"Alright, let's get straight into this." Satoru walked towards him, the wounds on his body completely healing in a few seconds.
"Sukuna is in charge of all the complex theoretical knowledge about Jujutsu Sorcery, along with his own abilities that he'll teach you, of course.
He'll give you everything that he's gathered up in his 1000 years of life. So, be ready for that." Satoru then pointed at himself.
"And me, I'll be your combat instructor. I'll teach you everything I know about martial arts. Of course, it's a given that it's my responsibility to teach you about my abilities too.
And also, about the Ten Shadows, Sukuna will tell you everything about them and what changes they've gone through as they were given to you.
Today, you'll also learn how to summon your already tamed shadow, Demon Dogs. But that will be after a short lecture about my abilities and a training session where you'll fight against me." He gave a grin at the end.
Leon could understand the gist of it, but he was confused about one thing. Why was Sukuna, someone who's supposed to be an ancient entity, not tasked with teaching him martial arts?
Wouldn't it be logical to let him do that? And he did ask that question. Satoru grinned and replied, "Forget about him. A guy who's older than him can't even match my greatness in close combat.
I'm simply built different in that aspect, kiddo." Sukuna just turned to the side, clicking his tongue. 'If he isn't denying it, then,' Leon looked at Satoru with wide eyes. 'What kind of training is this monster going to put me through?'
They were now in a classroom, both Sukuna and Leon dressed in student uniforms. Sukuna… Well, he was in some kind of female uniform with a scarf over his collar.
It kind of looked funny, the combination of a four-armed monster and a schoolgirl uniform. He just sat there, irritably staring at Satoru, who just showed him his tongue and ignored him.
Then there was Satoru, who was dressed like a professor. "Since you're smart enough, I won't beat around the bush."
He first started with basic Jujutsu Sorcery, what it was basically. Negative energy, Cursed Energy, and Cursed Techniques came afterward.
And then to his inherited techniques: Limitless and Six Eyes. Leon was wide-eyed when he learned what Six Eyes and Limitless could accomplish.
"So, the most basic place to start using Limitless would be Infinity, as it is the neutral form of it. Hmm… Do you know about Achilles and Tortoise theory?" he asked.
Leon perked up; it was one of the things that he came across while he was studying on the internet earlier. "Yes, the theory that says the actual distance is never covered but half of it every time."
"Good, then think of it like this. Imagine the space where Achilles and Tortoise were running as an empty space. Achilles' goal is to reach the tortoise, but-"
He was about to explain deeply when Leon, who'd closed his eyes, visualized the whole scenario and said-
"But every time Achilles moves, the tortoise moves some distance too. And Achilles has to cover that new distance, or half of it.
Infinity just brings this constant division of space to reality, doesn't it? That means nothing would be able to touch you as long as you willed it…"
Leon's eyes were wide, the sheer application of something like this. "Wow, you are smart, Leon. Terrifyingly so. But Infinity does have its weaknesses.
Since it's a cursed technique, anything of similar origin that would be able to forcefully shut it down would work against it. Trust me, speaking from experience." He rubbed his neck with a chuckle.
"Then there could be attacks that would bypass space and time itself, like what this guy did to me." He pointed at Sukuna.
Sukuna then said, "That's where the Ten Shadows come in. One of the shadows, the strongest one of them, can adapt to any and all phenomena.
Leon asked, "So, it adapted to his Infinity?"
"More or less… It gave him the model to create an attack that cut through time and space itself, targeting me beyond Infinity.
All I'm saying is, while it is a big, beautiful wall of fuck you, always be careful," Satoru said, and Leon chuckled a bit. He looked at Sukuna, who looked confused as to why he was laughing.
"What? He said fuck." Leon pointed at Satoru.
Sukuna sighed, 'I'm surrounded by idiots.' He thought and, with a snap of his fingers, the scenery changed back into the white space, the clothes reverting back to what they were before.
"Aww, killjoy!" Satoru remarked and said, "Alright, come on. We'll start the practical now." Satoru then demonstrated Infinity in action.
It was strange; Leon felt his hand moving through the space while he tried to touch Satoru's hand. But at the same time, it looked completely stationary.
He then tried to feel his Cursed Energy. As instructed by Satoru, it would be best to start with the bad memories in his life. But then not to lose yourself in the influx of that energy.
The trick was to not give in to your emotions but to control them. As he sat cross-legged, focusing with his eyes closed, after about what felt like a few hours, he finally felt something.
