A coup that broke out in defiance of the orders issued by Jujutsu Headquarters after the Shibuya Incident.
From the conflict between Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School, the Zenin clan, the Kamo clan, and the higher-ups, the situation unfolded as follows.
To prepare for any possible clash with Okkotsu Yuta, Junpei headed to Jujutsu Headquarters alone.
The matter of taking control of the Zenin clan was entrusted entirely to Megumi, while Todo and Nobara—who could heal—were assigned as escorts, since having more allies meant they could employ a wider range of tactics.
The remaining members, Yuji and Choso, naturally made their way to the Kamo clan.
"Feels like we got shoved into the bargain bin."
"Maybe it looks that way, but tactically, this is the right move."
Yuji complained out loud, but he had no choice but to agree with Choso.
The Kamo clan’s [Crimson Blood Manipulation] was an all-rounder [technique] with both offense and long-range attack options.
It couldn’t compare to irregular [technique]s like [Ten Shadows Cursed Law] or [Limitless], but it boasted a perfectly hexagonal set of parameters.
And precisely because of that, Choso and Yuji were the perfect pair to deal with the Kamo clan.
"You’re the only one who can see [Piercing Blood] coming and dodge it, Yuji. And there’s no one in this world who understands [Crimson Blood Manipulation] more deeply than I do."
A small hexagon could be crushed by a bigger hexagon.
Choso, the superior version of every [Crimson Blood Manipulation] user, and Yuji, whose body could overwhelm any half-baked attack through sheer physical force.
Headmaster Yaga, who had proposed the plan, knew this well, which was why he could send them off with confidence.
"I don’t know what the Zenin side will be like, but the Kamo clan will resist fiercely. This place is the cradle of the conservatives who make up most of Jujutsu Headquarters."
"So the whole clan is coming at us with everything they’ve got."
"Worried?"
"No. I’m fired up, actually."
Even with the entire clan as his opponent, Yuji’s fighting spirit burned bright.
He had gained nothing in the Shibuya Incident. He had only been swept around by other people’s wills like a part in a machine.
But now he had a role.
The people who believed in him had patted him on the back, and now it was time to repay that trust.
"I knew my little brother would say that."
"...That part’s true, but still."
"Please, just once, call me big brother!"
"Ah, cut it out! Don’t grab me!"
He was his brother, sure, but every time Choso forced the title on him like this, it made Yuji feel weirdly broken inside.
He was already confused enough from suddenly gaining a brother for the first time in his sixteen years of life, and the brother himself was like this, too, so it was dizzying.
Choso’s pale, sharp features overlapped in Yuji’s mind with the face of a delusional gorilla with a topknot.
Shaking off Choso, who was pitifully clinging to him, Yuji strode toward the front gate.
-Knock, knock.
"Anybody home?"
There was no point in sneaking in anyway, since they had to subdue the entire clan. Choso had already agreed to that.
Before entering through the front gate in broad daylight, Yuji knocked out of habit.
There was no answer.
"As if anyone would answer."
"....."
Choso’s ice-cold stare was painful.
Scratching his head awkwardly, Yuji opened the gate and stepped inside, where they were met with—
"Fire."
A barrage of blood flying in from every direction.
From the tracking arrows Noritoshi had shown during the exchange event, to weapon-shaped blood mixed with something unknown, and even [Piercing Blood].
The attacks of the clan members, gathered under someone’s command, united as one and targeted the brothers.
They meant to take their breath away with the very first assault.
But—
-Whoosh!
Yuji dodged or blocked every attack with unbelievable reflexes, then charged straight into the sorcerers.
At the same time, all the attacks fired at Choso behind him froze in midair.
An invisible tug-of-war unfolded between Choso, with both palms spread, and the Kamo clan sorcerers.
The precise nature of [Crimson Blood Manipulation] was control over blood.
They usually used their own blood, but because [Crimson Blood Manipulation] was disadvantaged in prolonged battles, they often carried blood packs and the like.
What that meant was simple: they could interfere with other people’s blood too.
Of course, it wasn’t possible to simply drain all the blood from an opponent’s body or coagulate it to kill them instantly. If that were possible, the Kamo clan would probably have crushed the Zenin clan and the Gojo clan to become the undisputed number one.
