Before dedicating her life to becoming Mirai's full-time nanny, Takayanagi Mieko was officially ranked as a Grade 2 sorcerer.
Her Innate Technique, "Eternal Youth," allowed her to maintain her physical body at its absolute, immaculate peak as long as her cursed energy wasn't fully depleted. It was essentially a premium, passive version of Reverse Cursed Technique that only applied to herself. Because of this, she was a natural-born brawler—an absolute physical powerhouse.
In addition to her technique, Mieko's fundamental understanding of jujutsu was outstanding. That was why, alongside her duties as Mirai's nanny, she doubled as his physical combat instructor.
Don't be fooled by her gentle, voluptuous, and soft-spoken demeanor. If she hadn't neglected her own jujutsu training to dote on Mirai, she would have easily reached Grade 1 years ago.
"As long as I practice seriously for a single week, passing the Grade 1 assessment would be trivial," she had once stated nonchalantly. "But Mirai-sama is just too cute~ I couldn't bear to leave his side for even a second to take the exam!"
It was a sentiment that perfectly encapsulated the brutal truth of the jujutsu world. The gap between genius and mediocrity was fully embodied in Takayanagi Mieko: a genius can do whatever they want, while the mediocre struggle just to survive.
In a dark, narrow alleyway just around the corner from an Akihabara hardware store.
Gojo Satoru stood with his arms crossed over his chest, staring down at Awasaka Jiro, who was blocking his path.
"Oh? Instead of running away, you're actually taking the initiative to approach me?" Satoru smirked, tilting his head. "You've got some nerve, trash. Have you picked out your coffin yet?"
"You're... you're just a brat! Damn it!" Awasaka's voice trembled.
Only now, sharing the same physical space as the boy, did the veteran Curse User realize how fatally flawed his earlier assumption had been. The 'Six Eyes' were merely a tool; the true, overwhelming terror... was the boy himself!
A monster! A higher-dimensional predator! Awasaka's heart hammered frantically against his ribs, his survival instincts screaming like a prey animal trapped in a cage with an apex predator.
"Why aren't you making a move?" Satoru taunted, cracking his knuckles. The crisp pops echoed in the alley. "If you aren't coming to me, I guess I'll just have to come to you."
Swoosh!
Satoru vanished from Awasaka's sight!
"Shit!"
Unable to react to the boy's hypersonic speed, Awasaka staked his life on his Innate Technique. "Stop right there! I carry the future of all Curse Users on my back!"
BOOM!!!
A terrifying, gravitational attractive force struck Awasaka from the front, slamming him violently backward! When Awasaka regained his senses, he was deeply embedded in the brick wall of the alley! Spiderweb fractures radiated outward from his body.
Oddly, Awasaka was completely uninjured. Only his clothes were scuffed with brick dust.
Because of the bet with his Onii-chan, Satoru hadn't held back. He had used a full-power Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue. Yet, the attack did zero damage to the old man, despite obliterating the wall behind him.
The answer was instantly obvious. Not a single second of processing power was wasted. The moment the dust cleared, a radiant, feral smile spread across Satoru's face.
"I see. You old geezer, you must think you're pretty clever," Satoru chuckled. "Your Innate Technique... it's Inverse, isn't it? The stronger the attack, the weaker the impact."
!!
The relief of surviving the attack evaporated instantly. The boy's voice was like a grim reaper's scythe pressing against his throat. Awasaka broke into a cold sweat!
Curse Users always complained that cursed spirits were getting stronger every single year. Now, Awasaka understood why. It was because of him. Gojo Satoru! The exact moment this boy was born, the balance of the world had irrevocably shifted!
We used to be free... Awasaka was so overwhelmed by Satoru's sheer presence that he had completely forgotten about the other, even more terrifying monster roaming the streets!
Suddenly, an invisible, incredibly gentle gravitational pull seized Awasaka. His body floated uncontrollably into the air. The sensation of being squeezed, like drowning in the deep sea, slowly began to build from zero.
Satoru was steadily creeping the pressure toward the exact threshold where "Inverse" would fail to register it as a 'strong' attack, allowing it to deal fatal damage! Floating helplessly in the air with nothing to leverage his weight against, Awasaka couldn't even struggle. He could only wait for death in suffocating terror.
"Any last words, trash?" Satoru asked coldly.
"I—"
Before Awasaka could finish, Satoru abruptly spiked the gravitational acceleration right at the sweet spot.
Squelch!
Awasaka's body violently imploded, collapsing inward before bursting into a gruesome mist of crimson gore!
"Ah?" Satoru tilted his head, completely unfazed by the shower of blood. "Gomen, gomen~ Your body was just too fragile. You couldn't even last a second. What a pity."
There was zero remorse on his face. His exhilarated grin stretched from ear to ear. "YOSHI!" He pumped his fist in excitement.
Looking up, the young boy's eyes locked onto a distant anomaly. Two hyper-concentrated red lasers suddenly pierced through the clouds, crossing the sky miles away!
"Onii-chan, I guess you're not done yet..." Satoru laughed. "I WIN!"
"What the hell?!"
The speed of light was simply too fast. Without any prior warning or cursed energy spark, Mirai didn't even have the time to summon the Yata Mirror. Struck by the laser, Jedora was forced to drop her mimicry disguise. A few scorch marks marred her snow-white, fluffy tails, though they instantly regenerated back to pristine condition.
At this moment, Mirai was wearing a deeply bewildered expression—the exact same look of utter confusion one might have when encountering a bootleg, discount-superhero.
He stared at the so-called "Divine Eye" across the street, who had just fired a literal thermal laser beam out of his eyes. Not far away stood the "Divine Body," who had managed to stall Mahoraga for exactly three seconds before getting swatted away, yet had somehow survived without having his spine shattered.
What in the knock-off Homelander nonsense is this?! Mirai thought incredulously. If this is the theme they're going with, don't tell me the guy with pig ears and the guy with the gigantic forehead are called 'Divine Ear' and 'Divine Brain'?!
From her distant vantage point, Granny Ogami watched the exchange.
So there was another Shikigami guarding him in secret? What a pity... Although Mahoraga's sheer destructive power had shocked her, she possessed a trump card that she believed surpassed even Special Grade.
In this battle... the advantage is mine!
The Grandsons' Arsenal:
"Divine Body": Possesses a physique as indestructible as steel, with raw strength and speed to match.
"Divine Eye": Capable of firing hyper-concentrated thermal lasers from his eyes, hot enough to melt gold and slice through stone.
"Divine Ear": Bestowed with superhuman hearing, capable of isolating the sound of an insect's wings flapping ten kilometers away.
"Divine Brain": Acts as the central processing hub, networking the other three together to share sensory data, boasting top-tier tactical intelligence.
These four techniques belonged to four powerful corpses Granny Ogami had recently grave-robbed from an ancient sorcerer's tomb. Originally, they belonged to quadruplet brothers from a bygone era. During their lives, they were divided by their potential but deeply loved one another, refusing to engage in the typical jujutsu clan bloodshed. Thus, they left no historical footprint and faded into obscurity.
But now, under the absolute command of Granny Ogami's Séance Technique, this four-in-one, bootleg superhero squad was about to make a bloody mark on the jujutsu world! They would pave the way for a glorious future for Curse Users!
Or... that was how it should have played out.
Standing on the rooftop, Granny Ogami violently swung her cane and shrieked into her comms.
"It is time! My grandsons! For the future of all Curse Users... offer up your flesh and blood!"
A/N: For this week, every 100 Powerstones will get ya'll an extra chapter! Thank you!