Chapter 175: Controlling Cursed Energy
The Fushiguro residence.
Fushiguro Megumi looked at his cousin standing before him, a thoughtful expression in his eyes.
"You're saying that besides Star Rage, you can also use the Ten Shadows Technique?"
"Yes," Zen'in Kaon nodded.
"Last time, my dad told me to keep a low profile, so I didn't tell anyone. But now I feel like my strength is still lacking—I want to become stronger.
"That's why I came to you, cousin. I want you to teach me how to properly combine the Ten Shadows Technique with Star Rage so I can unleash greater power."
Her expression was completely serious.
Megumi's face darkened slightly.
He couldn't help but feel conflicted.
Some sorcerers could struggle their entire lives and never awaken a technique.
And then there were people like her—born with the kind of talent that all but guaranteed they would reach the very peak.
Sometimes, talent really was something effort couldn't overcome.
"Possessing two completely different techniques is already extremely rare in the entire history of the jujutsu world," Megumi said slowly.
More importantly, either one of her techniques alone was enough to grow into a special-grade sorcerer.
Two top-tier techniques existing within the same person—this was unprecedented.
"How does it feel when you use both techniques?" Megumi asked.
He had never encountered a case like this before, and for the moment, he wasn't sure which direction her training should take.
Kaon thought for a moment before answering.
"The consumption is enormous. If I use just one technique, it's manageable. But once I stack both techniques together, the energy consumption increases by about five times."
That was precisely why she felt she needed to grow stronger.
She clearly possessed two incredibly powerful techniques—yet she couldn't sustain prolonged battles.
"Five times the consumption?" Megumi frowned slightly.
He could tell that Kaon's cursed energy reserves weren't weak at all.
She might not match the monstrous reserves of people like Okkotsu or those from the Gojo bloodline, but reaching special-grade levels was absolutely within her potential.
However, multiplying her consumption fivefold would severely limit her combat endurance.
And based on Megumi's understanding of both Star Rage and the Ten Shadows Technique…
If she ever attempted to combine the two within a Domain Expansion—
The cost would be terrifying.
Far beyond what she could currently handle.
However, correspondingly, the power far exceeded that of the Ten Shadows Technique on its own.
"Try attacking me using both techniques," Fushiguro Megumi said as he stepped back, creating distance.
Rather than relying on verbal explanations, it would be better to experience it firsthand and see just how outrageous the energy consumption truly was.
"Alright!"
Kaon formed hand seals, her fingers mimicking the shape of an animal.
"Piercing Ox!"
A mass of black shadow surged in front of her. A jet-black ox, taller than a human, burst out of the shadows with a thunderous roar and charged straight toward Megumi.
At the same time, Kaon shifted her hand seals, switching techniques. She activated Star Rage, layering illusory mass directly onto the ox.
Seeing this, Megumi also invoked his technique.
A black Piercing Ox emerged from the shadows before him—larger by an entire size compared to Kaon's—and charged forward as well.
The two oxen collided head-on.
The instant their horns clashed, energy erupted violently.
Crack—!
To Megumi's shock, Kaon's smaller ox shattered the horn of his Piercing Ox, forcing it back several steps under the overwhelming impact.
However, the effect only lasted a brief moment.
Kaon's breathing faltered, and she lost control. Her summoned ox dissolved back into shadow and vanished.
Megumi immediately waved his hand, dismissing his own technique as well.
A trace of disbelief lingered on his face.
He hadn't expected the Ten Shadows Technique—when stacked with Star Rage—to become this terrifyingly powerful.
Against the same shikigami, he had actually been pushed back.
Originally, Star Rage could only be applied to the user's body and their bound personal shikigami.
But Kaon, due to possessing the Ten Shadows Technique, didn't have a shikigami intrinsically tied to Star Rage.
Instead, she had the Ten Shadows' summoned shikigami.
Because she personally summoned them, the technique likely recognized those shikigami as extensions of her own body.
That was probably why Star Rage could be layered onto them.
"These two techniques, when used together…"
Even now, Megumi found it hard to believe.
They were a perfect match.
He couldn't help recalling the Shinjuku battle years ago—how his aunt's self-destructing shikigami attack, though it failed to kill Sukuna, was still devastating beyond reason.
Looking at Kaon, Megumi was momentarily at a loss for words.
If she could truly stack both techniques, then in a life-or-death situation, she could essentially throw shikigami like miniature black holes.
After all, while the Ten Shadows Technique was limited to ten types of shikigami, it didn't mean the number of summons was capped at ten.
Shikigami like Divine Dogs, Rabbit Escape, and Toads had no upper limit.
Taken to its logical extreme—if Kaon possessed enough cursed energy—she could throw black holes as casually as stones.
Of course, that was purely theoretical.
Reality wouldn't allow something so absurd.
"I roughly understand your situation now," Megumi said, steering the conversation back on track.
"Your next training focus should be cursed energy control."
He had already pinpointed Kaon's main weakness.
The amount of illusory mass she layered onto her shikigami was directly tied to her cursed energy output.
The more energy she poured in, the heavier the mass became.
In theory, pushing this to its limit would result in an attack similar to a black hole.
But the problem was obvious—
Stacking two techniques caused an absurd level of energy drain.
"Cursed energy control?"
Kaon looked puzzled.
Wasn't cursed energy just something you poured out as hard as possible during a fight?
Seeing her confusion, Megumi immediately understood—her parents had clearly never taught her proper cursed energy control.
For her to reach this level on her own… she must have figured most of it out by herself.
"Learning to control cursed energy reduces consumption significantly," Megumi explained.
"When you used your technique earlier, a large amount of cursed energy overflowed.
"That excess energy didn't contribute to the attack at all—it was completely wasted."
As he spoke, he called toward the house.
"Jirō, bring the cursed corpse I gave you earlier."
"Coming!"
Fushiguro Jirō, who had been peeking from the doorway the entire time, dashed inside and returned with a small cursed-corpse doll.
Megumi took it from him and handed it to Kaon.
"This is specifically designed to train cursed energy control. Try channeling cursed energy into it."
Kaon looked down at the strange doll—its appearance awkward, its hands fitted with tiny boxing gloves.
She poured cursed energy into it.
Nothing happened.
"It doesn't seem to be doing anyth—"
Bang!
Before she could finish her sentence, the doll suddenly swung its fist and punched her square in the face.
"Ow! What the hell—this thing punches people?!"
Kaon yelped in pain and instinctively hurled the doll away, clutching her cheek.
Megumi picked it up calmly and injected cursed energy into it himself.
The cursed corpse immediately went limp, fainting on the spot—bubbles even forming from its nose.
"You need to maintain perfectly consistent cursed energy output," Megumi said evenly.
"Only then will it remain dormant.
"Use this to practice control first. Once you can regulate your cursed energy flawlessly, I'll teach you the next step."
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