The control they could exert over blood circulating inside another person’s body was weak. It only became truly effective once the blood separated from the body.
In that sense, perhaps the greatest natural enemy of a [Crimson Blood Manipulation] user was another [Crimson Blood Manipulation] user with greater skill.
-Crk, crk, crk!
The red markings in both of Choso’s eyes deepened, and the balance of power collapsed.
No matter how many of them there were, they couldn’t beat Choso, who had refined his [technique] in his mind for 150 years.
Soon, the surrounding area had become Choso’s domain in all but name.
"I’ll return it."
With a flick of Choso’s hand, the attacks flying toward them all reversed direction and headed back to their original owners.
It wasn’t some sentimental instinct to return to their source.
-Pew pew pew!
The sorcerers lacking skill were struck down by the counterattack, but the more capable ones shattered the shape of the blood and managed a partial defense.
Once the long-range assault failed, the sorcerers all began charging in with red markings flaring in their eyes.
[Red Scale Dance], which manipulates the blood components in the body to enhance physical performance.
In response, Choso also brought his own blood to a boil.
The superior version of [Red Scale Dance].
[Crimson Scale Dance] - [Release]
Yuji was already trading blows with a number of sorcerers as well.
Thrilling with excitement, Choso shouted with a face full of laughter.
"Come!"
Itadori Yuji and Choso.
It was time for the strongest brothers to make their move.
--------------------------------------
For some reason, ever since he became a sorcerer, Yuji had ended up in a lot of one-on-one situations, but he was actually quite used to fighting multiple opponents.
Since middle school, he had often done things that were basically “enforcing justice,” so sorcerers from the Kamo clan who strengthened their bodies with [Red Scale Dance] and came at him were no different from street punks.
Of course, the Kamo clan sorcerers were faster, tougher, and stronger, but at this point Yuji could easily ignore that level of difference.
"Die, vessel of Sukuna!"
Yuji spun between sorcerers charging from front and back, each gripping [blood blades].
His precisely deflected front hand crossed paths, sending the blood blades slicing through empty air, and a backspin blow and a roundhouse kick slammed into the chins of the startled sorcerers.
-Thwack! Thwack!
The brain-rattling blows rolled their eyes back and sent them crashing down.
But when fighting multiple enemies, you always had to watch your blind spots.
A streak of red light was flying in through the bodies falling around him.
[Piercing Blood].
The secret art of [Crimson Blood Manipulation], which fires compressed blood.
If it hit, there would be no avoiding a piercing wound, but Yuji’s eyes moved precisely and caught the trajectory.
-Snap!
Yuji lowered his body, tearing his legs apart into a low stance, and [Piercing Blood] skimmed over his head.
He had already seen the move while fighting alongside Choso.
Compared to Choso’s version, which had been honed to the point of breaking the sound barrier, the opponent’s [Piercing Blood] was painfully slow and weak.
"Ghk!"
Apparently not expecting him to dodge [Piercing Blood], the opponent grimaced.
As he brought his hands together to prepare the next attack and began forming [Hundred Refinements] between them, the blood gathered in his hands exploded outward.
[Supernova]
-Boom!
"Aaaagh!!"
"You even compressed it for me so I could use it easily. How thoughtful."
Choso, having cleared away the enemies clinging to his side, had interfered with the external manipulation of blood for an instant.
Moved by the kindness of having even the compression done for him, Choso repaid the favor by blowing off the man’s wrist.
At the same time, the sorcerers exposed to the opening all rushed him at once.
Maintaining external blood manipulation and [Crimson Scale Dance] at the same time wasn’t easy. He had to control the blood in his own body in line with his combat movements while also moving blood outside his body.
It was something no ordinary level of control could even dream of.
The Kamo clan sorcerers knew that too, since they used the same [Crimson Blood Manipulation], and they charged in based on that calculation—but—
"It’s a mistake to think I’m the same as you."
Wrong.
The markings around Choso’s eyes still hadn’t disappeared.
His hardened limbs, reinforced with [Purification], moved swiftly.
He caught an incoming blade with one hand, then smashed the face of an enemy lunging from behind with his opposite elbow.
Using the principle of the weak overcoming the strong, he twisted the blade he had caught until the enemy buckled and fell of his own accord. He kicked the neutralized opponent away, then faced the next one head-on.
