A/N: Welcome to my latest story: Potential Man. Here we go with this one. Next three chapters are up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) already if you want to see them early. Discount on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) so do check that out.
I looked across the table. I sat at Gojo's right-hand side. Next to me was Itadori, and then next to him was Choso before Hakari and then Kirara. On Gojo's other side was Okkotsu. Maki was next to him, and then next to her was Todo, making him diagonal to Itadori, and then Inumaki, and so on and so forth it went down the table until it got to the other end of the table where Kusakabe sat.
"Is no one going to say grace or anything?" I asked with a smirk as we just sat staring at the spread of food. The Zenin clan had a grand dining room that had been built for purposes just like this one and I aimed to take advantage of it.
Gojo stood up, much to my surprise, and clapped his hands together. "May Jujutsu bless this meal. May our curses be effective, and our blood not be spilt in vain." He said and then sat back down. I shrugged. That was good enough for me and I began to dig in.
"Are you ready?" The man himself asked, turning to face me.
"I should be asking you that. You have the harder task after all. I'm facing someone that you could beat with your eyes closed," I said.
"I'd probably have to open one eye," he said with a smirk, but there was something missing in it. I chuckled, but my gaze did not leave his.
"I am stronger than I have ever been. I'll win," he said.
"Even if he has Comedian and somehow manages to use it to its full potential?" I asked.
He chuckled and reached over, rubbing the top of my hair.
"Even if. He was only the strongest in his era because I hadn't been born yet. And I've had you two monsters pushing me and lapping at my heels for a month. When I face Sukuna, he won't know what hit him." He said. I nodded. There was no arguing with Gojo when he had his mind set on something.
"You'll win and I'll win as well. I'll beat Kenjaku," I said.
"You'd better. Because no pressure or anything, but it's all kind of riding on you. If you lose there isn't anyone coming to back you up, while I have all this lot coming to clean up my mess if I fail," he said.
I just scoffed. That was some way to motivate someone for sure.
"Let him come," I said with a smirk building on my face. "Let him bring his—"
"Enough talking about tomorrow," Itadori cut in.
"Let's focus on the here and now. On this moment. Dinner with friends. With family," he said, looking right at Choso at the last phrase. The cursed spirit—human hybrid nodded back at him with a smile of his own.
"Sure," I said, turning to Okkotsu who was deep in conversation with Maki.
"You know you need my permission to court her, right?" I asked, drawing sputters from the both of them.
"We aren't—" he said.
"So what if we are?" Maki said, cutting him off.
"Then I'll always be happy to welcome him into the family," I said with a shrug. Welcome him into the family, for sure. Because if Okkotsu wanted Maki, he was going to come into the family to get her.
"Good," Maki said with a smile.
Gojo watched it all from behind his blindfold of bandages before he stretched out his hand to grab my ear. I moved to swat it out of the air before he dodged it like a snake and then shot in again.
"Don't be so greedy, Megumi-chan," he said.
"Let go of my ear you…" I said, struggling to find the best word.
"Best teacher in the world. Say it after me, Megumi-chan. Gojo-sensei is the best teacher in the world," he said tauntingly.
The dinner passed in that vein. Light-hearted conversations about anything and everything other than what was coming tomorrow. The spectres that lurked over our lives. Sukuna for Gojo, and Kenjaku for me.
When dinner was over, I headed back to my room and was somewhat surprised to find Hana there waiting for me. She had been around the group but I hadn't seen much of her on account of my own training with Gojo and Okkotsu as well as my overall lack of interest.
"Good luck tomorrow, Megumi," she said, eyes pinned on the floor.
"Thank you, Hana," I said, patting her on the shoulder and walking past her into the room.
"Thank you," she whispered as I shut the door in front of her.
Usually I would spend the night reading and studying, preparing for the next day's training, but today was a no Cursed Energy day to allow my reserves to fully recover to the point where I would be at my best when I faced Kenjaku.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked as I flipped the light switch and found Mai waiting on my reading couch.
"I came to wish you luck. Would you rather I didn't?" She asked, flashing a demure smile that did things to my nether regions.
I flipped the lights back off, and instead of sleep, I spent that night engaging in a different kind of rest.
— — —
"Someone looks cheery this morning," Gojo said, waiting for me at the end of the hallway. With those eyes of his, I had little doubt that he knew what I'd gotten up to last night.
"Fuck off," I said.
"You're ready for this," he said. I nodded. I was going to be leaving first. Ui-Ui would use his technique to get me in the vicinity of where Mei-Mei had been able to track Kenjaku to. Then I would lie in wait and when the fight between Gojo and Sukuna began, I would strike.
"I know."
"Good. Megumi?"
"Sensei?"
