3.- Wake Up and Start Training

"Wow", was all Woon Gi, now Megumi, could say upon waking up.

And it was no wonder: his mind now contained memories that were not there a few moments ago. The most impressive thing was that, according to these memories, he had reincarnated as a character in a work of fiction.

'God...' Woon Gi looked up, his face reflecting the confusion he felt in that moment.

'I know I asked for a second chance, but…. I expected to go back in time or maybe be reborn in my world.'

'No... completely change realities,' he said, lowering his head.

'Although there is still a possibility that this is a very realistic dream, I don't think my mind is capable of creating this, so the only option left is to move forward,' he thought before starting to carry out his morning tasks.

"UFF," Woon Gi sighed upon seeing his face in the bathroom mirror.

'Alright... First, let's analyze the situation I'm in. I am... Megumi Fushiguro, son of Toji Fushiguro, bearer of the Ten Shadows Technique, better known as the Potential Man.' The corners of his lips curved at the thought of that last part.

'Currently, I am 4 years old and have apparently awakened my cursed energy, as I feel a tempest coursing through my body. Besides that, I also perceive a strange outline surrounding my being, perhaps the outline of my soul or maybe something else.'

'I suppose my situation resembles that of the reincarnated sorcerers in Kenjaku's games. I have the memories of Megumi's soul, but no feelings associated with these memories.'

'I have to thank one of my exes for introducing me to the world of anime; otherwise, I would be very disoriented and confused right now.'

'But seriously? JJK? Come on, man, could you have put me in a slightly less dangerous place?'

Sigh.

'Well, what am I complaining about? It could have been worse, and at least I can say that I reincarnated into a body with great potential.' Megumi smiled again at the thought.

"Alright, I must be prepared for what's to come. I won't waste this life like I did my previous one, or like the original Megumi did, and there's no better time than now to train, so…. LET'S BEGIN!!!" he said, clenching his fists and causing his body to start exuding cursed energy at a rapid pace.

"Megumi!!! Wake up!!! Mom made breakfast!!" came the voice of a girl shouting, accompanied by a sweet aroma from the kitchen, interrupting Megumi's training.

 'Well, I guess I can leave the training for after breakfast,' Megumi thought as he left his room.

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After breakfast, Megumi returned to his room to reflect more deeply on his situation. Currently, he didn't go to school because he was still very young, which gave him valuable time to make future plans and engage in activities that wouldn't be possible if he had to fulfill school responsibilities.

Megumi lay on his bed with a certainty that had previously eluded him. "Okay, this confirms it. If I ever doubted whether Megumi had fused with me or if I had absorbed him, now I have no doubts that it's the latter," he pondered.

Megumi thought this because when he saw Tsumiki, he didn't feel any shred of affection towards her. It was like seeing a stranger. A stranger for whom he had a lot of information thanks to Megumi's memories, but a stranger nonetheless.

With a touch of humor, he added, "I suppose it's for the best. It would have been problematic if the original Megumi's stupidity had rubbed off on me."

'Though, either way, I'll do my best to ensure Tsumiki doesn't suffer as badly as she did in the original work as a gesture of gratitude for this opportunity.'

After a brief introspection, Megumi made a decision: he would begin his training. He was not willing to repeat the mistakes of the original Megumi and remain a mere second grade, despite possessing one of the most powerful cursed techniques in the world.

'Okay, let's see, the first thing I need to do to survive in this world is learn how to use cursed energy,' Megumi thought as he sat in a lotus position and closed his eyes to concentrate.

Due to Megumi not having experienced the sensation of cursed energy before reincarnating, he was particularly sensitive to it, which in turn caused his talent for manipulating it to soar to exorbitant levels.

After just 5 minutes of meditation, Megumi had already mastered his cursed energy. He could direct it from one part of his body to another, cover himself with it, and even increase its intensity and concentration at will.

If any sorcerer had witnessed this feat, they would surely have cried tears of blood out of rage. After all, the difficulty of controlling cursed energy was widely known, as it was an indomitable force that roared like a tempest. However, here we had a brat capable of making that same energy seem like a faithful and docile companion.