After easily evading the attack with his enhanced eyesight, he shook the enemy’s vision with a short, snapping punch.
Then a low kick to the staggering enemy’s leg.
-Bang!
With a sound that rang through bone, the sorcerer’s leg bent grotesquely and he collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
As the front-line enemies were cleaned up one by one by Yuji and Choso, the remaining dozen or so sorcerers widened the distance and tried the same barrage again.
[Piercing Blood]
For a moment it seemed like they were repeating the same mistake, but the Kamo clan sorcerers weren’t fools.
That was when the elderly leader, who had been watching from the back after ordering the first barrage, stepped forward.
[Red Bind]
A blood rope with output far beyond the previous attacks lashed out and bound Choso and Yuji tightly.
"Tch!"
The barrage gathered like a dense net and targeted them.
With [Red Bind] coiling around them and constricting their bodies, the same concentration as before was impossible.
Just when it seemed they had fallen into a desperate crisis, Yuji suddenly lifted a foot and slammed it down with all his strength.
-KOOOOM!!
With a single stomp, the ground caved in, a small earthquake rippled out, and the earth shook.
The feet of the sorcerers firing [Piercing Blood] also wavered, distorting their trajectories, and Choso seized the opening to take control of [Piercing Blood] and concentrate it at one point.
-Fip!
The pointed ends of [Piercing Blood] met in midair with a chilling sound.
Blood sprayed from the friction, forming a red mist, and a bloody smoke screen spread out, blocking the sorcerers’ vision.
And the brothers did not miss the moment when crisis turned into opportunity.
"Hup!"
-Crk!
Yuji wrapped his body in cursed energy and tore through the blood rope by force.
With his freedom of movement restored, a confident smile spread across Choso’s lips.
"Well done, Yuji! Leave the last one to me!"
There was enough blood now.
Choso drew in blood with all his strength, pouring maximum output into the technique, and veins bulged on his forehead.
-Goooooo...
All the blood used in the attack converged into one place, forming a massive sphere big enough to fit a person inside with room to spare.
At the terrifying sight, everyone fell silent, and then, under Choso’s control, the blood sphere shot high into the air.
This was another original.
An extension of the [technique] that Choso had created on the spot after reaching the peak of [Crimson Blood Manipulation].
[Exploding Blood Sphere]
The final finale to decorate the blood festival exploded brilliantly in the sky.
-Paang!
The blood that burst forth all took on sharp forms.
The rain of red blades falling from the sky swept across the entire Kamo clan mansion.
-Dududududududu!
"Aaaagh!!"
Most of the remaining sorcerers were pierced by the wide-area attack and rendered unable to fight.
The old man directing the operation, Kamo Shino, clicked his tongue and closed his eyes.
"If only that Kuromo... no, that bastard had done his job properly...."
As Shino muttered something incomprehensible, Yuji charged toward him.
The last thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a fist filling his entire field of vision.
---------------------------------------
The battle, which began with a catastrophic 2-to-32 ratio, ended in a victory for the two.
"This was way rougher than I expected. Looks like the clan head was grinding his teeth."
"It was a pain subduing them without killing anyone."
"Murder wasn’t the goal, so even if it’s a little hard, we have to leave them alive."
It seemed they had brought everyone out, because no one stood in their way.
All that remained now was to settle things with the current clan head.
Since the Kamo side had launched the first strike, they had more than enough justification to pressure him over the coup.
"Let’s finish this quickly and head back."
Crossing the back garden and moving deeper into the inner quarters where the clan head lived, the brothers did not stop.
A room with an old tatami floor welcomed them, and Yuji and Choso opened the door without hesitation and stepped inside.
Then they froze in place.
"Ugh...!"
"You’re here."
Kamo Noritoshi, whom they had not seen since the Shibuya Incident, was pinned down and lying on the floor.
Behind him, as he struggled in the grip of a centipede curse, sat a man.
"I’ve been waiting for you to arrive."
Long hair with his bangs swept back made a striking impression.
A loose black monk’s robe.
Even the stitched scar on his forehead.
"If you see your parent, you should greet him first, boys."
The 25th head of the Kamo clan.
Kenjaku, borrowing Kamo Noritoshi’s name, welcomed his blood relatives.
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