The Taming Ritual

"Oyyyy, Maki and Mai~~~~"

While leaving the ground of Tokyo Jujutsu High, the twins hear a familiar voice Calling them from afar. They turn to see Panda and Inumaki walking to them.

"Going back home? You two Always go back on weekends..." Panda comments

"Salmon."

"Something like that..." Maki's shrugs without elaborating further

"And the situation of your friend? Is she good?" Panda asks in a worried tone

"She is... stable." Mai answers "It's the only thing that we can say."

"And is it really some sort of jujútsu sorcery?"

"Yes, or the work of some curse... Some long-term effect."

"I see, I see... We came here to invite you guys to do something to take your minds out of the gutter... Like watching a movie or a picnic. We have never done anything like that because you guys never stuck around during the weekends."

"But... You're a panda. Wouldn't people find you weird?" Mai raises her eyebrow at him

"You would be surprised how many people create excuses in their heads for my existence." Panda waves dismissively "But yes, I almost never go out."

Maki interrupts "Sorry guys, but this weekend specifically we can't." She says while turning around and starting walking to the stairs "Maybe next weekend. We can even bring Megumi."

"Oh, the famous Megumi~ Hehe~" Panda laughs conspiratorially while covering his smile with a paw(?)

"Salmon Roe~" Inumaki matches his energy

"Heh~ Thanks guys. We appreciate the sentiment nonetheless." Mai laughs as she starts to follow Maki

"Me, Panda, don't understand human feelings... But even pandas have friends."

"Salmon, salmon."

......

"..." The bullet train journey is uncomfortably silent between Megumi, Maki and Mai.

He was not in a positive mood in the last few days. Not that he is sad or anything, if it was necessary to describe his mood in one word it would be: Focused.

Maki side-glances the standing Megumi, he is not even blinking while looking at the scenery passing fast by the windows. His face is a calm mask while his brows furrow slightly in concentration.

That's probably the closest to Canon Magumi that he ever acted.

It's not right to blame him, even if Tsumiki's situation is put aside, what he is about to do is nerve-wracking enough and asks for all his seriousness and commitment.

Even Maki is not confronting him about it even if her personality asks for it. Some days earlier, his indifferent attitude almost made her grab him by the collar and try to shake something off him, but Mai stopped her.

Megumi is not sad or depressed, he just needs time. Hence why the mood is awkward, there's really nothing they can do beyond waiting and letting time heal.

Even if he knows everything is going well, it's still unpleasant to be in this situation.

"How is it, Maki?" Megumi suddenly turns to ask her

Maki says nothing beyond raising her phone and showing the timer and then, without looking she stops it.

Megumi nods "Perfect."

She is training herself to calculate time perfectly, a necessary part of the plan to ensure everything goes well.

"We're here..." He says, getting off the train.

The trio arrives in a small city and walks with purpose because Megumi researched the place beforehand.

After they reach the outskirts of the small town, Megumi stops "This is where we separate ourselves, Mai." He says and gesticulates to some small shops nearby "You stay here, we will not take long... Twenty minutes max."

"Alright... I will be waiting on that bench close to that dagashi shop." She points "Be careful, you two." She adds with a little worry "If more than half an hour passes, I'm calling Gojo-sensei."

"That will not be necessary... But okay. We never know, after all." Megumi shrugs and then grabs a white bunny from his shadows and gives it to Mai.

Mai is not "charging" to create anything, but even so, he will be cautious.

"If anything happens, kill it. I will notice and come to help." He says serious

"Ugh..." Mai makes a complicated face to the cute bunny.

Then Megumi and Maki start walking through the abandoned road.

...

"It will be here..." Megumi says while looking around the open space surrounded by trees, a little far from the abandoned road.

He raises a curtain and turns to Maki.

"Remember the plan?"

"Yep." Maki answers while going around and stabbing a bunch of swords in varying spots on the upcoming battlefield.

"You will need to bear the burden alone, are you ready?"

"Yeah, yeah... I think I'm ready, eager even." She answers with a grin while stretching herself and practicing some shadowboxing.

