NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25: The Vessel.
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Glory to my chief Proofreader; Solare for he is the one who points out mistakes and acts as my favourite wall to bounce ideas off of.
Now begins a new Volume: Sorcerer.
Remember this fic will be split by volumes and each one will mark a separate split as part of Megumi's journey in life.
It's time for Megumi to reconsider what it truly means to be a Jujutsu sorcerer and what the responsibility of holding such powers and abilities means to him.
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14th June, 2018.
And so time passed by quickly, days became weeks which then became months and before long it was June. Many things had changed throughout the months, his training hadn't stopped after completing his Vow with Satoru, in fact it only increased.
Megumi could be seen walking down the street wearing a light blue shirt and dark pants, he was walking his way towards the location of another one of Ryomen Sukuna's fingers; Sugisawa Municipal highschool.
By his side was Blizzard who he brought along to enjoy a walk as he was deep in thought, he was considering his options and choices for the oncoming day, among other things.
'Still makes me laugh when I remember what Satoru did to that Chinese Warlord, poor guy already gave up and was being captured but Satoru accidentally squished him into a ball with his spacial control when my part of the Vow was completed.' He laughed a bit, imagining the white haired man's expression.
Megumi also hadn't really considered it prior to completing the Vow but training had become somewhat of ritual for him after so many years as he continued training everyday regardless. It helped him calm down and focus and brought him a sense of peace he hadn't thought he'd achieve for a long while.
It even helped him get over his smoking which had started to become somewhat of a problem in the months following Tsumiki's coma, every time he felt like he wanted one he'd just go out and train, it helped a surprising amount.
'Still pissed that I can't use the Inverted Spear of Heaven on Tsumiki, but Satoru is right; it's not a good idea to use that on her right now since there's no knowing what it could do to her mind. Given that whatever curse placed on her deals with the mind it's not a good idea to fuck with it for now, I'll study it whenever I can and see if there's a way to use the Spear on it to break the curse.'
Training with Maki had been quite enjoyable as well, it had been quite an experience for him. It helped him focus back on his fundamentals of cursed energy control and reinforcement, his shikigami and cursed technique didn't really matter all that much when she could outpace them all with ease, barring any mergers.
So he was forced to rely on himself alone to keep up with her immense physical strength and speed, at the beginning he could barely even see her move most of the time and that's not even considering the difference in strength and durability.
She could dish out and take so much damage it was absurd if he was being honest, it took him a good couple of months but he managed to be able to keep up with her in speed and reaction time. He could now at least somewhat keep up with her in pure physical ability.
However it was a different story if she was using her cursed tools, the difference in strength granted to her by Playful Cloud was like heaven and earth; he couldn't hope to match her in pure physical strength while she was using it no matter what he did.
If nothing else, he could at least say that their training together had increased his pain tolerance and durability by a large margin.
'We did focus on mastering her new senses as I promised, I can proudly say that I helped her reach her fully realised form as that Sumo guy did back in my original life. This time around, things will be different, I will save as many people as possible. I refuse to fail again.' Megumi's eyes hardened as he entered a Rugby Field.
'Which now brings me to this moment, Itadori Yuji and the reawakening of Ryomen Sukuna. I've thought about this moment for years, whether to allow him to reincarnate or not. In the end, it will be better for everyone if Sukuna never Incarnates in Yuji's body.'
He watched as an old man threw a Rugby ball across the field, surrounded by a few dozen of his students, the ball flew around 14 metres before it stopped with cheers all around.
'Without Sukuna, there's no Shibuya, the culling games never start, Kenjaku's plan is fucked and Satoru never dies. This is the right choice, no matter what Sukuna must never revive and Yuji can not eat that damned finger. Speaking of whom…'
Megumi finally saw him, Yuji Itadori. It's an odd sensation, he remembers fighting alongside him in his previous life and he also remembers watching as Yuji had a mental breakdown from watching his own body be taken over by Sukuna.
"Ugh, seriously what a mind fuck, why did all my memories decide to meld together randomly. What a pain. Also, what is it with them, is watching a man bend steel by throwing a ball that crazy? I suppose life as a sorcerer and training with Maki daily kinda fucked with my perception of what's 'crazy'." He muttered to himself quietly while ruffling his hair as he saw Yuji throw a ball that bent steel and caused everyone around him to be in shock.
As he muttered, Blizzard moved on his own, spotting a large 2nd Grade curse and jumping into the air at it. Catching the curse off guard, his jaw clamped down around its rotund neck and pulled it down unto the ground.
