A few hours earlier.
The air was still.
Cold and chilly, a mist was forming all the result of the white haired women seated.
"Why have I been resurrected ahead of time, Kenjaku?"
The lady with white hair asked. She was displeased at being awakened so ahead of time.
'I was supposed to be awakened only a year ahead of Sukuna-sama but now? Ryomen Sukuna's vessel is but a child, I will have to wait another decade for him.'
Kenjaku didn't turn immediately. He stood with his back facing her, hands tucked into his sleeves.
"I need your help for what's to come. A new variable entered my considerations."
A pause.
"Something that could significantly increase the chance of Sukuna's successful resurrection."
Uraume's eyes narrowed slightly..
Kenjaku continued.
"The vessel has already been secured. He is the most suitable vessel I could create to hold Sukuna's fingers."
His tone remained even. "However… suitability does not equate to perfection. Sukuna was afterall 'the strongest' sorcerer in history, it's debatable whether or not what I did was enough for a vessel"
Silence followed.
"I would like to have made Sukuna's vessel stronger but I couldn't think of any other way's to do so" He turned his head slightly. "Until recently, I discovered something that could eliminate all concerns about whether the vessel was strong enough."
"What was it?".
"A material," Kenjaku went on, "capable of altering the foundation of a human body. Elevating the potential of the body, and granting qualitative change."
His gaze sharpened.
"Originally I found a sorcerer outside of Japan, while rare I felt this sorcerer specifically had something different about him. Cursed energy was generated outside of the gut. After killing him, I studied his body and managed to extract this from him"
Motioning towards the table, where a golden liquid was being stored within a vial.
"After extracting it, I wanted to see if this liquid was what was responsible for that sorcerer's abnormality. So I captured a non-sorcerer and forced them to drink this liquid. The liquid burned their insides apart, so much so I had to use RCT output to keep her alive. After the liquid finally reached her gut, changes appeared in her body."
"This non-sorcerer became a sorcerer. Not just a normal sorcerer, her physical body, and soul were stronger than before. There was also a spiral mark on her body where cursed energy was generated."
That caught her attention.
"Have you tried using it on a sorcerer?"
"Yes." Kenjaku responded. "The results were similar, his physical body and soul were strengthened. Not just that, their CE output, and CE reserves increased by 10%"
"What do you want me to do?" Uraume asked, realizing the importance this could have.
Kenjaku didn't hesitate.
"I found the first person with this mark in America 4 months ago. At the time, he said all these things happened 3 days before I met him. Where a sorcerer who he referred to as 'God' moved faster than he could perceive and knocked him out." He extended a hand slightly, as if presenting an invisible list. "The next day he woke up with cursed energy."
"He referred to the figure who awakened him as short, that's it" Kenjaku mentioned.
"How the hell am I supposed to figure out who it could be from that"
"That's where this list comes in" Kenjaku slid a list of names over to Uraume. "3 days before I found him is when he awakened, meaning that the person was there just before me. Moreover the person clearly was a sorcerer otherwise he wouldn't have been able to give off the impression of 'God' to that thug"
"I originally came to America that day to check out the special grade curse Jason Voorhees that manifested outside of Japan. I heard that during that time the Kamo clan was sent out to exorcise this curse, they also sent some of their younger generation as practice."
"My biggest suspicions are the kids that joined in on that exorcism, specifically these two twins." Kenjaku pointed at the two underlined names on the list.
Futago Kamo
Tomogui Kamo
"Why them?" Uraume asked
"The cursed techniques of all the other children on that list have been registered, as for these two it's somewhat vague. While the other children have blood related abilities, those two twins have a cursed technique related to copying."
"I suspect they found some sorcerer whose technique was related to creating this liquid and copied it."
"There are other possibilities however. It's possible this liquid is something made by a cursed tool."
"In any case check out all the people on this list and figure out if any of them have a spiral mark on them, or if they have a source of cursed energy that isn't from their gut."
"And the rest?" she asked.
"Other than the one with the mark don't kill the rest."
A brief pause.
"I require the Kamo clan for future developments. The Kamo clan's main force was already severely crippled by a special grade curse. If their younger generation also gets ruined then they will be useless, and lose their spot as one of the 3 Great Clans."
Uraume considered this before asking.
"I understand why you want to hunt for this person but why me? It's just a few children you should be able to deal with on your own."
"Haha you overestimate me. My current vessel isn't suitable for fighting, I'm just a normal housewife right now" Kenjaku raised his hands in a non threatening manner, as if he wasn't a sorcerer with an open domain, and some of the greatest barrier techniques.
"..." Uraume had a distrusting look towards Kenjaku so he responded more seriously.
"Seriously though, I have to take care of Sukuna's vessel, he is still a child right now."
"If this increases the certainty of Sukuna's return," she added, "then I'll do it.."
Kenjaku's smile deepened.
"Indeed."
Without another word, Uraume vanished.
Silence returned.
For a moment, Kenjaku stood alone.
"Sukuna's vessel is already more than sufficient."
His expression shifted.
"This… has nothing to do with Sukuna's vessel though."
His gaze lowered slightly, thoughtful.
"That substance…"
"An artificial elevation of human potential. Not through binding vows, not through lineage, not through chance, just the ingestion of this liquid. "
A pause.
"If I had access to this liquid on a massive scale."
His eyes gleamed faintly.
"Then all of Japan could become sorcerers."
"And with it…"
"The merger will become a higher leveled existence."
"A being that has surpassed cursed energy, and elevated to a new source of power."
