Chapter 2

Something was off.

Suiryu knew it too the moment he took the first strike. 'He's lacking power…' was the first thought that came to mind.

They have started to spar with one another. Suiryu is trying to teach him all he knows, everything Sukuna knew he wants to imbue into Yuuji sooner than later. The more he knows, the better he can control what he has obtained. Yet it's been difficult. They have sparred only a few times, well… this would be the second time they have gone toe to toe, the first time they did, Yuuji displayed his power and control that he has. Yet this time around, everything was lagging. He even noticed the look on his brother's face as he appeared a little confused and startled after he landed the strike.

Suiryu took one more as he was thrown back a good twenty feet, but remained standing. "Time out," he said aloud and stared at him oddly. "What the hell is wrong?"

Yuuji paused, as he no longer took a fighting stance, he sighed aloud as he stared at his hands. "I… I don't know. I know something is wrong, I just thought it was me unable to control my strength, but all I have is my strength in my arms. My jujutsu isn't working properly."

"No shit, it hasn't been for a while, I even noticed it at fashion party. When we summoned the domain, you hardly put any energy into it," Suiryu said offhandedly. He began to approach and look over Yuuji oddly. "So, what's causing it?"

"Nerves?"

"Nah," Suiryu said. "You've been under worst pressure than a mere spar session with me. Something else is going on…" The more he stared, the more he began to suspect what had happened. But he won't say anything yet, after all, Yuuji has to learn to sense these problems for himself and address them accordingly. "Just watch yourself, you still got power in your legs, but your arms… not so much,"

"Yeah… thanks for training with me"

"I wouldn't call this a training session, you hardly did anything let alone allow me to go all out. Until you figure out what the hell is wrong, there's no point in continuing."

He got a nod in agreement, the domain went down as the two sighed aloud. "Well, I better prepare for the others. Get yourself seen to, got it!" Suiryu ordered.

"Yeah, I'll do that," Yuuji replied.

"Just the person I wanted to see!"

"Damn it Satoru, what now?"

"I want to borrow my Itadori!" he said rather proudly as his arm went over Yuuji. "Is that okay with you?"

Suiryu paused and nodded. "Nothing too strenuous, got it."

"Seriously? He's stronger than Sukuna and you want me to go easy on him?"

"Sensei… something is off with my jujutsu," Yuuji said meekly.

"Well then, let me have a look! Later!" With that, Yuuji vanished along with Satoru.

With a sigh, Suiryu turned and found the students approaching him. There was a look of determination in their eyes today. They want to reach the first safe area, and today appears the day to accomplish it!

"Ah, I see we got our serious faces on. So, are you ready?" he asked with a twisted grin.

They shuttered as he did such a thing. "Please don't look at us like that it's creepy…" Mika said.

"All the more motivation to kick my ass, right? So… let's begin… Personal domain… summit!"

#

He watched on with great admiration.

Two weeks into his training program and the students were getting stronger through leaps and bounds. Suiryu watched on with delight as they continued to scale the mountain. Everyone has nearly reached the first safe point. Including Mika, her senses have grown sharper in the two weeks they have trained, and the work is showing.

He watched as Fushiguro was reaching the safe point. "Can't make this too easy…" Suiryu muttered as he snapped his fingers.

Cursed dolls and golems began to rush out at him!

Fushiguro tried to roll with it, using shadow possession to turn into his owl shikigami. But the change was too fast, too sudden and the cursed dolls were quick to bring him back to the bottom of the mountain. He vanished before hitting the ground. Next to fall was Mika. She was keeping pace with everyone, however she didn't see the golem behind her.

Nobara tried to strike it down before it could take Mika, but it was too late. Nobara however did take revenge on her behalf and continued onward.

"SHATTER!" he heard Toge shout. A small wave of rock golems burst into dust.

Panda got in there too as he turned into his 'older brother' formation. But within five minutes, they were picked off, and the domain closed.

They appeared frustrated, Fushiguro the most out of all of them. "You nearly reached it… in two weeks, that's not bad" Suiryu insisted.

"Not bad? NOT BAD!" Fushiguro demanded. "Why the hell do you keep changing it up!" he demanded. "I reached that part of the mountain before there were no cursed dolls or golems there! You keep making it harder on purpose!"

"Yes, I do," Suiryu freely confessed.

This stunned everyone.

"You mean, we could have been at the safe point by now?" asked Panda.

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Suiryu stated. "You fail to see in battle, you never face the same enemy twice," he protested to them.

They froze once more to the news. "Wait, what?" Nobara demanded.

"When you face an opponent, whether or not they live or die, you never face the same one twice. Your enemies learn and adapt to what they have previously experience as you have. You have learned the mountain, understood its nature and tried to use it against it. The mountain has been learning from you too."

Their looks didn't change. Suiryu's arms crossed as he glared down everyone. "Hate me all you want, what I said was true. As well, this is nothing compared to what's coming, and you will thank me later for this." He insisted. "That will be all for today, you are dismissed."

He walked off, but the malice in his students was growing. They are upset with him, but at the same time, Suiryu is doing this for their own protection. "We won't be ready in time. We need a backup plan, or at least some allies." He muttered to himself.

In between teaching, his modeling job and spying. Suiryu has attempted to persuade curses to help them in their battle to come. None were willing to listen let alone offer their help. He decided to see the advice of another.

He found a place to mediate on the notion, when he reached the state he wanted to be in, he sat across from Ryujin himself! "Suiryu…"

"Ryujin, sorry for intruding…"

The dragon appeared to have been resting, but since the last time he saw him, Ryujin appeared far more refreshed than usual. "What brings you here? Do you not wish to remain with Yuuji?"

