Ten Shadows

"The show is about to begin."

In the shadows, Ryujin's thoughts raced as he observed the unfolding scene. He couldn't help but wonder, "What's going on? Why is my shadow acting so strange? I thought I only had the genes for Six Eyes and Blood Manipulation. Why does it seem like I have Ten Shadows too?"

His mind buzzed with surprise. "Could it be that the genetic modification project actually worked? Did I inherit the talent for shadow magic without even realizing it?"

As these thoughts swirled, Ryujin felt something stir within him, a newfound connection to a power he hadn't tapped into before. If he truly possessed these abilities, it meant he could potentially wield the secret techniques of the three great Jujutsu families simultaneously.

"Divine Dogs," Ryujin murmured, more out of curiosity than intent. He didn't expect anything to happen since he hadn't formed the dog-shaped hand shadow like Fushiguro Megumi.

But to his surprise, his own shadow began to move on its own, the hands of his shadow coming together to create a dog-like shape. The next moment, two Divine Dogs—one black and one white—materialized from the shadows.

"Oh? Did I really just summon the Divine Dogs?" Ryujin thought, astonished. Was it that easy? What about Nue?

He whispered "Nue" softly, but this time, his shadow didn't respond with the bird-shaped hand shadow necessary to summon it. Nue remained unsummoned.

"Alright, I'll stick with the Divine Dogs for now," Ryujin mused, a smirk playing on his lips. Maybe Nue hasn't been fully tamed yet. I probably need to see Fushiguro Megumi summon it first.

With a casual wave of his right hand, he commanded, "Go ahead and eat, Jade Dogs." The black and white jade dogs sprang forward, racing toward the Cursed Spirit that had captured Fushiguro Megumi.

As the dogs attacked, both Fushiguro Megumi and Itadori Yuji noticed Ryujin for the first time.

"Why are you here?" Itadori Yuji called out, his eyes wide in surprise. "Didn't I tell you to leave quickly?"

He couldn't forget the strange young man in the ancient kimono, still inexplicably wearing sunglasses in the dead of night. Fushiguro Megumi, on the other hand, was completely shocked.

'Why are there Divine Dogs here? Is this guy in sunglasses controlling them? But the Jade Dogs can only be summoned through the Zenin family's Ten Shadows Technique!' His mind raced with questions. 'Could this guy be from the Zenin family?'

In a flash, the divine jade dogs Ryujin had summoned tore into the Cursed Spirit, biting off its fingers and freeing the restrained Fushiguro Megumi.

As soon as he was freed, Fushiguro Megumi quickly formed the dog-shaped hand shadow with his own hands, calling out for his Jade Dogs, his eyes narrowing as he tried to make sense of Ryujin's abilities.

In an instant, another pair of divine dogs appeared in the corridor. The four divine dogs attacked in a staggered manner. In the original story, the Cursed Spirit had to be defeated by Itadori swallowing the finger and transforming into Sukuna.

However, this time, it was torn apart by the divine dogs summoned by Ryujin and Fushiguro Megumi.

"Brother, are you also a Jujutsu sorcerer?" Seeing this, Itadori Yuji, while holding Sasaki, felt he had correctly guessed Ryujin's identity.

After all, with four divine dogs present, anyone could see that the other two weren't Fushiguro Megumi's shikigami.

"Ah, oh? Jujutsu sorcerer, that's right," Ryujin nodded, though his focus wasn't on Itadori Yuji. His eyes kept shifting between his pair of divine dogs and the ones summoned by Fushiguro Megumi.

'Why are my divine dogs smaller than Fushiguro Megumi's?' Ryujin thought, rubbing his chin with a hint of displeasure behind his sunglasses.

'Is my current cursed energy weaker than Fushiguro Megumi's? Or maybe it's because the genes of the Big Three Sorcerer Families are still adjusting, so I can't increase my cursed energy?'

Without strong energy, even mastering the ancestral techniques of the Big Three Sorcerer Families might not be enough to use them effectively.

Ryujin speculated about his physical condition, feeling it was the best explanation.

What no one noticed, however, was that an invisible thread behind Ryujin connected to the distance, continuously draining the cursed energy from his body.

"Are you from the Zenin family?" Fushiguro Megumi asked, his expression slightly puzzled. He had never seen someone like Ryujin before. The pure white hair, combined with his unique clothing and sunglasses, made Ryujin stand out.

"Zenin family? Oh, maybe. You can call me Akuma Ryujin," Ryujin briefly introduced himself before walking directly to Itadori Yuji.

Since he was already here, he was interested in checking out Ryōmen Sukuna's finger. He could already sense Li Zi approaching, and it seemed today's main task was done.

"I've disrupted the main story, so next, I should put things back on track," Ryujin thought to himself.

"Ryujin? So, you're not from the Zenin family, but the Akuma family? Does such a family even exist in the Jujutsu world?" Fushiguro Megumi mused, feeling the name had an unusual, foreign ring to it.

"It's okay, don't worry! I'm the only one in my family," Ryujin replied with a shake of his head, then extended his hand to Itadori Yuji.

"Itadori, give me that finger for a sec. I want to take a look at it."

Facing Ryujin's request, Itadori Yuji was momentarily stunned but, without any hesitation, handed Sukuna's finger directly to him.

The action was so straightforward that Fushiguro Megumi didn't even have a chance to voice his objections.

Itadori, you're too trusting! How can you hand over a Special Grade Cursed Object to a stranger? How do you know this person is on our side? Fushiguro Megumi thought, frustrated but unable to speak out.

After all, Ryujin had just saved him. To be so suspicious of someone who had just saved your life felt wrong.

Ryujin examined the finger in his hand. "So, this is Sukuna's finger—the finger of the King of Curses. One finger holds such immense power. If all twenty were gathered together, it would be terrifying to imagine."

He shook his head and tossed the finger back to Itadori.

"Ryujin, what do you mean by twenty fingers? You're not counting toes, right? Normal humans only have ten fingers," Itadori Yuji said, always quick to notice odd details.

Ryujin shook his head, slightly amused. "Didn't you know? Sukuna had four arms."

With that, Ryujin gently pushed Itadori Yuji's chest, sending him five meters away before jumping back himself.

Neither Itadori nor Fushiguro immediately understood why Ryujin had done this, but in the next moment, the reason became clear.

The roof above them shattered, and an enormous Cursed Spirit, even larger than the previous one, appeared, looming over them menacingly.