The sun slowly crested the horizon, its rays lighting up the few clouds hanging over the destroyed and cursed spirit-infested city. To conclude the attack on Shibuya and the sealing of the strongest modern-day sorcerer, the man formerly claiming to be Suguru Geto had released upwards of 10,000,000 cursed spirits from the control of his technique.
Most had scrambled to and fro, seeking out other colonies around Japan but Shibuya was still home to thousands of them, many being placed above third grade by scouts sent out by the jujutsu clans and the main head courts of jujutsu society.
A young man in a zipped-up black jacket and black pants walked down a bridge quietly, his sleeves rolled up to reveal the muscular forearm beneath. Once he reached the center of the bridge, he turned his back to the side he was closest to before raising his hands to either side.
Bringing them together above his head, the pink-haired teen let out a loud clap. A moment of silence passed as the sound echoed through the hollow buildings of Shibuya. A moment later, the rushing of water could be heard as two giant cursed spirits emerged from the ocean below.
"Here's some," Yuji said, looking behind him as he lowered his arm. One of the curses had two ringed eyes, a large jagged mouth filled with sharp teeth, and two large horns which bent backward. Its head was bat-like and its body was sorta like a frog. The other curse was a long slug-like thing with four arms on each side of its body. It had no eyes but a large human mouth, in its top right hand it held a large staff.
The curse brought its staff down, smashing the stone bridge apart as Yuji booked it back towards where he'd come. Yuji heard two more curses join the two he'd lured out but he didn't bother to look back to get a look.
His face was calm as he made it off the relatively small bridge, sliding between the legs of a human-like curse that jumped from a nearby building to land in front of him. Yuji slowed his pace the slightest bit, wanting the spirits a bit closer.
The five giant curses smashed through everything in their way as they chased after Yuji, barely able to squeeze through two buildings Yuji took a left and started running downhill into an underpass leading underneath a perpendicular road.
Choso was there waiting, the sleeves of his robe flaring out to either side of him, his hands clapping together and aiming straight at Yuji. Yuji swayed to the side as the highly condensed stream of pressurized blood shot from his fingertips. The beam flew just past his head and pierced the curses pursuing him.
Four of the five curses were nailed through the head or some other vital organ, leaving only a relatively small flying squirrel-like curse. Yuji turned, jumped, and slammed his fist into its cheek, smashing it into the wall of the underpass and exorcising it in a single blow.
"As impressive as ever, little brother," Choso said, lowering his arms and facing Yuji.
"Are you still calling me that?" Yuji asked. He wasn't really angry about it, just confused and more than a little weirded out.
"Yes, and I'll keep doing it over and over. Try to recollect. Your father had stitches on his head, didn't he?" Choso asked, squinting his eyes.
Before Yuji could respond, he caught the slight glint of steel in the newly arrived rays of the sun. He raised his hand as his eyes widened. An arrow came soaring out of nowhere, aimed right for his heart. Yuji was only able to tip the shaft of the arrow with the back of his hand, shifting its trajectory.
The arrow pierced his left shoulder, just above the armpit. The arrowhead embedded halfway into his flesh before being stopped by Yuji's superhumanly tough muscle fibers. Yuji grunted, spinning to the side to dodge another arrow that embedded itself into the ground.
Yuji ran into the underpass, Choso following close behind.
"We have to close the distance, I think they're a few blocks away," Choso said, his eyes scanning over Yuji's wound, full of worry.
"Don't worry, I-"Before Yuji could finish his sentence, a loud crash could be heard from above as visible cracks formed on the ceiling of the small tunnel. The pair dashed in opposite directions to dodge the falling debris.
A small black dot in the morning sky with the only warning Yuji got before another arrow struck him, this one in the chest. It hadn't done much though, one of his ribs stopping it from piercing his lung with only a hairline fracture to show for it. A minor injury in Yuji's opinion if you ignored the blood loss.
A line of red appeared in the sky along with the arrow, Choso firing piercing blood toward where he'd seen the arrow originate from. Once it was within a hundred feet of the 7th-story building the sniper was thought to be on, the stream lost some of its consultation. The blood lashed out, slamming into the side of the building, breaking every piece of glass on that side of the building between the 4th and 6th floor.
The structural support of the building quickly began to break down, at least where Choso had attacked, deliberately choosing a large area of effect over intense penetrative power. None of the building could really be called stable or solid anymore, not after that meteor had shaken the city's bedrock, a blast of steam melted most of the metal supports, and giant cursed spirits began to run a muck. All of this was to say, it wasn't hard to destroy the already fragile buildings.
The glass shattered as a huge amount of dust was kicked up, the debris formed by Choso's attack tumbling down the building as the other three corners he hadn't destroyed struggled to support the top floors.
