By the time Kaito Hibiki turned fifteen, he had fighting invisible monsters down to a science.
He didn't know what they were called, and he certainly didn't care about their origins. To him, they were just incredibly ugly pests that occasionally interrupted his life. And today, one was aggressively interrupting his lunch.
Kaito stood in a damp, dimly lit alleyway behind a convenience store in Tokyo, holding a half-eaten melon pan in one hand and staring at a creature that looked like a cross between a giant centipede and a rotting trash bag.
It had too many legs. It had too many teeth. And it smelled strongly of expired mayonnaise and profound sadness.
Kaito took a bite of his bread, chewing slowly.
"You know," he told the creature, his voice remarkably calm for a teenager cornered by a monstrosity. "I'm on my lunch break. I don't get paid enough to deal with normal people, let alone whatever the hell you are. Go away."
The monster screeched—a sound like metal scraping against glass—and lunged at him, its jaws unhinging to reveal a throat lined with jagged bone.
Kaito didn't flinch. His bright green eyes, sharp and annoyed, didn't even widen. He was fifteen now. His body was lean, built from years of street smarts and running around the city, dressed in his signature baggy green cargo pants and a white t-shirt with a bold black stripe over a black turtleneck.
He swallowed his food, shoved his free hand into his oversized pocket, and snapped the fingers of his right hand.
Instantly, the air around him warped. Four sleek, glowing disks materialized in a semi-circle behind his shoulders. They no longer looked like the crude, unstable blobs of energy from his childhood. They were perfect—pitch black with glowing blue accents, humming with a low, terrifying frequency that made the puddles in the alley vibrate.
"Playback," Kaito muttered.
The disks didn't shoot projectiles. They didn't shoot fire.
They simply screamed.
A concentrated shockwave of pure, weaponized sound blasted forward. It hit the monster mid-lunge. The creature didn't even have time to register the impact. The sheer acoustic pressure shattered its physical form instantly, rupturing its mass and scattering it into a shower of purple dust that evaporated before it even hit the asphalt.
The alley went dead silent.
Kaito casually waved a hand to dismiss the disks, which faded away like smoke. He dusted off his pants and took another bite of his melon pan.
"Messy," a new voice chirped. "But a solid 8.5 out of 10 on the flashy scale! You lose points for property damage, though."
Kaito froze.
He hadn't sensed anyone. Not a footstep. Not a breath. He spun around, dropping his melon pan and instantly shifting into a defensive stance, his Cursed Energy flaring around his fists.
Sitting atop a nearby dumpster, balancing perfectly on the edge, was a man. He was incredibly tall, wearing a sleek, dark high-collared uniform. But the most alarming thing about him wasn't his height or the fact that he had appeared out of thin air. It was his hair—shockingly white, gravity-defying—and the fact that his eyes were entirely covered by a thick black blindfold.
Kaito blinked. Is this a cosplayer? he thought, his hazy reincarnation memories struggling to find a reference. No... the aura is wrong. This guy... he feels like a walking nuclear reactor.
"Who the hell are you?" Kaito asked, narrowing his green eyes. "And why are you hanging out on a dumpster? Because if you're homeless, I can probably get you some expired onigiri, but I'm gonna need you to stop sneaking up on me."
The blindfolded man burst into laughter, slapping his knee. "Oh, I like you! Expired onigiri? I'd prefer a strawberry parfait, actually. But no, I'm not homeless. I am a teacher!"
He hopped down from the dumpster.
Despite his size, he made absolutely no sound when his boots hit the ground.
"The name is Gojo Satoru," the man said, striking a completely unnecessary, dramatic pose, pointing a finger at Kaito. "And I'm here to offer you an exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime scholarship to Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School!"
Kaito stared at him. A long, awkward silence stretched between them. A stray cat meowed in the distance.
"Is this a cult?" Kaito finally asked.
"What? No!" Gojo gasped, sounding genuinely offended. "We're a highly respected educational institution! We teach young, talented individuals how to exorcise Curses! You know, like the giant, ugly bug you just popped like a balloon."
Kaito crossed his arms. "I don't know what a 'Curse' is, man. I just call them 'the ugly things that interrupt my nap time.' And I definitely don't need a school to tell me how to kill them. I'm doing just fine on my own."
