Awaken a second [Innate Technique]?
[Cursed Technique Reversal]?
What Naoya Zenin had just said did not rely sound absurd. It was enough to make the students suspect their teacher had been possessed by a Cursed Spirit.
[Innate Technique] was sothing you were born with.
Because that was what jujutsu talent was.
Could you choose your birth all over again? Could you choose your parents all over again?
You look at yourself being born in the slums to two peasant parents with no benefits or pension, think this starting character is garbage, laugh, and jump off a building to reroll.
Only sothing that crude and brutal could achieve the fantasy Naoya Zenin had just proposed.
Once you were dead, of course you could reincarnate and prepare to awaken a new [Innate Technique].
As for [Cursed Technique Reversal]...
Using technique to drive Cursed Energy in reverse?
Had anyone ever seen Newton get hit by an apple and suddenly awaken to the law of universal gravitation?
Seeing the confused looks on the students' faces, Naoya Zenin directly called on Noritoshi Kamo, who was sitting in the back row by the window.
"Noritoshi Kamo. How many jujutsu techniques can your [Blood Manipulation] use?"
Noritoshi Kamo had not expected Naoya Zenin to call on him.
And on top of that, to ask such a highly sensitive question.
After all, heirs of the Three Great Families were, one way or another, natural rivals, and [Blood Manipulation], as a hereditary technique on par with [Limitless Technique] and [Ten Shadows Technique], was obviously of enormous importance.
As a manipulation-type Innate Technique, [Blood Manipulation] had broad room for developnt to begin with. And as one of the ancient Three Great Families, the Kamo Clan had already pushed [Blood Manipulation] to its limits over a thousand years.
As the heir of the family, Noritoshi Kamo had every right to remain silent.
But as a student, he still chose to give his teacher the respect due to him.
"[Flowing Red Scale] for enhancing the body. [Slicing Exorcism] for mid- and long-range attacks. And of course, I have also mastered the clan's supre technique, [Convergence. Piercing Blood]."
The way Noritoshi Kamo said it so lightly left the surrounding students full of envy.
This was the depth of one of the Three Great Families.
Most people did not even fully understand the actual effects of their own [Innate Technique], let alone develop so many complex jujutsu techniques from it. For an ordinary sorcerer, having even one signature technique already counted as qualified.
"Three techniques. For soone your age, that's about average."
Naoya Zenin continued.
"Where do you think the weakness of [Blood Manipulation] lies?"
"...[Blood Manipulation] has no weakness. It can adapt freely to close-, mid-, and long-range combat. It is the strongest Innate Technique of the Three Great Families, far beyond [Limitless Technique] and [Ten Shadows Technique]!"
Noritoshi Kamo frowned and answered coldly.
To protect the family's dignity and preserve the mystique of the technique, even if [Blood Manipulation] really did have a weakness, there was no way he would admit it in front of outsiders.
"If [Blood Manipulation] is the strongest Innate Technique of the Three Great Families, then why is it that in the thousand years since, I've never seen the Kamo Clan stand at the top of the jujutsu world? Why have you only ever been trampled beneath the Gojo Clan and the Zenin Clan instead?"
Naoya Zenin gave a disdainful laugh.
"Self-deception and blind arrogance. If the Kamo Clan is now full of people like you wielding [Blood Manipulation], then after a thousand years of inheritance, this is all the technique amounts to."
"Ugh!"
Noritoshi Kamo wanted to rise in anger.
But then he rembered that in social standing, bloodline, and Cursed Energy, he was nowhere near a match for the man before him.
At school, Naoya Zenin was the teacher, and he was the student.
Within the Three Great Families, Naoya Zenin was of the legitimate main line, while he was an illegitimate child.
In the jujutsu world, Naoya Zenin was an already famous senior, while he himself was still an ignorant junior.
So in the end, Noritoshi Kamo swallowed his anger and asked again, "Naoya-sensei, then please enlighten . What exactly is lacking in [Blood Manipulation]?"
Naoya Zenin felt a little disappointed.
As expected, not everyone was like Momo Nishimiya, the kind who exploded at the slightest provocation.
He had originally hoped to recreate the first class, use Noritoshi Kamo as a practical example, and make this lesson easier to finish through a live demonstration.
But this was fine too.
It ant his authority was already firmly established.
No one dared challenge it anymore.
"The greatest weakness of [Blood Manipulation] is this. The thing that determines the upper limit of the technique is not Cursed Energy, but blood."
Naoya Zenin tore away [Blood Manipulation]'s last shred of dignity on the spot.
