A light rain began to fall. The fickle weather was like a girlfriend's mood—impossible to predict, yet something you simply had to endure.
Under the obsidian shroud of the Curtain, the youth and the Mirror Demon were locked in a fierce exchange.
Droplets drifted through the black veil, landing on the boy's face. It occurred to Hasegumo then: this mirror Curse had no head. How was it tracking his movements so precisely?
Without missing a beat, Hasegumo flipped backward, scooped up a handful of dirt from the ground, and smeared it across the mirror's surface. He paid for the maneuver with a heavy punch from the Mirror Demon that sent him sprawling.
However, as Hasegumo rolled to his feet and lunged again, the Mirror Demon seemed entirely unaffected. As fists and legs blurred in a flurry of strikes, Hasegumo felt his body begin to heat up. His mind felt clearer than ever before, his thoughts accelerating to a fever pitch.
The outline of Cursed Energy!
On the surface, they were still deadlocked. In a battle of attrition where neither could break the other's defense, Hasegumo's total pool of Cursed Energy was inferior to the Demon's. He was destined to fall behind—which was exactly why Yamagami had been preparing to intervene.
But a sudden shift in Hasegumo's movement made Yamagami freeze.
The youth suddenly flickered. The Cursed Energy coating his left arm vanished completely as he shifted his weight to the left, engaging the Mirror Demon with only one hand. The Demon didn't seem to notice the trap, keeping the bulk of its energy allocated to its front-facing mirrors.
Just as the Mirror Demon threw a straight left, its momentum fully committed, Hasegumo's right hand shot out. He grabbed the Demon's left wrist and yanked it backward.
In that heartbeat, his technique surged. The energy transfer was instantaneous. His left hand, now saturated with a massive concentration of Cursed Energy, slammed into the side of the mirror body. The Mirror Demon tried to reallocate its defense, but it was too slow.
The youth's strength peaked. The Mirror Demon faltered.
Crack.
A tiny fissure appeared on the mirror's surface. Simultaneously, a bolt of Black Lightning erupted from Hasegumo's fist. The crack spider-webbed across the entire frame instantly. Then, all six mirrors shattered into fine dust, revealing the humanoid Curse huddling within.
That black lightning was the Black Flash. It occurs when the gap between a physical strike and the impact of Cursed Energy is within $0.000001$ seconds, causing a distortion in space. Its power is to the $2.5$ power of a normal hit. The difference in the "feel" for Cursed Energy between those who have experienced a Black Flash and those who haven't is as vast as heaven and earth.
Hasegumo, currently immersed in the transcendent sensation of the Black Flash, didn't stop. His right hand followed up with a straight punch at maximum output, aimed directly at the Curse's chest.
Black Flash: Second Strike.
Another arc of black lightning crackled across his knuckles. The humanoid Curse's upper body was reduced to atoms instantly, and its lower half slowly crumbled into ash, drifting away in the wind.
The rain intensified into a steady downpour. The pitter-patter of water was the only sound, but Hasegumo had entered a state of "selflessness." The Cursed Energy within him seemed to be cheering, dancing through his veins.
He could perceive every trace of his energy with crystalline clarity. It felt like flowing water, like a gentle breeze, moving from his core to his limbs. That sensation of high-speed flow was utterly intoxicating.
So this is Cursed Energy... Before, it had been formless and intangible, but now he felt he could almost grasp its composition. However, changing the very nature of the energy was still beyond his current reach. With that realization, Hasegumo snapped back to reality.
Tetsuya Yamagami had been watching silently. Only when Hasegumo emerged from his trance did he speak. "That's quite rare. A Black Flash—and a double at that."
"Eh? Is it that rare? Have you ever hit one, Yamagami-senpai?"
As they talked, Hasegumo deactivated the Curtain. They walked out together, leaving behind only the lingering "residue" for the cold rain and time to wash away.
"My technique is long-range," Yamagami replied. "Black Flash is almost exclusively for close-quarters fighters. Once Cursed Energy leaves the body, it's incredibly hard to control. Unless someone can control detached energy with zero latency, they aren't hitting a Black Flash."
