The Weight of Power – Chapter 127
The Weight of Power – Chapter 127
Ren woke up slowly, his body feeling like lead. His mind was a storm—memories of the battle flashing like jagged shards. Mahoraga's wheel. Geto's mocking grin. The crushing weight of Maximum: Uzumaki. The screaming of metal. The heat of blood-red cursed energy running through his veins.
He sat up, exhaling heavily.
"Ah… what the fuck happened to the plot?"
His thoughts rolled faster, sharper.
"How the hell was Megumi even there? And how the hell did Mahoraga get into the fight?! Ugh! Not only that… my cursed energy pool—"
Ren clenched his fists.
"It was already low… And now it's HALVED. Fucking hell."
The absence of Rika's presence hit him next, like a missing limb. He couldn't feel her at all.
"I don't have Rika for the next six months…"
Ren's jaw tightened, but after a moment, he forced himself to exhale.
"No. That doesn't matter. I already have other things I want to do. Plans. I just have to leave Jujutsu High as soon as possible."
He leaned back slightly, mind racing.
"Nowhere is safe for me right now. If the outside world even gets a hint of what I did in that fight, they'll treat me like some kind of monster. People will try to test me. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if even Gojo himself wants to fight me just to see where I stand…"
A bitter chuckle escaped his lips.
"Right now, I'm probably… what? Grade 2? Maybe. And that's without Rika. Well—not nothing. I still have Kai2… useless as he is. But I have plans for him."
Ren's eyes flickered as he thought of the other curse.
"And Kai3? He's basically my storage now. Both of them are tucked in my shadow, so I don't need to worry about anyone finding out. The cursed warehouse haul… that's another story. I gained a lot."
He closed his eyes, sinking deeper into thought.
"But my biggest gain… is the cursed techniques I copied."
The weight of knowledge filled him. He could almost feel each technique etched in his mind—threads of power waiting to be pulled.
"I can't use them now since I can't summon Rika… but that doesn't mean I don't understand them. In fact… I understand them better than I did before. My understanding of cursed techniques has grown."
One by one, he ran through the list in his mind.
Red Stitch. His original, flexible thread technique.
Then came the ones Rika allowed him to copy—Flood Maw, Magnetic Decree, Veil of Still Darkness (from the cursed spirit Darkness), Mirror Reversal (the reflection technique that saved him from Maximum: Uzumaki), Cursed Speech (taken after Rika devoured Inumaki's arm), Foxflame Mirage (Tamamo-no-Mae's illusionary flames), Blood Manipulation (a weaker variant, but still versatile), and finally…
Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
The last one made him frown.
"I know the least about this one. Rika only ate Geto's hand, so it's incomplete. I copied it just to understand how it works. I don't care about controlling curses like Geto—but the knowledge behind it? That's priceless."
Ren tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling.
"In total, I have ten cursed techniques now… but I can't use any of them other than the well-red stitch..."
A strange, bitter laugh escaped his throat.
"Ten cursed techniques… and I can only use the weakest one..."
For some reason, that thought was funny to him. Too absurd to feel real.
He lay back against the bed, breathing out slowly.
"It's not fully useless. Understanding is everything. Knowledge doesn't go away. I can feel it—information blooming in my head even now. I see things differently…"
"I also, for the first time, experienced a domain up close. Tamamo-no-Mae's domain. It felt… like I was high or something. Surreal. Terrifying. But enlightening."
He smiled faintly, though his body still ached.
"That fight showed me my limits. My flaws. My weaknesses. It showed me what I lack. Without Rika, I'm… fragile. But I have a plan. A way forward."
Ren's eyes drifted shut again, his mind already working.
…
…
.
[Ren's Cursed Techniques...
(1st red stitch
Maximum technique: Binding of Izanami
指組み (Handsign: Clasped hands with interlaced fingers)
[Chanting:
"Stitching through form... Connecting through will..."
"Thread becomes law—bind this domain!"
(2nd Copy Cursed Technique
Allow Ren to copy cursed techniques from others. The requirements to copy someone else's cursed techniques are simple. Rika should eat the person's body so Ren can copy their cursed techniques. Simple: the more Rika eats, the better Ren copies…
Copied Cursed Techniques...
{3rd Flood Maw.
1st Water Blades. Razor-sharp streams of water that I could launch from my hands like compressed slicing discs. They could cut through metal if focused enough. The user has to throw their arms to release them.
2nd Water Beam. A high-powered jet of cursed water that fired from the mouth like a cannon. It packed force—enough to tear down buildings if given the charge-up time. But that was the weakness. It needed buildup. A few seconds too long in close combat.}
{4th Magnetic Decree
1st Iron Rule
Ren can control any metal object he touches or sees within 15 meters…
2nd False Gravity
Pretty much weak flight and floating…
3rd Maximum Output: Grudge Collapse
Ren creates a magnetic area around him (20-meter radius) and will have control over all metal in that area… But Ren needed to make a chant before he could use the 3rd technique… The chant was…
"Dark eyes bear witness…
To the silence of God and the scream of iron.
Fall, false order—collapse beneath my will."}
{5th Veil of Still Darkness "NEW"
1st Black Mist
Ren can summon a thick, heavy dark mist in a 20-meter radius around him. The mist obscures all light and vision—even cursed energy perception is dulled inside it. Anyone inside becomes effectively blind. Ren is immune to this blindness. His senses remain sharp.}
{6th Mirror Reversal "NEW"
1st Mirror Reversal
Ren can summon a single cursed mirror directly in front of him to reflect physical or cursed energy attacks. Any attack that hits the mirror is reflected back with equal force and direction; it can only redirect attacks, which breaks the mirror. If the mirror is not broken, the attack does not get redirected, and it takes 1 minute to summon a new mirror once a mirror is broken.
2nd Fragment Scatter
Upon breaking, the mirror shatters into cursed glass shards that launch forward in a wide spread, tracking the nearest hostile cursed energy signature.
Ren must physically make a pointing hand sign at the location where the mirror will be summoned.}
{7th Cursed speech "NEW"
1st Commands
Allows Ren to give binding commands through speech commands.
Like "Don't Move," which temporarily paralyzes the user's target.
The user must have more cursed energy than the person there trying to command, or the user will face lashback.}
{8th Foxflame Mirage "NEW"
1st Foxflame
Ren creates small floating fireballs (max 5) that burn cursed energy on contact. Can be shot at enemies or used as distractions Follow Ren like floating orbs until fired. But while using Foxflames, the user is unable to use Fox Decoy or Illusion Mist.
2nd Fox Decoy
Ren can create 1–3 fake copies of himself. They can stay standing for a long amount of time, but when they move, they only appear for a second or two, confusing the enemy. They don't deal damage but look real until touched.
3rd Illusion Mist
Ren releases a mist around the battlefield (15 m max). Inside it, enemies see fake terrain and false Ren clones. Great for sneaky attacks or escaping.
4th Maximum Output: Foxflame Bloom
Ren combines all 5 fireballs into one big one. When it hits, it confuses the senses of the target for a few seconds. Real attacks can land while they're stunned by fake ones.
Requires a chant or binding vow. Releases a wide field of explosive mirages.
Chant:
"O ancient veil, grant me divine illusion...
In fire and trickery, my soul finds form—bloom."}
{9th Blood Manipulation
A weakened version of blood manipulation can use most of blood manipulation, but it will all be weaker, like Ren can use supernova, but it would be weaker…}
(10th Minor Cursed Spirit Manipulation})