"If everything goes well, this will end in less than 5 minutes..." He comments before taking a position.

"Don't jinx it."

"Heh~, my luck is better than that." He smirks, now that he is so close to starting, he is paradoxically starting to relax.

Maki stays two feet at his side, a little behind. The first requirement of this whole thing is confirming that Maki will not be detected by the Ritual because of her Heavenly Restriction, so she needs to stay close. Megumi will feel if the ritual is valid from the start and they will not waste time if his theory was wrong.

He takes a deep breath and finally raises his hands forward, clenching his fists one above the other... This time not as a joking gesture.

And it can be felt...

Maki herself can feel the air growing heavier only by that, the wind stops and the distant sounds too, she notices. The whole world goes silent, it's like she is in another place, disconnected from the world.

"With this treasure, I summon..."

Megumi's shadows expand through the ground, even going as far as covering the trees and the sky.

And then the sounds came back, the silence was cut by animal sounds, but not the natural sounds of the forests...

Frogs croaking, flapping of wings, slithering of snakes, grunts, growls, and finally the howl of wolves...

"...Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General..."

The dark ground ripples and suddenly something starts emerging, like a beast breaking the surface of a calm lake to reveal itself to the world. It's possible to hear the sound of chains moving. pulleys and wheels turning, bringing something up.

Maki watches the show with bated breath, clenching her fist like she will be suddenly attacked.

Finally, it appears... The pristine white color makes a heavy contrast with the darkness of the space, almost prickling Maki's eyes.

A cocoon... White as it can be and five-meter tall, floats in the space. Alone in the darkness but its presence overwhelms everything.

"...Mahoraga."

Megumi finishes the chant and like it heard its name the things release a powerful roar, shaking the world. The cocoon starts shaking and suddenly four wings sprout, but from where the head should be and they're small when compared to the rest of the body.

Then an arm suddenly bursts out and the whole cocoon starts falling apart revealing the form underneath it while floating down.

Megumi suddenly smiles "It works... Let's proceed." He instinctively understood that the ritual was valid even with Maki's presence. 'Isn't he bigger than expected? My awesomeness must be infectious...'

Mahoraga appears in his full Glory finally... A five-meter tall form full of muscle, his eyeless head resembling something akin to a moth, the characteristic golden wheel behind him, ragged black pants, some bandages around his right wrist, a protector on his crotch, and some trinkets resembling a chain on his chest, that makes bells sound when he started walking.

"Well... That will be your problem for the next few minutes. Good luck." Megumi deadpans while he sinks on the dark ground.

"..." Maki rolls her eyes while watching the guy disappear "Ass..."

Maki prepares herself for the fight, her body going into Overdrive, she knows that this shikigami will be a tough nut to crack.

"...?" Then she notices that Mahoraga appears to not have any interest in her. When Megumi disappeared he turned his head to the Horizon like he was searching for him. This ticks her off a little, even if she knows that it is probably a consequence of her Heavenly Restriction "Oy! Pay attention!"

She dashes forward and slashes in his overall direction, aiming a little more at his arm.

'It appears he can regenerate a little, so attacks on his torso or head can't take him out... Try chipping off his limbs to damage his Mobility, so that I can deal the finishing blow more easily.' She remembers Megumi's words during the planning phase. Her internal clock also starts calculating the time.

It appears that Mahoraga is not totally oblivious of her existence, because he raises his left hand to catch the attack, but with a twist of her wrist Maki changes the trajectory a little and takes three fingers of his hand using her special wakizashi.

She backs down and grabs a sword on the ground while sheathing the wakizashi behind her waist.

'Oops... I almost kicked him to create distance. Only slashes, Maki.' She thinks 'And he doesn't appear to be all that-'

With a roar Mahoraga is suddenly on her, his large right fist dragging across the ground while he hits her with a mean Hook while bending a little.

"!!"

*Crank* *Boom*

Maki blocks with the flat of her sword, but the thing bends at the impact and she also is sent flying. She slides through the forest, hitting tree after tree before stabilizing herself. She doesn't appear that hurt.