"So the answer is no? Makes sense. After all, I am the once-in-a-millennium perfect successor of Shingen-ryu," Hasegumo said with a cheeky grin.
"You little brat," Yamagami said, giving Hasegumo a light rap on the head. "I don't know why, but seeing that smug smile makes me want to hit you."
"Oh, by the way, Gumo. You know there's a cash reward for exorcising Curses, right? But since this was your evaluation mission and I'm the supervising sorcerer, the entire payout goes to me. You don't get a single yen."
Yamagami looked at Hasegumo and dropped the heartbreaking news.
"Are you serious?! If I'd known that, I would've asked Uncle Gen to let me come alone."
Hasegumo scratched his head, though he didn't seem truly upset. "But a Grade 2 can't be worth that much, right? How much are we talking?"
"The energy level was actually Semi-Grade 1; it was only labeled Grade 2 for the exam. The reward for this one is 500,000 yen."
Yamagami pulled open the car door. "Don't just stand there looking stupid. Let's go. I'll buy you dinner."
"Can you drink?" Yamagami asked, looking at the menu.
"I can do fruit wine or something. I'm only sixteen; I'm not legally allowed to drink yet," Hasegumo replied.
They were in a traditional Japanese izakaya. The service was fast. As soon as the alcohol hit the table, Yamagami poured himself a full glass of sake, while Hasegumo poured his fruit wine.
"Cheers!" "Cheers!"
"So, Senpai, how did you get into the Jujutsu business?"
Yamagami went quiet for a moment, pouring himself another glass. "My family was just normal. Since I was a kid, I was obsessed with mechanical engineering. If that hadn't happened, I probably would've ended up working for some manufacturing firm."
"When I was young, my parents got a divorce. I lived with my mother. Around middle school, she stopped coming home as much. Our finances got tighter and tighter until we couldn't even pay for school. One day, I couldn't take it anymore. I decided to find out exactly what she was doing."
Jujutsu Sorcerer File:
July 15, 1993 – Nara Prefecture
Middle school student Tetsuya Yamagami, carrying a self-made short-barreled firearm, followed his mother, Shako Yamagami, into a gathering place for the "X Church."
This church held long-term gatherings to worship a Curse, using "miracles" as bait to defraud followers of their assets. The organization was designated an illegal cult that same year.
The Nara branch leader, Keizawa Kubo, manipulated followers into "donating" their property and engaged in various [indescribable] sacrificial rituals.
That night, upon witnessing Keizawa Kubo attempting an [indescribable] act against his mother, Tetsuya Yamagami shot and killed Kubo. Due to his extreme emotional state, a surge of Cursed Energy triggered the church's "worshipped" Curse to go berserk.
Based on the residue found later, the Curse was ranked as a Semi-Special Grade.
Normal humans on the scene were shocked into awakening the ability to see Curses. According to witnesses, the Curse killed over sixty people, including Yamagami's mother, within thirty seconds.
After awakening his innate technique, Tetsuya Yamagami exorcised the Curse by constructing Cursed Energy bullets. The investigating sorcerers determined Yamagami's base energy level was only Grade 3; it was speculated that a temporary Binding Vow allowed for the surge required for the exorcism.
Investigations confirmed Yamagami had no prior connection to the victims and no malicious intent; his testimony was verified.
Following the incident, Yamagami was prosecuted for illegal firearm possession and sentenced to juvenile detention. Due to his cooperation and status as a minor with no prior record, he was scouted by Kyoto Jujutsu High.
Initially ranked as a Grade 3 Sorcerer.
2000: Formally recommended for Grade 1 by Grade 1 Sorcerer Yoshinobu Gakuganji and Grade 1 Sorcerer Naobito Zen'in. In the same year, he solo-exorcised the Grade 1 Curse "Palmistry" and was officially promoted to Grade 1.
"That's pretty much the gist of it. The Association eventually helped me get a special weapons permit. When I'm not exorcising Curses, I spend my time at home researching, building, and maintaining firearms."
