After extorting Yuki for another payout, Jinsuke led her to a cozy little loft tucked away near the coast. The place was beautifully furnished—clearly expensive.
"Come in."
He pulled out a key and unlocked the door like it was second nature.
"Wait—don't tell me this is your place?"
Yuki stepped inside, eyes darting around in disbelief. The décor screamed luxury. There was no way this man had actually bought a place like this, right?
"You didn't scam someone for it, did you?" she muttered under her breath.
"Of course it's not mine," Jinsuke said flatly. "Do I look like the kind of guy who wastes money on real estate?"
He gave her a sidelong glance. With his lifestyle, why would he ever buy anything? All it took was finding the right woman, and a roof—and meals—came free.
"Oh, good. That's a relief," Yuki sighed, oddly comforted.
"Alright, let's just get this over with."
Back in the bedroom, Jinsuke stripped off his shirt and flopped face down on the bed, like someone who'd done this routine a hundred times before.
Yuki's gaze drifted over his body—broad shoulders, solid back, explosive muscle definition—and she swallowed hard, her cheeks warming despite herself.
Sure, she'd seen it plenty of times before. But every time, it still made her pulse skip.
Handsome and built like that? He was born for the soft life.
She shook the thought away, forcing herself to focus. Then she placed her pale hand gently on his back, releasing a surge of pure Cursed Energy into his body.
With his heightened senses, Jinsuke could feel it clearly—her energy coursing through him, probing, trying to unravel the secret of his Heavenly Restriction.
Yuki Tsukumo had long since broken away from the beliefs of the Jujutsu Higher-Ups. To her, exorcising Curses was just treating symptoms. The real disease was Cursed Energy itself.
After all, every human had Cursed Energy inside them, whether they realized it or not. Those who could control it became Jujutsu Sorcerers. Their job was to exorcise Curses born from humanity's negative emotions.
But there were others who abused their power—committing crimes, spreading terror. Those were the Curse Users, the outlaws of the Jujutsu World.
Yuki's theory was simple: if Cursed Energy disappeared entirely, Curses would vanish with it.
And out of all humanity, only two people she knew of had zero Cursed Energy.
Toji Zenin—and the man lying before her, Jinsuke Zenin.
Brothers, bound by the same impossible anomaly.
"You done yet?" Jinsuke asked lazily. "My time's not free, you know."
His muscles tensed, veins bulging across his back like coiled dragons as his body instinctively rejected the invading Cursed Energy.
"Whew…"
Yuki pulled her hand back, looking defeated.
"Why? Why does your body just refuse to produce Cursed Energy?"
Another test, another failure—and this one had cost her money, too.
Jinsuke sighed. "Told you, it's pointless. You'd be better off exorcising a few Curses and earning some cash. Eat well, sleep well—that's what actually matters."
After years of knowing her, he could read her like a book.
"No! Let me try again!" Yuki insisted, eyes blazing with determination. "If I keep at it longer, I'm sure I'll figure something out!"
She'd noticed that the longer her Cursed Energy stayed inside him, the stronger the rejection grew. If she pushed it just a little further—more time, more energy—she might finally uncover how Heavenly Restriction truly functioned.
"Not happening," Jinsuke said, waving a hand. "No pay, no play."
This woman was always trying to freeload, and he wasn't about to let that start. Once you gave Yuki an inch, she'd take the whole damn mile.
"I'll pay. Triple."
A vein popped on her forehead as she held up three fingers. "Last time. If I don't figure it out this time, I'm done."
Four, maybe five years of research—and not a single breakthrough. She'd sunk a fortune into this man already. If she couldn't crack the mystery today, she'd finally let it go.
There were other approaches, after all. Maybe she could find a way to turn every human into a Jujutsu Sorcerer instead. That would solve the curse problem too.
"Fine," Jinsuke said at last. "But this is the last time. After this, you leave me alone."
He didn't mind. All he had to do was lie there and get paid—easy money. And since Yuki never actually discovered anything, it wasn't like there was any downside for him.
Honestly, if he could find more women like her, he'd never have to work again.
"Alright," Yuki said, inhaling deeply. "I'm going to push my Cursed Energy harder this time. If it's too much, tell me."
Her expression turned steely. Last chance. Don't let her down.
The next instant, her cool hands pressed against his back again—then a torrent of powerful Cursed Energy surged into him.
His body rebelled immediately. Veins bulged, muscles convulsed, and his skin flushed crimson.
"What the—?!" Yuki stumbled backward as an explosion of heat burst from his body, flinging her back several steps.
"Is this… the power of Heavenly Restriction?!" Her eyes widened. The sheer force of it was overwhelming.
Jinsuke steadied his breathing, forcing the violent energy inside him to calm. Slowly, the color of his skin returned to normal.
"My Heavenly Restriction naturally clashes with Cursed Energy," he said. "This kind of reaction's normal."
Still, something about this time was different.
In the back of his mind, he felt it—an old presence stirring.
A glowing, high-tech-looking scripture thrummed violently in his consciousness.
Then—
BOOM!
A surge of heat erupted inside him, obliterating every trace of Cursed Energy in his body.
Yuki shielded her face from the blast, barely regaining her balance.
"What the hell was that?!"
Jinsuke's mind dove inward. There it was again—the mysterious book that had appeared years ago.
The Eight Inner Gates.
That's right. That Eight Inner Gates—the pinnacle of taijutsu.
It had appeared in his mind on his eighteenth birthday. Maybe it was fate. Or maybe it was because, in his past life, he'd died watching a compilation of Might Guy's final battle for the twentieth time.
Either way, when it appeared, he'd nearly cried tears of joy. Late or not, a cheat was still a cheat.
Heavenly Restriction and the Eight Inner Gates? The ultimate combo, right?
At least, that's what he'd thought—until he realized he had no chakra. Not even a single open tenketsu. Total dead end.
Thankfully, his cheat wasn't entirely heartless. The manual had adapted itself, replacing chakra with something new—Qi and Blood Power.
By refining his physical body to the utmost limit, he could generate this raw, life-born energy and use it to open the gates. The result was pure, unfiltered physical might—taijutsu in its most primal form.
But yeah… cultivating that kind of power was easier said than done.
He willed his mind to open the mental scripture. Lines of data shimmered before him:
[Gate of Opening: 100%]
[Gate of Rest: 100%]
[Gate of Life: 100%]
[Gate of Pain: 11%]
...
[Gate of Death: 0%]
So far, he could only fully open the first three gates. The boost to his strength and speed was nice, but not earth-shattering.
His Heavenly Restriction already gave him monstrous physical power. To truly amplify it through the Eight Inner Gates, he'd need to reach at least the fifth—the Gate of Limit.
He was close. Just needed to tone down his freeloading, train a little harder, and maybe—just maybe—he'd show the world what the peak of human body could do.
After all, the power of the Eight Inner Gates scaled directly with the user's physical ability.
Might Guy with five gates wasn't the same as Rock Lee with five gates.
And with Heavenly Restriction fueling the Eight Inner Gates…
That combination would be absolutely terrifying.