Jujutsu Kaisen : Death Trade

Chapter 69: Preparation Omake 1 : Wandering

Yo, here is another Omake.

I know many don’t like them, but I like reading them, so there is that. And hey, if you don’t, then just skip them and think that I am not uploading for a while. (Though I would really appreciate it if you don’t, I put much effort into them.)

Please don’t complain in the comment section about the omake before reading it, believe me, I’ll know when you are doing that.

Really, though, either try it, test it out, and if you really didn’t like the Omake, you can complain and I’ll accept all of your complaints, or just skip it, thinking I’m not uploading for a while until the story resumes.

But, please don’t complain about omakes without reading them, that’s very demotivating...

Hope you guys understand.

-x-

A/N : Now, for this Omake, it’s starting right after the Shibuya arc, and let me make it clear that this Omake is NOT a continuation of the last ’Shibuya Omakes’ which I made. This continues the original story path but then later sees what alternative path there could have been.

As for what really happened, instead of Yami going with Maki and others after surviving Shibuya and Sukuna, Yami here chooses otherwise.

Hope you like it, let’s start.

-x-

The room was suffocatingly quiet, lit only by dim candle flames which flickered weakly against the old wooden walls of the higher-ups’ chamber. The elders sat hidden behind curtains and shadows as always, refusing to show their faces directly even during a crisis as catastrophic as the Shibuya Incident.

And to be honest, Yuta didn’t expect anything else from them. Even someone like him, who usually stayed polite and optimistic, had to say that all of them were nothing but leeches upon jujutsu society.

At the center of the room he stood, silent and composed while listening to the council speak. He could be anywhere but here, hell, if it were up to him, he would never come here, let alone listen to these people whom his sensei hated with a passion, but he had no other option currently.

"The Shibuya Incident has resulted in unprecedented damage to Jujutsu society," one elder declared calmly. "The death toll is in the thousands. Multiple barriers were erected across the country simultaneously, and cursed spirit activity continues to rise even now."

Another voice followed immediately after.

"And all of it can ultimately be traced back to the failures of one individual."

A brief pause lingered before the name was spoken.

"Satoru Gojo."

Yuta’s expression did not change, though the room itself seemed to grow heavier at the mention of the strongest sorcerer.

The old geezers were completely full of themselves to point fingers at his sensei for this situation. Yes, technically they had issued an execution order against Itadori Yuji. It was his sensei who put a stop to that, and if not for his meddling, Sukuna would have never taken over Yuji’s body and the destruction which took place in Shibuya would never have happened, but that was only one part of it.

To attach the blame for what was happening all over the country to his sensei’s head was completely false.

And honestly, Yuta himself couldn’t argue against his sensei’s actions. If not for Satoru Gojo, he himself would have been executed a long time ago.

To him, his sensei did the right thing. No one was supposed to be killed for a power they couldn’t control, especially under the orders of some old men who wished to destroy everything and anything which wasn’t under their control or didn’t listen to them.

But Yuta didn’t say anything. If anything, he remained completely silent, not even letting a single emotion appear on his face, like a statue.

"Gojo Satoru’s arrogance and continued disregard for the authority of Jujutsu society have finally borne consequences," one of the elders continued coldly. "His actions directly enabled the events which took place in Shibuya. Had he cooperated properly with the higher-ups from the beginning, this disaster may have been avoided entirely."

The hypocrisy of the statement was almost insulting, but Yuta remained silent as usual.

"The council has therefore reached a unanimous decision. From this point onward, Satoru Gojo shall be considered an accomplice to the Shibuya Incident."

"Furthermore, any individual attempting to unseal him from the Prison Realm will be treated as a curse user and stripped of their status as a jujutsu sorcerer."

Not a single elder hesitated while delivering the verdict. They sounded almost relieved to finally speak against the man who had overshadowed their authority for years.

Yuta lowered his gaze slightly, hiding the brief flicker in his eyes, for a second wondering what really had happened which resulted in the sealing of his sensei.