"Are you?" Gojo tilted his head, walking closer. "Your technique is fascinating. You convert your Cursed Energy into pure acoustic resonance. You materialized four amplifiers just now without a single hand sign. You're completely self-taught, aren't you?"
Kaito took a step back, suddenly feeling defensive. The lopsided, confident smile on his face faltered just a fraction. This guy was reading him like an open book.
"Back off, blindfold," Kaito warned, summoning a single glowing disk right next to Gojo's ear. "Or I'm gonna rupture your eardrums."
"Go ahead," Gojo smiled cheerfully. "Try it."
Kaito frowned. He didn't want to kill the guy, just scare him. He sent a sharp, painful burst of high-frequency noise directly at the side of Gojo's head.
The disk flared. The sound fired.
And then... nothing.
The sound wave rippled through the air and then just... stopped. Less than an inch from Gojo's ear, the acoustic pressure hit an invisible wall and died out completely.
Kaito's jaw dropped. "What the... did you just pause my sound?"
"Nope!" Gojo grinned, leaning in closer. "Sound needs a medium to travel through, right? Air, water, solids. I just brought the concept of 'infinity' into reality between your speaker and my very sensitive ears. An infinite distance means your sound will never, ever reach me. Neat physics lesson, huh?"
Kaito stared at the man, the gears in his head turning rapidly. His reincarnated soul remembered basic science. An infinite barrier? Controlling space itself? Okay, this guy is a walking cheat code.
Kaito dismissed his disk, sighing deeply. He shoved his hands back into his cargo pants. "Alright, you made your point. You're strong. I'm slightly less strong. What do you want from a fifteen-year-old kid?"
"I already told you! I want you to come to my school," Gojo said, throwing an arm around Kaito's shoulders like they were old pals. Kaito immediately tried to shrug him off, but Gojo stuck to him like glue. "Look, Kaito-kun—can I call you Kaito-kun?—you've got a massive amount of raw talent. But you're using it like a club when it could be a scalpel. Plus, the higher-ups in the Jujutsu world have noticed your little sonic booms. If you don't join us, they'll classify you as a dangerous unregistered curse user. And then they'll send people to execute you. Which is a huge drag."
Kaito stopped walking. His confident smirk vanished, replaced by a deadly serious glare.
"Execute me?" Kaito repeated, his voice dropping an octave. A low, dangerous hum began to emanate from his very skin. The gravel beneath their feet began to vibrate. "They can try."
For a split second, the goofy smile left Gojo's face. The blindfolded man looked down at the teenage boy, sensing the dense, star-like core of Cursed Energy burning inside him. It wasn't normal. It was erratic, foreign, and deeply powerful. It felt like standing next to a reactor core on the verge of a meltdown.
Interesting, Gojo thought. He's fifteen, completely untrained, and his output is already this high. If he learns to control a Domain...
Then, Gojo's smile returned in full force. He slapped Kaito on the back, instantly breaking the tension.
"That's the spirit! But let's avoid the whole execution thing, yeah? Much better to come to school. We have dorms, a great cafeteria, and you'll get paid to beat up ugly monsters! Besides, we're going to need all the help we can get this year. I have a feeling things are about to get very, very chaotic."
Kaito massaged his temples. He looked at his squashed melon pan on the ground. He looked at the alleyway where he spent most of his days doing absolutely nothing of value. The ghost-memories in his head, the lingering feeling that he was meant to do something important with this second chance at life, nudged him forward.
"Do I get a uniform?" Kaito asked dryly
"Custom tailored!" Gojo beamed.
"And I don't have to pay for the dorms?"
"Totally free!"
Kaito let out a long, exhausted breath. He looked up at Gojo, his trademark lopsided, challenging smirk finally returning to his face.
"Fine. I'll go to your magical combat high school," Kaito said. "But if you make me wear a blindfold, I'm blowing up the principal's office."
Gojo laughed, a bright, booming sound that echoed down the alley. "Deal! Pack your bags, kid. First-year starts in a few days. Oh, and by the way..." Gojo paused, adjusting his blindfold slightly. "You're not the only weird fifteen-year-old I'm recruiting this week. Prepare yourself to meet some interesting classmates."
