Kenjaku's stance was smooth and graceful.
Although, as a thousand-year-old monster, its strength was unfathomable, the [Brain Transplant Cursed Technique] did have a drawback.
The body it stole was locked at its upper limit from the mont Kenjaku took control. From then on, there was no possibility of further growth or improvent. Its strength would remain forever frozen at the mont the possession was completed, trapped in total stagnation.
Even if Kenjaku's techniques reached the heavens and its sches stood above all under heaven, even if it could arrange a thousand-year chessboard and stir the winds of the world, it still could not magically make up for the fundantal weaknesses of this mortal body.
And this current body of Kaori Itadori showed not the slightest trace of training from head to toe.
She had only been a beautiful, virtuous wife who devoted herself to her husband and child.
Kenjaku had chosen Kaori Itadori as its vessel only to give birth to Yuji Itadori, and to experience what it felt like to beco a mother for the first ti.
Likewise, this was the weakest vessel Mara Kenjaku had ever chosen throughout its thousand years of life.
Judging from the woman's body Kenjaku now possessed, the variety of its techniques, their lethality, and the body's resilience were all still within a range that could be handled.
Although there was an impossible gap in total Cursed Energy, and clashing with Cursed Techniques directly would be dangerous, Naoya could still win by the smallest of margins if he relied on the difference in physical ability.
He could win.
Naoya Zenin was certain of it.
He had considerable confidence in his Taijutsu.
With the intense training he had undergone over the past few days, the original owner's already impressive physical strength had been tempered to its absolute peak. Combined with the bizarre chanics of [Projection Sorcery], he could indeed suppress Kenjaku's movents for a short ti.
If Kenjaku had taken over Suguru Geto's body, then this transmigrator really could have just lain down and waited to die.
But against Kaori Itadori as she was now, he still held the advantage at this stage.
Even if his opponent's strength far surpassed his own, Naoya Zenin did not think he should imdiately surrender, slit his own throat, and ascend to the heavens.
No more than 240 fras. Kill Kenjaku completely within ten seconds!!!
Naoya Zenin's mind spun at full speed.
He calculated.
[Projection Sorcery] was a modern technique. In the world today, only Naobito Zenin and Naoya Zenin possessed it. No matter how vast Kenjaku's experience was, it absolutely could not know the operating logic behind this technique.
That ant in their first encounter, it would inevitably be caught off guard by [Projection Sorcery], creating the effect of an instant first-eting kill.
This plan was flawless.
Naoya Zenin shifted his center of gravity forward, searching for the right mont to strike.
[Projection Sorcery] was already drawing up the blueprint for victory. All he had to do was execute the plan.
He pinched the shuriken hidden inside his sleeve between his fingers.
The start of the battle would be the decisive battle.
There could be no room to hold back. He had to pour everything into the fastest, shortest possible attack, giving Kenjaku no chance to see through [Projection Sorcery].
Yet in that very instant, the entire plan failed.
"...?!"
Kenjaku's breathing was strange.
He could not catch the other party's breath.
No, if he listened carefully, there was breathing, but... sothing was wrong.
It was not the breathing of soone in combat.
That breathing sounded extrely faint.
No, it was not only the breathing that was faint.
Naoya Zenin suddenly realized that Kenjaku's entire presence was extrely faint.
Kenjaku was clearly right before his eyes, so real, so distinct, yet sohow hazy like spring heat shimr.
No.
Kenjaku was not the one growing faint.
Only then did Naoya Zenin realize that, without noticing it, he had even begun struggling to breathe.
"Naoya, I know you're a very cautious person. Even across all these hundreds and thousands of years, I've rarely seen soone as careful as you."
Kenjaku sounded completely at ease.
"But I'm also a very cautious person. So as soone with experience, I have to remind you of sothing. The more ticulous a person is, the easier it is for them to lose the initiative in battle."
"...What do you an?"
"I've been observing you from the shadows for a long ti, and I've co to understand you quite deeply. So I made one judgnt. If I suddenly appeared before you, you absolutely would not attack right away."
This Mara raised an eyebrow.
