Takemikazuchi paused after he uttered out the name. For a brief moment, his instincts flared up, and he almost released the hold on his Arcanum.
Yuji himself hadn't moved an inch after the words were uttered. He kept staring at Takemikazuchi, but it was more telling that his gaze lay elsewhere, as though he was deep in thought.
"You know that name." Takemikazuchi said.
"I do." Yuji replied, his tone dead flat as he took another bite of the sweet potato, but it was more akin to an automatic action rather than deliberate. "Tell me what you know about him."
Yuji wasn't demanding the God in front of him, but Takemikazuchi had the feeling it was better to comply. He didn't feel that the man would harm him, but it might help soothe whatever was boiling up within.
"He is a being of the Far East, his territory in the Tenkai's Upper Realm was isolated but within the sphere of influence of the other Gods and Goddesses like me who hail from similar origins." Takemikazuchi began to explain, his eyes lowering with a frown. "He is not what you would call benign. He has quite a flippant personality, but won't hesitate to draw the line or even go further if he dislikes you enough. Whenever that happens, he doesn't stop until everything around you and yourself drops dead, revelling in the very act of slaughter itself. Some have called him a devourer, others a two faced devil. His true form in the Upper Realm consists of four arms and two faces." His words trailed off for a moment as his eyes gazed up at Yuji's hair. "And a head of pink hair from bathing in the blood of those he's slaughtered, but that is a rumour born from fear from those that crosses him. He has always had pink hair, to begin with."
Yuji stayed silent, taking in the God's words before asking.
"In this 'Tenkai', in the Upper Realm, did you interact with him?"
Takemikazuchi scrunched his face up as though he didn't want to admit it. "He was a name that the gods of the Far East carried with them. I can't go into too many specifics about the Upper Realm, but he's been around for a considerable amount of time, before our descent. He is a figure that appeared in the accounts regarding us Gods and Goddesses dating back to the Ancient Times and long before. I've interacted with him a few times, but not to the point id call him a friend. He's easy enough to get along with,as long as you don't get on his bad side."
Yuji nodded before asking the most important question of all. "Has he descended into the Lower Realm?"
Takemikazuchi had already anticipated this question and shook his head, "When I came down, he was still above, but afterwards, I do not know. He could have descended at any point after I did, maybe even yesterday."
"I see." Yuji said calmly, finishing the sweet potato and crumpling the paper in his hands, "You mentioned there was a sense of familiarity between us. What did you mean by that?"
"It's not identical." Takemikazuchi carefully weighed his words, "What you carry and what he has… although it's faint, minuscule even, there is a sort of resonance when I compare you to him. It's almost familial."
Yuji didn't say anything, tilting his head to stare up at the skies above him. Takemikazuchi gave a wry apologetic smile.
"Sorry if I crossed a line, it's just what sticks out to me the most."
"It's fine." Yuji let out a sigh, "You might be right more than you realize."
Takemikazuchi tilted his head but didn't inquire any further. Humans were created in their image, so he assumed this was another case as such.
(Authors Note: Made a mistake and had to retcon previous paragraph, Gods are infertile I completely forgot about that, whoopsie)
"One last question." Yuji said, looking back at the God who nodded. "If he were to descend, what do you think he would do?"
Takemikazuchi thought for a moment, before ultimately shrugging. "Honestly, I can't be sure. A lot of the Gods and Goddesses that descend change their personality quite drastically, intent on playing a different role than the ones they are used to for numerous millennia. He could be just as he is known for, or completely switch up and adopt the persona of a next door uncle. Although, he has become a lot more mellow recently."
"Hmm." Yuji let out a quiet hum. "Thanks, that's all I needed to know."
The God nodded, and before Yuji turned to walk away, he said, "If you want to talk more in the future, you're always welcome to find me. I'm usually around the Eastern Districts."
Yuji gave him a nod and pulled his hood back over his head, walking away silently.
Takemikazuchi watched his figure gradually disappear within the traffic of people going by.
"Wonder what Familia he's from."
As Yuji walked away, a short but well endowed Goddess was running through the streets, late for her part time job. She weaved through the street before crossing past Yuji's hooded figure. She passed by Yuji with a worry on her face but paused in her steps, her eyes widening.
She whipped her head around, her pigtails flying in the wind and turned to look, but the man was already gone. She stayed silent, staring at the direction he had disappeared before continuing back towards her destination.
"Hey, Take!"
A voice interrupted his thoughts from the side as a short Goddess made herself known, running up to his stall. "Sorry I'm late! I had to take care of Bell after he came out of the Dungeon this morning." She sighed before clicking her tongue, "Tsk, I bet its cause of that Aiz Whatsitface girl."
Takemikazuchi could only let out a wry laugh, "I hope he isn't too hurt then."
"Nope! Well, maybe a bit, but not anymore, thanks to my care and some potions! Thanks for lending him some of your potions, I'll pay you back for them!"
