Don't Fuck with the White Mage (Jujutsu Kaisen - Utahime Iori SI Chapter 13)

"Make sure not to lose anything you're carrying, Mana!" Grunted Zenin Nobuaki, Captain of the Kukuru Unit.

"Yes, sir." Mana said placatingly, as she followed along with the Kukuru Unit.

She may have told Lady Utahime that she was helping the Zenin Clan as they were calling everyone back, but in actuality she was just carrying their supplies for the mission.

They have arrived before the containment barrier at the east side had broke, and thus were easily able to respond to the situation. The Hei Unit, with the help of the east containment team, were able to remake the barrier. At least in the east side they can make sure no Cursed Spirit can manage to escape.

After that, the Hei Unit would go further into Urasato inside the barrier to slay the Cursed Spirit, while the Kukuru Unit would follow along to take care of any stragglers and weaker Cursed Spirits less than Grade 1, as the Hei Unit deemed them not a priority for hunting.

The Kukuru Unit moved about the area, slaughtering any Curse the came across. Mana noticed an increasing number of Snake Curses. Completely white or completely black.

A Cursed Spirit based on the Divine Dogs probably. Yet Mana couldn't help but blink as that specific Snake Curse had many, many dead bodies of it. That a Snake Cursed Spirit was slain by the Hei or Kukuru Unit isn't the weird thing. What was weird was how all the Curse corpses were almost identical. Like the Curse was copied multiple times.

Another member of the Zenin approached and Mana gave them some rations and water as requested.

As the Kukuru Unit moved closer and closer to the Hei Unit due to clean out any left over Curses.

The scene that greeted the Kukuru Unit was a bizarrely beautiful and horrifying.

The sky was filled with black and white Snake Curses flying in a circular formation almost resembling the Yin and Yang symbol.

And at the center of it floated the Special Grade Curse, baring the symbol of the Jewel of Plenty. Hovering behind the Curse was that was continuously spewing out those black and white snakes, was a large oval mirror.

"Kukuru Unit. Good you're here." Zenin Jinichi grunted as he acknowledged them. "Make yourselves useful but dealing with the stragglers while we handle the main body. Making the Divine Dogs into fucking snakes of all things. This thing needs to perish already."

"It's always covering itself with the snakes, blocking my eye, Jinichi-san. I just need one chance to hold it in place." Zenin Ranta spoke.

"You'll get it! Chojuro, I'll leave it to you. Kukuru Unit, with me, we'll open a path!" Jinichi roared out, as he dash forward with the Kukuru Unit acting as a shield for his side and back, slash, punching and kick and Snake Curse that got close.

Mana knew of course that the order to help wasn't meant for her, so she stayed back and observed, while keeping the supplies safe.

As she observed the fight, her heighted reaction speed allowed her to see things a bit clearer, and in slower motion. It's why she began to have a suspicion that made her wish she had seen this fight from the start. It might just be a hypothesis for now, and sadly she can't confirm it, but she suspected that whenever one of the snakes is killed, two more with the same color would emerge from the mirror. Like a hydra in essence.

She suspected that the Special Grade Curse only had two snakes, one white and one black at the start.

Jinichi cleared the flying field of snakes, the Kukuru Unit almost losing their lives in the endeavor as the closer they got to the Endless Two Cursed Spirit, the faster the snakes moved. Jinichi jumped high in the air over the Endless Two, and unleashed his Cursed Technique.

Dozens upon dozens of giant fists were conjured above the Endless Two, slamming into its and it's flying snake horde at the speed of a missile. The Technique aptly named Missile Fists.

"I got it!" Ranta shouted, as he activated his Cursed Technique, Paralyze Gaze. Two giant eyes appeared next to the Endless Two as it froze in place.

"Heh, easy as always." Chojuro activated his Technique, Earth Arms, and cause two giant arm made from the ground to form and squash the Special Grade Curse within its palms.

The main body of the Special Grade Cursed Spirit was dead.

"Hohoho, it's dead alright." Chojuro chuckled and said.

"Tsk, annoying bastard." Jinichi spat on the ground upon the Curse's confirmed death. He had been annoyed that it took this much effort to take care of this Cursed Spirit. It felt too simple to kill.

Mana's eyes widened, as she was focused on something else. The mirror that was still flowing in the sky.

Two snakes gathered before it and merged.

The "main body" was back. From the perspective of everyone else, it happened in an instant.

