By mid-March, Sōjun Minamoto had surpassed his mission quotas for the month, successfully completing both mandatory assignments. Starting next month, he would no longer be bound by compulsory tasks.
...
Following the recent cursed womb incident, Sōjun decided to slow his pace once more. He recognized numerous areas for improvement.
His flesh armor required completion and optimization. Currently, only one arm was finished; his plan was to develop a full-body armor to eliminate physical vulnerabilities, then identify and refine any shortcomings during combat, continually enhancing and upgrading its capabilities.
The structure of his compound eyes also needed adjustment due to minor issues. Previously, while he could sense the cursed womb's presence, he struggled to track its movements. It was only when Shiko Mishima acted as bait that the creature exposed its flaws.
Believing that practice is the ultimate test of truth, Sōjun had, through repeated use, devised a more effective arrangement. Now, restructuring was imperative.
He focused his energy, causing his eyeball to detach and fall into his palm, leaving his eye socket empty—a dark void reminiscent of a black hole, captivating and eerie.
Examining the eyeball closely, it appeared singular, but within, dozens of smaller eyes were embedded. The iris featured a large central pupil surrounded by numerous tiny pupils, each independently contracting and expanding, offering separate fields of vision.
While this configuration provided compound eye functionality, it lacked scalability and was becoming inadequate for his growing power.
With a thought, Sōjun transformed the eyeball back into its fundamental flesh and blood cells, which then dissolved into his palm.
Cursed energy surged within his empty eye sockets, nearly liquefying. A miniature, white eyeball formed amidst the energy, featuring a circular iris on one side and encased in a hardened, crystalline membrane that emitted a gentle, radiant glow.
Subsequently, nearly a hundred identical eyeballs emerged, arranged in a specialized structure, integrating seamlessly.
Repeating the process for the other socket, his eye cavities now resembled a starry sky, with each eyeball appearing and vanishing within the mist of condensed cursed energy. Their surfaces reflected light points, akin to twinkling stars.
However, the combined total of around a hundred eyeballs, though minuscule, densely filled the limited space of his eye sockets—a daunting sight for anyone with a fear of clusters.
Sōjun's immediate goal was to construct a thousand in each socket.
Once the numbers increased... surely no one would develop trypophobia from gazing at a starry sky, right?
From the outset, Sōjun had avoided replicating the exposed compound eyes of flies, deeming them aesthetically unpleasing and misaligned with his vision.
This approach had its pros and cons.
His field of view was limited to 180 degrees, falling short of a fly's near-360-degree perspective. However, his dynamic and microscopic vision far surpassed that of any insect.
With his enhanced eyesight, confronting the cursed womb again would allow him to see through its disguises and track its movements effortlessly.
As for the inhuman abnormalities in his appearance?
By merely narrowing his eyes, he could conceal them from others, ensuring that ordinary people remained unaware, provided he exercised caution.
Updating his abilities systematically, Sōjun stepped out of his residence, intending to study the barriers at Jujutsu High.
Since delving into barrier techniques through the new jujutsu manual, he had been refining curtains, primarily using them as amplifiers for perception.
However, the recent cursed womb mission had exposed certain deficiencies.
...
Tengen is said to be the pinnacle of Barrier Techniques.
Jujutsu High is filled with temples and shrines, most of which are illusions that shift in layout daily through Tengen's Barrier techniques. Each building is covered by a Barrier with a different function.
Until now, Sōjun Minamoto had rarely seen a large-scale complex Barrier composed of multiple layers that reinforced one another to form a stable structure.
His residence was covered by an alert Barrier—the most common type at Jujutsu High. Its main purpose was identity verification, with a bit of defensive capability. As long as the information on his ID badge matched him, he could move freely throughout the school without triggering any alarms. Otherwise, someone would come to arrest and interrogate him within minutes.
The principle behind the Barrier was simple enough. Sōjun Minamoto understood it after just a few days.
After that, he layered another Barrier of his own—since alerts also meant surveillance.
