Chapter One

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When Rex Caligo steps into the shadows, he is able to see the world in its bareness. He could see the souls of every being on earth, he could see the heartbeat of the trees, the soft trail of soil, and the bustling nature of humans. It was all quiet in this dimension, and all pass through him like he was just a mist. What he cannot sense though, was the energy of the supernatural

So he was so wrong, about the energy of Ryōmen Sukuna being faint, even in death.

The shadows led him to a secluded clearing, from what he can tell it's a little far away from the city. But what he could see though, is the tattered and abandoned house. The abode was traditional in design, with its raised foundation and curved roofs. The overwhelming insidious stench of Ryōmen Sukuna's energy was coming strongly from the inside. He sighed in exasperation, he was certain now that this is his mission.

With his heightened senses, he can hear the rushing water from a stream nearby, and all the movement he can only feel came from birds coming home to their nests bearing food. He is assured that there would be no disturbances, so he stepped a foot into the floorboards.

When he stepped inside the home, he was greeted with what you would expect from an abandoned house. Dust was beginning to cling to the surfaces and there was a pungent smell of rotting wood in the air. What he did not expect though, was the not so obscure small shrine in the middle of the room. He felt an ominous air from it, the peace that he had accumulated from his slumber was slowly leaving his body. He did not waste time and strode over the shrine.

The small shrine had a door of some kind that led to its middle section, it was guarded by a padlock. He raised his pointer finger and swiped it to the right. The metal curve of the padlock got sliced in half and it gave away. He removed it hastily and opened the door.

Inside rested a box of some sort, and the energy became more unbearable. If he were to step into the shadows, this cursed object would no doubt be lit up like a beacon. He did not dare open the box, a beacon is a beacon, and he knew what it would attract.

Snap.

His hair raised at the sound. He quickly hid the box into his robes and walked over to the small opening in the boarded window of the house. He swept his eyes over the outside of the house, looking for any signs of a person. His ears did the work for him before his eyes could, as he heard a feminine voice slide through the air.

"Sensei better be right about this."

He was a little confused, he couldn't exactly feel an energy nearby even if he was sure that there was a sorcerer. He still can feel a slight signature though, but he wasn't sure if it was coming from the figure. He quickly stepped into the shadows and allowed himself to be hidden within, he observed the real world from the perspective of the dimension of the shadows.

A girl with green hair stepped into the home, in her hand she held a polearm that seemingly pulsed with the signature energy. Her eyes that were behind a pair of glasses swept over the room. As her gaze landed on the open shrine, she gasped and and stepped closer to inspect it. She pulled out the rectangular device from a pocket and tapped on it a few times.

"Hello? Gojo there's a problem.."

Gojo? That clan?

His eyes widened in realization. As arrogant as the clan was, they truly did have the power. But they were still humans, worse is they're sorcerers. Paranoid little beings that almost could have gotten him killed long ago.

"The finger! It's gone! What? I'm being serious!"

He did not dare linger anymore, even if he is hidden. He found the farthest location that had enough privacy for him. He did not look back at the teen girl fussing over the empty shrine that once contained Ryōmen Sukuna's finger. As he traveled through the shadows, he felt the finger in his robes pulse with energy.

•••

Zenin Maki was about to lose her mind. It was supposed to be a quick pick-up of the cursed object, there should've been no problem as the area it was pinpointed to be located at was fairly abandoned and untouched by people for many years. Yet here she was, staring at the open shrine with no box in sight.

"Tch, stupid Satoru! This was supposed to be his job!" She growled out in annoyance.

It was true, that it really was supposed to be Gojo Satoru's job at picking up highly dangerous cursed objects, but she knows how her sensei was, and it annoyed her to no end.

While waiting for the teacher, she looked around the area for any clues. It was untouched as she expected, but when she looked down, she saw the remains of a padlock. She leaned down and took the pieces in her hand.

The metal curve of the padlock was sliced from the its square bearings. It was so cut cleanly that she couldn't even see if there were any marks from a cutting tool.

No heat, no burn marks and there's no aggressive slash marks from the cut point. Whoever had done this...

"Yo! What's the situation?"

The sudden appearance of the voice startled her. She faced the tall man and put a hand on her hip.

"The finger's gone, obviously, the shrine's empty when I got here." She said, then extended her right hand that held the broken padlock.

"There's also this, it looks like it wasn't done in by any tool, looks pretty clean to me." The man took the padlock from her palm.

"Ah, keen eye you got there, Maki-chan! As expected from a student of mine!" The obnoxious man wiggled a finger in her face.

Then as quickly as her eyelids could blink, his demeanor changed to one of seriousness. Gojo lifted the right side of his blindfold and inspected the broken padlock more closely.

"Hm, that's strange. There's a unique energy left behind here. Whoever did this must have had to leave in a haste, probably because of you!" He waved the padlock and pointed at her.

"So there's something that took the finger? Is it a curse?" Maki asked, already feeling even more frustrated.

"It's in the list for sure, but if it was then it would feel more...evil, but meh, it just feels like power." He replied, pocketing the broken padlock.

"Just like power? What do you even mean by that? Idiot." Maki almost rolled her eyes at the vagueness of his answer.

"What?! You're so mean!" Gojo dramatically curled in on himself.

This unhelpful man child!

"Whatever! I'll just assume that you'll handle it!" Maki stomped away from the house. Her footsteps stomping her way to the nearby car where Ijichi is probably waiting.

Gojo waved her away, even when her back was already turned to him. He swept a singular eye that helped him spot even the most miniscule particles. He spotted faint energy that had a greyish glow to them that led towards the dark corner of the room, which was truly peculiar.

No wonder my dear student couldn't sense it. Whoever or whatever this culprit is, must be aware that even their faintest energy can be traced.

"This is their lucky day! My schedule's all clear!" He smirked and stepped out into the clearing outside the house.

"So let's play."

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