16 Chapter 16: Let's change Things #8
'.' Thoughts of character. Example: 'Hello'
Narrator dialogue
3rd person dialogue
[Curse Techniques]
Sound
Author's Note: This story is based on the Jujutsu Kaisen manga, which has some variations from the anime. If you find any discrepancies in the dialogues or scenarios, I invite you to research how it was in the manga. It's a story of short chapters, as I find it unnecessary to be a detailed episode (I don't know how to write long chapters).
I apologize if there are grammatical errors, I write in Spanish and translate it into English.
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Flashback
Training field
"Sensei, can I ask you a question?" Itadori asked, his voice full of curiosity. He was recovering from an intensive training, taking a sip of water to refresh his dry throat.
"You already did", his master replied, his voice loaded with indifference as he walked away, leaving Itadori in the training field.
"No, I didn't mean that question!" Itadori exclaimed, his voice full of frustration. He extended a hand to stop his master, who stopped and turned to face him, a mocking smile on his lips.
"Tell me", Gojo said, his voice full of amusement. With a quick movement, he took the water bottle from Itadori.
Itadori, already used to his master's mischief, decided to ignore his attitude and proceeded to ask his question. "What is your technique?" The boy asked. The question seemed to surprise Gojo, who thought that Itadori already knew his technique.
"Well, you know the infinity-", Gojo began to explain, but was interrupted by Itadori.
"I know that part", Itadori clarified with impatience. "What I don't understand is those attacks that you use, Blue, Red, Purple…"
"Ohhhh", Gojo answered, his voice full of understanding as he understood Itadori's confusion. "Well, a quick explanation, Infinity is the neutral form of my ritual. In short, they can't touch me…"
Itadori nodded, already familiar with that part of Gojo's technique. "Blue, on the other hand, is the reinforcement of the neutral form. Which in short again, is a black hole that attracts everything to it."
"And here comes the fun part", Gojo said, a malicious smile formed on his face, awakening Itadori's curiosity. "Red, is another ritual", he revealed, causing Itadori's surprise.
"What? How do you mean another ritual, you have 2? Or what do you mean?" Itadori bombarded his master with questions, before being calmed by Gojo with a gesture of his hand. "Well, yes it is my ritual… but technically it is another…" He confessed, leaving Itadori in even more doubts.
"You know about positive energy, right?" Gojo asked, although he already knew the answer.
"Yes, by using the reverse ritual, you combine negative energy with negative energy, obtaining positive energy", Itadori answered quickly, being a user of the technique himself.
"Exactly, then, rituals by nature use negative energy as a form of activation, right?" Gojo commented, observing the silent nod of his student.
"Then… What would happen if instead of using negative energy to activate a ritual, you use positive energy…?" Gojo asked, in teacher mode, leaving Itadori babbling.
"Well, uh, what would happen would be…" Itadori tried to answer, but ran out of words.
"The effect of the ritual is reversed", Gojo answered, completing Itadori's sentence and leaving him surprised. "Yes, that's what I was going to say", Itadori lied, nodding quickly to hide his surprise.
"The concept of Blue is to attract", Gojo explained, raising a finger and revealing a bright blue point on the tip of his fingers. "It's like a black hole, attracting everything to it.
Then, he raised his other hand and revealed a red point on the tip of his fingers. "Red, on the other hand, is to repel. It's the antithesis of Blue, a force that pushes everything away from it. Both are actually the same reinforced ritual, only with different sources of energy" The teacher explained, showing his mastery of the topic.
Itadori, intrigued, asked: "Can all positive energy users do that with their rituals?"
Gojo shook his head. "Not all rituals have an inverse form. Only some, like mine, can use positive energy to reverse the effect of the original ritual".
Intrigued by Gojo's last technique, Itadori asked: "And Purple, teacher?"
"Purple is the combination of positive and negative energy in the same reinforced ritual", the master answered, ending his explanation.
Just when Itadori was about to ask another question, Gojo raised a finger while reading something on his cell phone. "I have to go," he said, putting away his cell phone. "Did something happen?" Itadori asked. "You know, the usual, curses," Gojo replied with simplicity, earning a nod from Itadori.
This time, Itadori was left alone in the training field, Itadori reflected on his master's words. He raised his left hand and murmured "Blue…", while his hand caught fire, his negative energy taking the form of fire.
