"Convergence! And now... Piercing Blood!"
'Good, Yuji! Don't fear the sensation of losing blood! We brothers can replenish our blood with cursed energy!'
'It still feels a bit like a "superpowered water gun," but Yuji's Blood Manipulation is really starting to take shape, isn't it?'
Deep within his Innate Domain, four-year-old Yuji Itadori—who had become a freelance sorcerer through a strange twist of fate—was diligently training alongside the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings, the group of entities who had appointed themselves as his older brothers.
To avoid public notice, Yuji had spent a full year undergoing rigorous sorcery training inside this Innate Domain, a mental world constructed by the Special Grade Cursed Objects. While his actual combat experience was limited to surreptitiously exorcising low-level curses found around town, he had grown into a sorcerer of incredible caliber for his age.
His primary strengths were his "extraordinary natural physical ability" and the "use of multiple cursed techniques," a result of harboring nine Special Grade Cursed Objects within his body.
The possession of multiple techniques was a unique trait virtually unheard of in the wider jujutsu world. It granted him an unparalleled advantage in battle, allowing him to strike with moves that completely caught opponents off guard.
In reality, however, his arsenal was mostly a collection of very similar techniques.
"Um, how many techniques do you guys have in total again? Right now I'm focusing on Choso-niichan's Blood Manipulation, but I'm supposed to practice the others soon, right?"
'That's right. Let's review while we take a break. First, the technique Kechizu and I share is Rot Technique.'
'We have matching techniques! Cool, right?'
'It is a characteristic of us brothers that the closer one is to Choso-niisan, the more the technique resembles Blood Manipulation. The further away, the closer it gets to a cursed spirit's technique. The fact that Kechizu and I share a technique likely stems from that. As for Rot Technique, it involves manipulating blood and granting it a "decomposition" quality.'
As Eso spoke, he used his blood to craft an exquisite artificial rose from his fingertips. The brothers broke into honest applause at his superb skill. It was a heartwarming scene, yet as Eso had mentioned, the nature of the ability was pure malice. Beyond the effect of rotting and eroding anything the blood touched, a certain "shared trait" between the Death Paintings and Yuji significantly boosted its lethality.
First was the constitution that allowed them to convert cursed energy into blood infinitely, making death by blood loss impossible. Second, because they were half-cursed spirit and half-human, the blood of the Death Paintings (and Yuji, as their vessel) acted as a lethal poison to humans. Finally, the blood of Choso and Yuji—as practitioners of Blood Manipulation—was also a deadly poison to cursed spirits.
In short, whether human or curse, anyone injected with Yuji's blood would be eroded by intense poison while simultaneously suffering the effects of Rot Technique or Blood Manipulation.
One could only call it Special Grade; this overwhelming power had transformed Yuji, at a mere four years old, into a powerhouse worthy of being called an "unregistered Special Grade sorcerer."
But these weren't the only techniques Yuji possessed.
'M-m-mine is next. It is the "Pus" technique, which generates massive amounts of white blood cells.'
Nuran explained his technique, Leukocyte Gluttony. While the name sounded like a version of Blood Manipulation restricted to white blood cells, its effect involved the mass production and manipulation of leukocytes to "devour cursed energy." Much like white blood cells consume bacteria to become pus, this technique—which manipulated the "pus" that ate cursed energy—was devastatingly effective against opponents who relied heavily on their techniques.
While he couldn't convert the devoured energy into anything else—it simply turned into pus—it was incredibly reliable for defense. If Yuji were ever cursed, he could have his internal white blood cells devour the curse to nullify it.
For instance, if Yuji were attacked by Noritoshi Kamo using Blood Manipulation, he could simply turn the enemy blood that entered his body into pus, rendering it harmless.
'Now, let your big brother introduce the next one. Next is Sho-o's Muscle Manipulation. It's a technique that uses cursed energy to control flesh. Generally, it's used to reshape one's body or temporarily enlarge muscles. A normal human would run out of blood if they forced their muscles to grow that much, but with our constitution, it doesn't matter. We can increase our blood as much as we want. Also, though it's a bit crude, you can plug wounds with flesh to force them to heal.'
To demonstrate, Sho-o pumped up his own body. With his green skin, massive muscles, and multiple eyes, he looked exactly like a villain from an American comic book.
