After learning the Thunder Bagua, Hayashi didn't waste time on the other "expensive" jujutsu scrolls, as he didn't currently need them.
He then walked over to the Brain Shield jujutsu scroll, glanced at the points he had left, and saw that he only had 120 points left—insufficient for learning Brain Shield.
But that didn't matter. Hayashi had a backup plan. He immediately decided to disassemble the special-grade cursed object iron plate that he had obtained from Shingo's body. Ever since upgrading to the premium version, he had gained the ability to directly disassemble special-grade cursed objects, but he had been saving it until now.
Now, at this critical moment of learning new jujutsu, Hayashi definitely had to disassemble it. After all, keeping it on him served no real purpose.
After disassembling the iron plate, Hayashi received 300 points. He had to admit that the intrinsic value of a special-grade cursed object was much higher than that of a special-grade curse spirit.
Without hesitation, Hayashi immediately learned Brain Shield.
[Congratulations! You have acquired Brain Shield!]
After learning Brain Shield, Hayashi could feel a subtle presence protecting his brain. As long as he infused cursed energy, Brain Shield could be activated instantly.
Even without actively triggering Brain Shield, it remained in a passive protection mode. Although the effect was weaker in this mode, it was still quite effective.
"This trip was really fruitful, though it's a pity I don't have more points. Otherwise, I would definitely learn more of the jujutsu here," Hayashi thought. He wasn't overly greedy; he understood the importance of being content and planning for the long term.
Just because he couldn't learn something now didn't mean he wouldn't be able to in the future. It was just a matter of time.
Having spent enough time here, Hayashi decided to leave. After all, there were still five unknown individuals above him having a conversation, and he didn't know their strength.
...
Around the same time, in the real world, Japan.
In a dark room illuminated by dim candlelight, two men wearing strange robes seemed to be discussing something. Nearby, on an iron pedestal, stood a silver humanoid metal statue, but it only had the upper body. The statue emitted a peculiar aura, making it look extremely eerie.
"Why haven't we found the master's cursed object yet? If we don't find it soon, the master will be furious, and we'll be dead!" one of the men spoke with a raspy voice, his anxiety evident.
The candle beside him flickered slightly in response to his words, as if echoing his distress.
"That kid must be hiding somewhere. Lately, many people have been keeping an eye on him, and we can't act recklessly. The main problem is that we're wary of the people backing him. We can't let them notice us," the other man spoke with equal urgency.
They were all searching for Hayashi's whereabouts. Although they had some leads, they couldn't act rashly. Many were watching Hayashi, and not just them.
You could say Hayashi was now a common target, with every hidden group searching for him.
But to avoid being detected by Gojo Satoru and other jujutsu sorcerers, they had to be discreet and careful. At the very least, they had to stay hidden and avoid detection.
No one knew how disastrous it would be to be caught by Gojo Satoru, but everyone knew that fighting him was a certain death sentence.
Dealing with Gojo Satoru was impossible, but eliminating Hayashi would be much easier. However, Hayashi was always elusive, and those who tried to track him down hadn't had much success.
This kind of teleportation technique wasn't something everyone could do.
"No matter the risk, we have to get it back, or we're dead."
"That's a given."
But then, at that moment—
Crack!
A faint cracking sound made the two men instantly turn toward the metal statue. A crack had appeared on the previously intact statue, starting from the top of its head.
"Master!"
"What's happening?"
The two were horrified. This had never happened before, and they couldn't comprehend it.
Crack~
Crack, crack~
The cracks didn't stop and instead spread rapidly, covering the entire statue.
At this moment, the strange human face on the statue began to move, contorting into an extremely terrifying and painful expression.
"What's going on? Why is the master's statue cracking?"
"Who are you asking? Wait, I remember now! This only happens when the master has died completely!"
"How do you know? Have you seen the master die before? But that doesn't make sense! The master was only in this state recently. How could you know?"
"Idiot!" the man cursed, "Can't you see? The cursed object being destroyed is the only way the master could truly die. Otherwise, the master would never die!"
"You're the idiot! Special-grade cursed objects can't be destroyed, so how could this happen? It's absolutely impossible!"
The face on the statue twisted in agony, but it didn't last long before the entire statue shattered and crumbled to the ground. The surrounding candles also extinguished at that moment, plunging the room into complete darkness and silence.
Hayashi had no idea that after he disassembled the special-grade cursed object iron plate, something like this would happen in the real world. The disintegration of the iron plate led to the complete death of its original owner, causing them to disappear from existence.
Normally, special-grade curses would not die completely. Even if killed, they would leave behind special-grade cursed objects that would continue to exist.
In other words, they couldn't be completely killed, only sealed and kept, to prevent them from being revived by those with malicious intent.
But there was another scenario: a curse spirit that obtained a special-grade cursed object could gain its power and reach the level of a fully evolved special-grade curse spirit in a short time.
However, such a curse spirit, upon being exorcised, would not leave behind any cursed objects of its own, as its power came from another special-grade cursed object. When it died, it died completely, though the special-grade cursed object it once wielded would still remain indestructible.
If another curse spirit got hold of that special-grade cursed object, it could similarly become a fully evolved special-grade curse spirit.
But if the source was destroyed, then it would be truly dead, gone from the world entirely.
Just like the owner of this iron plate, Shingo was merely one of the many curse spirits that this iron plate had been passed down to, a fleeting presence in the long history.
There were other curse spirits, too, that through their own strength and long lifespans, became special-grade curse spirits. Once they reached that level, they essentially became cursed objects themselves. Even if sealed or exorcised, as long as the cursed object remained, they could be revived but not destroyed.
So, in this world, countless special-grade cursed objects were sealed and stored away, while many more were still being found by curse spirits, turning into fully evolved beings.
The number of curse spirits would only increase, never decrease. While the world sought to seal special-grade cursed objects, some with malicious intentions sought them out to revive them or use them as tools for deadly curses.
Darkness would never truly disappear; it was a rule of nature since ancient times. But perhaps, this rule was about to be broken by a young boy.