"!" Feeling Danger she raises her crooked sword in the air, just in time to block Mahoraga's own blade while he drops down on her.

"Ugh! Okay, I take back what I said... Geez..." She groans while keeping herself from being forced to her knees.

Thankfully she has options.

She has no problems in tilting her sword a little and letting go of it to make Mahoraga lose his balance. Mai prepared a lot of disposable cursed weapons exactly for that so that Maki could sacrifice them without hesitation.

Not wasting the opportunity, Maki grabs the handle of her wakizashi again and jumps over while also slashing his torso.

'I need to go to the-' Her thoughts are interrupted when she hears a sound... Her eyes react fast to look behind Mahoraga and...

*Kachak* *Clang*

The wheel just spun for the first time.

She doesn't have time to think more because Mahoraga grabs her ankle in the air and swings her on the ground like a ragdoll.

He slams her again and again, till she recovers her bearings and tries to cut his fingers, but this time the resistance is greater and she almost lost her holding of the wakizashi.

Thankfully it was enough to loosen his grip and she escaped but received a kick for the trouble.

*Bam*

She was once again sent flying, but this time in the direction that she wanted.

"Sonuvabitch! Did he get that much tougher from a single spin?!" She grabs a Branch of a tree to stop and gets on running, happy that he is following her.

She hears a Loud sound from behind and turns around just in time to see Mahoraga dashing toward her in great strides. It's almost scary like a train almost hitting her.

She spins around to parry another attack from Mahoraga's blade, Maki notices that it is not shining anymore.

With another hand, she grabs a sword close and the two go in an exchange of a flurry of attacks. Sparks fly and crashing sounds reverberate through the woods, while their limbs Blur.

They held their ground without giving an inch.

It looks like they reached an impasse...

*Kachak*

Till the wheel spins again.

A crash of swords later, Maki's disposable tool breaks, leaving her with only her wakizashi and an opening. The shikigami goes to Punch her exposed side profile but she jumps back. And grabbing another sword in the meantime.

'It is not only adapting to slashes... It's not only his skin that is getting tougher.' She thinks and then remembers Megumi's words again

'Mahoraga is not only a punchbag, you know? It will not only adapt till it becomes immune. That thing has a surprisingly high Battle I.Q. It adapts to fight against you.'

Uneasiness fills Maki's head while she continues to fight the white shikigami. Now she is finally feeling the difficulty of dealing with the Untamable Crown Jewel of the Zen'in Clan.

In the beginning, she even thought that she could take him alone, but now she is feeling the doors closing around her, and victory getting farther and farther away.

Her chance of losing increases the longer the fight lasts.

'That's why Megumi said the best-case scenario is going for an instakill.'

She continues fighting, more on the defensive now, her attacks barely leaving red wounds on his paper-white skin. But she is leading him to where she wants.

*Kachak*

"!" The fight gets more and more intense.

'It's not my imagination... His cursed energy output is decreasing. It's... It's almost like me!' The realization hits her hard when she notices that he is not only tanking the attacks but starting to dodge too.

It's like Mahoraga is giving up on cursed energy to increase his physical prowess... Or maybe he is reinforcing himself internally instead of letting the cursed energy escape.

Maki circles around the trees before kicking three swords, making the shikigami raise his hands to deflect the swords that would stab his head.

She slides on the ground fast and uses her wakizashi to cut his legs.

"Ugh!" Her arms tremble after she only is capable of cutting halfway

'It's almost time...' Her internal clock warns her

The fight continues while Maki starts to move away, jumping from tree to tree, grabbing weapon after weapon to try to attack Mahoraga from different angles.

The Shikigami does his best to follow her nimble movements, but the trees can't support his weight, then he changes his strategy to grab anything nearby to throw at the girl, destroying the battlefield and any Advantage she can exploit from it.

He suddenly grabs the ground and yanks a root from it making that part of the forest tremble when he uproots almost all the trees in front of him and Maki in a chain reaction, making her escape route more difficult.

