My world narrowed to a pinprick of focus. The frantic energy of the training ground, the concerned voices, the very air itself—it all faded into a dull hum. There was only the blueprint in my mind, a complex lattice of energy and intent, and the raw, untamed river of my Reverse Cursed Energy.
"I got it," I muttered, the words feeling distant, alien to my own ears.
I opened my eyes. It wasn't a sudden motion, but a slow, deliberate unfurling. I didn't just pour the RCE into the blueprint; I *became* the conduit. Every fiber of my being, every cell, screamed in protest as I forced the life-giving energy through pathways that were not meant to handle such a torrent.
It was like trying to channel a tsunami through a garden hose. The strain was immense, a mind-deep ache that was both agony and ecstasy. My concentration peaked, a sharp, crystalline clarity that felt like hearing the jackpot chime of a slot machine echo in my soul.
"He did it." Sayo's voice was a ghost of a sound, laced with the same kind of stunned disbelief I'd once heard from Gojo Satoru himself.
I could feel it worked as my hand had a different type of force compared to the refinement technique.
"....Its…Reverse curse technique is supposed to be the opposite of what a sorcerer's innate technique is about," Gojo stated, his voice analytical, stripped of its usual playful arrogance. He was dissecting me with his Six Eyes, peeling back the layers of my soul to understand the impossible. "At least in my case."
Their shock was almost amusing. To them, I was a nobody, a raw talent who had stumbled into their world. They saw a novice performing miracles. They didn't understand the truth.
This wasn't my first lesson. I had been wrestling with this shit since I was a child, in the dark, alone, with no one to tell me what was possible and what wasn't.
"Isshin, be honest with me. You have mastered curse energy and your technique, right?" Gojo's question cut through my thoughts. His tone was dead serious, the playful teacher gone, replaced by the strongest sorcerer demanding answers from a potential equal, or a threat.
"This is not my limit, wait," I spoke, cutting him off. The words were sharp, fueled by a sudden, burning frustration. This wasn't about answering him. This was about me. There was still something locked away inside me, a cage I could feel but not see. I needed to know my breaking point.
I wanted to go all out, to shatter the barrier holding me back, to unleash the storm I could feel raging just beneath my skin.
This feeling of being held back, of having baggage I couldn't name, was a constant, gnawing irritation. I hated it.
I roared, a guttural sound of pure effort, and poured more RCE into my hands. The energy crackled around my body flowing into my hand, no longer a gentle green but a violent, blinding aura. I wasn't just just a normal technique anymore; it was forcing reality to bend.
I magnified the effect, pushing it outwards, feeling it distort the space around me. I clapped my hands, the sound echoing with unnatural power, and interlocked my fingers.
"Maximum Technique: Denial."
***
**Gojo POV**
'Isshin Fujiwara… what a monster.' I watched him, my Six Eyes drinking in every detail. He was a genius on par with me, perhaps even surpassing me and Suguru in his raw control and utilization of curse energy.
But it was more than that. There was a depth to him, a history etched into his very soul that didn't add up. 'Is he a descendant of the Fujiwara clan? No, that's impossible. They were wiped out long, long ago.'
"Isshin, be honest with me. You have mastered curse energy and your technique, right?" I asked, my posture shifting. I needed to know. The flow, the control, the way he pushed himself past every conceivable limit—it was the mark of a prodigy forged in a different kind of hell.
"Wait!" I shouted, overcharging his power to unleash an even stronger version of his technique.
"Huh?" In that instant, something shattered.
The gentle, invisible barrier of my Infinity, the absolute defense that defined me, flickered. It wasn't broken; it was… negated. For a fraction of a second, it simply ceased to exist. The space between us became just space again.
"You-" The word was caught in my throat. Impossible.
"Isshin!" Sayo's cry was sharp with panic.
He slumped forward, his body giving out, but I was already there, catching him before he hit the ground. He was completely limp, his breathing shallow.
"Gojo, he passed ou-"
"Don't worry, he just exhausted himself," I said, my mind racing. I looked at his unconscious form, then back at the space where my Infinity had been. A cold, exhilarating thrill ran down my spine.
"This motherfucker learned Reverse Cursed Technique and a Maximum Technique in the same day," I muttered, a laugh bubbling up in my chest. It was a laugh of pure, unadulterated shock and excitement.
"Perhaps he is a bigger monster than you, then," Sayo said, her voice trembling slightly.
"Indeed- wait no….Haa. Yes." My laughter died, replaced by a grim, wide grin. The boy hadn't just learned a technique. He had developed a power that could *deny* my own. He wasn't just strong. He was my antithesis. And I had never been more thrilled.