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A few hours later, Naoya woke up.
The scenes from the battle were still fresh in his mind, and he immediately started checking the spots that were impaled by the shadows.
"Relax. I took care of your wounds," came Kagenori's voice.
Naoya sighed, seeing that he was totally fine and then looked towards his grandfather.
"How can you stab your grandson like that?!" complained Noaya.
"...Who was the one who came running enthusiastically towards his grandfather, ready to crush him below an elephant's feet?"
"I didn't crush you, but you stabbed me at multiple locations!"
The grandfather and grandson glared at each other, neither willing to back off from their point.
"And how could you use your domain expansion on a kid like me!!! Aren't you a former Special Grade!!! Have some care for your adorable grandson!!! If not for that, I might have won."
Kagenori snorted. The scary part about Naoya's words was that he might actually have done that since he caught him off guard in the fight earlier.
"An opponent will not hold back against you just because you are weaker than they are. Your foundation is strong, so I guess it is time for you to learn the Anti-Domain techniques as well. Your speed will not help you dodge the auto hit effect of the domain after all," said Kagenori.
"Anti-Domains, huh.....another thing added to my to-do list, too much work. Too few of me," muttered Naoya and slumped his shoulders. He was already quite busy and had very little time left from his regular training. Just a few days ago, he decided to speed up his training and increase his shikigami repertoire, and now he had to work on the anti-domain techniques as well.
The threat of assassins coming after him to get the bounty made him accept his fate of not being able to rest properly, but when it came to it, he still felt like crying.
"What are you frowning for?" asked Kagenori.
"Contemplating the meaning of life. Wondering if fate works against those who strive the hardest to avoid trouble. At the end of the day, we are powerless against the whims of destiny, so is it worth the trouble trying to live so hard? Does it mean less after all?" muttered Naoya.
Kagenori blinked in shock, unable to think what was wrong with the brat in front of him.
'Did I hit him too hard earlier?' thought Kagenori and looked at his hand.
"...Are you having a concussion? Should we drop tonight's plan of going out to eat?" asked Kagenori in worry.
An instant later, Naoya stood perfectly straight on the bed and looked towards Kagenori with a smile.
"For doing my best, I need to get all the energy that I can!!!!" declared Naoya, dropping all the negative thoughts for Naoya from the future.
Kagenori blinked again.
'Should I hit him again?' thought Kagenori.
Naoya smirked, feeling his Grandpa's annoyance, before his gaze landed on the amulet resting around Kagenori's neck.
"Is that a Special Grade cursed tool?" asked Naoya.
"Hm? Yes. This amulet is called the Will of Shadows," said Kagenori, and he touched the amulet and activated it as a jet black metallic katana appeared in his hand.
"It's my personal special grade cursed tool that takes shape from the shadows I manipulate. For non-shadow-based technique users, this cursed tool is just a grade-3 tool since they can't control their shadows, and their shadows don't even have special properties," explained Kagenori and pointed his katana towards Naoya as the blade extended towards him and stopped directly in front of his face.
Naoya, however, was long gone from his spot and was standing at the other side of the room, ready to fight with the cursed energy gathered around his arms.
Kagenori looked at his grandson and had complex feelings about the situation. On one hand, the boy was cautious and was ready to fight; on the other hand, the boy had little trust in his grandfather.
"You can trust me a bit more, you know."
"Say that after lowering the weapon."
Kagenori sighed and deactivated the cursed tool, turning it back into an amulet.
Naoya lowered his hands as well and walked towards Kagenori and stared at the amulet.
"So shadow technique users....Can I try it too?" asked Naoya with slight excitement.
"...Why do I feel like you are eyeing my weapon?" asked Kagenori with suspicion.
"Huh? I don't know what you are talking about. Look at me? Do I look like a greedy, bad kid?" asked Naoya with puppy eyes.
Too bad Zenins don't have much compassion.
"Yes," replied Kagenori with a straight face.
Naoya, however, didn't relent. He continued to attack with his adorableness.
Kagenori smiled at the scene. This was a new thing for him. A child begging him like that was something he had never witnessed.
"Alright, alright. Stop that. That's not how Zenins should act. I wanted to see how this would react to the Ten Shadows anyway," said Kagenori and gave the amulet to Naoya.
"I love you, Grandpa!!!" cheered Naoya and took the amulet from the old man.
Kagenori coughed to hide his embarrassment and looked away, making Naoya chuckle more at the tsundere's actions.
Naoya focused on the amulet and checked it all over.
"What should I do now?"
"Focus your cursed energy into the amulet and will for it to take shape from your shadows," replied Kagenori.
Naoya nodded and passed some cursed energy to the amulet. Once he did, the amulet reacted and changed into a katana.
The sword was different from what Kagenori manifests. It lacked the jet black colour, and it looked weak as well.
"Focus your shadows. That's the basic form that people without shadow techniques manifest," said Kagenori.
