The man was stunned. He looked at his newly grown arm, then back at Genji. His expression shifted from pain to shock, from shock to… a deeper, more profound fear.
"You… what do you want—"
Pop.
This time, it was his right leg.
The entire leg disappeared from the hip down.
Screams erupted again. Genji waited a few seconds, then healed it, letting the leg grow back.
Then the left leg.
The right arm.
The left eye.
The collarbone.
Each "destruction" was precise, fast, and excruciatingly painful. Each "healing" was perfect, quick, and left no aftereffects.
Destroy. Heal. Destroy. Heal.
The cycle repeated, over and over.
At first, it was only the fat man. Later, the others on the crosses joined in. Screams, howls, pleas for mercy, curses… different sounds intertwined in the clearing, like a distorted symphony of hell.
Genji stood at the center, calm and methodical, repeating the process of "destruction" and "healing."
He didn't laugh, didn't get angry, didn't show any unnecessary expression. Those deep indigo eyes were as calm as a frozen lake from beginning to end, reflecting the horrific scene before him without a single ripple.
It was as if he wasn't torturing, but merely conducting some kind of… "experiment."
Or "teaching."
"Are you watching carefully?"
Genji suddenly spoke. Not to the tortured, but to the shadow of the void.
From the shadow, a figure slowly emerged.
He was a teenager, about fifteen or sixteen, dressed in dark blue everyday clothes similar to Genji's, but with a more robust build and sharper eyes. Most importantly, there was not a trace of cursed energy fluctuation in him.
Zen'in Sei. Genji's younger twin brother. A Heavenly Restriction user with zero cursed energy.
"I'm watching carefully, brother," Sei answered calmly. His gaze swept over those suffering on the crosses. There was no pity or excitement in his eyes, only a nearly cold observation.
"These people are sorcerers," Genji said, his tone like explaining a math problem. "They use their power to bully the weak, use living people for experiments, and use the pain of ordinary people for entertainment. They consider themselves 'strong,' entitled to decide the life and death of the 'weak' at will."
He paused and looked at Sei.
"So, Sei, what do you think we should do with them?"
Sei thought for a moment and answered, "Kill them."
"And then what?"
"Then…" Sei frowned. "Their families will retaliate. More like them will appear. And then, brother, you will have to keep killing until no one dares to do it again."
"Correct," Genji nodded. "But that's not enough."
He walked to a cross. Tied to it was the thin woman, who had been tortured to the point of delirium, only able to make meaningless sobbing sounds.
Genji reached out and placed his hand on her forehead.
A thin stream of indigo cursed energy seeped inside. The woman's eyes immediately cleared, but the clarity brought even more sober pain and fear.
"Listen carefully," Genji looked into her eyes, his voice very soft, but each word was terrifyingly clear. "I'm not going to kill you. I will heal you and let you go back. Go back to the Kamo clan and tell everyone what happened today. Tell them—"
He paused, and a cold light finally flickered in his deep indigo eyes.
"From today onward, sorcerers have no right to harm ordinary people without reason. No live human experiments. Ordinary people shall not be treated as 'materials' or 'sacrifices' in any form."
"Those who violate this rule," he said, pointing to the crosses around him, "will end up like this."
"I will find you. Nail you here. The way you treated the weak will be returned to you tenfold or a hundredfold. And I won't let you die. I will heal you and do it again. Repeat it over and over, until your spirit is completely broken. Or…"
He leaned close to the woman's ear, in a voice only the two of them could hear, and whispered:
"Until you learn the 'rules.'"
The woman trembled. Tears, snot, and saliva mixed together. She couldn't utter a single word.
Genji straightened up and looked at Sei.
"Killing can only create fear. Fear breeds hatred. Hatred breeds more killing," he said. "But 'fear,' combined with 'rules' and 'a punishment mechanism that everyone can see and understand,' can create 'order.'"
He waved his hand. Everyone on the crosses was healed simultaneously. Their wounds closed. Severed limbs regenerated. Even their mental wounds were temporarily soothed.
But the fear on their faces was etched into their bones.
"Now," Genji said, "I will let you go. You can go back to your families, tell everyone what happened today, try to take revenge, continue doing evil."
"But I advise you," he smiled slightly. The smile was so gentle it seemed almost eerie. "Think carefully. Next time I catch you, would you prefer me to kill you outright, or, like today, 'play with you a little longer'?"
No one dared to speak.
Genji didn't care. He turned and walked out of the village. Sei silently followed.
When they were far from the village, Sei finally spoke:
"Brother, doing this… will it really work?"
"I don't know," Genji admitted frankly. "But you have to try something. Killing is easy, but killing doesn't solve the problem. I don't just want a 'flock of obedient sheep.' I want… at least a 'fence' that allows the sheep to survive."
He paused and added, "Besides, this is only the first step."
"What's the second step?"
"The second step," Genji looked into the distance, toward Kyoto, "is to go to the Kamo clan. To the Zen'in clan. To the Gojo clan. To every family that calls themselves 'nobility.' And say the same thing again."
"What if they don't listen?"
"Then say it again," Genji said. "In a way they can understand."
He didn't explain what "a way they can understand" meant. But Sei understood.
---
After that day, Zen'in Genji and Sei spent three months visiting every known sorcerer clan in Japan.
Their visits were very consistent: courtesy before force.
First, state the rule—"sorcerers must not harm ordinary people"—and the consequences of breaking it.
If they didn't listen, show them the "consequences."
If they still didn't listen, make an example of them.
Three months later, the entire jujutsu world knew the name Zen'in Genji, the "iron rules" he had established, and the consequences of breaking those rules—not death, but a fate worse than death.
Some clans were dissatisfied and united to resist. They were suppressed by Genji alone.
Some clans obeyed openly but continued to do evil in secret. They were found out by Genji one by one, nailed to crosses, and tortured in endless cycles.
Some clans tried to flee, escaping abroad. They soon discovered that Genji's "barrier" covered the entire world. No matter where they ran, they could feel those deep indigo eyes quietly watching them from the void.
A year later, the jujutsu world became "peaceful."
It was not a voluntary peace, but a peace enforced by fear.
But at least, ordinary people could survive. At least, those "sorcerers" who took pleasure in torturing and killing the weak would think twice before acting, wondering if the "god" in the indigo hunting robes might suddenly appear before them.
╔══════════════════════╗
📘 Want more?
Join me on Patreon for bonus chapters
and early access!
🔗 https://www.patreon.com/cw/OverlordD
╚══════════════════════╝