The curse struggled for its life but the wolf was simply too strong for it to hope to escape as he tore into its writhing flesh and ate it alive while it was screaming in agony. Alas none heard its screams as it died a slow and painful death, Megumi not caring for this in the slightest simply walked off and followed Yuji after he sensed remnants of Sukuna's familiar cursed energy on him.
'I could catch up to him in an instant and stop him right now but his Grandpa should be about to die today isn't he? I'm already going to rob him of his destiny and future as a Jujutsu Sorcerer as well as the opportunity to learn about his origins and family. The least I could do is allow him to say his goodbyes to his grandad. Worst case scenario is that a curse eats it and becomes a Finger Bearer, which would be easy to deal with.'
And so he followed him to the hospital by jumping from roof to roof until they reached the hospital, jumping down after Yuji entered it and then followed him to his grandad's room. Megumi then waited for about 30 minutes before he saw a few nurses rushing into the room.
An hour later he saw Yuji exit the room and fill some documents at the front desk of the hospital, after seeing him finish Megumi coughed into his hand to catch his attention.
"Ahem, sorry to bother you at such a time but may I please have your attention? You're Itadori Yuji correct?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
"Uh, what? Yeah that's me, what is it I'm kinda grieving over here." The pink haired young man answered.
Yuji is a young man of average height and appears to have a slender build when wearing baggy clothing, but actually has a lean and muscular physique. He also has relatively large light brown eyes and spiky pink hair that's styled in an undercut fashion. Yuji wore a light-coloured hooded jacket, high-cuffed black pants, and white shoes.
"My name is Megumi Fushiguro and I promise to explain everything in full eventually, but for now we must move with haste. Human lives are on the line, you found a cursed object recently correct? One like this?" Megumi asked, bringing out his phone and showing a picture of Sukuna's finger while sealed.
"What do you mean lives are on the line? I did get that thing, but what are you talking about?" Yuji questioned in return, seeming very alarmed and confused.
"I'll explain as we go, now can you please hand over the cursed object?" Megumi placated while raising his hand to accept the Cursed Finger.
"Fine, I don't care about it here, take it. Now can you please explain what you meant?" Yuji handed the Talisman that was supposed to be holding the cursed object and walked by his side.
"Well to explain it as simply as I can, all humans create negative energy from their emotions. Whether it be rage, embarrassment of grief and that cursed energy can go on to create extremely dangerous curses. What is in this talisman is a special grade cu-" Megumi explained as he and Yuji walked out of the hospital, he then stopped in his place mid sentence as he saw something that took him by surprise.
"Itadori…"
"Yeah?"
"Where's the object inside this Talisman?" Megumi asked, internally chastising himself immensely for forgetting about the separation of the finger and seal.
"Huh? It's with the curse society club back at school, why is that bad…?" Yuji asked with a nervous tone, already sensing the answer he was about to receive.
"It's more than bad, they're gonna die if we don't get over there now." Megumi declared with a grim expression.
"WHAT?!"
"There's no time to explain, follow me and try to keep up." Megumi ordered as he turned around to the direction of Sugisawa high.
"Right!"
Megumi immediately sprinted off ahead of Yuji who followed close behind him, their speeds were superhuman as they blurred across the city at speeds that rivalled and surpassed cars. To Yuji's surprise, Megumi was actually much faster than him, which was something that never thought he'd see in his life.
Megumi had been training with Maki for the past 6 months who now outclassed Itadori in physical abilities by several magnitudes, that combined with his evolved and mutated biology thanks to his Perma-Mutations from his Incarnations made him a Monster in physicality alone.
Within a mere 2 minutes Megumi and Yuji sprinted across the entire city and arrived at the school, the school was already steeped with cursed energy. There was so much cursed energy concentrated that even Yuji could feel it, it sent shivers down his spine.
"This is where you stop, I'm going in there and saving your friends, stay here." Megumi ordered as he kicked open the gates to the school.
"W-Wait, I should come t-too! Those are my f-friends in there, I have to go h-help them!" The pink haired boy stuttered out. Even though he felt an aura of death that he never felt before in his whole life, his will to honour his grandfather's final wish was helping him to try to overcome his fear.
"Listen, I won't stop you from coming, but know this. This isn't a game, if you follow me you will die." Megumi stated before he blurred into the distance leaving Yuji to stir in his thoughts.
Megumi disappeared into the main building of Sugisawa high, immediately as he entered the building he saw a few dozen curses lining the walls. He immediately channelled his cursed technique into Blizzard and summoned him once more in his Totality form.