"It's fine, Hestia, as long as he's well."
The short Goddess took out an apron and fastened it against her waist, "In that case, I'll sell out these potatoes and beat you. I hope you're ready!"
She had a bright smile on her face, but for a moment, her thoughts drifted back towards the hooded person she had passed by. She shook her head and focused up, aiming to sell out so she can help support her Familia.
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He spent the next half of the day roaming the streets, thinking over what that God had told him. Eventually, he decided to explore what was known to him as Daedalus Street.
He had asked people along the way about what they knew of the East District, along with the infamous street. The name had come up more than once, both with a mixture of amusement and caution. Someone had called it, "The second Dungeon." And another adding on, "You go in for a shortcut and come out three days later, broke and begging for directions."
Yuji couldn't help but be curious himself, wondering what the point of such a street was. As he got closer towards his destination, buildings grew closer together, looking older and having been patched up shoddily through the years. Walls sported mismatched works of brick and timber, or whatever else people could find.
The loud hubbub and chatter that he was used to died down softly, a more lived in atmosphere permeated in the air, and the faint mustiness of old stone combined with moss entered his nose.
Then, the streets began to twist.
What had started off as a straightforward path had curved unexpectedly, alleys branching off at odd angles, even rising or falling in elevation. Signs pointed in conflicting directions, some faded with illegibility or had been scribbled over by dozens of new markings over time.
The deeper he went, the more the district revealed its true nature. Daedalus wasn't just poor, it was deliberately confusing. Buildings leaned over alleyways, creating tunnels and dark alleys, with numerous staircases leading up to nowhere or down into a sunken dead end.
Yuji wasn't concerned with getting lost. If he were really desperate, he would just find his way back out through the rooftops.
The deeper he went, the quieter the district grew. The number of vendors grew sparse as more laundry lines hung overhead between the buildings and children played in alleys with makeshift toys, glancing at the passing hooded man with wariness.
Yuji gave them a glance and kept moving forward down a left turn into an alley, covered by an overhang of a building stretching across the top.
At the end of the alley, four people stepped out, blocking his path forward, while he sensed three more cut off the path behind him.
"Well, well, look what we got here- What the fuck?"
They were intending on intimidating the man and taking his belongings, thinking this was probably some easy mark that decided to enter Daedalus street as some sort of adventure.
They had already done the same in the past, catching and robbing naive people who stuck their noses in places they didn't belong.
What they didn't expect was for their new mark to keep walking towards them, hands in his pockets, without a care in the world.
"Tsk, this guy deaf or something? Screw it, just deal with him!" The burly man shouted, the three standing at the front of the alley brandished their weapons and moved towards Yuji.
The first to swing was a half dwarf wielding a heavy spiked mace, bringing it down towards Yuji's legs.
However, in the very next moment, starting from the dwarf's weapon and towards his body, thousands of tiny incisions grew and crawled across his very being.
He wasn't the only one, the others who had surrounded Yuji all ended up with the same fate. They had charged forward, intending on crippling and robbing him, only for thousands of red lines to slowly build across their bodies as they froze in place.
The very next instant, a breeze blew through the alley, and they crumpled into a pile of meat, tissue, blood and gore, staining the very street they once stood on.
Yuji had never halted in his stride, but after he was done, he raised his right hand up in front of his body, his index and middle fingers pointing straight up to the sky.
Without uttering a word, a black thin veil spread out from beneath his feet and covered the bodies of the would be robbers as well as the alley, before abruptly shrinking, leaving the alley completely pristine.
The only thing present was the fading footsteps of Yuji Itadori as he continued deeper into Daedalus Street.
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Far beyond this realm, someone sat atop a throne made of cow skulls, leaning without a care in the world. Two arms rested on the makeshift armchair of the throne while two more were crossed in front of his body.
Beneath him was a sea of blood that stretched out into the horizon.
His eyes were closed, all four of them, but after an imperceptible amount of time, they flashed open.
He slowly stood up, the various skulls tumbling down and sinking into the blood red waters below. His eyes looked down into the red liquid, staring at it.
A grin slowly formed across his face, growing more and more as a viscous smirk was reflected back up at him.
"So, it really is you. I've been waiting a long time."
A growing laughter rolled out of him as his body was slowly being covered by a red hue, eventually engulfing his entire being. Once it died down, he was nowhere to be found.
"Let's give you a proper welcome."
The last few words echoed in the realm.
"Brat."
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Authors Note:
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Yuji may be old af and powerful, but he aint no saint. He's not that same naive kid anymore. Also I included a new kind of barrier he utilized in the end there. After hundreds of years he would expand his arsenal outside of his own techniques, mastering all kinds of barriers. He may not have an iq as high as Todo, he has time to make up for it.
As for who that was at the end... Remember, regardless of his past or how he's chosen to lead his life, the agenda will always be maintained