Swordsmanship.

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A few months later, 7 pm.

Sounds of exertion could be heard from deep within the forest of Jujutsu Tech, coming closer would reveal a young boy fighting barehanded with some Shikigami. An even closer look would reveal him to be blindfolded.

Megumi turned around to block a paw from Nyx with his hands that were glowing with a faint grey and black energy before throwing a haymaker that sent the dog flying away for a moment before he dug his feet into the ground and stabilised himself.

Although he succeeded in blocking the attack, he moved too slowly to block a large tail coming at him from behind which slammed into him, throwing him away into the air.

This brought him straight into the range of Gamma who grabbed him with his tongue by his leg and threw him into the ground causing him to get the wind knocked out of him, before it grabbed its stunned target yet again and threw him back to the serpent.

The serpent was ready for this and caught the boy before forming a constriction coil around him, crushing him and making him gasp in pain.

"Ok, ok!! You win! Let me go!" Megumi cried out in pain, completely unable to fight back after he was tag teamed efficiently by his Shikigami.

The raven-haired boy felt immediate relief as he was released allowing him to take in air again, he panted before falling to his knees. Blizzard comes up to him to comfort him, licking at his face.

"God damn, you guys are hard to fight alone. Even as I am holding back as much as I am." Megumi said as he removed his blindfold.

Megumi has been doing this training every day for the last few months ever since his promise with Gojo Satoru. And while he has improved, he still isn't quite used to it. 

At first he couldn't even hope to fight back, he got dominated instantly. Nowadays he is able to somewhat keep up with them, fight back and block some hits. Although if they get some hits in and start to coordinate he gets overwhelmed quickly.

This training exercise served to fill multiple roles in his training. First of all, it honed his ability to sense his Shikigami without having to see them, this would be imperative as it would allow him to coordinate with them as if it was second nature without the need of sight and eventually even speech.

Secondly, it honed his ability to sense cursed energy within his surroundings, the benefits of such a thing is obvious. As a heightened sensitivity for cursed energy would make him capable of keeping up with fights that his eyes alone couldn't hope to compete with.

Thirdly, it gave him more experience with manipulating cursed energy as he would be able to practise cursed energy reinforcement against actual enemies, this would increase his efficiency with cursed energy and allow him to stay in fights for much longer by learning to use it efficiently without wasting any.

And finally, it would give his Shikigami an opportunity to practise their teamwork, this being essential as having to say his commands out loud would alert his opponents of his plans. With this they would be able to work together without his input. It would also give them more experience in battle as Shikigami keep memory between summons.

[A/N: I always thought Megubum was stupid, like you have access to so many varied Shikigami that can help you train and you choose not to do that??? Nah he'd rather just commit suicide by Big Raga than fight anyone stronger than a middle schooler smh.]

"Ok, it's getting late so I should head back home." Megumi rubbed some dirt from his cheek as he looked up at the dark sky and he stood up, unsummoning most of his Shikigami leaving Blizzard.

Megumi walked tiredly to Blizzard before getting on his back, laying down face first into his fluffy coat and tapping on his side before speaking up with some effort "Blizzard, take me home please"

"Ruff!" Blizzard said happily before running off with great speed.

Later that morning.

Tsumiki sighed as she handed Megumi a large plate of breakfast. "You should really take it easier on yourself Megumi, it really isn't healthy for you to be training so much. You're still only 7 you know!" She had a cute pout and a slight blush as she glared her younger brother down.

"I'm fine Tsumiki, really! Just a little tired, nothing I can't handle." 

Megumi reassured before he started shovelling down his breakfast of white rice, grilled salmon, scrambled eggs and some steamed vegetables. His stomach seemed bottomless as he ate way more food than a 7 year old should realistically be able to put down.

"I still don't know how you can eat that much, is it really that good?" Tsumiki questioned.

"Mhm, it's great Tsumiki. You never miss."

Megumi's casual impromptu compliment caused Tsumiki to blush before she sat down and started eating her own food.

It looked like it was gonna be a quiet morning, and it was for a while before Megumi got a call from Gojo telling him to meet him at Jujutsu Tech.

Megumi looked at his sister who simply sighed lightly before resigning. "Go, just make sure you come back home before dinner."

Megumi simply went over to her and kissed her on the forehead before running out the door.

"Haa~ what am I gonna do with him?" she said exasperatedly before turning on the TV and started watching a show called Singular Fragment. 

"Monkey D. Buffy? What a stupid name."

…

"What's up Gojo?" Megumi said as walked into a traditional dojo on the Jujutsu Tech campus.