A swirling mass of something that was in his belly. Not a physical something, but it existed in the same plane, a dense cluster of energy. Sukuna, who looked bored until now, widened his eyes.
"You feel that too, don't you?" Satoru asked with a smirk.
'This kid's CE reserve… It's vast, way denser and bigger than mine. Heh, I guess it won't be that boring after all, huh,' Sukuna thought to himself.
In his deep trance, Leon was now floating in the middle of a deep ocean, deep dark blue water surrounding him from all directions.
Satoru's voice echoed in his head, "Remember what I told you about Six Eyes. They're basically a cheat as far as Cursed Energy is concerned.
Once you understand how Cursed Energy works, leave everything to the Six Eyes. You'll be able to manipulate it down to atomic levels."
Leon opened his eyes; he could see an aura of pale blue energy surrounding his body. 'Is this Cursed Energy?' He thought, feeling the warmth and the energy coursing through him.
Satoru snapped his fingers, and the scenery changed into a green, windy grassland. "Alright, time for a fight."
"What?" Leon looked confused. He wasn't going to attack while he was seated, was he? He asked and immediately got his answer.
Satoru's heel, aimed straight at his face, came flying towards him. He barely dodged, shifting to the side, but the kick changed its course mid-strike and struck him square in his chest.
"AAGH!" He grunted, air getting knocked out of his lungs. The force of the kick was strong enough to drag him through a long distance in the grassland.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!... Aargh!" He clutched his chest. Taking short breaths, his lungs had gone into a shock, collapsing in on themselves, making it almost impossible to breathe.
He knew he wouldn't die, but the pain was too real. After a few seconds, his breathing finally became normal.
Tears almost welled up in his eyes, but he pulled them back and got up, gritting his teeth, and looked at Satoru with a frown. 'No holds barred, huh,' he thought.
A very painful experience was about to unfold.
How long had it been? Leon didn't know. Time ran differently in this place. Satoru had been thrashing him for hours when he finally came to an understanding.
Every move Satoru made, every step in a fighting style that he changed mid-fight, he could see it through with the Six Eyes.
Now, granted, Satoru had taken it slow. But he understood why he was so serious about this. If he was to come anywhere close to these monsters, he had to become like them; mentally insane.
For today, Satoru had explained mainly three to five types of martial arts: MMA, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Karate, and Kickboxing. Each distinct in their own regard.
And Satoru was a master in his own league. He explained how each martial art had been somewhat toned down throughout history.
And how he himself had modified almost every one of them to suit his own fighting style. A style made solely for the purpose of killing.
"I'd vowed I'd never teach this to anyone, but this is a special case, so brace up, kid," Satoru said with a grin as he went through his own personal style. A lethal mix of everything.
Of course, it was impossible for Leon to learn everything this soon. But he took in whatever he could.
Several hours later, Leon was completely beat up, exhausted as he now lay on the white floor. 'How is he not tired?' He thought, looking at Satoru.
Today was his first official lesson, and he already hated it. 'Ah, my head,' He thought, feeling a bit dizzy.
He'd grasped the basics of how Infinity worked and needed more practice before he could use it himself, and then there was Blue.
The amplification of Limitless was an ability that converged space, giving the space the property of attraction.
Satoru had displayed several examples of it, Leon himself being crushed uncountable times by it. He shuddered, remembering the ridiculous pain when his limbs were crushed.
He was glad everything healed like nothing had happened, else he was in for another recovery sleep. He was also surprised to know that Satoru and Sukuna were both able to heal themselves, even close to death, with something called Reversed Cursed Energy.
Even if the basics were already explained to him, it was hard to visualize. Multiplying something from practically nothing was something his mind couldn't come to terms with.
In comparison, Blue seemed simple enough to visualize. He could already enhance his physical attributes with Cursed Energy, so that was his next goal besides Infinity.
"Now, now… That's enough rest, isn't it? It's time for our four-armed sensei to do his work," Satoru announced, clapping his hands. Yeah, he'd forgotten he had another lecture left.
During Sukuna's lecture, Leon was expecting worse treatment than Satoru. But the class was surprisingly lenient.
He calmly explained all the Ten Shadows first. It was something he had to fully control himself, so Sukuna wanted to put that out of the way.
Unlike the original version, the Shadows had been modified by the goddess to change one of their major weaknesses.
All the shadows, except for the tenth one called Mahoraga, if destroyed, had a cooldown of 24 hours.
Unlike other shadows, which could be combined with at least two others to make a stronger version- a combination of three.