Kaito cracked his knuckles, the glowing blue rings of a small Cursed Disk spinning lazily around his index finger like a toy.
"Let them come," Kaito smirked. "I always play better with an audience."
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Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School was hidden deep in the mountains, disguised as a private religious academy.
To Kaito, it just looked like an architectural nightmare with way too many stairs.
"Are you sure this is a school and not a mountain cult?" Kaito panted, resting his hands on his knees as they reached the top of the seemingly endless stone staircase. "Because my legs are telling me this is a cult."
A few steps ahead, Gojo Satoru didn't even look slightly winded. The blindfolded man was happily humming a pop song.
"Cults usually ask for your life savings, Kaito-kun," Gojo replied cheerfully. "We just ask you to risk your life fighting horrifying curses. Totally different! Besides, look at the architecture. Very traditional. Very chic."
Kaito stood up, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. He had his new custom uniform on—the white jacket with the black stripe, the dark turtleneck, and his signature baggy green cargo pants. It fit perfectly, which was suspicious considering Gojo had barely looked at his measurements.
"I'm going to hold you to that 'free dorms' promise," Kaito muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets as they walked through the massive wooden gates.
"Speaking of dorms, that's exactly where we're heading!" Gojo announced, spinning on his heel to walk backward. "I need to introduce you to your new classmates. One of them had a very rough week, and the other one just had a very... interesting dietary change."
Kaito raised an eyebrow but didn't ask. With Gojo, it was usually better not to ask.
They navigated through the traditional wooden corridors until they reached the student dormitory building. Gojo didn't bother knocking on the door of room 302. He just slid it open with a dramatic flourish.
"Good news, my adorable students!" Gojo yelled. "Your class size just increased by thirty-three percent!"
Inside the room, two boys looked up.
One was sitting on the edge of the bed, his head wrapped in thick white bandages, looking profoundly exhausted. He had dark, unruly hair that spiked in every direction like a sea urchin, and an expression that said he was entirely done with life.
The other boy was standing in the middle of the room, unpacking a box of posters. He had spiky pink hair, an athletic build, and the bright, unbothered energy of a golden retriever.
"Oh, hey! A new guy!" the pink-haired boy beamed, dropping his box and walking over. He extended a hand. "I'm Yuji Itadori! Nice to meet you!"
Kaito stepped into the room. He reached out to shake Yuji's hand, his trademark lopsided smirk already forming on his face. "Kaito Hibiki. Nice to—"
The moment Kaito's fingers brushed Yuji's hand, Kaito violently flinched back.
He didn't just step back; he practically jumped, his green eyes widening in pure shock. Instantly, the air behind Kaito warped, and a sleek, black-and-blue Cursed Disk materialized over his shoulder, humming with a low, defensive frequency.
Yuji blinked, holding his hands up defensively. "Whoa, whoa! My bad! Did I shock you? Static electricity is crazy in these dorms."
"Static?" Kaito breathed, his heart hammering against his ribs. He stared at Yuji like the boy was a ticking nuclear bomb.
To anyone else, Yuji Itadori just looked like a normal, athletic teenager. But Kaito's Innate Technique allowed him to perceive Cursed Energy as frequencies and soundwaves. Usually, humans had a quiet, manageable hum. Sorcerers had a loud, steady rhythm.
But the noise coming from inside Yuji Itadori wasn't a rhythm.
It was a deafening, suffocating cacophony. It sounded like an ocean of blood crashing against a shore of bones. It was a frequency so dark, so incredibly evil, that it actually made Kaito's teeth ache. And sitting right in the center of that noise was a presence that felt ancient and overwhelmingly arrogant.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Kaito asked, his voice losing all its usual sarcasm. He pointed a finger at Yuji's chest. "You sound like a thousand people screaming in a blender."
The dark-haired boy with the bandages sighed heavily from the bed. "He can sense it," he muttered. "I'm Megumi Fushiguro. And yes, the idiot swallowed a Special Grade Cursed Object."
Kaito looked at Megumi, then back at Yuji. "A what?"
