Don't Fuck with the White Mage (Jujutsu Kaisen - Utahime Iori SI Chapter 15)
"How far out are we, Mei-san?" An impatient Gojo Satoru ask as he sat in the helicopter's co-pilot seat.
"Almost there. 30 minutes till we reach the village." Mei Mei answered from the pilot seat.
Satoru leaned into his chair and sighed, tapping his fingers, almost waiting for the minute his Cursed Energy level return to where he can teleport and immediately be able to get into the fight.
Honestly it was a lucky find that stumbled into Mei Mei who didn't head to Urasato with the rest of the Jujutsu Sorcerers but had her own ride to the mission location. Satoru learned she had a helicopter and just had to tag along.
"I have to say, I was surprised to learn you had a helicopter. You even have a license!" He said chuckling.
"Well, ever since Utahime showed that she can turn seemingly anything into a Cursed Tool, I've been buy more and more thing to either use or sell. This one cost me a pretty yen, but I should be able to sell it to a Sorcerer Clan for ten times the price." Mei Mei said with smile.
"Whaaa..." Satoru wasn't sure what to react to. "So that's were all those new Cursed Tools in the Clan came from." He said to himself, as he remembered the last expense report of the Gojo Clan mentioning that. Are they trying to compete with the Zenin in the Cursed Tools department? He wondered. "Wait, you're planning to sell this? Are you a weapons dealers? Can I buy it-Wait, Utahime can just make Cursed Tools?" He asked amazed and amused.
Mei Mei chuckled.
"It should within your price range, Satoru-san. And yes. She would infuse something with Cursed Energy, amplify and compress that Cursed Energy into the object. Repeat until object turns into a Cursed Tool." Mei Mei said, while holding back a chuckle.
"That's... not how that's suppose to work. The object needs to have a history, intentionally made with Cursed Energy, and, or, have been exposed to Cursed Energy for a long time." Satoru blinked incredulous a few times.
"True, but don't tell Utahime that." She told Satoru with a smirk. "The more she doesn't know about how certain things are done, the more she comes up with these bizarre ideas that just work."
"Hahahaha, wow! Miss Fiancée really is something else." Satoru chuckled and grinned, placing his hands on the back of his head, and resting on them.
"I'm surprised you never went to meet her, or actively play along with that rumor." Mei Mei said, looking at him for a second.
"Eh, as amusing as clan politics turning into a rom-com for a season, I've just been busy." He said in a bored tone, before a smile came to him. "But whenever I ended up seeing her, or hearing the latest gossip about her, she always seems to have grown more interesting, so I told myself to wait a while and see if she'll do something interest again." He said before ginning. "Truthfully I couldn't wait till the Goodwill Event this year. I really wanted to see if your team lived up to the hype, Mei-san." He then sighed. "Then this annoying mission came through."
"Aw, that's a shame, but at least it should be fun to work on the same mission, as a first meeting." Mei Mei replied.
"True, but... by the way, Mei-san, what are those?" Satoru pointed at large rectangle metal suitcase and what looked like a sword bag but for a tall object.
"The minigun Utahime requested." Mei Mei said nonchalantly.
"Holy shit... but not actually what I was talking about. I meant, that spear or whatever." Satoru said seriously. "Even just sitting close to it, I can feel it emitting Positive Energy. I can actually feel it refreshing me. Not much healing but this is still good."
"Ah, that's her naginata." Mei Mei answered with a nod. "It was Utahime's first attempt at making healing items." She said before a deadly smile came to her face. "Instead she made hell of a Curse killing weapon."
"Why do you have it?" Satoru looked intrigued.
"She was carrying too many weapons, not to mention that ATGM I got her. So she asked me to bring to her with the minigun." Mei Mei said.
"...You got her an RPG!?"
"That's for grenades, the ATGM is for missiles." Mei Mei clarified calmly.
"The miko has a Cursed Tool Missile!?" Satoru shouted, before laughing wholeheartedly.
I took things for granted, didn't I? The thought came to Tanaka in this dire situation.
His life of the past two years, his old team flashed through his mind.
