Chapter 3: The First Challenge
Report: July 2018
In west Tokyo city, at the Eishu Juvenile Detention Center
The sky above the exercise yard
Multiple non-jujutsu sorcerers witnessed an unnamed apparition of potential special grade. Since it was deemed an emergency, three first-year students were sent to the scene.
Of those three students… one was rendered comatose.
"Our Windows confirmed a cursed womb approximately three hours ago. When the evacuation process was 90 percent complete, the decision was made to close off the Facility. Detention centre building 2! Five inmates are currently trapped inside along with the curse. Curse wombs that grow and change shape can be expected to become a curse close to that of special grade." The assistant manager, Ijichi Kiyotaka explained.
"Wait! Special grade?! Then why the hell are we being sent to deal with it?!" Yuji grilled Ijichi. He was getting much closer to the man than he was comfortable with.
"Gojo's on a business trip. To be honest, he's probably not someone who should be wasting time at a place like Jujutsu high." Megumi replied. Both he and Nobara were also disturbed by the chance of running into a special grade curse.
"Our line of work is always lacking manpower. And being overwhelmed by missions is commonplace. This time, however, it's an extraordinary emergency." Ijichi elaborated once he had stepped back from Yuji. "Do not engage! When confronted by a special grade, the options are either to run away or die. Listen to your fear. Don't forget your mission is to locate and evacuate any survivors. Nothing more."
"Hey! Excuse me!" A woman called out to the group. "Is Tadashi… Is my son okay?" She asked anxiously.
"There's a possibility that poison gas was spread in the facility. We cannot disclose any more information at this point." Ijichi responded stoically as another assistant asked the distraught mother to step back.
"Fushiguro. Kugisaki." Yuji called as he cracked his knuckles. "We have to save him!" He stated full of determination.
"Of course." Nobara agrees with a nod of her head, while Megumi decides to stay silent.
Once they reached the entrance to detention centre 2, both Nobara and Yuji had both readied their weapons, Megumi summoned one of his demond dogs to alert them if the curse gets close, and Ijichi lowered a vail.
"Be careful and good luck." Ijichi had said to them.
Opening the double doors, they are surprised at what they see. Rather than the interior of a normal two-story dorm, they are greeted by multiple external walls covered in pipes and wires.
It was so vast that they couldn't see the end or the ceiling.
"What the hell?! What kind of technique is this?" Yuji questioned.
"M-m-myaybe a Maisonette one!" Nobara anxiously replied.
"Wrong." Megumi responded. "It's a domain, but an incomplete one. Wait-" "- the door!"
The trio turned back around to find the door missing.
"The door is gone!"
"How?! We just came from there!"
Yuji and Nobara said in shock.
Megumi crouched down to the dog. "You got this?" He asks the shikigami, who barks in response.
"What do we do? What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?" Yuji and Nobara sang as they danced in a circle.
"We're good." Megumi interrupted them. "My demon dog can track the scent of the exit." He explained.
"Oh." Both Yuji and Nobara responded. Before they began to pet the dog.
"Good boy! Good boy!" Yuji praised as he ruffled the dog's fur.
"Beef jerky! Bring all the beef jerk you got!" Nobara cheered.
"Hey! Stay sharp!" Megumi growled at the duo.
"You're so reliable Fushiguro." Yuji praised. Ignoring Megumi's anger. "You've saved a lot of people."
Megumi was momentarily speechless. "Let's go." He finally said.
As the trio followed the shikigami the incomplet domain. Both Yuji and Nobara kept their weapons up, and they all kept their heads on a swivel.
"Itadori." Megumi called out quietly.
"Yeah?" Yuji replied.
"Have you ever fought a special grade before?" Megumi asked. "When you heard that the curse could be a special grade you acted like you had seen one before." He elaborated.
"Yeah. Once I started being able to exorcise grade one's, I asked Geto to let me fight a special grade he had at the time. He instructed it to hold back, and it still kicked my ass. It was so fast I could barely see it." Yuji answered. "Point is, we need to hurry up and get out of here. The others are already dead and we'll be next if that thing finds us."
They continued until they reached an empty swimming pool, with 3 mutilated bodies inside. Without a second thought, Yuji jumped down to inspect the bodies. 2 of them were left as nothing more than balls of bleeding flesh, while another was left missing it's arms and lower body against the pool's wall. As he got closer Yuji was able to read the name tag on the uniform. "Okazaki Tadashi". Yuji ripped the name tag off of the shirt and stuffed it in his pocket.
