The sound of tearing open a bag of potato chips was crisp, and Genji naturally ripped open another pack, eating them one by one. He floated cross-legged over the low coffee table, the hem of his indigo hunting robes hanging in the air, looking out of place in the modern study, but his posture—eating modern snacks—was very skilled.
"Alright, the social time is over."
Genji clapped his hands together and tossed the empty chip bag into the trash can in the corner. He sat up straight—although still floating, his posture became serious. His deep indigo eyes swept over the three girls before him.
"Eriri, Katou-san, Miss Kasumigaoka. Now that you know about the existence of the jujutsu world, and—" he looked at Eriri, "due to your connection with me, your cursed energy is slowly but continuously growing. For your own safety and to avoid unconsciously attracting cursed spirits, you need to learn to control the cursed energy within your bodies."
Eriri straightened up, her expression serious. She thought about the black hands on the bus, the torn-apart aristocrat in the Ginza hotel—if the cursed energy emanating from her body really attracted those monsters…
"I'll learn," she nodded vigorously.
"Katou-san," Genji turned to Megumi Katou. "You're the same. Although your constitution is special, you are not immune to or exempt from cursed energy."
Megumi Katou quietly nodded. "I understand. Please teach me, Lord Zen'in Genji."
"As for Miss Kasumigaoka…" Genji looked at Utaha and paused. "Your cursed energy is very weak, even less than that of ordinary people. Under normal circumstances, it's almost impossible for you to see cursed spirits or perceive cursed energy on your own. But you are smart, observant, and logical—and you can see the flow of cursed energy through these glasses. You can act as a 'recorder' and 'analyst,' observing the entire process and perhaps discovering things we miss."
Utaha adjusted her glasses, a faint light glinting in her crimson eyes.
But the girl wasn't so easily discouraged. She opened her laptop, placed her hands on the keyboard, and looked ready to take notes at any moment.
"So, let's start with the basics," Genji floated to the center of the study and sat down cross-legged—this time, he actually sat on the floor, though still half a foot above it. "The essence of cursed energy is the 'energization of emotions.' The first step in controlling cursed energy is to 'feel' your own emotions, and then 'direct' the energy generated by those emotions."
He held out his palm, facing up. A very faint indigo thread condensed in his palm, like a living firefly, slowly circling.
"Watch closely. This is not 'summoning,' it's 'cohesion.' I directed the naturally emitted cursed energy from my body into my palm, preventing it from dispersing."
Eriri's eyes widened, and she tried to look closely. She could see that thread of light and felt the gentle but immense power contained within it. Megumi Katou also leaned forward slightly, her black eyes staring intently. Utaha quickly typed on her keyboard, recording "Observation of Cursed Energy Condensation Phenomenon."
"Now, Eriri, you try," Genji said. "Close your eyes and feel your emotions. How are you feeling right now?"
Eriri closed her eyes as instructed. She thought for a moment. "Nervous… a little excited… and…" She paused and added quietly, "afraid I won't be able to learn it, and that would be embarrassing."
"Very good," Genji's voice was soft. "Don't resist these emotions. Feel the 'flow' they create in your body. Just as wind blows over water and creates ripples, emotions flow through the body, creating cursed energy. Try using your consciousness to 'touch' those ripples, and then—"
He reached out a finger and gently tapped Eriri's forehead.
A slightly cool touch appeared. Eriri felt something "awaken" inside her. It wasn't a physical object, but rather a… "presence." Pale gold, warm, yet faint, like a mist enveloping her.
"Do you feel it?" Genji asked.
"Yes…" Eriri's voice trembled slightly. "Gold… very faint…"
"That is your cursed energy. Now, try to direct it to your palm. Don't rush, don't force it. It's like holding a handful of water—be careful not to spill it."
Eriri took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. She could feel that pale gold "mist" slowly drifting through her body, but whenever she tried to "grab" it, it slipped through her fingers like sand.
