Chapter 147 - Sukuna: I'm Giving You a Chance, But Are You Up to It?
When Zen'in Maki was first called away and then returned, Itadori Yuji felt a little uneasy, unsure if this was Emiya-sensei's individual critique session. It wasn't until Fushiguro Megumi went and came back, telling them that Emiya-sensei was actually thinking about their future paths, that Itadori Yuji immediately became excited!
Although he couldn't fully understand the concepts of Binding Vows, sacrifices, and loans that Fushiguro Megumi was talking about, in short, it seemed to be something very amazing, the kind of thing that could greatly boost Fushiguro's strength by several levels.
With such a precedent, Itadori Yuji was naturally very excited. He highly anticipated what he would be like after becoming stronger, ideally strong enough to easily beat up the guy inside him.
The mere thought of that made him feel fired up.
But then, Panda and Inumaki-senpai were called over one after the other, leaving only him and Kugisaki Nobara at the scene, which made Yuji involuntarily start worrying again. Could it be that Kugisaki was also about to leave him, leaving him standing here dumbfounded all by himself?! Why was this happening? Even if he wasn't the first to be called over, he shouldn't be the last... was it because Emiya-sensei thought he was important and saved him for last, or because he thought he was unimportant?!
He was nervous, truly nervous. The current Itadori Yuji was like a little sister holding flowers, ready to confess to her male idol, completely unsure whether the response would be a brilliant smile or a cold "You're a good person," and so he was extremely anxious.
Fortunately, Inumaki Toge, who had been given a large greatsword by Emiya, soon walked back carrying it in a rather awkward posture. Upon seeing the blade, Inumaki Toge realized that his height was quite mismatched with it, so he immediately requested Emiya to try and change the weapon. Emiya then decisively handed him another large ōdachi (great katana). It was indeed difficult to handle two weapons that were one and a half times taller than himself...
Itadori Yuji originally wanted to rush up and help, but before he could reach out his hand, he saw Inumaki Toge slightly shifted his body and nodded at him, signaling him to go directly to Emiya.
"Huh, is it finally my turn?"
"Salmon."
Hearing this, the gloom in Itadori Yuji's heart instantly vanished, and he didn't forget to wave his hand at his fellow struggling student not far away—
"I'm going over first, Kugisaki~"
"Get lost!"
After giving himself a rollercoaster-like psychological pep talk, Itadori Yuji immediately sprinted towards Emiya's location, then quickly skidded to a stop right in front of him.
"Yes, Emiya-sensei, I'm here!"
Emiya: "...."
He certainly has spirit, but it would be even better if that spirit could be used on his studies. Even though that wasn't his direct responsibility, Emiya had heard from Ijichi that Itadori Yuji had nearly failed his culture classes, although he didn't know if Jujutsu High had a rule that prevents students from graduating if they fail exams.
"Do you know why I only called you over now?" Emiya, without realizing it, had picked up a slight homeroom teacher trait, starting with a classic rhetorical question.
"Could it be... because I'm very important, so you saved me for last?"
"...."
"No."
"Eh!!!"
"The reason I put you later is because I hadn't fully figured out how to plan your path forward."
Among the remaining students, Fushiguro Megumi, Inumaki Toge, and Kugisaki Nobara have all awakened Cursed Techniques. Panda and Zen'in Maki don't need to worry about Cursed Techniques due to their special bodies. Only Itadori Yuji is very unique. Although he has no Heavenly Restriction, his physical abilities are even stronger than the current Zen'in Maki, and it's unclear whether this is due to his innate physique or the influence of Ryomen Sukuna incarnating in him.
Yet, Itadori Yuji's Cursed Energy reserves have already reached the Grade 1 sorcerer standard, but the awakening of his Innate Technique is still nowhere in sight.
The intersection of whether to let him specialize entirely in his physique and greatsword, or to first consider a potentially awakening Cursed Technique, is still very important.
Especially since Satoru Gojo had previously revealed a very important piece of information to Emiya—
"Do you remember Mr. Gojo once saying that because Ryomen Sukuna incarnated in your body, his Cursed Technique would also be engraved onto your body?"
The Innate Technique is information directly inscribed into the physical body—this is an undeniable fact in the Jujutsu world. Even Cursed Techniques like Seance Technique, which can directly acquire the abilities of an ancient sorcerer, must acquire a part of their physical body as a foundation to subsequently gain all their abilities.