For all his faults, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Satoru Gojo was the strongest being on the planet. Perhaps Sukuna at his peak would be equal to him, at least if stories were to be believed, but again, those were stories. No one knew how much of that was reality and how much was a fairy tale.

For Yuta, his sensei was the strongest. He knew that and believed in that because he had seen it himself.

So, to believe that same man was sealed was hard to believe. What could have happened which led to this ridiculous outcome?

He slowly shook his head, bringing his focus back to reality, and the conversation was already shifting toward the true reason he had been summoned back to Japan.

"As for Yuji Itadori, the suspension of his execution is officially revoked."

The order came immediately afterwards, explaining why he was summoned, and more importantly, why these very men hadn’t put him on the chopping block.

Not like they could do it. If they could have, they would have long acted against his sensei. No... they were all bark but no bite.

All their power existed on paper. Not even one of them was actually strong. That’s why Satoru Gojo had suppressed them so easily over the years, they simply had no way to stop the Honoured One.

"You, Yuta Okkotsu, will personally carry out Yuji Itadori’s execution." One of the elders announced, and this was exactly what Yuta was waiting for.

It was rather simple. If they had no way to deal with Satoru Gojo, they obviously didn’t have anyone who could kill someone like Sukuna’s vessel.

He was their only option. That’s why he wasn’t declared a Curse User yet.

Anger rose slightly inside Yuta as he thought about the ruthless nature of the elders and the higher-ups in general. No wonder his sensei wished to bring change to this system so much.

The room fell silent after that statement, yet the elders were still not finished.

Yuta didn’t say anything for a while until he accepted the order with a completely emotionless face and just a single nod.

"There is another matter requiring your attention," one of them said.

’Another?’ Yuta blinked and pursed his lips. What more could there be?

And whatever it was, he wasn’t interested. He was undertaking this mission because he wished to save Yuji like his sensei asked him to if by some chance in the future he wasn’t there to help others, especially Yuji Itadori.

Yuta thought of some way to refuse without giving away his original intent, but before that they spoke.

"Reports from surviving sorcerers mention the existence of an unidentified curse user active during the Shibuya Incident."

"The boy demonstrated abnormal combat capabilities and possessed unique cursed techniques despite not being registered within Jujutsu society. Witnesses also reported his direct involvement against special grade cursed spirits and even Ryomen Sukuna himself."

Another elder’s voice turned noticeably colder and Yuta’s face hardened upon hearing that.

To send him after this person, just how strong was he?

Fighting special grades, that alone was enough to consider him a considerable threat.

"His behavior, methods, and powers are consistent with those of a curse user. Furthermore, he disappeared immediately after the incident concluded."

"He represents an unpredictable threat."

Yuta listened quietly as they continued.

"We don’t know anything about his cursed technique, only that he is dangerous. Therefore, alongside Yuji Itadori, you are also ordered to eliminate this curse user."

"That boy must die." Another said.

Yuta frowned. That wasn’t the plan. And whether this person was really a curse user, or they were making shit up, he had no idea.

For a few seconds, silence filled the chamber once more before the elders spoke their final demand.

"To ensure there is no betrayal or hesitation, you will now enter a binding vow declaring that you shall carry out these orders to completion."

The room became completely still and Yuta internally cursed his luck. He knew this would happen.

And it was acceptable if it was just Yuji Itadori. The boy had already survived having his heart ripped out from his chest thanks to being Sukuna’s vessel.

So, the possibility of that repeating was extremely high. However, this new person... would he survive?

Did he have to kill an innocent for these corrupt higher-ups?

Yuta clenched his hands tight.

Yuta understood perfectly what was happening here. With Gojo gone, the higher-ups were removing every element they could no longer control. Yuji was dangerous because of Sukuna. The unknown boy was dangerous because nobody understood what he was capable of. And Gojo himself had always been dangerous simply because he stood above them.

Even so, Yuta’s face remained calm.

