Chapter 228: This is... The Awakened Ryomen Sukuna!!!
As hybrids created by Kenjaku using a mixture of cursed spirit, human, and even Kamo family blood, the techniques and abilities of the [Cursed Womb: Death Paintings] are almost entirely related to blood—essentially variants of [Blood Manipulation].
Kechizu's technique focuses on using blood to reinforce the body, while Eso's technique leans toward using blood compression and its inherent toxicity to wear down enemies bit by bit. Compared to the balanced but relatively generic [Blood Manipulation] of Kyoto High's Kamo Noritoshi, the specialized focus of Eso and Kechizu makes them significantly more powerful in terms of combat and destructive performance, allowing them to stand as powerhouses in their own right.
In most cases, true strength isn't about being well-rounded, but about reaching the pinnacle of a single path.
Among the [Cursed Womb: Death Paintings], the eight younger brothers are all like Eso and Kechizu, specializing more or less in one specific aspect of [Blood Manipulation], yet they are by no means weaker than the original technique itself. Only the eldest brother, Choso, truly inherited all the original abilities of [Blood Manipulation], making him nearly identical to the orthodox Kamo bloodline.
In fact, if one were to compare Choso with Kamo Noritoshi of Kyoto High, the gap between their techniques isn't in their characteristics, but in the fact that Choso's [Blood Manipulation] has completely surpassed the other in every single aspect. Choso's technique has no "specialty"... or rather, his technique perfectly incorporates all the specialties of his younger brothers. It is a truly comprehensive technique with no weaknesses. If there's a shortfall, it's only that Choso hasn't had enough energy to master every direction simultaneously.
In the Kamo family, Noritoshi is the only modern person to have inherited the technique. The reason Choso claimed his blood was poisonous is that his blood also carries the properties of Eso's [Rot Technique: Wing King], making it an undeniable lethal poison to ordinary people. While it doesn't kill instantly, the bone-deep pain it causes is absolutely beyond what a normal human can endure.
However, when Choso's blood was driven into Itadori's body via "Piercing Blood," Choso—who expected the boy to be in agony—was shocked to find that he was completely unaffected.
To achieve such a result, there are only two possibilities. The first is that the target is one of his otouto. They share the same blood, and how could a person be burned by their own blood? The second possibility is that the opponent's own technique is related to blood or toxins, allowing them to immune or block the erosion of his technique.
Of course, many strong-willed sorcerers can fight through the pain of toxins, but that is because their will is strong enough to endure the agony, not because they are immune to the effect.
Whether Itadori Yuji was pushing through with pure will or was genuinely unaffected and just dazed... Choso felt he could tell the difference.
"You... what exactly is going on with you?"
"The intelligence I received said you had no technique at all... Have you been hiding it this whole time?"
This made it difficult for Choso to understand the situation. Many sorcerers with unique techniques do choose to hide their information, much like the curse user Emiya first encountered. But they only hide the details, they don't prove they have no technique. The latter shouldn't make any sense.
"What? Me? Hiding a technique??"
Itadori Yuji, suddenly accused and then questioned, looked bewildered. It was as if their conversation was taking place on two different world lines. If this were someone more clever, they might have used clear logic to deduce the other's thoughts and then used eloquent speech to clear the misunderstanding.
The misfortune lay in the fact that Itadori Yuji clearly lacked such clear communication skills, and Kechizu beneath him was someone who couldn't even speak properly. Under such a premise, how could they prove their relationship was innocent and not what Choso had hallucinated?
This was no less difficult than a man and woman being found in the same bed and trying to prove nothing improper was going on. In more ancient times, there wouldn't even be an explanation; people would just throw them both in the river to feed the fish—solving a complex problem simply and directly.
Regardless, Itadori still had to explain.
"Uh, Big Brother—no, no... Kechizu's Big Brother! You've misunderstood something!
I really didn't have a technique before; I only recently awakened it with Emiya-sensei's help... And I've never bullied Kechizu! Our relationship is nothing like you think, it's a completely pure friendship!"
