JJK: Chapter 68

Title: Shikigami

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The recent incident at Junpei's High School garnered immense attention. It had been a long time since a curse-related event claimed so many lives. Unlike the previous Parade of Hundred Demons incident—where Suguru Geto’s prior announcement allowed for a timely evacuation, resulting primarily in property damage—this tragedy resulted in 432 fatalities, mostly students with a few staff members. The aftermath alone would undoubtedly be a headache for those responsible for handling it.

Apparently, the authorities later released a statement blaming the incident on terrorists using a gas bomb, accompanied by a slew of entertainment news to distract the public. Yet, the internet was already in an uproar, and the incident even gained international attention. But that was a matter for later.

For Shin Shuichi, who was on his way back to Jujutsu High, this was no longer his concern. He left those headaches to those whose job it was to handle them. However, this incident would surely focus more attention on Mahito and his group of curses. That said, the curses seemed to have a domain they could hide in, and the unknown curse from their second encounter—capable of inducing sleep—seemed to possess long-distance teleportation abilities as well.

“Well, whatever. Let Gojo-sensei worry about it. Let’s go.”

Junpei Yoshino watched as Shin Shuichi and Yuji Itadori waved goodbye to him before leaving. Shin’s earlier words still echoed in his ears:

“You’ve likely awakened your technique, haven’t you? If so, you might be invited to enroll in Jujutsu High. Personally, I suggest you agree. Also, while everyone’s attention is focused here, consider moving to a new place.”

Yuji had been overjoyed at the prospect. “Really, senpai? Junpei could join Jujutsu High? That means we’d get a new classmate!”

Shin replied with a deadpan tone, “Isn’t that obvious? Jujutsu sorcerers are always short-staffed. Wild sorcerers are usually recruited into the school. If they’re not suited for combat, they’re trained for support roles. There’s no shortage of backline personnel, you know. Do you think our mission supplies magically appear, like the work of some fairy godmother?”

Yuji nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, I know about that!”


---

Back at Jujutsu High, Maki, Megumi, and Nobara were all at the training grounds, immersed in grueling practice. Megumi and Nobara were undergoing special training, and Yuji joined as soon as he returned.

“Shin!”

They greeted him from afar. Nearby, Nobara had just finished her session with Maki, who had been “training” her in a very one-sided manner. For today, training was temporarily over. Shin noticed that the group had sustained injuries from their intense practice. Rather than troubling Shoko, he prepared to heal them himself.

Before he could act, Megumi summoned a shadow shikigami. It was a towering deer. Despite its imposing build, it radiated an aura of calm. Shin immediately recognized the energy it emanated—it was the positive cursed energy of reversed curse technique.

Shikigami: Round Deer

Under the Round Deer’s abundant positive cursed energy, everyone’s injuries healed in an instant. As Shin observed the shikigami thoughtfully, Maki stretched and teased him. “What’s the matter? Feeling useless because you didn’t get to do anything?”

Shin wasn’t feeling useless—he was captivated by the Round Deer. This shikigami’s body was entirely composed of positive cursed energy. While it had to be mediated through the shikigami for healing, in some ways, it was even more convenient than a sorcerer performing it directly.

Additionally, it meant the shikigami could use its energy in combat against curses. Before incarnating into physical bodies, curses were sustained purely by cursed energy. Positive cursed energy, born from reverse cursed technique, could dissolve the negative cursed energy of curses like sunlight melting snow.

Noticing Shin’s interest, Megumi explained, “I only recently managed to summon this shikigami. Its abilities are limited to reverse curse technique and this type of cursed energy. Shin, do you think it’s possible for me to learn it through it?”

Shin nodded slightly. “At least for now, it seems possible. Reversed curse techniques are notoriously difficult to understand when explained by others. If you can use this shikigami to directly sense how the technique operates, it should significantly simplify your learning process.”

After affirming Megumi’s idea, Shin changed the subject. “You’re getting better at using your technique. You’ve already tamed quite a few shikigami, right? Only three left, isn’t it?”

