Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Handsome Shadow Hero?!
『RYON』
Enjoy~~~
The city of Sendai looked calm and peaceful under the midday sky, but for Jujutsu sorcerers, calmness was nothing more than a cover for the ugliness of the world lurking in the shadows.
Zenin Ren and Fushiguro Megumi walked side by side along one of the streets, both wearing the distinctive black uniforms of Jujutsu High.
While Megumi was checking his phone with a serious expression, Ren walked lazily, one hand in his pocket, the other toying with the heavy crimson necklace hanging around his neck.
"Tell me again, Fushiguro…" Ren began in a bored tone as he looked up at the sky. "Why exactly are we here, while our dear teacher Gojo Satoru is out somewhere buying sweets?"
Megumi sighed without lifting his eyes from the phone. "I already told you. A special-grade cursed object was detected in this area. Gojo-sensei said he was busy with 'higher matters,' so he assigned us to retrieve it."
"Busy…" Ren scoffed, a sarcastic smirk forming on his face. "Busy taking souvenir photos and buying Kikufuku, right? Damn it, that man treats us like delivery staff."
Megumi suddenly stopped in front of a small wooden box placed inside an abandoned weather observation station near Sugisawa High School. The box was open.
"Ren," Megumi said sharply. "Look."
Ren stepped closer and looked inside. The box was empty. The protective cloth was torn, and the cursed object was gone.
"Great," Ren said flatly. "The object isn't here. Can we go back now?"
"Don't be stupid," Megumi replied seriously as he began summoning his Divine Dogs (shikigami) to track the trail.
"This is a special-grade object. If it's left out in the open, it'll attract curses and kill people. The scent is still strong… it's leading us to the school."
…
The two followed the shikigami until they reached the athletic field of Sugisawa High School. The place was packed with students, cheers filling the air.
"What's all this noise?" Ren asked, leaning against the metal fence.
At the center of the field stood a strange pink-haired student, facing a large, muscular P.E. teacher. It looked like some kind of challenge.
"Shot put?" Ren raised an eyebrow. "Did we come to watch a school sports day?"
His sarcasm faded slightly when he saw the pink-haired boy pick up the iron ball. He didn't take a proper throwing stance—he threw it like a light baseball.
Boooom!
The iron ball shot forward like a projectile, tearing through the air with a terrifying whistling sound before smashing into the distant goalpost, denting it and knocking it down.
A stunned silence fell over the field, followed by an explosion of cheers.
Ren whistled in genuine admiration. "My God… did you see that, Megumi? That physical strength… without any cursed energy?"
Ren secretly activated his system's Analysis skill.
[Target: Itadori Yuji]
[Physical Condition: Far beyond normal human limits.]
[Cursed Energy: 0 (suppressed / nonexistent at present).]
[Note: Potential Vessel.]
"Potential vessel?" Ren thought. "You mean Sukuna?"
Beside him, Megumi stared in shock. "He broke the world record with one throw… and he's laughing? Who is this guy?"
As they watched, the boy—Itadori Yuji—quickly grabbed his bag and waved at the stunned teacher.
"Alright, Sensei! I won, so I'm not joining the club! I've got an important appointment!"
Yuji sprinted off, passing by them like a gust of wind. His speed was so absurd that the air shifted around them.
At that moment, both Ren and Megumi sensed something.
"That scent…" Megumi whispered, eyes following Yuji. "It's coming from him! He has the cursed object!"
"Hey! You!" Megumi shouted and tried to chase him, but Yuji had already vanished around the corner, as if he'd never been there.
Megumi stopped, stunned by the boy's speed. "Did… did he disappear? Is he even human?"
Ren laughed and placed a hand on Megumi's shoulder. "He's as fast as a race car, my gloomy friend. Looks like our simple mission just turned into a chase."
They turned to leave—only to encounter an unexpected obstacle.
"Waaah! Look at that boy over there!"
"He's so handsome! Is he a model?"
"Look at his eyes! They're green!"
"And his black hair! Such a mysterious vibe!"
Suddenly, Ren found himself surrounded by a battalion of high school girls. Their eyes sparkled with admiration, phones raised to take pictures.
Instead of getting annoyed, Ren radiated pure Gojo Satoru energy. He adjusted his collar with a charming smile and winked at one of the girls.
"Hello, ladies," Ren said in a smooth, attractive voice. "We're just passing through. Could you tell me where that fast boy went?"
"Kyaaa! His voice is amazing!" the girls screamed. "He went that way! Do you want my number?"
Megumi stood off to the side, his face filled with disgust and irritation. "Ren… stop messing around. We don't have time for this nonsense."