No anger appeared.

No hesitation surfaced.

Ultimately, he gave in to the situation...

"...Understood," he answered quietly.

Without another word, he accepted the binding vow exactly as demanded.

-x-

[Yami’s POV]

The sound of shattered concrete echoed through the empty streets as I vaulted over the roof of a parked car and slammed both of my feet directly into a curse spirit’s face, the impact folding its head backwards before the thing crashed through the glass window of a convenience store behind it.

I had lost count of how many of these things I had kicked or punched till now. At this point, it was just mindless hacking.

While most of it was repetition, the only reason I found myself doing it was because my body needed to get used to fighting in general.

The curse screeched loudly, its body twitching unnaturally while black smoke leaked from its torn jaw, but before it could even recover, Itadori came crashing down from above like a meteor.

His fist connected straight with the curse’s chest.

BOOM!

The impact blasted the entire upper half of the creature apart.

"Left side!" Yuji shouted immediately after landing.

I reacted on instinct, ducking under a long claw that tried to tear my head off before spinning around and punching another curse directly in the stomach. My cursed energy reinforcement exploded through the hit and launched the thing into a nearby traffic light hard enough to bend the metal pole in half.

Some might think that I could have been doing anything but fighting after the kind of horrific experience I had back in Shibuya, but I would like to disagree.

It’s specifically because of what happened in Shibuya that I need to get stronger now more than anything.

I barely got out of there with my life intact, and I’m certain that luck won’t save me the next time.

The logic was as clear as the shining sun above Shibuya, I have to get stronger if I wish to survive. I don’t even know what’s about to happen after Shibuya. "Should I have read the manga..." I grumbled beneath my breath and sighed.

And by no means was that one of my only regrets in life. Oh, there were enough to fill an entire courtroom of files, but I didn’t quite have the luxury to point them out just yet.

Got a curse to hunt after all.

"Damn it..." I muttered while catching my breath. "How are you this fast all the time?"

Yuji didn’t even look tired.

"Don’t know, I guess I was always active as long as I can remember. I hardly tire out." Yuji shrugged, giving a genuine answer to my otherwise rhetorical question.

And that made me even more mad.

The boy looked lean but he was buff underneath, and about three to five times stronger than he looked.

And then there was me. I lacked muscle definition and probably wasn’t as strong physically as I looked in general.

See the disparity.

I know being envious is bad, but I am so envious of people like him and Maki. Yeah, their lives suck too, but at least they have muscles strong enough to throw cars around.

That superhuman-level shit.

Sigh...

Calming myself, I let the matter go and focused back on the job at hand.

By the corner of my eye, I saw a few more of those f*ckers rushing at us mindlessly as usual, no time to rest.

Both of us started moving.

Ever since Shibuya ended, I had stuck with Yuji and Choso instead of going my own way to Jujutsu Tech with Maki and the others. Part of it was because I genuinely did not know anyone else properly in this world outside of them, but the bigger reason was much simpler.

I needed to get stronger.

And again, I had no idea what came after Shibuya.

With Kenjaku doing what Kenjaku does, causing mayhem, and Sukuna doing what he does, cooking something devious for the future, I was caught in a spider’s net which was invisible until I’m stuck in it.

So, getting stronger for whatever my ungodly luck throws at me was a critical part of my survival.

As for why I came with Yuji, well it was mostly on a whim. Basically, because here I get to fight and grow stronger.

However, for Yuji, this wasn’t training.

This was punishment.

Atonement for something he didn’t even do, because the boy had his mind set that it was him who destroyed a big part of Shibuya and was the reason many people died there, over Sukuna hijacking his body and doing all those things through him.

Why?

I had no idea, and honestly, I didn’t even bother to ask. There wouldn’t be much substance to expect from an answer coming out of a typical anime protagonist’s philosophy.

So, since Sukuna slaughtered people in Shibuya using his body, Yuji had been throwing himself at every curse spirit we could find like he was trying to physically beat the guilt out of himself.