"A finger!" Yuji chimed in, surprisingly cheerful for someone carrying ancient evil in his gut. "Ryomen Sukuna's finger, to be exact. It was wrapped in these old talismans, and I kind of ate it to save Fushiguro and my friends from a Curse."
Kaito stared blankly at him. The Cursed Disk floating behind Kaito's shoulder spun down and dissolved into thin air. The sheer stupidity of the situation had completely overridden his survival instincts.
"...You ate a finger," Kaito repeated flatly.
"Yeah."
"A thousand-year-old, mummified human finger."
"It didn't taste very good, to be honest," Yuji admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.
Kaito slowly turned his head to look at Gojo, who was leaning against the doorframe with a massive, proud grin on his face.
"You recruited a guy who eats human body parts," Kaito said.
"He's a vessel!" Gojo corrected happily. "A one-in-a-million talent capable of suppressing the King of Curses! And you, my dear Kaito, are an unregistered anomaly who can level a city block with a floating Bluetooth speaker. See? You guys are going to be great friends. A match made in heaven."
Megumi groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I'm surrounded by idiots and walking natural disasters."
Kaito let out a long, exhausted breath. He looked at Yuji again. The terrifying, ancient frequency of Sukuna was still there, vibrating beneath Yuji's skin, but Yuji himself just looked... normal. Smiling, slightly confused, and completely unbothered by the fact that he was sharing a body with the ultimate evil of the Jujutsu world.
Kaito's lopsided smirk slowly returned. His reincarnated soul loved a challenge, and this universe was apparently determined to give him nothing but madness.
"Alright, whatever," Kaito said, shoving his hands back into his cargo pants. He walked past Yuji and threw himself onto the room's only empty chair, kicking his combat boots up onto Yuji's desk. "Just do me a favor, pinky. If the King of Curses decides to take over and go on a murderous rampage, do it after 10:00 AM. I hate waking up early."
Yuji laughed, a bright, booming sound. "I'll keep that in mind! Do you like video games? I brought a console."
"Only if you're ready to lose," Kaito challenged, relaxing into the chair.
Gojo clapped his hands together, effectively ending the conversation. "Alright, boys, settle in and get some rest! Tomorrow, the three of you are coming with me to Harajuku."
"Harajuku?" Megumi asked, peering through his bandages. "Why?"
"To pick up our fourth and final first-year student!" Gojo grinned. "Try to look presentable, Kaito. She might not appreciate the cargo pants as much as you do."
"These pants are a tactical masterpiece," Kaito shot back without missing a beat.
As Gojo left the room, leaving the three teenagers alone, Kaito leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. The heavy, burning, star-like energy in his own chest settled into a steady rhythm. Beside him, Yuji was arguing with Megumi about where to plug in the TV.
Kaito closed his eyes, listening to the bizarre, intersecting frequencies of the room. Megumi's precise, calculated hum. Yuji's bright, chaotic noise masking the terrifying roar of Sukuna beneath.
Yeah, Kaito thought, a genuine smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. I think I'm going to like it here.
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Harajuku Station was loud, crowded, and utterly exhausting.
To a normal person, it was just the bustling epicenter of Tokyo's youth culture. To Kaito Hibiki, whose Innate Technique made him hyper-sensitive to the world's acoustic frequencies, it was like standing inside a massive, malfunctioning speaker. He kept his hands shoved deep into the oversized pockets of his green cargo pants, unconsciously feeding a tiny trickle of Cursed Energy into his ears to muffle the overwhelming noise of the crowd.
"Wow! Look at all these people!" Yuji gasped, completely in his element. He was wearing a pair of ridiculous 'ROK' novelty glasses and holding a giant crepe in one hand and a bag of popcorn in the other. "Are we going sightseeing? I want to see the Takeshita Street!"
Megumi stood next to him, wearing his standard dark uniform, looking like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. "We're here to pick up the fourth first-year. Not to play tourist, idiot."
Kaito leaned against a metal railing, chewing lazily on a piece of gum. "If we're not sightseeing, why is our teacher taking selfies with a statue?"
