"According to the family records, legend says that during the peak era of Jujutsu development a thousand years ago, there appeared a sorcerer with four arms and two faces named Ryomen Sukuna. He was born incredibly powerful and had an abnormal lust for slaughter. In his time, no one in the entire Jujutsu world could match his strength. However, Ryomen Sukuna belonged neither to the human faction nor the Cursed Spirit faction; he simply acted on whims according to his mood."
"Later, the Fujiwara Northern House dispatched its elite subjugation forces, the 'Sun-Moon-Star Advance Corps' and the 'Five Void Generals,' intending to defeat Ryomen Sukuna. But the final result was their complete annihilation. In the end, the Shogunate had no choice but to invite Ryomen Sukuna into the Heian Palace as a new enshrined protector."
"Before his death, Ryomen Sukuna split his soul into twenty pieces, sealing them into his fingers – like the one you brought, Fubuki-kun. This should be one of those twenty."
Akeno Himejima's explanation was quite concise and clear, easy to understand immediately.
However, after hearing all this, Hanakain Fubuki stared blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought. After a good while, he spoke haltingly.
"Sounds impressive, but it also seems a bit... exaggerated..."
"Exaggerated?" Akeno Himejima looked puzzled.
"Well, this involves some history from the Onmyoji side."
Hanakain Fubuki adopted a reminiscent expression.
"I've read my own family's records before. A thousand years ago was indeed the period of fastest development for both Jujutsu and Onmyodo. At that time, the pinnacle of the Onmyoji lineage wasn't the Hanakain family, but the Mikadoin House. The head of the Mikadoin House back then was the most widely known Onmyoji today – Abe no Seimei. He was the one who should have been enshrined in the Heian Palace a thousand years ago."
"Legend says Abe no Seimei's mother was a Kitsune. Initially, as the head of the Mikadoin House, Abe no Seimei wished for humans and yokai to coexist peacefully—"
Hanakain Fubuki spread his hands.
"Then one day, someone killed his mother. They even wanted to make her into a fur pelt and gift it to him..."
"After that, Abe no Seimei just lost it. He didn't even stay in the Heian Palace anymore, completely defected to the yokai side, and became the Lord of Pandemonium a thousand years ago."
"So, looking at it this way, it seems Ryomen Sukuna likely entered the Heian Palace only after Abe no Seimei ran off."
Having said this long string, the young man paused briefly and pursed his lips.
"As for that Fujiwara Northern House, honestly, while the Fujiwara clan was indeed nobility in ancient Japan, they were just nobles. They couldn't compare to orthodox Onmyoji families at all. At best, they spent large sums of money each year hiring some ordinary Onmyoji from the Hanakain and Mikadoin families at high salaries to serve as guards."
"It seems pretty normal that a team composed of ordinary Onmyoji couldn't defeat the pinnacle of the Cursing world at the time. Besides, back then, Abe no Seimei had snapped and sided with the yokai to fight against humans. No wonder the Shogunate was desperate enough to invite such a master of the dark arts into the palace."
Hmm...
Thinking about it that way, the Ryomen Sukuna from the records does seem a bit underwhelming.
Hanakain Fubuki thought again, then suddenly gestured towards the Sukuna finger still notionally in Akeno's hand (though he was about to take it).
"So, since those Jujutsu Sorcerers thought about sealing the fingers, didn't they ever consider just destroying them directly?"
"About that... truth be told, this is the first time I've seen the real thing, so I'm not entirely sure either."
Akeno Himejima shook her head slightly.
"However, based on the records, it seems many people tried to destroy these fingers, but they all failed. In the end, they had to settle for the next best option, which was sealing them."
"...Huh?"
Hanakain Fubuki愣了一下 (paused/froze). [Let's use: Hanakain Fubuki paused.]
Seriously? What do you mean, they failed? It's just a finger! Fine, maybe you couldn't beat the guy when he was alive, but after he died and only left some fingers behind, you still couldn't handle it?
So they couldn't even manage one dead guy's finger, huh?
"Is it really that difficult? Let me try right now."