"I am proud of you. Give it your best," he said, slapping me on the back. When I reached the room set aside, I wasn't surprised to find Itadori and the others waiting there.
"You've got this," he said, offering a fist bump. I bumped mine with his and then the floodgates opened for everyone else to come in and offer their best wishes.
"Good luck," Okkotsu said. He was the last on the line.
I slapped his raised hand with my own as I walked past.
"You guys deal with Sukuna. I'll handle my opponent. Trust me as I trust you," I said, giving them a look. I received an array of nods before I turned to the waiting boy.
"Anyone ever tell you you're one creepy kid?" I asked as he stretched out his hand, but still placed mine within his.
"A few people," he said, smirking.
"Whatever," I grunted as I felt the sensation of the world shifting around me. Ui-Ui's teleportation technique was worlds different from Gojo's. With Gojo, it felt like nothing happened. You were one place, and then the next you were in another. Ui-Ui's technique felt like what I imagined being in a tumble dryer would feel like.
Like being tossed this way and that and then let out the other side standing still with the urge to empty your stomach at his feet.
"People usually vomit their first time," he said to me, watching me from behind that fucking haircut. I reached out to ruffle his hair but he was gone a second later. I shrugged and turned my attention to my surroundings. I was outside the Lake Gosho colony. So this was where he had chosen to make his last stand. I formed a bird with my fingers and summoned Nue with the Orochi totality. I climbed onto the back of the bird and she took off. We flew above the colony, watching the inside, but remaining outside the barrier. I waited for the phone call that was going to come in a few minutes.
Once Gojo and Sukuna started their fight, I was to attack. I knew Gojo was still going to attempt the same opening salvo he had in canon. A 120% Hollow Purple enhanced by Utahime-sensei's cursed technique. Sukuna would probably survive it like he did in canon and then the fight would begin. I had done my best to make sure he was prepared. He could use his domain multiple times without any brain exhaustion. His domain could be called without needing a barrier now so there would be fewer options for Sukuna to attack. He had the tools he needed.
Now, I just had to worry about myself. Cursed spirit manipulation, Antigravity System, and maybe blood manipulation. Maybe anything else. Any technique from history could be brought to bear here. But I wasn't lacking for advantages or trump cards of my own. Mahoraga was one such trump. Shoko's technique was another. I just needed the chance to set it up. And then there was my cursed technique reversal. We would see how Kenjaku would square up against Mythical Beast Amber and Creation.
When my phone rang, there was no need to pick it up. I knew the words that Mai would whisper in my ear. Gojo and Sukuna had begun. I tapped the screen to reject the call and send the automated text— "I'm engaging now". I could see Kenjaku straight down with the pair of binoculars I'd stolen from the vault. An interesting cursed tool but not one I was going to think much of today. Today wasn't about cursed tools. It was going to be combat between two sorcerers— one at the peak of his powers, and one with so much room to grow.
Nue dove straight down at him, and the second we crossed the barrier into the colony, I wasn't surprised that four avian curses shot at us from all around the place. I looked at them and pressed myself closer to Nue's body as it accelerated. While I rode the bird shikigami, it was robbed of its greatest weapon. I wasn't going to risk getting shocked, after all.
One of them, shaped like a giant crane— the bird, not the building machine— with three eyes reached us far faster than the others. Its mouth opened to bite a chunk out of Nue. Shame. Nue was my shikigami. My shadow was its shadow. The second the spirit was close enough, shadowy tendrils granted temporary mass and solidity stabbed straight through all three eyes and out the other side of its body. The second one came around my blind spot and I didn't get a good look at it before Nue ripped it to shreds with its talons.
I said it had lost its greatest defence, not the only one. Nue spread its wings out as we got closer to the ground. The other two made the mistake of trying to attack from beneath us. Nue's shadow expanded from my cursed energy and ensnared both. Under my control, they dive-bombed their master. The Special Grade, attention focused on his phone— watching the fight no doubt— didn't even look up at his own spirits approaching him. A creature rose from the ground at his feet and jumped straight up. It was so fast, I barely managed to track it as it tore through the first before pushing off and then jumping on top of the second.
By the time it landed at Kenjaku's feet again, Nue and I had reached the ground. I jumped off its back and my shikigami took to the skies again. It would be focused on aerial denial. Prevent Kenjaku from getting dominance over the skies and ensure that I didn't lose the fight that way. It would also be able to present an additional threat that Kenjaku would have to dedicate some attention to.
"Oh? Megumi Fushiguro, huh?" He said, looking at me like he hadn't known I was watching him for close to an hour now. A lie I wouldn't be falling for.
"Ready to die?" I asked, smirk in place.