"Don't grip tightly," Genji corrected. "Imagine you are a magnet, and that cursed energy is iron filings. You don't need to chase them. You just need to 'exist,' and they will naturally be attracted to you."
This metaphor helped Eriri understand a little. She relaxed, stopped trying to force control, and instead imagined a soft "gravitational field" in her palm.
Ten minutes later, her palm finally condensed a small cloud of very faint, almost invisible blue light spots.
"I did it!" Eriri opened her eyes in surprise, but the next second, the light spots dispersed.
"That's fine," Genji nodded. "It's very good to have condensed it on the first try. Next comes stability and duration practice. Practice for half an hour before bed every day. When you can maintain it stably for five minutes, that's considered getting started."
At the same time, a very tiny, almost transparent blue flame appeared in Megumi Katou's palm. The blue flame was unstable, its surface fluctuating, and it could break at any moment, but it was there—she had condensed a small amount of cursed energy, so faint it was almost invisible.
"It worked," a glint of approval flashed in Genji's eyes. "Although the amount is small, the principle is correct. Katou-san, you have excellent control."
Megumi Katou opened her eyes and looked at the faint light bubble in her palm. A few seconds later, the light bubble popped with a soft pop, and the cursed energy inside dissipated into the air.
"It only lasted a few seconds…" she whispered.
"Don't rush," Genji comforted.
He floated back to the center of the study and clapped his hands together.
"Alright, that's enough for basic perception and condensation training. Next…" He paused and looked at Eriri. "You asked before whether you have a 'technique.'"
Eriri's heart lifted. She remembered Genji saying that techniques were innate—some people had them, some didn't.
"Techniques are indeed innate," Genji said slowly. "It's like some people are born to sing, and some are born to run fast. Whether you can awaken one, when you'll awaken it, and what technique it will be… all of this is unknown. You might awaken it tomorrow, or you might never awaken one in your entire life."
Eriri's shoulders slumped. But Genji's next words made her lift her head again.
"But," he said, the corners of his mouth curving into a somewhat smug arc, "a thousand years ago, I researched something… something different."
He extended his right hand, fingers spread, palm up.
No condensation of cursed energy. No light filaments suspended in the air.
But the atmosphere in the study began to "change."
It wasn't a change in temperature or humidity, but a more fundamental change, as if at the level of "rules." Eriri felt the golden cursed energy in her palm tremble slightly, as if attracted by something. Megumi Katou unconsciously clenched her hand.
Utaha adjusted her glasses, her crimson eyes fixed on Genji's palm.
Then Genji's fingers began to move.
It wasn't random movement, but a practiced "hand seal" with a certain ancient rhythm. His fingers moved rapidly, tracing complex and beautiful trajectories, each movement as precise as if rehearsed a thousand times.
When the seal was complete, the air in his palm began to "twist." No, not twist, but "compress." The surrounding cursed energy—including the pale gold cursed energy that Eriri had just dispersed—was drawn by an invisible force, converging, rotating, and compressing toward his palm…
A pale blue sphere of light slowly took shape in his palm.
The sphere wasn't large, only the size of a tennis ball, but the light inside rotated with a low humming sound. On the surface of the sphere, cursed energy flowed at high speed like a torrent, forming small whirlpools, and the center of the vortex was so deep it seemed capable of absorbing all light.
Eriri's eyes widened, her mouth fell open, and it took her a moment to squeeze out a few words:
"That's—that's not—"
---
At the same time—the training ground of the Tokyo Jujutsu High.
"Hah—!"
Yuji Itadori threw a punch, and with a sound of tearing air, it struck a special training dummy. The dummy's chest caved in a large section, but it quickly recovered under the effect of a curse.
"Not bad, Itadori!" Satoru Gojo sat on the steps nearby, holding an edamame whipped cream sweet, eating it with satisfaction. "In just three days, you can already use your cursed energy to reinforce your fists. Although that guy Sukuna is annoying, his physical talent is really something."
Itadori gasped and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He looked at his fist, covered in a faint layer of blue cursed energy—this was his own cursed energy, not Sukuna's.
