"Do you think Maki was right?" Yuji asked as Megumi and Nobara greedily drank their water, desperate to rehydrate for the first time since they had woken up before the sun rose, which hadn't gotten any easier even after two weeks of the brutal training regimen.
"About what?" Megumi asked as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"The reason why Kiniro is training us," Yuji muttered as he glanced over at their senior, "Do you think he's treating us like…experiments?"
"Does it even matter?" Nobara asked with an apathetic look in her eyes.
"Of course it matters; it means he wants something from us."
"Everyone always wants something," Megumi said as he put down his bottle, "But the reality is that in the past two weeks we've improved far more than what I thought was possible in a month. It is more likely than not that he has hidden intentions, but the benefits we stand to gain are worth the risk of his machinations."
"So we're just going to walk into this blind," Yuji clarified with a dubious look in his eyes.
"Yuji, do you not remember how we all nearly died?" Nobara asked scathingly, "I was about to be torn apart by curses, and the two of you had to rely on the most notorious cannibal to save your asses. For everything he might be planning, Kiniro wasn't lying when he said that we're not ready for what's out there waiting for us."
"You're right…but it still doesn't sit right with me," Itadori muttered as he looked away from Kiniro, "The way he talked to Sukuna…it made it seem like it wouldn't be their last time meeting."
"You think he wants something with Sukuna?" Megumi asked before pausing as he glanced at Yuji, "Actually, that makes a decent amount of sense. I don't see any other reason why he would be invested this much time in us."
"Oh, don't sell yourself short; Yuji isn't the only one who's caught my attention."
Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara all flinched as Kiniro's voice suddenly came from only a few feet away, and they looked up to find their self-declared teacher far closer than he should have been.
"We need to put a bell around your neck if you're going to keep doing that," Nobara muttered after clearing her throat.
"Or you three could develop better awareness and senses," Kiniro countered with a grin, "But in all seriousness, good on you three for not trusting me."
Megumi blankly stared at Kiniro, "You're saying we shouldn't trust you?"
"You shouldn't trust most people, especially sorcerers." Kiniro replied sagely, "There are very few people who wouldn't betray their dearest friends for the right price. Which is why it's so surprising that Yuji is one of them."
"Really?"
Nobara and Megumi both glanced at Yuji, "Is that why he's so annoying? Is he one of those painfully selfless people who make you feel made for having any kind of self-respect and boundaries?"
"No it's something far more noteworthy, which is why I'm interested in his development," Kiniro answered before his gaze landed on Nobara and Megumi, "As for the two of you, well, Megumi, you possess a rather interesting technique, perhaps one of the most powerful ones in terms of utility and…adaptiveness…I also imagine that your clan would lose its shit when it finds out I'm training its scion."
"You realize that I want nothing to do with the Zenin clan," Megumi stated with a blank face, ignoring the knowing look in Kiniro's eyes.
"Yeah, but they want everything to do with you," Kiniro said with a small vindictive grin, "Besides, as long as you have that technique, you'll never be able to separate yourselves from them."
"Oh yeah, and what about me? Or am I just a side?" Nobara asked as she crossed her arms and stared at Kiniro intensely.
"Oh no, trust me when I say you're a whole dish," Kiniro replied with a grin, "Your technique is a textbook example of jujutsu sorcery; it's a timeless classic."
Nobara frowned and was ready to berate Kiniro before he continued, "Which is exactly why I'm interested in seeing just how far you can push its limits and change it into something completely different."
"Something different?" Nobara repeated with a glimmer of interest in her eye, "What do you mean by that?"
"I'll tell you…once you can run a half marathon in under an hour," Kiniro replied with a mischievous grin.
"Under an hour?! That's like a world record or somethin!" Nobara protested.
"It should be more than doable if you work on your cursed energy reinforcement and baseline endurance," Kiniro countered, "Right now, focusing on the basics will do far more than trying to fine-tune your techniques and work on possible extensions."
"Maybe…but that sounds way more fun than training for a half marathon!" Nobara protested as she stamped her foot on the ground and glared at Kiniro for dangling a carrot in front of her face only to replace it with a stick.
"Well, that sucks for you, doesn't it…now get back to running before I tack on another five miles to your quota," Kiniro said harshly, falling back into his role as a taskmaster and trainer. "And you, Megumi, another 50 pounds in your shadow and start working on those pushups."
"Shouldn't I be practicing with my skikigami?" Megumi asked even as Kiniro picked up one of the many rocks he had procured and promptly dropped it into Megumi's shadow who gritted his teeth as an invisible weight bore down on him.
"I know this sounds counterproductive, but you need to stop relying on your shikigami; they should be used to augment your capabilities and act as support, not as a replacement for you looking to get stronger yourself." Kiniro lectured as he brushed off his hands, "Seriously, being able to move between shadows and store things inside of your own is a broken enough power…I have half a mind to train you exclusively as an assassin…actually that's really not a bad idea."
Megumi felt a pang of dread as Kiniro started nodding to himself and an evil glint appeared in his eyes, "Yeah, a shadow jumping assassin, the idea's growing on me. Alright, take that stone back out. We're gonna be limit testing your ability to shadow walk and how well you can hide your presence."
"Wait, what about me?" Yuji asked, drawing Kiniro's attention. "Mhhh, let me see your cursed energy."
Yuji gave a singular nod, and in the next instant his body was surrounded by cursed energy. Seeing his quick activation time, Kiniro gave an approving nod, "You've improved; when you started, you still needed a full two seconds to reinforce your body. But speed is only one component of controlling cursed energy."
Before Yuji could ask what other components existed, Kiniro reached out with his hand and placed it on Yuji's chest, whose eyes shot open as he suddenly felt an immense pull on his cursed energy.
For a brief second, Yuji was able to resist, but then his conviction crumbled and his cursed energy was drained, leaving him with a feeling of absolute exhaustion as he collapsed to the ground, trembling.
"Rest up and reflect on what just happened," Kiniro instructed impassively as he watched Yuji break out into a cold sweat, "Come find me once your curse energy recovers and then we'll try again. Once you're able to hold out for a minute, we can move on to the next phase of your training."
"O-okay," Yuji gasped as he fell over onto his back and stared up at the sky his eyes completely spaced out.
"What did you do to him?" Megumi asked as he stared down at his friend.
"Drained the cursed energy from him by overwhelming his soul, it's not pleasant but he'll recover in a minute or two and thank me for it." Kiniro answered before he patted Megumi on the shoulder, "Now come on, we need to go find a nice dark place so we can have ourselves some privacy."
"I think I need to talk to a trusted adult."