"Divine Dog: Totality."
The Totality Beast ripped through all the curses in less than a second as Megumi simply ran past them and headed towards where he sensed the Special Grade cursed object.
On his way he found a young boy with thick lips being attacked by a third grade curse that attached to his head like a face hugger and was slowly but surely eating him alive.
"P-Please, HELP ME PLEASE!" The boy cried out, begging for his life.
To this Megumi just ran past him, completely ignoring the boy who cried even harder at the betrayal. However, Megumi did not leave the boy to his fate of dying in complete and utter despair as a few seconds after he ran past him, Blizzard came hurtling in behind him and sliced the curse apart in an instant.
The boy fell to the ground as he lost all his strength and passed out from relief, it was doubtful if he was even going to remember this day or bury the traumatic memories for as long as possible.
A few dozen curses later, Megumi found Ryomen Sukuna's cursed finger. However, there was a problem, the finger was in the possession of a girl with dark hair and glasses.
And this girl was currently in the many hands of a First Grade curse, and from the smug expression on the curse's distorted face there was no doubt in Megumi's mind that if he dared to move even an inch closer to the curse, the girl would die.
'Tch, fucking bastard curses. Why are they always smart when it's least convenient? Ugh, no matter I can still save her and get the finger but I have to be strategic about this. I'll have Blizzard go around the curse from inside the shadows and circle around to being behind it, from there he can sneak attack and I can save-'
Megumi planned out in his mind how he was going to save the girl with Blizzard already enacting his plan but he was stopped by a sudden shattering noise and the window to the right of the curse exploding outwards, from the shower of broken glass emerged Itadori Yuji who drop kicked the curse in the head throwing it off of the girl.
The curse flew away and slammed into a nearby wall then immediately as it did so, Blizzard emerged from its shadow and tore it in half with a single swipe of his claw.
"Woah! So that was a curse, that's completely different from what I expected! What's that dog lookin' thing that killed it with one hit, it's on our side right?" Yuji asked as he checked on the girl, before picking her up.
"Normally I'd be pissed at you coming in here but I'll let it slide 'cuz you were actually useful. People usually can't see curses or Jujutsu unless in life or death situations. That's Blizzard, he's my shikigami, he's kind of like a pokemon but different in the specifics. And what did you expect them to look like, Casper the friendly fuckin' ghost?'' Megumi commented with a light chuckle.
"Huh, now that you mention it I've never seen a curse before…" Yuji 'expertly' deduced.
"You aren't scared shitless anymore I see, what changed?" Megumi asked, somewhat curious.
"Well, I was at first. But then it sank in, People actually Die." Yuji said wistfully, drawing an incredulous "Huh?" from Megumi.
"What I mean by that is, people will die no matter what. So I figured that for those people that I know or hold dear to me, if they do actually have to die; I'd rather they died Proper Deaths. I dunno, does that make sense?" Yuji asked after his heartfelt explanation of his ideals.
However his speech had unintendedly dug up an old memory Megumi thought he had buried and moved past from.
"Oh… Guess this is it, hope you live Fushiguro-kun."
"Yeah, it does." Megumi simply replied after a small silence.
"... But now that that's done, hand it over. It's dangerous for you to even hold it, it's like a beacon and bait for cursed spirits." Megumi stated as he extended his hand to receive the finger, trying to change the subject and once again forget one of his greatest regrets.
"Eh, sure, here have it. Why did all these curses want that finger so bad, is it special or something?" Asked Yuji, wanting to satisfy his curiosity after all the trouble as he reached down to grab the purple waxy finger from the ground.
"It's because they wanted to eat it, curses are built completely of cursed energy which is why you couldn't hurt that curse even with your strength. Only with cursed energy can they be hurt and you have none. But to the main point, curses want to eat that finger to gain its immense cursed energy and get way stronger since it's a special grade cursed object." He explained in response as he grabbed the finger from Yuji's hands.
"Ooh, that makes sense so it's kinda like- Wha-?" Yuji said in reply before he was cut off by Megumi pulling him and the girl behind him suddenly.
"I'm sick of this shit." Megumi stated as where Yuji stood another 2nd grade curse crashed down trying to grab the finger.
To this Megumi just raised his hand and filled it with cursed energy before swiping it to the side, the resulting reaction caused Yuji to gasp in surprise.
Before his eyes he saw the curse be turned to a red mist, the wall behind it dissolving outwards as well from the force of Megumi's swipe as all the rubble flew away in a blinding gust of air. The very foundations of the building beneath his feet shook under the black haired sorcerer's strength.