Itadori wasn't hopelessly stupid; he knew he had no direct grudge with Choso, and any issue would be tied to Kechizu. Right... just as the other said, Choso must have seen him riding on his brother and assumed he was bullying him. He just needed to get down and explain!
Perhaps because the injury had stimulated his body, Itadori's brain was revving at an unprecedented speed. He quickly figured out the cause and effect and the solution.
Determined, Itadori braced himself to hop off Kechizu, but he accidentally strained the wound on his right arm. The body he had just propped up instantly collapsed under the pain...
THUD!
Itadori's head collided perfectly with Kechizu's head, making a crisp clacking sound like two hollow objects made of elm hitting each other.
"Ow, ow, ow... that hurts! What are you doing!" Kechizu, having taken a heavy hit to the head, didn't care about the situation anymore and turned to question Itadori.
"Ah, sorry, sorry! I just wanted to stand up, but I accidentally fell..."
Facing Kechizu's questioning, Itadori offered no defense, only a very apologetic reply.
"That's way too clumsy! Believe it or not, I won't let you up here next time!"
"Gomen nasai, gomen nasai..."
The dialogue between the two wasn't much to look at; it almost had the aesthetic of two elementary schoolers bickering. But it was this display of genuine emotion that was more persuasive than any words, allowing Choso to realize his brother didn't seem to be in a one-sided oppressive relationship with this sorcerer.
He might have truly gotten something wrong, but this situation was genuinely confusing him. Why was his brother, who was captured by Jujutsu High, on such good terms with a Jujutsu High sorcerer?
"What is going on, Kechizu!"
"Huh? Ah!!!" Seeing his big brother's tone turning toward him and getting genuinely angry, Kechizu straightened up and explained: "It's like this, Choso-aniki! After we were caught by Jujutsu High, a very powerful sorcerer promised to let us join their side, or he would kill us all!
He was just too powerful, and Eso-aniki also said that sorcerer made a lot of sense... so we both surrendered!
Now we're basically Jujutsu High sorcerers too, and Eso-aniki told me to come and persuade you to join the humans with us... The food at Jujutsu High is really good!"
Eso might have been able to say something profound, but expecting the same from Kechizu was asking too much. However, despite Kechizu's strange focus, Choso was able to extract key information.
For instance, if Kechizu felt they hadn't received any unfair treatment, it proved the people at Jujutsu High didn't discriminate against them for their identity.
Logically, the brothers themselves didn't possess the capital to be held in high regard by Jujutsu High, so there could only be one reason for this: the sorcerer Kechizu mentioned who took them in. Rationally, the probability of this being a trap wasn't high; the only question was
what the brothers could gain by switching to the human side and how they would be treated in the future.
"The sorcerer who spoke with... no, who reached an agreement with Eso, who is it?" Choso asked tentatively.
"Who...?" Kechizu was clearly stumped. He dazed for a moment, then turned to Itadori: "Friend, your sensei, what was his name again?"
"It's Emiya, Emiya-sensei! You still haven't remembered even that?"
"Oh, oh, Emiya-sensei..."
The conversation between the two remained painful to watch, but Choso successfully got the name he wanted.
"Emiya... Emiya Shirou?"
The cursed spirits had indeed mentioned this name more than once, so Choso knew the man's combat power had truly reached a level where the spirits were helpless. It was normal for such a person to have a large say at the school. Strength is respected; that logic applies even in modern human society.
"Since my brothers have reached an agreement with Jujutsu High, then as their older brother, I naturally cannot be their enemy.
But before that, I still need to find out exactly what the agreement between Jujutsu High and my brothers is for them to completely switch sides to help you."
Choso withdrew his attacking stance, but his words remained cautious, not yet dropping his guard toward the sorcerers. However, this posture was destined to be "playing a lute to a cow" when it came to Itadori.
"So that's it? You're going to help us too?"
"That's great!"
Itadori's brain only captured the first half of the sentence and perfectly filtered out the second.
Feeling mentally exhausted, Choso looked at the excitedly cheering Itadori and then at the right arm still seeping blood. He finally couldn't help but walk forward and said, "Let me remove the toxic blood from your body first.
Even if your technique makes you immune to the toxins, the toxicity won't necessarily dissipate over time. It's safer to remove it."
