A/N: Welcome to my latest story: Potential Man. Here we go with this one. Next three chapters are up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) already if you want to see them early. Since I just started a new story, there's a cheeky discount on said patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) page for anyone interested.
"The name's Hakari. That's Kirara," he said by way of greeting as I stepped up to him. I nodded at him and shook his hand.
Next thing I knew, I was dodging out of the way of a punch that practically sang with the amount of cursed energy he'd pumped into it. The blow hissed past my head as I tilted it out of the way. As close together as we were, it was nothing for me to lock him in place as our shadows melded.
"I—can't—move," he ground out, seemingly shocked.
"What did you think would happen when you just attacked me out of nowhere?" I asked.
"Whoa. Megumi, since when could you do that?" I heard Itadori's voice from the side.
"Promise to behave yourself?" I asked Hakari.
"Sure," he said, and I detached my shadow from his with a nod.
"That's not the Ten Shadows," Maki spoke from in between Itadori and Panda.
"Who knows? After I summoned Mahoraga in Shibuya, it feels like my cursed technique has been expanding. I can do things with shadows I wasn't able to do before," I said, lying easily.
"At least you seem strong enough to not die in seconds from the fight, Megumi-chan," Hakari said.
"Sorry?" I tilted my head at him.
"They..." he said, pointing back at the trio—Itadori, Maki, and Panda. "...said as Head of the Zenin clan, you'd work your influence with the higher-ups to give me authorization to run my fight club. Make everything all aboveboard and compliant, you know? Legal money smells better and all that."
"They said that, did they?" I asked, looking over at them. Itadori nodded, while neither Maki nor Panda seemed to have anything to say for themselves.
"Sure. We make it out of this alive and I'll see to it that you get all the fight clubs you want," I shrugged. It sounded fun enough as an idea. And what did I care for something so small-scale? My intentions for what would happen after all this came to an end were of a decidedly grander scale.
"Good," he said, stepping back.
"But I'll need you to do something for me," I said right as he stepped away.
"Nuh-uh. I'm already joining your little fight squad to do this whole Culling Game thing," he said.
"I said as many fight clubs as you want. I'm sure they only offered you one. What you'll do for me is simple. Tomorrow, by 7:00 a.m., I will be waiting at the sparring field. You'll meet me there. We'll both curse each other for hours and then we rest for lunch, and then do the same thing again. The day after, we do the same," I said.
"7:00 a.m. sounds a bit early for me, and I get the feeling you won't give me a good fight. Your friend over there could do nothing but take punches to the face. He seems like the stronger of you two even," he said, pointing back at Itadori without looking at him.
"You said it yourself. I have a death match coming up. I need all the training I can get ahead of it, and you'll need me alive if you want to get your fight clubs," I said.
"One p.m.," he countered.
"That's half the day gone. Eight a.m."
"I'm useless before ten. Noon should be fine," he said.
"You just said ten a.m. Let's stick with that," I said finally.
TWO DAYS LATER
The Zenin clan compound was massive. The manga had done a terrible job of driving home the sheer scale of the place. The Zenin clan took up what was basically the entire top of a mountain. The main building was three stories tall and stood opposite the gates. It was massive, stretching as far as the eye could see on either side upon entry. To each side stood a pair of smaller buildings, two floors each. Behind them were even more buildings. To think all this was hidden from the rest of the world thanks to barriers. I wondered how those would interact with something like satellite imagery.
How could one hide a world of jujutsu in the present day? That would get even harder as things like drones and increasingly powerful cameras became commonplace. I shuddered to think of all the work the jujutsu higher-ups were doing to cover up something like the Culling Games. But that was besides the point. Right in front of the massive building that was the main compound stood a woman.
"Mother, what are you doing here?" Maki asked, stepping to the front of our little group. Me, Hakari, Itadori, and herself had been the ones to make the journey. Panda, Kirara, and Inumaki were holding down the fort at Jujutsu High.
"Naoya-sama has assigned me to see the upstart Megumi Fushiguro and his rabble to the sparring grounds where the clan awaits him," she said, her voice monotone, making it clear to me at least that she was quoting someone else. Maki turned around to give the rest of us a look before marching closer to her mother and grabbing her by the arm.
"What are you doing?"
"Naoya-sama has assigned me to—"
"Shut up about that. Fuck Naoya. Megumi is going to kill him," she said. Then she looked like she was going to say something else, but then she seemed to decide against it. "Come with me, guys. I know where the sparring grounds are," she said, waving us onwards. I shrugged and followed in her wake. Itadori and Hakari brought up the rear.