"Because it would be completely outside your expectations. When sothing unexpected happens, you need ti to observe the situation. So as long as I didn't attack first, you absolutely wouldn't make the first move either. I imagine that strength has brought you many benefits in the past. But you forgot one thing. Battle often needs to be driven by instinct."
The carriage floor was slowly cracking.
That ant an astonishing weight was pressing down on it.
What kind of weight could crack the floor of a train?
"Technique Release."
Kenjaku smiled faintly.
[Antigravity System] · Tenfold Output.
In an instant, Naoya Zenin felt his body weight multiply dozens of tis over, so heavy that even lifting an arm beca almost impossible.
His brain was severely deprived of blood.
Blood kept rushing toward the lower half of his body, and his bones began to groan. He could not help wanting to crawl down and kneel, because only that way could he keep himself from blacking out.
How was this possible?!
Ten tis gravity. Converted into the speed of [Projection Sorcery], this was a level Naoya Zenin could only reach by continuously running his technique for a full minute, accelerating through warm-up again and again.
No matter how vast Kenjaku's total Cursed Energy was, it absolutely could not break the laws of this world and raise the power of [Antigravity System Cursed Technique] to ten tis gravity in an instant.
Naoya Zenin finally realized sothing.
"So from the very beginning, from the mont you stepped into this room..."
"At first, it was only one tis gravity."
Kenjaku said calmly.
"That faint level of gravity wasn't even as noticeable as the push you feel when a train accelerates. And since your body is already strong, you would only think the train was climbing through the mountains. Naoya, humans are truly terrifying creatures, because they adapt. They gradually adapt to everything that feels wrong."
"So all I had to do was keep slowly stacking it upward while I talked to you. 1.1 tis, 1.2 tis, 1.3 tis gravity... Of course, if I went any higher, you would have noticed clearly just by moving your body. But you were already extrely tense, watching the entire ti. I know. Soone like you would never allow yourself to reveal even the slightest opening, so naturally, you had no chance to notice."
Naoya Zenin imdiately rembered.
The instant Kenjaku had released its Cursed Energy, he had been stunned by that overwhelming Cursed Energy. He had felt as if his entire body could not move, and he had almost dropped to his knees on the spot.
At that ti, he had even briefly thought Kenjaku's total Cursed Energy far exceeded Satoru Gojo's, and that was why it could create such supre pressure.
Thinking about it carefully now, the cunning Kenjaku must have begun speeding up the activation of [Antigravity System] at the exact sa ti it released its Cursed Energy.
That feeling of being unable to move had been the pressure brought by [Antigravity System].
"How disappointing, Naoya Zenin. I thought you would bring many interesting things."
Kenjaku let out a long sigh.
"I never expected that soone capable of seeing through the fog of history would only amount to this. Kneel."
With Kenjaku's declaration, gravity began to surge, climb, and explode.
Unless granted permission by the sorcerer, no one could stand upright within the range of [Antigravity System].
Anyone within the technique's range had to endure dozens, even hundreds of tis their own weight. Blood would break through the skin of their lower body and drain away. To keep the brain from losing blood, they would have to kneel, even bow their head to the ground in prostration.
But even prostrating might not let them survive.
Kenjaku's Cursed Energy was already unfathomable. As gravity continued to rise, she could make anyone's bones shatter and flatten her enemy's corpse level with the floor.
She no longer wanted to know Naoya Zenin's secrets.
Because Kenjaku never spared a second glance for things she had lost interest in.
So she let the gravity continue to build, slowly lit a cigarette, and watched the occasional flash of snow outside the window in boredom, waiting for Naoya Zenin to be crushed to powder, waiting for that arrogant genius to cry for help like a beaten dog.
But unexpectedly, that scene did not happen.
He did not collapse to his knees. He did not weep and beg.
None of it happened.
"...?"
Kenjaku turned back to look at Naoya Zenin with interest.
The violent crushing pressure had clearly descended from above, forcing both of his feet into the floor of the carriage and making blood burst from every pore of his body. In just a few breaths, he had beco a blood-soaked figure.
Yet Naoya Zenin still held his head high with pride, and his straight back had not bent by even a single degree from beginning to end.
"...Looks like I'll have to see you a little differently."
Kenjaku sounded surprised.
"Your grit is sothing I've rarely seen in all my centuries. It really doesn't match that handso face of yours. So you were a tough guy after all?"
