Chapter 29

"What the hell is this?!"

Yuuji was oddly silent as they were at today's assignment. It was the same area Kitsune took him last night, but the problem was… he never took the curtain down! It was registered with the institution, so they were sent to check it out. He sadly delayed everyone in going out on this mission since he couldn't move in the morning… until two hours later when he finally regained his strength.

Nobara approached it and found it strange. "Is there anything even in there?!" she demanded.

Megumi shook his head. "No, there are lingering energies, but there are no curses in the curtain…"

"Then why the hell is it here!?" she demanded.

Yuuji was trying to move away from the two as they turned to him. "Do you have any idea?" asked Megumi.

Itadori suddenly laughed it off. "What me?! No!" he protested nervously. "I mean, I wouldn't know how to set one of those things up, let alone how to take it down so, what opinion would I have on the matter?!" he said in a mild ramble.

However the two glared at him oddly. "Are you sleeping enough?" Nobara asked.

"I hope so…" he muttered.

"Well, there is no issue…" Gojo sensei suddenly emerged through. "It was used to keep curses in and it did its job. But whoever summoned it, hasn't taken it down yet… that's a lot of energy to use to keep something like that up…" he said offhandedly. His head then tilted to the side to Yuuji. "Why do you look so nervous?"

"Oh… nothing sensei!" he said and laughed anxiously. "I just… I just didn't sleep too well last night, I nearly couldn't get out of bed again this morning, and it's just that… strange things are coming to me in dreams… so…" he said offhandedly. He kept shifted himself back and away from his friends until his back hit the curtain. Suddenly, it burst!

The illusion was taken down and revealed the remains of the old village in its wake. "Guess the power must have finally ran out…" Nobara said.

Yuuji was sighing with relief in his head.

"So, what do we report?" asked Megumi.

"Well, what we just saw, curtain was up, only to contain curses, but wasn't taken down until the energy ran out." Gojo sensei said with a shrug. "Nothing serious"

As he was about to walk off, Megumi said. "But takes a lot of energy to maintain, does it not sensei? Who is powerful enough to put something like that up? How long was it up for?" he asked.

"Hmm, probably since 9 last night if I were to guess, we're what? 2 in the afternoon now?"

Yuuji even froze to the news. He maintained a curtain for that long? He looked to his hands and sighed. 'I have so much more to learn about this…' he thought.

"You okay?" Nobara asked. "You're acting weird, even for you."

He smiled and nodded to her. "Yeah, fine, thanks for asking" he insisted.

"Well that was a boring day, let's go back" called Gojo sensei.

Yuuji walked a little slower behind everyone. Today has been another strange day. His body has ached once more from the night feast, he could feel himself changing, but doesn't know if it's for the better. Yet, with what he learned from Kitsune about Sukuna, he has to figure out a way to grow stronger.

Not to mention, the people who are confined in cages for being turned into transfigured humans. He can save them if he just able to consume more energy…

"Itadori!"

He snapped out of his blank stare as Megumi glared at him. "You're out of it today, what's wrong? You haven't been right for the past month!" he scolded.

"Just… got a lot on my mind right now, that's all." He said gently. "I think I need to get stronger… but I know how… but I lack the means to do so at the moment… but I need to…" he said.

"He sounds normal to me," Nobara said.

Gojo Sensei however was paying close attention to it all. "Okay then, Yuuji, you and I will train when we get back."

"Sensei, this isn't fair!" Megumi protested. "You are clearly favoring him over us!"

"Fine, join in, the more the merrier!" he insisted. "You okay with that Yuuji?"

"Of course! I don't want to hog sensei all to myself… I didn't know you guys felt left out like that…"

#

Gojo decided to try something first before getting the others involved. "Before we being, you two, I want you to watch and observe. Yuuji, with me."

"Yes Sensei!"

It always made him smile as to how enthusiastic the kid was, it made the job worthwhile.

They stepped back and away from the others where Gojo then said. "I want you to let out that curse energy you are bottling up." He insisted.

"Sensei…" Yuuji said in a worried tone.

"It's fine, we're been training for this remember?" he asked.

He nodded yet still appeared concerned. But, he did what was asked of him. He struck a stance. Yuuji then began to focus. The curse energy he has contained, began to leek out and circulate his body. 'He's gotten a lot more powerful…' Gojo thought.

It continued to course around him, he turned for a moment to see the other two freeze in their steps as Yuuji's power continued to grow steady. "Now, draw it back in!" he ordered.

He took a more relaxed stance, slowly he drew the power back into himself. He appeared strained to do it, yet when accomplished, Yuuji was breathless and fell to his knees. "That… was a lot harder than before…" he said between gasps for air.

"Of course it was," Gojo called. "You grew!" he explained.

"What the fuck was that!" Fushiguro demanded.

It didn't just draw the attention of his students, but the whole school came out to see for themselves to what that power was. Yuuji got back to his feet, as he cleared the sweat off his brow. "Sensei, is that all for today… I'm rather tired…"

He gave a nod of approval for him to take a rest, yet as he walked by, people stopped and stared at him with fear in their eyes. "That power… that was…" Principal Yaga began to say.

"That was quite a show, I admit," Gojo said and brushed it off once more. "Remarkable to how fast someone like him can learn isn't it? We just went over that method two days ago!"

"Sensei, what did you have him do?" asked Nobara.

"Well, it's letting your energy leak out. When that happens, you naturally produce more right? When you make what you replace, you reabsorb that leaking power back in. It's a little painful to do, but it increases and expands your reserves. Like working out a muscle. Or blood doping, I forget which," he explained.

"That boy shouldn't have that capacity!" principal Yaga shouted. "That's nearly… it's nearly…"

"Four or five fingers of Sukuna right?" Gojo said aloud. "He's on the brink of six."

"HOW!" they demanded.

Gojo smiled. "He trains hard, what more is there to say?" He decided to not answer them anymore. They would keep pressuring him for answers, and he doesn't quite have them at the moment.

Gojo moved too fast to be seen, but appeared on the rooftop as he saw Yuuji enter the dorm. He was bracing his body oddly, as a look of pain was etched on his face. "Something has to give at one point." He muttered.

"You noticed that too?"

To his right, he saw her. "Kitsune," he said offhandedly. "What's wrong?"

She appeared concerned as well. "He is growing remarkably well, I am impressed, but he is starting to stagnate." She said. "Considering his body isn't complete yet either…"

"It's not?"

She shook her head. "He is still growing and will need to continue to grow in order to be ready. These are mere baby steps for him."

He paused to her words, realizing what she was hinting at. "What do we do?"

Kitsune looked to him oddly, she sighed aloud and said. "He has to take in an incredible amount of energy into himself… he's not ready for it yet." She explained. "This also has to be something that he WANTS to do, and not forced to. When the day comes, it will change him forever." She warned.

"Is there no other option?" he asked. "Am I not strong…"

"No," she said defiantly. "You will not be able to help him against Sukuna. You are nearly ready to learn why, but not yet. Not until this happens." She explained.

"I hate not knowing…" he said in a warning tone, but once more, she vanished without him noticing. "That gets damn annoying… I guess that's how everyone feels when I do it to them… huh, the irony…" he said and smirked.