"This may overturn the entire jujutsu world's understanding, but the truth is that [Blood Manipulation], this thousand-year-old hereditary technique of one of the Three Great Families, is a diocre technique that even an outsider could master."
"No matter how abundant your Cursed Energy is, no matter how polished your skill is, if there is no blood around you, [Blood Manipulation] cannot even function!"
"Noritoshi Kamo. If I'm not mistaken, you're carrying several blood packs on you right now, aren't you? And like a starving vampire, you have to make sure the blood stays fresh. Once it clots, it becos useless."
Having the weakness of [Blood Manipulation] exposed in front of so many students, Noritoshi Kamo had not expected Naoya Zenin to understand the technique to such a degree.
As expected of an enemy he would one day have to fight to the death.
The secrets of the Kamo Clan were laid completely bare before this man.
And he himself...did not even know what Naoya Zenin's Innate Technique truly was, let alone what it actually did.
"If you were trying to mock , then yes, you've succeeded. [Blood Manipulation] really does have that fatal flaw."
Noritoshi Kamo gave up trying to keep up appearances and could only admit it honestly.
"But that's just what [Innate Technique] is. The mont it awakens, everything is already decided. As sorcerers, all we can do is work after the fact to compensate for our technique's shortcomings as much as possible. Isn't that true?"
"How ignorant."
Naoya Zenin's voice turned sharp.
"That's not facing the problem. That's avoiding it. Why do you use Cursed Energy to manipulate the blood around you and then use that to drive [Blood Manipulation]? Why not use your brain for once? Why can't [Blood Manipulation] itself drive Cursed Energy, and then convert that Cursed Energy into blood?"
"Convert Cursed Energy into blood?!"
Noritoshi Kamo's heart jolted.
That really was a possible line of thought.
After all, the greatest weakness of [Blood Manipulation] was that it required a large amount of blood to drive the technique.
In that whole process, Cursed Energy often played a nearly negligible role.
If Cursed Energy could be converted directly into blood, then that would perfectly patch up [Blood Manipulation]'s weakness and truly turn it into a flawless technique.
"But only Cursed Spirits can turn Cursed Energy into blood, can't they?"
"Why can Cursed Spirits turn Cursed Energy into blood?"
"Because Cursed Spirits have no physical bodies, so for them, Cursed Energy is blood."
"And what is Cursed Energy?"
"Cursed Energy... Cursed Energy is energy condensed from negative emotions..."
"Then why can't we turn Cursed Energy into blood?"
Naoya Zenin tapped the desk and abruptly shifted the topic.
"Can anyone answer this for ? Why was jujutsu born in the first place? Whoever answers correctly gets ten points."
"I know!"
Kasumi Miwa shot her hand up at once, full of excitent.
"My grandma told . It was to drive out evil spirits!"
"That's your grandmother's answer, not yours. And it doesn't even answer the question."
"How can that be?!"
The blue-haired girl's head drooped on the spot.
"It was because negative energy leaking from the human body kept accumulating. Once that accumulation takes shape, it becos what we call a [Cursed Spirit]. The strength of a [Cursed Spirit] depends on the quality of the negative emotions involved, so the more hatred and pain there is, the more terrifying the [Cursed Spirit] becos. And in order to kill [Cursed Spirits], jujutsu was naturally born."
Momo Nishimiya answered seriously.
For a top student like her, soone raised on elite Western education, that answer should have been an easy perfect ten.
"Too textbook."
But Naoya Zenin was not interested in that official answer at all.
"I don't want to hear sothing so formulaic."
"Too formulaic?!"
The mont she heard that even Momo Nishimiya had been shut down, Kasumi Miwa's drooping head popped right back up, and she instantly started enjoying herself again.
The students also began chattering among themselves.
"Cursed Spirits are kind of like quantum lifeforms, right? Normal people can't observe them, only we sorcerers can, so that's why jujutsu appeared."
"I heard that when sorcerers die, they can turn into Cursed Spirits too, but there aren't that many sorcerers in the world, are there?"
"I don't know, and honestly I don't care how jujutsu was born. I just want to kill Cursed Spirits. I see one, I kill one."
Unlike the noisy students, Mai beside them was sunk in a very different kind of silence.
It was no longer silence at all.
It was sorrow, thick and heavy.
"Mai. What's your answer?"
Naoya Zenin called on the short-haired girl.
After a long silence, Mai finally answered in a voice full of sadness.
"The birth of jujutsu... I don't think it was because of [Cursed Spirits]. I think it was because of war."
At that mont, the lively atmosphere in the classroom vanished.
Mai paid no attention to anyone else's mood and went on speaking.