After a moment, the walls gave out and the building fell on top of itself. Yuji, ignoring the pain, sprinted towards the massive dust cloud created, Choso following after him. Neither brother was good at long-range battle, especially Yuji, making closing the distance mandatory if they wanted a chance at winning.
Yuji's superhuman body made quick work of the few blocks distance between him and his attacker. Yuji spotted a dark silhouette dashing out of the fading dust cloud and into a nearby docking yard. Yuji turned, jumping from the street down into the yard full of shipping containers, trucks, cranes, and everything else you would expect at a dock, save for the ships themselves.
"I know you're here!" Yuji shouted, his voice echoing off the metal containers. He heard the whistle of something flying through the air. He dove forward into a roll, the arrow just barely missing him. Yuji grabbed a loose stone about the size of his palm as he rolled.
He stood and threw it full force towards where the arrow had come from, the top of a loading crane. The stone was shattered into dust as it met another arrow in mid-air. The arrow was thrown off course by the collision, however, resulting in it flying into a nearby workbench where papers and plans lay scattered.
Yuji saw the same shadowy figure jump from the carne down into the yard itself. Yuji raced towards him, ducking through the maze of containers as he chased after the man.
He heard a loud bang to his right, his head snapping towards the sound on reflex. Nothing was there, however. Another band could be heard, this one quieter and coming from the other direction. Yuji turned just in time to see an arrow ricochet off the side of a green metal shipping container. Yuji saw the air too late, making him unable to dodge.
The arrow sank into his left thigh, Yuji letting out a tsk as the arrow tore through his nerves and muscle fibers, only stopping once it struck bone. Yuji scanned his surroundings as he broke off the shaft of the arrow, choosing to leave the arrowhead in his flesh to help with the bleeding.
Yuji turned around at the sound of another clang, just in time to see another arrow ricocheting off another container. This one was "blocked" by Yuji's forearm, the arrowhead still sinking into his flesh.
Yuji jumped and kicked off one of the containers before pulling himself onto the one opposite it. Know on top of the maze of metal boxes, he looked around somewhat frantically as he tried to formulate a plan. Something he had little experience with. The best option he would come up with is hoping he could outlast the archer.
Yuji didn't feel anything off about the arrows, making him assume they weren't created by some cursed technique. With that in mind, his attacker would eventually run out of arrows. And considering the archer's hesitance to close the distance or even let Yuji get a feel for his position, he likely didn't like his odds against Yuji in close combat. So if Yuji would make him fire all his arrows and come out of it in a good enough position to fight the man, he could win.
Another bang rang out, Yuji threw his hand up in the direction of the bang as he pumped even more cursed energy into the hand. He felt a pain run through his arm as he turned to look. The arrow had hit him right in the middle of his palm but had only penetrated about half an inch into his flesh.
Yuji broke the arrow in half before slipping the half with the sharp bit on it into his back pocket, hoping it would be of some use later. Yuji dashed forward, jumping to the next container and then the next. As he ran across the tops of the maze, he expected another arrow to descend upon him at any moment. But another one never came.
"Yuji! Over here!" Yuji smiled as he recognized the voice. Right, he wasn't alone anymore.
Changing his direction, Yuji began to run towards the sound. After about 20 seconds of running, Yuji jumped from the container he was currently in into a more open part of the dock. There he found Choso and a cloaked man engaged in close-range combat. The man wielded two daggers while Choso covered one of his hands in blood armor just like he had when he'd fought Yuji.
The cloaked man's knives flew through the air, the hands they were in switching constantly. It almost looked like he was juggling them and it would've been pretty entertaining if he wasn't attacking constantly in between changing his grip. The constant movement of his knives made the direction the man would strike very unpredictable, leading to Choso being scored by the knives often.
Choso did his best to defend, neither knife able to pierce his blood armor but only a single arm was covered in the stuff, leaving his other side more vulnerable to a cut here and there.
Yuji rushed in, punching the man in the side from behind. The man grunted in pain, Yuji feeling at least one of his ribs fracturing as his hand bent his flesh and bone around it. The man flipped the knife in his left hand into a reverse grip before swinging around to slash out at Yuji.
The attack was faster than he thought it would be. He tried to dodge back but pain shot through his leg, his left thigh to be exact. The arrowhead shifted at a bad time, causing Yuji to dodge late and get a knife in the collarbone for it. It would've been a debilitating wound for nearly anyone else but Yuji was made of tough stuff than that.
He powered through the pain, throwing another punch, this one aimed for the man's face. Before it could make contact, the man transformed into a black mist of some kind. Yuji pulled back his fist as Choso, who was attacking the man as well, did the same so as not to hit his ally.
The mist shot toward the around Yuji before condensing into the cloaked man once more. He appeared with his bow in hand, an arrow clutched in his right hand. Judging from the lack of arrows in his quiver, this was his last one.