Gojo Satoru was, indeed, posing peace signs at a nearby monument, his tall frame and black blindfold drawing more than a few weird looks from passing teenagers.
"She told us to meet her at the lockers," Megumi sighed, ignoring Gojo completely. He scanned the crowd. "There."
A girl was standing near a row of coin lockers, aggressively stuffing a brightly colored shopping bag into one of the compartments. She had short, dyed orange hair, a sharp gaze, and wore the same dark Jujutsu uniform as the boys, though hers was modified with a matching skirt and dark tights.
She slammed the locker shut, dusted off her hands, and turned around. When she spotted Gojo waving cheerfully, she walked over, her eyes immediately darting between the three teenage boys standing next to him.
"Hey," she said, her voice dripping with unimpressed authority. She crossed her arms. "I'm Nobara Kugisaki. Be thrilled, boys. I'm the one woman in your group."
"I'm Yuji Itadori!" Yuji beamed, popping a piece of popcorn into his mouth. "I'm from Sendai!"
"Megumi Fushiguro," Megumi muttered, looking away.
Kaito blew a small bubble with his gum, letting it pop before giving a lazy two-finger salute. "Kaito Hibiki."
Nobara didn't introduce herself back. Instead, she took a long, judgmental step back and let her eyes scan the three of them. Kaito could practically see the gears turning in her head as she mentally categorized each of them.
She looked at Yuji first. Kaito watched her expression flatline. He looks like a potato, Kaito imagined her thinking. A total country bumpkin who probably eats dirt.
Then she looked at Megumi. Her eyes narrowed. Edgelord. Probably takes himself way too seriously and listens to sad acoustic covers.
Finally, her sharp, brown eyes locked onto Kaito. She took in his messy hair, his lopsided smirk, the black-striped white jacket over the turtleneck, and finally... the pants.
Nobara physically recoiled.
"Cargo pants?" she asked, her tone laced with absolute disgust. "Are you a sorcerer or a middle-aged dad going on a fishing trip? Please tell me you aren't wearing those by choice. Who let you out of 2005?"
Megumi exhaled slowly. Yuji stopped chewing his popcorn.
Kaito didn't drop his smirk. Instead, it grew just a fraction wider. He pulled his hands out of his pockets, gesturing to the massive fabric pouches on his thighs.
"These pants," Kaito said smoothly, "are a tactical masterpiece. I have my phone, my wallet, three packs of gum, a charger, and enough room left over to store your entire ego, Kugisaki."
Nobara's jaw dropped. A terrifying, fiery aura seemed to explode around her. "Excuse me?! You think you're funny, you walking fashion disaster?!"
"I think I'm practical," Kaito shot back, leaning forward slightly. "What are you gonna do when a Curse attacks and you need a snack? Oh right, nothing, because your pockets are fake."
"I'll hit it with my hammer, you absolute—!" Nobara barked, actually reaching into her jacket for her weapon.
"Okay, okay, that's enough bonding for now!" Gojo interrupted happily, stepping between them and clapping his hands loudly. "I'm so glad to see you're all getting along so quickly! Now that our lovely first-year class is officially assembled, it's time for our first field trip!"
"Are we going to Shibuya?!" Yuji asked, his eyes lighting up again.
"Even better!" Gojo pointed dramatically toward the sky. "We're going to an abandoned building in Roppongi!"
The excitement instantly drained from Yuji and Nobara's faces.
"An abandoned building?" Nobara repeated, her face scrunching up in disgust. "You dragged me all the way from the countryside to go to a creepy, dirty building?"
"There's a Curse in there," Megumi explained quietly. "This is a test."
"Exactly, Megumi!" Gojo smiled. He looked at Yuji and Nobara. "This test is mostly to see what you two are capable of. Yuji, you have raw physical strength but no experience with actual Jujutsu. Nobara, you have experience, but I want to see how you handle city Curses."
"Wait," Yuji blinked, looking confused. "What about Kaito?"
Gojo turned to Kaito, his smile turning just a little more dangerous. Kaito felt a shiver run down his spine. The blindfolded man knew exactly how strong he was, and they both knew what would happen if Kaito went all-out inside a structurally compromised building.
