Rise.(2)

"BLURGGHG!"

In a blur, Jin appeared in front of Mahito and planted his fist through his abdomen, causing the spirit to spit out an stream of blood.

"J-jin!! W-why y-"

THUD! BOOM!

Ignoring whatever drivel Mahito was trying to spew at him, Jin threw him through a nearby wall like a ragdoll and crouched down next to Yuji, looking down at the boy's beaten body.

Laying his hand on him, Jin whispered, "Get up, son. Why are you allowing us to take everything from you without ample retaliation? Everything you lost...every friend you lost...everyone that died...was all because you were too weak to protect them."

Yuji didn't even respond as Jin's words hit his ear. His heart had been dealt too much of blow by these past events.

Jin grabbed him by the hair and raised his head up, looking him in the eye.

Seeing the face that was suddenly in front of him, tears started to run down his face once again.

"Yuji, please...help me!! I'm still alive...every moment I stay here...I go through...so much pain!! Please! Yuji! Don't leave me!"

Hearing "Junpei's" voice, Yuji couldn't control himself as he shouted, "Jun...pei! I'm sorry! I just...it was too much. So many people...died because of me! I just...urgh!!"

BOOM!

Jin slammed his face down on the ground and slowly raised him up to face level once again, slowly healing the boy with RCT as he did.

When Yuji opened his eyes, it was like he had seen a ghost.

"Gojo...sensei?"

The despair in his eyes deepened as he saw the face of his beloved teacher appear in front of him.

"Yuji...you have failed me. Because of you, Megumi is going to die. Nobara...you watched them kill her in front of you. Nanami...you couldn't even protect the man who saved your life so many times. Not even once! Then you killed all of those innocent people! Yuji! I should have never made you a sorcerer!!"

BOOM!

Jin slammed Yuji's head through the ground and dragged him up once again, still slowly healing him.

This time, Jin didn't take on a fake appearance. His cold eyes locked on to Yuji's as the boy mustered the strength to open his own.

"BLURGH!"

Jin stuck his hand into Yuji's abdomen, causing his body to involuntarily lurch forward from the incredible pain. No matter how much Yuji struggled, he could not remove Jin's fist.

It was a gruesome sight.

"Yuji, your own weakness caused you to lose those who you wanted to protect. Gojo, Nanami, Nobara, little Junpei, Miss Yoshino...all of them lost their lives because you were too weak. Megumi is now on death's door. He's the only one you could save..."

Jin dropped the boy on the ground as he removed his arm from his abdomen. Just like before, Yuji didn't even bother to get up. Until...

"But here you are, laying on the ground, waiting for my apprentice to take his fleeting life away from him."

Hearing this, Yuji raised his head, staring at Jin with a different emotion this time.

Pure, unadulterated wrath.

Yuji remembered that Sukuna had left with Megumi and taken him to Shoko, seemingly saving his life. That's why he didn't take Jin's threat seriously before.

But now...he was sending some after Megumi and Shoko, a close friend of his teachers.

A small smirk appeared on Jin's face as he saw this.

"Your eyes are filled with life once again, son."

Yuji struggled to stand as his cursed energy flared up all around him, seemingly restoring him back to full strength.

"What have you done to Megumi?"

This wasn't the shouting, loud, despairing Yuji.

This was a boy whose hatred had imprinted itself deep within his bones. A boy that was close to understanding the meaning of what it meant to be powerful.

To have real power.

"Nothing yet, son. Heh...I can see it in your eyes, boy. You know you can't defeat me or Mahito here. But still, you want to save your friend. That hunger for power you feel, hold on to it. Harness it. Control it."

Yuji, seemingly ignoring his pain and other unhealed injuries, got into a fighting stance, his eyes locked on Jin with a cold gaze. With the Six Eyes, Jin could see that Yuji's cursed energy started to change, little by little.

Not it's color, hue, or trait. It was it's volume.

"Good. Understand how cursed energy really works. Lesser men would tell you that if you just rely on your negative emotions to power your cursed energy, you would overexert yourself and exhaust your reserves."

WHOOSH!

Yuji, many times faster than before, appeared in front of Jin and started striking him with incredibly heavy blows, destroying the ground around them.

Regardless of their power though, Jin easily blocked these attacks with one hand, not even moving one step from the spot he stood.

