In a very dark passage, a boy in his late teens could be seen walking, wearing a traditional kimono typical of the Meiji era. The boy had long black hair that reached his shoulders and dark brown eyes. Suddenly, he subconsciously tightened his kimono.
To be honest, he didn't want to come here. No matter how much he walked, the passage ahead seemed to grow darker and darker, as if it were leading to purgatory on Earth.
Even though he had been ridiculed all his life in the Zenin family, which had forged his mind into a strong one capable of handling insults and any kind of torture, he still found it difficult to resist the coldness of this passage. It felt like being in an arena where one couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Majin silently walked to the end of the passage, only to find a massive stone gate. With some effort, he pushed it open, revealing a Buddhist hall filled with the corpses of Zenin clan members. But there was a strange figure standing inside.
Hearing the sound, the figure turned around, chuckled, and said, "It's Majin!"
Hearing the hoarse voice and noticing the sutures on the man's forehead, Majin's heart trembled. He quickly lowered his head, not daring to look around. "Kamo Saruo-sama!"
Truth be told, Majin was just a normal otaku back on Earth, but one day he seemed to anger the almighty Truck-kun and was hit, leading to his death. He was then reincarnated in the Jujutsu Kaisen world during the Meiji era, 150 years before the plot began.
At first, Majin thought, "It ain't too bad here," since he was away from all the dangers, like that psycho Sukuna. But it turned out he had no talent in Jujutsu sorcery.
And having no talent in this era meant death! Fucking death! If you had no talent, you'd be sold to some old noble who would fuck the shit out of you, regardless of whether you were a boy or a girl. They'd fuck the shit out of you...
So Majin did what any self-preserving person would do—he became a bootlicker for the Kamo clan's clan master, who turned out to be none other than Kenjaku, the mastermind behind everything.
In short, Majin was screwed either way, so he became Kenjaku's assistant—and a lab rat, to put it simply.
Kamo Saruo looked at Majin thoughtfully, and after a long silence, said, "This is my private laboratory. It will be worth your time to assist me."
Feeling Saruo's piercing gaze, Majin quickly bowed his head and answered, "Master Saruo, please rest assured that I will be more cooperative with your experimental work in the future."
Saruo moved his eyes away and looked around the Buddhist hall for a while, a trace of amusement in his eyes. "I will be leaving the Kamo house later. You can manage the materials here on your own."
"Yes, Master Kamo."
Majin nodded politely, without hesitation. However, the next second, he suddenly raised his head, as if something had occurred to him, and looked at Saruo with wide eyes. "Master Kamo, did you just say you were leaving the Kamo house?"
Leaving the Kamo family, one of the Big Three Sorcerer Families? Kamo Saruo, the leader of the Kamo family, wanted to leave?
What happened? Is the Kamo clan no longer useful to Kenjaku, or has he found a more useful host?
Majin's heart was full of doubts, but Kamo Saruo did not respond and disappeared in a flash. With Saruo's departure, the terrifying energy that had filled the Buddhist hall slowly dissipated.
Majin let out a long breath. Facing Kamo Saruo, whose body was occupied by Kenjaku, was always risky and put him under great pressure every time they met.
Kamo Saruo's aura had become less and less human recently, his entire body exuding a foul smell. Even when Majin cooperated with Saruo on experiments from a distance, it made him uncomfortable. But fortunately, this inhuman life was finally coming to an end!
For Majin, Kamo Saruo's departure from the Big Three Sorcerer Families was a relief. At least the leverage Saruo held over him would remain unknown for the time being.
But after some thought, Majin began to have doubts. According to his vague memories before reincarnation, Kamo Saruo's evil Nine Phase Diagram experiment plan had been discovered by the top management of the Jujutsu Association of this era. In the end, everyone attacked the Kamo clan under the pretense of stopping Saruo, nearly destroying them.