However, Yuji took a huge liking to it. "So cool! You're like the Hulk!"
Warmed by his younger brother's reaction, Choso moved on to describe the technique of Kansho, a strange figure who resembled a mass of maggots.
'Kansho's Flesh Maggot Technique creates shikigami maggots from his own flesh. The maggots are small, but they bite into the enemy, crawl inside, and molt into flies as they feed on flesh and blood to multiply. Individually they are weak, but in large numbers, they are powerful. The downside is that they're wiped out instantly if the opponent uses Reverse Cursed Technique... but that doesn't matter against curses. If you use your own flesh as bait, you can even spawn them as flies from the start. Since flies are small, they might be useful for scouting.'
Looking at Kansho, it certainly seemed as if maggots were welling up endlessly, yet his total body mass never seemed to change. When Yuji honestly asked, "How does that work?", Kansho gestured squirmingly to explain that they maintained a perfect balance through cannibalism.
'Next is Koso's Body Part Manipulation. It's a technique where you detach parts of your body and control them. To put it simply in terms of the anime Yuji watches: you can fire a Rocket Punch. However, this technique only detaches and controls; it can't "reattach" them. True practice for this will have to wait until you learn Reverse Cursed Technique. Technically, you can use it safely with hair, like Kitaro's hair needles, but...'
"I'd go bald."
'Yeah, you'd go bald. When Koso uses it, it's convenient because his necrotic flesh is inexhaustible... but that also makes the flesh brittle, which is a weakness.'
"But Kitaro's needles are kind of a dream. Can I try it next time I get a haircut?"
'Practice is important, so why not? Aside from hair, it might be useful to grow out your nails and use those.'
While the group analyzed the applications of Body Part Manipulation, Sanso began to clatter and creak, clearly eager for his turn.
'Sanso's Bone Manipulation is a technique to reinforce and manipulate his own bones with cursed energy. He can even grow new ones. It's simple but versatile. For example, you can repair broken bones instantly, and reinforcing the skeleton directly increases defensive power. You can even create an "exoskeleton" outside the body.'
"Like Kimimaro from Naruto?"
'Roughly, though exercising the technique at that level would be... quite back-breaking? ...Sanso, I know you want to say "That was my line!", but do you really have to drop your jawbone to express your shock? ...Anyway, Sanso and Kechizu are our mood makers. They take pride in it, so try to understand, Eso. ...The last is Osho. His technique is Ashen Breath. He can exhale an endless breath of "the scent of burning corpses"—a mixture of sparks, ash, black smoke, soot, and sulfur. For escape or distraction, it's the most useful. On the other hand, it has almost no offensive power unless the opponent is wearing extremely flammable clothes. Against humans, it might cause coughing or act as a blinding flash, but for curses, you should consider it just a distraction. ...The brothers from Nuran to Osho were dead until very recently. So, to be honest, their technical proficiency isn't much different from Yuji's. But that means there's plenty of room for growth. Because you are all the brothers I am so proud of...!'
'There goes Big Brother's weird switch again.'
'It happens every time. Well, since there are only ten of us brothers in the whole world, I understand how he feels.'
'S-s-still, Choso-niisan is right about the potential for growth. Except for Choso-niisan and Eso-niisan, none of us can use a Maximum Technique or an ultimate move yet.'
"Maximum Technique... that's like the ultimate secret move of a technique, right? ...Wait, Kechizu-niichan, you can't use one? You've been alive for a long time, haven't you?"
'My big brothers spent 150 years seriously researching techniques, but I was just thinking about what I'd do if I ever got outside, so I slacked off a bit!'
"Ah, okay. That actually makes a lot of sense."
'Right? But it would be cool if I could use one. Eso-niichan's Wing King is so cool... I guess I'll work hard at training, Yuji!'
"Yeah! I'll do my best too! I've never seen that Wing King thing, though!"
'I'll show it to you eventually. ...Now, that's enough of a break. Yuji, back to training with us. Sho-o, Kansho, Koso, Sanso, and Osho—practice your Japanese speaking. Nuran and Kechizu, please watch over the younger brothers' studies.'
"Okay!"
'Leave it to me, Brother!'
With that conversation, the training for Blood Manipulation resumed within the Innate Domain.
Thus, the strength of the boy named Yuji Itadori continued to grow steadily within his dreams, night after night, every time he fell asleep.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]