'Bastard! And this is him untamed...' She remembers Megumi talking about the shikigami getting smarter and better when the "connection" is made. Even taking a little of the personality of the user, records in the past talked about shikigami that are extremely aggressive and violent because the user was a belligerent man.

But this doesn't matter anymore... Maki Jobs is done.

With some swings of her swords, she cuts branches and trees blocking her path and she gets out of that hindrance, arriving at an empty road.

She jumps to the other side and waits, not even a second later the strongest of all the shikigami appear from the sea of leaves and wood like a demon emerging from hell, roaring and destroying everything on its path.

Maki keeps her stance, making him focus on her... He easily passes through the empty road til he stops.

Countless rabbits suddenly appear from behind Maki and jump Mahoraga, covering and overwhelming the tall shikigami with sheer numbers.

In such a large amount of rabbits, that it almost appears like a smokescreen, it's possible to see Mahoraga moving his arms around and hear his roars in annoyance.

Then he releases a roar that almost appears as a sound attack. The shockwave sends most of the rabbits flying and even destroying some in the process. And like it's a signal the rest of them appear to self-destruct too or melt, in a waterfall of liquid shadows to cover Mahoraga and fall to the ground

 The dark ink covers his vision and when it hits the ground, creates a pool of darkness that makes the shikigami sink a little, making him stuck in place.

He fights back, this can barely buy time, but suddenly he stops fighting the annoyance...

...and turns his head to the side just in time to see THE attack already upon him.

.....

Some Minutes Earlier

With his joking parting words, Megumi sinks into the ground and emerges far away on the empty road.

Taking a deep breath he takes position like a professional 100-m runner, three fingers of each hand touching the ground while he crouches down. It's possible to see the veins jump on the back of his hands, even the muscles on his back and legs appear to receive a pump up and grow a little.

And he waits a little while increasing his focus.

"..."

To tame Mahoraga, Megumi can see four feasible options.

And this is ignoring his recently proven theory that a zero cursed energy Heavenly Restriction can indeed help during the ritual.

In the beginning, just when he arrived in this world, while he was planning his entire life, he wrote down the methods and requirements to tame Mahoraga.

Because taming the strongest Shikigami is the key for him to win in this world.

The First Method, and the most normal, can be thought by anyone... An Insta-kill Domain Expansion. It can also be said that the minimum requirement for any Ten Shadows user to even attempt to tame the crown jewel of the technique, is to be a high-level sorcerer that can at least use Domain Expansion.

The Second Method can be used together with the first to increase the chance of success... It's the Totality. The Personal Totality created by Megumi or even chimerism by fusing all other nine shikigami can create an opponent on the same level as Mahoraga.

Megumi is still a firm believer that, even though his cheats helped him accomplish it more easily and fast, anyone other Ten Shadows user could also use Personal Totality.

Maybe the safest method is to use Domain Expansion while having an individual, the user or a chimera shikigami, fight Mahoraga. The many different Innate Techniques would overwhelm Mahoraga's own technique and slow down his adaptation and give him a chance to defeat him.

The Third Method is much less guaranteed and was simply an afterthought on his part, and it would be the use of external non-living help. Even before Mai, he thought that maybe using Special Grade cursed tools would facilitate the taming of Mahoraga.

He even planned to talk to Gojo about the Inverted Spear of Heaven...

On a particular funny day, he even considered starting the ritual in extreme conditions like above a volcano or during a storm... Would it work if Mahorga was struck down by lightning? Or maybe if Megumi throws a Bomb charged with his cursed energy at him…?

Jokes aside, there's a lot of uncertainty about this method. Ignoring if forces of nature can really work on Mahoraga... The Inverted Spear of Heaven, the strongest cursed tool ever made, has the power to cancel cursed techniques, there's a risk of using invalidating the ritual for some reason.

And the final and Fourth Method came from the ingenuity of modern thinking... A method that is famous in the Jujutsu Kaisen Fandom. The Piercing Ox Treadmill.

