The eleventh of November, 2018, marked the official beginning of the Culling Games for our heroes.
Or at least the preparation to enter the Culling Games. It was only yesterday they had talked with Tengen and created a plan for the Culling Games. And before entering, they needed more help.
From tools to powerful allies, they couldn't hold anything back, not this time.
And that was why both Megumi and Yuji were currently looking at an abandoned underground venue that had been converted into an illegal sorcerer fighting ring, a place where curse users, rogue sorcerers, and all manner of shady individuals gathered to gamble, fight, and entertain themselves while the rest of the world remained blissfully unaware.
"You sure this is the place, Fushiguro?" Yuji couldn't help but ask with doubt, seeing the shabby place.
"Positive, it took bloody bucks to buy this intel from Mei Mei. This is the place." Megumi grunted, both he and Yuji changing into their 'Bad Boy' costumes before putting their game faces on.
"Is this guy really that strong? What is he even doing here?" Yuji casually asked while walking behind Megumi toward the rundown area.
"You know Akindo, right? Hakari is like him." Megumi didn't explain everything, just pointed out why they needed Hakari.
Yuji, for his part, just paused for a moment. While he himself hadn't fought Akindo Yami, by how he was talked about recently, it was clear he was strong.
Not to mention, Akindo was able to save Maki from Sukuna's attack. That alone was a point to make him somewhat reliable.
As for Megumi stating he was like Akindo, Yuji didn't get it. What exactly was similar about them?
Unfortunately, Yuji hadn't been in the loop of what all Yami Akindo, who came out of nowhere, had done so far.
He was yet to realize how a normal technique was different from a domain-based technique.
"As for why he is here, it's because the higher-ups expelled him for conducting illegal fights using cursed energy between curse users or sorcerers." Megumi continued.
"And do you think this Hakari guy will agree to help us?"
"It's not about whether he agrees with us or not, it's our job to make certain Hakari agrees. No matter what it takes."
"Oh…" Yuji nodded.
What followed was Megumi doing all the talking and somehow, under the pretext of wanting to take part in the fighting ring, getting the entrance. However, not for him; they only chose Yuji.
Megumi himself was rejected.
And that was how Yuji found himself here. The atmosphere was loud and suffocating, with cheers, curses, and laughter blending together beneath flickering lights as spectators packed themselves tightly around the improvised arena.
Yuji Itadori currently stood in the center of that arena in a gladiator-style match, gaining all the attention on him.
The plan had been simple. In order to secure Hakari Kinji's cooperation, they first had to get close enough to meet him, and unfortunately Hakari was not the kind of person who simply answered phone calls or politely listened to requests, so the easiest way to get his attention was to participate in the fights he organized and catch his attention with a dazzling performance.
What wasn't in the plan was that the moment Yuji saw his opponent, he was completely baffled.
"Eh…"
"Panda…. Senpai."
The giant cursed corpse stood across from Yuji, scratching the back of his head awkwardly as the crowd around them continued to roar in anticipation.
"Itadori!"
"I mean... ROAR..." Panda quickly slipped into the role, and so did Yuji. And thus started their performance.
Meanwhile, while all eyes remained focused on the fight taking place below, Megumi operated elsewhere entirely.
Upon not getting the entrance the polite way, he decided to be a bit more impolite.
Hidden within the shadows cast by the surrounding structure, he silently moved through restricted hallways and maintenance passages, carefully avoiding guards and surveillance while making his way deeper into the facility.
He hid in the shadows, took down the few guards protecting the area, mostly with non-lethal takedowns, and quickly slipped into the shadow of another, repeating it again.
Ultimately, this all led to Yuji finally meeting Hakari, only to be found out immediately while Panda faced Kiara.
What followed was a fight. And no little effort by Team Jujutsu to convince Hakari to help them out in the Culling Games.
-x-
12th November 2018.
Two days after meeting Tengen, Maki found herself in front of a place she least wished to visit. However, she desperately needed cursed tools if she planned to be of any use in the Culling Game, and thus she had to come back here again.
The Zenin Clan.
The gates of the Zenin Clan opened before Maki with the same suffocating silence she remembered from her childhood, and the moment she stepped through them, an old sense of disgust settled deep inside her chest.
Every corridor, every wooden pillar, every stone path carried memories she would have preferred to bury forever, yet she did not allow even a flicker of those emotions to appear on her face as she calmly walked forward.
She had not returned to reconcile with anyone, nor had she come seeking revenge despite possessing more than enough strength to wipe this place from existence. She was here for one purpose alone, to retrieve cursed tools before entering the Culling Games, because without them even her completed Heavenly Restriction would be severely handicapped against curse users.