"I did just that. I willed my shadow to shape the weapon," said Naoya and deactivated the amulet and looked at it with a small frown.
Naoya pondered it for a while and tried to will his shadow to change the amulet into something different, but none of that seemed to work.
"Hmm...looks like it does not work with the Ten Shadows...alright, hand it back," said Kagenori and extended his hand forward.
"*Sigh* It looks like the Ten Shadows...wait, Ten Shadows? I have been trying to use it with my shadow, but what if....[Divine Dogs]."
The amulet activated once again, but this time, instead of the katana, a pair of metallic arms sprouted out of Naoya's back.
Naoya and Kagenori looked at the arms with awe. One of them was black and the other one white, signifying the Cupcake's and Frosting's colours.
"....Don't tell me the amulet will change and give you different cursed tools for each shadow shikigami?" muttered Kagenori in disbelief.
Naoya dumbly nodded and focused back on his extra pair of arms. He tried doing various movements with them, and they functioned similarly to his normal arms.
"An extra pair of arms....for Jujutsu sorcerers, this opens a whole new realm of possibilities," muttered Kagenori in a serious tone.
Naoya nodded and used his extra arms to summon his shikigami, and the hands worked normally without any issues.
'Handsigns with one set, weapons with the other....scratch that, extra arms paired with projection sorcery...this might get too ugly for my opponents,' thought Naoya.
"...Should we check out the theory of other forms with other shikigami as well?" asked Naoya hesitantly.
If their guess was right, then technically, he could have 10 Special Grade tools at hand at all times. 11 if the Spear of Inverted Heaven is counted as well.
"...Better test it out while the other Hei members are out cold. This will not escalate the situation that much. Let's go out in the open to test them," said Kagenori and stood up.
Naoya nodded and followed Kagenori, and walked out of the room.
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After testing all the available shikigami, Naoya and Kagenori were left thoroughly surprised. The Will of Shadows seemed to be custom-made for Ten Shadows users. Each shikigami gave it a special form, and all of them were strong in their own right.
1) Divine Dog: Twin Fang Bracers:
Can either be equipped or can have them act as an extra pair of hands. The bracers also have a retractable pair of claws that are quite sharp.
2) Rabbit Escape: Horde Glow
A bright glow envelopes the user's hand and can make multiple clones of the arms that can be controlled by thought. Naoya tried it, and many flying fists surrounded him and could be fired at opponents. He could also clone any object that is held in his hand that is covered in the glow and manipulate it as well.
3) Toad: Super Toad Boots:
Drastically increases vertical jump and mid-air control. Allows temporary adhesion to surfaces (climb walls like a toad). When stomping, it creates a cursed shockwave similar to a toad's slam.
4) Nue: Storm Feather Bow:
A bow that shoots lightning and lightning arrows. Quite shocking.
5) Great Serpent: Viper Chain Whip:
Extends up to 50 meters with a snake-like motion. It can burrow underground and strike from blind spots. If it bites, it injects cursed-energy venom that numbs or slows targets.
6) Max Mammoth: Hydrocore Blaster:
Fires curse-energy blasts and high-pressure water jets, capable of slicing through concrete. Can switch modes: water cannon, steam blast, frost spray. The more cursed energy fed, the larger the water output.
7) Round Deer: Blessing Antler Circlet:
Emits a gentle healing pulse that accelerates minor regeneration (cuts, bruises, energy fatigue). Creates a Protection Veil that dampens incoming cursed energy attacks. Can project small barriers that block and deflect incoming attacks.
The Will of Shadows turned out to be a Swiss Army Knife and then some for him. Sure, it would take him time to master manoeuvring all the modes during a fight, but that felt like he was complaining about having such an advanced weapon.
For now, though, Naoya returned the amulet to Kagenori. It was rightfully his, and he would not want his grandpa to face some unexpected danger and suffer just because his grandson was selfish and took his cursed tool.
Not to mention, he was already busy enough with his other training and point grinding. Adding mastering a new weapon to all that right now was not something Naoya could afford anyway.
Kagenori looked at the amulet around his neck and towards Naoya, who was surveying the destruction caused by testing the cursed tool.
'...Looks like he is not that greedy yet. Well, he will get it after me anyway.' thought Kagenori and smiled and patted Naoya's head.
Naoya looked up at Kagenori and smiled back, seeing the old man's wrinkly smile.
"So, where are we going tonight?" asked Naoya.
"What do you want to eat?" asked Kagenori with a chuckle.
'He is still a kid, I guess.'
"Meat!!!!" exclaimed Naoya with glittering eyes.
"Hm...Alright, let's go for barbecue then."
"Yay!!! I love you so much, Grandpa!!!" cheered Naoya.
"Alright, alright. Let's go and fix that brat Naobito and get ready to go out," said Kagneori and dispelled the curtain barrier around them and went back in to heal his son.