"It was born because people wanted to kill other people. Compared to killing soone with a knife, if you could burn them to death with fire, that would be simpler. Easier..."
Her words were blunt, and shocking.
The sa thought rose in everyone's mind.
Naoya Zenin was definitely going to tear Mai apart for saying that.
Because she had just reduced elegant, noble jujutsu to a bloody, ugly tool for murder.
That was an insult to every sorcerer alive.
And yet, when faced with Mai's answer, Naoya Zenin's expression remained just as arrogant as ever.
He did not get angry.
He did not rebuke her.
He did not lose his composure.
He simply nodded, calm and steady.
"Correct."
"Jujutsu is a technique for killing people."
Looking at the stunned students around him, Naoya Zenin rely said lightly,
"Jujutsu was born from human desire. People wanted to burn down forests and clear wasteland, so fire-type [Innate Techniques] appeared. They wanted to call wind and rain and help crops grow in peace, so water-type [Innate Techniques] appeared."
"But in an environnt that peaceful, jujutsu could never truly progress. If all it was for was farming and chopping wood, then jujutsu would only ever beco a mild tool. Like a windmill turning in a field. Who would ever think a windmill was dangerous? And who would bother dividing sorcerers into ranks?"
After civilization was built and took shape, jujutsu continued to develop.
But if its only purpose had been the continuation of civilization, then there would have been no need to distinguish between sorcerers. A Special Grade Sorcerer and an ordinary sorcerer should have been the sa. No one's jujutsu would have beco stronger, because there would have been no aning in that.
Only war.
Only the question of who could kill others with jujutsu. Only through the division of ranks, only through higher grades of jujutsu, could the terror of jujutsu truly be revealed.
"Why did jujutsu develop? Obviously for slaughter."
"Because human beings were once threatened by [Cursed Spirits]. Against monsters that could not be killed by swords or bows, only extraordinary jujutsu could make them scream in pain. By the Heian era, when Cursed Energy was at its peak, [Cursed Spirits] had already been suppressed. But humanity had reached a point where it could no longer stop killing. Instead, people began killing each other with jujutsu, and beings like the King of Curses, [Ryon Sukuna], appeared. Jujutsu underwent a technological explosion beyond anything previously imagined. Even now, most sorcerers are still living off the legacy of ancient jujutsu."
"Fire is for burning people to death. Wind is for cutting people apart. Water is for drowning people. Lightning is for electrocuting people. In human history, jujutsu developed on the foundation of war and massacre. Jujutsu is an extrely efficient thod of killing."
The young noble paused for a mont, then mocked himself in an utterly scornful tone.
"Anyone who studies jujutsu is a potential murderer."
"Gulp..."
The classroom had already fallen completely silent.
Even the sound of soone swallowing felt unnaturally loud.
For these young people who had only just entered the ivory tower, for these sorcerers who still felt passion toward jujutsu, such a sharp topic was obviously not sothing they were ready to face.
"That's nonsense! I-I think everything you just said is wrong!"
Under that oppressive atmosphere, a noble boy soon stood up, looking righteous with indignation.
"Jujutsu is a noble and elegant art! We didn't co to Jujutsu High to learn sothing that ugly and disgusting! You're raising Curse Users! Only Curse Users use jujutsu to kill people! We ca here to learn techniques for exorcising [Cursed Spirits]!"
"Y-Yeah! The Heian era was a thousand years ago! Why do we need to know all this bloody history?! We're not like those sorcerers from the past! We study jujutsu for peace and ideals!"
"I'm reporting you to the principal! Everything you just said is politically wrong! The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons only just ended! Are you trying to beco a second Suguru Geto?!"
Several of the new students quickly started making a fuss.
For young people, they had only co here to learn advanced jujutsu techniques. They had no interest in hearing stories like this.
Naoya Zenin only needed to teach jujutsu. No one cared about these subjects.
What King of Curses [Ryon Sukuna], what jujutsu being a ans of killing...
That was all ancient history from a thousand years ago. Just myths and legends.
It had absolutely nothing to do with the peaceful jujutsu world of today.
"You're all definitely wondering why I'm bringing up such cruel topics in this lesson."
Faced with the students' accusations, Naoya Zenin remained as calm as ever.
"History is a patient teacher. If you don't understand, it will explain it again. The only problem is that the tuition is too expensive, and the course lasts too long. Even so, I still hope that one day you'll understand. And if not, then it will simply happen all over again."
That extre calmness instead made the furious students hesitate.
That was right.
Why was Naoya Zenin choosing to talk about a subject that every other teacher at Jujutsu High deliberately avoided?