"Do you want to talk about..."
"No," she said back, not even turning around to offer the refusal. "Just make sure you kill Naoya and take over this damn clan," she said. I nodded. That was what I was here for, after all. I found it interesting that just days earlier, she had been doubtful about my chances against Naoya and thought it was a stupid decision for me to challenge him. But now, after days of watching me spar with Hakari, it was clear that she had come around to my way of seeing things. If only she knew that the fight with Naoya was not going to be a fight at all.
We passed through a set of double doors into the large building, and then after making a single turn, we came to a hallway. To the left was another set of double doors.
"Game faces," she said before pulling the doors open. The building had an opening in the middle—a courtyard fenced from the outside by all the sides of the building. It was massive, easily big enough to contain what seemed to be the bulk of the Zenin clan. I could see Naoya waiting near the front of the group with that same damnable smile on his face.
A few steps away from him were the other Special Grade One sorcerers of the clan. One of them was Jinichi. I could remember that one easily. He was my uncle, after all—Toji's older brother. Maki's father, Ogi, was also in their midst. So was Mai, I noticed. Except that where everyone stood, Mai was on her knees next to Ogi. There was a chain attached to her neck, connected to a leash he held in his hand. What an abominable man.
"What is the meaning of this?" Maki screamed, marching forward.
"Maki!" I barked her name.
She froze as I flared my cursed energy. I had more of it than Megumi ever did, thankfully, so tricks like this were possible for me.
"Let me handle this," I said. I walked past her.
Naoya made to say something as I walked into their midst, but I just stepped past him and straight to Ogi.
"What do you want, boy?" he said, his face split by a sharp smirk. I looked at him. Really looked at him. Old, withered, useless. A fool who once had the potential to be great. He was one of my least favorite characters in the manga. I could never forget that speech he gave Maki as he took her to what he saw as her death. I have never been lesser than my brother, except in the quality of my children, he had said. What a fool. If he had been greater, he would have been made clan head. What kind of fool blames their children for their own failures?
I had a whole argument in mind about how I was the clan head and so Mai was my responsibility, not his, and that he had no right. But looking at him, those words refused to cross my lips. So I did the simple thing. I flared my cursed energy. Our shadows merged and I locked him in place, and then I punched the fucker for all he was worth.
The black sparks that spread from the point of impact were just icing on the cake. Ogi was a Special Grade One sorcerer. That rank, while a display of the Zenin clan's pride and influence over jujutsu society, did mean something. It meant that a Grade One sorcerer was no match for him nine times out of ten. It meant that the only people he should have bowed his head before were the special grade anomalies that came about once in a generation—sorcerers like Gojo Satoru and Yuta Okkotsu. It meant that a single punch, even with Black Flash, should not have been enough to take him out of the fight.
But in this case, it was. And that was because the one he fought was me. The punch sent him careening to the side. He hit the floor once, his body skipping like a stone tossed on a still pond, and he hit the floor a second time. When he did, my shadow latched on to his again. He rose not of his own will, but mine. Whatever resistance he would have mounted at full power was gone. Then, he dropped to his knees before me and I gazed over the clan. All the while, I felt my body jitter, struggling to stay still.
Was this the power of Black Flash? The gift those black sparks gave? I could feel my cursed energy at a level that I didn't think was possible. Things for Naoya had just gotten worse, and he didn't even know it. The rest of the clan remained on their feet, staring at the place where Ogi knelt.
"My name is Megumi Fushiguro. I am head of this clan from this day onwards. That means you—all of you—are mine. No one touches what is mine," I said to their shocked faces, and then turned to face Mai. I nodded at Maki, telling her to go get her sister before I got to the matter that had brought me here in the first place.
"Ain't it a bit early to be talking like that, Megumi-chan? Are you forgetting what you came here to do?" Naoya asked with that same brash tone he'd used earlier. The one that said he still didn't understand the situation. He thought things were still the way they were three days ago. That he was still stronger than me. What a shame.
"Don't get it twisted, Naoya. I am already the head of the Zenin clan. The old man's will confirms as much. This whole thing? This challenge? It's just an excuse for me to get rid of you. I don't particularly like your face, you see?" I mocked, and in an instant, the smug look of superiority was gone, replaced with rage. He made to move, and then a man a few steps away raised a hand.