Megumi dispelled Round Deer. “More or less. I’ve already fused Nue and Toad before, and this time, I experimented with fusing other shikigami. I successfully merged Serpent with Nue, creating a new fusion.”

Megumi activated his technique again, causing the shadows beneath his feet to ripple. Several shadowy figures emerged and took flight. Shin noticed they were small, winged snakes—though calling them “small” was relative since their size wasn’t much different from common snakes. The primary reason Shin found them diminutive was that most of Megumi’s shikigami were considerably larger.

The black snakes swam through the air around Megumi, their wings barely moving, as though the act of flying came naturally to them. Megumi adjusted his hand signs. “This was my first attempt at fusing three shikigami. Besides Nue and Snake, I also incorporated Rabbit Escape into the mix.”

“Thanks to Rabbit Escape’s properties, it wasn’t hard to merge it into the fusion. This also allows me to summon a swarm of them, though their size and combat strength are significantly reduced. However, if I separate Rabbit Escape…”

The winged snakes dissolved midair, melting back into shadows and falling to the ground. Suddenly, the shadows burst upward like a fountain, and a massive figure emerged, rising into the sky like a dragon. It was a shikigami roughly the size of the original Great Serpent, with a serpentine body and a pair of wings just below its head.

At a glance, it resembled the smaller snakes but was much larger and more fearsome in its details. The oppressive aura it exuded was incomparable to the earlier swarm. As it coiled and moved through the air, faint arcs of electricity flickered around its body.

“I call it Flying Serpent. There’s only one of it in this form, but it’s incredibly powerful. It played a significant role when I was taming Round Deer. The downside is that it consumes a lot of cursed energy.”

After demonstrating its power briefly, Megumi dispelled the technique and sighed. “Unfortunately, my knowledge about this technique is limited. Most of what I know came from Gojo-sensei. If I had access to more detailed records, it would make things much easier.”

Shin immediately thought of the Zen’in clan. As the source of the Ten Shadows Technique, they likely had extensive records and information about it. However, the relationship between Megumi and the Zen’in clan was… complicated.

Maki, understanding the implications, sneered. “That bunch would never give you something so important without demanding a steep price. Thinking otherwise is wishful thinking.”

Megumi remained composed. “It doesn’t matter. I can figure it out on my own. If someone managed to master it in the past, then it’s proof I can do the same.”

Though Megumi didn’t share Maki’s intense disdain for the Zen’in clan, he wasn’t interested in associating with them either. Gojo-sensei, Shin, Maki, and the infamous Zen’in clan traditions made it impossible for him to harbor any goodwill toward his so-called relatives.

"Non-sorcerers are not human."

The thought lingered in his mind but didn’t sway his resolve.

Megumi resolved to focus on improving his cursed energy and further researching techniques. After all, aside from the final shikigami, there were still two others left to tame.

“Stop rambling,” Maki interrupted, switching topics. “We still need to prepare for the exchange event. I don’t want to lose to them. Shin probably won’t be participating this time, right?”

Yuji tilted his head in confusion. “Huh? Exchange event? What’s that?”

Feeling everyone’s eyes on him, Shin blinked. “Ah... I’ve been a bit busy lately and forgot to explain it to him. Haha.”

Fushiguro summarized the exchange event in a few sentences, prompting Yuji to light up with excitement. “There’s an event like that? Sounds so fun! But why can’t Shin participate?”

Nearby, Panda crossed his arms and explained. “It’s not 100% confirmed. I just heard it from Yaga-sensei.”

Shin, however, remained calm. “That’s probably correct. If Okkotsu were here, it’d be the same. Otherwise, the exchange event wouldn’t really be fair, would it?”

Grinning mischievously, Shin added, “I’ll just sit back and watch you all train hard. Maybe I’ll grab a chair to sit on later.”