One of the girls noticed Megumi. "Oh! His friend is handsome too! But he looks gloomy and angry!"
"My favorite type! The sad, mysterious boy!"
Half of the girls turned their attention to Megumi, who backed away in genuine terror. "Get away! I'm not—damn it!"
Ren burst out laughing, enjoying Megumi's suffering. "Look at you, Fushiguro! You're a crowd favorite! Don't be shy—smile for the camera!"
"I'll kill you, Zenin…" Megumi muttered as he forcefully pushed his way out of the crowd. "I'll kill you and feed you to my dogs."
…
Night fell, and the atmosphere shifted from school-day noise to the eerie silence of a hospital.
Following the remaining cursed energy trail, the two arrived at Sugisawa Hospital. In the waiting area, they found the pink-haired boy, Itadori Yuji, sitting on a plastic chair. His head was lowered, his body emanating a quiet sorrow.
He was filling out a death form.
Ren and Megumi stopped at a short distance. Ren felt a slight ache in his chest, memories of his previous life and repeated scenes of death surfacing in his mind.
"He just lost someone important," Ren whispered. "Bad timing to interrogate him."
"I know," Megumi replied, his apparent coldness hiding sympathy. "But curses don't care. If the cursed object stays with him, he and everyone in this hospital will die."
"You're right…" Ren sighed.
Ren stepped forward first, his footsteps calm so as not to startle the boy.
"Hey…" Ren called softly.
Yuji raised his head. His eyes were slightly red, but he seemed strangely composed. "You're… the ones from the school?"
"Itadori Yuji, right?" Ren said, sitting beside him with calculated nonchalance, while Megumi stood in front of him seriously.
"I'm Zenin, and this is Fushiguro. We're from a special Jujutsu school. We came to ask about the strange object you picked up."
Yuji looked at them in confusion. "The object? You mean the wooden box?"
"Yes," Megumi cut in sharply. "That's an extremely dangerous cursed object. Having it puts your life and others' lives at risk. Hand it over immediately."
"Calm down, Megumi…"
Yuji scratched the back of his head, looking uncertain. "Dangerous? Well, I didn't know… I found it and thought it looked interesting, but—"
"But what?" Ren narrowed his eyes.
"I don't have it anymore," Yuji said simply. "I gave it to my friends in the Occult Club. They said they wanted to check what's inside tonight at school."
Ren and Megumi froze. They exchanged looks of pure horror.
"Tonight?" Megumi asked quietly. "You mean… right now?"
"Yeah. They said they'd remove the paper talisman—the seal—to see what's inside."
"You idiot!" Megumi shouted, spinning around and sprinting toward the exit at insane speed. "They'll break the seal! They'll kill themselves!"
Yuji jumped to his feet. "What? Kill themselves? What are you talking about?!"
Ren stood and placed a hand on Yuji's shoulder, his emerald eyes glowing with frightening seriousness under the hospital's dim lights.
"Listen, Itadori. That thing attracts monsters. Monsters you normally can't see—but they'll eat your friends alive if the seal is broken. Megumi went to save them… and I'm going after him."
Without waiting for a response, Ren vanished after Megumi, leaving Yuji in shock and anxiety—before the boy decided to chase after them as well.
As they ran, Ren explained more to Yuji about the situation.
…
When they reached the school gate, the atmospheric pressure was suffocating. The sky above the school was unnaturally dark, a purple-black aura wrapping around the building.
"We're late…" Megumi gritted his teeth as he climbed the fence. "The seal is broken. Curses are gathering."
Yuji arrived, panting. "What is this pressure? It feels like something's crushing my chest!"
Ren stood before the gate, staring at the dark building. He could hear faint screams from inside and sense a powerful, malicious cursed energy swelling.
"Megumi, Itadori," Ren said calmly, reaching for his neck.
He grabbed the heavy crimson necklace.
"You're both too slow."
Ren pressed the necklace, the lock snapping open with a heavy metallic click. He removed it and slipped it into his pocket.
In that instant, everything changed.
It was as if a dam had collapsed.
A massive surge of cursed energy erupted from Ren's body—dense, dark-blue energy that made the air ripple violently. Megumi and Yuji felt the physical pressure of it.
"W-What is that?" Yuji stepped back. "Ren…?"
Ren turned toward them, his eyes shining in the darkness like a predator freed from its chains.
"Stay here… or try to follow me. It doesn't matter."
BOOOM!
The asphalt beneath Ren's feet shattered. In less than a second, he vanished, leaving only a whirlwind of dust and violent wind that slammed into Megumi and Yuji's faces.
"So fast!" Yuji shouted. "I didn't even see him move!"
Megumi, despite his shock at the sheer scale of Ren's cursed energy, regained his focus.
"Come on. He's going to save your friends. We need to find the cursed object!"
…
Inside the dark school corridors, hell had begun.
Curses with grotesque forms—multiple eyes, sticky limbs—crawled along walls and ceilings, drawn toward the energy source (the finger).
Then suddenly, something tore through the hallway.
It wasn't students running.
It was a human cyclone.
Ren was moving at a speed that made the curses look like frozen statues. He didn't stop to fight.
He charged forward like a raging storm.
When a massive curse resembling a rotting ball of flesh blocked his path, Ren didn't use any complex technique. He coated his fist with raw cursed energy and threw a single punch mid-run.
Craaaash!
The curse exploded into purple fragments that evaporated into the air. Ren didn't slow down for even a second.
"Target is on the third floor… club room!" Rina guided him in a mechanical voice inside his mind.
"Got it!"
Ren leapt up the stairwell, clearing an entire floor in a single jump.
He reached the third floor. The door at the end of the hallway was open, and a girl's scream echoed from inside.
"Sasaki-san!"
Ren remembered the girl's name—Yuji had mentioned it earlier.
Ren burst into the room.
The scene was horrific. Sasaki, a girl wearing glasses, was suspended in midair, held by the massive hand of a huge curse emerging from the ceiling, trying to devour her.
"Disgusting…" Ren muttered.
From behind his waist, Ren drew a small weapon hidden under his jacket—a short sword (tanto) glowing with blue cursed energy.
"Get away from her, you trash!"
Ren jumped high and spun through the air.
Shing!
With one clean, precise strike, he severed the curse's arm.
Sasaki fell screaming—but before she hit the ground, Ren landed and caught her with one arm, princess-style.
The massive curse roared in rage and pain, attacking with other limbs.
"Annoying."
Ren raised his free hand, shaping his fingers like a gun.
"Bang."
He fired a condensed blast of raw cursed energy, piercing straight through the curse's head and blowing it apart completely.
The curse dissolved, and silence filled the room.
Sasaki, trembling, looked up at her savior. She saw his glowing green eyes in the darkness, his black hair, and his handsome features—calm despite the chaos.
"Y-You… who are you?" she whispered.
Ren smirked slightly as he gently set her down. "Just a handsome student passing by. Are you okay?"
Sasaki's face flushed red, fear forgotten for a moment. "I-I…"
"Where's Iguchi?" Ren asked seriously, cutting off the potential romantic moment.
Sasaki pointed with a trembling hand toward the adjacent hall. "There… another monster took him…"
"Damn it," Ren cursed. "Hold on to me."
"W-What?"
Without warning, Ren hoisted her onto his back. "Don't let go of my neck, or you'll fall."
Ren took off again at extreme speed. Sasaki shut her eyes tightly and buried her face against his shoulder, catching a faint scent of cologne mixed with something unfamiliar.
They reached the other hall. Iguchi lay on the floor, unconscious, while a huge multi-eyed curse loomed over him, ready to devour him.
"Stop!"
Ren leapt—Sasaki still on his back—and landed between the curse and Iguchi.
The curse looked at him—and froze.
Ren released his full aura. The aura of a former Demon Slayer and a current Jujutsu sorcerer of the Zenin clan.
His eyes conveyed a single message: Move, and I'll erase you from existence.
The curse trembled… and stepped back. Primitive fear overtook it.
Ren seized the moment, slicing the curse vertically in half with his short sword.
Crunch!
The curse evaporated.
Ren set Sasaki down beside Iguchi, who was unconscious but breathing.
"Listen carefully," Ren said to the stunned girl. "Stay here. Don't move. My friends will arrive soon and get you out. I've got a bigger monster to hunt."
"Wait!" Sasaki called out, her eyes shining with something strange—admiration? Awe? "What's your name?"
Ren stopped at the doorway and half-turned, shadow covering half his face.
"I'm just a handsome shadow hero… Ren."
With that, he vanished into the darkness, heading toward the rooftop where he sensed the strongest energy—the finger.
As he ran, Ren thought with a sarcastic smile:
"Did she really fall for me just because I saved her? Anime clichés are terrifying… but hey, a few fans won't hurt."
Ren reached the rooftop and saw the decisive scene.
Itadori Yuji, cornered, facing a massive curse—and in his hand… the cursed finger.
"Oh no…" Ren muttered as he saw Yuji raise the finger toward his mouth. "He's going to do it… he's really doing it now!"
"Is he going to eat it? Seriously? That's disgusting!"
---
End of Chapter Twenty-Nine.
Ren is back again 😂
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