Masamichi Yaga stared at Akira Zenin with a numb expression.
"You caused that much destruction and didn't even put up a Curtain?"
"Well… this mission involved a lot of children connected to Cursed Spirits, right? Since they were already discovered by others, putting up a Curtain wouldn't have made much difference, would it?"
[Looks like you've been out of the field too long and forgot the proper procedure.]
Mentally and physically drained, Masamichi Yaga had no energy left to argue with Akira Zenin.
"Bring me a 1,000-word self-reflection tomorrow. Not that you'd be able to write more than that anyway."
"Got it~"
...
It was worth mentioning that Akira Zenin really did submit a self-reflection the next day—though the handwriting was unmistakably childish.
At the training grounds, Akira Zenin lay sprawled across a tree branch, idly shaking it as if reminiscing about something.
Megumi Fushiguro had just finished his running drills and was sitting nearby to recover.
"If you keep shaking it like that, you're going to fall."
"It's fine. I've got plenty of experience with this sort of thing…"
Akira Zenin flipped over and looked down at Megumi Fushiguro.
"Since we've got some free time, I'll explain how to subdue Shikigami."
"Okay."
Akira Zenin rolled upright and sat on the branch.
"There are two ways to subdue a Shikigami. One is defeating it within a ritual. The other requires completing a special task set by the Shikigami itself…"
"?"
"The first one's easy to understand. As for the second, I'll give you an example.
Take Rabbit Escape. Individually, it's not very strong. It's mainly used for scouting and interference, so defeating it doesn't mean much.
Its task is that when the ritual begins, a certain number of rabbits will pour out. Within a fixed time limit, you have to catch every single one of them."
Megumi Fushiguro nodded to show he understood. Then he looked at Akira Zenin with open curiosity, his hands gesturing in the air as he tried to visualize it.
Only at times like this did he actually look like a six-year-old child.
"What is it?"
"So… the one you summoned earlier—that was Divine Dogs?"
"That's right~"
"How did you do that?"
"That was Self-Chimera of a Shikigami. It's an application of fusion—an extension of the [Ten Shadows Technique].
It's simple. Try shaping your hand's shadow into a two-headed dog. Then use your shadow to form additional 'hands' and coordinate them with your real hands to complete the seals."
Megumi Fushiguro gave it a simple try, but quickly realized he could only enlarge or shrink his shadow.
Forming shadow hands was out of the question. At most, he could stretch two elongated strips out from the main body of his shadow…
After practicing the entire morning, Megumi Fushiguro realized his control over shadows couldn't reach the level of precision Akira Zenin had described at all.
In the end, he could only look at Akira Zenin for help.
"How do you even do that? Isn't it just… using your hands?"
Akira Zenin rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
When he had first awakened the Ten Shadows, he had been able to reshape his shadow freely from the very beginning. He had always assumed that was simply the foundation of the technique.
Could it be that not everyone could do that?
As for the line he used to say as a child—"Playing with shadows is just like a kid playing with mud"—that had only been because the elders teaching him the theory behind the [Ten Shadows] had annoyed him to no end.
They kept painstakingly explaining how to use something he could already do instinctively.
The whole thing felt like a Chinese student being taught Mandarin by a foreigner who could barely speak it.
Boring and exhausting at the same time…
"Alright, if you can't shape your shadow with that level of precision, try this method of technique extension instead: form two hand seals in succession to fuse the Shikigami.
Self-Chimera is a little different, though. You have to use your own shadow to forcibly suppress the Shikigami from the first summoning, hold it down until the fusion is complete, and then release it…
Let me tell you something quietly—Self-Chimera creates a kind of 'resonance' effect. The increase in the Shikigami's Cursed Energy is pretty obvious~"
"Forcibly suppress…"
But Megumi Fushiguro wasn't thinking about the boost in strength.
He glanced at the big dog circling around him and lowered his head again.
The two dogs were fierce in battle, but in everyday life they were like a pair of goofy sled dogs, his main source of happiness.
And after being rendered through the Ten Shadows, layered with that ink-wash aesthetic, their cuteness had gone up several levels…
Akira Zenin quickly understood the problem.
Unlike him, who treated his Shikigami more like "pets," Megumi Fushiguro saw them as equal "partners." He didn't want to use any forceful methods on them.
Akira Zenin suddenly felt like he was trying to feed a picky kindergartener—this won't do, that won't do…
"Well, there is another way. You can communicate with your Divine Dogs and ask them to delay their manifestation voluntarily… Then afterward, just feed them a few extra Fly Heads as compensation."
"Okay! I'll go try it right now."
Watching Megumi Fushiguro head toward the training grounds, Akira Zenin flipped over on the tree branch.
All of a sudden, a thought crossed his mind—had his Domain [Ten Directions Sacred Realm] and Megumi Fushiguro's [Chimera Shadow Garden] somehow been reversed?
Or maybe once Megumi Fushiguro completed his Domain, his control over shadows would naturally become more refined?
Still, if he kept treating his Shikigami so gently, he'd probably end up more like a "Pokémon Master." As a Jujutsu Sorcerer, that would come with a lot of limitations.
"Forget it, forget it. Young people have their own ideas…
Taking care of kids is exhausting…"
...
"I want to raise a kid too!!"
A familiar, cheeky voice rang out from the distance. In the next instant, a white-haired figure teleported beneath the tree where Akira Zenin was lying.
"Satoru. Long time no see."
"You think everyone's as free as you? I'm exhausted to death over here!"
"And you still want to raise a kid?"
"I don't care, I don't care.
Suguru's got two little girls, and you've got a little sea urchin. Something this fun—I want in too!"
As he spoke, Satoru Gojo's tone even carried a hint of petulance.
But Akira Zenin, as his old friend, was completely immune to it. He simply pressed his fingers to his forehead, looking slightly annoyed.
"Then go find one. The Gojo Clan can't even get their hands on a kid?"
"I'm aiming for a high-level development route. I can't fall behind you guys."
"Then go see if there are any distant relatives out there. The bloodline of the Three Great Families shouldn't be weak."
Satoru Gojo's eyes lit up instantly.
"Right! I'll investigate whether the Gojo Clan has any distant relatives living outside.
Heh heh~ I'll definitely surpass you guys~~"
"Yeah, yeah…"