He turned away.
"For now though… let us see what the limits of the liquid is"
"Once Uraume finds and kills the individual with the liquid, I will take their body over and gain all their memories. To figure out everything I need about this liquid."
__
3 Clan's Tournament.
I stepped forward and looked at my opponent. He was skinny, abnormally so. What caught my eyes though was his purple hair.
Haruto Zenin.
*You should be careful remember his cursed technique is quite annoying for hand 2 hand fighters*
*You always seem to bother me during a fight, can't you just let me fight in peace*
*How cruel, I was just trying to give some advice* Tomogui's voice echoed internally.
*He has grade 2 CE reserves and output. From what I saw in his previous fights he has grade 1 CE efficiency and his hand 2 hand skill is relative to my own.*
*His technique is the only thing worth noting. Generating a poisonous mist, that can be strengthened using chants and handsigns.* I added
*Didn't you just tell me I talk too much, don't talk to me now b-baka.*
'...'
This fight should be simple enough
Interrupting my internal thoughts, Haruto exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders.
"…You know," he started, stretching his neck slightly, "people keep underestimating me."
I didn't respond, I didn't really try to hide my lack of anxiety towards this fight so he must have caught on to me looking down on him.
"You geniuses look at me and think 'oh, he just got lucky.'" Haruto chuckled. "Weak bracket. Easy matchups."
Still no response.
"You must be cocky because you managed to get this far as a 10 year old."
'He is just rambling at this point, is there a reason for it?'
I decided to focus my cursed energy into my eyes and see what was going on.
That's when I noticed it …
Haruto continued talking.
"…If I were as strong as you were at that age I would be arrogant too."
"I thought your cursed technique required a visible mist to spread that poison. I was wrong though, it's invisible when it needs to be. Is that a binding vow?"
"Is that why you were so obvious when using your cursed technique's in your other fights, you wanted to condition people into thinking those were the requirements."
"... hahah so you could tell, that's right my cursed technique Dokugai has the ability to turn the air around me into a carrier for a specific poison I can create. Over the years I have acquired immunity to this poison so I don't have to worry."
"It doesn't matter if you know about it, the air surrounding us is already been transformed"
At the end of Haruto's explanation I could feel his technique getting more potent.
'He must have made a Revealing One's Hand binding vow.'
That was when I started to feel it.
A faint sensation spread through his body.
My cursed energy got weaker, and I could feel a portion of it not responding to me..
This poison messed with my cursed energy efficiency and output.
I could feel that this wasn't the end, as the poison grew more and more, my efficiency and output would get worse and worse.
An Insidious technique.
Like a slow infection.
Sniffle
That's when I came to notice my noise was runny, and my head was starting to hurt.
'That's not it, it doesn't just mess with my cursed energy it is also messing with my physical condition'
'Flu-like symptoms on top messing with cursed energy, this is a decent technique'
'Nausea, slight fatigue… and it should get stronger as the fight goes on.'
For most sorcerers
This combination would be devastating.
Efficiency drop → more CE wasted
Output drop → attacks get weaker.
Physical symptoms → just makes it hard to fight.
Stacked together
It would break most sorcerers.
"In a fight between equals this cursed technique would definitely make victory the more likely outcome." I said out loud. Honestly this technique was better than I thought.
"Here come the excuses. Don't try to make excuses about how I didn't warn you, this is battle and in battle all is fai–" Interrupting him I decided to clarify my statement.
"I said in a battle between equals this cursed technique would be useful, too bad we aren't anywhere near equal."
Haruto blinked.
"…What?"
I vanished as I rushed at him with my full speed, I didn't bother with any feints, or special styles.
I just threw my fist into him as hard as I could, and the impact was satisfying, feeling this bastard's ribs crack under the pressure of my fist.
Before he got sent flying by that attack, I grabbed him and sent a kick straight to his family jewels, eliciting another crack sound.
The sound was sharp, and all the spectators could hear it. I swear I could see a few of them wincing but I didn't care.
Haruto's body folded inward, breath violently expelled as he was lifted slightly off the ground.
"…Ghk—!"
His cursed technique collapsed as the symptoms began to disappear.
"D-Damn it .. Fu-fucker …" Too bad he passed out before he could finish that sentence. I wonder what insults he was going to spit out.
I put my hands on top of my head while walking away from the arena, as the announcer began to announce the results
"Y-You have it here folks. We just witnessed Futago Kamo obliterate the dark horse of the tournament with nothing but raw power. He has now taken his spot as a quarterfinalist in the main tournament"
Following that announcement the announcer said something more interesting
"Now that we have the main tournament's fighters, the matches for tomorrow have been decided. The first fight will be between the legend of this generation, the first man born with the 6eyes and limitless in centuries, the greatest genius of the modern era, a man whose looks were blessed by a deity, one of the 3 special grade sorcerers of this era, a sorcerer second to none Satoru Gojo."
"And facing him is Naoya Zenin"
"And following that… a match that may redefine this entire tournament."
"A battle between twins."
"Two sorcerers who share the same origin… the same blood… and perhaps something even deeper."
"Will Futago Kamo prove himself superior twin?"
"Or will Tomogui Kamo show his fangs in that match?"
"Are their abilities truly identical… or has one already surpassed the other?"
"And when two mirrors face each other…"
"Which reflection breaks first?"
"Find out more next time on Dragon Ball Z—"
The announcer made a brief pause.
"…Never mind, I meant to say 'find out more tomorrow.' "
"Sorry folks, I've been watching a lot of anime recently."