"Yo, Megumi! As you know I recently became the head of the Gojo clan and I'll be busy for a while before I can come back to start training you again. So until then I have recruited a teacher for you in the meantime, he will teach you swordsmanship." 

Gojo patted the back of a gruff man with a katana at his hip. "This guy here is a grade 1 sorcerer that could be called the strongest first grade! And he did this without any cursed techniques, it's quite impressive."

"Hey kid, my name is Atsuya Kusakabe. I'll be your swordsmanship tutor for a while, at least until you master my style." The gruff man said as he pulled out a cigarette and started smoking.

Atsuya is a tall man with spiky brown hair and sharp dark eyes. Atsuya wears a dust brown peacoat over a white dress shirt with a jade necktie, black pants, and black shoes.

[Image (In Discord)]

"Nice to meet you Kusakabe-sensei, I'll be in your care." Megumi brought his fist into his hand and bowed respectfully to the master swordsman.

"Huh? Why aren't you that respectful with me you fuckin brat? I'm your teacher too, aren't I?" Gojo questioned indignantly.

Kusakabe replied to Megumi as he said "Don't worry about it kid, I'll make sure by the end of our training that you'll be able to hold your own against even the best of swordsmen and women. You just have to commit yourself fully to my training."

"Of course Kusakabe-sensei, I will." The raven-haired boy said while nodding resolutely to his now teacher.

"Are you both ignoring me right now? Are you for real?" Gojo seemed almost like a sad puppy that was being ignored by its owner.

Neither Kusakabe or Megumi even acknowledged him as they both walked away while talking to each other, exchanging small talk about their lives.

Gojo looked at them leaving after completely ignoring him, looking dejected before crying out "I don't need to take this damnit, I'm leaving! You better teach him well, Kusakabe!"

Gojo then teleported away in a flash of blue light.

"Do you need a sword so we can begin or do you have your own? I don't see it on you but I heard from Gojo something about you having an inventory? Whatever that means."

"He meant that my cursed technique allows me to open up a pocket dimension within my shadow that can store anything I want for me, as long as I can bear the weight of whatever I put in there" Megumi stated before he crouched down to the ground to demonstrate.

He reached into his shadow, as a void opened up within it. His arm up to his forearm went within it as it disappeared from view, his shoulder seemed to tense up slightly as if it was bearing the weight of something before he pulled up, revealing a sheathed katana.

Megumi straightened himself as he unsheathed the blade. "His name is 'Kage'."

The blade that used to be a pure white seemed to have some specks of a darker colour along the edge.

"A good blade, I assume he's been having to drench it with your cursed energy and store it within your technique to make it form a cursed weapon that's highly compatible with your technique in order to be able to channel it through the blade efficiently?" 

Kusakabe proved himself as a master in Swordsmanship and Jujutsu as he cleverly uncovered Gojo's plan after observing Kage for mere seconds.

"Uh, yeah. That's exactly it, wow you're good at this huh, Kusakabe-sensei?" Megumi said with an air of awe about him.

The man just dismissed this, "No, I just have some experience is all. I'm nothing compared to the real monsters in our world."

Kusakabe then went on to explain the main parts of his teachings.

"My plan for you now is to teach you my style of swordsmanship, New Shadow Style." 

Kusakabe then held his katana's grip and unsheathed it, and held his blade out.

"My swordsmanship works with a simple domain at its basest form. So I will teach you that when you are ready. For now, I will train you to make sure your physical abilities are up to par to use my swordsmanship effectively." 

'New Shadow Style, huh? How fitting.' Megumi thought amused slightly. He then held his sword out in a lesser imitation of his master's form.

"Yes Kusakabe-sensei!"

"Ready? Go."

Before Megumi could even blink, the master Swordsman was already on top of him swinging down. His blade slamming into his own with a shower of sparks, bringing the younger boy to his knees. 

'He's too fast! I couldn't even react!'

Megumi tried to swing his sword at his opponent but as his sword swung out, it hit nothing as Kusakabe had already all but disappeared.

"Behind you." A simple monotone voice called out.

Megumi swirled around to try and defend himself but he got hit with a heavy haymaker to his chin that sent him flying away.

"You're too slow, your form is sloppy and you can't even react to any of my moves." Kusakabe's tone of voice made his voice almost unrecognisable, his usual tired and lazy persona left behind as it was replaced by cold hard indifference.

Megumi struggled as he pulled himself to his knees, holding his jaw while panting heavily as he looked at his master.