So, the only one who would choose to escape was Kenjaku if things played out as expected. After all, the Kamo clan was practically "bang-banged" by forces from all over Japan—the Gojo clan, Zenin clan, and dozens of other clans.
But why had there been no response from the top management of the Jujutsu Sorcerer Association? And why was Kenjaku already preparing to abandon his position as the Kamo family's leader? It seemed like he had been planning this for a while.
"What exactly went wrong? What caused Kenjaku to evacuate early? Is it because of me?"
From the time he was discovered by Kenjaku to cooperating with him on experiments and creating the Nine Phase Diagram of the Cursed Fetus, Majin couldn't figure out the real reason. However, Kenjaku's withdrawal was ultimately a good thing for him.
As for the reason, it didn't hold much significance for someone as inconsequential as Majin.
Majin's feelings about Kenjaku, or Kamo Saruo, were somewhat complicated. If it weren't for Saruo's attention, Majin, the illegitimate son of the Zenin family, wouldn't be alive now.
After all, the Zenin family was extremely strict about bloodline control. Even though Majin was only an illegitimate child, if he had some talent and was born with the Ten Shadows technique, he might have been able to master it.
In the future, powerful individuals like Fushiguro Toji would even choose to "sell" their gifted child, Fushiguro Megumi, to the Zenin family. Although Toji was nominally doing it for money, in reality, he was protecting his child. If Gojo Satoru hadn't intervened in the end, Megumi would most likely have become another tool for the Zenin family.
For Majin, the only regret was that he had no talent. If he encountered a Cursed Spirit, he would probably be killed.
Living in this world, weakness was a sin.
It had been more than ten years since he reincarnated in this world, but even now, Majin still couldn't adapt to this Jujutsu world where Cursed Spirits killed people everywhere.
This was one reason he agreed to join Kenjaku after Kenjaku extended an olive branch to him. He knew that only with Kenjaku's protection could he survive in this world.
Because when it came to Jujutsu sorcery or combat talent, Majin was no different from an ordinary person. In many cases, his reactions were even slower than others.
Sometimes, he really admired the Jujutsu masters of this world. They often showed Jujutsu talent at a very young age. But the person he admired the most was Yuji's father—the only one who could make Kenjaku scream in bed. Maybe Sukuna could also do that… who knows.
Majin didn't have any talent like Gojo Satoru, who would dominate the world in the future. Gojo became the strongest Jujutsu master during his time at Jujutsu High School, mastering techniques and exorcising Cursed Spirits as if it were routine.
Although it was still more than a hundred years before the birth of Gojo Satoru, as a reincarnator, Majin knew that future Jujutsu sorcerers would live in the shadow of Gojo Satoru's Six Eyes.
Majin didn't have Gojo Satoru's talent, but fortunately, he was born into the Zenin family, with the opportunity to awaken the Ten Shadows technique.
It was in this way that he gained Kenjaku's favor and became his experimental assistant.
What was this experiment, you ask? Well, Kenjaku was simply trying to alter someone's genetics—like Majin's—and promised to help him awaken the Ten Shadows.
Though Majin didn't know how, he saw it as a win-win. He was going to die anyway, so it was better to become a lab rat than face certain death.
And you could say Majin wasn't a stupid person. If he somehow managed to awaken the Ten Shadows, he could potentially control the Zenin clan.
Since the Zenin clan hadn't produced someone with the Ten Shadows technique in a century or so, they would be licking his boots if he managed to get it.
Though he thought the chances of awakening the Ten Shadows were almost zero, he still agreed to become a lab rat.
"Now or never," Majin thought as he saw a glass bottle with a serum inside of it. It even had a sticker on it that read, "Do not touch."
Seeing this, Majin's eyes glowed with greed as he approached the serum.
This work doesn’t belong to me. I’m just the translator, so I’d really appreciate it if you could point out any mistakes you spot in the chapters. Since I’m translating this from the raw version, it’s a bit challenging. Oh, and all the credit goes to the original author.