Naobito Returns

<Timeskip: 2 Years Later>

-General POV-

...

In a small wooden cabin, a twelve-year-old boy with red hair can be seen doing situps at a slow pace while yelling, "2433!.. 2434!... 2435!..... 2456!..... Time-out!"

Laying down on the ground, he wrapped his arms around his abs like he was experiencing a baby at his age, "Damn! The pain is too much..." He was suffering from intense overexertion.

This child was Vulcan.

...

For the last two years, he had a strict routine.

Train and get resources for survival 10 hours a day, study for 6 hours, and sleep 8 hours while training Hatsurei-ho.

Altogether, it shaped Vulcan literally into an absolute killer.

He never advanced any of his techniques, just perfected the ones he already had whenever he was asleep in the Spirit Forge's inner world. The main payoff during the last couple of years of training was his body and energy compatibility.

Now that Vulcan grew up, he can use his body with more control, and well-toned muscles during this time only helped. Because his body has more control over Spirit Energy, he can now maintain his techniques for longer periods by efficiently controlling the output.

He sits in a seiza position and practices his regular breathing of Ho, without the use of Spirit Forge techniques. All he does is just breathe.

In and out...

Thinking about the world he has to explore, the cage of weakness always trapping him...

...

Standing up, he clenches his fist, causing Spirit Energy to erupt into the air. Enduring the anger of being left alone in this world for so long, wondering why he was reincarnated, Vulcan's Spirit Energy darkens into jet-black lightning.

But just then, that black aura starts to wrap around his knuckles, leaving the rest of his fist exposed. Looking at the wall in front of him, he clenches and...

*Knock* *Knock*

"Is Vulcan in here?" A mysterious voice interrupts Vulcan, causing him to cancel his aura.

Turning around, Vulcan sees the door open, exposing an old man with an English-style mustache that extends beyond both sides of his cheeks. The man was smiling when he saw Vulcan.

Seeing the grayish mustache, Vulcan continued what he was doing before, "Ho!"

First Vulcan gathered the blue Spirit Energy in his fists, surrounding them with the unique blue light.

Then, as he clenched his fist, he lunged at the old man, "TAKE THIS YOU FART!"

As the punch was getting closer to Naobito's face, Vulcan's blue energy flashed into jet-black lightning, smashing the man's nose!

...

"Projection"

As Vulcan's fist landed, he noticed that all he hit was a wall...

A loud crash was heard, as dust filled Vulcan's eyesight.

The wall in front was destroyed completely, but Naobito was missing. The only evidence of Vulcan releasing a punch was the broken wood tiles that ruptured from Vulcan's attack.

Looking around, Vulcan couldn't find the old man. All Vulcan heard was, "Do you know how many frames... are in one second of an animated sequence?"

Confused, Vulcan started darting his eyes everywhere, wondering where the old man's voice was coming from.

Just as Vulcan was giving up, he found a strange creature on the ground. It was about as big as a baby, with the face cockroach, and the rest looking like a dragonfly. It was a gross creature, that just stood still, staring at Vulcan.

The old man's voice said once again, "Projection"

In a single frame of a second, that disturbing creature fades into ashes like it never existed in the first place...

"What are you old man? A teleporter? Or some ghost?" Vulcan was getting upset, as ghosts were not his favorite thing.

Naobito heard this and chuckled, before appearing once again in front of Vulcan replying, "I am a Sorcerer. This was a small test to make absolutely sure you can see curses and used Cursed Energy. Those ghosts you call it are called curses and that energy you used was Cursed Energy..."

The old man was getting exhausted from talking too much about things that seemed obvious, continuing with a hurried speech, "I've been waiting for you to grow up before trying to teach you about it, not because I forgot... Anyway now I can tell you the details about the jujutsu world."

"Okay old man, I'll listen," Kyle said while squinting his eyes showing suspicion. In truth, this was the moment he was waiting for, a chance to learn the truth behind ghosts, or rather curses...

The old man cleared his throat and spoke to Vulcan, "In this world, jujutsu sorcerers like myself stay hidden from society to fight curses like that cockroach you saw. Sorcerers and curses sometimes have a Cursed Technique. Depending on their good luck, Sorcerers will be born with either an innate or inherited technique."

Taking a small break to pause, the man took a sip from a gourd that magically appeared in his hands, continuing his speech, "Refreshing... Anyway, I have an inherited technique from my Zenin family which allows me to divide one second into twenty-four frames, called Projection Sorcery"

Naobito used this moment to stop and allow Vulcan to digest the information, after all, it was a lot to process. Noticing something strange about Naobito's new roundabout way of talking, Vulcan asked, "What does that have to do with me old man? Don't tell me, I have a Cursed Technique?"

After Vulcan's question, Naobito smirked and said, "You're smarter than before at least. The time I spent away was not just on drinking and politics, but to research your family backgrounds ever since I saw those unique knives."

Instantly, the gourd was swapped with Vulcan's Kitchen Knife that was laying on the ground.

Giving it a swing, Naobito responded, "You are a descendent of the Muramasa clan, and the only living blood alive. You see, these are Cursed Tools, weapons that are crafted using a Curse and a Cursed Technique. Certain Muramasa descendants have the Cursed Technique known as Spirit Forge."

"Depending on the curse, the Cursed Tool's final result can be much more powerful. The only one in the world that can create the highest grade of Cursed Tools was your birth mother and other Muramasa descendants."

Vulcan: "..."

"I recently learned that they were going through some trouble before you were born and went off the grid. Vulcan, you were born with the Joseph name and sent to be with a caretaker until they were also tagged by the Time Vessel Association, which are the bad guys here."

"In the end, an orphanage was the only way to hide your existence, until now. The Time Vessel Association, currently called Star Religious Group has discovered your existence through the use of an unidentifiable Cursed Technique of a hired mercenary. Their end goals are unknown, but they seem to want to end the line of what are Special Grade Cursed Tools..."

After Naobito's long explanation, he took a small pause and spoke, "Now that I confirmed your technique, it is the perfect time to teach you how to use it."

...

Vulcan barely heard the last words spoken to him.

Techniques?

Star Religious Group?

Mercenaries?

Vulcan closed his eyes for a moment to focus.

It was all very overwhelming, causing him to feel disheartened. This was more than he signed up for but at the same time...

==================

...

*BANG!*

The same sweet trembling voice in Vulcan's head always reminds him, "Vulcan... make sure to be happy..." It was a traumatizing yet calming scene from his last life. The last person he loved, was in the end the final person who left him alone.

==================

...

Opening his eyes once more, Vulcan said with a serious gaze, "Old man, I'm ready!"

Seeing the kid with a fire in his eyes, the old man couldn't help but chuckle and ask Vulcan, "Have you ever heard of Ibuki-douji?"

...