Consisting in abusing of the Piercing Ox Innate Technique, which allows him to build momentum the more he charges forward increasing his attack power, this method would make use of the liberty of choice of the Ten Shadows user to start a ritual in the path of an already super-charged Piercing Ox, instakilling Mahoraga.

Megumi even seriously considered this, he thought of starting the charging of the Piercing Ox in a place with two walls where he would put shadow portals connected and facing each other to make the Ox charge in a small space and then timing the ritual to make Mahoraga be hit.

That was his primary plan, but things changed because of the twins.

The method he decided to choose in the end is.... kind of all of them.

And all that is thanks to the twins.

What is better than the Piercing Ox charging momentum to try to insta-kill Mahoraga? Megumi himself is "wearing" Piercing Ox through Personal Totality.

He couldn't do that before because he would need to perform the ritual. The best he could do was try to create the strongest chimera possible with the Piercing Ox Innate Technique. "But his body is his greatest cheat" he concluded just when he arrived in this world.

The twins' presence also allowed him to leave opening his domain as a Plan B, in case Mahoraga survives first contact. More doors are opened and he also pushed forward the date of the ritual thanks to them.

Still, in his starting runner stance, Megumi suddenly bursts with cursed energy. His hair moves wildly, making it possible to see the Symbol of the Piercing Ox on his forehead. Darkness coalesces around him, focusing on his limbs and if one pays attention they would notice the symbols of the Divine Dogs and Mourning Tiger appearing on the back of his hands.

At the moment, he can force himself to "wear" three shikigami and he chooses the ones that will increase his physical abilities the most. That and he also is keeping some shikigami summoned and on standby to make sure he can land his attack.

Finally, it's time to make his move! With a flex, his fingers and toes sink on the ground before he explodes forward.

*Boom*

The sound only came after he already moved... Important to mention that he is not using any technique to dash forward. He is simply running with his raw speed and strength.

He has some kilometers to cover before he reaches the predetermined point and he charges his body with Haki and Cursed Energy while becoming a dark Blur.

The plan is so simple that it is almost boring. Simplicity is the key because the more complex the plan, the more chances for things to fail. But obviously, he covered any blindspots with plans B, C, etc.

An example, the place was not chosen lightly. This abandoned road curves slightly, this would cover Megumi's arrival with the trees.

And in the case of Maki, by any circumstance, failing to bring Mahoraga to the required place before Megumi passes, a little forward he can continue and take a Route that eventually goes full circle to go back, giving Maki time.

He even went beforehand to calculate his time and made Maki practice counting the time internally.

Obviously, this is not optimal... Mahoraga needs to be defeated in the fastest possible time.

He is approaching the meeting point...

Nue, high in the air, tells Megumi that Maki is successful. He starts preparing to deliver the blow and the other shikigami get ready to hold Mahoraga in place.

The moment finally arrives... Megumi can see Mahoraga emerge from the woods like the menace he is. With a thought, the previously positioned flock of Escape Rabbit emerge from the woods to encircle the big Shikigami.

Now Megumi throws any stealth at the wind and he dashes forward with even greater speed, concentrating all powers he could muster.

He goes in full demon time, his Haki and Cursed Energy bursting out. When the Escape Rabbits explode into ink shadows he jumps with all his might at Mahoraga... in a two feet flying kick attack.

This attack is the culmination of his physical prowess.

The legs are chosen because they're stronger than the arms.

The kilometers-long charge of the Piercing Ox Innate Technique being used in this single attack

Cursed energy coalesces around the legs in a makeshift darkness armor.

The Darkness Cursed Energy increases the weight of the attack. Weight is power, after all.

He pumps up all the Haki he can, in this moment of concentration, he even touches the realm of Advanced Armament Haki.

And finally... A semi-transparent sphere, as big as a beach ball, covers his two feet. The Tremor Tremor Fruit is being used without worry about the consequences and collateral damage. He chose such an isolated place for a reason.

Mahoraga sinks into the dark ground and the Great Serpent appears to make sure he stays in place.

The attack finally arrives...

*BOOOOM* *Crash* *Crack*

It's a testament of Mahoraga's ability that he was able to block that!

