Chapter 46: Heavenly Restriction and the Fire Fist
The person who appeared on this golden character card truly exceeded his expectations. The golden light faded, revealing the man on the card, and Ren's jaw dropped.
This was a man in a simple black T-shirt, which had become a tight-fitting shirt due to his impossibly dense and powerful physique. He looked... normal. Deceptively normal.
His lower body consisted of simple gray trousers, cinched at the waist by a black belt, and he wore plain, black, flat-soled old man shoes.
The man had messy black hair, slightly pale skin, and eyes that were full of a lazy, reckless, and predatory confidence. A small, mocking smile, punctuated by a vertical scar at the corner of his mouth, seemed to mock the world for its overestimation of itself.
Compared to the god-like swordsman Yoriichi or the demonic entity Ulquiorra, this man's attire and appearance were rather unremarkable. One might even pass him by on the street without recognizing who he was.
Yet, merely by existing on the card, this man exuded an incredibly terrifying sense of raw, kinetic oppression and an overwhelming physical presence.
Ren recognized his identity at first glance.
Zenin Toji. Later... Fushiguro Toji. The "Sorcerer Killer."
[Akarin's Note: Fushiguro Toji is a major antagonist from the Jujutsu Kaisen series. He is the father of the main character, Fushiguro Megumi, and a legendary figure known as the "Sorcerer Killer" due to his unique condition.]
That's right! It was Fushiguro Toji, the man born with a "Heavenly Restriction" from Jujutsu Kaisen.
[Akarin's Note: Heavenly Restriction (Tensō Juba) is a binding placed on a sorcerer's body at birth. In Toji's case, he was born into one of the three great sorcerer families (Zenin) with zero Cursed Energy. In exchange for this, his physical body was honed to its absolute, superhuman peak.]
Born into the Zenin family, one of the three great families of the Jujutsu world, he was completely lacking in Cursed Energy and was thus discriminated against and abused by his family. After leaving the Zenin family, he married into the Fushiguro family, becoming a mercenary and an infamous "Sorcerer Killer."
He possessed an innate, compulsory Heavenly Restriction binding.
In return for his complete lack of Cursed Energy, he gained an unparalleled, powerful physique and extraordinary athletic talent. His five senses were greatly enhanced to a supernatural degree.
Relying on his extreme sense of touch, smell, and hearing, Fushiguro Toji could even perceive the movements of Cursed Spirits without relying on sight—a perfect, passive radar that was, in some ways, even more precise than One Piece's Observation Haki, which often requires active concentration.
If Yoriichi Tsugikuni was the ceiling of swordsmanship, then Fushiguro Toji was the ceiling of pure, raw physical prowess.
He had only appeared twice in Jujutsu Kaisen. The first time, he single-handedly defeated two of the strongest sorcerers, Suguru Geto, and nearly killed Gojo Satoru, the man known as the "Invincible" ceiling of human sorcerers, forcing Gojo to have a death-door epiphany to evolve.
The second time, during the Shibuya Incident, a puppet body with only an echo of his living combat power was summoned. Even then, he was able to easily and overwhelmingly overwhelm the Special Grade Cursed Spirit Dagon.
Later, after recognizing his son, Fushiguro Megumi, his consciousness overrode the puppet's instincts. To prevent himself from rampaging and harming his son, he committed suicide.
"Amazing!! As expected of my goddess of luck!!!"
Seeing that the golden character card he drew was Fushiguro Toji, Ren excitedly jumped up on his bed. This was a game changer. This wasn't just another flavor of "big energy blast." This was a completely different type of power.
As expected of golden character cards, none of them were disappointing.
Having obtained two new character cards, Ren naturally couldn't resist trying them out. He looked at the two new options on his panel. Toji was the main event, but... he'd save the best for last. First, he wanted to try the one that was pure, destructive fun.
"Full Assimilation: Ace!!"
Ren first received Ace, a character he had always liked.
A pleasant, fiery warmth spread through his body, completely different from the cold emptiness of Ulquiorra or the serene focus of Yoriichi.
Ace's characteristic freckles began to appear on Ren's face. An orange cowboy hat materialized on his head. His clothes shifted, his shirt vanishing, replaced by black shorts, a dagger at his waist, and the iconic red bead necklace around his neck. Finally, a burning, branding sensation spread across his back as the purple tattoo of the Whitebeard Pirates' flag appeared.
Ace's memories, full of fire and passion, began to surface in Ren's mind.
From a young age, he was haunted by the legacy of his father, the Pirate King. He was taken by Garp and entrusted to the mountain bandit Dadan for upbringing. There, he became best friends with Sabo, and then, along with Luffy, the three became sworn brothers.
At seventeen, he set sail, forming the 'Spade Pirates.' He grew so strong and famous that he was offered a position as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea by the World Government, but being proud, he refused.
He passed through Wano Country and fought with Kaido's daughter, Yamato. Later, he challenged 'the Strongest Man in the World,' Whitebeard, and was unfortunately defeated. Convinced by Whitebeard's power and his fatherly nature, he joined the Whitebeard Pirates, eventually becoming the commander of the Second Division.
Then came the tragedy. After learning that his subordinate, Blackbeard, had killed Thatch, the commander of the Fourth Division, he was furious and pursued Blackbeard despite Whitebeard's warnings.
