Village of Shadows

???

Why did this happen? Our village has been obliterated. The forest was burnt to the ground, and only ash remains of the houses.

My family comes from a line of protectors in the village. Unfortunately, my father and I were staying at home while this happened. At least mother was buying supplies in an economic district far away. We were the last ones alive now, only because we resisted groups of disfigured people.

I couldn't understand why this happened as the sun lay on the horizon. All I knew was the smell of charred flesh permeated the air.

Our village was full of strong warriors and swordsmen. How was this possible? Actually, I already know. The only way this happened is because of that creature...

It had no natural body, just two legs and arms. The hideous creature looks like a demon our village chief always warned us about. Could this be the possible evil spirit that has recently appeared? I honestly still do not know.

The most terrifying part was it had intelligence.

Anyone willing to surrender was spared, but since we aren't a village of cowards, over half of the village was killed instantly for disobeying.

The other half were put on stakes which burnt slowly. Anyone who chose to be spared was forced to burn their family and friends. After that, they would be forced into some kind of agreement where they would serve the creature. In just a minute, those people would then have their bodies deform.

My best friend wanted to save his life, so he agreed to the conditions of the creature. That was when I realized this demon also turned their minds into that of a beast. Someone who was once my friend almost killed me, until my father had to kill him...

Now the entire place I've lived since my childhood was flattened and empty. Were there more creatures like that demon? Just thinking about it gives me chills, despite the feeling of burning heat rising in the air.

With a slash, father chopped another head off a disfigured person. I stepped back in shock when I saw the blood flow into the ground.

My father grabbed my shoulder and looked at me fiercely. He still held tightly to his axe, to the point I saw blood dripping.

It seemed he hadn't given up hope. As expected of him. His eyes were now set on the leader.

Father called out in a roar, "You may have destroyed this village, but you haven't faced me! Fight me, you damn beast!"

Although he stood no chance, I couldn't help but be proud of my father.

Father stared across the village at the creature. The demon's body looked like it was waiting for father to attack. There also seemed to be a sludge of darkness surrounding the devil, which was racing to kill.

Fear coursed through me. I felt my body tremble, but my father pushed me back. Unlike me, he stepped forward and practiced swinging his axe.

All I heard father say was something about running away, but my legs were frozen. I could only watch with tears in my eyes.

In the shadow of my father, I saw a beast with red eyes and sharp teeth. It kept growing and spreading its shadow on the dirt, so I backed away slowly.

The creature also noticed it somehow without eyes, "A sorcerer? No wonder you could survive the experimental hybrids I made. If only the village earlier had one, I could have gained a powerful subordinate. Let's see if you have a good technique."

Father did not focus on its voice but instead raised his axe above his head.

While seemingly in a trance, he called out to me, "Listen to me, Yoshiro. Jujutsu is used as a ritual for protecting the weak. Other than that, use it only for protecting those close to you. This will be the first and last lesson I teach you on becoming the village protector."

Surprisingly, I saw father drop his treasured axe and open his arms. It almost looked like he wanted to hug the demon.

With his arms spread, he announced, "With this treasure, I summon the eigh-"

In a quick slash, I saw father's arms fall off. The culprit was the same creature that now held an abnormally long katana. It moved so fast I barely saw a blurring image.

The creature looked down on father and asked, "Trying to summon that guy? No way would I let that happen, sorry. At least that means you are not a normal Jujutsu Sorcerer at all! How about this... If you serve me, I'll..."

"Urgh. You demon. I don't need to listen to your sweet words of deceit. I'll welcome death anyway to protect the last of our village." With slow breaths, father answered the beast with blood flowing into the dirt.

"But your son is still observing. In fact, he seems quite interested in watching you bleed out."

...

Father turned his neck and stared right at me from far away. I could almost feel the disappointment of father.

I didn't run away because I wanted to watch! It's because my body won't listen!

That's what I wanted to say, but my throat was dry and silent.

Father's body started becoming pale as he looked at the blood surrounding his arms. He seemed furious, but stared back at the demon and faced the ground.

I saw father ask something from the creature, without me being able to read their lips. They seemed to whisper something to each other about signing something, but I couldn't tell. That's when I saw something strange around father.

His body started to grow, not in the way a normal person's body would change. I sensed something wrong, like a sludge was corrupting the air. It was when I looked at the ground, I noticed the beast in father's shadow start to crawl from the ground. It didn't just have one set of red eyes, but three!

