Chapter 36: Reverse Cursed Technique
This chapter turned out weird... I'll just say that. I don't know bro, I wrote this at like 2 am, I don't know what the hell I wrote in the middle, just... enjoy the chapter.
~~~
Yaga led Shuichi to the armory where they kept all of their cursed tools.
The armory was actually a small shack like structure on the outside which extended underground to a large warehouse.
Inside were various cold weapons, miscellaneous objects and firearms along with strange symbols made out of paper and fibres. The entire warehouse was neatly arranged with each tool having a designated region that it was kept in.
Katanas were kept in one area, maces in another, staffs in another and so on. All the artefacts were further divided on the basis of grades and such, with second grade and above tools being located further into the armory and under more protective talismans.
However, in Shuichi's eyes, the entire warehouse like structure was simply a gigantic mass of cursed energy and information.
It's a pity I can't absorb all of them... he thought in disappointment. Absorbing all of them and risking Tengen or the jujutsu officials finding out? No thanks.
He already had an unlimited cursed energy glitch due to his cursed tools, he was not so greedy to absorb cursed tools like that.
Though if I someday go back to the Zenin compound, it might not be such a bad idea. Food for thought. Leisurely, he strolled through the warehouse, the cursed energy inside Record of Tenjin bubbling and rippling, eagerly taking in all the information that was around him.
The necklace already made his life that much easier. If not for the necklace, he would have to manually inspect every tool to figure out their unique curses.
Obviously, the low complexity ones could be figured out at a glance, but it would still take a lot of time.
After 10 minutes of strolling through the warehouse, the necklace had finally saved up all of the information about the cursed tools stored in jujutsu high. Every. Single. One.
"This is what I call a good haul." He muttered under his breath.
Taking a glance at his necklace, a smile graced his lips and he began to make his way outside.
~~~
"Hmm? You're already done?" Yaga asked watching Shuichi walk out of the armory. He sat on a nearby bench, holding various tools and an unfinished doll.
His hands hacked at the small body of the cursed corpse, skillfully making the thing.
Shuichi nodded to his question.
"Yeah. There were quite a lot of cursed tools in there. I just took a look at a couple of dozens. I couldn't look at every single one as that would take too long."
"That might be the case, but you aren't on a time limit here. You can take as much time as you like." Yaga replied. As a cursed tool tinkerer, he had special priviledges. One of which was actually choosing which mission he wanted to be sent to; that is, if he even received a mission in the first place.
The man in question shrugged his shoulders.
"That doesn't really matter now does it? I don't like wasting time. I just wanted some tools to compare my own works to and get some inspiration."
Nodding his head, Yaga continued.
"I see. Then I assume you got what you were looking for?"
"Hmm, not quite. But it'll have to do." Shuichi said with a despondent expression.
"You don't need to worry. If you have anymore need to take a look at tools, I can arrange for some of the first grade, or even special grade tools to be taken out of the armory." Yaga explained, his expression stuck in the perpetual mix of seriousness and annoyance.
Ah yes. In full support for the ritual aren't you?
Naturally, Yaga must've received orders from the higher ups to let me study all the tools in the armory. Special Grade tools can't be given out just like that.
Shuichi shook his head. "That won't be necessary.
"Now, let us not waste time. I have to get to creating that grade 1 tool after all."
Hearing this, Yaga put away the incomplete cursed corpse into his jacket and stood up.
"Indeed. I assume you want to meet Shoko next?"
"That would be ideal."
"Then let me take you to the infirmary." Then after locking up warehouse, he motioned him to follow and began walking deeper into the campus.
Shuichi followed.
After some walking, they came across a traditional japanese building with wooden shoji doors and an elevated platform. The main door was modified into a torii gate and bells were hung on it from the sides using nails.
I wonder why they're so obsessed with torii gates. From my knowledge, any door should act as a 'gateway'. What's with the frequent use of torii gates? I should look into it after I go back. Shuichi contemplated in his heart.
"This is the maim school building where classes are held." Yaga spoke, breaking the silence.