The mont they thought that the desire to learn jujutsu they felt today would one day beco a desire to kill on the battlefield, many students turned pale, and so nearly vomited.
They wanted to leave.
That was the very first thought in most of their minds.
If they left this place, then they would not have to learn how cruel jujutsu really was, and they could go on happily studying it instead.
"Anyone who wants to leave is free to leave right now."
Naoya Zenin shifted slightly to the side and openly gave up the space by the classroom door.
"I won't stop you either. Because if even a sorcerer cannot distinguish truth, cannot see life for what it really is, then your future achievents will amount to nothing more than ending here in advance."
"Hmph. What a ridiculous guy. I must've been crazy to co sit in on this class."
Very quickly, a few noble students took the lead and walked out the door.
As they left, they muttered among themselves.
"Yeah. I ca here to learn jujutsu, not to take a history lesson. Why doesn't he just teach that [Binding Vow] of his properly?"
"That [Binding Vow] is probably made-up nonsense too. [Cursed Technique Reversal], my ass. Naoya Zenin is all hype and no substance. He doesn't actually have any real strength at all."
But before they could finish talking themselves out, they suddenly heard a cold snort.
Those noble boys from Kyoto instantly went rigid.
Had Naoya Zenin heard their whispering after all?
But hadn't he just said he wouldn't care if they left the classroom?!
The students turned around, only to discover that the snort had not co from Naoya Zenin at all, but from the silent Aoi Todo.
Aoi Todo snorted and folded his arms, looking at those nobles with naked disdain in his eyes.
"A bunch of cowards."
"What did you say?"
The mont they realized it was just Aoi Todo, soone with no background to speak of, mocking them, the noble boys exploded with rage and nearly rolled up their sleeves to fight.
"If you can't even accept this much reality, then I think you should get the hell out as soon as possible."
Aoi Todo only kept his burning gaze fixed on the man at the podium.
"My master's class has no need for nobles like you who only ca here to gild yourselves. You'll never touch true strength. You'll never beco a man who can stand tall under heaven!!!"
"Yeah, hurry up and get out! Stop disturbing our class!"
Just as Aoi Todo said, most of the students leaving were auditors.
The vast majority of the students who had attended the first class were still sitting in their seats, quietly waiting for Naoya Zenin to continue teaching.
"A crazy teacher with a bunch of crazy students!"
That invisible sense of exclusion, that invisible cohesion, instantly made those noble boys feel so ashad they could barely show their faces. After cursing a few tis, they slunk off out of the classroom.
"...Looks like everyone who was supposed to leave has already left. Then let's officially begin class."
Though he sounded calm enough saying it, Naoya Zenin was honestly a little shaken.
Wait, only that few people left?
He had originally thought this move would hit both body and mind, exposing the brutal truth of what sorcerers were and neatly driving out a whole crowd of auditors.
Instead, it turned out the young people at this school were all budding sociopaths. The mont he told them they were potential murderers, they got even more excited.
Just look at Momo Nishimiya. That look in her eyes, like she wanted to devour him alive, wasn't that the look of a walking psychopath?
"Since all of you are now able to accept the essence of jujutsu, then I can also speak openly about the secret of [Cursed Technique Reversal]."
At last, Naoya Zenin picked up a piece of chalk and began writing on the blackboard behind him, one word at a ti.
"The essence of Cursed Energy is negative energy. Negative energy exists for killing and destruction. And if the fuel that drives [Innate Technique] is negative energy infused through Cursed Energy, then naturally the jujutsu it produces is also born for killing."
"But what if we flip the board over and think about it from another angle?"
"Take [Blood Manipulation]. Why can Cursed Spirits convert Cursed Energy into blood, while sorcerers cannot?"
"Because for Cursed Spirits, negative energy can heal them, while sorcerers cannot use negative energy to heal themselves."
"Then if the essence of Cursed Energy were positive energy, and positive energy existed for protection and restoration, and the fuel driving [Innate Technique] were that sa positive energy infused through Cursed Energy, then would the resulting Cursed Technique possess another form, one completely opposite to the original?"
"Then we arrive at two theories at the sa ti."
Naoya Zenin swept his gaze across the dumbstruck students below and gave them his answer.
"The first is this. By driving [Innate Technique] in the opposite direction, allowing [Innate Technique] itself to choose to absorb Cursed Energy, you can obtain a completely opposite Cursed Technique. That is: [Cursed Technique Reversal]!"
"The second is this. By directly changing the nature of Cursed Energy itself, making negative energy collide with negative energy, you can produce positive energy to heal yourself. That is. [Reverse Cursed Technique]!"
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