It was unreal to him, even after everything witnessing such a casual feat of power caused his mind to stop in awe.
"Woah that's cool as hell, could I learn to do that?" He asked with stars in his eyes.
"Haha, this is nothing, you could probably learn to do tha-" Megumi laughed out in response to his awe but paused mid sentence as he sensed something that should've been impossible.
"Is that.. Geto-?" He muttered to himself in shock before sensing a spatial distortion forming around him much like when Satoru uses his abilities.
If Megumi was close to the source of the cursed energy he sensed he would hear but one word.
"Ganesha."
With that command, Megumi and Blizzard disappeared from his place, Ryomen Sukuna's finger simply falling down to ground once again from his grasp.
"Godamnit Yuta you had one job! FUCKING KENJAKU!" Megumi screamed out into nothing as he wasn't near the ground, in fact, he was about 1000 metres high in the skies.
"THAT FUCKING RAT BASTARD HAS FUCKED ME AGAIN, YOU BETTER GO HIDE YOU FUCKING CUNT. BECAUSE IF I FIND YOU, I'M GOING TO RIP YOUR SPINE OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!" Megumi raged out as his back exploded outwards.
"Incarnation: Nue!" Megumi shouted as flew back down to Yuji as fast as he could.
Yuji was completely overwhelmed, to him, Megumi had just disappeared into nothing and dropped the finger. He had grabbed it as he now knew how dangerous it would be to just leave it for any curse to devour and gain power as Megumi said.
Which then brought him to his current situation, surrounded by disgusting abominations while trying to save a girl. He was caught between a rock and hard place, and he was completely out of options.
It was then he remembered Megumi's previous explanation.
'Only with cursed energy can they be hurt and you have none. But to the main point, curses want to eat that finger to gain its immense cursed energy.'
"I know a way, I can save everyone! I just have to have my own cursed energy right?!" Yuji shouted out as he was held by a curse, he threw the finger into the air and swallowed it whole.
"Don't do it, DON'T YOU FUCKING DO IT!" Megumi screamed out, he was only a mere 10 metres away from arriving.
A mere 3 seconds away from preventing the Revival of the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna.
Alas, he was too late as an explosion of cursed energy fired off into the heavens. Pure Malevolence and Evil permeated throughout the skies, it was as if the world itself cried out in fear for an ancient evil had been revived.
The Incarnation of Carnage has been reborn, and Ryomen Sukuna lives once again.
"Ehe… ehehehe. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I KNEW IT, THE LIGHT FEELS BEST IN THE FLESH!"
Sukuna took on the appearance of his host: Yuji Itadori, but with pink spiked hair slightly pushed upfront and his tattoos manifested. His incarnation also caused Yuji to have a second pair of eyes.
Sukuna grasped at the clothes on his new vessel's body and ripped them off his body, the clothes tore apart like wet tissue paper revealing his muscular body covered head to toe in black Tattoos.
Megumi landed nearby, rage coursing through his veins like hot lava at having his plans thrown into the garbage but he managed to calm himself as he watched the revived king celebrate with a hint of amusement as his Incarnation faded away.
'Fuck my life, why does nothing go according to plan? Ugh, whatever, Plan B it is. I need to get Yuji and the other's strong enough to deal with the future, no rest for the wicked I suppose…' Megumi sighed in exasperation and cursed whatever gods were watching over him while watching the monarch continue his celebration.
"Cursed flesh is so boring, now.. Where are the children, the women! What a wonderful era to be reawakened! Women and children are crawling everywhere like Maggots, HOW MARVELLOUS!" He screamed out as he looked around and stood upon the edge of the roof and declared out with all his demonic heart.
"IT'LL BE A MASSACRE! AHAHAHA!"
He was brought out of his jubilation by hearing laughter behind him, turning to face the source of it the King paused.
"You seem oddly familiar brat, do I know you?" Sukuna demanded.
"Oh don't mind me, you seem to be having quite a bit of fun, continue." Megumi replied with a chuckle and waved him away.
"That cursed energy.. I remember you, you're the one that killed that vessel I almost controlled a few years ago, you killed a curse bearing my finger too didn't you?" Sukuna grinned at finally finding the one who delayed his revival for so long.
He moved his hand up, his cursed energy firing up as he prepared to use his cursed technique; Shrine. In order to cut down the one who displeased him.
However, right before he could fire off his attack a pulse fired off from his very soul causing his strength to leave him, his limbs going numb and dropping down as his right arm grabbed his face against his will while turning away.
