[Binding Vow] is divided into two types.
One type is a Binding Vow made with another person, establishing an agreent that absolutely neither side can break. Once that vow is violated, the backlash is more terrifying than death.
The other type is a Binding Vow imposed on oneself, where you sacrifice sothing disadvantageous to yourself in exchange for greater power.
Put simply.
This world contains [Heaven's Will].
For example, people usually just joke around online, saying all kinds of nonsense, but in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, behavior you have already subconsciously accepted may very well be judged by [Heaven's Will] as a [Binding Vow].
A normal [Binding Vow] is sothing like Kento Nanami's principle of [Overti]. By lowering his Cursed Energy output during working hours, once he works beyond eight hours, the power of his Cursed Energy increases.
An abnormal [Binding Vow], like the [Heavenly Restriction] possessed by Toji Zenin and Maki Zenin, is an irreversible vow automatically imposed by [Heaven's Will] from birth, sacrificing bodily function or Cursed Energy potential in exchange for extre enhancent in another area.
However, all of these [Binding Vows] still follow the underlying logic of [equivalent exchange].
In other words, paynt on delivery. You pay first, then [Heaven's Will] gives you the goods. However much you pay, that is how much power it gives you.
But the true nature of [Binding Vow] is far more complicated than that.
In Jujutsu Kaisen, [Binding Vow] is one of the most controversial and broken settings of all.
Because in the Shinjuku showdown, the thousand-year King of Curses, Ryon Sukuna, relied on [Binding Vow] to pull off a coback from certain defeat and split the strongest sorcerer of the modern age, Satoru Gojo, in half on the spot.
The reason for all of this was that Sukuna understood the core chanism of [Binding Vow].
That is. [borrowing against the future]!!
Equivalent exchange?
Paynt on delivery?
Those are the most basic forms of [Binding Vow]!
A true [Binding Vow] borrows overwhelming power by sacrificing the future!
By trading away the requirent that all future "Slashes That Cuts The World" must be used with hand signs and incantations, Sukuna obtained a single instant Slash That Cuts The World with no wind-up, and split Gojo clean in half on the spot, turning him into Go/jo.
In other words.
When Sukuna made that [Binding Vow], he himself did not sacrifice anything in that mont.
He simply borrowed against the future, forcing his future self to pay the cost of the [Binding Vow].
It was like financial leverage. He put in only a tiny amount of risk, yet borrowed unimaginable returns from [Heaven's Will]!
Of course.
So curious students might ask.
Then why could Gojo not trade away his Six Eyes going blind in the future in exchange for one 500% output Hollow Purple?
That is an excellent question.
And that is exactly why Naoya Zenin chose [Binding Vow] as his first lesson.
Because…
As a rich boy, Gojo simply does not have the concept of borrowing against the future in his head!!!
There are already very few sorcerers in the entire Jujutsu World who truly understand [Binding Vow].
And those who also understand how to borrow against the future. There is basically only a single old monster like Sukuna!
Otherwise why do you think Sukuna is called the King of Borrowing? He borrows however he wants, and every ti he hits a dangerous obstacle, he can just power through it with pure nonsense.
If the King of Curses had a credit score so bad he could not even unlock a shared bike, then Gojo would have run him over with his eyes closed a long ti ago.
But no one is born standing above [Heaven's Will].
As the King of Curses of a thousand years, Sukuna's understanding of [Binding Vow] had undeniably reached the level of mastery beyond mastery.
But…
From this day on, this transmigrator would teach Sukuna. He would teach this absolute powerhouse, this lonely being created by that very strength, what the true limit of borrowing against the future really was!
Sukuna was not the absolute god of borrowing.
Above him stood an entire group of masters who had perfected the art of it!
Kurapika from Hunter x Hunter!
By setting a vow on every mber of the Phantom Troupe, he obtained chains they could never break free from and that could suppress them, at the cost of simply never using those chains on anyone else!
Orb, the debt king among Ultran!
By borrowing the power of other Ultran, he gains the strength of fusion transformation, at the cost of making a bunch of Ultran far away in the Land of Light drop to the floor convulsing in the middle of dinner!
