Now then. With Himiko sound asleep, it's time for me to move. I slipped out of the futon without waking her and left the house as quietly as possible. It's cold outside. Maybe I should have dressed a little warmer.
Anyway, the Kaido family has moved to Shizuoka. We used to live in Tokyo, but both my parents got transferred. There was no choice but to come here. Besides, I had already exorcised every last cursed spirit in our previous neighborhood. Some of my residual cursed energy is still scattered around, so it should be fine to leave that area alone for a while. I'm a little worried about Tokoyami, though.
And as expected, there are swarms of cursed spirits around our new home. I took care of most of them on the night we moved in. But the moment I step out of the house, I spot more. Just what is going on with this era? Cursed spirits are popping up everywhere, yet why aren't any jujutsu sorcerers doing anything about it?
No… more importantly, where have all the jujutsu sorcerers gone? Why haven't I encountered a single one in this entire life?
What happened to the Big Three families? What about Sukuna?
Wandering around alone in the middle of the night, all sorts of thoughts bubble up. The cursed spirits I come across are nothing but small fry. I can purge them with half my mind elsewhere. It's not even difficult enough to call it a struggle.
…There's no thrill. How boring. Is there not a single cursed spirit in this era that can give me a proper fight?
Well, I'm definitely stronger than I was in my previous life. My cursed energy reserves have increased dramatically. There are far more things I can do now. Before Sukuna killed me, I couldn't recklessly overuse Reverse Cursed Technique the way I do now. But look at me today. I could probably keep fighting no matter how many times I use Reverse Cursed Technique mid-battle. I feel like I've become a massive tank of cursed energy.
"I think I'll make this place my hunting ground tonight."
How long have I been walking around outside…? While purging the small fry along the way, I spotted a middle school. Places like this — and hospitals too — tend to be breeding grounds for cursed spirits. The number of missing persons in this country every year must be considerable. It's safe to assume most of them are the work of cursed spirits. In that case, as a jujutsu sorcerer, I ought to do my part.
"Emerging from darkness, darker than darkness itself— Cleanse and exorcise this impurity."
I have to lower the veil first. Even though it's the middle of the night, there's still a chance someone might see. I don't want outsiders witnessing whatever is happening inside this school. To them, I'd probably just look like a kid playing around by herself. In reality, there are cursed spirits here, but ordinary people can't see them. Unless they have a Quirk like Mother's, of course.
…Good. The veil is properly down. Now then, let's go. I'm off to find a worthy opponent. Someone who can actually defeat me. But before that…
"Umm… this middle school is called…"
I checked the signboard and wrote it down in my notebook. If I don't do this, I might end up coming back here again by mistake. Back in Tokyo, I wasted time like that several times. It makes for a decent walk, but it doesn't help much with cursed spirit hunting.
Actually, my cursed spirit hunts double as evening strolls. If I stay home, I end up spending almost all my time with Himiko. I need some time alone. Lately I've been so busy with exam prep that I've been neglecting my training.
"Oridera Middle School… got it."
Alright, I'm counting on you. Tonight, please let there be at least one cursed spirit that can entertain me! Dealing with nothing but small fry is no fun at all!
"Whoa… there are quite a lot of them…"
…All small fry, though.
On the school grounds, along the walls of the school building, inside the classrooms, even on the rooftop and in the gymnasium — everywhere I looked, there were hordes of cursed spirits that looked like a grotesque mix of babies and dogs. With this many cursed spirits around, it wouldn't be strange if someone got cursed, yet I hardly ever see news reports about it.
Well, being cursed by weaklings like these would probably just make you feel a bit sick. As long as you don't get hit by a group of them at once, you might be able to write it off as a minor illness.
"Red Binding."
Using my technique to control my own blood, I first bound up every cursed spirit in sight. I could have pierced them all with Piercing Blood, but that risked damaging the school building. I'd already made that mistake once before and put a hole in a classroom wall. That had sent a chill down my spine. Even if it's for cursed spirit hunting, causing damage to surrounding buildings is no good.
Reflecting on the past while feeling a twinge of regret, I continued binding every cursed spirit that entered my field of vision. Then, using my cursed-energy-enhanced strength, I hurled the immobilized ones into a pile on the school grounds.
I repeated this process… how many times? Eventually, a mountain of cursed spirits had formed in the courtyard. Honestly, I could use some help. Doing this alone makes time pass surprisingly quickly. Tonight I'll finish with this middle school.
"You're already weakening? You have no endurance at all. Back in my day, even cursed spirits like you had some backbone.
Seriously… cursed spirits these days…"
They grow weak just from being bound. Cursed spirits in the Heian era never faltered from something like this. Some of them are already half-purged.
Now then. All that's left is to finish them off in one go. But smashing them one by one with my fists would be tedious. Piercing Blood would require too many repetitions.
Shall I test something? What if I compress my blood with Blue, shape it into spheres, and then release them? Could I make droplets of blood fly out in every direction?
"Blue."
It's worth a try. A Blood Manipulation user must be able to control blood freely and adaptively. Only by increasing the number of moves and adding unpredictability can one avoid being killed instantly. Well, that's for people who can't use Reverse Cursed Technique. Until I learned how to use it, I operated the same way.
After all, Blood Manipulation treats blood as an organ. That's why Reverse Cursed Technique allows me to recover and replenish it. When I think about it that way… it means Himiko has been sucking on my internal organs… That's a rather grotesque thought.
That wicked woman really turns my life upside down whether she's around or not. I swear I'll curse her for generations to come…
"Is this about right?"
If I compress it too much, the blood just flies out like needles. Not too weak, not too strong. After achieving the perfect level of compression, I separated my overlapping hands. The compressed blood shot out at high speed.
The speed… is a little slower than Piercing Blood? And as for the power…
"Well, not bad at all."
Every single cursed spirit that had been bound and piled up like a mountain vanished. The released blood turned into countless droplets that flew in every direction. This technique excels at close-range area attacks. I'll think of a name for it later. I want something that sounds strong. Something like this… Tokoyami would probably come up with a cool, chuuni-sounding name, wouldn't he? He apparently has that "chuunibyou" disease… Maybe I should use Reverse Cursed Technique to cure him? Or perhaps I should focus on learning how to output Reverse Cursed Technique externally first.
"Time to head home."
If I stay out too late, Himiko might wake up. She already knows I go out at night, but she doesn't know I'm hunting cursed spirits. It's better not to make her worry more than necessary. Although just the fact that I'm wandering around alone at night is already enough to worry her. That girl still treats me like I have no sense of direction. Honestly…
By the way, which way did I come from to reach this middle school? Hmm…?
The morning sun is blinding.
So? Where exactly am I?
Why do roads always seem to stretch on forever…?
I'll say it as many times as I have to: there is no continuation. (The usual greeting)
I almost accidentally spoiled the main Jujutsu Kaisen manga for the tankobon readers. Good thing I double-checked…
Unintentionally committing three strikes: nighttime wandering, illegal trespassing, and property damage. Then getting lost on the way home in the morning for the finishing five strikes. Using a Quirk (technique) in public for the sixth strike. Well, when Madoka is in full jujutsu sorcerer mode, common sense doesn't apply. After all, no jujutsu sorcerer could do this job if they weren't a little crazy.
Oh, and Madoka's cursed energy capacity is roughly on the level of Rika-less Yuta. She can spam Reverse Cursed Technique, but because of her technique she has to constantly replenish her blood, so she runs out of cursed energy a bit faster than Yuta.