"Since I can tell that both parties to the challenge are ready and roaring to go, why don't I just begin it now?" he said, placing his other hand on the flowing white beard he sported. Gakuganji, the Kyoto School Principal.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Prepare yourselves. Zenin clan, give us some space," he said, pulling away the coat he was wearing, revealing himself to be shirtless underneath and holding an electric guitar. My shadow retracted from Ogi, and the man rose immediately, about to draw his blade.
"Ogi Zenin, do not risk the wrath of the higher-ups by interfering in a sanctioned duel," Gakuganji warned. The old man scoffed, but his hand did leave his blade.
"As the representative of the higher-ups in this challenge, it falls to me to explain the rules and remind you of the terms. The duel shall be between Megumi Fushiguro of the Zenin clan and Naoya Zenin of the Zenin clan, with the headship of the clan as the stake. None shall interfere with this duel on pain of death. The duel shall be either until yield or death. Both parties swear to abide by the terms of this challenge?" he asked. I nodded, and Naoya did the same a second later.
He then took something out of his pocket and tossed it into the air. It flew on and on.
"The totem of Jinpachi will form a barrier as soon as it lands. Take that as the beginning of this match. The barrier will shatter once the match is over. Is that understood?" he asked, and I nodded. I wondered if there was a god in this universe. Things seemed to be aligning in my favor too strongly now. First was the Black Flash. With that, I could feel an awareness of my cursed energy that went beyond everything I'd been able to do earlier. The fastest I had been able to expand my domain earlier was 3.14 seconds. The two major bottlenecks were getting my hands in position and forming the barrier.
Thanks to the Black Flash, I was certain I could do it without the hand sign. And then there was the barrier that was about to be formed. Taking advantage of an external barrier as the shell for my own meant I could more or less skip that step. Both those advantages coming together meant I could cut it down to less than a second.
I smirked at Naoya, watching him take his stance and then begin to jump in place. News of Megumi being capable of a domain was public knowledge. If he had any sense, he would anticipate me using that strategy. It was my trump card, after all. But a domain was not instantaneous. He was probably planning to attack me the second the fight started. He was aiming for a killing blow in the first second of the fight. His technique even gave him a good chance of it.
Like I said earlier, this wasn't going to be much of a fight. It was more like an old western duel. We both had sure-kills up our sleeves. It was just up to whoever unleashed theirs first.
The totem, now that I could see it about to land, looked like a ratty old doll. It landed on the ground with a thud, and once it did, the barrier snapped into place around us. Naoya moved first. But he was too slow.
"Domain Expansion: Dance of a Thousand Shadows."
The world was darkness before he reached me, and I watched as he froze in place about two inches in front of me. In his hand was a blade pointed straight at my skull.
If he'd been faster or I'd been any slower, he would have buried that thing in my skull and that would have been the end of the fight. But the world where that happened was not this one. Here, I just happened to be a shade faster and he, a shade slower. My shadow began to creep up his legs as it held him still.
"You see, the thing about my cursed technique is that it's even more special than the Ten Shadows." His eyes moved wildly. He was clearly trying to figure out some way out of this. Sadly, it was too late for that.
"The Ten Shadows gives you a set of shikigami that ramp up in power until you get the Divine General himself. My technique, Cursed Shadow Manipulation, is different. It lets me do three things. When linked with the shadow of another, it places me in a battle of wills. If I win, I control their movement. Second, it allows me to solidify my shadow as a weapon. The third? That's the bit that matters to you. Consumption. With enough time, I can use my shadow to consume the essence of another. All your cursed energy, all your skills—all mine now. That's what's happening to you, Naoya. I wish I could tell you that you will be remembered for this sacrifice, but I lie. You are nothing now. This is your end, Naoya Zenin. Farewell," I said, and then my domain shattered. I remained standing where I'd been at the beginning of the fight.
Naoya fell face-first at my feet. His clothes were the only things that remained recognizable. His skin had dried out and withered, sinking until it covered only his bones. His hair had become a dull and lifeless grey. One didn't need to check for a heartbeat to know that he was dead.
"The winner is Megumi Zenin," Gakuganji proclaimed. I nodded at him and then stepped over Naoya's body, toward the clan.
A/N: In a fight, unless you use your own domain or a specific anti-domain technique (think Simple Domain or Hollow Wicker Basket), your opponent using a domain is a death sentence. Naoya gave his all in deciding to attack first, rather than preparing simple domain or something like that. And that made all the difference. This wasn't MC's original strategy, but the Black Flash made things much simpler. Next three chapters up on patreon (https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)(same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early. Since this is a new story, so there's a discount for the rest of the month on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga): feel free to check that out as well.