A/N: Welcome to my latest story: Potential Man. Here we go with this one. Next three chapters are up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) already if you want to see them early. Since I just started a new story, there's a cheeky discount on said patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) page for anyone interested.
"So what do you want to do now?" Maki asked as Shito made his exit from the room after giving me his card so I could contact him if I needed to.
"Where is Itadori?" I asked.
"Is that your priority now?" she asked.
"Dealing with the Zenin clan... it will be hard. I would like to have him at my back when I do so," I said.
"That would be a mistake," she said. I tilted my head at her.
"The clan prizes strength above all else. You can't show weakness. Going there with Itadori or with any help is going to mean you start on the backfoot. If you want to negotiate with the clan and come out ahead, you have to go there on your own. You have to do it with your own power and confidence. Nothing else," she said.
"Oh," she added.
"She's right, Megumi-chan," a voice said, suddenly in our midst. Maki swung on instinct, but she came nowhere close to hitting him. He was on the other end of the room instead.
And then Maki was doubled over, and he was standing above her.
"Like I was saying, Megumi-chan, Maki here is right. Even if women like her are better seen and not heard. Well, not women like her. Those burns are ghastly to look at," he said. I looked across at him. Naoya Zenin. Technique: Projection Sorcery. He could divide one second into 24 predetermined movements. The longer he used the technique, the faster he would get. Special Grade One. Stronger than me—for now.
Those thoughts ran through my mind in between blinks, and I purposely relaxed my appearance.
"Naoya Zenin. I assume you're here for something," I said.
"To kill you, of course. That old fart just told you what my idiot of a father did, didn't he? It's nothing personal, you see? Ruling the Zenin clan is my destiny," he said.
"I guess you'll suffice then," I said with a widening smile. I could tell my casual demeanor was getting to him. He thought he was stronger than me, yes, but there was hesitation there. That had to be the reputation of the Ten Shadows. Or perhaps it was the fact that Gojo was my sensei. If we fought now and he tried to kill me without any fucking around, he would win. I had no way of counteracting his technique. That blade he kept hidden would be buried in my neck before I could form a single seal to unleash a shadow.
"Suffice for what?"
"Well, you heard Maki, I'm sure. I need to send a message to the clan. Naoya Zenin, I challenge you to a duel in accordance with the laws binding the clans of the Jujutsu world. If you win, you will be the head of the Zenin clan and all that comes with it, and if I win, your life will be forfeit," I said, placing my cards on the table.
He chuckled first. And then he began to laugh even harder. There was something unnatural about the laughter. It was like he was expressing humor that he did not really feel, doing it for one reason and one reason alone. I felt it when his cursed energy spiked, and I tilted my head backwards. Less than a second later, I felt all the air be blown out of my lungs as it felt like my stomach had been hit by a train. I'd seen an attack coming, but not the right one.
"I could kill you now and get everything I want."
"And you think you'd get away with doing it in the Tokyo school? Someone will have seen you or sensed your cursed energy. How are the higher-ups going to feel about the Zenin clan trying to take us back to the Heian era with behavior like this? They won't be pleased," Maki gasped out, beginning to rise to her feet again.
"You think you're stronger than me. Why not prove it in front of the clan? Unless, of course, you're scared," I spoke out more clearly. Even if I was in pain, I was not going to give him the satisfaction of gasping or slurring my words. My pride would never allow it.
"Hmmm. Three days then. Meet me in front of the clan in three days. Bring whatever audience you want, but do know it'll just be me and you doing the fighting, Megumi-chan. When you lose, your life will be mine to do as I please with," he said, and then he was gone. Just like before, there was no warning. One second he was standing with us, and by the next, he was completely gone. No trace of his presence.
I stopped forcing myself to remain standing and just dropped to the floor, rolling over to my back and staring at the ceiling.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Maki asked gruffly.
"To save our lives, of course. Do you think we could have taken him? Here? You know how fast he is. I saw what the old man could do and they have the same technique, don't they?" I asked, still looking up.
"And you think you can beat him alone? All by yourself?" she asked, straightening up fully. Of course, she was already recovered. Heavenly Restriction.
"In three days. Sure I can," I said.
"You're insane. How do you plan to deal with his speed by then?" she asked.
"I don't. I just need to perfect my domain. Once I do that, we'll see how pretty boy feels when I'm the one punching his gut into next week," I said, and finally feeling somewhat better, I twisted and began pushing myself to my feet.
A hand appeared in my line of sight. I ignored it and returned to my feet under my own power.
"Now, we need to go find Itadori," I said.
