Chapter 57: The Prison Realm
At the site of Hikigaya Hachiman's earlier [Archangel] battle, members of the Jujutsu Sorcerers Association were exorcising the remnants of Cursed Spirits killed by Gojo Satoru and the after-effects of the battle.
However, unnoticed by everyone, a man with clear stitching across his forehead quietly blended in. He stood before the ruins of the mausoleum that Fujiwara no Yoshifusa had been smashed into, his eyes trembling.
"It's gone... the old monster of the Fujiwara family's tomb is gone."
The old monster of the Fujiwara family, dead is dead.
The problem was that among Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's collection, there was a specific Special Grade Cursed Tool that he desperately wanted.
"Damn it, the Prison Realm is gone."
This was the true reason why he felt so devastated. He had been plotting against the Fujiwara family for so long, all for this Special Grade Cursed Tool called the [Prison Realm] (Gokumonkyō).
A hundred years after Fujiwara no Yoshifusa voluntarily put himself into a long sleep, he had found the head of the Fujiwara family at the time, manipulating him into adding thirteen sculptures of Sukuna Ryoumen into the long-life tomb originally built for Fujiwara no Yoshifusa.
These sculptures seemingly aided Fujiwara no Yoshifusa in absorbing Cursed Energy from the air, but they contained an immensely venomous curse.
It was a Cursed Technique.
Fujiwara no Yoshifusa would absolutely not live to see his scheduled revival date; he would be killed by the curse he had set before then.
The ancestor's tomb being cursed and the geomancy being destroyed was also part of the reason why the Fujiwara family descendants fell into decline.
He should have simply waited for the old monster of the Fujiwara family to pass away and then inherited his legacy without anyone knowing. But tonight, he suddenly sensed a very ominous and familiar fluctuation.
"Something's wrong!"
When he rushed over in a hurry, the long-life tomb the old monster of the Fujiwara family had built for himself was completely destroyed and reduced to ruins.
The Cursed Energy fluctuations had also completely disappeared.
He couldn't find any relics left behind by the old monster. There was only one possibility: the items were taken by the person who killed Fujiwara no Yoshifusa.
"Damn thief."
The [Prison Realm] was crucial to his most important plan; it absolutely could not fall into the hands of others!
"I will definitely make you pay the price."
.
.
.
Back at Tokyo Jujutsu High, the two of them were walking through the school grounds.
Zen'in Maki was a very special case in Hikigaya Hachiman's eyes.
In this world, even ordinary humans who cannot see Cursed Spirits possess Cursed Energy, but Zen'in Maki was different; her internal Cursed Energy was extremely sparse.
Hikigaya Hachiman looked up information and learned that she possesses a special innate talent called [Heavenly Restriction].
Jujutsu Sorcerers can gain great power through self-imposed binding vows. [Heavenly Restriction] is predetermined from the moment of birth, with the cost forcibly paid. It was equivalent to having all of Zen'in Maki's Cursed Energy converted into physical prowess.
But Zen'in Maki was also quite unlucky. Her [Heavenly Restriction] was impure, resulting in a minimal amount of Cursed Energy still existing in her body—a fatal flaw.
Otherwise, the second-generation [Heavenly Restricted Berserker] would have been born. To Hikigaya Hachiman's knowledge, the first-generation [Heavenly Restricted Berserker] was Fushiguro Toji, Fushiguro Megumi 's father.
Fushiguro Toji was a nightmare for all Sorcerers at the time, killing so many that the Jujutsu world was in constant fear. No one wasn't afraid of the Sorcerer Killer.
Even the Zen'in family had half its members massacred by him. After this incident, Zen'in Toji changed his name to Fushiguro Toji.
Based on kinship, if Hikigaya Hachiman were to call him by his name, Zen'in Maki would be his niece.
Despite the anomaly of Zen'in Toji, the Zen'in family still held high expectations for Zen'in Maki, the carrier of the [Heavenly Restriction].
However, the situation was clear. Zen'in Maki's condition was vastly different from the first-generation [Heavenly Restricted Berserker].
Zen'in Maki's [Heavenly Restriction] seemed more like a joke, only granting her physical prowess slightly stronger than an average Sorcerer.
In other words, Zen'in Maki was basically similar to an ordinary person. She did not inherit the formidable physical prowess of Fushiguro Toji; instead, she inherited all the weaknesses of the [Heavenly Restriction].
This caused Zen'in Maki to suffer scorn and bullying within her family because she was too weak. Even her own younger sister "looked down" on her.