"What!? It's till alive!" Ranta cried out.

"Chojuro-san?" Jinichi looked at the elder Sorcerer.

"No, I definitely crushed it with my hands." The old man was no longer smiling as he usually would. He scowled in thought and annoyance at the enemy's survival. "Ranta-kun, can you go again?"

"Yes, Chojuro-san, it wasn't much of a strain." The younger Zenin said.

The three main Sorcerers of the Hei Unit went to try killing the Curse again.

The mirror is the real Cursed Spirit.

Mana frowned as she looked around trying to see if anyone figured it out. Sadly no, everyone was too focused on the "main body" of Endless Two. Looking around, no one was focused on Mana or asking for rations or help.

"Where's Naoya-sama?" Asked one of the Hei members keeping the barrier to contain the Snake Curses to the general area. The barrier worked by using light to trick the senses.

"Captain is with Naobito-sama dealing with the other Special Grade. One that's also snake-like. Might be related to this one somehow." Answered another Hei member.


Further away from the battle between the Zenin Squads and the Endless Two, the Head of the Zenin Clan and the Heir were battling another Special Grade Cursed Spirit. Or rather two.

The Snake Skin Cursed Spirit, with the symbol of the Cloth of the Snake, looked like the body of naga with three pairs of arms. It's upper body was made of white scales while looking like a serpentine woman with red glowing eyes. The lower body was made of a serpent tail yes.

Or rather, it looked like a snake's mouth with the woman part growing out of it. As if the snake half was holding onto the woman half with it's teeth.

The two Zenin Sorcerers were battling the Snake Skin in a swamp area filled with poison. The platforms were what piece of rocks that were dissolving into the swamp.

"You figured it out?" Naobito asked with a chuckle to his son.

"Yeah, yeah." Naoya had some slight precipitation from the effort of dodging the Snake Skin, as it was annoying fast and tough. "I got it. I can handle it if you keep the bitch half busy, while it tries to heal itself." He said, eyeing the snake half of the Curse.

They had been fighting this Special Grade Curse for a while now. It was tough and fast yes, but not unbeatable.

The two Zenin quickly overwhelmed it, to the point that the Cursed Spirit shed it's bottom half, to make now skin and renew itself. It looked completely brand new with its white scales covering its whole body rather than only the top half.

Yet right as they killed it, they noticed the discrepancy. The body making up the top half of the naga Curse, or rather bodies... they were human.

Reconfigured and forced into the shape of a naga.

Right then, the Snake Skin returned with another top half, also a woman with six arms.

The Curses real body was the literally snake skin that made up the bottom half.

The Cursed Spirit screeched before it fired another ray of spit acid from it's mouth.

The two Zenin easily dodged around without issue due to the speed of their Projection Sorcery.

"I'm gonna have to loosen that other one." He said eyes something dashing very fast around them, without getting closer.

The other Cursed Spirit only intervened when they were about to land a killing blow on the Snake Skin.

"Tsk, worthless ugly trash, and literal trash." Naoya clicked his tongue.

"Yet, that trash blind sided out, gyahahahaha!" Naobito laughed out loud.

"Oi, old man!" Naoya shook his fist in frustration at his old man, laughing at him.

Acid spray was spat at Naoya.

But he was no longer at that location.

The Snake Skin didn't have time to register as it was punched in the face, and was in the air out of the swamp. Jumping off some of the nearby trees, Naoya went to tap the Snake Skin to trap it in a frame, when he felt the other Cursed Spirit moving at him so fast, the air whined.

Naobito appeared with a kick close to Naoya, at the point the other Curse appeared.

Yet the other Special Grade Cursed Spirit instantly blocked Naobito's kick, while spinning in the air and scratching Naoya.

Naoya just finished his twenty fourth frame, thus he jumped away from both Cursed Spirits, just as Naobito grabbed the other Cursed Spirit outstretched arm and threw it away.

"I'll deal with this one, or get the Kukuru Unit to handle it. It's Cursed Technique is annoying against other Cursed Technique. Physical force seems good to deal with it." Naobito commented as he dashed after the other Cursed Spirit, who upon landing on the ground dashed away, toward the Endless Two. "Don't let that woman slap you. Three pairs of hands is just too much, gyahahaha!"

"As if I'll let that happen!" Naoya shouted at his retreating father, while never taking his eyes off the malicious Snake Skin. The naga woman hissed viciously at him. "Yeah, you're just too ugly. And worse a Cursed Spirit, at this point as a woman why do you even exist?"