"Behind the class building is the dormitory, which has reservations for both the sorcerers and the current student body of the school." Yaga pointed to the right.
"Some distance that way is the training field. It is where everyone practices jujutsu and polishes their skills. Spars and occasional events are also held there."
He pointed to the left.
"The right side of the classroom building is joined with the infirmary. It has its own seperate entrance but it is connected to the main building from the inside."
Shuichi simply nodded upon hearing the information.
Turning to the right, they headed to the infirmary.
"How many students does the school have in total?" Shuichi asked in intrigue.
"As of right now, it only has 3 students, all of which are first years. Are you interested in joining?"
Shuichi's face turned weird. "Why are you so keen on making me join the school?" He asked.
"Hmm. No particular reason." Yaga replied.
Sigh~
Shuichi sighed. "I feel like there's several reasons than none at all. Say... you wouldn't happen to be a pedophile right?"
As the words fell, Yaga Masamichi's face hardened as his mechanically turned his head towards him.
His face held disbelief and incredulousness.
"Excuse me?" He asked in a heavy voice.
"I mean, making dolls identical to those for children, being a school teacher yourself and telling me to join your school over and over again... I don't know man, it seems kind of suspicious to me..." Shuichi's eyes narrowed into slits as he pinched his chin in a manner that resembled more and more of a detective. With that, he produced a drawn out 'hmmm' as if thinking.
Yaga's expression darkened. He had never been... so terribly misunderstood before as right now. For a moment, he did not know how to react.
"What... are you even talking about? Of course I'm not a pedophile!" He yelled a little bit at the end.
He pointed at his face and spoke, "Do I look like I like little kids!?"
"I don't know man. Nobody looks like they like little kids. Turns out, some people are weird like that." Shuichi did not know how the conversation had taken such a weird turn. Actually, that may have been his fault. But now that he thought about it, he was beginning to grow a bit suspicious about it.
Yaga's face reddened a bit, as if suppressing a deep surge of anger.
A few moments later, he sighed.
"Sigh! I don't know what gave you the impression that I might be into little kids, but I assure you, I'm into mature women."
"Hoh? Mature like what? The onee san type of the mommy type?" Shuichi asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
"That's none of your concern." He said sternly. "Let us proceed. I will take you to meet Shoko."
With that he walked into the infirmary which they had reached at this point.
Shuichi shrugged his shoulders and walked inside.
Both of them headed up the stairs and through the gate. Inside was a large hallway that led further into the building, while on the sides, paper shoji doors were present. The ceiling had various paper lanterns hanging from them.
Opening up one of the shoji doors, the inside revealed a set of medical beds and tables. The room was well illuminated by the outside light through the windows.
4 beds of the 10 were occupied, with all of the occupants being asleep. A young woman with bright brown hair stood beside one of the beds, cigarette between her lips.
As the door slid open, she turned back to look at the source of the sound.
Seeing Yaga and Shuichi, more particularly Yaga, her eyes widened a bit as she immediately snatched out the cigarette from her mouth and hid it behind her.
A smoker huh? Shouldn't one not be allowed to smoke in the medical ward? Well I guess she can just heal everything with reverse cursed technique. Shuichi mused.
"Yaga-sensei! What brings you here?" She spoke in a monotone. Her voice seemed particularly uninterested and bland, as if devoid of expression. Yet, one could still hear the little surprise in her voice.
Yaga nodded his head at her and pointed to Shuichi, "Shoko, this here is Zenin Shuichi, a first grade sorcerer and a cursed tool tinkerer who just recently joined the orthodox jujutsu society."
Ieiri Shoko walked closer, her finger tracing her chin. Her eyes were narrowed as if trying to remember something.
"You're.. aren't you the one that was beat up by Satoru?!" Her eyes widened in realization as she exclaimed in surprise.
Shuichi's eyebrows twitched a bit upon registering her words.
That's... that's some next level slander. He thought, his face contorting as if he had just eaten a lemon.