As it climbed out from the shadow, it started to jump on father's growing body. It covered his body in a dark festering shadow, which kept engulfing him.

I didn't know what to do... It seemed that something bad was happening to father. I realized my body stopped shaking, so I took the moment to run away. As far as I could. Please forgive me.

I promise to avenge the village once I'm stronger!

...

...

Today was a fruitful day, for me. Team Gluttony is being spread to the surrounding villages as I take over a couple for myself.

I think about the light inside my mind and recall an image:

[Cult: Yama's Court, Level: 2, Marks: 0, Followers: 246, Faith: 5586]

When I reached Level 2, it felt like I was finally starting to understand how the cult should function. It seemed that this new pathway of growing more publicity in the open was best. It even seemed necessary, considering my next leveling limit would need a thousand followers to be reached. I'm even a 25% of the way there already!

As long as the drain of using Faith isn't a big deal, I can start spreading my roots and convert more followers.

With my level-up, I am now able to convert Faith Marks back into Faith. Although it is a little underwhelming for a level-up, the more important thing I gained was the cursed energy!

I am now a First Grade Cursed Spirit! With my graduation, it also means I can escape this damned blindfold whenever I want, but I'm waiting to go home and try it.

To my left, I see the dark monster made of shadows and red eyes. This guy is called Yasha. He is a father and husband, as well as the village protector. The most important thing was that this guy possesses the Ten Shadows Technique. I had to get this guy as a follower, but he was stubborn and would only agree if I didn't kill his son.

Thinking about that know, I call out, "Livia, are you nearby?"

In a flash, I see the girl's emerald eyes appear in my face, "Does Master need something?"

I command her, "Go out and find that boy. Tell him that Sagiri ordered his death."

She smiled and left quickly without questions. The Contract with Yasha was for 'Gabimaru' to not kill his son. It is annoying and I don't like others telling me what to do, but I'll be fine if 'Sagiri' orders someone else to kill him. Hehe.

Yasha has agreed to be my follower and lose all his past memories, except relating to his Ten Shadows Technique. The reason I'm so fixated on it is because both Sukuna and Gojo Satoru agreed that Ten Shadows possessors had the potential to become very strong.

Gojo even believed that Fushiguro Megumi could surpass him with the Ten Shadows Technique. Now how could I pass up this limited-time event?

As an Inherited Technique passed down in the Zenin Clan from the anime, I know this technique allows the user to summon ten different shikigami. One being the unstoppable shikigami, Mahoraga. Yasha almost summoned it and killed us all, but I'm a good person and stopped it from appearing.

Inherited Techniques are different from Innate Techniques like Resurrection in that they can be passed down through the bloodlines of sorcerer families. The Limitless Technique is an Inherited Technique of the Gojo Clan from the anime's original timeline.

While someone can only have either an Inherited or Innate Technique when they're born, it's not necessarily easy to say which one is the best to have.

Innate Techniques are almost always very different from each other because they are unique to each individual. While Inherited Techniques are just Innate Techniques which are usually more powerful and get passed down, most people have information on how to counter them, since they are more common.

That's another reason most Jujutsu Clans do not allow their bloodline to spread out, like the Sugawara Clan. Inherited Techniques are priceless and it would be a disaster if someone showed up with it as an outsider.

Cultivating and passing down these techniques is what allows sorcerer families to maintain their prosperity in the jujutsu community.

Inherited Technique users have the advantage of being equipped with a manual on how to use them. However, passing down a technique through generations also presents the issue of other groups learning how the ability works, along with its shortcomings.

That's why sometimes an Innate Technique like Resurrection is better than something people know how to counter.

...

I felt myself getting distracted, so I retracted my cursed energy back into the blindfold to help recover my reserves.

Behind me, I heard Livia's gentle voice, "I disposed of that kid named Hakana Yoshiro. He was crying like a baby when I ripped his body to pieces."

I couldn't help but smile. She was really becoming a good devil/human/curse.

The other villagers couldn't compare. Maybe it has to do with cursed energy allowing more unique evolutions among the hybrids. Yasha was a good example of that. Instead of a stupid zombie, he became a strong shadow monster. It's too bad that those retarded zombies don't count as Followers.

If someone or something has too little intelligence, only a Contract can keep them under control.

