Ch. 241
The Jujutsu World.
The basement beneath Gojo Satoru's private residence had been specially renovated. Rather than a basement, it was more like a secret base.
Not only did it have the standard three rooms and one living area of a normal house, it also had a special training room. The training room had been specially reinforced and could withstand cursed energy impacts to a certain degree.
Little Sheep Jiang Lai trained here with Choso, while also providing additional instruction to Itadori Yuji.
After using the [Separation] cursed tool, just as Gojo Satoru had previously guessed, although Sukuna had been stripped away, Itadori Yuji's body had already been inscribed with Sukuna's technique. In other words, the slashing attacks that Ryomen Sukuna mastered could also be used by Itadori Yuji.
Because of this, Little Sheep Jiang Lai had been training Itadori Yuji with this, attempting to guide him in condensing cursed energy to use the technique.
When he first produced a similar slashing effect in the training room, Itadori Yuji seemed startled. The cherry-pink haired boy widened his eyes, staring somewhat dazedly down at his own hands.
"I..." Itadori Yuji opened his mouth, then said the latter half of his sentence somewhat slowly, "This is Sukuna's technique?"
"It's also yours." Little Sheep Jiang Lai blinked and replied, "Since it's on you, it belongs to you."
The cherry-pink haired boy opened his hand, and the cursed energy that had been condensed dispersed. His gaze fell on the deep gouges in the training room floor.
Jiang Lai was very good at observing micro-expressions, and he was also familiar with Itadori Yuji. He knew that Itadori Yuji's current hesitation ultimately stemmed from the shadow left by Ryomen Sukuna's wanton slaughter using slashing attacks.
Although this world's Itadori Yuji hadn't experienced the tragic Shibuya Incident, he was also clearly aware of Sukuna's cruelty and coldness. He couldn't possibly ignore the blood cases from a thousand years ago and a thousand years later.
"Sukuna's slashing attacks," Itadori Yuji paused, his voice somewhat muffled as he said, "easily hurt others by mistake."
"If it's easy to hurt others by mistake, just practice~ No one's skilled from the start." Little Sheep Jiang Lai was still holding a bag of soft candy in his hand, his expression showing youthful vigor, his tone quite relaxed.
He tossed a cat-shaped soft candy into his mouth and continued, "I know what you're thinking. Sukuna uses it to kill people, but that doesn't mean you can't use it to save people. As I just said, this is your technique."
"The slashing attack itself has no meaning. It's the user who gives it meaning. If you want, you can certainly turn it into a blade of protection."
As his words fell, Little Sheep Jiang Lai threw out a piece of candy from his hand. Itadori Yuji instinctively caught it, looking up with his thoughts not yet fully catching up.
He saw the brown-haired boy in front of him break into a bright smile, those dark eyes like night seeming to contain a galaxy of stars. He extended his hand toward Itadori Yuji, palm up, his tone cheerful as he slowly said:
"Thank you for your patronage, friendship price: 10,000 yen, thank you."
"Eh?!!"
"Orange-flavored cat soft candy, delicious and expensive."
"Wait?? I only caught it, I haven't even eaten it yet..."
"Naturally, it's because you've already caught it that you pay for the candy. If you hadn't caught it, there would be an additional garbage cleanup fee."
"Eh?!!"
Itadori Yuji tactically leaned back, and Little Sheep Jiang Lai giggled. The atmosphere on site returned from its original heavy mood to its usual lightness.
After the initial stunned moment, Itadori Yuji finally understood.
He realized that everything the brown-haired boy in front of him had just done was to counsel him. The sky-high priced candy he'd thrown was more like a joke to shift emotions than a deliberate money grab.
In fact, the brown-haired boy hadn't really put on the appearance of charging fees either.
His electronic calculator was still properly clipped to his waist, merely muttering "one candy for 10,000 yen" while casually tossing several more candies to Itadori.
"Sorry, Watanabe, I don't have that much money." Itadori Yuji went along with Little Sheep Jiang Lai, earnestly blinking as he replied, "Can I owe it first?"
