jujutsu Kaisen: The Heavenly Restriction

One Month Later

The Forge

"Another failure?"

"Yeah, looks like it."

"Seems that way..."

Three male voices echoed inside the forge, while veins bulged on Gojo Kensei's forehead. His expression was far from pleasant.

Over the past month, he had attempted countless times to forge Cursed Tools. Not only had he failed to create another Zanpakutō, but even forging ordinary Cursed Tools had yielded no results.

This made him seriously question whether there was something wrong with his system.

Meanwhile, the conversation between Gojo Satoru, Zenin Toji, and Gojo Takuya on the side completely drained Kensei of motivation.

"How about you just give me that Sode no Shirayuki of yours? You promised to forge me a Zanpakutō, but if you really can't make another one, then just hand it over as compensation."

Zenin Toji stretched lazily, running a hand through Gojo Satoru's hair with an air of boredom. His entire demeanor was relaxed and carefree.

Ever since their last gathering, Toji had shamelessly latched onto Kensei, persistently pestering him until he finally agreed to craft a Zanpakutō for him.

As part of the deal, Toji would become a member of the future shop that Kensei planned to establish.

Initially, Kensei had thought this was a great deal.

He had envisioned opening a business like Gintoki Sakata's "Odd Jobs"—handling Jujutsu-related bounties and exorcisms while studying the structure of the Jujutsu world.

However, what he hadn't expected was that an entire month would pass without him forging a single Zanpakutō.

Now, his deal with Toji was starting to feel extremely awkward.

"Toji, I don't want you as my shop assistant anymore! Consider our deal canceled!"

Recently, Kensei had grown tired of Toji's presence. The image he had of the future "Heavenly Tyrant" had been completely shattered.

He had never imagined that Toji could be this talkative.

In the anime, wasn't he supposed to be the quiet and brooding type?

"Cancel the deal? I don't agree to that."

Toji grinned, his eyes gleaming with amusement as he burst into laughter.

"I declare that Gojo Kensei is unilaterally breaking our contract! That means I'm entitled to compensation. Hmm... I'll take Sode no Shirayuki as the penalty fee."

"Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I get a free Sode no Shirayuki without giving up anything. Nice!"

Toji gave Kensei a thumbs-up, leaving him speechless and internally defeated.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Gojo Satoru looked at the scrap metal in Kensei's hands, his brilliant blue Six Eyes filled with laughter.

"Kensei, Sode no Shirayuki belongs to me!"

"You promised to forge me a Zanpakutō first, remember? There's an order to these things. I was ahead of Toji by at least a week."

Satoru's tone was playful. He didn't actually have an urgent need for a Zanpakutō, but he didn't want Kensei to abandon his research into the forging process.

In Satoru's mind, if Kensei could create one Zanpakutō, then surely, he would be able to forge more in the future.

However, Kensei's confidence wasn't nearly as high.

Over the past month, he had made countless attempts. At first, he suspected that the lack of a Cursed Tool base was the issue, so he went to the clan head and requested some for experimentation.

This batch even included Grade 1 Cursed Tools.

Yet, despite exhausting all those resources, he still hadn't managed to create another Zanpakutō. The clan's confidence in his forging ability was beginning to waver.

The loss of so many Cursed Tools was a heavy blow, even for the Gojo family. As time passed, the neutral faction—originally leaning in his favor due to Sode no Shirayuki—began to waver once more.

Initially, they had supported Kensei, believing he could elevate the Gojo family to new heights.

But now, after a month of continuous failure, they were silently withdrawing their support.

"Gojo Kensei was just a fleeting anomaly. Sode no Shirayuki was nothing more than a lucky accident."

"If Cursed Tools can't be replicated, then the clan head's support is meaningless. We can't afford to invest our resources in him any longer."

With Sode no Shirayuki's debut, the Curse Faction had momentarily lost ground. But now, they were regaining influence.

When the faction's leader, Gojo Kumoyaki, heard the news, he sighed in disappointment, lamenting that the Gojo family lacked luck.

However, shortly after, he reasserted the Curse Faction's stance—believing that Gojo Kensei's existence was ultimately detrimental to Gojo Satoru.

Because of Sode no Shirayuki, Satoru had slacked off in his Cursed Energy and technique training. He had spent an entire month idling away in Kensei's forge with Toji.

This was dangerous for the future of the Gojo family.

Meanwhile, someone else who was particularly pleased with Kensei's failures was Zenin Shinsuke, the man Kensei had previously defeated.

One month ago, in front of a crowd, he had been instantly overwhelmed by the mysterious Cursed Tool, Sode no Shirayuki.

This wasn't just a humiliation for himself—it was a disgrace to the entire Zenin clan and the Jujutsu world as a whole.

Some had defended him, saying that Sode no Shirayuki's abilities were too broken, but a loss was still a loss. As a trained sorcerer, he had been bested by someone without Cursed Energy.

Even if the Zanpakutō was the main factor, he had still been reduced to a stepping stone for Gojo Kensei.

If a man with no Cursed Energy could wield such a weapon and win, didn't that mean any ordinary person could do the same?

Originally, Shinsuke had no particular feelings about the Gojo clan's Six Eyes, but after that event, Kensei had become the person he loathed the most.

To make matters worse, he had heard rumors that Zenin Toji—his least favorite person in the entire clan—had actually become friends with Kensei.

This only fueled his hatred.

"Birds of a feather flock together!"

"Trash is still trash. Two people without Cursed Energy, clinging to a fluke of a Cursed Tool, wasting their lives away!"

With a cold expression, Zenin Shinsuke threw himself into even harsher training.

In his mind, his defeat had been due to his own lack of strength.

If he had been a Grade 2 sorcerer—or better yet, a Grade 1—then no matter how strong Sode no Shirayuki's abilities were, he would have been able to avoid its attacks.

He swore to himself:

Next time, he would crush Gojo Kensei with his own hands.

....

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