Well, I suppose that is what happened at that time... It would seem Shuichi had some self awareness.
"Nice to meet you too, I suppose. My name is Zenin Shuichi." He said.
"Hmm. My name is Ieiri Shoko." Her voice returned to the same monotone she spoke with initially.
Yaga didn't comment anything in the exchange, speaking only after it.
"Shoko, Zenin-san is here to discuss something about reverse cursed technique with you. It would be best if you could answer some of his inquiries.
"Then, I'll be on my way. I have some things I need to take care of." Having said that, Yaga began to make his way outside.
After that, only Shuichi, Shoko and the few patients were left in the room.
Talk about awkward... Shuichi was at a loss on how to continue with the conversation. He was not great at interacting with other people to begin with.
"Where did you find out about my fight with Gojo?" Shuichi asked.
"Ah that? Practically everyone knows about it. Satoru was pretty boastful about 'curb stomping' a member of the Zenin clan." She said without much interest.
Shuichi's eyes twitched again as a vein threatened to pop on his head.
That bastard... Shaking his head, Shuichi broke out of his thoughts and decided to focus on the task at hand.
"Then, Ieiri-san, can you tell me how exactly you perform reverse cursed technique."
Shoko raised an eyebrow.
"You want to learn reverse cursed technique?" She inquired.
"Something like that." He replied.
"Well, if you were to ask me... it goes something like whoosh~ and then woooom~, and finally shaaaaa~..." She flailed around her arms in the air, making circular and linear motions with her fingers.
"....Uh-huh. I see. I understand." Shuichi's face seemed to have turned in a far serious version as he nodded his head in enlightenment.
"You do?" She raised another brow, her expression clearly of surprise.
I don't understand at all..!
Although I do appreciate you do straight to the point, you aren't a good teacher at all! Sigh! I suppose that's what happens when you have just do something instinctively. It becomes difficult to explain.
"Let's try another approach. Can you please show me reverse cursed technique in action?"
"I don't really think that would help in any way though." She said while taking out a cigarette packet and a lighter from her pockets.
"That might be the case, but I would prefer to see it. It would be ideal." He said with an unwavering expression.
Lighting up a cigarette, Shoko took a puff.
Huuuu
Blowing out some smoke, she moved towards one of the patients.
"Well, if you insist..." She extended her hand and placed it atop the patient's chest.
Shuichi consciously moved closer to the bed, his eyes carefully scanning Shoko and her cursed energy flow.
At the same time, with a mental command he placed the necklace to focus on a single target. Ieiri Shoko.
Shoko's cursed energy rippled for a moment before settling down again. A strange hue began to suffuse out from her hand to the patients body.
And that small moment was all that was needed.
Vrr~
His necklace hummed a bit as the information it extracted was instantly transferred to his brain. A strange sensation began to fill his mind as it reached an eerie state of tranquility.
Almost by instinct, he began to perform reverse cursed technique!
Not only had he extracted the information on RCT, but he had also extracted Ieiri Shoko's instinctual ability to perform RCT!
[Reverse Cursed Technique has been unlocked!]
[Reverse Cursed Technique has gained proficiency!]
[Proficiency has increased by 20!]
[!!!]
[Proficiency has been boosted due to an instinctual sensation!]
[Proficiency has been increased by 400!]
Immediately, a cool sensation began to flow from his head to his entire body, circulating in tandem with the cursed energy strings from his Cursed Heart.
It filled his body with an inexplicable chill, along with an almost otherworldly relaxing sensation.
Reversed cursed energy!
Shuichi had never felt so relaxed in his entire lifetime. It felt as if all of his fatigue, all of his woes and all of his stress and anxiety had melted away into nothingness in front of this strange energy!
"-an! Zenin-san! Zenin-san!" A female voice broke him out of his stupor.
"Huh? What?" He asked dumbly.
"Are you alright, you spaced out?" Shoko asked, taking a puff from the cigarette.
Shuichi smiled in response.
"Yeah... I'm alright." He said in satisfaction, a small indistinguishable grin plastered on his face.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone