Chapter 12: Cursed Energy Shielding? Who Can't Do That...
Wait.
Wait, no!!
That was her blood?
Just a few drops of blood, and it caused that kind of terrifying damage?
"Eh, eh, eh!"
Nobara Kugisaki's head was buzzing like a swarm of bees crashing around inside it.
The cursed spirits she'd been fighting herself half to death and still couldn't handle were wiped out that easily.
The next second, her cheeks flushed bright red, even the tips of her ears burning.
Because everything she'd just said was still fresh in her mind—
Saying he was deliberately rubbing on her, deliberately taking advantage, calling him a dirty pervert…
Now it looked like she'd totally misunderstood and overthought it.
"Wait."
"Aren't you rated as a Grade 1 sorcerer because your Reverse Cursed Technique is insanely good?!"
That's what she'd always believed.
With this level, he was still just a medic? Was Jujutsu High really hiding that much?
Yuji glanced at her. "Did Fushiguro and the others never talk about me?"
"They did… but not that." To the end, Nobara had thought Yuanzhi was simply an absurdly strong support.
"They said you were amazing. I thought it meant healing."
She steadied her emotions, but still looked embarrassed. "If I'd known you were this strong, you should've shown it earlier."
"And also."
"Was that Blood Manipulation just now?" she asked.
Can you control someone else's blood after touching it?
"It wasn't."
Yuji slipped his hand back into his pocket.
"Huh?" Nobara's eyes widened again. "What do you mean it wasn't?"
"It wasn't Blood Manipulation. It was just a simple trick, wrapping blood in cursed energy."
Yuji explained patiently.
Against a bunch of Grade 3 and Grade 4 cursed spirits, even if there were more than usual, it still wasn't to the point of using a technique.
Blood Manipulation?
Of course he could use it.
And that technique was massively underestimated.
The jujutsu world had the Three Great Families.
The Zenin Clan, the Gojo Clan, the Kamo Clan.
They controlled top-tier techniques and resources, and they were the core of power in the jujutsu world.
The Gojo Clan had the Limitless.
The Zenin Clan had the Ten Shadows Technique.
The Kamo Clan had Blood Manipulation.
Think about it. A technique that could stand alongside the other two—how could it be simple?
It depended on the user.
Different technique quality, different understanding, different power on display.
Great results, high inheritance rate, low entry barrier. Unlike Limitless plus Six Eyes, which was basically pure lottery luck.
Close range, mid range, long range…
Healing, ambush, shields.
There were many ways to use it. If developed properly, the ceiling was high. At deeper levels, it really could control an opponent's blood…
Even if it couldn't.
It could still weaken that limitation.
If you can't control blood that isn't yours, then can you control your own blood that's mixed inside someone else?
Infiltrate, rupture from within, tear apart, explode.
If their blood type is different from yours, even better. With only a little blood, you can trigger a hemolytic reaction…
Acute hemolysis can show fever, chills, chest pain, and in severe cases, rapid shock and death.
And there were biochemical-weapon uses too. His blood was toxic.
Not just shaping it into random forms…
Anyway.
In short.
What he used just now really was a small trick, not Blood Manipulation.
"Stop freaking out. Bring back that attitude you had when you first came in, acting like you'd protect me."
Yuji smiled provocatively.
Nobara thought of the other two and grew anxious. "Then now we should—"
Boom!!!
A shock came from above.
Right after, two figures dropped down.
One was a pale humanoid cursed spirit wearing only a pair of big shorts, nothing else.
The other was Fushiguro Megumi, fully clothed, but drenched in blood.
The humanoid cursed spirit hooked Fushiguro with one finger.
Fushiguro looked like a stray dog, toyed with from start to finish. If not for the healing talisman restoring him, it would've been worse.
"R-run…"
"Those blood drops just now were your doing, Yuanzhi? That works on ordinary curses, but it won't work on this thing."
Fushiguro forced his mind awake and warned them.
"Hehehe… hehehehehe!"
The humanoid cursed spirit tossed Fushiguro aside, spotted a new toy, and got even more excited.
At the same time.
The pressure of a Special Grade spread.
Nobara, just like young Yuji and Fushiguro earlier, went rigid in place.
So this is a Special Grade cursed spirit…
Why can't I move…
And Fushiguro got crushed instantly?
No…
Move!
Move!
Move!
She kept ordering herself…
"There are two cursed wombs. This is one of them. Let's just call them both Deity-Bearing."
"The moment they're born, they're Special Grade."
"For where you are right now, it's definitely too much."
Yuji pressed his palm to Nobara's narrow back and gave a slight push. "Want to try?"
Tap, tap, tap…
Nobara took several steps forward in brown leather shoes, and only then did the stiffness vanish.
"M-me, try?"
She pointed at herself in disbelief. This wasn't even the same level.
"This should need at least a Semi-Grade 1 sorcerer, right…"
"But…"
Nobara swallowed, waved her small hammer, and trusted her back to him. "Hey. You'll heal me, right?"
"Yeah," Yuji said.
"Then I'm going."
Nobara didn't waste words. Knowing this was training, she took a deep breath and stepped in.
She searched for an angle, a weakness, trying to land a strike on Deity-Bearing with her hammer.
Bang!
Everything went smoothly at first. She found the angle and swung down hard—
But the hammer stopped in midair above the Special Grade cursed spirit.
At least a meter away, it hung there…
"Heh… hehehehehe!"
Deity-Bearing kept a stretched, relaxed posture, releasing cursed energy.
Nobara froze.
"I can't bring it down… what is this… no technique, just cursed energy… a cursed energy barrier?"
In the next instant, before she could finish the thought,
she was bounced back by the Special Grade cursed energy.
Even that mere rebound force heavily injured Nobara, dropping her to the floor, unable to rise.
Yuji pressed down with one hand, Reverse Cursed Technique activated, and healed her instantly.
The gap was too big…
"You found the timing, but it released cursed energy at that exact moment too," Yuji said.
He was cut off by Nobara and Fushiguro's shocked shout.
"Watch out!!!"
Whoosh!
Before anyone noticed.
Deity-Bearing had vanished.
It seemed to know who was strongest, who posed the greatest threat, and lost interest in the other toys instantly.
Hoo!
A gale slammed in.
Deity-Bearing appeared above, swept one hand, and a massive amount of cursed energy condensed into something tangible, striking down at Yuji.
Yes, the target was Yuji!
Boom!!!
But.
When Deity-Bearing's attack reached three meters from Yuji, it was blocked by something invisible, then gradually dispersed.
"Huh…?"
Deity-Bearing's four eyes widened as if to say, Why didn't it work!?
Since the moment it was born, this was the first time it had encountered something like this.
It had always had everything go its way.