Suguru Geto was at the Church of the Stars—the former House of the Children of the Star.
His strength had grown once again, placing him firmly at the top of the jujutsu world.
So when a black vortex suddenly tore open in the void, he immediately knew who it was.
Several nearby sorcerers quickly went on alert, but Geto waved them off.
Once only he and the two girls remained, a hand reached out from the vortex. On the wrist was a golden ring adorned with ten unusual bells, instantly drawing all three of their eyes.
"Yo, Geto. Long time no see."
The voice came before the man emerged.
Sōjun Minamoto stepped out of the black vortex, casually greeting the figure who now looked even more serene and kind-eyed—almost like a bodhisattva.
Suguru Geto smiled knowingly. It really had been a while, but just as promised when the Church was founded, the other had come at his call.
He motioned for him to come closer.
"Nanako, Mimiko—how've you two been?" Sōjun was already chatting with the two girls by Geto's side.
"Hello, Minamoto-sama..." the girls replied shyly, but it was clear they remembered him.
Sōjun walked up and placed a hand on each of their heads, ruffling their neatly combed bangs into a mess. The girls pouted in protest, puffing out their cheeks.
Geto was silent for a moment, slowly lowering the hand he'd instinctively raised—then, for some reason, felt a wave of quiet relief. He was still the same as always.
Not long after, Sōjun nudged him with an elbow and teased, "What's up? Leveled up again? Or did you tame some powerhouse Cursed Spirit?"
Geto gave a mysterious smile. "Follow me."
With that, he turned and started down a hallway.
Sōjun, intrigued, followed without question.
The four of them walked to the end of the corridor and entered an elevator. Geto pressed the button for B2.
Sōjun couldn't help but think—as he always did in places with this kind of heavy religious atmosphere—that riding an elevator, using a computer, or watching Geto scroll through his phone in monk robes just felt out of place.
When the elevator doors opened, they stepped into an underground arena. A few sorcerers were inside—likely new recruits from the Church of the Stars.
Some were sparring with cursed techniques, others outright brawling. A few staff members were busy maintaining the space.
Sōjun immediately noticed the barrier formation set up around the arena. Geto caught his glance and smiled slightly.
"This one's from a newly recruited barrier user," he said. "Take a look—what do you think of the level?"
His smile widened a bit as he gestured to a nearby sorcerer, an older man with a calm demeanor.
There was no posturing, no arrogance. The old sorcerer had clearly moved past the age of needing to prove anything.
Still, when Geto mentioned "take a look at the level," the man's brow twitched slightly and he turned to Sōjun Minamoto.
There was definitely something worth noting about the barrier. Sōjun nodded in acknowledgment. It was well made, but wouldn't hold up under the strain of a battle between Grade 1 sorcerers or higher.
He reached out, tapping a few critical nodes, and told a nearby staffer to adjust the placement of the cursed tools there.
The change was immediate. Even just judging by the texture of the barrier, its hardness noticeably improved. After flickering briefly, the entire structure faded from sight, completely hidden to the naked eye.
The older sorcerer gave a look of understanding—if not full approval, then at least sincere respect.
Geto smiled, offered the man a few words of encouragement, and dismissed the others, leaving only the two of them and the girls in the underground arena.
He looked at Sōjun Minamoto and said, "I've recently taken in a batch of Cursed Spirits, but not many of them are what you'd call powerful."
"But… I wouldn't have called you here if I wasn't confident."
"Oh? Then let's see it." Sōjun Minamoto smiled, clearly intrigued.
He'd made great strides lately, but others hadn't stayed idle either. Anyone able to keep up with him was bound to be talented.
"No need to make it too complicated," Suguru Geto said with a quiet laugh. "I've developed a new technique recently—thought you could give me your take."
He spoke modestly, but his expression radiated pride.
Sōjun Minamoto's curiosity piqued. So he was planning to decide the match with one move?
Without another word, he took off his shoes, stepped into the arena, and stopped at the center.
Geto's eyes were drawn to the golden ring on Sōjun's ankle. Like before, ten peculiar bells hung from it—yet they made no sound as he moved.