Since they were no longer enemies for the time being, Choso had to take responsibility for his rash attack and help treat the wound.
"Oh... is that so?" Facing Choso, Itadori surprisingly showed no wariness, obediently extending his injured arm.
Things were supposed to head in a better direction, but as Choso began using his technique to extract his own blood from Itadori's body, he realized something was wrong.
"What's this... why won't the blood separate?"
Even for blood that had left the body, [Blood Manipulation] should have absolute control. Choso was just about to investigate why this was happening when an accident suddenly occurred—
"I can already smell the scent... of my cursed energy!"
Suddenly, a mouth grew in the center of Itadori's palm and bit into Choso's sleeve, followed by a violent tug in another direction...
TEAR!
Choso's sleeve was instantly shredded by sharp teeth. Immediately after, tossed into the sky from the torn fabric, were over a dozen severed fingers—ugly, wrinkled, and looking like mummified remains.
"These are... Sukuna's fingers?!"
These fingers were all carried by Choso as requested by Kenjaku. The moment his sleeve was torn, his first instinct was to suspect Itadori had deceived him, but the boy's expression didn't look like someone plotting anything.
In other words... this was the act of Ryomen Sukuna lurking inside the body?
Not good, I was too careless! One had to know—if the Ryomen Sukuna inside Itadori were released now, that powerful and unrestrained monster wouldn't necessarily be kind to the brothers. If he decided to target his younger brother, Choso might not be able to stop him even with everything he had.
He had to do it... no, he must do it, even if it meant giving his all!
"[Blood Manipulation: Crimson Binding]!!!"
Choso desperately released blood from his body and sprayed it into the air, forming an airtight net of blood to catch the falling fingers. But even so, failing to seal them instantly allowed one finger to fall onto Itadori's upturned face, and another finger was swallowed by the suddenly appearing mouth the moment the sleeve was shredded.
In a mere instant, Itadori was forced to consume two fingers in succession...
Realizing things had gone south, Choso immediately tried to grab Kechizu and flee from Itadori, but his brother was suddenly held firmly in place by Itadori's outstretched hand.
Immediately, dark markings spread rapidly across all of Itadori's exposed skin, making him look like a completely different person—
"Honestly, you were quite careless... Didn't you know that cursed energy of the same origin produces a [Resonance Reaction] when it gets too close?
Carrying so many fingers on your person is equivalent to preparing an external power source for me, allowing me to break free from this brat's restraint in an instant and seize more of 'Me'...
Now then, while I'm in a good mood since I've just come out, hurry up and offer the rest of the fingers to me."
The suddenly appeared Ryomen Sukuna didn't seem to acknowledge Choso at all, merely stretching his limbs while beckoning with his finger toward Choso.
These guys actually dared to gather so many fingers together. Did they not take him seriously at all, or did they plan to use him? Sukuna would never let anyone who dared to plot against him have an easy time.
"... I can give you the fingers, but first you must guarantee my brother's safety!"
Choso clutched the ball of blood containing the fingers, shouting nervously at Sukuna.
What is this? This is the [King of Curses]? The pressure Sukuna exerted right now made him almost afraid to resist, but because Kechizu was still there, he couldn't run, let alone stop resisting.
"Hah? You mean this fellow?"
Sukuna lifted the struggling Kechizu with just two fingers, then suddenly threw him toward Choso.
THUD!
Facing his rapidly flying brother, Choso naturally opened his blood net to catch him perfectly. But the moment he completed the move and looked back at Sukuna, a large palm was already pressed against his face.
"I never negotiated anything with you... Are you so stupid you can't even understand an order?
As expected, when mixed with creatures like cursed spirits, humans become dull as well."
BOOM—!
The spot where they stood was replaced by a massive cloud of lingering smoke. Sukuna stepped slowly out of the haze, weighing the handful of fingers in his palm.
"Truly, can this brat still resist me even now?
In that case..."
Saying this, Sukuna cupped all the fingers in his hands and swallowed them all at once, disregarding all decorum.
"I don't want to hear your voice... let the suppression come even harder!!!"
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