Yumemi was a prodigy. Even not having the Gojo Clan's Inherited Technique didn't change how much the Clan valued her. Her mentality however was completely irreconcilable to the Clan Elders. It's not that she was against tradition, or the rulings of the Clan, but rather she held no loyalty to them at all, to a point where it was visible.
Yumemi, or Mei Mei as she chose to distinguish herself from the Gojo Clan, was one who put her own self first even to the detriment of the Clan. There was not an ounce of the concept of sacrificing for a goal outside of one's self, within that woman. Something that made her admired, but also to be cautioned of by the Clan.
A beautiful flower that one must never get close to, lest they inevitably be pierced by it's poisoned thorns.
Then there was Iori Utahime.
Tanaka... hated... how he felt like he could never leave an impression on her. That his existence, his being as the Gojo genius, seemed to slid off her like wind on a kite. He had always been one whose presence affected those around him.
Be it awe, envy, reverence, or even hatred. It didn't matter what emotion it was, Gojo Tanaka was someone people will remember.
Someone whose presence touched the lives of those he met.
All except one.
Gojo Satoru.
Obviously, of course. When one thinks of a genius, they think of Gojo Tanaka.
The reason isn't because Gojo Satoru wasn't worthy of the moniker. But because "genius" would be an insultingly poor title to place upon Gojo Satoru.
He was strong. An immutable existence, and that was all that needed to be said about him.
Talented, gifted, genius, once-in-an-era. All those were just worthless words the masses could place on someone that they could imagine they can touched.
But Gojo Satoru?
He could not be touched. His pedestal at the top of the Jujutsu world wasn't something anyone could imagine reaching.
That's why it was inevitable that when the Clan had him spar with Satoru, he lost. It was inevitable.
Yet they gave their empty platitudes.
"Tanaka lasted a full match against Satoru."
"Tanak's Technique was equal to Satoru in strength, he simply lacked experience."
"Tanaka was able to be an opponent for Satoru, that is commendable."
Lies. All lies.
Lies the Elders said to comfort themselves. Lies they said to comfort theirs and his bruised egos, but lies none the less.
Facing Satoru he knew, even if he never admitted it, even if he never verbalized the thought, he never could have won. And he never will.
So of course he never left an impression in Gojo Satoru's eyes.
"Not a bad match, umm, Tanjiro! Yeah, keep it up, maybe when you learn Curse Reversal this will be more fun."
"...It's Tanaka."
"Ah? It is! Hahahaha, my bad~."
That's what he got for his efforts. A forgettable dismissal, and a mocking jest to achieve a feat few Sorcerer ever manage. Just so that Gojo Satoru can have a 'more fun match'.
That was all Gojo Tanaka was to Satoru. Passing entertainment.
Yet that was expected, understandable even. What was a genius to someone born by the Heavens.
Those disinterested eyes were terrifying, yet understandable.
So how come?
Then Tanaka met Utahime.
At first he didn't understand his dislike of Iori. She was just some normal Grade 3 Sorcerer. There was nothing unique or special about her. Even her Cursed Technique was a simple support Jujutsu. A miko by family trade. She was placed on his team with Mei Mei as an extra to create the normal three man formation for Sorcerer teams.
So why did she-How dare she have those same eyes!?
He remembered thinking that after their first mission. A mission that pushed him to improves and improve against an unexpected evolving foe. The Lion Cursed Spirit with it's ability to double it's power, the more it loses of its 'pack members'.
He had to learn to be more precise with his Cursed Energy. To heighten his instincts so he doesn't waste his Cursed Energy that kept up his Limitless, and only activate it when an attack was in-coming.
And in that very same mission. Unlike Tanaka who had faced Cursed Spirits before as practice, before he went to Jujutsu High; that mission was the very first for Iori.
The first time she faced a Cursed Spirit from what he learned, and she achieved a Black Flash. She learned Reverse Cursed Technique, something insanely difficult that Satoru had off-handedly joked about Tanaka trying at, if he wanted to attempt to reach at the peak once more.
And she, Utahime, had managed it in her first real battle.
She was a no one from a minor clan.
Yet the mountain he gazed-climbed at his whole life, she was already walking by his side.