In thermodynamics, temperature is a measure of the speed at which atoms move. The higher the temperature, the faster the atoms move. Conversely, the lower the temperature, the slower the atoms move.
"Red…" He murmured this time, seeing his positive energy covering his right hand 'If the negative is fire… The positive is…'
End flashback
22:18
Four figures moved through the streets of Shibuya with astonishing speed, their silhouettes barely visible in the twilight of the night.
"That was amazing, Itadori!" exclaimed a voice coming from a man with a black hat, addressing a young man with pink hair who ran beside him.
"Thank you, Ino," Itadori replied, his face lit up by a bright smile. "No, seriously! The way you released missiles from your fingers and annihilated all the curses in that street with such ease… it was impressive!"
"Salmon!" interrupted a third man, his face hidden behind a high collar, who also ran along with them.
"By the way, Ino…" Itadori began, catching the attention of the man with the black hat. "How is Junpei?" he asked, his tone full of concern.
"He's fine, he learns very fast," Ino replied, his contagious smile quickly spread to Itadori's face. "I'm glad to hear that," Itadori said, his smile widened even more.
"We're almost there with Nanami," Megumi announced, his wolf invocation leading the team through the labyrinthine streets.
The team ran for a few more minutes, until they descended into a subway station, they encountered a dome.
"A domain?" Ino questioned, his voice full of disbelief. "Sake," Toge replied, his tone serious.
"Is Nanamin in there, Fushiguro?" Itadori asked, turning to the young man with black hair.
"Wolf lost track a few moments ago, it just opened," Megumi replied, his voice tense.
"Then, what are we waiting for!" Itadori exclaimed, clapping his hands with determination.
Pov Megumi
'How did he surpass me so fast?' I doubted, seeing Itadori entering the enemy domain, leading our small team with determination, me behind him, seeing his back, a view that I was getting used to.
I knew the world of sorcery since I was 5 years old, since a strange man revealed to me that I was a product for the Zenin family, one of the most powerful and cruel in the country.
I had 10 years of knowledge advantage, and yet, I was weaker than him, who had barely entered the world of sorcery a few months ago.
I watched as Nanami and Toge protected me while I expanded my domain to cancel the sure hit of that octopus curse.
'How did he surpass me so fast?' I doubted again, seeing Itadori taking the lead again, being the main attacker among Ino, Maki and the old man.
'We're almost there and we can escape' I thought, seeing the hole opening up little by little, thanks to my technique. 'But will it be necessary?' I doubted, seeing how they were beating up that curse, which could no longer defend itself.
'What sets you apart from Itadori…' I remembered the words that Gojo had told me, when he trained me. '…Is that Itadori would go for a homerun, while you settle for a touch…' Those words came back to me, seeing myself in a situation where my main thought was to escape or die in sacrifice.
Will it really be a problem of attitude?' I doubted my actions in the face of difficulties, remembering all the times I had given up or run away.
'Itadori imagines himself standing next to the strongest, you don't imagine yourself being stronger than you currently are' Gojo's words hitting my head like hammers, seeing Itadori hitting all over the field to that curse, with a smile on his face.
"Megumi, focus!" Nanami shouted, seeing the boy's breakdown, who was lost in his thoughts. "You can do it!" He motivated, knowing he was capable of much more.
'I can do it'
But those words had a different effect than the one the older sorcerer meant, a better one.
'I can do it'
Megumi breathed slowly, stopping trembling slowly. 'Enter the battle without any thought of loss crossing your mind' He repeated mentally the words of his master, who had taught him to trust himself.
He opened his eyes, those blacks had a brightness that they never had before, and this time he repeated mentally the last words of his master.
'Have pride'
[Domain Expansion: Chimera Shadow Garden]
The blue sky turned black.
The sun in the sky disappeared, swallowed by the darkness, and from that darkness…
Demons emerged.
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End of the chapter, you don't know how annoying it is to have to watch carefully because everything happens in the anime, and as I alter that, certain things can't happen.
Itadori didn't kill his brothers, so Chozo wasn't looking for him.
Megumi didn't separate from Itadori because Ino wasn't badly injured, because Toji wasn't summoned.
Itadori finished off the curses, so Toge is with them.
