Divine Dog

February arrived. After this month, Tokyo's weather would begin warming steadily.

Toji Fushiguro sat in Ren's office, opened a can of beer, and scrolled through his phone with nothing to do.

Cursed spirit activity had decreased recently, and Megumi had time off. Toji therefore rarely went out on missions. Most of his time was spent with his son. Today, Megumi had gone out on a practice job with Aoi Todo, so Toji finally had idle time.

"If you are hiring child labor, I am not paying," Ren said lazily.

He was lying back in his office chair.

The chair had been modified until resting on it felt no different from lying on a bed. It was comfortable and even had a massage function. Toji looked at it with undisguised envy.

"No need for you to pay," Toji said. "There have not been any strong cursed spirits recently. Letting those two get some practice is good."

"Is that so?"

Ren's pale eyes showed a faint smile.

Hopefully Toji could remain that calm later.

Megumi Fushiguro and Aoi Todo followed the mission directions to a small river pond.

"Megumi," Todo said, "are you sure you read it right? I do not see a cursed spirit."

The two children had known each other for a while. One was Toji's son. The other was Toji's student. If they lived closer together, they might have become inseparable.

"No. I followed the map. It should not be wrong."

Megumi looked at the location on his phone. There did not seem to be any houses nearby.

"Does the agency not check whether commissions are real?" Todo complained. "This is a wasted trip. Let us go back. Maybe we can still find another one."

Megumi examined the surroundings once more. After confirming the mission had failed, he followed Todo away.

Ripples spread across the pond.

A strange head slowly rose from the water. Dead-fish eyes stared at the two boys' backs.

"Why do those children carry the scent of Sukuna's finger? Did their family steal it?"

"Good enough. I can take them back and explain."

A sharp wind cut forward.

"Megumi, watch out!"

Todo sensed danger behind them and pushed Megumi away without looking.

The two boys separated.

The ground burst open where they had stood.

"Was that a cursed spirit?" Megumi gasped after hitting the ground.

"Probably," Todo said. "But for some reason, I did not feel its cursed energy."

As the student of the Heavenly Tyrant, Todo had always been taught not to rely only on his eyes. Eyes could be fooled. The body sensed danger more honestly.

But just now, he had felt almost no cursed energy.

If his reflexes had been slower, both of them might have died.

If a friend died here, how could he call himself a man?

"What are you?" Todo shouted. "You attack from behind?"

Dust fell away, revealing a bald, ugly creature with short limbs.

Megumi immediately matched the figure with a legend he knew.

"Kappa?"

"Hahaha. I thought children these days no longer listened to stories. You recognized me."

Kappa folded its arms and looked between them.

"Since you recognize me, come obediently. If you resist, the pain will go far deeper than your skin."

It measured their cursed energy.

The standing one was around Grade 3. The one on the ground was probably Grade 4.

Contempt filled its dead-fish eyes.

Todo could not endure that look. His body tightened.

"Wait," Megumi said, lifting a small arm in front of him.

Megumi did not know how strong Kappa was, but from what he knew about cursed spirits, anything that could speak was usually not low-level. It might even be special grade.

They needed to delay.

"Why should we go with you?" Megumi asked. "At least give us a reason."

Todo understood instantly and began searching the surroundings for anything that could help them escape.

Kappa laughed.

"Because someone beside you took something they should not have."

The ground cracked.

Kappa vanished.

It did not want to waste time. If it did not bring someone back soon, it might not see tomorrow's sun.

The moment Kappa disappeared, Todo's body went cold.

Run.

It was coming for him.

His mind had only just reacted, but his body moved first. He avoided the attack.

Kappa continued chasing after landing.

Luckily, Todo's training under Toji had built a strong body. For now, he could dodge for a few rounds.

Megumi grew desperate.

The agency was too far away.

He could only try.

He raised his hands. His shadow stretched long across the ground.

"Ten Shadows Technique: Divine Dog."

Black cursed energy rose from Megumi and flowed into his hands.

The shadow trembled.

Then the summoning failed.

Megumi froze.

The failure struck him harder than the fall.

"Megumi," Todo shouted while dodging, "do not give up. We will die."

Todo's strength began to fail. Bruises appeared across his body, and scratches marked his face.

"Die already!"

For a moment, Kappa's attack opened a gap. Todo punched with all his strength.

The blow struck the shell on Kappa's back.

Todo went pale.

Pain screamed through his hand, but he refused to cry out. If he screamed, Megumi would lose focus.

Kappa borrowed the force and returned to the pond.

"Megumi, leave this to me. Run and get help."

Todo's lips had turned blue.

Megumi could not let him stay.

He said nothing. His hands rose again.

"Ten Shadows Technique: Divine Dog."

Black cursed energy emerged once more, wrapping his hands.