As a result, he was defeated by Blackbeard and handed over to the Marines to be publicly executed.
This prompted Whitebeard to lead his grand fleet to rescue him, thus igniting the Summit War at Marineford.
Ultimately, he was killed by Admiral Akainu while protecting his younger brother, Luffy.
After reviewing Ace's memories, Ren couldn't help but sigh.
Ace was also a pitiable person, his entire life defined by his search for a place to belong and his struggle with his father's bloodline. As for being a "pirate," that was merely the World Government's term for those who defied their orders. The worldview of One Piece was simple: everyone was a pirate, and the World Government was just the biggest pirate of all.
Ren opened his hand.
Whoosh----!
His entire arm didn't just catch on fire; it became fire. A column of super-hot, brilliant orange flames erupted from his shoulder, flickering with a tangible, physical presence. He felt... nothing. No heat, no pain. The fire was him.
"Hiken."
[Akarin's Note: Hiken (Japanese for "Fire Fist") is Ace's signature move, where he launches a colossal fist made of fire at his opponent.]
He whispered the name, punching his arm forward. A massive ball of fire erupted from his fist, flying across his small room and harmlessly dissipating against the wall with a whoosh of hot air.
"This... this is..."
Whoosh!
Ren's entire body turned into flames. He dissolved into a pillar of fire, streamed out of his open window like sentient smoke, and then subsequently reformed, solidifying back into his human shape on the small lawn behind his house.
"Is this the unique ability of a Logia-type Devil Fruit user?"
Ren was very excited, his heart pounding. He was flying! He was intangible! When he watched the One Piece anime in his past life, he used to dream of eating a Devil Fruit, especially a powerful Logia-type.
He never thought that his childhood wish would be realized in such a way. He felt like he had fulfilled a dream.
Ren looked at his hand, which was still flickering with flames. He knew the fan jokes, that the Mera Mera no Mi was "inferior" to Akainu's magma, but that was just a matter of a bad elemental matchup. This was still one of the most powerful fruits in the world.
Although Ace was only a purple character card, in some aspects—like pure mobility and large-scale destruction—his strength was not inferior to golden character cards. Unless absolutely necessary, he would not be recycling this character card.
After playing for quite a while, turning into fire and flying around his small yard, Ren finally had his fill and returned to his original appearance.
"Good! Good!"
Ren was very satisfied with Ace's character card. In the future, he could even use it as a main combat character card. The consumption of golden character cards, as he'd learned, was truly a bit much for him to bear, while purple character cards consumed far less.
Next, Ren's gaze turned back to the panel, to the golden character card. Fushiguro Toji. This was the main event.
He took a deep breath. "Full Assimilation: Fushiguro Toji!!!"
FWOOM!
He felt his 4-Star magic power... vanish.
It was not a gentle draining. It was like a black hole had opened up inside him and sucked his entire Ethernano reserves dry in an instant. The magic power he had just gained, his entire core, was sealed, consumed, gone. For the first time since coming to this world, he felt empty of magic.
And then, his physical abilities began to rapidly, impossibly, improve.
His muscles didn't just get stronger; they became denser. His bones felt like steel. His senses exploded.
He could hear the creak of the floorboards in the house next door. He could smell the faint, sweet scent of night-blooming flowers from streets away. He could feel the vibrations of his own heart, a powerful, steady drum against ribs that felt like a cage of iron.
Ren's appearance also began to change. This time, the change was very simple: his clothes transformed into Fushiguro Toji's simple black T-shirt and gray trousers. His face was a blend of his own and Toji's—five parts Ren, five parts Toji. The signature scar appeared at the corner of his mouth.
This was also why Erza couldn't recognize Yoriichi Tsugikuni as Ren in the arena; his features always blended.
Fushiguro Toji's memories surfaced in Ren's mind. Unlike the others, Toji's memories were darker, colder. A large part of them involved his work as a sorcerer killer. In terms of killing methods alone, Fushiguro Toji was practically a killing machine; merely watching his memories was heart-stopping.
The memories quickly filtered through, finally settling on the scene where he committed suicide in front of his son, Fushiguro Megumi.
Ren clenched his fists.
"So strong..." he whispered. "Is this... the physique of the Heavenly Restriction?"
The extreme, overwhelming physical strength gave him an ultimate, arrogant confidence. It was completely different from when he received Ulquiorra or Yoriichi.
Ulquiorra's strength came from his immense spiritual pressure and the powerful body of a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni's strength came from his peerless, god-like swordsmanship.
As for 'Heavenly Restriction' Fushiguro Toji, his strength came from his terrifying physical prowess. He felt that with just a slight effort, he could punch a cow to death. This was not a figure of speech, but an accurate and undeniable fact.
Feeling this powerful body, as if there was an inexhaustible, limitless supply of strength within him, Ren stretched his waist.
Crack, crack, crack!!!
His joints and bones cracked audibly, like small gunshots. He looked at his hand, then at the wall of his small house.
He was curious.
"Let's try it."
He reached out and, with no wind-up, no magic, no effort... he simply tapped the wall with a single index finger.
CRACK!
A spiderweb of cracks instantly exploded from the point of impact, spreading from the floor to the ceiling. The entire wall groaned.
Ren looked at his finger, then at the shattered wall. A slow, reckless, Toji-like smile spread across his face.
[Akarin Note:
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