"Once you construct the first eyeball, replicating the second becomes easy…"
With the second one done, what's stopping him from making the thousandth? Sōjun Minamoto looked at Yuki Tsukumo, his tone light and relaxed.
And it really was that easy for him.
To increase an object's mass using the Mass Manipulation Technique, you have to fundamentally alter its structure.
Just like diamond and graphite—both made of carbon, yet vastly different in molecular structure and physical properties.
When the structure of the eyeball is permanently altered, similar changes occur. Compared to the original, one is like a diamond, the other like graphene—except the transformation happens at the cellular level.
And under Sōjun Minamoto's Perfect Control, that structure was gradually broken down and analyzed.
He had developed his own theory: how to rearrange cellular structures, how to layer gravitational and repulsive forces between cells, and how to integrate it all to manifest a unified, outwardly directed weight.
That led him to develop a personalized version of the Mass Manipulation Technique.
Yuki Tsukumo's technique had served as a starting point. With his Perfect Control as the foundation, he just needed to find the structural mapping that converted form into mass.
To him, it was simple.
"Huh? You analyzed my technique?" Yuki asked, stunned. It wasn't fear of exposure—it was the shock. He figured out the core of her technique just by using it on him?
To that extent?
Was the Jujutsu world about to flip upside down?
Could someone really learn a technique just by seeing it once?
"That's not it… I just studied how the mass of cells changes."
Yuki exhaled in relief at the first half. Okay, still within human limits.
But then came the second half—and she went blank.
"That's even harder, you know?"
Even she, the user, had no idea how any of that worked.
Her focus had always been on what mass could do—how far it could be pushed, how to increase that limit, how to make her punches land harder.
As for how the mass actually changed?
That was just instinct. A flick of the wrist, cursed energy surging, and boom—weight increased. Simple, right?
But now she realized—maybe because it came so naturally to her, she'd never bothered to understand the core of it.
Maybe it was time she started paying attention.
Still, it felt unreal. And then he added—
"Difficult? Not really."
He said it with complete sincerity—no bragging, no ego. Like answering, "Have you eaten?" with "Yeah, I have." Just plain honesty.
To anyone else, it would've sounded impossible.
First, just "seeing" cells clearly is already an enormous hurdle. Then, consider that one eyeball has hundreds of millions of cells. How do you arrange them? Even with a model right in front of you, it's not easy to copy.
There are too many variables. One slight mistake in arranging those forces, and you create internal conflict. And the result of that conflict?
Pain.
But to Sōjun Minamoto, it really was that simple. He knew exactly what would happen. It would hurt.
So he endured it. Then moved on.
And he wasn't content with just enhancing his eyeballs.
Next, he planned to try increasing his own body's weight. In theory, there was no upper limit.
With Perfect Control, no matter how massive he became, it wouldn't affect him. Not him, not those around him. It would all remain within his control.
But for his enemies? Every movement he made would carry crushing, unstoppable force.
Just brushing past him could maim. A single strike could kill.
On second thought, he realized he might actually have something in common with a certain shikigami. Sōjun Minamoto suddenly spoke up.
"Let me see your Garuda for a bit."
He reached a hand toward Yuki Tsukumo.
She didn't really get what he was up to, but still summoned her shikigami—Garuda.
"It's really heavy," she warned as she handed it over.
Sōjun knew that. He didn't know her exact age, but judging by the cellular aging, she was probably in her late twenties. Maybe even pushing thirty.
And she'd been stacking mass onto Garuda for over a decade, day in and day out without skipping a beat.
It was hard to imagine how heavy it had become. Without her permission, no outsider could lift it.
The veins on Sōjun's arm bulged. His muscles flared, the definition so sharp they looked like armor wrapping his limb. He opened his palm, preparing to lift Garuda with nothing but raw physical strength.
But Yuki's jaw tightened, and she paused mid-motion.
"I don't like that look in your eyes. Take it back—now."
Sōjun nearly lost his grip from the sudden tension.
To be fair, it was hard to say which of his eyes she was referring to—there were so many. But just now, he'd been observing her cellular state to estimate her age, and had intensified his Star Eye. With all the eyeballs focused at once, their combined gaze must've triggered her instincts.
He knew it was his mistake. Whenever he slipped into research mode, he tended to ignore everything else.
Yuki just threw the comment out casually. Before he could even apologize, she went ahead and set Garuda into his palm, slowly letting go.
Her hand left it completely.
Sōjun's arm instantly dropped, heavy from the weight. But he forced it to stop mid-fall, then gradually lifted it back to its original height. Once stabilized, his arm didn't budge.
It was absurdly heavy.
No cursed armor. No technique. No cursed energy. Just raw muscle—a right arm trained tirelessly for nearly ten years.
But he held it up.
He locked eyes with Garuda. Its tiny, pea-sized eyes blinked at him.
I acknowledge you, friend of my master.
…?
You're dramatic as hell.
Sōjun ignored the message he read in that gaze and focused on studying its internal makeup.
Garuda was a shikigami born from the Mass Manipulation Technique—a manifestation of the technique itself. Just like Kento Nanami's Ratio Technique manifested as a weapon, Garuda embodied the function of the technique in physical form.
The upside of that? It could still be used to perform the technique.
As long as someone could wield it—and earn its recognition.
Which Sōjun had.
Right now, he could actually use Garuda to perform the full Mass Manipulation Technique. Not the limited, half-formed version he'd developed on his own. The complete version.
His personal version only worked on himself. This one could be used on anything.
A thought flickered through his mind. He turned and walked slowly toward the courtyard, stopping before the large tree. He raised his other hand and pressed his palm to the trunk as black cursed energy flowed out.
The flow was slow, stretching like a tether between him, Garuda, and the tree. Then, the bark began to take on a faint metallic sheen, and the earth around its roots began to sink...
He pulled his hand away. He could push further—but it would kill the tree.
Sōjun closely observed the change. Compared to human cellular structure, trees had a completely different configuration. That was the main reason he couldn't fully recreate the Mass Manipulation Technique.
To alter the mass of anything at will, he needed an advanced understanding of everything—living or not.
But for now, that wasn't necessary.
He just needed to understand curses.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / PinkSnake