Curse spirits could only be killed by cursed energy. And that was even more important for curse users, because if not, those curse users would come back as vengeful cursed spirits.
Several members of the clan noticed her presence immediately, their eyes widening before narrowing with poorly hidden contempt, but none of them approached her.
Mostly because no one cared.
Halfway toward the vault, a familiar mocking voice echoed through the courtyard.
"So the failure finally crawled back."
Maki did not even need to turn around to know who this was.
Naoya.
She continued walking without slowing her pace.
"I expected you to be dead after Shibuya," Naoya continued lazily as he stepped into view with his hands inside his sleeves. "Then again, cockroaches have always been difficult to kill."
He said as his eyes roamed to her ass first, lingering there for a while before finally roaming around her body.
Maki glanced at him only briefly before replying with complete indifference.
"I expected you to learn a new insult after all these years. Guess we were both disappointed."
Naoya clicked his tongue.
"You've grown a mouth."
"And you've somehow become even more annoying."
His smile twitched ever so slightly as his sharp eyes studied her carefully. Something was undeniably different.
He narrowed his eyes, as if the change he felt was right in front of his eyes, but he still couldn't see it.
"…What happened to you?"
Maki simply shrugged.
"Nothing you'd understand."
Without waiting for another reply, she continued walking toward the weapons vault, leaving Naoya staring after her with a growing frown.
For one second he thought about putting the damn woman in her place, but knowing what her uncle was up to with her sister, Naoya just gave a smirk and let the matter be.
Before long another familiar figure appeared from the side of the path.
Her mother.
The older woman looked exhausted, her face carrying years of resignation that Maki no longer cared enough to pity.
"Maki…"
"What."
"You shouldn't have come back."
"I'll leave as soon as I get what I came for."
Her mother lowered her gaze.
"You always disappoint people."
For a brief second Maki stopped walking before resuming her walk, not even bothering with listening to her own mother.
Without another word she walked past her, leaving the older woman standing motionless behind.
It took only another minute before Maki reached the massive underground vault where generations of Zenin cursed tools had once been stored. She pushed the heavy doors open and immediately frowned.
Empty.
The weapon racks had been stripped clean.
"What…"
A wet, dragging sound echoed deeper inside the chamber.
Maki's eyes shifted forward.
Someone was there.
No.
Two people.
The first was her father, Ogi Zenin.
The second…
Her breathing stopped.
"MAI!"
Her younger twin sister lay unconscious across the stone floor, her clothes soaked crimson while a long trail of blood followed behind her as Ogi dragged her carelessly by one arm.
Everything inside Maki went silent.
Ogi finally noticed her arrival and let out a cold snort.
"So you actually came. I figured you'd return for the cursed tools, which is why I had every single one removed before you arrived."
He tossed Mai onto the floor as though discarding garbage.
"You truly are the greatest disappointment of my life."
Maki said nothing. She wasn't even particularly listening to him; her eyes were just focused on her sister.
Ogi continued speaking, completely unaware that every word was bringing him closer to his death.
"Do you know why I never became clan head? Not because Naobito was stronger. Not because I lacked talent. It was because of the two of you."
His voice dripped with venom.
"Naobito produced Naoya, a son who inherited his Projection Sorcery, while I was cursed with twins. One daughter without cursed energy, the other barely capable of becoming a sorcerer. You both shamed me. You destroyed my future."
Maki slowly lowered her eyes toward Mai's pale face.
Blood continued pooling beneath her body. And that seemed to snap something inside her. Yes, she was here to get the tools. She told herself that it was just that, get the tools and get out of there, never to return if possible.
However.
"…You failed me."
Ogi never finished another sentence.
The floor beneath Maki shattered.
One moment she stood several meters away. The next she was directly in front of him.
His eyes widened. He never even saw the strike.
A deafening crack echoed through the vault before Ogi's body split cleanly down the center from shoulder to waist, his expression forever frozen in stunned disbelief as both halves collapsed onto opposite sides of the floor.
Silence returned.
Maki ignored the corpse completely and immediately dropped beside Mai.
"Mai…"
Her sister was still breathing. Barely, but still breathing.
"God…"
The wounds themselves were not immediately fatal, but she had already lost far too much blood.
"Damn it…"
Maki gently lifted her into her arms.
"I have to get you to Shoko."
She stood, already turning toward the exit before slowing to a stop.
Outside the vault waited the entire Zenin Clan.
Dozens of footsteps echoed through the corridors above.
Weapons being drawn.
Sorcerers taking positions.
They had already surrounded the building.
For years Maki had endured their abuse.
For years she had convinced herself that becoming stronger and proving them wrong would be enough.
Looking down at Mai's broken body finally shattered that illusion.
