Chapter 19: Megumi's troubles.

[India...]

A teenager with tan skin and brown hair was standing in the open in an isolated forest. The forest was surrounded by a bunch of guards with guns.

In a clearing inside the forest, the teenager Raiwan cocked his fist back and threw a punch towards a heavily guarded soldier. His fist landed, surrounded by unstable, cursed energy.

Boom!

The soldier fell on his back with a groan, but three other bangs were heard, and the soldier opened his eyes wide with blood flowing from his ears, nose and mouth.

"Echo Trace," Raiwan muttered with shining eyes as he clenched his fist. Echo Trace allows him to replicate an action as many as four times. So if he lands a punch, three others follow.

[Tokyo.]

Boom!

Kizaru smirked as he punched Hanami to the ground. Her horns cracked, and one broke off, with the forest turning into rubble. Hanami jumped back, and hundreds of spikes stabbed towards Kizaru.

"Amaterasu!" Kizaru grinned and made an okay sign with one hand. A concentrated ball of light appeared and shot forward in a beam of heat and plasma.

Boom!

The wood spikes reinforced with Hanami's cursed energy disintegrated. Hanami urgently sank into the ground, with Amaterasu turning one of his arms into ash.

"Hmm. I'll let it slide~," Kizaru said with a shrug as he flew away. He was walking home when he sensed Hanami following him. Kizaru did not attack him until Hanami did.

Kizaru was supposed to lead Itadori and Megumi to meet with Kugisaki Nobara because Gojo was busy with work. He was delayed for a few minutes with Hanami.

"Ugh! Where is he? And why is he so young?!" Nobara said with annoyance as the three sat on the stairs. Itadori grinned as he showed a picture of Kizaru.

"Don't worry! I saw him fight, and he is badass." Megumi clicked his tongue before taking his phone out and ignoring the two. They were supposed to meet with Kizaru, but not here.

Pew!

"Yo! Sorry for being late. I had a special grade to take care of." Kizaru said with a smile as he appeared behind Megumi. Nobara and Itadori looked back with wide eyes, and Itadori was excited.

"Are you my sensei? Yahoo!" Kizaru chuckled before shaking his head. Itadori immediately lost his excitement and sighed with sadness.

"No, your sensei is currently busy with whatever," Kizaru said with raised eyebrows. The call with Gojo was last second. He did not say what he was doing, but he seemed serious.

"Alright, Itadori and Nobara. Follow me. Megumi, you sit there and look pretty." Kizaru said as he walked, with the three following Kizaru. Megumi looked tired as he followed.

The four soon reached a run-down building with a sad and scary energy. Kizaru turned to the three and pointed at the building.

"This building has a child and a curse trapped inside it. I know it because I can sense it. I want to see what you can do, so exorcise the curse." Kizaru said as he handed a short dagger to Itadori.

"This is Slaughter Demon. You can't use cursed energy yet, so use this." Kizaru said before pushing the two inside the building. Megumi and Kizar sat down, waiting for them.

The silence between them was loud, and Megumi kept looking at Kizaru, hesitating whether he should ask him his question.

"Ask away. I will answer if I can," Kizaru said with a smile as he played SubwaySurfers on his phone. Megumi looked at him before sighing with relief.

"What did you mean back when you fought Sukuna?..." Megumi asked, and Kizaru put his phone away before looking at Megumi. 

"Megumi. You literally might have the strongest cursed technique in the world... What is your grade?" Kizaru asked, and Megumi replied with a Grade 2.

"You are supposed to be a special grade already. Why did you only manage to tame such weak shikigami?" Kizaru said with a sigh. Megumi should realistically have every shikigami except for Mahoraga by now.

"I..." Megumi was silent, thinking. Megumi realised that he never took risks. He was always running if it was dangerous, and when he fought were when he was sure of running.

If he could not beat it and his life was in danger, Megumi knew in the back of his mind that he had Mahoraga in his sleeves. That's why he never pushed.

"The problem is that you are scared of leaving your sister behind. With that mindset, you will never fulfil your actual potential." Kizaru said, and Megumi's eyes widened as he thought of his sister.

"Being scared of leaving your sister behind is fine... But why do you not become stronger to protect her?" Kizaru said, and Megumi remained silent. Kizaru smiled as he sensed his emotions turning from annoyance and refusal to acceptance.

Boom!

Megumi looked up to see a wall in the house break and reveal Itadori slaying the curse while Nobara was behind, patting the scared boy. Kizaru flashed to the building and took the Slaughter Demon from Itadori's hand.

"Sorry, this is my girlfriend's. I can only lend it to you today." Kizaru said, and Itadoru nodded with shining eyes. Nobara looked at Kizaru with surprise.

"Let's go. I'll treat you three to some McDonald's!" Kizaru said, and Itadori and Nobara let out an excited gasp. Megumi nodded with a thoughtful look, still considering Kizaru's words.

[Gojo...]

Up in the air, Gojo floated with his blindfold off. Below him were a bunch of destroyed tanks and military cars. They had Chinese origins.

"What the hell is going on?" Gojo asked before teleporting in front of the soldiers. They looked at Gojo coldly as he appeared in front of them.

"Tell me why I sense cursed energy from all of you," Gojo said, and only received a cold stare. Gojo was not dumb and knew people outside Japan could still have cursed energy.

But this is too much of a coincidence. All these soldiers have cursed energy inside them. That's rare even in Japan since the number of sorcerers does not exceed 500.

Twenty-five soldiers with cursed energy suddenly appeared in China, which was shocking but also suspicious. The Chinese soldiers looked at Gojo before collapsing one by one.

"A chip in the brain killed them... This is bad." Gojo muttered as he scanned the bodies with six eyes.

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