This is why Zen'in Maki treasured everyone at Jujutsu High and the diligent guidance of "Hachiman-sensei." She only wished that the bandage-eyed Sensei could be a little more serious.
"Darn it, always making fun of me."
Zen'in Maki clenched her fist. Gojo Satoru was clearly messing with her just now.
"Maki?"
Hikigaya Hachiman saw Zen'in Maki stop and asked.
As mentioned earlier, the layout of Jujutsu High is constantly changing. Only the students and Senseis know what the layout looks like on any given day.
Although Hikigaya Hachiman had an automatic detection Cursed Technique, there was no need to use it here.
"Nothing, Sensei. Please follow me."
Hearing the word "Sensei," Zen'in Maki barely swallowed her frustration.
"Maki, you don't need to use honorifics for me."
Hikigaya Hachiman said.
"I'm only one year older than you, right?"
"That won't do. A student naturally has to respect their Sensei."
Zen'in Maki was incredibly grateful to "Hachiman-sensei" for giving her an opportunity to learn under him.
"It is my lack of talent that has kept me from obtaining Sensei's true teachings."
Zen'in Maki initially thought Gojo Satoru was joking by finding her such a young Sensei.
But after actually interacting with him, Zen'in Maki realized how shallow her initial judgment was; this Sensei was simply a treasure.
My goodness, he was proficient in using knives, forks, staves, halberds—everything! Problems that completely baffled Zen'in Maki were instantly solved simply by Hikigaya Hachiman demonstrating them.
Zen'in Maki was immediately won over on the spot. "Hachiman-sensei" was a god!
Therefore, Zen'in Maki held Hikigaya Hachiman in high regard and called him "Sensei."
Hikigaya Hachiman also put his heart and soul into imparting techniques. After all, training Maki reminded him of his past experience training Blood Angels recruits.
Hikigaya Hachiman was very strict in his instruction, because mistakes on the battlefield can truly lead to death.
Hikigaya Hachiman's swordsmanship and striking techniques were inherited from Sanguinius. The "Great Angel's" combat skills were among the strongest of all the Primarchs; he was a true martial sage.
But martial arts, how should one put it? You can only teach so much through instruction.
More often, it depends on the individual's combat experience. As the saying goes, the master leads the way, but the student must walk the path themselves.
The techniques Hikigaya Hachiman used fluently, as easily as breathing, were tempered through countless life-and-death situations.
Zen'in Maki was actually very hard-working, but her potential was limited.
Although Zen'in Maki's actual Sorcerer Grade is only 4, her combat capability is on par with a Grade 2 Sorcerer.
Having Grade 2 Sorcerer strength as a first-year is quite good.
But the problem is that due to her incomplete [Heavenly Restriction], her physical body is not as formidable as Fushiguro Toji's invincible level.
Fushiguro Toji, with the strength of his fists alone, could kill a Grade 1 Sorcerer with a single punch. With Special Grade Cursed Tools, he could easily kill Special Grade Sorcerers. Both Suguru Geto and Gojo Satoru almost died at Fushiguro Toji's hands.
Zen'in Maki, without Cursed Tools in hand, couldn't even kill a low-grade Cursed Spirit.
Hikigaya Hachiman understood that the primary limitation on Zen'in Maki was that her combat power depended on the grade of her Cursed Tools.
However, the Zen'in family, despite having the largest Cursed Tool storage among the Big Three Families, would absolutely not open it to this failure.
Zen'in Maki was the type whose parents didn't care about her within the Zen'in family. Only the people at Jujutsu High and Hikigaya Hachiman gave her some care.
The Cursed Tools Zen'in Maki used were either borrowed from Jujutsu High or purchased with the bounty money from her own missions.
A single Special Grade Cursed Tool can easily sell for hundreds of millions, and it's often priceless. Perhaps only a magnate like the Shinomiya family would buy a Special Grade Cursed Tool without batting an eye.
Even if Hikigaya Hachiman had spare Cursed Tools he didn't need, if he gave them to Zen'in Maki, she wouldn't accept them.
In this regard, she was somewhat similar to Togawa Sakiko, the girl Hikigaya Hachiman encountered. Pride was the most valuable thing they had left.
They both had very strong self-respect and would not easily accept gifts from others, preferring to rely on themselves to obtain what they wanted.
Hikigaya Hachiman certainly wouldn't interfere too much; these were personal choices.
Under Zen'in Maki's guidance, Hikigaya Hachiman found the location of the library.