Mahoraga couldn't be combined with the others. And the combined shadows, after being destroyed, had a cooldown of 7 days. And Mahoraga himself couldn't be summoned for a month after being destroyed.
That was the price for removing their major drawback. He'd been explained all their abilities, and honestly, just hearing about it made him dizzy, especially the Round Deer and the Divine General.
One specialized in healing, and the other had the ability to adapt to any and all phenomena. If Mahoraga wasn't destroyed in a single attack, then it would take him a mere few minutes to adapt to that attack.
Even though he couldn't clearly comprehend the full potential of what that meant, he could picture a virtually indestructible being.
And the possibility of getting to control such a being. The mere thought of it would be maddening. However, this was Leon Blade, not just a normal kid.
"So, how do I summon the first shadow then?" he asked, looking at his four-armed teacher. Sukuna gave a smirk and showed him the hand sign.
It was basically a way to interlock fingers together, making a shape that would cast a shadow of a dog. "The shadows exist in a different plane of reality.
Imagine a separate subspace linked together by the shadow you create. Visualize the cursed technique," Sukuna instructed.
Leon, clumsily making the hand sign, closed his eyes and started working his charm. He understood the gist of what Sukuna had just explained.
The connection to the shadow realm felt more accessible as the Demon Dogs were tamed by default; he just needed to bring them out.
He frowned, 'But what did he mean when he said it was my shadow that links to that world-' His face softened, as if he realized something.
He opened his eyes, Sukuna smirking at him, the big mouth on his belly having a similar expression. Sukuna wasn't talking cryptically; when he said shadow, he literally meant his shadow.
He then looked down; a faint shadow at his feet was visible. The hand sign became firmer, a confident smirk appeared on his face as a vast amount of Cursed Energy flared into the technique he was about to use.
'Shadow Summon: Demon Dogs!' He thought. Leon's shadow darkened beneath his feet, and it expanded. Two big claws ripped out of the dark shadows.
Satoru had a wide grin on his face while Sukuna was slightly wide-eyed. Unlike Mahoraga, who operated on his own rules and laws, other shadows were proportional to the intensity of their master's Cursed Energy.
The two wolves that came out of his shadow were enormous, almost six to seven meters tall, each radiating a power equal to that of a first-grade cursed spirit.
The black and white dogs/wolves, with similar symbols on their heads, looked down at Leon, who was flabbergasted, staring at the two giant puppies with wide eyes.
'Are they really in my control?' He thought, doubting himself a bit. The shivers he was getting from their presence weren't helping him at all.
But when he looked at their wagging tails and their puppy-dog eyes, all that fear cleared up. He went towards them, raising his hand.
Demon Dog Black lowered his head and gently nicked him with his nose. "Hehe!" Leon giggled. White licked the back of his head. He was now completely busy petting them.
After a few minutes, he looked back at Sukuna, who seemed slightly disappointed for some reason. "Did I do something wrong?" Leon asked, the dogs sitting behind him, wagging their tails.
"Brat, you have that idiot's eyes and still can't control your Cursed Energy well. Shame, Six-Eyes are not being used to their potential," Sukuna mocked.
Satoru walked towards them, saying, "Lol, you're just jealous you couldn't ever make them that big."
"Did I interrupt you while you were teaching?" Sukuna asked, looking back at him with a frown. Satoru raised his hand. "My bad, bro. Didn't think you'd be that serious."
He shrugged and went back to his place. "So, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, you'll have to try and control the amount of CE you use. Their size can be manipulated with that.
Well, the next try should be easier. Your eyes already have the full detail on how to summon them. You should be able to control the output from now on," he added.
"Should I do it again?" Leon asked. "No need. Try that back in the physical world. There's some time left for this session now, so let's begin our lecture on my cursed techniques." Sukuna smirked.
Leon's eyes filled with excitement as he canceled out his summons. He'd seen Sukuna fight. Satoru was cool, there was no doubt about it; in fact, there wasn't even any competition if anyone else was cooler than him.
But something about the way Sukuna fought, slicing and dicing through everything, it was visceral, downright disturbing but, at the same time, elegant.
"You got lost in your thoughts," Sukuna spoke, flicking his finger.
Leon felt himself falling to the floor. No, that was just his top half that had been diagonally sliced through by his sadistic teacher.
He saw his lower half before closing his eyes.
...… To be continued!!!
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A/N: Alright, done with the fourth one. Sorry it was a bit late than usual. And yes, the training arc might be a bit slow but we'll get to the real story soon... Do leave some comments and tell me how you're feeling about this whole setting up the MC's powers.... See you next chapter, Bye!