Clap... clap... clap...
Watching the Domain Barrier slowly dissipate, Satoru Gojo drifted over to Megumi Fushiguro, applauding as he came, then landed lightly beside him.
"Well then, congratulations are in order~~ With this Shikigami, ordinary people probably won't be much of a threat to you anymore..."
Now that the Domain was gone, the Divine Treasures surrounding Megumi Fushiguro had vanished, and the various curse patterns formed from [Jade] were gradually fading from his body.
After taking a deep breath to steady himself, Megumi Fushiguro looked up at Satoru Gojo.
"The good news is... Akira-sensei must still be alive..."
"Yeah, I could tell."
With the [Iku-tama] markings disappearing, Megumi Fushiguro seemed to feel, all at once, just how sharply his Cursed Energy had dropped off. The sudden loss left him so uncomfortable that he plopped straight down onto the ground.
Honestly, he did not understand how Satoru Gojo could stay so calm.
Satoru Gojo seemed to read the thought straight from his face.
"You're wondering why I'm this calm about whether my best friend is alive, right?"
"A little..."
Satoru Gojo smiled.
"That's because... we're invincible! This isn't confidence... it's experience~~"
Megumi Fushiguro gave a completely unsurprised nod. He had heard that line so many times his ears were practically numb to it by now...
Satoru Gojo pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures of Megumi Fushiguro. Then, while idly fiddling with it, he said as if it were nothing,
"Who knows. Maybe you'll reach that level soon too..."
Megumi Fushiguro looked at him with a pained expression. He had never been that obsessed with growing stronger. As long as he was strong enough, that was enough... In his eyes, being "invincible" was not a compliment. It meant facing an enormous test of his own "steadfast humanity"...
Besides, if Akira Zenin had not helped him take a shortcut, for a user of the [Ten Shadows Technique] to reach the level of wielding Divine Treasures, a lot of conditions had to be met.
First, enough knowledge related to barriers.
Second, all Ten Shadows Shikigami had to remain alive, without being pushed down the "inheritance and cultivation" route.
Third, the Shikigami had to have a strong enough emotional foundation...
Fourth, mastery over merging the Shikigami with his own shadow.
Fifth, the ability to analyze the Shikigami through a Domain...
It could be said that without Akira Zenin's shortcut, even if he knew the exact direction to take, Megumi Fushiguro would not have reached this level until at least middle age... and that was with the added condition that, over all those years of frequent use, not a single Shikigami could be killed...
...
After a brief silence, Megumi Fushiguro had mostly recovered. He had actually been waiting for Satoru Gojo to ask a few questions.
Something like:
[Can you explain those patterns from earlier?]
[How did you imprint the ornament from the Shikigami's forehead onto your body? It looks kind of fun~~]
After all, when it came to these "Divine Treasures," he might well be the very first user...
But Satoru Gojo said nothing. He just crouched off to the side, playing with the ants on the ground while waiting for him to recover.
"Um..."
"Hmm?"
Satoru Gojo, who was currently pouring the concentrated sugar water he carried onto the ground to tease the ants, turned around and saw Megumi Fushiguro sitting there with an awkward look on his face.
"Sensei, I'm still not used to my current state. You've got more experience, so I wanted to ask..."
"Sure, go ahead."
Megumi Fushiguro then explained the situation with the Divine Treasures and his own thoughts to Satoru Gojo.
"So after going through that Double Domain, you've resonated with the 'Divine Treasure,' and now you can turn your Shikigami into 'Divine Treasures' whenever you want."
"But under normal circumstances, since the [Ten Shadows Technique] only lets you summon two Shikigami at the same time, outside a Domain you can only use two kinds of 'Divine Treasure' at once?"
"Yeah."
"Hahaha~~"
"Uh... what are you laughing at?"
Satoru Gojo pinched his chin and let out another smug little chuckle.
"I was just thinking, if you use [Iku-tama] to gain Cursed Energy, then use [Taru-tama] and [Chikaeshi-no-tama] to shape and manipulate shadows, isn't that basically a low-budget version of Akira?~~"
"And if you use [Kusagusa-no-mono-no-hire] to disperse physical damage, then [Hachi-no-hire] to disperse techniques, isn't that just a bootleg version of fully automatic [Power of Stillness]?~~
"On top of that, you can still summon all Ten Shadows Shikigami. Just like Suguru, you're basically a Pokémon Master..."
"Hahahaha... you're a total all-rounder of the cosplay world now, Megumi!"
Megumi Fushiguro did not go along with the teasing. He just rubbed his head helplessly.
He had been trying to ask Gojo-sensei a serious question, and somehow the conversation had gone completely off the rails...
If Yuji Itadori were here, he probably would have joined right in on this topic. No, wait... if Yuji were here, he would probably already be out looking for a cosplay outfit for him!!
"Quit sighing. If you keep that up, global warming is going to have your name on it~"
As he spoke, Satoru Gojo suddenly quieted down, his expression and demeanor returning to that of a proper teacher.
"If you ask me, since you're both [Ten Shadows] users, you can take a page from Akira's approach. In other words, in daily use, you can focus on maintaining [Iku-tama], then use that Cursed Energy to support whatever other operations you need..."
Megumi Fushiguro nodded in agreement and started recalling the various Ten Shadows techniques Akira Zenin had taught him, including "Overlapping Shikigami," "Shikigami Technique Swapping," and "Multiple Shikigami Technique Possession." With the support of [Iku-tama] and [Chikaeshi-no-tama], he should now be able to carry out those techniques through his shadows...
"Megumi, once you've rested enough, I want you to help me with an experiment~~"
Megumi Fushiguro froze for a second when he heard that. The word "experiment" coming out of Satoru Gojo's mouth felt... strange, somehow.
[It's only fun when you're breaking new ground. The unknown is the greatest challenge of all.]
That sounded much more like Satoru Gojo...
"Uh... sure, of course. Go ahead."
"I'm a little curious. You said just now that the Divine Treasure [Yatsuka-no-tsurugi] can rapidly analyze any defensive method, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. [Yatsuka-no-tsurugi] analyzes things even faster than Mahoraga's own adaptability."
Satoru Gojo recalled that arrow from Akira Zenin's Mahoraga before, the one that had shot straight out of the shadows and ignited his Cursed Energy.
With clear interest, Satoru Gojo said,
"I want to see how the Stillness of Limitless can be broken, aside from with a Domain..."