A slow breath escaped her lips.
"…I should have done this a long time ago."
She carefully adjusted Mai's unconscious body against her shoulder before stepping out of the vault.
Every Zenin sorcerer waiting outside immediately turned toward her.
No hesitation remained inside Maki Zenin's eyes.
Only resolve.
And that was how one of the strongest sorcerer clans would come to an end.
-x-
Tombs of the Star Corridor.
"So Megumi and Yuji went to find Hakari Senpai, and Maki had gone back to her clan." Yuta muttered with a tired sigh as he slowly blew on the hot tea in his hand.
"Yes." came the reply not too long after, which didn't help the second strongest sorcerer of the modern age with his boredom.
He was practically trapped into staying behind, abstaining from taking part in the Culling Game and saving his sensei, just because a thousand-year-old sorcerer was after the owner of the place he was currently at.
And the said owner was currently sitting in front of him.
Tengen.
"Are you sure you don't want any?" Yuta asked, pointing at his own tea and then comparing it to the strangely living thumb-looking person who was supposed to be Tengen.
"I'm certain. And it's not like I can have it even if I wish to." Tengen gave a small chuckle and replied.
"I'm not really here, you know. The me you see now is just a projection. My real body is inside in a much safer location." Tengen reminded.
Yuta blinked, recalling that the very, very old grandma did mention that earlier. He just wasn't paying enough attention.
"Ah, sorry." Yuta pursed his lips, unsure what more to say.
"So, would you mind telling me what you know about this Kenjaku? If he plans on attacking here, then I'd better know what he is capable of, no?" Yuta took another sip of his tea while moving himself slightly to get a better, more comfortable position in the kotatsu.
"Kenjaku is almost as old as me. For thousands of years he had lingered, studying jujutsu. Besides me, he is the best barrier master there is. His mastery of jujutsu would be monstrous…."
Tengen explained everything she knew about Kenjaku, and the more Yuta heard, the more he felt this was trouble.
"So, he can have any technique which he might have collected over the span of a thousand years?" Yuta asked, not liking the sound of that.
"Not exactly. While it is indeed true he can have any technique, we already know two of them. And while my understanding of the human brain is not comparable to his, I doubt it is possible to fit more than three techniques inside a human brain before it collapses."
Yuta blinked. He was honestly expecting a situation like his. Multiple techniques with limitless possibility. A very difficult fight if they didn't know what they were up against.
However, if it's just three techniques, of which two are already known, Cursed Spirit Manipulation and Kenjaku's own technique, which lets him hop bodies, then that meant only one more technique remained.
Of course, that was the best possible outcome. It could be worse, much worse, like him having many more cursed techniques in his arsenal. The three-technique limit was not proven yet, so he wouldn't put much stock into it.
After contemplating, Yuta decided to change the topic for the time being.
"So… what about the others? Maki went to the Zenin Clan and both Itadori and Fushiguro went to find Hakari Senpai. What about the others? Panda, Toge, and that other person. Akindo was his name. What about them?" Yuta asked.
He too knew where both Itadori and Fushiguro were going, same with Maki. But about the others, he had no idea.
"Hmm… If I'm not wrong, then Panda currently is with Itadori and Fushiguro. Toge is still at Jujutsu Tech.
As for Akindo…" she stated and paused.
"He has already entered a colony."
"ALREADY!" Yuta's eyes widened.
"Who went with him then?"
"No one. He went alone."
Yuta paused.
That was fast. Fast and very reckless.
And Yuta found himself wishing to do the same. It would have been better than sitting around here lazily.
-x-
In front of Tokyo Colony No. 1
A youth stood with a determined expression on his face. The sun was about to rise, and he was about to begin another deadly merry-go-round with curses and sorcerers.
This time willingly.
"Ding Dong… Ding Dong.
Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding…Ding Dong."
A small Shikigami, which surprisingly looked like a microphone, popped out suddenly. Its name was Kogane. The game operator that every participant of the Culling Games got.
"Warning, trying to enter the colony barrier will make you a player. Do you wish to become a player?" the small Shikigami asked.
"Yes."
"Do you wish to learn the rules first?"
"No."
"Very well, you may enter the colony." Kogane stated cheerfully.
The boy just looked at the big black barrier in front of him with a determined look. If it was an option, he would rather never enter a place like this, but he had no option.
"Maximum Effort"
.
.
.
[A New Player 'Yami Akindo' has entered the colony.]
xXx
A/N : Man I can't believe how long it took to me to come back to writing this, I almost feel it its been forever.
Sorry for the delay, though if you are reading this in webnovel then perhaps you might now know what I'm talking about. This message might be more relevant for the patreon subcribers.
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