Chapter 2: Heavenly Restriction and the Eight Gates!
After extorting Tsukumo Yuki, Zenin Jinsuke brought her to a fairly nice loft. The decor was exquisite—clearly not cheap.
"Come in."
Zenin Jinsuke took out a key and opened the door with practiced ease.
"Don't tell me this is your place?"
Tsukumo Yuki stepped inside with a shocked expression, looking around.
Where did this guy get the money to have such a luxurious home? Don't tell me he scammed it?
Suspicion rose in Tsukumo Yuki's heart.
"Of course it's not mine. Do you think I'm the kind of person who would spend money buying a house?"
Zenin Jinsuke shot her a glance.
How could he waste money on buying a place? He could just find someone to live off and be done with it.
"That's good, that's good."
Tsukumo Yuki instantly let out a breath, feeling a little more balanced inside.
"Come on. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish."
Back in the room, Zenin Jinsuke stripped off his clothes and lay face down on the bed, as if he already knew exactly what was about to happen.
Staring at the explosive muscles covering his body, Tsukumo Yuki swallowed, her cheeks faintly red.
Even though she'd seen it more than once, every time still stirred something strange in her.
She couldn't help thinking: handsome was one thing, but that body too—he really was born to live off others.
Shaking her head to throw out those improper thoughts, Tsukumo Yuki pressed a hand against Zenin Jinsuke's back. A surge of pure cursed energy flowed into his body.
Zenin Jinsuke's powerful senses let him clearly feel that cursed energy roaming inside him, as if it were trying to probe the mystery of Heavenly Restriction.
For certain reasons, Tsukumo Yuki's beliefs clashed with those of the jujutsu higher-ups.
In her view, exorcising curses was only treating the symptoms, not the root—unable to truly solve the real problem.
In this world, everyone contains cursed energy, but most people can't sense it.
Those who can control that cursed energy and turn it to their own use are called jujutsu sorcerers.
Most sorcerers' work is to exorcise curses born from negative emotions and protect ordinary people.
Of course, some sorcerers also abuse their power—breaking laws, committing crimes, creating terror, and threatening the stability of normal society.
Such people are called curse users who have defected from the jujutsu world, and they are enemies of sorcerers as well.
Tsukumo Yuki believed the root of the curse problem lay in cursed energy itself. If cursed energy vanished from the entire world, then curses would no longer be born.
And among humans, those with absolutely no cursed energy were known to be only two people.
One was Zenin Toji of the Zenin Clan, one of the three great jujutsu families.
The other was the man in front of Tsukumo Yuki right now—Zenin Jinsuke.
Coincidentally, the two were biological brothers.
"Are you done yet? My time is valuable."
Veins like coiling dragons bulged across Zenin Jinsuke's body, as if his flesh were rejecting the cursed energy running wild inside him.
"Hah…"
With a long exhale, Tsukumo Yuki withdrew her fair hand, her expression helpless.
"Why is it like this?"
"Why is it that your body can avoid producing cursed energy?"
Tsukumo Yuki felt like her defenses were breaking. She'd paid money again and still researched nothing.
It felt like a total loss.
"I already told you to give up. Don't waste time on useless stuff. You'd be better off killing a few curses to earn money. Eating and drinking well is what matters."
After dealing with Tsukumo Yuki for so many years, Zenin Jinsuke naturally knew what she was trying to do.
"No. Let me study you again!"
"I can feel it—if I keep at it longer, I'll definitely figure something out!"
Tsukumo Yuki looked serious. She could tell that the longer her cursed energy stayed inside Zenin Jinsuke, the stronger the repulsive force became.
If her cursed energy could endure a little longer, or if she poured in a larger amount, she might discover how Heavenly Restriction actually worked.
"No chance. I'm not doing anything without money."
Zenin Jinsuke waved his hand and refused outright.
This woman always wanted to freeload—absolutely not. Once was never just once.
"I'll pay. Triple!"
Veins popped on Tsukumo Yuki's forehead as she held up three fingers.
"Last time. If it still doesn't work, I'll really give up."