'UFF'

'That felt incredible,' Megumi said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead after concluding his meditation to increase control over his cursed energy.

'Okay, I've finished the appetizer, now comes the main course,' he said before making a shape similar to a dog with his hands and shouting: 'DIVINE DOGS!!!!'

In that instant, the temperature seemed to drop several degrees. A mass of darkness materialized at Megumi's feet, and from it emerged two canine silhouettes.

"AUUUUU!" howled the divine wolves as they emerged, their voices resonating with a mysterious and powerful echo.

"It's lucky that those not endowed with cursed energy can't hear the phenomena it causes! Otherwise, that howl would have drawn the attention of the whole block, and maybe Tsumiki's mother would have found me in a compromising position," Megumi thought as he watched the divine dogs sitting and panting.

Refocusing on his training, Megumi said, "Jokes aside, this is what it feels like to summon a shikigami. It's undoubtedly a peculiar sensation—how a being of chaos rises from unstable shadows, gradually gaining stability until it separates from the shadow. Absolutely fascinating."

"Woof?" barked the dogs in unison, tilting their heads as they looked at their master, who was lost in thought.

"Poof," Megumi dismissed his divine dogs.

'Wow, it seems that if I dismiss the dogs, part of the energy I used to summon them returns to me,' Megumi reflected. Realizing this, a smile formed on his lips.

'Well... I'll try summoning them in their incomplete form, just like Sukuna did. I suppose it should be easier and less demanding than summoning them completely.'

Placing his hands back into the shape of a dog, Megumi attempted to summon the divine dogs, this time using only three-quarters of the energy he normally employed to summon them completely. Megumi had devised this approach, thinking that by using less energy, the dogs would not fully manifest. Instead, he hoped to achieve a partial or incomplete summoning, which was precisely his goal.

'Great,' Megumi thought as he saw that his theory was correct. However, just seconds after manifesting the incomplete form of the divine dogs, they dissolved into the shadows.

'Umm'

'It seems maintaining the incomplete form is more complicated due to its instability,' Megumi reflected as he experimented with the phenomenon of incomplete summoning for the second time. 'I'll need to train a bit with it before I can use it in battles.' Cursed energy, like a capricious ally, required patience and understanding.

'Alright, let's dive into the more theoretical parts. So far, I've based my actions on what I observed from the anime and manga, but I have my own theories on how to harness the potential of this technique.

'I'll start by exploring the control of shadows themselves, without considering the aspect of shikigamis. Although this approach was barely touched upon in the original series, I think it's worth a shot. After all, as they say, no risk, no reward. So, let's get to it!'

Recalling the initial sensation when summoning each shikigami, Megumi extended his shadow from his feet, similar to how Shikamaru Nara deployed his. Seeing that he had succeeded, Megumi didn't stop and continued experimenting with his shadow. He decided to cover his own body with it, achieving success in this attempt. Then, like a symbiote from the Marvel Universe, Megumi ventured to create weapons from his shadow, succeeding once again.

"Holy shit, this is incredible!"

"So many possibilities, so much… power!"

"Why didn't the original Megumi experiment more?"

"Why did he settle?"

"The mere fact of being able to perform these feats as a 4-year-old intoxicates me."

"How far will I go in the future?"

"With this technique, the world is in my hands!"

Each success he achieved while testing his power filled Megumi with excitement, leaving him in the euphoric state we can clearly see in him at this moment.

In the midst of his euphoria, a thought struck him: 'Wait… Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on the boy. After all, we all have great power in our hands. We don't realize how lucky we are to have been born in an era where information is at our fingertips.'

'Before, I was no different; I also wasted my potential and preferred to indulge in mere fleeting pleasures.'

With clenched fists and a frown, he declared: "This time will be different. I will not waste my existence."

"This time… I WILL DEVELOP MY POTENTIAL!!"

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A/N: If you find any error, please let me know so I can correct it.