Chapter 71 : Young Sukuna
Sukuna had indeed been hellish since childhood.
Jiang Lai used his time technique to unilaterally reverse the child's time, bringing him back from death and restoring him to his previous state.
Because both body and memory were reversed to a minute ago, the child standing in place didn't understand what had just happened, his expression still somewhat dazed:
"Eh, wasn't this just a snow pile? There was someone here?"
The last word "someone" came out somewhat hesitantly. The child saw the black markings on Sukuna's body and his distinctive four arms clearly.
More importantly, as a child, he keenly sensed the scent of blood and killing intent.
Fear flickered in the child's eyes. Although due to the time reversal he no longer remembered the pain of death, his subconscious still carried some kind of alarm.
Sukuna's eyeballs rolled back, he snorted with laughter, and at the same time, sharp cursed blades struck toward the child again.
An invisible barrier forcibly blocked the cursed blades, silently dissolving the killing intent.
The young man in navy blue kimono slowly walked to the child's side, rubbed the child's head with his raised hand, then gave him a gentle push.
"Go back." Jiang Lai said.
The child took a few steps, timidly said "goodbye," then ran toward the village lined with houses.
Coincidentally, a farmer who seemed to be his father was preparing to leave the village. Upon seeing the child, he quickly embraced him. Looking up and noticing the two figures standing here, he shrank back and hurriedly left with the child.
"...How did you run around and provoke monsters?! One faceless, one with four arms... hurry back to the shrine to dispel the bad luck!"
The farmer's voice was lowered as he murmured in the child's ear, but for an [Existence], even from a distance, human whispers could be heard very clearly.
Jiang Lai smiled inwardly: So he had become No-Face. For a moment he thought of Spirited Away.
"...The big brother with fog on his face is a good person..." the child argued quietly, disappearing into the farmstead with the farmer.
Sukuna had no intention of chasing after the child for a finishing blow. His earlier attack was just a casual attitude, killing when he wanted to kill, stopping when he wanted to stop, doing as he pleased without any particular purpose.
At this moment, his attention shifted to a character more interesting to him.
Sukuna sat cross-legged in the snow with complete nonchalance, staring at that figure with interest.
The black-haired young man stood quietly to one side, watching as the child's figure disappeared among the overlapping village houses.
He wore a simple navy blue kimono without patterns, looking very ordinary, yet the quality of the fabric seemed exceptionally fine.
Sukuna propped his cheek with one hand, casually resting another hand on his knee: "Meddlesome guy... a noble Young Master from a great family out for training? Your abilities are quite interesting." His voice carried a hint of mockery. "No servants or guards, did you escape on your own?"
Jiang Lai had restrained his cursed energy very well, and he wasn't a particularly domineering personality to begin with, so from external perception alone, his true strength couldn't be discerned.
Hearing Sukuna's words, Jiang Lai slightly withdrew his gaze, somewhat surprised by the other's speculation. He actually guessed that he was a noble Young Master from a great family out for training?
With fog obscuring his face, guessing monster or the like would be more reasonable.
...Or could the other party see his face?
Thoughts flashed through his mind. Jiang Lai planned to chat a bit more and probe the other's situation. However, this didn't mean he would go along with what the other said.
Jiang Lai looked sideways with a calm expression: "Looking at it this way, you're also a meddlesome guy."
He used the other's words to retort lightly, responding to that speculation.
Sukuna half-narrowed his eyes, his voice low and hoarse: "Unpleasant."
His fingers moved slightly, and cursed blades double the previous amount crisscrossed toward him!
The malicious cursed energy tore apart the gently falling snowflakes in front, yet Jiang Lai didn't even blink. He had no intention of moving half a step, directly facing the approaching killing intent.
Those intersecting cursed blades struck the air one centimeter away from the black-haired young man, dissolving in a barrier as solid as rock! At most they only transmitted vibrations, slightly ruffling the loose ponytail behind him.
Jiang Lai leisurely covered his lips with the book, laughing softly: "Is this all you've got?"
He felt no tension whatsoever. The [Existence] from a thousand years ago possessed nearly infinite power.
Now was Jiang Lai's prime period, while the Curse King before him was still in his growing youth phase.
The outcome was already very obvious.
Upon hearing this, Sukuna's pair of secondary eyes below his crimson pupils opened, all staring at the black-haired young man in front.
He stood up from the snow, flexed his wrists, and grinned to reveal sharp canine teeth: "Is that so? Let's see if you can make me serious."
"Same words back to you." Jiang Lai nodded slightly, gripping the book and flicking his sleeve, declaring the beginning of this battle.
…
The result was as Jiang Lai expected. Currently, he could basically completely defeat the young Sukuna.
Absolute spatial control could trap and interfere with the other party, making those slashes difficult to extend more than a few centimeters.
During the battle, Jiang Lai even devoted most of his attention to using spatial control to protect the nearby village, lest innocent people be harmed.
The end was marked by Jiang Lai landing back at his original position, placing the book on the other's shoulder with a smile, saying: "Let's stop fighting."
He had originally wanted to imitate the other party and add phrases like "boring" or "try harder," but on second thought, decided not to engage in such escalating operations.
What Jiang Lai came back to do a thousand years ago wasn't to fight with Sukuna.
He planned to use the time reversal to try digging up information about other [Existences] and explore the true origins of the Supervisory Committee. Although this organization was nominally established the year after Gojo Satoru's birth, its rapid development in such a short time must have rich early accumulation.
