"You must be quite unfamiliar with this. You're not from China, are you? Trying to make some quick cash here before retiring?" A cold, emotionless voice echoed. Hayashi turned his gaze to a corridor on the other side, where a bald man in a worn-out monk's robe stepped out from behind a pillar. He smiled at Hayashi, but it was a stiff, unnatural smile, more like the grin of the dead.
"Another one?" Hayashi hadn't noticed earlier, but there was indeed someone else here. It seemed like the source of the curse was both this samurai and the bald monk.
"Why would someone your age come here just to die? What a waste," the bald monk continued, maintaining his unsettling smile.
"What did you do to these people?" Hayashi seemed unfazed by the eerie surroundings, raising his hand and pointing at the red pillars, each with a person nailed to it.
"No harm in telling you since you'll be joining them soon." The bald monk chuckled, "I'm absorbing their fear and negative emotions to increase my power. You would have figured it out eventually, but by then, it's usually too late. You were lucky to escape earlier."
Despite his words, the bald monk didn't underestimate Hayashi. Anyone who could avoid the red pillar's suction with such speed wasn't ordinary.
Hearing this, Hayashi quickly pieced things together. The black wisps he had seen earlier were fear and negative emotions.
The red-armored samurai stood still, but the black aura floating from the people nailed to the pillars was steadily drifting toward him, feeding into his body.
"You really think no one can stop you, don't you?" Hayashi prepared to act. Talking was useless at this point; a fight would be more productive.
"You're still too young. This place became ours the moment the cursed-born domain was activated. Any jujutsu sorcerer who enters will be lost here and end up nailed to one of those pillars, just like them. As things stand in China, only the most desperate jujutsu sorcerers would take such a risk. The rest want to live a few more years."
"Though fewer sorcerers have come recently, it won't last. Sooner or later, they won't allow a cursed-born domain to run rampant like this. More sorcerers will come—wave after wave—until none are left."
Hayashi chuckled, brushing his black bangs aside. "You're not wrong, but that doesn't apply to me. I'm different from other jujutsu sorcerers."
"Hahaha!" The bald monk laughed, too. "Every jujutsu sorcerer thinks they're different. How else could they become one in the first place?"
"True, but no reward for you," Hayashi replied nonchalantly. He had already decided that China's unique curses made this a great place to train. He planned to bring Todo, Yuji Itadori, and the others here to gain experience.
It would be a good opportunity for everyone's growth—mutual support and a chance to strengthen their powers. There would be risks, of course.
But growth doesn't come without risk.
As for the regulations preventing such actions, Hayashi figured he'd let Gojo Satoru deal with that headache. He just needed to lead the way.
The bald monk seemed to lose patience. Not seeing any fear in Hayashi, and wary of what might happen if he delayed, he decided to make a move.
The samurai standing at the gate began to march forward, his steps slow but long, quickly closing the distance between him and Hayashi.
"I need to deal with both of them. The monk is likely the more troublesome one, while the samurai seems like a curse puppet," Hayashi thought to himself before launching into action.
He unsheathed Black Steel and, in an instant, slashed at the samurai.
The samurai reacted quickly, raising his sword to block the strike.
Clang!
The two blades collided, with the samurai successfully blocking the first strike. However, it was just a probing attack. Hayashi swung again, pouring his cursed energy into his sword before delivering a powerful blow.
"Power multiplier!"
[Power Multiplier: Random - x4]
Crack!
The samurai's blade shattered, and Black Steel carved a deep gash into the samurai's shoulder. Without his armor, the blow could have cleaved off half his body.
The bald monk's eyes narrowed. He realized this boy was much stronger than the other jujutsu sorcerers who had entered before.
If he didn't get serious, things might take a bad turn. With this in mind, the monk rapidly formed hand seals. "Cursed Technique Reversal—Black Mist!"
In the midst of the battle, Hayashi noticed black mist emanating from the samurai's body. The mist quickly healed the samurai's wounds, even repairing his armor.
Moreover, the samurai's strength began to increase. What had been a relatively easy battle for Hayashi now required more effort to maintain control.
Glancing at the distant monk, Hayashi realized he was the one responsible for the changes. Clearly, to finish this, he needed to defeat the bald curse user.
"Perfect time to test it out—Enhanced Azure Black Flash!"
Having acquired the technique, Hayashi had never tested its power. Now was the ideal moment.
With a whoosh, Hayashi's fist shot toward the samurai. The samurai crossed his arms, attempting to block the seemingly ordinary punch.
A pale blue light exploded from Hayashi's right fist.
Boom!
The Cursed Blue Black Flash struck the samurai's wrists, caving them in instantly before exploding with force. Hayashi's fist punched straight through the samurai's chest, obliterating the armor in the process.
A hole, larger than a soccer ball, appeared in the samurai's chest, filling the bald monk with dread. "This kid isn't normal!"
For the first time, he felt a genuine threat.
"Not bad," Hayashi said, satisfied. If this punch had landed on a jujutsu sorcerer, it could have killed them instantly, assuming they were unprepared.
Still, the power of the Enhanced Azure Black Flash didn't surpass Thunder Bagua, and the energy consumption of the two techniques differed significantly.
The bald curse user took a few steps back. This boy not only had teleportation-like speed but also immense power. If it came to a direct confrontation, he'd be defeated horribly.
His original plan had been to let the samurai deal with Hayashi while he stayed hidden. It seemed he had underestimated the situation.
Even with a massive hole in its chest, the samurai didn't collapse. Black mist emerged once again, rapidly healing the damage and restoring the samurai to full strength.
"The curse user is the key," Hayashi realized. He turned his gaze toward the retreating monk. The monk's face was already pale—though it had been pale to begin with, this time it was from the excessive consumption of cursed energy.
The samurai's regeneration came at a cost: each time he healed, it drained the monk's cursed energy. Without the monk's cursed energy, the samurai would fall apart.