as the attack tracked him.
Choso clicked his tongue, firing Piercing Blood again as he stood on top of the raised earth pillar he had created.
[Kamo Noritoshi] summoned a gate-like Cursed Spirit as Choso sliced it in half before it could land on him and continued tracking after [Kamo Noritoshi].
Choso gripped his hand as blood attacks rained down on [Kamo Noritoshi], who flew towards Choso, crashing his Cursed Spirit to create dust as Choso created blood spikes in reverse grip as [Kamo Noritoshi] appeared out of the dust behind him, punching at Choso, who blocked with his arm as his body rolled, but he regained his footing.
A Curses Spirit came out, knocking Choso off the pillar as Choso let go of the spikes as they pooled into footholds underneath him, and he used them to propel himself up and back onto the pillar as he used Piercing blood only for [Kamo Noritoshi] to dodge it casually as a Cursed Spirit reflected the attack back at Choso, who dodged and rushed forward.
Choso began punching at [Kamo Noritoshi], who dodged easily, treating him as if he were a child throwing a tantrum as he grabbed Choso's wrist, restraining it behind his back.
Choso performed a Piercing Blood from that position, but [Kamo Noritoshi] again dodged and then brought his knee to Choso's face.
Chosos again went into an exchange, but [Kamo Noritoshi] landed a kick and fell off the pillar on purpose, saying, "Don't push yourself too hard. You're exhausted, aren't you?"
Choso then said, "So what?" before jumping off after him and shouting, "Is there any reason not to risk my life for the younger brother right in front of me?"
[Kamo Noritoshi] laughed as the pillar collapsed behind them.
Panda looked to Kiyotaka and said, "Your family's pretty messed up."
"I knew that even before finding out that my mother is a skin-changer."
Kiyotaka said this as they watched the fight.
Panda got ready and said, "You're exhausted, and I still have two cores left, so I'll take the front. We must do everything we can to steal back the Prson Realm."
Everyone ready for a fight began moving forward when Uraume readied themselves, chanting, "Ice Formation: Frost Calm!" and blowing on their hands, expelling ice that froze everyone in place.
Everyone flinched at being encased as Kamo exclaimed, "An Ice Cursed Technique?! And one this high-level?!"
Panda didn't move syaing, "If I move, I'll shatter my body!"
Choso clicked his tongue as he struggled against the ice, and Uraume said, "Is there any reason to leave them alive? as their hand healed via the use of the Reverse Cursed Technique.
Atsuomi looked to her and said, "Don't kill the others. After all. They'll be useful in the coming events."
Choso looked and said, "This ice isn't enough! Flowing Red Scale!"
Choso used his freehand to start melting the ice, but Uraume pointed a finger tipped with ice at his forehead, asked, "Then how much is?"
Suddenly, Kiyotaka jumped out, breaking Choso out of the ice as they regained their footing. Kiyotaka had used Manifest to generate a thin film of matter over his body and then vibrated it to heat the ice and free himself.
Uraume looked impressed and said, "Ayanokoji Kiyotaka has truly proven himself a worthy vessel for Sukuna-sama."
Kiyotaka looked to Choso and said, "Let's settle the mysteries of our familial connections later. For now, let's get the Prison Realm."
Choso turned to Kiyotaka and said, "Yeah, alright, but first... You're my little brother, so call me [Onii-chan]."
Kiyotaka deadpanned, saying, "Now isn't the time for this."
Nishimiya wound up her attack, shouting, "Tool Manipulation: Wind Scythe!"
Uraume blocked it with ease as Nishimiya cursed, "Shit!" and thought, 'It's depressing that they blocked it with their bare hands.'
She turned and shouted, "Ayanokoji-Kun! We're the only ones who can move right now! We need to buy time for Utahime-Sensei to finish her preparations."
Kiyotaka frowned, thinking, 'I'm almost empty. Down to my last 5%. Can I even contribute right now?'
Uraume touched the ground and chanted, "Ice Formation: Frost Calm!" as they froze everyone into place.
Kiyotaka clicked his tongue, thinking, 'Damn it. Even if I break out, I can't fight any longer.'
That's when a tall woman with a big ass stood in front of the group saying, "Long time no see, Geto-Kun."
She had blond hair and a shikigami floating around her as she asked, "Could I get your answer to my question back then?"
Todo smiled, thinking, 'She's here!'
"What kind of woman is your type?"
She asked this, making a pose as a love heart appeared on her finger.
[Kamo Noritoshi] looked annoyed syaing, "Tsukumo Yuki!"
Tsukumo stood there and asked, "Do you remember the ways to get rid of Cursed Spirits from our world?"
Kiyotaka looked to her and thought, 'Get rid of Cursed Spirits? Is such a thing possible?'
Tsukumo stood there and said, "Regardless of which method is pursued, it means advancing humanity to the next stage," while thinking, 'Now I need to buy time for Larue to act.'
She smiled and said, "Humanity's next stage is... freeing itself from Cursed Energy."
[Kamo Noritoshi] looked unimpressed and said, "No. It's optimising Cursed Energy."
Tsukumo gestured to Kiyotaka, who said, "Removal is better."
Tsukumo smiled and said, "I'm starting to like you."
Kiyotaka said this, but thought, 'Still, I think that's highly unlikely to be possible. Though I don't think optimisation is a better option.'
[Kamo Noritoshi] looked down and said, "I thought you already gave up on your plan twelve years ago, when Zenin Toji died."
Tsukumo looked to him and said, "I was talking to Geto-Kun, you know. Well whatever. I went back to my original idea. Besides, there's a big hole in your optimisation plan. Extremely few sorcerers and cursed Spirits emerge in other countries compared to Japan. So Tengen's barriers should be indispensable to your optimisation plan."