"What are you doing?" Nobara asked.
I'm gonna take his name tag back to his mother." Yuji answered as he did a quick inspection of the other 2 bodies to see if he could find their name tags as well but there wasn't even a shred of clothing.
"Why bother? They were cirmianls." Megumi commented with a sneer.
"What're you talking about?" Yuji responded as he frowned at Megumi.
"This is a Juvenile detention center." Megumi began to answer. "We Jujutsu sorcerers receive all sorts of information about a location before infiltrating. This guy was driving without a licence and hit a girl who was walking home from school. That was his second time driving without a license." Yuji was stunned and Megumi pressed on. "You always want to save as many people as possible to try and make up for those you couldn't. But who's to say that someone you save won't kill someone in the future? He wasn't even worth trying to save."
Yuji's eyes narrowed as he instinctively readied his cursed energy for a fight. "What gives you the right to decide who gets to live." He questioned as he looked Megumi in the eye. "Who the hell do you think you are!? You don't get to choose who is worth saving!"
Megumi froze at Yuji's outburst.
"KNOCK IT OFF!" Nobara yelled, butting into the argument. "This isn't the time or th-" Nobara was cut off as she sank into a hole in the ground that suddenly appeared beneath her.
"Kugisaki?" Yuji called cautiously.
"It can't be! My divine dog should be-" Megumi looked towards his shikigami was, but only saw its severed head slammed into a wall with cracks around it. "Itadori!" He yelled to Yuji. "Run! We'll look for Kugisaki after we get away!"
Then they felt it. The presence of vast amounts of cursed energy stood directly behind them. Both boys fearfully turned to face the cursed spirit. The creature had a pale humanoid body, a lipless mouth baring its oversized teeth, four black tendrils reaching around the back of its head to the front with four eyes on the two tendrils in the middle, its clawed fingers were blood red and black cloth covered it's lower body.
"There's no mistake, it's a special grade! I can't move" Megumi thinks to himself in panic.
Yuji managed to snap back first and swung the blade of his Kusarigama at the curse's head.
But the special grade curse was faster. It slashed at Yuji's hand. Leaving a deep gash on Yuji's wrist and breaking the blade of his Kusarigama, which slipped from the grip of his limp hand. The cursed spirit then proceeded to punch Yuji in the gut with such force that it launched Yuji off of his feet. Yuji hit the ground next to Megumumi, coughing violently from the blow. Despite shielding his body with cursed energy, he had taken some serious damage. His left hand was barely attached to the rest of his body and he was having a hard time steadying his breathing.
"There's no running away now." Yuji bit out, as he began to shakingly stand up. Taking off his belt he fastened it tightly just below the gash to stem the bleeding.
"That means we're gonna have to fight." Megumi replied as he clenched his hands into fists and began to raise them.
"No." Yuji responded, surprising Megumi. "You're not strong enough. Go find Kugisaki then come back."
"AND YOU ARE?!" Megumi growled, insulted by Yuji's casual dismissal. "YOU'RE UP AGAINST A SPECIAL GRADE AND YOU'VE GOT ONE ARM!"
"Look closely." Yuji answered as he nodded his head to the cursed spirit. "This curse is young, and it's cocky I can use that to drain enough cursed energy to beat it."
Megumi watched as the curse continued to bask in their combined fear before spitting a ball of unrefined cursed energy at them. Megumi dodged out of the way, while Yuji caught it in his hand and absorbed it. Only getting a few blisters for damage.
The cursed spirit reeled back in confusion at what had happened, as Yuji began to emit more cursed energy.
"I can't-"
"FUSHIGURO!" Yuji yelled, interrupting Megumi's rebuttal. "Please."
"You better not die on me!" Megumi warned as he retreated.
Once Megumi had left the cursed sprit, began to tear away at the fabric around its legs exposing the loincloth beneath.
"It's getting ready to attack." Yuji thought as he readied himself. Yuji widened his stance, lowered his centre of gravity, and raised his working hand in front of himself.
The Finger Bearer lunged at Yuji with its fist clenched.
Yuji barely had time to react, only just managing to parry the punch and shift his body out of the way. But unlike Yuji the Curse had 2 working hands and delivered a powerful blow to the teen's head, sending him flying into a wall, before Yuji could regain his bearings the cursed spirit was already in front of him, preparing to deliver another punch. Yuji tried to block it but was too slow. The punch hit Yuji square in the chest and sent him through the damaged wall with such force hit the back of the large room he now found himself in.