The Fifth Magician, Aoko Aozaki!
By spending other people's ti to gain ti for herself, and by forcibly shifting another person's ti of death into the future, she can swap in her future self from ten years ahead to beat the enemy senseless, at the cost of the universe bugging out and being destroyed billions of years later!
Sukuna's borrowing is good for a laugh, but if we are really talking about the upper limit of borrowing, you have to look at those monsters.
Now that Naoya Zenin was here, there was no way he was going to let Sukuna monopolize the power of borrowing.
He had decided to make borrowing completely open-source!
He would teach every sorcerer in the Jujutsu World how to borrow, so that everyone could achieve borrowing freedom!
"...[Binding Vow]?"
Kasumi Miwa had heard of this before in the New Shadow Style.
It was an extrely dangerous Jujutsu technique.
It was like training with sandbags. By fighting with extra weight, once you took it off, you could gain greater strength and speed.
But the price was far more terrifying than simple weighted training.
Because a sorcerer cannot obtain power beyond their own understanding.
For sorcerers, Cursed Energy is sothing extracted from negative emotion in the first place, and if you want your Cursed Energy to grow larger, then you must be eroded by even more negative emotion.
Forbidden power also ant a forbidden curse.
Once a sorcerer could no longer control their own Cursed Energy, the only outco was to be devoured by it and degenerate into a hideous Cursed Spirit.
That was why [Binding Vow] had always been regarded by the mainstream Jujutsu World as a dangerous trick and an unorthodox shortcut.
After all, steady and thodical progress was the orthodox path.
There was no such thing as sushi falling from the sky in this world.
Any power always ca with a price, and once soone learned the path to obtaining forbidden power, unimaginable disaster was sure to follow.
"Impossible. There's a limit to what a [Binding Vow] can do."
At last, one of the students in the room spoke up and flatly rejected Naoya Zenin's claim.
"A [Binding Vow] depends entirely on the sorcerer's own strength. No matter how high a price you pay, a [Binding Vow] can never give a sorcerer power far beyond their own. And this nonsense about getting three tis stronger is even more impossible!"
Naoya Zenin lifted his gaze and saw an extrely arrogant blonde loli.
No.
A beauty in the making was more like it.
Her carefully styled blonde twin tails swayed lightly like running water.
That arrogant posture carried a faint little-devil edge to it.
Momo Nishimiya.
Even at Kyoto Jujutsu High, she counted as a rather unusual presence.
After all, this mixed-blood girl looked like she had wandered over from the Hogwarts next door, riding a broom through the sky like a witch.
As for strength, she was nothing worth ntioning. He had no need to take this little brat seriously.
Still, with that spoiled, haughty way of speaking, her voice really was pleasing to the ear.
"Not bad. Looks like this school isn't full of diocrities after all."
"Hmph."
Momo Nishimiya flashed a smug smile.
After all, Naoya Zenin was the next heir to one of the Three Great Families, a figure famous throughout the entire Jujutsu World. With that arrogant face of his, getting even one sincere complint out of him was practically impossible.
And on top of that, considering how much Naoya Zenin hated won, being praised by him naturally felt like sothing Momo Nishimiya could brag about for ages.
But how could this little witch possibly be so shallow, foolish woman?
So she quickly wiped the smile off her face and said in a pointed tone, "If people keep using thods like this to increase their strength, then their everyday training in Jujutsu will inevitably grow lax. And when the critical mont cos, students who've neglected their training will only throw their lives away for nothing!"
Momo Nishimiya narrowed her eyes.
"Naoya Zenin, isn't that completely backward?"
That tone, arrogant to the extre, was almost like listening to another Naoya Zenin.
"So in your understanding, this is sothing that can't be done. Is that right?"
Naoya Zenin didn't pursue her arrogance. He rely tilted his head slightly and asked in a calm voice.
"The only way to improve a sorcerer's strength is to keep refining one's technique and gain more combat experience."
Momo Nishimiya didn't flinch.