Kiyotaka's eyes widened, thinking, 'Tengen? I read about them. They created and maintain barriers for the sake of the Jujutsu Society. Apparently, they're immortal too.'
Tsukumo continued saying, "Using Tengen to optimise Cursed Energy would mean only the humans of this nation would become sorcerers. Japan would practically have a monopoly on Cursed Energy. Other nations, especially that superpower, wouldn't stand by and allow that. Flesh and blood humans would become an energy source. It's easy to imagine what misfortune that would bring. That's a world far removed from the ideals I pursue."
[Kamo Noritoshi] laughed and asked, "So what?"
He smiled and said, "For one thing, our objectives are different. I don't desire a world without Cursed Spirits or any kind of idyllic peace. Non-Sorcerers, Sorcerers, Cursed Spirits... Those are all possibilities for the shape of Cursed Energy that is mankind."
[Kamo Noritoshi] looked at his hand and said, "Though that shouldn't be anywhere near the full extent. I tried to give rise to other possibilities for mankind on my own. But that didn't work out. Everything that I created myself was limited by the bounds of my own potential. The answer was always glimmering darkly within chaos. Do you understand? What I should have created was chaos that went beyond my own control."
He smiled and looked to Kiyotaka, saying, "You are a part of that chaos that I wished to create, Kiyotaka."
He looked at Atsuomi and said, "Thanks to your father, I was able to create you. I was able to see the true peak of what humanity could create. Now I want to see you climb even higher."
Tsukumo deadpanned and asked, "So is this guy your mom or something?"
Kiyotaka sighed syaing, "Unfortunately yes."
[Kamo Noritoshi] smiled and said, "I've already finished extracting the technique."
Tsukumo sweated and looked to Kiyotaka, asking, "There was a Cursed Spirit called Mahito, right?"
"He's already absorbed him."
"Seriously?!"
"[Kamo Noritoshi] touched the ground and chanted, "Idle Transfiguration", as markings appeared on the ground and in the sky.
Tsukumo looked up, saying, "Tengen's barrier? No, this is... remote activation of a Cursed Technique?!"
[Kamo Noritoshi] looked to Kiyotaka and said, "You truly gave your mother a nice present, Kiyotaka."
Kiyotaka stared, asking, "What?"
[Kamo Noritoshi] smiled, saying, "A Cursed Spirit's mastery of their technique ceases to progress from the moment they're absorbed by Cursed Spirit Manipulation. Thanks to how much you pushed Mahito to evolve, even surpassing my expectations, even the damaged Cursed Objects and problematic brain structure problems can be bypassed."
[Kamo Noritoshi] sighed and said, "To be honest, I wanted to have Jogo, as well, but you left nothing left of him by the time I got there."
Kiyotaka's gaze sharpened, thinking, 'He was watching that fight?!'
Tsukumo looked to [Kamo Noritoshi], thinking, 'Damaged Cursed objects? Problematic brain structure? What is he talking about?' as she asked, "What did you do?"
"Norioshi" smiled and said, "I remotely activated Idle Transfiguration on two types of Non-Sorcerers that I marked ahead of time."
Kiyotaka's eyes widened as he said, "He's awakened Ancient Sorcerers and given normal people Cursed Techniques!"
[Kamo Noritoshi] undid a ribbon and said, "Now I've released the seals on the Cursed Objects. Some of them have been in deep sleep after being exposed to my Cursed Energy when I marked them, but they'll awaken soon."
He continued saying, "So, starting now, I'll have them kill each other in order to deepen their understanding of Cursed Energy. I've carefully hand-picked these people and Cursed Objects."
Tsukumo looked to him and said, "You're underestimating human rationality. Do you think people will start killing each other just because they were granted power?"
"There's an order to everything. I certainly didn't cut corners like that when making my preparations. Your questions are starting to become shallow."
[Kamo Noritoshi] said this as Tsukumo turned to Kiyotaka and said, "He's pissing me off, so let's beat him up together."
Kiyotaka took a breath and said, "Sorry, but I'm all out of steam. If I tried, I'd die pointlessly."
Suddenly, all the ice disappeared as Uraume fell to their knee and [Kamo Noritoshi] asked, "What's the matter, Uraume?"
They took heavy breaths, thinking, 'I regenerated my body with a Reverse Cursed Technique...this is...' as she finished saying, "Poison?!"
Choso stood there and said, "My blood got mixed with yours through Piercing Blood. Of course it is."
Kiyotaka looked to Choso and thought, 'I'm immune to poisons thanks to Sukuna, so it makes sense.
[Kamo Noritoshi] sighed and said, "We were in the middle of our talk. The Cursed Objects that I distributed are what's left of the Sorcerers I've been secretly making pacts with for a thousand years. Of course, I forged my pacts with more than just sorcerers, though my pacts were annulled when I obtained this body."
Kiyotaka heard this and thought, 'Is Sukuna one of those Sorcerers?'
Tsukumo looked to him and exclaimed, "You don't mean..."
Noritoshi smirked, saying, "This is the world of the future."
A dark expanse expanded from him as Cursed Spirits rose up from it. They were being released from Cursed Spirit Manipulation as Kiyotaka caught onto this thinking, 'There must be millions of them. This is a catastrophe.'
[Kamo Noritoshi] stood there holding out the Prison realm that Gojo was sealed in and said, "See you later, my son. I have high expectations for you that I'm sure you'll surpass."
He looked to Kiyotaka, thinking, 'Are you listening, Sukuna? It's starting again. The world of Heian, the golden age of Jujutsu!'
He and Atsuomi disappeared into the horde of Cursed Spirits, out of sight as Kiyotaka reached out, thinking, 'This is the worst time for me to fail, and I failed.'
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To Be Continued
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Rating Out Of 10 For This Chapter?
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