Jujutsu Kaisen: I Have A Gardevoir

The Kamo clan head's residence—explosive scenes.

Somewhere underground in Kyoto—things were even more intense.

Girls wailing, boys laughing manically.

Meanwhile, Akira looked completely at ease, with a relaxed expression as he looked towards the large hole that had formed on the tree trunk. He slowly walked towards the girl, calling out to her without a hurry.

"Hey, Miss Mai, still alive? If you don't answer, I'll leave you here."

It was unclear whether it was Akira's words that had some effect or if she simply recovered from her exhaustion. Slowly, Mai Zen'in sat up from the ground, habitually touching below her nose, then she scoffed, "Heartless guy, you don't know how to care for a lady at all. Whose fault do you think this is?"

"Of course it's yours. You're the one who asked me to train you, and now you're blaming me?"

Akira wore an innocent expression. It could only be him who treated a lady from the Zen'in family like she was nobody and occasionally toyed with her.

Mai Zen'in ground her teeth in frustration. Originally, she had intended to "get revenge" by making a request for "special training" to embarrass him, but once again, her plan backfired.

Since she couldn't beat him in a fight and couldn't outtalk him, she could only pout and complain.

"I only asked for training, not some extreme workout. I almost died just now, didn't I?"

"Relax, you were far from dying. If you don't believe me, check yourself."

Akira said while pointing at Mai's nose. She reached for it again.

"No nosebleed?"

Nothing. Clean as a whistle.

Previously, whenever she used her cursed technique, she would always end up with a nosebleed. On bad days, other body parts would also ooze blood.

Given the scale of her cursed technique just now, she thought for sure she'd have blood oozing from her seven orifices and that her brain would be burnt to a crisp.

To her surprise, there was nothing.

Taking out a compact mirror from her bag, she checked herself from left to right, up and down. Still nothing—just a slightly pale face, which was normal considering the large burst of cursed energy she had used.

"How is this possible? I did the same thing as usual."

"Did you really do the same?" Akira smiled and asked.

Mai took his question seriously, thinking it over. "If I have to say, usually, I practice alone. My cursed technique is only known by Master Utahime. But this time, there's you too. Though Master Utahime wouldn't yell like you did, things like 'focus, projectile'—wait a minute, could it be...?"

"Exactly, it could be. You say the burden on you is the load brought by your cursed technique. From what I observed, this load only appears the moment the conjuration happens. If that's the case, then if you split the conjuring into steps, the burden issue is solved. Carrying 100 kg at once is tough; carrying it in ten parts of 10 kg is easy, right?"

Mai Zen'in's hidden cursed technique—"Construction Technique."

Using her own cursed energy as a base, she constructs matter from scratch. Unlike "Domain Expansion," which temporarily alters physical laws within a barrier by manifesting a "True Domain," the "Construction Technique" directly interferes with the rules of the world at their core. The created object does not vanish after the technique ends, resulting in tremendous energy consumption and a heavy burden on the body.

At her current level, Mai could only construct one bullet per day, and it was for her usual revolver, which had a smaller caliber and volume compared to the Thompson Contender used in training.

That's why she said she couldn't do it—it truly was pushing her limits, and pushing one's limits could lead to death.

But here, constructing meant constructing the bullet in phases, piece by piece, which reduced the instantaneous load. Using time in exchange for endurance—after all, the bullet wouldn't vanish after being constructed, so there was no rush.

Mai understood the principles, but she still didn't get it.

"I actually tried doing that before, what you suggested. But no matter how I tried, I kept failing—either I couldn't focus and manifest it properly, or the constructed object didn't match my intent."

"That's because you made the same mistake as Noritoshi—traditional mindset. Noritoshi's understanding of blood was too one-dimensional. It's the same with you—you subconsciously think of a bullet as one complete entity."

As Akira spoke, he took the Thompson from Mai and removed a bullet casing.

"Everything that appears to be a complete entity can be split. From large things like the casing, projectile, propellant, and primer, to the microscopic particles—molecules, atoms, protons, neutrons. Don't let ordinary things limit your mind—Teacher Gojo once said, 'A sorcerer's battle, in the end, is a battle of imagination.'"

"Imagination, huh..." Mai Zen'in seemed thoughtful. "Like Todo?"

"Well, he might take it too far, but he can serve as a reference. In terms of battle tactics, Todo Aoi is indeed among the best."

"So, what should I do?" Mai humbly asked for guidance. Although Akira often toyed with her, he never joked about these things.

"With love—"

"Huh?"

"That's probably what Todo would say, but you'd think that's dumb." Akira lightened the mood slightly, "So I'll give you some practical advice. It comes down to eight words—strengthen your perception and change your cognition.

