Encounter

Silence. Silence around and in himself, a complete state of peace, characteristic of Yoriichi from the very first and only real childhood. He always felt alienated from the world around him, while other people existed in this world, as if on violent waves, he was always in the middle of calm. Lack of human emotions? This is nonsense, many of those who have ever met him could say with confidence that no one in the world had a bigger heart than Yoriichi. Tough self-control? Closer, but still not the same at all.

What the wise elders have been achieving for decades, what even Siddhartha Gautama himself didn't immediately comprehend, Yoriichi received from birth. Another gift from the gods, which strikingly distinguished him from other people, allowing him to see this world in a way that only a few could do in the entire history of mankind. A transparent world, the deep essence of this universe, revealed through the vision of a person who has gone deep into his own "awakening". And even so, everyone except Yoriichi had to concentrate to get to the bottom of it.

The boy didn't lose this gift, taking it with him to a new world. But now, what he could observe with this state was different. It was different from what he was used to seeing, because there was no cursed energy where he used to live. And it was what he saw. And it was very different, but always disgusting in its genuine and pure appearance, because there wasn't a drop of something good or joyful in it. Something that can only bring pain and suffering to ordinary people.

However, sorcerers have learned to cope with this curse of all mankind, and for them it has turned into a real blessing. Among such lucky ones was Yoriichi himself, who has simply exorbitant amounts of this cursed energy. These volumes are determined during the appearance of the fetus in the womb, not earlier and not later. And these volumes were absolutely unchanged, the total "pool" couldn't become smaller, and the cursed energy spent on any needs was replenished in the stomach.

"It's not easy, but there is nothing exceptionally difficult here," the child had a lot of free time because of his age and some personal characteristics, and he could devote it to studying this phenomenon unfamiliar to him.

He needed to atone for the mistakes he had once made, and the deity warned him that for this he needed a much greater power than he had possessed before. And this cursed energy separated ordinary people and literally superhumans — those who are unable and able to control this unknown substance.

"Mom said that soon my cursed technique will be able to awaken. It will be good if it turns out to be really outstanding."

Shoko Ieyri was telling her son about the "Limitless" technique of the Gojo clan, which is now mastered by the strongest sorcerer Satoru Gojo. About "Blue", "Red" and "Infinity". His new mother suspected that the Strongest had some other technique, which he didn't tell her about, but these were only her suspicions, which didn't have any serious evidence. After all, in all the sources that this woman had access to, there was no mention of anything other than the first three uses of the cursed technique.

And these stories impressed Yoriichi sufficiently, so far he couldn't imagine how he could circumvent the same "Infinity". But surely there must be some way, there is not something absolute? After all, Gojo Satoru is just a human, even if he is very strong. However, all this was unimportant, because the strongest sorcerer wasn't his enemy, and even vice versa — he was friends with the boy's mother and regularly tried to make a similar friendship with her child. Noticing the talent, he sometimes gave advice, revealed unclear but important details. The former demon slayer respected this man, he felt his peculiar kindness, saw in his actions a sincere desire to help.

Yoriichi considered the cursed energy in his own body. This power didn't swirl in him, but calmly and steadily flowed, like any other person capable of controlling this gift. With one intention, the boy accelerated the flow of energy through the body, feeling a surge of strength because of this. The basic property of the cursed energy is to strengthen its host in all aspects in proportion to its own amount in each separate part of the body. This technique is the easiest to master, there was nothing difficult about it.

"That's not enough," he said in a whisper, pursing his lips, "It remains to wait for the awakening of the cursed technique."

His body is special even without taking into account the most cursed energy. It is abnormally strong, powerful, hardy, the same as it was in his previous life. When he was able to beat up a master swordsman at the age of eight, even if he wasn't ready. However, it only took him four lightning strikes to knock down a subordinate and one of his father's best warriors. At the age of eight! But even such a body was barely enough to completely subdue the entire amount of the cursed energy available in it. It was probably just a matter of age, because Yoriichi was only six now.

The fake child got up from the chair on which he was sitting, at the same time adjusting his shorts. He is still not used to them, in his opinion, it has always been more convenient to wear looser clothes, like a kimono. But the current culture in Japan has changed, such garments are now worn exclusively on any special occasions, such as holidays and celebrations, or local clans of sorcerers who adhere to conservatism. There were other exceptions, but they worried Yoriichi to a lesser extent.

The boy slowly descended from the second floor of the house where he lived with his mother. She wasn't there today, after all, she works a lot at Jujutsu High School. Yoriichi showed amazing independence from the earliest times, so Shoko didn't have any doubts when she left him at home alone. After all, the best protection is secrecy. Anyone who was interested could find out that Yoriichi has quite a considerable amount of cursed energy, for which it is unknown. Only Shoko Ieyri and Satoru Gojo knew about his true talents, no one else.

Going to the refrigerator in the kitchen, which was separated from the living room only by a barely noticeable partition, the kid opened it. With a serious face, he began to look at its contents, but after a few seconds he stopped at the eggs. Yes, he'll fry his eggs. Immortal classics. In his time, eggs were considered a luxury, and he couldn't try them in his first childhood — there was a chance, but he didn't take advantage of it, running away from home.

Taking out two eggs, Yoriichi smiled sweetly. He is grateful to his mother, who brings food to this house, he is grateful to the people who allow these products to appear in the stores where his mother buys them, he is grateful to nature, which gives people the opportunity to live. When he finishes cooking, he must pray for all those who are involved in the appearance of food on his plate. As always before, as always will be after.

Already about to take the cooking oil and check the gas cylinder connected to the stove for the presence of fuel in it, Yoriichi abruptly turned his head. He sensed someone's presence. The pink tail quickly hid under the sofa in the living room. The boy squinted, the furniture, of course, wasn't an obstacle for him. He saw a huge fat rat. A half-rotted rat, overflowing with cursed energy, rubbed its whiskers, looking in his direction with its empty eyes, swollen with a veil of death.