"I know you don't have money, no problem." Little Sheep Jiang Lai chewed on his soft candy, speaking somewhat unclearly, "Your teacher has money."
What are rich people for? Rich people are naturally for extracting small amounts of money from~
After the initial period of confusion, Itadori Yuji steadied his mind. He no longer dwelled on the ownership of the cursed blade and was determined to practice it into his own ability.
He needed to become stronger to protect those he wanted to protect. Itadori Yuji's golden-orange eyes were exceptionally sharp.
He wanted to become as strong as Gojo-sensei, wanted to become as strong as his conceptual older brother. Even if he couldn't be like them, he at least wanted to be able to protect everyone around him at crucial moments.
The basement training gradually got on track. Itadori Yuji was a diligent and hardworking student, and as the [Benevolent Face of Death], he naturally possessed talent similar to Ryomen Sukuna's. Therefore, his slashing attacks became quite proficient after not too long.
Perhaps it was the divine status fragment absorbed in his body that also played some key promoting role. By the end of this month, Itadori Yuji had vaguely touched the edge of domain.
Of course, mastering Domain Expansion so quickly was impossible. But Itadori Yuji being able to vaguely touch the edge meant there was hope of learning domain.
One should know that many jujutsu sorcerers spend their entire lives unable to explore the boundaries of domain. This wasn't something that could be made up for through training alone; it also required some talent and luck.
When Itadori Yuji explored the domain boundary, Choso, this big brother, was very happy and went to the kitchen, preparing to cook a whole table of dishes.
A Special Grade cursed spirit cooking sounded somewhat ridiculous, but this was brother-complex Choso, so it made sense.
This good big brother Choso had specially learned cooking during the basement training period for Itadori's sake. His learning ability was also excellent, and he'd learned various dishes in a short time.
Of course, his learning couldn't be separated from his companions' help. The companions here referred to the shikigami summoned from Little Sheep Jiang Lai's technique [Electronic Spirits].
During this period, while Jiang Lai wore his Little Sheep disguise to train Itadori Yuji, he hadn't forgotten to improve himself either.
To quickly reach the evolution level, the Detective Conan world good friends spirits engaged in combat training with Choso in the training room every day. Currently, progress was going smoothly, and they were close to reaching the evolution level.
Besides training exercises, the Detective Conan friends who had nothing else to do would sometimes choose to stay here a bit longer for company. Among them, Kurosawa Akira stayed the most frequently.
As the BOSS of a research institute, Kurosawa Akira was the big boss himself. As long as he designated plans in advance and instructed his subordinates, he could leisurely enjoy his vacation. So little Akira was the freest among the Detective Conan friends.
Perhaps because Kurosawa Akira stayed most frequently, or perhaps for other reasons, in any case, Choso and Silver Snake little Akira became familiar the fastest.
After the initial unfamiliarity, they could research dishes together in the kitchen while Jiang Lai and Itadori Yuji trained.
Choso's face showed a big brother's kindness as he recalled while flipping through the cooking manual in his hands: "Yuji likes meat and rice bowls. This grilled meat rice bowl looks good... Hmm, but we're missing special sauce here. I'll need to notify Gojo-san to order some hot spring eggs and sauce."
"Strawberry cocoa tart, this dessert is also very good. Big brother likes sweets." Silver Snake little Akira added with a calm voice, "By the way, don't put ginger in the grilled meat rice bowl."
At this time, Jiang Lai was wearing his Little Sheep disguise, so Kurosawa Akira couldn't directly call "Jiang Lai big brother" or "Lai big brother," so he directly addressed him as "big brother."
Choso showed no surprise at all about the spirit shikigami calling their master "big brother." He accepted it very naturally.
If asked: What's wrong? Can't cursed spirits be human brothers? This is very normal.
Regarding the familiarity between Choso and Kurosawa Akira, Matsuda Jinpei was initially somewhat surprised, because Kurosawa Akira wasn't exactly an enthusiastic personality.