Because if Naoya had come here instead of chasing down Itadori to get to me, then Okkotsu would have faced both Itadori and Choso together. That would have been a closer fight, but still not one they would have been able to win. Would Okkotsu kill Choso to accomplish his mission?
I couldn't imagine Choso just allowing Itadori to be seemingly killed right before him. And Choso wasn't Gojo's student. Okkotsu had no obligation to him. So why would he care to take him down non-lethally when he didn't have to? The instinct of every sorcerer was to kill curses, and Choso was a curse—a powerful one at that. There was a reason Tengen had listed him among those he felt comfortable being guarded by.
"Yuta is looking for him. I'll just call him and we'll liaise," Maki said.
"We?"
"I'm not letting you out of my sight henceforth. You're the next head of the Zenin clan whether you like it or not. You're my ticket to making that place much better, and I'm not going to let you waste the chance," she said.
I nodded.
— — —
We made it to them by nighttime. The sun had set an hour or so ago, and the moon was covered by clouds. The shadows were thick and ever-present. I could feel them more intensely now—the way they danced thanks to the light that came from the fire that Itadori, Choso, and Okkotsu sat around.
Our footsteps drew their attention as we approached. Okkotsu was something else, I observed. I could sense all their cursed energy as we approached, but while Itadori and Choso were like ponds of varying sizes, Okkotsu was the ocean. He just blew them out of the water. This was what a Special Grade Sorcerer was. This was the kind of power I craved.
"Hey, Maki, Megumi-san," Okkotsu waved as he was the first to notice us. I waved back while Maki just nodded. Itadori and Choso were much slower. Itadori seemed to shy away from me as I approached.
"See something that scares you, Itadori-kun?" I asked.
"It's not safe for you to be around me. Sukuna is—"
"I don't care what that arsehole is planning. Neither should you. We have bigger problems," I said. The ride over here had given me a lot of the information that I had been pretending not to already have about the state of things.
"The idiot in Geto's body is up to something and it involves Tsumiki. You once said you'd be there when I needed you no matter what it was for. Are you going to go back on your word now?" I asked.
"No—no. Of course not. Tsumiki, huh? We'll save her," he said. I nodded. Good. He was motivated.
"I have to ask—what about Kugisaki?" he asked. I shook my head and he nodded, fists clenched.
"Good that you're on board; this idiot has gotten himself into a death match in three days," Maki said, cutting into our conversation.
"Death match?"
"Nothing too serious. Just a duel with some idiot over the fate of the Zenin clan. It's still a while away; we can worry about it when it comes around," I said.
"We should go to see Yuki-san. She's hiding out in the school now and she did say she wanted us to come when we eventually got everyone back together," Maki said.
— — —
"So how do we split everyone?" Maki asked. This was where everyone would end up picking different things to do in canon under Tengen's gaze. This was where I needed to step in to make things go my way.
"Choso-san and Tsukumo-san volunteered to guard Tengen-sama, so they can remain here. I think the rest of us can remain together for the next three days at least before I fight Naoya for the fate of the Zenin clan. When I win, we would have an army at our backs to enter the Culling Game and rescue Tsumiki, free Gojo, and stop the merger," I said.
"Oh, I thought you would get into a colony now to gather intel as it's pretty early," Okkotsu said.
"There's no way for us to communicate with you when you're in the colony, though. That means there's no way for you to share whatever intel you manage to gather. I think it's best if we let some things play out for the first few days before we step in," I said.
"Shouldn't we be looking to enter as quickly as possible to get your sister out?" Itadori asked.
"We need some sort of plan to do that, and I don't know about you guys, but I don't think running around like headless chickens is efficient. Tsumiki is strong and resourceful. She'll hold out until I can get to her. I'll trust her to do that, and I know she will trust me to do the same," I said.
"Megumi-san is right," a voice ended all our debate as Tengen spoke.
"The Zenin and Kamo clans have removed their cursed tools from the vault. One of those cursed tools has the power to make finding his sister easier, so there is value in waiting for him to secure those resources before moving ahead. However, the reincarnated sorcerer known as Angel will begin participating in the game with no hesitation. If you want to make sure you manage to reach her early enough, then I suggest Okkotsu Yuta proceed into the colonies and search her out," they said.
There was no room for any of us to argue, so even if I wanted Okkotsu around as a sparring partner, there was no debating Tengen's logic. We all nodded and made our way out of the tomb.
"Okkotsu-san, before you go, can you teach me how to perfect my domain?" I asked as we walked out.
"I don't have a lot of time, but I'll do my best," he said with a bright smile.