And then with each subsequent mission that was exceptional, Utahime proved herself exceptional as well. And climbed even higher than he did.
He poked at her. Needled her. Disrespected and challenged her.
Tanaka always won their bouts. At first.
Then they would draw.
Till eventually, even if by the skin of her teeth, even if the means were dishonorable, Utahime would win against him.
And... for all their clashes against one another, for all their struggles and missions together, Tanaka never saw himself reflected in Utahime's eyes. His presence never once touched her heart or leave a mark.
It never would have mattered if Iori Utahime had or had not met Gojo Tanaka in her life.
And that realization was a curse in Tanaka's heart.
He couldn't stand being in that team. It wasn't his team. It never was.
It was Utahime's team.
So he left. He devised a way to try and mar Utahime's climb to the pinnacle of the Jujutsu world, and use that as an excuse to leave.
Yet at that moment, when even the prospect Utahime's climb was jeopardized, her spirit was still untouched.
Tanaka didn't want to make that comparison. He absolutely refused it, but... it was the same.
Just like Gojo Satoru, Iori Utahime held a heart that could not be chained by the world.
He felt like a masquerader of a Sorcerer next to her.
May it was inevitable for someone like Utahime to reach the top.
Or maybe she just had a stronger will than me. A thought Tanaka refused to form.
Thus he left for a new team. A team where he felt he belong to.
Ueki Morio. A normal person who awakened to Cursed Energy with a Technique that allows him to control trees.
And Gojo Sana. His third cousin from his Clan. She had no Cursed Technique, yet she was still someone precious. Someone whose pure heart he couldn't help but open up to.
They had gone on missions together. Missions that felt harder without the assurance of divine healing.
Yet they had all grown together.
Morio could now command even cut wood, he didn't need live trees to do it. Sana had grown as a fighter, and managed to become a decent user of the New Shadow Style. She used gauntlets with her anti-domain technique.
It was Sana's gentle encouragement for him expand his Jujutsu repertoire that had him train with the sword. While he didn't make use to Simple Domains in his fighting style; training in using the barrier... helped him expand on his use of Limitless.
Something he saw Utahime do and couldn't help but respect, even if he never admitted it, was her using anything she found compatible with her. If it's a Technique that she can do, or learn from, she incorporated it into her combat style.
Thus Tanaka's mastery of Limitless grew.
When Tanaka and his team met the Special Grade Curse, he had thought that together they can win. Not only was his team present, but also his comrades from Jujutsu High, as well as the southern containment team.
The Curse looked vaguely like a woman with white bone skin, with large finger coming out of her shoulders like a jacket's collar. She had gold wax wings, and was filled with holes showing the yellow color of a honeycomb. She held a yellow iron bident. She had an overly stretched mouth in a grin, multiple holes filled her face for eyes. Along with a singular eye in her chest crying honey.
From all those honeycomb holes pours Bees Cursed Spirit.
The Special Grade held the symbol of the Cloth of the Bees. It's name was Colony.
Tanaka thought he was managing well against the Special Grade. He expanded his Limited like a Simple Domain, but without forcing his spatial control on the enemy. However this gave him unparalleled spatial awareness.
Couple that with his sword skill, which he covered in the aura of his Extension Technique, Lapse Blue, and he had a weapon that was a sure hit on his opponent. Or rather just by proximity, his opponent would be pulled into the blade's path, slashing them no matter their defenses. Not only that but using Cursed Energy he could extend the length and reach of his blade.
All of the hundreds of Bee Cursed Spirits he managed to slash before they could even reach a single person in the containment team.
The southern barrier was re-erected.
Morio had managed to box Tanaka and Colony in a wooden dome, forcing all the Bee Cursed Spirits in one place. It was just him and the helpless Cursed Spirit who was doing its best to defend itself with its spear. Yet all Tanaka needed to do was to slash in one direction pulling its spear away, leaving it wide open, and then slash open her chest.
The Cursed Spirit screamed in pain and fear.
Tanaka couldn't help but smile at the victory that was close to him.
Then everything went wrong.