After four or five years of research, she'd found nothing useful—only had a lot of money swindled away by this man. She swore this was the last time.
Rather than stubbornly grinding against Heavenly Restriction, she might as well consider other methods—like how to turn all humans in the world into sorcerers. That could also solve the root problem.
"Fine. Last time. And after this, you're not allowed to bother me again."
Zenin Jinsuke reluctantly accepted.
For him, lying down for a while and getting paid was something he was happy to do.
Anyway, Tsukumo Yuki would never figure anything out in the end.
Getting paid without doing anything—besides Tsukumo Yuki, he doubted he'd find a second person like that.
After all, even living off others still required physical labor.
But for Tsukumo Yuki, it felt like paying money and getting nothing—every time it made her miserable for a long time.
"This time I'm increasing the cursed energy intensity. If you can't hold on, say so."
Tsukumo Yuki took a deep breath, determination in her eyes. Last time—please don't disappoint her.
In the next instant, her cold little hand covered Zenin Jinsuke's back again, and a powerful flood of cursed energy slammed into his body. In a single moment, it triggered violent rejection from his flesh.
Veins surged grotesquely across him.
Zenin Jinsuke's expression changed. He immediately sensed that the slightly futuristic scripture in his mind had begun to tremble violently.
Boom!
A furious wave of heat erupted from his body, forcing all the cursed energy out. The domineering force made Tsukumo Yuki stumble, staggering back several steps before she steadied herself.
"What is this?!"
Tsukumo Yuki's gaze turned grave. Was this also the power of Heavenly Restriction?
How could it be so overbearing?
"Hah…"
Zenin Jinsuke hurriedly suppressed the riotous force inside him. The reddened skin slowly returned to normal.
"My Heavenly Restriction is fundamentally incompatible with cursed energy. Something like this happening is normal."
He hadn't expected it. Tsukumo Yuki's cursed energy had entered his body countless times—she should've counted as an old acquaintance by now. Yet the cheat in his head refused to tolerate it.
His consciousness sank inward. There, a scripture lay quietly: the Eight Gates.
Yes—an emblem of ultimate taijutsu.
It had appeared in his mind on his eighteenth birthday.
Maybe because in his previous life, when he died from overwork, he'd been watching an intense highlight clip of Might Guy, he gained this cheat in this life.
When it awakened, he'd been thrilled. Even a late cheat was still a cheat.
Eight Gates paired with Heavenly Restriction—wasn't that a perfect match?
When he thought that with the extreme body granted by Heavenly Restriction, he'd be able to open the Eight Gates and stomp the jujutsu world in minutes, he discovered he had no chakra at all. He couldn't even open acupoints, let alone the Eight Gates.
However, the cheat had some conscience—it slightly modified the training method of the Eight Gates.
By forging an ultimate body, he would generate the power inherent to the body itself: blood energy.
He could use tangible blood energy to open acupoints, achieving an effect equivalent to chakra.
In other words, the Eight Gates within him was pure taijutsu—a method that could push physical power to its absolute limit.
The only issue was that refining blood energy was just a little bit difficult.
His consciousness opened the scripture in his mind, and intelligent-looking text surfaced on it.
[Gate of Opening: 100%]
[Gate of Rest: 100%]
[Gate of Life: 100%]
[Gate of Injury: 11%]
...
[Gate of Death: 0%]
So far, he could fully open only the first three gates. The boost to his strength wasn't too exaggerated, but it could enhance all aspects of his condition.
Speed, presence, and so on.
The physical power granted by Heavenly Restriction was already strong enough. If he wanted the Eight Gates to greatly amplify his body across all dimensions, he estimated he'd need to open at least the first five gates—the Gate of Limit.
Soon. As long as he slowed down the pace of living off others a little and increased his training intensity, it shouldn't take too many years before he showed the world what ultimate taijutsu truly was.
Because the power of the Eight Gates was heavily tied to the user's physical strength.
Might Guy opening five gates and Rock Lee opening five gates were not on the same level.
The power created by combining Heavenly Restriction and the Eight Gates would be absolutely terrifying.