Besides the very faulty-sounding reason itself, watching him fight was insane.

The guy was a monster.

A curse lunged at him from the side, only for Yuji to sidestep casually before grabbing its face and slamming it through the pavement. The street cracked apart from sheer force alone.

I clicked my tongue and rushed another curse myself, refusing to fall behind as we parkoured across the ruined city streets, leaping from walls, rooftops, and wrecked vehicles while exchanging blows nonstop.

Then it happened.

Yuji’s fist landed first.

Black lightning exploded from his punch.

BLACK FLASH.

The curse spirit’s torso imploded instantly.

And somehow, like the universe itself wanted to gaslight me into thinking we shared the same two collective brain cells, my own punch landed less than a second later on another curse rushing toward me.

The distortion hit.

BLACK FLASH.

The curse folded inward violently before exploding apart.

For a moment, both Yuji and I stared at each other.

Then simultaneously—

"Again?!" we both shouted.

Even Choso, standing atop a nearby building while manipulating converging blood spheres toward fleeing curses, looked surprised at our performance.

"You two are absurd." He grumbled to himself before sighing.

Because for Choso, as a self-verified big brother, he was nothing but happy if Yuji was getting stronger.

As for his opinion of me, it was basically non-existent. I was an ally, and that was where his opinion ended.

Not that I could have asked for more. That was enough.

"How long are you planning on clearing out these low-level curse spirits? Are you not planning on going back to Jujutsu Tech? They might need your help with everything going on around the country." I sighed and made my way toward Choso like Yuji did and asked in a bored tone.

"I can’t go back, not right now." Yuji’s face tightened at that, the slightly nonchalant expression turning into something more serious and rooted.

"It wasn’t you, stop blaming yourself, man." I grumbled. We already had this talk a few times and every time it ended with him listening to me and not registering anything of it.

"Hm..." Yuji just as usual grunted, but internally he blamed himself nonetheless.

"He is right, you know. You have to stop blaming yourself for what Sukuna did. You have gotten really strong, little brother, but with a conscience so heavy, you can never float. You will sink down eventually. Stop blaming yourself." Choso seemed to hear us and grunted just the same.

It’s been around a week since I had been moving with these guys. And the amount I was able to learn by just staying with them was enough to propel my level up.

Pure hand-to-hand fighting, that was where I was lacking, and both helped me improve while I sparred with them or fought off those annoying curse spirits.

"What about you, are you planning on entering Jujutsu Tech? I can see you doing excellently as a jujutsu sorcerer." Yuji added in.

To which, I could only shrug. I had no such plans as of now.

The brief moment of calm after the fight did not even last a full minute before something suddenly blurred across the street at terrifying speed.

A shockwave exploded beside me.

Before I could even fully react, something slammed straight into my ribs and launched me through the side of a vending machine hard enough to crumple the entire thing around my body.

"The hell—?!" I felt like I lost all air at once, pain exploded. That was a cheap shot. I wasn’t even ready with reinforcement.

’Hurts like a b*tch...’ I grunted and snapped my eyes toward the culprit with the intention of getting revenge.

At almost the same moment, Yuji skidded backward across the road while Choso narrowly avoided another strike aimed at his head.

Fast.

Way too damn fast.

I pushed myself out of the wreckage just in time to see a blond-haired man standing casually in the middle of the street with one hand inside his pocket, looking at us like we were garbage cluttering the sidewalk.

’Blond?’

I blinked for a second because the man’s facial features were unmistakably Japanese, and only then did it register that he might have dyed his hair.

"Oi," he spoke lazily. "Where’s Megumi Fushiguro?"

Neither Yuji nor Choso answered immediately, both of them remaining tense while trying to track his movements.

And why is he looking for the potential man?

More importantly, I feel like I have seen those movements before...

I narrowed my eyes and watched keenly. The way he moved earlier was unnatural to say the least.