"Kaito-kun is going to be my assistant for today," Gojo declared, patting Kaito heavily on the shoulder. "His technique is a bit too... explosive for indoor use right now. If he sneezes the wrong way, the whole building might come down on top of you guys. So, he's going to supervise with me."
Nobara scoffed, crossing her arms again. "Please. How strong can 'fishing-trip boy' actually be? He looks like a stiff breeze could knock him over."
Kaito didn't get mad. He just looked at Nobara, his bright green eyes locking onto hers. He didn't say a word. He just let the heavy, burning, star-like energy inside his chest flare up for a fraction of a second.
A low, violent hum vibrated through the air. The concrete beneath Nobara's feet trembled slightly, and a sudden, sharp pressure made her ears pop. It was gone as quickly as it came, but it was enough.
Nobara stiffened, her eyes widening slightly as the instinctual fear of a predator washed over her. Even Yuji rubbed his arms, suddenly feeling a chill.
Kaito casually popped another piece of gum into his mouth, his lopsided smirk back in place.
"Don't worry, Kugisaki," Kaito said, his voice completely relaxed. "If you scream loud enough, I might come in and save you. Good luck in there."
Nobara gritted her teeth, her pride instantly overriding the momentary fear. "I don't need your help, cargo-boy! Come on, potato!" she yelled, grabbing Yuji by the collar and dragging him toward the station exit. "Let's get this over with!"
As the two of them marched off, Megumi sighed, rubbing his temples.
Gojo chuckled softly, leaning down toward Kaito. "You're going to give her a complex, Kaito-kun."
"She started it," Kaito replied, shoving his hands back into his glorious, deep pockets. "Besides... she's got spirit. I respect that."
"Good," Gojo smiled, turning his face toward the Tokyo skyline. "Because she's going to need every ounce of that spirit for what's coming."
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The abandoned building in Roppongi looked exactly how a haunted building was supposed to look. It was gray, crumbling, and practically radiating a thick, sludge-like aura of negative emotion.
Yuji and Nobara had disappeared inside about ten minutes ago to exorcise the Curse hiding within.
Outside, the late afternoon sun was beginning to set. Kaito sat casually on the hood of a dusty, abandoned sedan parked near the entrance, his legs crossed, chewing lazily on a fresh piece of watermelon gum. He wasn't particularly worried about his new classmates. Yuji had a literal demon god inside him, and Nobara seemed like the type of girl who would hammer a nail into a ghost's eye just out of sheer spite.
Standing a few feet away, Gojo Satoru leaned against a rusted streetlamp, his hands in his pockets. He seemed to be staring at the building, but Kaito knew better. With that blindfold on, Gojo was probably 'seeing' the entire fight happen through the walls.
"They're doing well," Gojo commented cheerfully, breaking the silence. "Nobara is very aggressive. And Yuji... well, Yuji punches very hard."
"Good for them," Kaito replied, blowing a small pink bubble. "Let me know when they're done. I want to go to the dorms and sleep."
Gojo turned his head. Even through the thick black fabric of the blindfold, Kaito could feel the intense weight of the man's gaze locking onto him.
"You know, Kaito-kun," Gojo said, his tone shifting from playful to analytical. "When I found you in that alleyway, I thought your technique was fascinating. But sitting here, watching you closely... there's something else that's really bothering me."
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Is it my pants? Because I already told Kugisaki, the cargo pants are staying."
Gojo chuckled, shaking his head. "No, the pants are fine. It's your Cursed Energy. Or rather, the absurd amount of it."
Kaito frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Gojo stepped away from the streetlamp, walking closer to the car Kaito was sitting on. "That you have a Cursed Energy reserve that makes absolutely no sense for a fifteen-year-old kid with no Jujutsu background. Do you have any idea how much fuel you're carrying around inside you right now?"
Kaito blinked. He looked down at his chest. To him, the energy had always just felt like a heavy, warm knot. A constant, burning pressure. "I don't know. A normal amount? Enough to pop a few ugly bugs when they bother me."
Gojo let out a sharp laugh. "A normal amount? Kaito, if a normal sorcerer is a bathtub full of water, you are a localized tsunami."
Kaito stopped chewing his gum.