The Naga Cursed screeched again, but this time it felt hateful.


Mana hand grabbed a rock, and put down her giant pack bag.

She had been taught by Lady Utahime how to imbue things with Cursed Energy in their training together. Although that was the least important thing she learned from her.

She waited for a moment when Endless Two was clashing with the Hei Unit, for a single moment when everyone was distracted by the snakes and the "main body", and the Cursed Spirit was distracted fighting the Sorcerers.

The moment came and Mana activated her Projection Sorcery. Five seconds, that was the amount of time she gave herself to gather speed.

Mana acted out her frame, she kept her eye on the Curse's movement to ensure she can adjust her route as needed.

The fifth second came, Mana was on the last frame.

Bang.

The rock was thrown like the crack of a whip. The sound lost in the heat of the explosive battle.

The rock was launched at supersonic speeds, passing by all the flying snakes. The trajectory Mana used was one with no obstacles.

The rock slipped past the "main body". It realized too late something had passed it, targeting the mirror.

Mana's eyes widened as something terrifying happened.

Something intervened, catching then crashing the rock before it could smash the mirror.

Some of the high level Sorcerers noticed what happened, but only catch a blur. They noticed from the reaction of the Curse and what action Mana took, and figured it out.

But Mana's eyes were on the new Cursed that arrived.

It looked like a effigy of a person covered in armor made of rust. It looked like some kind of deformed or a monster version of what a knight should be. Its hands were claws and their legs were digitigrade with talons for feet.

It held the symbol of Cloth of Various Things.

"Oi!" The Zenin Head appear amids the clan's Sorcerers.

"Naobito-sama!"

"Naobito-sama!"

Many Zenin Sorcerers greeted him with respect and reverence. The Kukuru Unit took over covering for the Hei Unit, as they spoke with the Zenin Head for his insight.

"Head, you don't need to intervene with this issue, we have this well in hand." Jinichi quickly said.

"Clearly, to the point that you need a little girl, throwing rocks of all thing, to give you clues." Naobito said, chuckling in amusement.

"Of course not, Naobito-sama. We were just about to do so, we merely needed to distract the Cursed Spirit to prevent it from coming up with something new." Chojuro said.

"Yes, now that that element of surprise is gone, our task will be much more difficult." Jinichi gave a subtle glare at Mana.

Mana understood, had she succeeded then nothing would have come of this, but maybe some subtle scowling or subtle praise. But because now she failed to end the Endless Two, and made the Zenin Squads look bad, she was being not-so-directly chastised.

But at the moment, Mana didn't care about that, as she kept her eyes away from meeting any of the other Sorcerers, only focusing on the Rust Cloth Cursed Spirit.

"Well, don't let me hold you back. Carry on," Naobito waved them off, before dashing and appearing next to Mana, immediately bowed.

"Naobito-sama-" She began to say.

"You can actually follow it, can't you?" He immediately said with a smirk.

"I-Yes!" Mana tracked the Rust Cloth once more as it dashed and stayed at the edge of the battle, never staying in one place.

"Hmm," the Zenin Head nodded to himself. "You've gotten faster." He noted. "That miko turned out to be helpful for us, after all."

"I... yes, Head-sama." Mana nodded, silently gritting her teeth.

"Well, that bastard is interrupting the fights. Stopping any killing blows." He said. "The Cursed Spirit Naoya is dealing with needs two people to quickly kill it. Think you can keep the rust bucket occupied till then?"

Mana's eyes snapped to her father, before quickly lower her eyes in deferment.

"Yes, Naobito-sama!" She quickly said, before staring at the Rust Cloth once more, this time readying her Cursed Technique, planning out multiple path to reach and deal with it.

"I'll leave it to you then. Stay alive till someone comes to handle it for you." Naobito said as a good bye and dashed away.

Mana moved.

The Rust Cloth hand noticed Naobito's movement to go reinforce his son, and went to follow to support the Snake Skin.

Mana had accelerated with every second. Lining her frames so that there's no pause between every twenty four frames, when her Technique is used. The acceleration applies automatically, causing even faster movement.

All her days, months of dealing with the indomitable monster of determination and endurance, that was her Lady Utahime, gave birth to her new power.

Extension Technique: Fast Forward.

A sonic boom.

A crash as Mana kneed Rust Cloth into a tree, breaking the sound barrier and the tree with the Cursed Spirit's body.