—
"I thought you were supposed to be able to do this already," Okkotsu said as he stood across from me in the field. The Domain Expansion. The pinnacle of a sorcerer's capability. The thing that Megumi had up his sleeve that made him a danger to opponents far beyond his ken if he could manage to get the setup just right. I could remember everything Gojo had taught him about the subject, which was not a whole lot, and everything Megumi knew about it as well; and yet, when I tried to call upon Chimera Shadow Garden, nothing happened.
"I should. It's just not fucking working," I said, forming the seal again and intoning: "Domain Expansion: Chimera Shadow Garden." Nothing happened. We'd been here for hours now, and I had to applaud Okkotsu's patience. I would have given up on me already if I were him.
"Gojo-sensei said you're like me—that you have the potential to be Special Grade one day. I can't feel it, though," he said.
"Neither can I, Okkotsu. Join the line," I groused.
"No, no. I was not trying to mock you. I just mean I can't feel the resolve when you cast your mind to create the domain. A domain is the complete fruition of a sorcerer's nature. It is integral to who you are down to the very core of your cursed technique. You find that bit of yourself and then exert it on the world itself, enclosed within a barrier to allow you some control," he said.
"I know, I know," I said.
"Do you? Before I learned my domain, Miguel made me meditate for two days straight on my cursed technique and everything I was. That was the key. Before I even tried cutting down the tree, I spent so long sharpening my knife," he said.
"But I should already be able to use my domain," I said.
"When I checked in on you with Shoko-san, she said you had experienced a state of suspended animation as a result of the ritual you triggered with the Ten Shadows. Is it possible that something like that—someone else interfering with the ritual but you being alive at the end of it—could explain this? It could have reset your technique or something?" Okkotsu posed.
"Is that even possible?" I asked.
"I don't know. One thing I know is that when it comes to jujutsu and powerful sorcerers like us, anything is possible. I watched my friend die and cursed her death as a child, creating the most powerful cursed spirit in the world and then bound her soul to it. I did all that without even understanding what cursed energy was. When things happen, they change things you can't even imagine being affected. So start again. Because I feel no resolve from you when you try to use your present domain. Start afresh. Just like you've never used a domain before. Allow instinct and reflex to lead you to something uniquely yours. I'd advise meditation, Megumi-san," Okkotsu said, and then he was gone. I stared at the space he once occupied. That was an idea. I wasn't Megumi, after all. I had his cursed technique, yes, but I still had my own. What were the chances that I would have his domain? A domain would have to be something I fought for on my own, and wasn't that an exciting thought?
So I did what Okkotsu said; I sat down and I meditated. Meditation was nothing new to me. I had dabbled in my previous life, and from within Megumi, there was little to do but meditate or replay his memories. I'd used meditation to go over my own memories of the manga. They were already faded before I had even come here, but I did my best to go through what remained and make sure it didn't fade. And eventually, when Gojo began teaching Megumi, I went over each lesson multiple times. That was how I had learned to use my own cursed technique even though I'd never been taught per se.
I learned from within Megumi the best I could. And thankfully, when it came to the theoretical aspects, Megumi was a diligent learner at the very least. He studied the theory behind things like barriers, curtains, binding vows, and the like enough that I felt I had a solid grounding. So the barrier part of the domain did not worry me. In a lot of ways, a barrier was like a binding vow. It was a contract with jujutsu where you gave up cursed energy to have certain conditions. A domain barrier, for one, hid its edges and made itself hard to escape in exchange for presenting very little resistance to threats from the outside.
There was a reason a domain used against multiple enemies needed to capture all of them, or anyone outside would just destroy the domain. And then there was the second benefit and tradeoff: it allowed a sorcerer to apply their personal domain—the closest thing one could compare it to was the intersection between one's soul and their cursed technique—to reality itself. The tradeoff was cursed technique burnout. A tradeoff that I knew could be fought off with Reverse Cursed Technique. I wondered if the Round Deer would be able to heal the part of the brain that Gojo and Sukuna targeted to fix their cursed techniques after burning them out. But that was a problem for later.
My domain was the intersection between my soul and my cursed technique. I knew my soul well. My cursed technique, on the other hand... I knew the basics. Not having a physical body meant there were limits to what I could do with it back in Megumi's soul. Now, those limits didn't exist anymore. I had to understand it. How could I expand my domain when I hadn't even figured out something as basic as cursed technique reversal? I knew exactly what I needed to do.
Okkotsu had been half right. Meditation was useful, but what I really needed to do now was get into a fight, and I knew just where to find one.
A/N: Chapter ends here. Next three chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early. Since this is a new story, so there's a discount for the rest of the month on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga): feel free to check that out as well.