"Then you're going to have plenty more to change your mind about."
Naoya Zenin spoke slowly.
"I'll remind you of sothing too. The more certain you are that you're about to win, the closer you are to losing."
"...What do you an?"
Kenjaku had only just faltered when she heard the man suddenly begin to recite.
"My Innate Technique is called [Projection Sorcery]. Its effect divides one second into 24 fras, allowing for preset movents and high-speed execution. After making contact with an enemy, it forcibly synchronizes them with those rules. If they can't keep up with the fra rate, they'll be frozen for one second."
No!
It was [Technique Disclosure]!
Kenjaku tried to cover her ears, but it was already too late.
She already had a perfect mory, and monts ago, she had been listening with genuine interest. In that brief instant, every detail of [Projection Sorcery]'s operating logic and technique effects was carved firmly into Kenjaku's mind.
And once Kenjaku morized a technique, she would never forget it for as long as she lived.
Which ant...
[Technique Disclosure] had reached its most perfect state.
[Innate Techniques] were the secrets of every sorcerer by nature. The closer two fighters were in strength, the more crucial information beca. What Innate Technique you had, and what effects that technique could produce. Knowing those things was often enough to completely overturn the balance of a battle.
The more famous and powerful a technique was, the more thoroughly it would be studied and countered from every angle. Unless it was a nearly unsolvable technique like the [Limitless Technique], any technique that was made public would inevitably be broken down and restrained.
That was why Jujutsu had to remain mysterious and discreet. Once a Cursed Technique was understood and mastered by the world, its power would only continue to decline, until it finally beca nothing special at all.
Without question, [Technique Disclosure] was a kind of [Binding Vow].
By voluntarily revealing the effects of one's own technique, the sorcerer received a short-term explosive boost to that technique's performance.
Against an ordinary opponent, [Technique Disclosure] would only improve output efficiency.
But Kenjaku was different. Once this thousand-year-old monster learned of [Projection Sorcery], it was the sa as leaking it forever.
A [Binding Vow] was all about the price paid.
The greater the price, the greater the reward.
And yet, this was still nowhere near the limit.
After all, the reason the original host had not gone to Tokyo Jujutsu High was partly because the Three Great Families had no need to show Tokyo Jujutsu High any respect, and partly to protect the secret of [Projection Sorcery]. This [Modern Technique], possessed by only two people in the entire world, was never ant to have its secrets revealed to a third.
Now, every layer of that cause and effect would fall on Kenjaku alone.
The basic rule of 24 fras per second was completely shattered. The fra rate was still soaring, climbing higher and higher without end.
The instant [Technique Disclosure] took effect, Naoya Zenin felt as if [Projection Sorcery] had evolved entirely. The world before him was suddenly so clear, so slow. Light was both wave and particle, and everything in his eyes seed discontinuous, as though a casual sweep of his hand could split the river of ti itself.
The wind around him, the trembling of the train, the snowy scenery flashing past the window, even the faint motion of Kenjaku breathing out smoke. Everything was forcibly slowed, taken apart, and frozen in the gaps between fras.
The invisible gravity that had been crushing him now had shape and form before his eyes. He could free himself from it with ease.
This was a one-ti amplification obtained at the cost of his technique's lifelong secret.
The unique Modern Technique that the Zenin father and son had guarded with such strict secrecy, even deliberately hiding it from their own family, had now been laid bare today before Kenjaku, who had lived for a thousand years. The price paid was as heavy as it could possibly be, and the resulting surge in technique performance had likewise reached its absolute peak.
In this brief instant, he would pour everything he had into killing the enemy before him.
Naoya Zenin slowly approached Kenjaku.
His eyes widened.
Slow down further, ti.
Slow down further, Cursed Energy.
This was the one and only killing move Naoya Zenin would ever have the chance to unleash in his life.
The ultimate technique, a pinnacle of combat power capable of standing at the summit of the Jujutsu World, even harder to master than the [Reverse Cursed Technique].
A fleeting miracle created by the spatial distortion that occurred when the discrepancy between a physical strike and the impact of Cursed Energy fell within 0.000001 seconds.
[Black Flash]!!!
...
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