Saying this, Hanakain Fubuki stood up and took the Sukuna finger from Akeno Himejima's hand. A terrifying golden spiritual pressure instantly flared around his body, whipping up an airflow that made the curtains in the lounge flutter violently, as if all the doors and windows had been thrown open during a typhoon.
Of course, the girls' skirts fluttered violently along with them.
"Hey... wait, Fubuki, you're not planning on going all out right here, are you?"
On the sofa beside him, Rias pressed down her skirt hem, looking somewhat flustered.
Although they hadn't known each other for very long, they had cooperated several times, and she had witnessed Hanakain Fubuki in combat.
With his level of power, if he just recklessly unleashed his spiritual pressure in this old schoolhouse, forget the building itself, the entire Kuoh Academy could be in danger of being blown away!
"Ara ara, Fubuki-kun certainly looks serious, doesn't he~"
Akeno Himejima on the opposite sofa remained elegant, her hands crossed lightly on her lap, her beautiful face wearing its usual gentle smile.
Even Koneko Toujou beside her, the petite white-haired girl who had been focused on her cake since the beginning, was forced to hold down her skirt with one hand. Peeking out from behind her cake, she squinted slightly and muttered under her breath.
"Fubuki-senpai always gets strangely competitive whenever it involves Jujutsu Sorcerers."
"Perhaps it's the pride of an Onmyoji?"
Akeno Himejima added, the two girls bantering back and forth.
Hanakain Fubuki stood still without a word, his hands held apart, fingers interlaced loosely in the air, forming a sphere. An intense golden light erupted between his palms, enveloping the Sukuna finger.
The stance looked as if he were forging the core of a miniature sun in his hands.
Soon, as the spiritual pressure the young man exerted grew increasingly terrifying, a sharp cracking sound was heard, like snapping brittle ice. A golden crack appeared on the Sukuna finger, reputed to be "absolutely indestructible."
Hanakain Fubuki increased the pressure.
A second crack appeared, then a third, a fourth...
A moment later, as the golden spiritual pressure around Hanakain Fubuki gradually subsided, he opened his hands. The Sukuna finger, now shattered into several charcoal-like fragments, fell from mid-air onto the coffee table, completely disintegrating into a pile of fine dust.
"See? Wasn't that hard."
Looking at the completely destroyed remains of Sukuna's finger on the coffee table, the young man stated calmly.
"Nice..."
The petite white-haired girl opposite him swallowed the last bite of her cake. Gazing at the rather cool scene the young man had just created, she raised a rather crucial question.
"So, now that the finger is destroyed, what if that Jujutsu Association comes looking for Fubuki-senpai and demands the finger back?"
"Oh yes, it is technically their association's property," Akeno Himejima added, tapping her lip thoughtfully. "They might even demand compensation, perhaps?"
"..."
As these words were spoken, Hanakain Fubuki, who had been quite satisfied with his handiwork just a second ago, momentarily turned to stone.
Demanding compensation... logically, it shouldn't come to that. After all, they only resorted to sealing it because they couldn't destroy it themselves. Now that he helped them destroy it, they should be grateful, if anything.
But considering the poor relationship between Jujutsu Sorcerers and Onmyoji, and the character of those old geezers in the upper echelons of the Jujutsu world... emmm... they might actually pull something like that.
So the question was, what should he do if the Jujutsu Association came to give him trouble? He didn't have the money to compensate those upstarts. And if the Hanakain Family of Kyoto got involved, things would become very complicated. Tsk... what to do?
Just as this question popped into the young man's mind, the landline phone on the office desk in the lounge suddenly rang.
Ding ling ling ling!
"Ah, a call..."
As the vice-president of the Occult Research Club, Akeno Himejima instinctively stood up to answer it.
But Rias, being closer, beat her to it, waving a hand at her friend to indicate she'd handle it.
"Hello? This is the Kuoh Academy Occult Research... Oh, I see. Okay... I understand. I'll pass on the message."
Apparently receiving some notification, the red-haired girl hung up after a brief exchange. Then she turned her head to look at Hanakain Fubuki beside her on the sofa, who was also looking at her curiously.
"That was a call from the school gate security. They said there's a female high school student from another school at the gate asking for you specifically. Her name seems to be 'Saeko Busujima'. Do you know her, Fubuki?"
"..."
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