"Sh-shit…" Jin stammered while reactivating Megumin's amulet to cancel the blood manipulation technique.
Immediately after, he drew a ready-to-use grenade. Unfortunately, the element of surprise had already faded against Kenjaku.
Several blood spears formed from the spheres Kenjaku had deployed and quickly impaled him in various places.
It was fast, precise, almost surgical.
"Hm… hahaha…" Kenjaku held back for a moment before bursting into loud laughter.
"Magnificent, simply magnificent," she said while approaching Jin's body, now pinned against a tree by her blood manipulation.
She casually wiped the blood from her cracked lower lip—caused by Jin's blow—before drawing closer to her captive.
The sorcerer's eyes analyzed Jin intensely, then slid toward Megumin's amulet in the palm of his hand.
A brief flash of greed sparked in her gaze, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
'Even though this thing seems capable of canceling curses, it doesn't appear to operate on a similar principle…' she thought, deciding to investigate the unknown energy emitted by the amulet.
Due to her ignorance of magic and mana, Kenjaku's otherwise experienced mind didn't consider the existence of another power system.
Unfortunately, she was too narrow-minded to entertain such an absurd possibility.
Kenjaku simply assumed the amulet must obey complex activation rules she didn't yet understand.
The energy was unknown, but Kenjaku suspected some form of positive energy usage—a hypothesis based solely on the sensation emanating from the object.
A nearly correct assumption. However, it remained far too vague to allow her to replicate Megumin's amulet's curse-nullification method, the way Sukuna had imitated Mahoraga's dimensional slash through observation.
Kenjaku would need exceptional talent like Sukuna's, as well as a far deeper understanding of this power from another world.
Thus, she couldn't replicate the amulet's ability without Jin's assistance.
"I admit I was surprised by that attack. You've got quite the combat sense," she said while caressing Jin's cheek.
Jin didn't respond immediately.
His ribs were damaged, and his side was bleeding heavily after taking Kenjaku's blood spears.
He needed treatment.
"Oops, I forgot you can neither heal yourself nor speak freely in this situation," she added upon noticing Jin's body had reached a critical threshold.
Without delay, she released her hold on him before applying Reverse Cursed Technique to his battered body pierced by multiple blood spears.
"Of course, I haven't forgotten about you~" she said while turning toward Nayuta still on the ground.
Kenjaku healed her while humming, then turned back to Jin. The latter was checking the state of his body after the miraculous treatment.
"So? Can you elaborate on the absence of your innate technique?" she asked, shifting her attention from the sulking little girl.
The question made Jin uncomfortable, but he eventually let out a small sigh of resignation.
'I must not lie, but the secret surrounding the guild card must not be revealed!' he thought inwardly while observing Kenjaku's expectant eyes.
"The absence of my innate technique is surely due to the way I awakened it," he said in an honest tone, without adding details.
A poor attempt to conceal his guild card.
In theory, Jin's guild card can be stolen. However, that remains difficult due to his pocket dimension.
Why? Because Jin can simply summon it through that space, even if a potential thief seizes it.
This situation recalls Lucy in Fairy Tail summoning one of her spirits. Except he doesn't use a key as an intermediary, but a dimension linked to Kazuma's belongings.
Back then, fearing theft was almost ridiculous. However, Jin's guild card isn't entirely safe either.
The most worrying example for him remains that he doesn't know whether the card will behave like Rika's ring after his death.
'Nanami and Yuta's innate techniques can be used by a third party after their death,' he thought, shivering.
If someone wants to obtain Jin's power, they could acquire it after eliminating him. Even if it's only a theory.
Jin prefers to avoid testing it if possible.
As for the idea of one day entrusting his guild card to his descendants to form a new clan, he hasn't thought about it yet.
He prefers to live in the present moment.
The rest of this timeline's story doesn't interest him, nor do the events of Modulo.
They are too far in the future and will have no impact on him, as he isn't yet sure he wants to consider immortality.
"I see," Kenjaku simply replied.
"That's it? You're not going to dig deeper?" Jin questioned, but his words earned him a slight frown from Kenjaku.
"Four-eyed idiot!" she roared while pointing at Jin's glasses.
She knew perfectly well this weak spot of her husband. Of course, it slightly bruised Jin's ego.
'Four eyes…' he repeated mentally.
Kenjaku paid no mind to her husband's mental state and continued to rain down her reproaches.
"Do you really take me for a brainless woman? Do you think I wouldn't notice your pathetic attempt to hide information? Haha," she said, ending with a small laugh.
Unconsciously, Jin's face flushed with embarrassment.
"Too funny," she murmured while wiping away a fake tear of amusement.
"Still, I'm glad you kept your secret instead of blindly trusting me. Having an honest man is refreshing… but a stupid husband remains a burden," she added while sketching a sincere smile.
'Damn it, why is she so cute?' Jin mentally cursed, quickly averting his eyes from Kenjaku's smile.
"Okay, let's pause this romantic scene in front of the kid for a moment and get back to the main topic," Kenjaku suddenly declared while pointing at Nayuta in the background.
The little girl glared at him as if she had crossed paths with her sworn enemy.
"Okay, let's summarize your situation: you don't have an innate technique, but you possess supernatural powers that go beyond jujutsu, right?" she asked in a serious tone, without the playful touch she usually wore.
Jin nodded in affirmation.
"So, I'm going to use the most effective method at my disposal for your awakening," she announced while raising her hand into the air.
Kenjaku's strange attitude sparked a bit of wariness in both Nayuta and Jin. Yet no harm came to them.
However, the sorcerer's next action shocked the father-daughter duo, because Kenjaku pierced her own heart with a swift gesture.
"D-darling… I-I'll die if you don't awaken… cough," she said before spitting out a gush of blood.
Threat.
The method Kenjaku judged most appropriate for awakening Jin consisted of directly threatening him.
Just like Sukuna did with Higuruma.