"That's a basic rule of the Jujutsu World, and a principle every Jujutsu Sorcerer should always rember."
"Looks like you had quite a bit of real combat experience before coming to Jujutsu High."
"The day the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons ca, I handled plenty of Cursed Spirits on my own."
The little witch folded her arms and let out a cold laugh.
"You may be a Special Grade 1 Sorcerer, but as so pampered young master from one of the Three Great Families, I doubt you've ever had to do that kind of dirty work."
"So you don't recognize my level of real combat skill?"
"Naoya Zenin, I don't believe a fa-stealing fraud like you is the one who'll change the history of the Jujutsu World."
Clearly, she had co prepared.
"A fa-stealing fraud?"
"Huh... could Naoya-sensei and Momo Nishimiya have so kind of grudge?"
"Now this is getting good. I definitely ca to the right place. Looks like there's a real show today!"
Little by little, the atmosphere in the classroom turned openly hostile toward Naoya Zenin.
To begin with, everyone had only co to this class because their pride had been provoked.
Now that soone had finally taken the lead, the rest of the students stopped pretending. Not a single one of them had any intention of supporting Naoya Zenin.
Naturally, no one was going to believe in his so-called [Binding Vow] technique either.
Among all those students, only Mai Zenin was sitting there with her fists clenched, visibly uneasy.
Several tis, she wanted to stand up and smooth things over, but she was afraid of making things even worse.
Just as she thought, there was no hiding it from her...
Momo was frighteningly sharp. She must have gone out of her way behind the scenes to look into what had happened between Naoya Zenin and herself...
Which ant...
Momo Nishimiya had definitely found out that Mai used to work like a servant in the Zenin Clan, and had even once been Naoya Zenin's personal maid.
That fact alone was enough to keep Mai Zenin from straightening her back and facing her friend with her usual expression.
But if she stepped in to support Momo, Naoya Zenin would definitely retaliate against her.
So in the end, all Mai Zenin could do was grit her teeth, lower her head, and play the turtle, pretending not to hear any of it.
Among the students, only Aoi Todo quietly supported Naoya Zenin from the sidelines, hoping his reincarnated teacher would deliver a crushing response.
"...This is actually interesting."
Even under that kind of pressure, Naoya Zenin didn't so much as blink.
He remained as arrogant as ever.
His amber eyes were utterly cold.
As though no amount of pressure could shake him in the slightest.
"Jujutsu that places value on inheritance and history has stagnated for hundreds of years. Woman, what do you think the reason is?"
"It's the thinning of Cursed Energy."
Momo Nishimiya gave the most orthodox answer possible.
"It's the decline of mystery. Cursed Energy is fading from this land, and that's why Jujutsu can no longer return to its forr peak."
That was the current consensus throughout the Jujutsu World.
Any sorcerer who studied ancient Jujutsu would bla its decline on that cause, the sa way people who can't find work can only complain about the state of the economy.
Because no one dared question the ancient Jujutsu passed down through the ages.
Just as so people may hesitate to criticize those who hold economic power.
Question reverence for the old.
Question the system that had continued running all the way to the present.
"The greatest thing killing Jujutsu is a brain that has stopped thinking."
That was Naoya Zenin's answer.
"You think [Binding Vow] is nothing remarkable. You think modern Jujutsu is inferior to ancient Jujutsu. Woman, what makes you think I can't change the Jujutsu World?"
Momo Nishimiya could no longer tolerate such outrageous arrogance.
Who did Naoya Zenin think he was?!
He was nothing more than a flash-in-the-pan Special Grade 1 Sorcerer. Looking across the whole history of Jujutsu, there had been countless geniuses like him.
Even Satoru Gojo, who possessed the [Six Eyes] and the [Limitless Technique], had never shown the kind of arrogance Naoya Zenin was displaying now, boldly declaring that he would completely change the Jujutsu World ruled by the great clans.
"What you're talking about has never happened before!"
"That's only because no one ever tried."
"Everyone who tried failed, without exception!"
"Then I'll be the chosen one. And the only one."
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