Who would want their daily life exposed under surveillance, even if no one was actively watching?
Sōjun Minamoto retraced his steps through the school. He had no clear destination in mind, just wandered and observed.
Eventually, he arrived at the Forbidden Vault.
The Barrier here was of a higher grade. Even on the surface, it had functions like alert, defense, concealment, and transformation.
He circled it a few times, occasionally reaching out to touch it. Each time, he could clearly feel Cursed Energy sweep over him, followed by a faint repelling force.
Sōjun Minamoto took a half-step back. The flickering stars in his eyes intensified. Each of his pupils reflected subtle changes in the Forbidden Vault. Different from what was visible to the naked eye, black Cursed Energy wrapped around the structure. Its density, spread, and flow became clearly visible.
At the point of highest concentration, a doorway flickered into view. Sōjun Minamoto stared, trying to see it more clearly—when he immediately felt a gaze land on him.
He narrowed his eyes.
That gaze came from the Barrier...
Was it Tengen?
Sōjun Minamoto looked away.
There were many Forbidden Vaults throughout Jujutsu High. The obvious ones were mostly unimportant. The truly significant ones, few knew about.
The so-called Deep Forbidden Vault that Shiko Mishima had mentioned wasn't actually that deep.
In Sōjun Minamoto's memory, the most important Forbidden Vault was protected under Tengen's Barrier. It contained more than 1,000 doors, but only one was the true entrance—and its location changed every day, making it impossible to predict.
The compound Barrier could even shift dynamically—a testament to the depth of Tengen's mastery.
Sōjun Minamoto didn't attempt to force entry. He left the Forbidden Vault and continued deeper into Jujutsu High.
According to the new Jujutsu Guide, there was a lift located in the school's depths that would take one to the lowest level.
At the bottom was the path to Tengen's residence. It was also the approach to the Tombs of the Star, the foundational site of Japan's main Barrier.
Only by taking the correct approach could one reach the main hall of the Tombs of the Star.
At the very center of the hall stood a sacred tree rooted deep underground, its trunk piercing through the entire mountain range beneath Jujutsu High. This was the final Barrier.
Tengen resided within the Tombs of the Star.
Sōjun Minamoto found the place. Two Jujutsu Sorcerers stood at the entrance. He stepped forward. They glanced at him but didn't stop him—which meant he was allowed in.
Sure enough, there was an elevator.
Sōjun Minamoto took it down.
What greeted him was a massive sacred tree, so tall its top was out of sight. The approach path coiled around it, leading deeper within.
A dense array of temples and pagodas spiraled like a giant spiderweb across the inner ring of the approach.
From the perspective of a Barrier Master, the layout followed precise patterns.
Branching paths extended outward, with stairs leading up or down to different buildings.
Sōjun Minamoto walked along the main path, descending step after step, circling the sacred tree until he reached a large gate.
He gave it a push, but it wouldn't open.
There was a special Barrier here—distinct from those used throughout Jujutsu High. Only those granted access by Tengen could enter.
Clearly, he wasn't among them.
Leaning against the railing, Sōjun Minamoto looked up at the towering sacred tree.
It too was part of the Barrier.
As long as Tengen remained, the Barrier could not be shaken. This place was the safest in existence. Even if the entirety of Jujutsu High were destroyed, this area would remain intact.
That was Tengen's confidence—and the reason Sōjun Minamoto had made it this far without trouble.
His eyes reflected the surrounding Cursed Energy as it spread in all directions—some strands connecting, others opposing and separating. Some hid within temple buildings, others surged from different steps along the approach...yet around the sacred tree, everything remained clean, with no trace of disturbance.
From the inside, the layout appeared vast and intricate—chaotic at first glance, but with a hidden order.
But from outside Jujutsu High, when viewing the entire system, Sōjun Minamoto could see disorder hidden within its apparent structure.
...
In the days that followed, he often wandered through Jujutsu High. Sometimes he returned to the approach, but was never able to enter the main hall. Other times, he would leave the school and observe the overall Barrier from the outer perimeter.