Something blew away the wooden dome with a slash, the force of which forced Tanaka to defend against. The sheer pressure of that wind slash actually threw Tanaka back and gave Colony the chance pour out more Bee Cursed Spirits to populate the area.
That's when Tanaka saw them.
Three Special Grade Curses that were vastly different from the one before him, or any he read about.
One looked like a knight made of iron and darkness with black wings, and a broken dharma wheel floating and spinning behind him, collecting Cursed Energy glowing with red malice. The Cursed had giant western sword, that looked like two blades placed on one held facing away from each other. The blades were made of solid Cursed Energy.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit held the symbol of the Sword Eight-Hands Long. Its name was Fuhengi.
Fuhengi cut apart Sorcerers that attacked it left and right. The Cursed Spirit seemed to embody being an unstoppable force. Its sword never seemed to notice barriers defensive Techniques, or any force that pushed against it. If Fuhengi swung its blade, it cut what's before it.
"Where are they!?" Fuhengi cried out. "Where are your strong? Where are your champions? BRING THEM TO ME!" He bellowed out in frustration.
The second Special Grade Cursed Spirit, appeared next to Colony, placing a hand upon its shoulder, and it was instantly healed. Colony let out a cry of jubilation.
This Cursed Spirit looked like a woman. Disturbingly it genuinely looked like a human, but with a very light green skin tone, that could almost be mistaken for normal human pink pigment. She was adorned by light green flowers in her forest green-colored hair, wearing a crown of tree branches. Her attire looked like a dress made of black iron and dark green vines.
She held the symbol of the Jewel of Turning Back on the Road. Her name was Meguru.
"There, there." Spoke Meguru almost like a mother to a child. "You may hold a weapon, but you are mention to subjugate them from afar. A Colony doesn't risk itself to propagate."
Colony let out a gargled laughed as it nodded.
Tanaka bore witness to the horror of what happens when one is stung by the Bee Cursed Spirits. The instant one of the Sorcerers was stung by one of the Bee Curses in the back of the neck, its like their strings were cut. They began to move like a zombie and attacked other humans.
Then after a while, those infected humans stopped moving, before something bubbled under the skin, as they exploded in showers of blood and gore. From their corpse flew hundreds of new Bee Cursed Spirits.
"Now, now," Meguru chastised Colony. "Don't focus only on breeding. Those that are useful should be left alive to serve us longer."
Colony nodded in acknowledgement as the infected Sorcerer got slowly better at fighting, till they would even use their Jujutsu skills against their fellow humans.
"This excursion is proving enlightening." Said the last Special Grade Curse.
And the last Special Grade Curse was the worst of all.
He looked like a humanoid made of magma rocks with fire under his skin that filled the cracks making up his body. His head was like a goat with horns heated red. His legs were goat legs, and his fingers were elongated and sharp. The only cloth he wore seemed like skin shed from his stomach still connected to him, acting like a rob for his bottom half. His appearance was like a western depiction of the devil.
The last Special Grade Curse held the symbol of the Jewel of Resuscitation. Its name was Iyashi.
And Tanaka could only watch helplessly, still fighting off Colony's renewed army of Bee Curses, as Iyashi held his teammates by the neck.
"Meguru, are you almost done?" Iyashi asked with neutral vaguely interested tone.
"My Technique is ready. I'm simply waiting on Fuhengi, Iyashi-sama." Meguru gave a small bow.
"I see. Good then." Iyashi nodded, before his energy flared and went down the arm grasping Morio.
"ARRGH-AAAAOOOOORRRRR-" Morio screamed before his voice deformed into something unnatural. Something grow out of his body, as his neck bulged out, and suddenly a Cursed Spirit was regurgitated from Morio's mouth.
A Cursed Spirit that looked like a tree version of Morio.
And Morio himself was dropped to the ground. His corpse looked like a dried mummy.
"MORIO!" Tanaka screamed, still held in place defending against the Bee Curses. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM, YOU BASTARDS?WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
Iyashi paid attention to Tanaka for the first time.
"Ah, Sorcerers. Such a lovely chance to meet and liberate you." Iyashi smiled kindly. "Simply put I'm doing my sacred duty as a priest. Freeing you pitiful mortals from suffering. By allowing you to become what you truly are."