Isn't the reason why Special Grade Cursed Objects possess special abilities also because they carry the 'curse' and 'Cursed Technique information' on them?
Since Ryomen Sukuna successfully incarnated and can use his former Cursed Technique through Itadori Yuji's body, it means that this Cursed Technique is already engraved in Itadori Yuji's body; he just hasn't discovered or mastered it yet. As for whether the soul can carry a Cursed Technique? There's truly no theory to confirm this, so let's temporarily assume it's non-existent.
"That's right... what was Sukuna's Cursed Technique again, was it Cleave and Dismantle?
Emiya-sensei, are you suggesting that I try to develop this Cursed Technique? It sounds pretty good if I can learn that guy Sukuna's Cursed Technique!" Itadori Yuji was already eager to try.
Theoretically, the state of Incarnation also allows a sorcerer to possess two or more Cursed Techniques. The Incarnated forms of Eso and Kechizu, weren't they both able to use various Cursed Techniques? They carried the Cursed Techniques engraved on their original bodies into the new body. As long as the incarnated body also possesses its own Innate Technique, they can completely possess two Cursed Techniques simultaneously.
However, physiques that can successfully host an Incarnation are inherently rare, and someone like Itadori Yuji, who can retain his original consciousness after Incarnation, is a unique exception. If Itadori Yuji can awaken his own Innate Technique and then claim the technique engraved in his body by Ryomen Sukuna for his own use, he could become a special talent, like 'Suguru Geto,' who possesses multiple Cursed Techniques.
Well, he would be the type that absolutely needs to be dissected in a lab.
"If that's the case, his Cursed Technique should be on your body, and it should be ready for use at any time... Have you tried to use it?"
A normal Innate Technique comes with readily available usage information; one only needs to continuously develop and become proficient with it afterward. As for this kind... Emiya really doesn't know.
"Try? How do I do that? I'll try..."
Encouraged, Itadori Yuji immediately closed his eyes and began trying to find the abnormal spots within his body.
"Hmm..."
"Hmm...!!!"
As he tensed his whole body, Itadori Yuji's body gradually began to tremble, and several wrinkles visibly creased his forehead. Finally...
"Grumble grumble....
Uh, Emiya-sensei, I think I'm hungry..."
Emiya: "???"
So all that effort was focused on stomach exercises, was it? You really are gifted to be able to develop an ability like that!
"Pfft... Don't make me laugh so hard, brat.
The Cursed Technique of Cleave and Dismantle is not what's powerful; I am what's powerful... Even if the ability of the Cursed Technique is placed on you, you're just a pitifully weak brat."
Ryomen Sukuna, who resides inside Itadori Yuji, didn't want to miss such an amusing moment and immediately manifested a mouth on his cheek, letting out a cold sneer.
However, perhaps the truth really is like this. As the sorcerer who was called the King of Curses a thousand years ago, Ryomen Sukuna's mastery over both Cursed Techniques and the use of Cursed Energy is extraordinary, far surpassing that of most modern sorcerers.
The development of eras should generally be forward, but this has been reversed in the Jujutsu world.
With the advancement of technology, people's fear of various things is continuously decreasing. Compared to several hundred years ago, the number and terrifying nature of Cursed Spirits have decreased to varying degrees.
It was only due to the appearance of Satoru Gojo that the world, through a kind of balancing effect, birthed many powerful Cursed Spirits, causing modern sorcerers to gradually become overwhelmed.
At the very least, Emiya's readings clearly stated that techniques like the 'Open Barrier Domain' are skills that only ancient sorcerers would use, and not a single modern sorcerer has been able to master them. After all, the passing down of Cursed Techniques primarily relies on the primitive method of families and bloodlines, with hardly any proper teacher-student relationships, and Cursed Technique families would be even more unwilling to share their exclusive techniques externally. In such an environment, it is not strange that many special techniques and abilities have been lost due to various accidents.
"Hah?! I haven't even really used it, so how can you say I can't do it!" Regardless of whether he can actually do it or not, Itadori Yuji absolutely would not lose an argument, especially since he genuinely believes he can.
"Good, then I'll give it to you, how about that?"
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