"I'm serious," Gojo continued, tapping his blindfold. "My eyes see Cursed Energy in absolute detail. Right now, your output is practically leaking out of your skin. It doesn't feel like the typical negative sludge most sorcerers use. It feels hot. Dense. Like staring at the core of a star that's trying very hard not to go supernova."
Kaito stared at him, genuinely confused. "If it's that much... why haven't I noticed? Shouldn't I feel, I don't know, exhausted? Or heavy?"
"That's the interesting part," Gojo mused, rubbing his chin. "Usually, a body that isn't built to handle that much Cursed Energy would break down. The brain would fry under the pressure. But your physical body seems perfectly adapted to it. It's almost as if your soul..." Gojo paused, his smile fading just a fraction. "...was too big when you were born, and your body was forced to mutate to contain it."
Kaito's breath hitched.
The foggy, distant memories of his past life—the life he barely remembered—flashed in the back of his mind. A soul too big. The truth was, his soul didn't belong in this world. It had been dragged across the void, accumulating spiritual density, and shoved into a newborn's body. His high Cursed Energy wasn't a gift; it was a desperate evolutionary response. His body had to build a massive reserve, or the sheer weight of his reincarnated soul would have killed him in the crib.
But Kaito didn't know that. And he certainly wasn't going to tell Gojo that he used to be someone else.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kaito lied smoothly, forcing his lopsided smirk back onto his face. "I'm just built different."
"Clearly," Gojo smiled, though Kaito could tell the teacher wasn't entirely convinced. "But here's the problem, Kaito. Materializing physical objects out of Cursed Energy—like your floating speakers—is incredibly draining. Generating shockwaves? Even more draining. The fact that you can casually summon three or four of them without sweating means your reserves are massive."
Gojo leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper that sent a chill down Kaito's spine.
"You've been using a sledgehammer to swat flies. But what happens when you meet a monster that requires you to open the floodgates? With that much raw power, if you lose control of your technique, you won't just destroy the Curse. You'll level the entire city block."
Kaito swallowed hard. For the first time since he had discovered his powers at age six, he felt a genuine flicker of apprehension. He had always thought his power was just a cool trick. He hadn't realized he was walking around with a nuclear arsenal in his chest.
"So," Kaito said slowly. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying," Gojo clapped his hands together, instantly returning to his usual, cheerful self. "That starting tomorrow, we are going to do some very intense, very painful control training! I'm going to teach you how to turn that tsunami into a laser beam."
Before Kaito could complain about the word 'painful', a massive crash echoed from the abandoned building.
The glass of a third-story window shattered outward, raining debris onto the street. A grotesque, vaguely humanoid Curse with entirely too many limbs was thrown out of the window, screeching in agony.
A second later, Nobara Kugisaki appeared in the broken window frame, her orange hair whipping in the wind. She pointed her hammer down at the falling monster, her eyes burning with pure, unadulterated rage.
"Die, you ugly piece of trash!" she screamed, slamming her hammer down on a straw doll she held in her other hand.
Resonance.
Spikes of Cursed Energy erupted from the falling Curse's chest. The monster imploded mid-air with a sickening crunch, dissolving into ash before it even hit the pavement.
Nobara dusted off her hands, glaring down at Kaito and Gojo. Yuji popped his head out of the window next to her, waving happily.
"We got it, Sensei!" Yuji yelled.
Gojo gave them a massive thumbs up. "Excellent work, my adorable students!"
Kaito watched the ash of the Curse drift away in the wind. He looked at Nobara's fierce expression, then at Yuji's terrifying, hidden potential, and finally down at his own hands.
A localized tsunami, Gojo had called him.
Kaito closed his hands into fists. The confident, slightly arrogant smirk returned to his face, but this time, there was a new edge to it. A dangerous spark in his green eyes.
If this world was filled with monsters, and if he was destined to be a walking natural disaster... then he was going to be the loudest disaster they had ever seen.
"Alright, Gojo-sensei," Kaito muttered, hopping off the hood of the car. "Let's do this."
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(Ngl, I didn't expect my story to reach 1k views in less than a day, thanks for watching my story, here's chapter 1,Recommendations for the story are welcome)