Specifically, it splits into two parts. First, find a way to study the construction of bullets; observe the bullet-making process. The more detail, the better. Ideally, get hands-on experience. Eventually, when you see a bullet, you should automatically see all its parts."

Mai nodded in understanding.

A regular person sees a human body as one entity, but a forensic doctor sees organs and tissues.

"And the second?"

"The second is self-suggestion. For instance, visualize the bullet-making in three steps. The first step—take out the projectile... Uh, you get the idea. Your brain already has a blueprint of a bullet—it just doesn't habitually break it down. Focus your attention on the parts. After all, your bullets are manifested through cursed energy, possessing not only physical properties but also cursed energy properties."

"So all that shouting you did at me—" Mai finally caught on.

He was using that method to weaken her sense of "bullet completeness," subconsciously extending the construction process.

However, Mai didn't know that this method was effective because it was her. Like Noritoshi, she was someone who lived by the judgments of others, always concerned with how people saw her.

And Akira, in her mind, had established an image of strength and invincibility. Naturally, she cared about his opinions and unwittingly followed his instructions, even forgetting her original thoughts.

In simple terms, she was easily led astray.

However, mastering the method of self-suggestion could mitigate that weakness.

When it came to teaching, Assistant Instructor Akira was always reliable.

"Of course, this is just a workaround. The fundamental approach is to improve your own endurance and understanding of your technique—meditation, 'Black Flash,' 'Reversed Curse Technique,' 'Maximum Technique.' If you can master these, you may not even lose in a head-on clash with Maki."

"If I could master those, I'd take you down first." Learning was one thing, grudges were another—Mai kept the distinction clear.

"If you want to beat me, you'll need more than that—unless you evolve into Emiya Shirou."

"Who's Emiya Shirou?"

"Emiya Shirou, the protagonist of 'Fate/stay night.' Highly recommended by yours truly."

"..."

Mai's expression became awkward. She thought it was some big-shot person, but it turned out to be a 2D character.

"Don't underestimate 2D, okay? I was just talking about imagination, wasn't I? Trust me, you won't regret watching—it'll definitely inspire you."

Akira spoke with sincerity, and Mai's curiosity was piqued. She picked up her phone and began searching.

Akira accompanied her as they walked up the stairs of the underground shooting range.

"Lesson's over, keep working on it. I'm going to find a place to nap, see ya."

Mai waved him off, fully absorbed in the information she found online.

"Fate/stay night," an 18+ visual novel game by TYPE-MOON.

Wait, 18+?

"Akira, you tricked me again!!!"

"Kind of got Rin's vibe there."

By this time, Akira had already returned to the surface and was about to leave the yakuza's underground stronghold.

Darkness surged, and the shadow of Darkrai silently emerged.

Akira smiled faintly, whispering, "Finally here. I knew someone wouldn't be able to resist."

With a wave of his hand, his second most reliable Pokémon returned to the shadows. Akira casually walked out of the entrance.

Outside, three black cars, fitting the yakuza style, were parked casually along the roadside, with guards in black suits standing nearby.

A woman in her fifties, dressed like a butler, quickly approached, bowing slightly to Akira.

"Kenshin-sama, do you remember me?"

"Nope. Don't know you, don't remember you." Akira immediately denied it three times.

The confidence on the butler's face froze slightly, though she kept her manners. "It doesn't matter if you don't remember me, but surely you remember Madam. Madam wants to see you."

"Madam? Which Madam?" Akira looked confused. "I don't think there's anyone I've ever properly called Madam."

"Kenshin-sama really likes to joke. Of course, it's your—"

The butler's voice lowered, and her bowed head rose. At the same time, Akira also looked over, and their eyes locked.

"My what? Think carefully before you speak."

The butler's face turned cold, while Akira smiled. Yet it was the former who found herself overpowered, involuntarily taking a step back, her voice hesitating slightly.

"In any case, you understand."

"I don't."

After receiving Akira's refusal three times in a row, the butler's patience began to wear thin.

"It seems Kenshin-sama has truly decided not to comply with Madam's orders. Surely you understand the consequences?"

"I don't. How about you teach me?" Akira raised an eyebrow, his expression playful, as if watching a joke.

"If Kenshin-sama requests it, then I will—"

The butler's fingers moved slightly, just about to raise her hand when she suddenly felt intense pain in her abdomen. A powerful force sent her flying into the black car on the roadside.

The metal car body was forcibly dented into a human-shaped mark.

Akira still stood on the shooting range steps, brushing his pants with a look of disdain, as though he'd touched something filthy.

"Put away your arrogance—it will only make you die faster!"

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