He turned as his cursed energy spiked. Yuji turned as well, recognizing this arrow would be the most powerful one yet. Choso placed a hand on Yuji's shoulder, moving him out of the way as he covered his arms and hands in dense blood armor.
Yuji wanted to protest but couldn't before the arrow was shot. It moved so fast neither of them could've dodged in time. Choso focused on reinforcing his hands as he attempted to "catch" the arrow. In reality, he was just giving the arrow more bone and muscle to break through before it killed him if his defenses weren't enough. His desire to protect his brother pushed him to create blood armor denser than anything he'd ever done before.
But in the end, none of it mattered. The arrow turned into a black mist, the same mist the man had turned into moments before in what was no doubt his innate technique. The mist passed around Choso before forcing again behind him, the arrow not having lost a single bit of speed or energy.
Yuji was only able to widen his eyes a bit and raise his hand in front of the arrow before it struck his body. The extremely powerful arrow, no doubt filled with a sizable amount of the man's cursed energy pools, tore through Yuji's hand, forming a baseball-sized hole through the right side of his palm, tearing away his index finger, middle finger, and thumb.
The arrow continued onward as the arrowheads still embedded in Yuji from the previous shots were somehow "awakened" by the main arrow. The cursed energy still stored in them erupted, making Yuji's open wounds explode into holes twice the size of the original injury. The main arrow continued onward into Yuji's bicep, cutting clean through.
The arrow continued into a container behind the duo, punching a hole straight through it and a few other metal crates behind it before it finally came to a halt.
Yuji collapsed to the ground. Barely able to catch himself with his other hand. Choso turned towards him, worry, shock, and anger stretching across his face.
He turned back towards the stranger, the minor cuts he'd taken from the man earlier suddenly pouring out blood as a giant wave of the stuff crashed toward the cloaked man. With the attacker temporarily occupied, Choso turned to try and tend to his brother.
"You are my brother. So you must have some mutation of the Kamo Clan cursed technique. Try. Try to control your blood. The blood in your arm. Bring them together. Heal yourself. Help me finish him." Choso said, dropping to one knee to try and coach Yuji through it. Yuji closed his eyes due to both the pain of the wound and his attempt to listen to Choso.
Yuji had always been gifted physically. While the strength and speed were definitely the most impressive, Yuji thought another part of the trait was a bit overlooked. His insane motor skills and reactions. To put it simply, he was completely aware of his body and had the whole thing mapped out.
Even still, it was still a huge surprise when he was able to feel his right arm. The arm lying ten feet away. He could feel the wind blowing on it. The coldness of the ground on his palm. Before long, Yuji's sense of his own body expounded. He could now feel his blood.
He could feel it rushing through his entire body. He could feel it being pumped out by his heart, could hear it circling through him. He could also feel the temperature of the blood in his right arm dropping.
He forced the blood to move. Both in his right arm and the stump it had been cut away from. The process took minutes but eventually, the blood began to circulate through his arm once more. Choso helped bring the arm to him so he didn't need to do the hardest part of actually dragging the arm towards him with only his blood.
Yuji painstakingly reconnected most of the tiny blood vessels back together as his arm slowly became less and less… detached from the rest of his body. Before long, Yuji's arm was back. Not exactly in working order but at least attached to his body.
Yuji flicked his head up, opening his eyes for the first time in minutes as he sensed… something. Something creepy. Overwhelming.
The sound of footsteps was easily picked up by Yuji's superhuman ears as a man, no, a teen walked around the corner of the main warehouse of the dock. Clutched in his left hand was the presumed head of the cloaked man.
"Sorry, I'm late. I had to take care of the Zen'in's tasked to help this one out. I'm Yuta Okkotsu. Nice to meet you, Itadori Yuji."
——
"What an amateur. A second-rate archer with a third-rate technique." A tall man said, standing around six foot three inches. He wore basic blue jeans with a white hoodie with the hood down. He had bright blonde hair, blue eyes, and pearly white teeth.
He put a hand above his brow to block out the rising sun as he stared towards the dock from the tenth story of an office building. It wasn't a huge surprise the building was still standing, considering it was a few dozen miles from Shibuya.
An old man sat behind him in a common desk chair. He wore a simple blue robe, his long hair tied into a ponytail and white from age. His face was covered in wrinkles.
"I'm sure he wasn't bad. Your standards are just unrealistic. You must consider that you are the greatest archer in history when criticizing the youth." The man's seasoned voice said.
"Anyone who hides behind unrealistic expectations as an excuse is a pussy. And don't call them the youth. It makes me feel old." The younger man said, turning to look at his seated elder.
"You are old. We are old. We are generals of another age. Be careful. The one in white may try to take your title as the second void general if you don't take the talents of this era more seriously." The older man warned.
"I could kill that one right now if I wanted to. I have nothing to fear from anyone of this age anymore."