He had already heard about the matter casually from Gojo-sensei before but hadn’t given it much thought. Whether he participated or not didn’t matter to him. He was often so busy that a rare break to rest and relax was welcome. With Maki, Fushiguro, and Yuji, there were more than enough participants, and Fushiguro had just made new progress with his technique.

“That guy…”

Maki glared at Shin before turning to Yuji, who suddenly realized what was happening and looked at her with admiration. “Yuji Itadori, your turn. Come here.”

Yuji groaned but quickly steeled himself and stepped forward. Thanks to his extraordinary physical abilities, Maki never held back during their training. What would be severe injuries for most people were no big deal for Yuji. Besides, with Shin’s healing and now Fushiguro’s Round Deer shikigami, minor wounds were nothing to worry about.

That said, Yuji always took the hardest hits. After all, he used to be an ordinary high schooler capable of throwing a shot put over 30 meters and running 100 meters in under 10 seconds. He had some basic fighting skills, but he rarely needed them—his physical strength alone was enough to handle most bullies.

Now, however, his combat skills had been honed at Jujutsu High, primarily through Maki’s relentless “beatdowns.” Despite this, Maki held him in high regard, praising his immense physical strength and exceptional learning ability in combat.

By her estimation, Yuji would soon be able to handle second-grade and even first-grade curses independently. But was that his limit? Reaching the level of a first-grade sorcerer was impressive, and he might even be able to fend off weaker special-grade curses. But what about the true monsters?

“A sorcerer without a technique... is that all they can achieve? No! I refuse to believe it. Limits exist only to be broken!”

As Yuji staggered from a series of hits and lost his balance, Maki used her staff to sweep him off his feet and send him flying. Tumbling to the ground, Yuji quickly got up, replaying the moment in his mind and thinking about how to counter it.

Shin waved casually. “You all keep training. With Fushiguro here, it’ll be fine. I have something to discuss with the principal.”

Leaving the training field, Shin headed to the principal’s office. Finding it empty, he made his way to Yaga’s usual workspace, where cursed corpses were created and stored. Sure enough, Yaga was there, and so was the white wolf, which perked up at the sound of Shin’s knock before rushing over excitedly.

After giving the wolf a vigorous pat, Shin glanced at Yaga. “Principal, you’ve heard about what happened at Sakura High, right?”

Yaga put down his tools, his expression grim. “Yes. I’ve read the report. The situation is severe. We’ve issued large-scale warrants for the curses involved. As for the bodies, their strange condition has prompted an investigation by specialists.”

Shin’s mind wandered to the image of bloodless corpses scattered in the hall, with barely any blood visible despite the carnage. The scene was unnerving, likely the result of some bizarre ritual. Still, that was a job for the experts to determine.

“By the way, Principal, during this mission, we encountered someone tangentially involved—a bystander caught up in the chaos. However, it seems they’ve just awakened a cursed technique. We don’t know the specifics yet. If you have any ideas, it might be best to act quickly.”

“A newly awakened technique?” Yaga considered briefly. “I’ll send someone to investigate. If they meet the requirements, we can invite them to Jujutsu High.”

After settling the matter, Yaga seemed to recall something. “Oh, right. About the exchange event—you won’t be participating, will you? I’m sure you understand why. Originally, Okkotsu Yuta was supposed to join, but it seems he won’t make it back in time.”

Shin waved dismissively. “Got it. Speaking of Okkotsu, has he still not finished the mission Gojo-sensei gave him? Was it really that troublesome?”

Yaga resumed working on a cursed corpse. “You know how rare and powerful the Black Rope cursed tool is. It’s said to have immense utility and can even be artificially produced, though the conditions for doing so seem extraordinarily stringent. So far, it’s been a fruitless search.”

Setting down a cat-shaped doll he’d been playing with, Shin let it leap toward a pile of cursed corpses before turning back to Yaga. “Well, let me know when Okkotsu gets back. It’s been a while since we last saw him. I’ll get going.”

As he left, Shin waved at the white wolf darting between the cursed corpses. “Hey, dumb mutt, let’s go.”

The wolf barked and eagerly followed him out.