"But these fools lack heart, confidence and hunger. Listen to this, son...if you could endlessly harness your hatred for me...then couldn't you endlessly generate cursed energy? After all..."

Yuji was improving rapidly as he fought Jin. Every blow was precise, fast, powerful and aggressive. Yuji was beginning to understand what it meant to 'strike with violence'.

"...negative emotions power cursed energy. That's all there is to it. Everything else is drivel. Focus on this aspect of sorcery and bring it to it's zenith. Then, it will open itself up to you. And only then, you will start to understand what true power is."

Catching Yuji's hand mid-strike, Jin threw him into the wall where Mahito had just managed to heal himself from Jin's earlier attack.

"Get strong enough to do what you want. Save who you want. Kill who you want. Life and death will be in the palm of your hands. Remember, your only limits are the ones you place on yourself. When you understand that and enter the realm of the 'strongest', then you can point your fangs at me, my son. Now...rise."

Mahito threw Yuji to the side and lunged at Jin, but he suddenly felt a hand grabbing him by the legs.

"Hm?!"

WHOOSH!!

Yuji threw Mahito through multiple walls like he weighed nothing and caught up to him before he even hit the ground, battering him with heavy blows.

Their fight had taken a complete 180. Although the boy said nothing, Jin could tell that Yuji let every word he said sink into his very being. The lust for power Jin saw in his eyes was all too familiar.

'Heh...it feels like I'm back at the academy raising young Sith again. If he was in that world, he would have been swimming in the dark side of the force right now. But, I guess this is close enough. I wonder...how powerful will he get before that time comes?'

Jin watched as Yuji and Mahito went back and forth, the two locked in tumultuous battle. Black flashes had been landed by both parties, but none of them didn't faltered.

They were both operating at 200%.

By this time, the fight had taken itself to the outside in the debris from Jin and Sukuna's battles.

Just as Jin was about to follow, he saw an interesting figure intervening in the fight.

Aoi Todo. A sorcerer he had previously defeated.

With him was a blonde man, standing a little ways away from him with determination in his eyes. The kind one gets after they experience a great loss and had just found someone or something they could channel that grief into.

That something...being revenge.

"Brother!! I am here! Let's take him down together!"

Taking a fighting stance beside Yuji, Todo was ready for battle, injuries and all.

But what he didn't expect was Yuji to stand in front of him and say, "Stay behind me, Todo. I will handle everything. No one else is going to get hurt."

Mahito and Yuji immediately began battle once again, with the former even 'finding the true shape of his soul'.

But Yuji was calm and unshaken. No matter what Mahito threw at him, Yuji pushed through it and beat him down as if he was just a dog, destroying Mahito's will bit by bit.

And as Jin looked closer, he erupted into hearty laughter.

"Ha! No wonder Mahito can't keep up. To think you would integrate my fighting style into yours!"

Yuji dismantled Mahito's guard, entered his space and riddled him with piston like blows that destroyed his reinforced body.

Even when the cursed spirit somehow managed to dodge a strike and make space between them, Yuji blitzed him immediately, stomping down on his feet to prevent more movement.

"Black flash."

BOOM! BOOM!

The sounds of what seemed to be .50 cal gunshots went off as Yuji peppered Mahito's body with strikes, tearing him apart as if he was nothing.

As he tried to heal, Yuji suplexed the spirit into the ground, quickly flipping over and delivering several double-legged jumping stomps to it, sending Mahito deep underground with each one.

"Heh...I think I used that move on him the last time we fought."

Jin watched on with a pride as he stood on a tall pile of debris, looking down at the fight. He was proud to see his moves being used to such effectiveness.

*clap*

Jin suddenly appeared in front of Todo and instantly received a heavy punch that he easily deflected with his elbow.

Making some space between them, Todo stepped back and squinted his eyes, getting another measure of his opponent. He knew he had to be very careful here.

Any wrong moves could mean his demise.

He only had one question for the curse user.

"Where is Utahime-sensei?"

With his long, messy hair hanging over his eyes, Jin calmly pushed it back with both hands and responded, "Utahime? She's alive, well, and thriving. If you want, I could bring her here for you. Just stop distracting me from my son's fight. He would hate to lose another one of his friends."