"I merely meditated to get here, how long I stay I don't know." He explained. "But I seek your guidance. I am doing everything to get them stronger, but the process is slow. I have sought to seek others out to help, curses of all things, but none are willing. I could infuse the students with more energy, transfigure them until they were stronger. But it's not right to say the least. Ryujin, we need help. I have a plan but at the same time, I don't think it will work out."

Ryujin appeared all ears. "A plan for more allies you say?"

"It's a jujutsu that Sukuna himself was working on but didn't perfect. As well, as memory serves, it appears the jujutsu didn't fit his own needs and was discarded." He paused and considered the notion. "The only thing is that it's a little complicated, I won't be able to do it and it's rather… strange to say the least. The matter at hand would befall upon Yuuji."

Ryujin paused. "Strange?" he asked.

"If we can get Yuuji to consume life force, and gather materials into himself…" but trailed off.

"Sounds interesting…" Ryujin said but paused. "Life force you say… I maybe able to assist with such a task."

Suddenly, an idea came to Suiryu as well. "Indeed, I haven't done this before but I may have something in mind as well… Ryujin…"

He was waved off. "Go and do what you need to do. Also, Suiryu… you have done well."

He smirked to the compliment, when his eyes opened once more, Suiryu began to think over what he just thought of. "Perhaps there still some there… but I'll wait until nightfall…"

#

Yuuji was hard at work as well.

He was training along side Gojo sensei, but their battles have started to intensify. Gojo was keeping up as usual, yet Yuuji was making certain that he worked for his victory. "Purple!" Gojo called, yet Yuuji countered with clapping his hands, getting behind Gojo after he infused various rocks within the area of the battlefield. Although unrefined, Yuuji could keep up, and more often than not, the two end in a draw. But at the same time, he has found his curse energy acting up, sometimes not even work at all!

Today it was just the same as the last one, a draw once more and yet he knew his teacher was getting a lot stronger.

Gojo was even sweating!

"Phew! I got to say kid, you are getting me to really push myself!" he confessed.

Yuuji smirked for a moment but then, the smile vanished. "I have to get everyone ready… Suiryu told me about the finger bearing curses…"

"Is that all he told you?" Gojo asked.

He shook his head. "Sensei… they tried to kill me again,"

He nodded. "I was informed of it after Suiryu broke everyone's arm." He said aloud. "I got to admit, I am surprised he only broke one arm! Did you know those divine users that nearly blew you up, he took their hands off?"

"He did!?"

Gojo nodded. "Cruel to say the least… but fair in my books," he said and laughed. "Despite his appearance, his sense of justice I do admit is on a different level…"

Yuuji sat down for a moment. "What do we do? If this elder who is part of the fifth hand finds out…"

"He won't," Gojo stated. "It's going to stay between the three of us, no matter what, understood?"

That was the hard part in his mind, he wanted to warn his friends ahead of time, but didn't know if he could. At the same time, he understood Suiryu and Gojo's perspective in allowing fewer people to know the truth than to let it slip out by accident. "So, how do we figure out which one is which? There're what, 13 elders? Not to mention… all of them still prefer to have me dead than alive," he asked.

Gojo appeared to pause and think it over. "If anything, I say go for the elder who has been at you the most, and the one who has protected you the most," he decreed.

"Wait, one who has protected me the most? Wouldn't that mean…"

"Think about it Yuuji… why would someone want to protect you? It's for their gain right? The longer you are alive, the more the attention is off of them and suspicion."

He never thought about that.

His arms crossed in frustration. "Sensei… I really don't have a grasp on this do I? I mean… what I am able to do…"

"It's nothing compared to Sukuna. I know,"

"Then, what do I do to prepare myself? If these five have learned from him, and took all they learned into account, perfected it in a thousand years… I am outmatched. I got power, great, but if I can't use it…"

"Tell me again, WHY you have a brother?" Gojo asked with a grin.

Yuuji smiled back. "I really should ask him for help,"

"I got to admit, he has lit a fire under everyone, and also the school is pissed off with him too! You heard the lessons he is giving? They have to climb a mountain, no one has reached the first safe point yet since it keeps changing."

"I know, I ran the mountain to test it out, but the challenge is valid, considering what we are going to be doing and who we are up against. He wants to make sure everyone is ready for it, so do I. If they think the mountain is bad… I am tempted to offer to spar with them, but I won't go easy on anyone."

Gojo nodded in agreement. "Welcome to life as a teacher!" he proclaimed. "Just when you think you are doing good for your students by going easy on them, you harm them even more,"

The domain lowered. He froze as his classmates were all standing around and waiting for him. "Hey…"

"We have an issue with your brother," declared Mika. "He's being ridiculous!"

Yuuji paused. "How so?"

"He keeps changing the mountain task," Panda explained. "Just when we get a feel for it, it alters so we can't win. He's not being fair,"

"Oh I think he is," Gojo chimed in. "You keep forgetting who you are learning from aren't you?"

They shied away a little. "Sensei, when we trained you never changed the program that much." Fushiguro stated.

"No, and that fault was mine, Suiryu's lesson plan is a lot harder, I do admit for you. But at the same time, it's making you stronger as well. Just because you haven't reached the first safe point, doesn't mean you won't get there."

"But he keeps altering it!" Nobara stated.

"So?" Yuuji asked. "You need to understand what we are going to be facing everyone. Suiryu knows what needs to be done to get you to where you need to be, in order to face the threat to come!"

They fell silent to him. "Keep trying, you'll get there… huh… maybe I ought to try out this lesson plan myself…"