"Gojo-sensei," he asked, "do sorcerers all have their own 'techniques'? Like Fushiguro's Ten Shadows Technique, or your Limitless technique?"
"Not necessarily," Satoru Gojo swallowed the last bite of his sweet, clapped his hands together, and stood up. "Techniques are innate. Some people have them, some don't. A sorcerer without a technique will have reduced combat effectiveness, but it's still possible to fight—for example…"
He extended his right hand and spread his five fingers.
Itadori looked at him suspiciously. But in the next second, his eyes widened.
Gojo's fingers began to form hand seals. The movements were so fast they left only afterimages, but each gesture carried an indescribable "weight." With the seals, the air in his palm began to twist and compress, and the surrounding cursed energy gathered wildly—
A pale blue sphere of light, with high-speed rotating internal light flow, formed in his palm.
"That's—" Yuji Itadori's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. "A Rasengan?!"
"Rasengan?" Satoru Gojo raised an eyebrow, then smiled. "No, no, no, this is called a 'Cursed Energy Vortex.' It's a kind of 'acquired technique.' As for what you said—'Rasengan'… he copied it from me."
He laughed, and the sphere of light in his hand slowly dispersed. "So I should clarify, we invented this technique first. To be precise, it was invented by Zen'in Genji a thousand years ago."
"Zen'in Genji?" Itadori remembered the name Sukuna had mentioned. "The God of Curses, who was as famous as Sukuna?"
"Yes," Satoru Gojo nodded, his tone uncharacteristically serious. "Lord Zen'in Genji discovered that many sorcerers had limited combat effectiveness because they lacked innate techniques. So he developed a 'hand seal system' that uses specific gestures, incantations, and self-binding in exchange for temporary changes in the nature of cursed energy."
He traced in the air, and indigo cursed energy—though different in color from Genji's, similar in principle—condensed into several models of basic seals.
"Like this," Satoru Gojo formed a seal, and a small cluster of flame immediately rose in his palm. "Cursed energy with the 'fire' attribute, suitable for explosion and burning."
He changed the seal, and the flame disappeared, replaced by a swirling stream of water. "The 'water' attribute is suitable for control and penetration."
He changed again, and the water stream condensed into a thin current. "The 'lightning' attribute—fast speed, strong penetration."
Itadori was stunned. This was like… magic.
"There's also 'wind' and 'earth,'" Satoru Gojo dispelled his cursed energy and brushed the dust off his hands. "Five basic attributes in total. Through different combinations of seals, dozens of variations can be derived. This is an 'acquired technique'—not innate, but learned through training and practice."
He paused and added, "Moreover, because the seal itself is a 'binding'—vowing to activate with a specific gesture—in exchange for a 'temporary change' in the nature of cursed energy, it consumes less energy and is more flexible than an innate technique. Of course, the upper limit of power isn't as high as the strongest innate techniques, but for sorcerers without techniques, it's a huge improvement."
Itadori processed this information. He remembered that he had no innate technique. He could only fight with his body. If he could learn this…
"Can I learn it?" His eyes lit up.
"Of course," Satoru Gojo smiled. "But first, you need to master basic cursed energy control. If you can't even control your cursed energy well, the seal will just backfire and blow yourself up."
He sat down again and took out another sweet.
"Alright, more on that later. Next is practical training—I'll attack you with 'acquired techniques,' and you'll learn to defend yourself with cursed energy. Don't worry, you probably won't die."
"'Probably'?!" Itadori yelled.
The sounds of fists and feet colliding, along with the screams of a pink-haired teenager, once again echoed across the training ground.
---
Outside the training ground, far away at Toyonoki Academy, in the Sawamura family study…
"—A Rasengan?!"
Eriri's exclamation echoed through the study.
She pointed at the pale blue sphere of light in Genji's palm, her eyes wide. "That's—that's exactly the Rasengan from 'Naruto'! Even the rotation is the same!"
"I invented it first," Genji said calmly. "He must have copied it from me."
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