Please, leave a stain on this vast emptiness

Chapter 5

"Alright, punch into Panda's stomach. Don't worry, he won't be hurt." By afternoon everyone is back on the training ground, Maki stands in front of a perplexed Tsumi and a laid-back Panda: "Try knocking him back, we'll see how strong you are."

"Oh a test of strength? Then there is no need, there's no way I can do that, I'm too weak." Tsumi waves his hand conveying that knocking someone back is impossible for him.

"At least try, don't just give up." Maki huffs: "Give it your best shot."

Tsumi looks back at Panda who gives him a nod and sticks out his round belly. Sighing, Tsumi raises a fist behind his head, with a twist of his body he brings the fist forward and onto the furry white surface.

Not only does Panda stay rooted to the spot, Tsumi himself is pushed back by force when the belly ripples. Dropping to the ground Tsumi looks up to see Panda laugh a little: "Well I did feel a dent there."

"That's all you felt?" Maki's glasses nearly slides off her nose. Toge and Megumi steps forward trying to find a mark on where the fist landed.

"I did say I'm too weak." Tsumi stands up and pats his trousers: "Ow."

"Actually I don't think we have got to learn about your ability did we?" Maki says as she suddenly remembers: "Jūnisakura clan's inherited technique huh? To be honest with you, I don't know anything about it, but to have such a draining drawback, it must be really powerful right?"

"No, it's trash." Tsumi's reply is curt, he turns and see everyone staring at him: "Yes?"

Maki tilts her head: "That doesn't tell us much, you have to explain more than that."

"Salmon."

Tsumi is about to speak when a familiar voice pipes up from behind him: "Oh, I can explain this one too~"

"Take teaching seriously instead of making an apperearance whenever you feel like it." Megumi grits out as Tsumi turn his head and sees his teacher beaming at them.

"Jūnisakura inherited technique's name is 'Nidus Technique', which is when the shaman creates a cocoon full of nutritious cursed energy, the cocoon can be used on any cursed energy they find around them. The cursed cocoon will act like an incubator which speeds up the cursed energy's growth into a cursed spirit to almost instantly. once the cursed spirit is bred it can be controlled by its creator to do their bidding."

"That is really powerful, how is it trash?" Maki questions.

"Well, the stronger the cursed spirit is, the harder it is to control of course. Then the table is turned as a more powerful newly birthed spirit will unpredictably do whatever it wants, which might include wrecking havoc, or simply just killing its creator." Gojō snaps his finger: "Just like that. In the history record the highest grade of cursed spirit that a Jūnisakura jujutsu sorcerer managed to create is semi-grade 1, but managed to create and control is only semi-grade 2. Needless to say a lot of the Jūnisakura clan sorcerers had gotten hunted down as wanted curse users cause their creations made a situation gone haywire, or had met a gruesome end in the hands of their own creation. Overall bad endings all around, I'd say a Jūnisakura shaman has about 89% chance of entering a bad end route."

"That high?!" Maki sputters while everyone looks at Gojō wide-eyed: "But Tsumi would just need to make sure he create cursed spirits that he can control right? What's the highest grade he can control?"

"I can do up to grade 3 but I'm still unstable on that, so for safety I'd say only grade 4." Tsumi presses his lips thin until they turn pale under the pressure: "But creations don't work like that Maki-senpai."

"Huh?"

"They can't decide what grade they want their creation to be, that'd be to easy." Gojō presses a hand on Tsumi's shoulder: "There is no telling what grade the creation will be until they comes out the cocoon, everytime's like a blind bag unboxing that has the potential to go horribly horribly wrong."

"Yep, the metaphor sounds about right." Tsumi laughs glumly, he thinks back, to a distant memory, he never really did tell his sister how the Jūnisakura clan's inherited technique works, his family would not bother to either for she is a non-shaman.

His little sister always looked at him all doe-eyed, glossy pink orbs shone with wonder and admiration as she proclaimed that he will become the best jujutsu sorcerer. She did not need to know that the technique his family forced him to cultivate might kill him or turn the world against him, everytime he used it he was wagering with his doom.

She did not. Tsumi is in a dilemma. He is glad she is a non-shaman, but knowing that is the sole reason for the never-ending scorn and degradation she suffered, guilt engulfs him for feeling relieved. He wishes for Komen to be a shaman by his side, but feeling the trembles of dread engraved deep in his soul after the innumerable times he has to practice his techniques, guilt engulf him for envisioning his sister joining him.

"So I seriously don't get what the crazy old coots back in your family is thinking." Gojō's words snap him back to the present. With his hand still on Tsumi's shoulder, he turns a little toward him, tilts a little downwards so they are at eye-level with each other: "When they've sign a treaty all the way back in the 18th century, declaring that since their inherited technique is so controversial and inutile for the jujutsu purpose, they will withdraw from the jujutsu world and leave the techique relinquished and forgotten. Now they are trying for a comeback by endangering their own son, having him work to continue a techique that might ultimately become his doom."

"You tell me." Tsumi scoffs, looking away: "You know the answer too, you know how egotistical some clans can get."

"Well as your educational guardian, sensei has the responsibility to take care of you when you are under my wing." Gojō smiles brightly as if the heavy topic is nothing more than an afternoon gossip: "So starting from today, lets get you strong enough to triumph over that inherited technique."

This is a pleasant surprise.

"Not cultivating and strengthening it?"

"Would you rather?" Gojō shrugs his hands: "I mean, do as you like, but I would recommend getting stronger over your ability first before you step it up."

"No, I did not mean that I don't like the idea." Tsumi feels his lips curl into a light smile, sensation still a bit foreign as he did not smile a lot: "Let's do it."

"That's the spirit!" Gojō pats him on the back: "First you will have to make sure you can protect yourself from the potential harm by your own creations, and what better way to do that than beating them to it? And I mean this quite literally, beat the wayward ones back to dust before they can even make a move on you. Maki, Panda, you two are in charge of training Tsumi in combat! Good luck~"

Wait what...