'Fucking hell, 'kindest sorcerer' my ass. That shit hurts, so this is the reason why he's considered the strongest first grade sorcerer by Nanami, Mei Mei and even Gojo to an extent. Behind that tired coward persona he's actually a monster just like the rest of them.'

He looked up at the Grade 1 Sorcerer, in a haze of pain and dust the man looked terrifying. Covered in a veil of brown cursed energy with glowing grey eyes.

Megumi dragged himself to his feet knowing that he was about to lose, he forced himself to ignore his aching jaw and get in stance.

"I've seen enough, let's finish this. We have much to work on."

Megumi grit his teeth and sprinted at Kusakabe, he drew his blade back and swung it at Kusakabe who clashed his blade against his, easily winning the contest of strength as he pushed his blade down his opponent's. 

Sparks flew out of the exchange as Kusakabe's blade reached Kage's hilt and swung up. This movement wrenched the katana out of Megumi's hand as it flew into the sky.

He then brought his blade to Megumi's neck and stopped, Kage fell onto the ground behind him as it sank to the ground blade first.

"Do you yield?" He said as he brought the blade closer to his neck, its razor sharp edge drew a drop of blood.

"Yes!" Megumi exclaimed with sweat pouring down his neck.

Kusakabe drew his blade back and masterfully sheathed it.

"Let's go, we have a lot of work to do." The gruff man said as he walked away, lighting another cigarette and taking a deep drag as he did.

'Fuckin' hell, I'm in for a real beating aren't I?'

…

Megumi continued his training with Kusakabe for the next year, each day he would teach him something new about Jujutsu and fighting. Every time they sparred he still lost handily without being able to land a single blow but he was Adapting and getting better.

His schedule was completely filled, in the morning he would wake up early and take a short jog around the neighbourhood, he would come back and Tsumiki would usually have breakfast ready. After some contemplating and a lot of convincing Tsumiki, he dropped out of school and devoted himself to Jujutsu full time.

[A/N: No clue why OG Megumi even went to school like???? Why would you choose to go.]

He would eat with his sister before she headed off to school, he then would either start some more cardio, strength training or meditation to hone his control over cursed energy.

If it was Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday he would head over to the dojo where he would train with Kusakabe in Swordsmanship or learn how to use and incorporate simple domain into his swordsmanship.

Then in the evening after a couple hour break and getting some lunch he would start group training with his Shikigami 

He learned how to use simple domain a month into his training, a fact that blew Kusakabe away as not everyone could pull off a simple domain in their whole lives, it was almost completely unheard of to do it at such a young age and in such a short amount of time.

The only person in recent history to be able to do so was Gojo Satoru himself, who opened his first simple domain at the age of 8 a year older than Megumi and even then it took him a month and a half to learn.

'It's like witnessing the birth of a second Gojo Satoru.' Kusakabe simply marvelled at the unrivalled talent of Fushiguro Megumi.

[A/N: I feel like some people would call this out as bullshit but I feel the need to explain myself, Megumi's talent was raised by him being reborn and essentially being two souls combined into one. It was then further enhanced by his ambitions, it was stated by Sukuna himself against Jogo that in order to become strong your mindset needs to fit that strength and Megumi's mindset evolved specifically to match that. And finally his binding vow with Gojo also dramatically increased his potential to heights that even surpassed Gojo himself. Call it bullshit but idc, if ya don't like it just don't read.]

Megumi was holding the grip of his sheathed Kage, around him a circle of cursed energy forming. It was blue with hints of black. From his view all you would see is the domain with the rest of the world a shade of grey. 

In Front of him a grade 3 cursed spirit was released from an urn that sealed it away, it flew out of the urn before sprinting at the closest human to it with abandon. Entering Megumi's simple domain.

"New Shadow Style: Batto Sword Drawing!" 

Megumi unsheathed his sword and swung with all his strength, his blade glowing with refined cursed energy.

The blade cut through the spirit in a single slash, the spirit cried out for a moment its two halves separating from each other before turning into dust and blowing away into the wind.

Claps rang out in the dojo as Kusakabe congratulated his student. "Congrats Megumi, going from taking out a grade 3 curse with the help of 3 Shikigami to taking one out by yourself in a single slash in a matter of months is really impressive."

Megumi sheathed his sword before he turned around to his master and bowed in thanks. "It's all thanks to you Kusakabe-sensei, I wouldn't have been able to do this without you."

"Think nothing of it kid, you're really impressive. Consider yourself a Grade 3 Sorcerer, I'll send in the report and recommendation today." Kusakabe said as he put out his cigarette on a tray he brought with him before coming up to his student and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You should be Proud."

Megumi simply smiled at that.