"Hachiman-sensei, floors 1 and 2 are primarily Cursed Spirit illustrated guides.
Floors 3 and 4 are mainly Cursed Tools..."
The Great Library of Tokyo Jujutsu High was quite large, standing a full ten stories high, with the collected books differing every two floors.
It was just that the lights were off late at night, making it feel like a haunted building.
Jujutsu High itself had few people, and students mainly took practical training courses with very few theoretical classes. The library was usually empty and served little purpose beyond decoration.
The lights only came on when Hikigaya Hachiman walked in.
"Principal Yaga has placed several Cursed Corpses on each floor. If Hachiman-sensei has any book content he wants to check, you can ask them."
Zen'in Maki told Hikigaya Hachiman about the library's affairs. Students' reluctance to come was also partly related to those constantly appearing and disappearing Cursed Corpses.
"But be careful not to make your inquiries too complicated; the Cursed Corpses might not understand."
That was quite good.
Hikigaya Hachiman thought that searching for books alone in such a large library would take forever.
Now that he knew Masamichi Yaga had proactively placed many Cursed Corpses there for simple inquiries, things were much easier.
They were probably the failed products derived from his earlier research into Cursed Corpses with self-awareness.
"Okay, thank you, Maki."
Hikigaya Hachiman said to Zen'in Maki.
"I can go in alone now.
You should go back and rest early."
Hikigaya Hachiman glanced at the time. It was almost midnight, and Principal Yaga's curfew was about to start.
"It's fine, Hachiman-sensei."
Zen'in Maki shook her head and sat down on a sofa in the main hall.
"I'll just wait here; it's okay. If you need anything, just call on me."
Her Sensei was a very kind person who had given her a lot of care.
So, when "Hachiman-sensei" came to her territory, she naturally wanted to offer him the best hospitality.
"Besides, going back now is almost when the curfew starts."
Zen'in Maki was a practical person. She couldn't think of a better way to repay him, so she could only offer her time.
Hikigaya Hachiman thought so too.
Moreover, because Jujutsu High had a curfew mechanism, there were usually blankets and other necessities for overnight stays on the first floor of the general teaching facilities.
Jujutsu Sorcerers are not that delicate.
To pursue efficiency, Hikigaya Hachiman immediately cast [Izanagi].
Purple Cursed Energy surged, and eight large, dark green tin cans immediately appeared, lined up like a small squad.
The Sons of Horus were open for business today. Just imagine: eight fully armored Astartes with glowing red eyes standing before you. An ordinary person would probably be trembling.
The chilling, murderous atmosphere of the battlefield immediately hit them. The thick armor looked quite extraordinary.
"Amazing, what are these, Hachiman-sensei?"
Zen'in Maki's eyes widened.
She knew Hikigaya Hachiman was related to the Kamo family, but how could someone who manipulated blood produce iron? It couldn't be that he extracted iron elements from blood to create eight steel warriors.
But what truly attracted Zen'in Maki was the weapons in the hands of the Sons of Horus. They were wielding common Imperial standard-issue weapons, such as bolters, chainswords, power fists, and other armaments.
However, to Zen'in Maki, she had never seen such purely violent weapons designed solely for killing the enemy.
"So cool."
These weapons were right up her alley.
"These are Cursed Techniques I've newly developed. They're not bad for moving things around."
Hikigaya Hachiman was very low-key, only stating that these large iron lumps were for moving books.
When Fujiwara no Yoshifusa previously cast [Izanagi], he directly used his white-robed puppets as his mouthpieces.
He only needed to summon four to go to different floors and individually search for the things he needed. Summoning eight was just to be safer.
Although these Sons of Horus were somewhat stiff in their movements, moving some books was no problem at all.
Hikigaya Hachiman sent these Sons of Horus to different floors to bring back the books he wanted.
The first thing he cared about was naturally Cursed Tools.
Cursed Tools also have grades, with Special Grade being the highest, just like Sorcerers.
The threshold for using Cursed Tools is generally not very high; one only needs to know the simple method of use.
Hikigaya Hachiman soon found the description of one of the Cursed Tools Fujiwara no Yoshifusa had given him in a book.
The metal Cursed Tool had many open eyes on its surface, looking alive. Its shape was a square, and its volume was small, perfectly sized to hold in one hand.
Before it sealed anything, its overall weight was very light, almost featherlight.
That was a famous Special Grade Cursed Tool from a thousand years ago, specializing in sealing.
Hikigaya Hachiman saw the name given in the book: it seemed to be called the [Prison Realm].
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