Yamagami downed his glass and refilled it. "What about you, kid? What's your story?"
Hasegumo gave a brief summary of his childhood.
"I didn't just come to Kyoto to find out why the Old Man died. Once you've seen Curses, you can't really go back to a normal, carefree life, can you? Becoming a sorcerer was the only path left."
"Itadori, huh? Doesn't ring a bell. If I run into them, I'll keep an ear out for you."
Yamagami seemed a bit tipsy now. "But kid, you're wrong about one thing. Normal people's lives aren't 'carefree.' The stress of living, everything that goes wrong... it makes people angry, sad. That's what creates Curses in the first place."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm just a sixteen-year-old kid. Don't get all serious on me."
Hasegumo weighed the nearly empty bottle in his hand. The alcohol didn't seem to affect him at all.
Yamagami was fully drunk now, muttering to himself. "The direction of the pack is decided by the alpha... so who is responsible for the state of Japan? All these Madaos, these NEETs... everyone is suffering. If it keeps going like this, Curses will only multiply. Damn that Saru-E-San... nothing has changed under his lead. If this goes on... if this goes on..."
"...Zzz... Zzz..."
"Hello? Earth to Senpai?" Hasegumo patted his face. No response. Luckily, he had settled the bill when they ordered. "What an unreliable adult, spouting dangerous rhetoric in a place like this."
Hasegumo called Gen Ijichi to help get the man home. He then returned to the dojo to begin his nightly training.
"You must integrate martial arts into your instincts, not just your practice. Force control, balance, the conviction behind your punch—repetition alone is useless."
As he spoke, Gen Ijichi effortlessly slipped past Hasegumo's right straight. He reached out, using Hasegumo's own momentum to sweep him onto the floor. Hasegumo reacted instantly, launching a leg sweep from the ground, but Gen hopped over it. He followed up with a downward axe kick from above.
They had been sparring for over half an hour. Even though Hasegumo surpassed Gen in both strength and speed, he was being played like a fiddle. He couldn't land a single hit, while Gen's strikes landed continuously.
Even with his abnormal constitution, taking a continuous beating without using Cursed Energy was pushing him to his limit.
Hasegumo watched the axe kick descend. I have to dodge this!
Instead of retreating, he lunged forward, dashing behind Gen in an instant. Pivoting his hips, he drove a right fist toward Gen's lower back.
Gen's foot had just touched the ground. Given his power, that kick should have left a small crater. Instead, Gen touched down as light as a butterfly, not even kicking up a speck of dust.
In that split second, he had retracted the power in his leg. Using his waist to pivot, he arched backward into a "bridge," grabbed Hasegumo's arms, and flipped him forward.
Hasegumo landed hard, his head spinning. He waved a hand in surrender. "I'm done, I'm done! Uncle Gen, how do you even do that? Retracting that much force mid-air with zero transition?"
"Kid, to reach this level, you'll need at least another six months of training. That isn't 'retracting' force; it's 'Force Following Will.' You only put seventy percent into the strike and keep thirty percent in reserve. Someone like you might hit harder, but what happens if your opponent is faster? you have no room to react to changes. You just have to tank it with your body."
"Got it, got it. Let's call it a day. Hachi is probably starving; I need to go walk the dog." Hasegumo stood up, dusted himself off, and waved goodbye.
"That kid... the second the clock hits, he's gone." Gen turned around to find Hasegumo had already vanished through the door.
Hasegumo stopped by his old workplace. "Two pork cutlet sets, please!"
"Oh, it's Gumo-kun! What've you been up to lately?"
Abe-san chatted as he quickly boxed the tonkatsu, bagged them, and handed them over. "That'll be 1,800 yen."
"Working at a dojo, practicing some moves," Hasegumo said, taking the food and heading out. "See you next time, Uncle Abe!"
"That kid is as energetic as ever," Abe sighed.
"Boss! Is my extra-large set ready yet?"
"Coming, coming! Just a second!"
Life rolled on, indifferent to the arrival or departure of any single person.