Like he was teleporting. I was certain he wasn’t, since even though my eyes couldn’t track his movements, I did track his cursed energy. It wasn’t teleportation...

And again, the movements felt familiar.

"And who is asking for Fushiguro exactly?" I asked, already tense at the man’s casual tone, like he didn’t care at all that he was facing three of us while completely alone.

Was he so confident that he could take all of us down by himself?

He gave me a sparing glance before shrugging and calling out his name, "Name’s Naoya Zenin..."

I blinked. ’Zenin...’

Isn’t that Toji’s and Maki’s family? Why is he looking for Megumi?

No no...

More importantly, I knew I had seen those movements before. That speed was just like Naobito’s, that old man.

I looked at him even more keenly and lo and behold, I could see the resemblance. Yup, he was definitely related to Naobito.

Most likely the technique he used was ’Projection Sorcery.’

Maybe, can’t be certain just yet, though I will be if he uses his technique just one more time. I can say for sure then.

Yuji narrowed his eyes. "And why do you care about Megumi?"

Naoya scoffed as though the question itself annoyed him.

"That’s none of your business. And he seems to not be here anyway... man, what a waste of time." He snarled, but then his eyes locked onto us.

"Well, might as well make some use of it while I’m here." He said nonchalantly and shrugged his shoulders before disappearing once again.

The moment he disappeared again, all three of us moved simultaneously.

Even if our eyes could not fully keep up with his speed, as explained before, I could track his cursed energy signature, and if I could, so could the other two.

Choso fired multiple blood projectiles toward the side instinctively while Yuji swung directly behind himself, but Naoya slipped past both attacks effortlessly before appearing above us mid-air.

’Yup... no doubt about it, that’s Projection Sorcery alright. Those glitch-like movements, like he was skipping frames on a running video, were an obvious giveaway.’

"You people are seriously pathetic," he sneered while launching a kick downward.

I crossed my arms to tank the blow, but unlike what I expected, the next second the man was gone again, only to appear behind me and touch my shoulder in an almost casual manner.

Before I could turn and deliver a roundhouse punch, my body froze up.

I found myself in a frame, turned into a 2D object for a second, and then I recalled that besides speed there was another application of this technique as well.

One second was more than enough time for Naoya to deliver a mean kick, sending me flying back while I couldn’t do anything about it.

"Damn it..." I growled while standing back up. "Should have seen that coming..."

Naoya smirked proudly at that. "Don’t worry, you’re not the first one who couldn’t."

I personally liked Naobito’s attitude far more than this prick.

My cursed energy rose instinctively. I had no idea whether pure reinforcement could save me from turning into a frame again, but it sure would hurt less the next time he hit me.

Actually, I do have something which will surely block that technique, but I might want to save that card to catch him off guard later...

I’m certain Domain Amplification can negate that technique the moment he touches me.

But that line of thought was gone as soon as it arrived.

There is another way though, isn’t there...

My fingers twitched, wanting to take the familiar sign of my domain.

There was a bit of hesitation though, killing a human willingly and killing a curse spirit both have differences.

Gathering my resolve to kill him was hard and confusing, not just because if I didn’t then he might kill us, but also because Naobito was someone who saved me back in Shibuya. Killing someone directly related to him here felt wrong to my conscience.

However, just as I was about to move my hands—

An overwhelming wave of cursed energy suddenly crashed over the entire area.

Every single one of us froze.

The pressure alone made the air feel heavier and for a second I was reminded of the suffocating feeling of standing in front of Sukuna back in Shibuya.

Even Naoya’s smirk disappeared as all of us slowly turned toward the source of that monstrous presence which had just dropped down a few meters away from us.

With a katana in hand and a white jacket which made him stand out immediately, if his monstrous cursed energy reserves weren’t already doing a good enough job, was the one person whom I didn’t wish to meet as an enemy after Gojo, Sukuna, and Kenjaku.

"Okkotsu."

xXx

A/N : Hope you liked the Chapter, even though its just an Omake.

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