He crosses his arms to block the attack and protect his torso. Megumi aimed for the torso because the head is a smaller target and if Mahoraga dodged, everything would be for naught.

The impasse continues for some seconds... The Spaces distort and a crater is formed in a perfect semi-circular shape around the two.

Then the ground cracks uncontrollably, huge chunks of the earth being forced out and the land moves like a turbulent sea.

"Ugh!" Maki was thrown far away by the shockwave alone, but she stabilized herself by stabbing the ground with two swords and now is holding it tight "Is the air cracking?? "She asks in disbelief while the ground moves beneath.

Far away, Mai feels the impact even though Megum put up a Curtain "An earthquake?!" She drops her drink while looking in their overall direction, ignoring the people panicking a little.

Back to Megumi, the impasse is finally over...

The Mahoraga that adapted a little to slashes is simply not good enough to stop Megumi. Even the fact that he was getting stronger with each spin, the source of Maki's uneasiness, was not enough.

With a cracking sound, the final barrier is finally broken... *Crack* *Boom* And Megumi passes through his torso like a cannonball!

After his attack, he punches the ground to stop himself to stop his momentum and turns fast, ready to unleash his domain if that is not enough to kill Mahoraga.

"...!"

But the sight of Mahoraga's legs standing upright while his limbs fly all over the place stops him.

"Well, if this isn't a familiar sight... Maho/raga becomes only Raga..." He jokes, a smirk growing on his face when the feedback of the successful ritual reaches him.

He can feel something inside click, like the final clog of a machine was finally put in the right place and everything can run smoothly. It's an incredibly good feeling…

Mahoraga's remains dissipated in shadows and Megumi ejects his Company Device from his Shadow Inventory to check.

There are two notifications... For now, he ignores the credits gained, he will think about this unexpected gift later. He is more focused on the notification informing him that his tier increased.

Tier 7... Taming Mahoraga... Completing the Ten Shadows Technique made him reach Tier 7.

The Top of the World.

There are only 5 of them in this world, 6 now. Sukuna, Gojo, Kenjaku, Yuki, Mahoraga and now him.

Megumi alone, with Mahoraga as his familiar, occupies 2 of the spots. It's unprecedented.

Now he is ready for everything that this world can throw at him. The plot is at his mercy.

"Huhuhu" It starts slow, a small reverberating laugh. The relief and accomplishment floods his entire being.

It's almost, but not entirely, when Gojo was enlightened. His technique is complete and he can use it to it's full potential. The rush of exhilaration almost makes him high. Everything is perfect to him now, the world is such a beautiful place.

"ZehehehahaHAHAHAHA!" He opens his arms to the world and laughs at the sky "FUCKING HELL WORLD!! YOU CAN THROW ANYTHING AT ME! I DON'T CARE!! ZEHAHAHAHA!! I OWN THE FINISHING LINE!!"

"THIS IS MY JUJUTSU KAISEN NOW!!!!!" The brain rot got him...

*Thwack* Maki smacks him in the head to knock him out of his high horse and keep him humble.

"Ouch!"

"Welcome back to the real world..." She deadpans "Help me retrieve the cursed weapons quickly. Your stunt made a mess and I bet people will come here."

"Okay, okay... I will reshape the terrain a little to hide the battle marks." He rolls her eyes at her

"..." She stops to look at him for a while, noticing that he looks in a much better mood, back to his normal self "Really, welcome back..."

He smiles gently upon hearing that "Glad to be back."

...

Extra

"By the way, how did you make the air crack like that?" Maki turn to ask him

"..." Megumi tries to adopt the 'if I ignore maybe she will forget' stance

"..." But Maki's inquisitive eyebrow shows that he will not let it go

"Darkness is gravity... Enough compressed gravity can bend space, like a black hole... Or something like that... So the crashing cracked space... In a minor scale..." He keeps a completely straight face. The [Covert Talent] being useful again "Even I'm surprised by the effects." It's normal to people don't understand their own techniques

"Hm~" She accepts it after some time

'Safe!'