"What do ya think you're doing with my body? Give it back!" The vessel exclaimed with words that were not his own.
"What? How are you doing that, you're not supposed to be able to move!" Sukuna said, rejecting the reality before him.
"Well it's my body y'know! Of course I can!" Yuji replied from within as he took back control forcefully.
The tattoos on his body faded away slowly as he rubbed his chin while trying to get used to the new sensations in it, muttering "I'm kinda like Two-face..".
He heard claps and turned back to face them, and called out in surprise.
"Oh, Fushiguro! You're ok, that's good!" Yuji exclaimed with a grin.
"You are just a bundle of surprises aren't you? And of course I am, I'm the Third Strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer alive right now. It'd be kinda humiliating if I wasn't. Now what the hell were you thinking when you ate that finger? Do you have any idea how deep the shit is that you're in right now?" Megumi congratulated before chastising the pink haired boy for his actions.
"Eh, but it's all fine isn't it? Everyone's safe and I'm still in control!" He reasoned back.
But before Megumi could reply, another voice answered for him.
"Well obviously not, it's a wonder you're still alive."
Turning around Yuji saw a white haired man who was a few centimetres taller than Fushiguro looking at him closely as if he could see into the deepest reaches of his soul even through his all black blindfold.
"Satoru? Why are you here now…" Megumi groaned out as he facepalmed.
"Oh~ Why didn't you want me here Megumi~? Didn't want me to see you allowing Sukuna to reincarnate under your watch~? Ooooh the Higher-ups are gonna chew the hell outta you hahaha!" Gojo laughed out at Megumi's expense who just grumbled knowing that he's in for a headache soon.
"I mean honestly, if I had a nickel for every time you were present for a potential reawakening for Ryomen freakin' Sukuna, I'd have two nickels! Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice right?" He continued, laughing his heart out at his little brother who's face gained a couple veins bulging out from his contained annoyance.
"I'm so confused right now, who's Sukuna? Who're the Higher-ups? Isn't he really strong, why would he not want them to know?" Yuji asked them incredulously.
"Don't mind that for now, it looks like you're really in full control. Can you swap out with Sukuna for ten seconds?l" The white haired man asked as he handed Megumi a bag full of sweets.
Megumi looked into the bag and sighed, going to the side and sitting down. No words needed to be said, they could understand each other perfectly without the need for words, he knew Satoru wanted to fight Sukuna.
"Sukuna? You mean the other guy that I ate? I don't know if that's a good idea…" Yuji commented, remembering the things his new other half said as soon as he awoke.
"Oh you don't need to worry about that kid. After all, I'm the strongest." Gojo stated as a fact while waving him off.
"Well, if you say so. 10 seconds right?" Yuji asked hesitantly before he closed his eyes.
In an instant, the King's cursed energy burned once again. Immediately after gaining control once more, Sukuna blurred ahead at Gojo to try and kill him while his back was turned.
However before he could touch him, he slammed onto the ground on his knees. Sitting on top of him was Gojo, Megumi watched on and chuckled at the King being brought so low before his eyes.
"Hey Sukuna, my little brother is watching so I hope you don't mind me showing off~!" Gojo told him as Sukuna pushed him off and swiped at him again.
Megumi watched on as for the next 10 seconds, Satoru proceeded to run circles around the King of Curses who grunted and struggled while trying his hardest to land one hit to no avail.
The King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna could not land a single hit on Satoru Gojo.
Right at the 10 second mark, another pulse shot through Sukuna's soul as he lost control of his new body again.
"You two filthy sorcerers, when I get control of this vessel you'll be the first two I annihilate." He declared before fading away.
"Hm? Is everything ok?" Yuji asked as soon as he got back control.
"Amazing, you really can control him." Gojo sighed out in awe.
"Yeah, but he's really annoying. He's just been yapping in head ever since I ate that finger." The vessel commented as he hit the side of his head to make him shut up.
"It's a wonder that's all he's doing." Satoru said before he placed his finger at Yuji's forehead, making him fall unconscious in an instant.
"Tch, show off.. I'm not impressed, I could do that too!" Megumi grumbled at him from the side as he caught Itadori and stopped him from falling.
"Stop lying, I know you~!" Gojo laughed a bit before going quiet and looking down at the boy in his hands.
"So what do you think we should do with him now?" He asked.
"Isn't that obvious? We'll help him and make him stronger, it'll piss the fuck outta the higher ups!" Megumi said with a grin.
"HAHAHA, I'M SO PROUD OF YOU MEGUMI!"
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