The clone of Kamo Itsuki stood before the gathered sorcerers, his expression calm despite the chaos unfolding around them. The guardian barrier pulsed behind him, a dome of protective energy shielding thousands of unconscious civilians. Before him, confusion and suspicion warred on every face.
"Mr. Kamo, what happened? Why did the super barrier collapse?"
"Kamo Itsuki, you owe us an explanation!"
"Teacher Kamo, what is that thing in the sky?"
The questions came rapid-fire, overlapping, urgent. Trust in Kamo Itsuki—the architect of this plan—had plummeted to dangerous lows in the span of minutes.
Kamo raised a hand, and the questions subsided.
"The plan was compromised. Curse Users destroyed the super barrier." His voice carried easily, calm and unhurried. "They've used the cursed energy of every person in Japan to create that." He pointed upward, toward the pulsating cursed womb hanging in the sky like a second, malevolent moon. "And they've resurrected an army of ancient Curse Users to overthrow the jujutsu world."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"The womb and its creator will be handled by my main body." Kamo's gaze swept across them, steady and assured. "You—along with this clone of mine—will guard the civilians. That is your mission."
He paused, letting that sink in. Then, with a gesture, he summoned them.
A dozen blade-shaped weapons materialized before him, hovering in the air. Simple in design but radiating power—standardized, efficient, deadly.
"Spirit-slaying swords," Kamo explained. "Crafted specifically for this battle. They will enhance your strikes against Cursed Spirits and Curse Users alike. Take one."
Sorcerers reached for the weapons, feeling their weight, testing their balance. Nods of approval. Murmurs of appreciation.
But one voice cut through.
"Thank you, but I have my own weapon. I don't need it."
Kamo's clone turned toward the speaker—a sorcerer with a finely crafted blade already in hand, its quality unmistakable.
"That's fine," Kamo said simply. "Use what serves you best. The priority is the same for all of you: protect the civilians. Kill anything that threatens them."
He looked past them, toward the horizon where cursed energy flared and ancient power stirred.
"They're coming. Prepare yourselves."
As if on cue, the first wave of Cursed Spirits crested the distant buildings, their shrieks splitting the air.
The battle for Japan had begun.
Kamo Itsuki's clone stood amid a sea of declining sorcerers, each one politely but firmly refusing his offered spirit-slaying swords.
"I appreciate it, but my technique works best with my own weapon."
"I've trained with this blade for twenty years. I'm not switching now."
"Cursed Technique user. Don't need it."
One by one, they passed him by, until he stood there holding a bundle of perfectly good swords that nobody wanted. The expression on his face—even through the clone's limited emotional range—was mildly embarrassed.
'They don't understand. These swords are specifically calibrated to—'
The first wave of enemies crested the horizon.
Cursed Spirits. Dozens of them. Screaming, clawing, pouring toward the guardian barrier like a tide of nightmares.
Kamo's clone sighed internally and set the swords aside. Too late for explanations now. The sorcerers would have to learn through experience—or not at all.
His task was clear: guard the barrier. Let the fighters fight.
Nagoya. Two Nodes, One Problem.
Kamo Itsuki had planned for many contingencies. Kenjaku's betrayal. Sukuna's resurrection. The collapse of the super barrier.
He had not planned for Geto Suguru being stripped of every Cursed Spirit he possessed.
The Nagoya nodes were now a vulnerability he hadn't anticipated.
At the first node, Ieiri Shoko's former position stood empty—save for three young women who had no business being on a battlefield. Nanako, Mimiko, and Kanon huddled together near the guardian barrier, their eyes fixed on the distant sky where cursed energy flared like lightning.
They were brave. They were loyal. They were not combat-ready.
At the second node, the situation was marginally better.
Ieiri Shoko had reached Geto Suguru's side moments after Kenjaku's emergence. What she found made her medical instincts scream: Geto's body was ravaged, drained of every Cursed Spirit he had ever collected, his life force flickering like a candle in a hurricane.
She dropped to her knees beside him, hands already glowing with Reverse Cursed Technique—
And Geto's eyes snapped open.
He sat up. On his own. Breathing steady.
"Ieiri-senpai." His voice was rough but clear. "You came."
"How—" She stopped herself. There would be time for questions later. "Hold still. I need to examine you."
As her hands moved across his body, sending pulses of positive energy through his system, Geto spoke.
"When Kenjaku emerged... he took everything. All my Cursed Spirits. I felt myself dying." A pause. "And then I understood."
"Understood what?"
"How Reverse Cursed Technique actually works. Not just healing—creation. Positive energy from negative. Life from death."
Ieiri Shoko's eyes widened. She had spent years mastering this technique, and here was Geto Suguru, on the brink of death, grasping its deepest secret in moments.
"Gojo figured it out the same way," she murmured. "Almost dying. You idiots really do need a near-death experience to learn."
Geto laughed weakly. "Seems so. Now—while you're checking me over—tell me how you sustain it. The energy flow, the balance point..."
For the next several minutes, two Special Grade sorcerers—one a healer, one freshly awakened—exchanged techniques and insights at a pace that would have left lesser minds reeling. Geto's Reverse Cursed Technique level climbed exponentially with every passing moment.
By the time Ieiri Shoko finished her examination, Geto Suguru was not only healed—he was stronger.
"What now?" he asked, rising.
Ieiri Shoko looked toward the sky, where the cursed womb pulsed and battles raged in the distance.
"Now?" Her voice hardened. "We protect Nagoya. And we find out what that thing in the sky really is."
Together, they moved toward the guardian barrier—and the three terrified girls who needed them.
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