Dizziness, a throbbing head, and ice-cold limbs.
Tinnitus, thirst, and total weakness.
Without a doubt, these were the symptoms of massive blood loss.
'The wound... it's in the abdomen...'
'A penetrating wound... internal organs should also be damaged...'
'If this continues, I won't last long...'
As a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer who had earned his rank through the creation and mastery of Cursed Tools, Hiiro Koi was still able to accurately assess his injuries even with his mind so muddled.
At the same time, his combat experience which was practically engraved into his soul immediately prompted him to make the correct response: using the Reverse Cursed Technique.
It was a technique to restore one's body by multiplying "negative" Cursed Energy with "negative" Cursed Energy to generate "positive" Cursed Energy.
If the operational precision was high enough, it could even repair minor brain damage.
But... '...I can't use it? Ah, did I run out of Cursed Energy earlier...'
Recalling the last flash of purple radiance he saw before closing his eyes, Hiiro Koi stopped trying to circulate Cursed Energy, feeling resigned.
After tangling with that bastard Gojo Satoru for so long, he truly had no Cursed Energy left... Wait?!
Before he "closed his eyes," he clearly took a full-power Hollow Purple straight from that damned Gojo Satoru.
Whether his upper body even still existed was questionable; how could he have a "mild" injury like a penetrating wound?
'So it's not that the Cursed Energy ran out, but that this body fundamentally has no Cursed Energy...'
Thinking this, Hiiro Koi, who was lying prone in a pool of blood, struggled to open his eyes.
His vision was a blur.
All the scenery was superimposed, like a silver chariot rapidly accelerating after its armor exploded, making it impossible to see clearly.
Only the hand stretched forward a slender, small limb that didn't match the body he was accustomed to was clearly visible as it dug deep into the dirt.
"Gulp—"
Bloody froth churned deep in his throat.
He didn't want to die.
There were still so many subjects he hadn't researched, so many inspirations he hadn't realized... he hadn't even gotten his revenge yet...
His soul and body were trembling and wailing with such unwillingness.
As if responding to his struggle, Hiiro Koi suddenly felt a warmth emanate from his chest.
The numbness in his abdomen began to fade.
Only then did he feel the hard object pressed against his chest, and the "Life Force" in this current body, which far exceeded that of an ordinary person.
An extinguished furnace, various tools and finished products hanging on the walls, and coal piled up in the corner as his vision gradually stabilized, the scene that met his eyes was both familiar and strange.
It was an old forging workshop, but not one of the more than two hundred workshops he owned globally.
Although he had furnished a few workshops with a retro aesthetic out of nostalgia, the tools used there would never be such inefficient, antiquated models.
Then, dropping his gaze, he saw two figures lying in the pool of blood, a sight that made his heart ache.
Those were probably the parents of this body.
Breathing... none.
The amount of blood loss was clearly fatal at first glance; they were definitely beyond saving.
Combining this with the various traces around... it must have been murder.
The killer's tracks... none.
Cursed Techniques... as expected, he couldn't use them either.
'So, I've been reincarnated into someone else's body...'
After reaching this conclusion, Hiiro Koi didn't feel particularly surprised.
He had read various manga, novels, and TV dramas in the past to gather inspiration for manufacturing Cursed Tools, so "Isekai Reincarnation" wasn't something particularly hard for him to accept.
"In that case... this thing saved my life a second time..."
Accompanied by the pain of his body tearing, he laboriously rolled over and pulled the hard object a pendant from his chest and held it before his eyes.
It wasn't just the recent "resonance"; presumably, the presence of this pendant earlier allowed the unused Life Force within the body to sustain its vitality, giving Hiiro Koi the chance to awaken in this new vessel.
'A hybrid product of mental energy and physical energy... I seem to recall seeing this concept somewhere... Ah, is it "Chakra"? The energy system from Naruto...'
'So, does this family belong to the Uzumaki Clan? Normally, ordinary people wouldn't possess this level of Life Force...'
'How did someone who could create or possess something like this die so easily?'
Feeling the energy released from the pendant, Hiiro Koi's thoughts, which should have been heavy and sluggish due to massive blood loss, seemed to lighten slightly.
No, it wasn't an illusion; he genuinely felt better.
The feeling of sharp, agile thinking was highly disconnected from the weakness of his body, like swimming with lead weights tied to his feet.
'Is it because the soul is too mature compared to the body, allowing the mind to ignore the body's weakness to some extent after treatment or adaptation...'
He was originally the type to let his mind wander, and this situation only amplified it.
Similarly, "inspiration" would surge forth at times like this.
"Alright, let's try it"
Instead of multiplying negative Cursed Energy to get positive energy, he would directly use "positive" Life Force for healing.
Cursed Energy is energy generated from negative emotions.
Anger, hatred, disgust, jealousy... these negative feelings are the triggers for Cursed Energy, and Jujutsu Sorcerers are all trained, without exception, to generate Cursed Energy from the sparks of minute emotions.
Even with a new body, given Hiiro Koi's ability to sense and finely manipulate energy, it wasn't impossible to generate Cursed Energy from scratch.
However, the Cursed Energy temporarily squeezed out would be a drop in the bucket for healing injuries of this severity.
Although he remembered that techniques in Naruto, including Medical Ninjutsu, required Chakra to drive them, pure Life Force should be sufficient for healing physical damage.
Besides, Hiiro Koi didn't know any Ninjutsu.
In any case, since he could feel and perceive the Life Force in his body, there was no reason he couldn't mobilize and control it.
Indistinct and meaningless mumbling escaped his mouth, which was churning with bloody froth, as he awkwardly began attempting to mobilize the Life Force that had previously been dormant in this body.
Sluggish, dull, stagnant...
Even so, that power still began to operate according to his will.
Slowly, slowly, a faint green glow emerged from the gruesome wound piercing his abdomen, and his internal organs and flesh gradually healed at a visible rate.
Every breath still carried the sweet, metallic scent of rust, but the pain in his abdomen had subsided.
"That should be enough..."
Although the damage to his internal organs and flesh was healed, the massive blood loss was real.
Attempting this self-healing technique for the first time, Hiiro Koi couldn't yet rapidly restore blood.
But even though he was still weak, he had escaped the fatal threat, preventing him from dying again just minutes after awakening in a new world.
Struggling to roll over, Hiiro Koi slowly dragged himself out of the sticky pool of blood to the wall.
He sat up, pursed his lips, and laboriously raised a small hand covered in semi-coagulated plasma, clenching it a few times.
This feeling of being filled with lead was absolutely terrible.
Moving from his original, thoroughly tempered body into the body of a five or six-year-old child was like forcibly squeezing into a bodysuit several sizes too small; it was natural for his soul to feel intense discomfort.
Coupled with the weakness from massive blood loss, it was normal that he couldn't manipulate the body skillfully.
But his current problems were definitely more than just those.
Hiiro Koi had noticed it earlier when mobilizing his Life Force: this current body was quite awkward.
It wasn't just the sensory difference caused by shortened limbs, but a more subtle barrier between spirit and flesh.
It was like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube while wearing thick, insulated gloves.
"It's probably because the original soul remaining in this body hasn't completely dissipated..."
Hiiro Koi, who was using indistinct mumbling to keep his consciousness clear, made this deduction.
Although he called it a deduction, he was quite certain of it.
Both the desperate struggle during his near-death state and the heartache he felt upon seeing the two "unfamiliar" corpses indirectly proved this point.
Immediately, he made up his mind.
"This hidden danger must be eliminated promptly..."
He currently faced countless problems, but among them, the residual soul in his body was a top priority.
As for feeling guilty about taking over a young child's body?
What a joke; Hiiro Koi was a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
A Jujutsu Sorcerer, simply put, is someone who uses Cursed Techniques.
However, what is conventionally referred to as a Cursed Technique actually refers to the "Innate Technique" naturally inscribed in the sorcerer's brain.
It is something predetermined at birth and cannot be learned.
There are few Cursed Energy usage techniques, such as Secret Arts, that can actually be learned in the Jujutsu World.
This is why Jujutsu Sorcerers, regardless of whether they possess an Innate Technique, need to skillfully master various physical combat techniques.
From this perspective, Jujutsu Sorcerers are far removed from the commonly depicted Onmyoji who cast talismans.
If a comparison must be made, they are actually closer to super-powered individuals, like "Mutants."
There's no need to cite evidence from other fantasy works; the sheer number of people who have become criminals against humanity within the Jujutsu World where he actually resided was substantial.
As for Cursed Energy, it is energy generated from negative emotions.
Among a group of people who use negative emotions to drive superpowers, how could there be any saints?
Furthermore, even if Hiiro Koi's soul hadn't taken over the body, the child would not have survived anyway.
It was better for him to take it and put it to good use.
As for whether he could eliminate the other soul...
Could an evil old coot who had been mingling in the Jujutsu World for twenty years really fail against a five-year-old child?
And so, his consciousness began to sink...