Jiang Lai speculated that Kenjaku (Brain) might have already begun planning all this long ago.
Before Sukuna could flare up, Jiang Lai lifted the book from the other's shoulder and put it away, leisurely stepping back half a pace.
The other twisted his neck, clicked his tongue lightly, and stopped his next attacking motion.
His main two arms crossed together, black markings interweaving and disappearing: "If you didn't lack Six Eyes, I would have thought you were that guy from the Gojo family with a different appearance from the rumors, out wandering for fun." Then he switched topics: "Oh, but that guy isn't as strong as you."
The Gojo family? Was the Gojo family already very famous at this time? He thought.
Speaking of which, he still wasn't clear how the Heian-kyo background was set up in this new series. He'd check his phone later.
This should be somewhat different from the historical Heian-kyo and the original work's Heian-kyo. For instance, certain timelines.
Then, Jiang Lai nodded slightly, saying lightly: "I'll take that as a compliment." Indicating he accepted this evaluation.
At the same time, he mentally confirmed his earlier speculation.
It seemed Sukuna could indeed see his face, which is why he could point out the eye issue.
But why could the other party see him? Jiang Lai pondered internally, his gaze sweeping over the person in front of him.
The current Sukuna was still human, logically no different from the masses.
The mystery emerged but no answer could be found temporarily. Jiang Lai modified his plans, deciding to wander beside the other party until he found the answer.
Seeming to notice Jiang Lai's appraising gaze, Sukuna frowned with displeasure. He stared at Jiang Lai, squeezing out low laughter from his throat:
"However... you'd better stay strong and make sure I can't catch up."
That sounded somewhat like a threat. Jiang Lai raised his eyebrows slightly: "Saying such things in this situation, aren't you afraid I'll kill you right now while I have the chance?"
"You can try." Sukuna's attitude remained arrogant and unbridled. He then laughed: "Though I don't know what you are, it seems you can't kill people, right?"
Sukuna wasn't just a character with high combat power; he also possessed keen observation skills.
Jiang Lai paused slightly, though his expression remained unchanged. Actually, during the earlier battle, he had also been sensing himself, perceiving some deeper rules from his movements.
As an [Existence] related to time and space, he wandered outside the human world, more like part of nature itself.
Walking in the mortal world required an absolutely objective attitude, using his abilities to correct wrongful deaths and births that didn't align with the life-and-death records - this could be understood as work involving giving or taking time from those people.
Therefore, he couldn't form bonds casually, especially couldn't kill people randomly. Because killing would disturb cause-and-effect lines, and the dead person's karmic burden would accumulate and transfer to himself.
So earlier, Jiang Lai's attacks were mostly containment, with no intention of delivering killing blows. The karmic burden on Sukuna, who had killed from childhood to adulthood, was far too much for Jiang Lai to consider taking on.
However, despite this, Jiang Lai's surface response remained calm: "Just temporarily don't want to act, it's a bit boring. You haven't reached the level where I need to give my all."
Sukuna, stung again by these words, had his crimson eyes darken, then laughed: "Good, good. I find you quite interesting indeed. Don't let your guard down." He made no effort to hide his malice and killing intent.
Jiang Lai paid this no mind. He naturally took a few steps forward, suddenly changing the topic: "Where are you going now?"
Sukuna had already stood up and didn't seem to plan on lying back down to sleep.
Honestly, Jiang Lai found the other quite miraculous - he could sleep shirtless by the roadside in the dead of winter, buried in snow without any problems. This level of cold resistance had in some sense transcended humanity.
"Where am I going?" Sukuna raised his eyebrow, looking somewhat surprised by the other's words. He spoke with implicit sarcasm: "What, are you going to 'await' me at the destination?"
"Never mind, no need to answer." Jiang Lai then gave up asking, not wanting to waste more words.
After all, even if he knew the place names of this era, he would hardly know their specific locations. Asking would be pointless.
Moreover, he didn't need to know where Sukuna was going. He planned to wander beside the other party until he found the answer to the mystery anyway. He'd just temporarily follow Sukuna.
Incidentally, he could also use spatial techniques to interfere with and restrain the other's indiscriminate killing, saving quite a few lives in some sense. Jiang Lai thought silently.
Sukuna also seemed to have lost interest in continuing the conversation. He turned and stepped toward another path.
Jiang Lai walked leisurely, swaying slowly behind him.
After walking some distance, Sukuna stopped, half-turning his face: "You're really that bored, huh."
"What's wrong?" Jiang Lai blinked lightly. "Just traveling the same path."
"Same path?" Sukuna ground his canine teeth, seeming quite disdainful of this answer.
However, he didn't argue with Jiang Lai about this, probably feeling there was no point since he couldn't out-argue or out-fight him.
Therefore, the cherry-pink haired four-armed youth stood still for a few seconds before continuing forward with large strides.
Jiang Lai continued following behind, flipping through the book in his hands. He was planning to check the [Thousand Years] information on his phone.
Just then, he sensed a sharp cursed energy attacking through the air!
Jiang Lai sighed inwardly, slightly dodging the slash. Just as he was about to say "such attacks are meaningless," he felt the sensation of hair cascading down.
The cursed blade had severed his constructed hair tie, and his neatly bound long hair instantly scattered, fluttering in the winter wind.
Jiang Lai: "..." He swept back the blown hair and looked up wordlessly.
Sukuna chuckled: "Didn't I tell you not to let your guard down?"