"You..." Tanaka's eyes widened. As if delighting in his terror and anguish, Colony halted her attack, just so the Cursed Spirits could watch this drama play out. "You turned Morio into a Cursed Spirit!" He roared in anger and disguse.
"I simply allowed his soul to take on a form to express its true self." Iyashi patiently explained. "Your human emotions create Cursed Spirits. Isn't it natural then, that the true form of your souls are Cursed Spirits. Not ones disembodied and made from remnants of Cursed Energy as normal Cursed Spirit. But rather True Cursed Spirit, or better to say, I allow their True Spirit to form and emerge from the false imprisonment of their flesh."
Another flare of Cursed Energy went up from Iyashi, and traveled down the arm holding Sana.
Tanaka didn't think.
"MAXIMUM OUTPUT, LIMITLESS!" His Technique burst out with such force, all the surrounding Bee Curses were crushed.
Tanaka dashed forward, pulling himself forward, moving with such speed he didn't notice as Colony was rammed aside.
Meguru raise an eyebrow in alarm.
Tanaka was inches away from reaching Sana and Iyashi.
Before Fuhengi appeared in Tanaka's path and backhanded him with his Cursed Energy Sword.
Limitless was suppose to embody the concept of Infinity. The endless space between two object. Fuhengi's blade should have been pushed aside by the Limitless, as if it was paper.
Yet for the first time in his life, Tanaka witnessed something that stopped his Limitless dead in its tracks.
"Oh? He wasn't cut by your blade, Fuhengi?" Meguru asked in surprise.
"Hmm." Fuhengi grunted. "Something... stopped me?" A terrible grin came to the Special Grade Curse's face. "Fascinating."
"Ah, it seems this one is a Gojo." Iyashi said in delight recognition. "With your similarities," now he paid attention to Sana. "You must be one too. I now truly wonder what your soul's true form looks like" Iyashi said with a smile.
Tanaka witnessed as something began to form in Sana's chest, and slowly get up her throat. Sana's crying eyes kept looking at Tanaka, pleading with him not to let her suffer Morio's fate.
Tanaka cried out and swung his sword.
Fuhengi grunted and shifted to defend, but Tanaka wasn't attacking him.
Iyashi's eyes widened as he screamed in pain.
Rather Tanaka extended blade's range to cut Iyashi's hand.
"LAPSE BLUE!" With his free arm, Tanaka pulled Sana toward him as the head and torso came of her Cursed Spirit came out of her mouth.
The Sana Curse and Sana were both screaming and withering in pain. A being half born and another half dying.
Tanaka caught Sana's body and ran.
He didn't think, he didn't pause.
"Iyashi-sama, are you alright?" Meguru asked calmly.
"Just heal my damn hand!" Iyashi cried out.
"Pfft," Fuhengi snorted and shook his head. "So weak to so little pain."
Iyashi gritted his teeth, and then calm down as Meguru place her hand upon him and his hand just...returned. Moving back into place and healing, as if rewinded back in time like a movie played backwards.
"No matter. Its time you two fulfilled your roles. Fuhengi, Meguru." Iyashi ordered.
Meguru placed her hand on the floating dhrama wheel, absorbing its energy into herself, before making a hand sign.
"Domain Expansion: Spinning Samsara."
Tanaka looked behind him for a moment as he witnessed a Domain being formed.
Then the barrier came down after a second, and to his horror, he saw four more Cursed Spirit appear next to the four present Special Grades.
Goblin Maker, Endless Two, Snake Skin and Rust Cloth were all revived.
Tanaka gritted his teeth and focused on what he needed to do. On the only thing he could do to save his precious teammate.
He knew her coordinates from the communications between the various Sorcerer Teams. He knew she was on his way here and he needed to reach her now.
Tanaka found the reinforcement team from the eastern containment team, and immediately fell on his knees before the only one who can save his cousin.
"UTAHIME!" Tanaka cried out with tears, running down his face. "Please! Please save Sana!"
AN: After thinking on it, Meguru's ability is time related.