"Do you want to come here? We can watch this together. Surely you want to see who wins?" He asked, lifting the phone in my direction. It was probably an honest offer, all things considered. He didn't consider me a threat. Of course, he didn't. We'd see if he still thought that once it was done.
"I'll go catch up to it once you're dead," I said, stealing a trick from canon Sukuna's book and clapping my hands together in the piercing blood motion. Max Elephant's water shot from between my hands at close to Mach speeds and tore through the phone. He managed to move his hand just fast enough to prevent losing it as well, escaping unscathed.
"I don't think I like you very much," he said as I shot straight at him, cursed energy coursing through my body. His eyes tracked my movement as the creature at his feet moved again. From this close, I could see it better now. It was a cross between a wolf and something else— a lion maybe? It had the mane of one. It was faster than me. I could tell easily enough. But what I lacked in speed, I made up in foresight.
Because fast as it was, the animalistic aggression it displayed made it much too predictable. I jumped, avoiding the claws it tried to dig into my chest with. And as our shadows connected, it stopped dead still. It was strong enough that it might have broken out in time but time was not what I was giving it. I slammed my palm into its chest and Round Deer's positive energy caused it to explode from within. Thank you, Shoko, I thought as I kept moving for my opponent.
"You're better than expected, Megumi Fushiguro," he said as our fists kissed for the first time. I punched out. He let it sail past his head and he returned with a diagonal chop aimed down at my neck that I blocked with the outside of my arm. His cursed energy stung like a mosquito bite. I increased the strength of my reinforcement, speeding up as I brought my feet around to sweep his out from under him. Something blocked my low kick. I didn't get the chance to look down even as I felt teeth begin to dig into my leg.
I blocked the punch that would have made my head ring like a bell even as I felt enough pain to make my vision darken. Round Deer's positive energy shot from my foot straight into the cursed spirit's mouth, destroying it. I twisted out of a straight knife hand and tried to punch him in the chest even as my right foot screamed at me with each movement. From his chest came another cursed spirit. My punch hit it, destroying it, but leaving Kenjaku free to turn his outstretched knife hand into a grab at my head. He brought it down as his knee came up as well.
Yup, there was the ringing sound I'd been thinking about, I thought as I sailed backwards. My body had already begun to heal with RCT. Round Deer's positive energy purged the cursed energy that had begun to cause necrosis within my leg like some sort of virus before ignoring the rest of the wound and rushing to heal my brain from the bleeding Kenjaku's knee had caused.
That was good, because I wouldn't have been able to regain clear vision quickly enough to clap my fingers together and piercing water my way through the giant thing with a million fucking teeth that had just been about to make me lunch.
The distance between Kenjaku and I had been restored now. He'd jumped backwards while I was faded. He hadn't pressed. Why hadn't he pressed the attack? I wouldn't have died, of course. I had insurance.
"Why didn't you attack then?" I asked, lifting my hand to my face to wipe some of the blood that had begun to run from my head over my left eye, trying to buy time as Round Deer's positive energy knitted my foot together. It would deal with the wound on my head next. With the internal damage already dealt with, the rest of it was merely aesthetic.
"I did," he said with a chuckle.
"I mean something that would actually work," I said, placing my weight back on my left foot now. It was back to functional levels. He just smiled wider as I shot my piercing water at him again.
He twisted to the side, avoiding the attack that would have torn through his shoulder and taken a chunk out of his chest. I was under no illusions here. I was losing. I had taken two wounds already. He was unscathed. Without Shoko's technique and my modifications to it, I would have been in some serious trouble. And even now, I knew things were going to get worse. He was still maintaining his circle of cursed spirits, keeping them in place as a warning and defence system for dealing with the backup he probably thought was coming for me.
Of course, once he figured out that I was it, he would bring them back in and I would have to deal with a more substantial numbers disadvantage. I clapped my hands together, doubling myself and then doubling again before running at him. I felt a symbol sear itself onto my head as I used Rabbit Escape's technique for myself.
He just tilted his head and tore through the first clone to reach him in a matter of seconds. No cursed energy reinforcement, and no cursed technique access in the clones showed as he cut through them like a hot knife through butter. But they weren't created for dealing damage. I threaded my shadow through theirs, controlling their movements to allow the other two to lurch out of the way of attacks before I jumped into the fray.
He turned to slam a palm into my face. One of my clones jumped in the way, taking the attack and dissolving to naught as I twisted around it and wrapped my arm around his own. Our shadows intertwined, I caught him in my grip and stabbed through him with seven different tendrils of darkness.
A/N: And so we get the first part of the Kenjaku v Megumi fight. What do you think about the present dynamic?. Next three chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early. Had my birthday last week and got another year older (boo), so there's a discount on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) until Wednesday for anyone interested in that (yay)