The silver-haired young man was usually cold and distant on the surface, naturally carrying silent oppressive pressure when sitting upright during formal negotiations. When those gray-green wolf eyes gazed, they naturally carried the cold intent of ice-sealed frost, like a fierce wind atop a cliff.
Only in front of close people would Kurosawa Akira relax his condensed expression and reveal the childlike innocence remaining from his long childhood experiences.
And in front of Jiang Lai, who had accompanied him the longest and influenced him the most deeply, he would even more carefully restrain his sharp edges, like a white wolf hiding its claws and exposing its soft belly.
In front of outsiders, Kurosawa Akira's image had always been that of an expressionless, cold, iceberg cool guy. He was cold inside and out, very difficult to become close and familiar with.
So this time, how did Kurosawa Akira become familiar with Choso so quickly? Logically, this wasn't quite right!
Matsuda Jinpei voiced the doubts that had been lingering in his mind to Morofushi Hiromitsu nearby.
Morofushi Hiromitsu's upturned blue-gray cat eyes curved as he said in a gentle voice: "I'm not too surprised. Because they're people with similar attributes who have common topics."
"Huh?" Matsuda Jinpei was stunned. "How are they similar?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu, currently in his spirit Pegasus form, lifted a front hoof, indicating for the wolfhound Matsuda beside him to listen to the conversation between Choso and Silver Snake little Akira nearby.
Although Choso and little Akira were conversing with each other, they were actually each talking about their own things. One couldn't go three sentences without mentioning "Yuji," while the other mentioned "big brother" every few sentences.
Matsuda Jinpei: "?"
"See, one's a brother-complex, one's a sibling-complex, both are brother-complexes with very similar attributes." Morofushi Hiromitsu had an expression of seeing through everything as he smiled calmly, "And they can each control their own obsessions in daily life without interfering with each other, then cooperate together when it's time to cooperate. So becoming familiar quickly is also very normal."
Matsuda Jinpei: "???"
Matsuda Jinpei's wolfhound face showed a very human-like expression of bewilderment: How could people who each had their own obsessions still chat together? He really didn't understand the world of brother-complexes!
The camera returns to the present. To celebrate Itadori Yuji touching the domain boundary, Choso made a whole table feast, including desserts specially prepared for Little Sheep Jiang Lai that Silver Snake little Akira had specifically mentioned.
The isolated basement atmosphere was harmonious. Itadori Yuji's face showed a bright smile, his eyes sparkling as he asked with some expectation: "I wonder how Fushiguro and Kugisaki are doing. After I finish training, can I go out?"
"Probably not." Little Sheep Jiang Lai shook his head. "Gojo-sensei said to wait quietly for the signal."
Because Itadori Yuji's fake death was to deceive Brain-kun's side, the truth couldn't be exposed until Brain-kun confidently started the decisive battle.
But it should be soon... After Brain-kun finished all preparations, he wouldn't delay too long. And the situation wouldn't allow him to delay too long either, Jiang Lai thought.
"Oh, alright then. I'll wait a bit more." Itadori Yuji looked somewhat downcast but wasn't too distressed.
Although he didn't understand many hidden matters, he understood and trusted the plans of Gojo Satoru and his conceptual older brother.
"This time, maybe I can surprise them again." Itadori Yuji said with a cheerful laugh.
"You will." Little Sheep Jiang Lai curled his lips as he shook his cup.
At precisely this moment, a certain fluctuating strange cursed energy came like ocean waves from afar, and the air trembled accordingly!
"!?"
Everyone in the basement immediately became alert, quickly assuming combat positions.
The next moment, everyone sensed that this cursed energy wasn't targeted but broadly covered every inch of this area. Like a huge formation, a barrier had enveloped the entire space.
What was happening outside? How large was the area covered by this formation? Questions leaped in the minds of everyone at the dining table, and for a moment, no one spoke.
"..." Jiang Lai put down his cup. He keenly realized this was the horn sounding for decisive battle.
Brain-kun had started his plan. A large-scale barrier battlefield similar to the Culling Game had been born.