Yuji forced himself to his feet as the Curse walked through the large hole Yuji's body had made. "This is bad! The gap between us is still too big, and I'm barely getting a chance to absorb it's cursed energy. If this keeps up I'm gonna die! I know Geto was holding back on my training until I saw things his way, but I didn't think it was so bad! I'm so weak!" Yuji began to panic. "I can't die here! I don't want to die! If I do I won't live up to my promise!"
The cursed curled in on its self, before realising a massive wave of cursed energy.
"There!" Yuji quickly raised his injured arm and braced. The second the wave touched his hand, Yuji began to absorb the cursed energy. The wave began to grind to a halt, before beginning to fold in on itself as it was pulled towards Yuji. But the power didn't come without consequence. Absorbing cursed energy that had been formed into projectiles still damaged where he had taken the hit, it just reduced the damage (unless his cursed energy out put was higher). Yuji's hand felt like it was on fire, as the remaining connected nerves screamed out in protest with the cursed energy shredding his skin. "IT BURNS! BUT IF I DON'T DO THIS I'LL DIE! I'VE GO TO PUSH! PUSH!" After what felt like an eternity the pain finally stopped as he absorbed the last of the cursed energy. But Yuji was given no respite as the Cursed Spirit had lunged charged at him rearing to deliver another punch.
But Yuji was now fast enough to dodge it. And retaliated with a punch of his own. Landing a vicious upper cut. The curse stumbled back from the hit, and only steadied itself in time to receive a kick to its waist. Yuji poured on the pressure, with each of the hits landing with years of practice placed behind them. Any attempt at retaliation by the curse was swiftly dismantled. But he couldn't keep this up. He was rapidly burning through the stolen cursed energy, and the brief holds he put the Curse in only slowed the drain. And the damage he was doing wasn't enough to put the Curse down, as it rapidly healed from any damage taken. Despite even breaking bones.
As Yuji continued to burn through his stockpile of stolen cursed energy, he began to slow down enough for the Curse to start fighting back. Its hand-to-hand technique is non-existent. But the sheer speed and strength behind the blows were enough to keep Yuji on the defensive with the few counter attacks he managed now doing nothing to the Curse. "I'm gonna have to put everything I've got into a single hit straight to its head!" Yuji poured as much cursed energy into his fist as he could, waiting for the moment to strike. But the Cursed Spirit noticed that Yuji was gathering his cursed energy for an attack and began to back away.
"Get back here!" Yuji growled as he chased after the Curse.
The Cursed Spirit retreated into the other room, firing cursed energy at Yuji as it backed away. But rather than try and absorb the projectiles, Yuji dodged, focusing on bringing the fight to an end while he still had a chance. As Yuji reached the hole in the wall he siphoned off some cursed energy and punched the edge, causing debris to fly towards the Curse like shrapnel.
The cursed spirt instinctively put its arms in front of its face to block the rubble. A fatal mistake. By the time the Curse lowered its arms, Yuji was in front of it, his fist inches from its face. Yuji's fist crashed into the Curse's face with as much force and cursed energy as possible. Yuji was attempting to land a divergent fist, but what he landed was far more powerful.
The blue cursed energy sparked black, and Yuji felt like he was finally truly awake. "BLACK FLASH!" Yuji cried out. The Curse's head was pulverised and the neck ripped, causing the smashed skull to fly through the air. Yuji's body began to sway, as the adrenaline that had kept him fighting began to fade. The body of the Cursed Spirit began to fade a cursed object dropped out of its chest.
"Oh, hey. It's another one of Sukuna's fingers." Yuji comments before he collapses. By the time Megumi found him, Yuji was surrounded by a pool of his own blood.
A bit shorter than I would've liked, as I'm trying to do about 5 full pages to make it easy for me to keep track of which chapter is which. But at least this gives me some space to mention a few things.
Yuji will reach special grade, but won't reach the highs he reached in the manga. That being said, he'll progress faster at the beginning given his prior experience but it will slow down as the story progresses.
The main point of this story is Yuji creating and using cursed tools rather than about his technique.
When I post a chapter of this story it means I've finished the next one, but I'm holding back on posting in case I decide to make changes to the story to help it flow better.
The story will have some Gojo x Shoko, but I'm not sure what to do with Yuji yet.
Yuji getting blood manipulation in Cannon is kinda funny to me because that was the cursed technique I was originally going to give him, but I didn't feel like it stacked up well compared to the techniques of known special grades.