"Good job. By the way, where is Himari? She disappeared." I stand up and ask Livia.

Livia just shrugs her shoulders, "Probably still experimenting with her technique."

That woman experiments too much. I can't really complain, since its really just going to help me anyway.

Well, that concludes today. I'm gonna head home now. It was quite a long way from our home village, and it was late.

I take one last look at the broken sign of the village which lay on the ground. It was a charred wooden carving which read 'Kage Village.' On it was the symbol of a black dog. The sign was slowly catching fire from the surrounding sparks.

"I made good memories here," I look to the blazing scenery and smile. With that, I began my journey home with the others.

...

...

As we arrived home, I jumped into Livia's bed. Livia sat next to me, eagerly waiting for something to happen. With nighttime and a bed next to us, she seemed to be getting excited for something. Too bad I was not in the mood after such a busy day.

The room was still as small as ever, but I can't blame a poor family for not providing me a better room.

After telling my human Followers to spread word of what happened in the village, I told Yasha to remain hidden in my shadow as a bodyguard. Since he has a devil/curse body now from the Devil Transformation Contract, he can blend with actual shadows. Even if he is only a Third Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer, in time he will become much stronger.

With a Ten Shadows user protecting me, I won't be killed too easily, so now should be the right time.

"Livia, stay out of this room for tonight. There is something important that needs to be done alone." I tell her for the last time using my blindfold form.

Livia looked sad as she walked away, "Awww~"

Sadly for Livia, I had to kick her out of the room for my special moment. I wanted it to be by myself, since I also entered this world by myself.

I needed to focus. All outer thoughts needed to leave my body to perform a large-scale output of cursed energy.

...

The moon was bright outside the window... Today was a big day. I killed more people than I ever have in my last life. It seems I was too soft back then. Punishments are irrelevant when it comes to the will of the strong. If I was stronger back then, I would have been able to do whatever I want...

As the soft glow of the moon gradually peeked through the cracks in the walls, I felt a glow surround my blindfold body. With intense focus on my surroundings, the silver moonlight became corrupted and a familiar feeling on my forehead appeared. An icy feeling spread across my body as the silver turned darker.

I traced these threads of dark moonlight across the blindfold and watched them. It was like a swampy slime was covering the black fabric.

Gradually, my awareness shifted from the physical sensations around my body to the vast expanse of my mind. It was a bright place, like a sky. Thoughts gently floated by like passing clouds, but I chose not to attach to them. Instead, I observed them from a place of detached curiosity, allowing them to drift away as effortlessly as they had arrived.

Each cloud was like an emerald swirl, passing my eyes.

In this serene state of presence, I felt a connection to each of the green clouds. As I focused more on them, I felt hot and sweaty. I kept trying to push away the heat, but a new layer of hotness would appear. I kept repeating the cycle of pushing it out.

As time slipped away, I remained immersed. With each passing moment, I felt a deep sense of calmness. I kept repeating the cycle until time felt slow.

...

Eventually, I heard the sounds of something clicking. It woke me up from my trance, and as I opened my eyes, I could see everything in a normal perspective again. It felt like I was much taller and not leaning on one side.

I looked down and clenched my fist. In it, was a dark blindfold which I was trapped in for many years.

"Finally! I fucking escaped that shithole!" I jumped up and down while crying tears of joy.

Without hesitation, I grabbed a white kimono from Livia's clothing. I put it on slowly, treasuring the moment of wearing clothes for the first time since my reincarnation.

It felt so nice and soft. I can't believe everyone I killed up to now got the chance to experience it. I'm definitely not jealous.

"Now what should I do with this?" I looked down at the black fabric in my hand.

There was only one thought in my mind: Throw this piece of shit away!

But this thing was in fact very valuable, even if I get PTSD when I stare at it. It was made from Special Grade items and could suppress all cursed techniques it touched.

Even if I know this thing cannot be used for its original purpose, hiding the Six Eyes, it may still be useful one day in the future for its Black Rope abilities. Black Rope was a very valuable technique disruptor, so I stashed it in a pocket for now.

Once more, I look at the flashing light in my mind.

[Cult: Yama's Court, Level: 2, Marks: 0, Followers: 246, Faith: 5586]

I smirk at it, "It helps remind me that my work is never done. This means that I'm onto the next phase in my plan. Ah, right..."

The next step is Level 3!