Snapping out of it, Geto entered the arena as well, standing across from Sōjun at a fair distance. He didn't move immediately, only raised his index finger to the sky. At his fingertip, black Cursed Energy gathered, swirling thicker and darker into a twisting vortex.
The vortex rapidly expanded, the energy growing denser with each second.
Sōjun Minamoto immediately recognized it—Maximum: Uzumaki. A pinnacle technique of Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
Sure enough, the vortex at Geto's fingertip continued to grow. He explained aloud, "This is Maximum: Uzumaki. It condenses all the Cursed Spirits I've subdued into a single strike, using super-high-density Cursed Energy for an overwhelming attack."
"Of course, it's one-time use—so I've only used low-level Cursed Spirits this time."
"For fairness' sake, no harm in making the technique public, right?" He grinned.
Sōjun Minamoto stared at the dense vortex forming on his opponent's fingertip. He could tell at a glance—this was going to fire off like a Cursed Energy cannon.
A straightforward attack, nothing fancy—but that simplicity meant focused power. No embellishments. Pure, concentrated force.
It clearly took a lot to form, and Sōjun's first thought was—could he replicate it?
He didn't have that many Cursed Spirits, but when it came to raw Cursed Energy, he had more than enough.
The challenge was figuring out how to compress it to this level of density.
He'd considered this before. When his Cursed Energy hit its upper limit, he'd wondered: if the "quantity" couldn't be increased, could he raise the "quality" instead?
Could he boost the density of his own energy?
In the end, his energy quantity had gone up—but improving its quality had remained elusive.
The human body was delicate, after all. He'd already blown up enough flesh experimenting to form a small mountain.
Still, maybe Geto's condensation method held some answers.
Shaking off those thoughts, he focused. A layer of blue Cursed Energy began to envelop his palms—an idea inspired by the Sword of Extermination.
Channeling positive energy through his hands like blades, it offered an excellent way to counter and dissolve the negative properties of curses.
The energy wasn't pure yet, but sheer volume could also be a strategy—overwhelm quality with quantity.
He began analyzing the energy levels of Geto's vortex and increased the output of his positive Cursed Energy.
"Careful now," Suguru Geto warned as a beam of light shot from the vortex's center—instantly closing the distance.
Sōjun Minamoto narrowed his eyes slightly. His response was simple: he raised his palms vertically, just in time to block the beam.
As the opposing energies collided, they hissed—"shhh—shhh"—like fire and water meeting.
Sōjun shifted back half a step. "This guy says they're all low-level Cursed Spirits, but the sheer number is definitely overkill."
And it wasn't just the energy density—it came with a crushing impact too.
He ramped up the output of his Reverse Cursed Technique to withstand the force of the beam.
His four Mahoraga Rings began to ring clearly—
"Ding—ding—dang—"
Heavy, long chimes echoed through the underground arena.
Sōjun gradually reduced his positive Cursed Energy output, letting the beam strike his body directly.
Geto raised an eyebrow and abruptly increased his output. Sōjun staggered a step back, palm scorched black.
Geto then ceased the attack.
He understood—Sōjun had begun adapting to the vortex. But he was only adapting to its current energy level. Anything weaker would be ineffective, sure—but if the energy suddenly surged, that adaptation wouldn't necessarily keep up.
He was quite satisfied with his Maximum: Uzumaki.
They were only sparring—he hadn't used his full strength. The real force of the vortex came from the high-grade Cursed Spirits he had held in reserve.
Sōjun, for his part, was pleased with the Mahoraga Ring. His "evolve to adapt to all phenomena" ability had started to show real results, with its adaptation efficiency catching up to that of the Dharma Wheel.
He was a bit disappointed that Geto had pulled back so quickly. Just a little more time, and he could've evolved a countermeasure against the vortex.
Then, no matter how high the energy level, he could've neutralized it with ease.
But the true power of "evolve to adapt to all phenomena" wasn't just adaptation—it was evolution.
Thanks to his flawless control over his body, Sōjun could feel it—the subtle shift taking place within. His body's capacity to withstand high-density Cursed Energy had increased...
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / PinkSnake