This time, the shadow opened.

A shikigami appeared: black fur, a wolf-like body, and a mark on its head.

Divine Dog.

"Megumi, you did it!"

Todo had known since meeting him that Megumi had awakened the Zenin clan's most difficult technique, the Ten Shadows Technique. Because Megumi was too young, he had never had much chance to use it.

Today, he had.

The appearance of Divine Dog might bring a chance.

"So you are a child of the Zenin," Kappa said. "Now I understand. Blame your elders for taking what they should not have."

Kappa had lived for centuries. It did not know everything about the jujutsu world, but the Big Three Families were famous enough.

This child was from the Zenin, and likely important.

It could not delay any longer.

Water splashed. Kappa vanished from sight.

Divine Dog barked toward the sky.

Todo and Megumi dodged immediately.

The ground cratered.

"That shikigami has a sharp nose," Kappa said. "Then I will kill it first."

A black shadow fell from above.

Kappa failed to react and was stepped straight into the ground.

The man who landed wore black clothes and a wild smile. His violent eyes looked down at the thing beneath his foot.

"You?" Toji said. "You dare attack my son?"

Megumi and Todo stared up at him.

Too cool.

"Dad? Why are you here?"

"Master."

Their excitement turned slightly awkward when they noticed the pink glasses on Toji's face.

"Never buy pink glasses," Todo whispered.

Megumi nodded.

Toji jumped out of the pit and stood beside them.

"You two did well today."

"Were you following us the whole time?" Megumi asked.

Todo's eyes showed the same contempt.

Toji scratched his head.

He had not planned to interfere. But how could a father avoid checking on his son when the child was about to grow more independent?

So he had watched.

The fight had been ugly, but the result was good. Todo had absorbed his training and turned it into instinct. Megumi had summoned Divine Dog. Neither achievement could be gained by staying in a room.

"Today was special," Toji said. "After seeing your performance, I will not come next time."

He offered no further explanation.

He went to the pit and lifted Kappa out. Its eyes had rolled white. Its limbs had withered. The shell on its back was gone.

"Wake up. If you keep pretending, I will twist your head off."

Kappa instantly woke.

"Sir, sir, I do not want to die."

"Why attack them?"

Toji smiled. The murderous pressure around him wrapped Kappa like a physical thing.

"No, no. They were not my real target. We lost something, and those two carried its scent. I only wanted to take them back. I was not trying to kill them. Really. Ask them. I said from the beginning I would bring them back."

Kappa frantically glanced at the children, begging with its eyes.

In its heart, it cursed its own luck. It had gone out to find an object and run into an important child of a great family, then provoked a monster.

"What did you lose? Who are you working for?"

Toji and Ren were similar in one way: the best way to handle trouble was to eliminate it completely.

"Ryomen Sukuna's finger," Kappa said quickly. "I work for Shuten-doji. That is all. Can I leave now?"

"Address."

"I do not know. Wait. I really do not know. The place has no fixed location. Every time we leave, we follow cursed energy back. Once we enter the area around the cave, the marker appears in our minds. It is to keep the cave's position hidden."

Kappa spoke fast and sincerely.

It was also trying to delay.

If it could lure this human to the cave, Shuten-doji might skin him alive.

It had never seen a cursed spirit stronger than Shuten-doji.

Maybe...

Why was its body lying there?

Kappa's head hit the ground.

It died without understanding what had happened.

"If you do not know the place, you are useless."

Its body weathered away like old brick.

If the distance had been short, Toji would not have minded a hunt. But after searching for Kenseki, he had learned that looking for things was annoying. It was easier to let the other side come.

"Come on," Toji said. "You did well today. I will buy you something good."

He removed the glasses and put them away, then led the two boys back toward the agency.

Not long after, deep-blue energy rose from the place where Kappa had died. It drifted like beautiful blue spirits, then vanished into the sky.

In the elder's space, Folly and the elder watched the record carried by that blue energy.

"What do you think?" Folly asked.

"Nothing much," the elder said. "A slightly stronger human. If that is all, he should not make them so cautious."

"That was not Ren Zenin. That was one of his employees. Ren did not appear."

"Oh?"

The elder smiled.

"It does not matter. I have a way to make him act."

Folly had already been examined by the elder. Although the elder had reservations about its past betrayals, he said nothing. Cursed spirits like them were gatherings of negative human emotion. Betrayal was not shocking.

Folly formed a seal with one hand. The tumors on its body squirmed, and pale-blue mucus rose along its skin.

"Please."

"Fine."

The elder waved a hand, and the screen shifted to Shuten-doji's cave.

The blue liquid fell and merged into Shuten-doji the moment it touched him.

Shuten-doji would never imagine that the cave he had carefully hidden could be found so casually.

x

x

x

If you're enjoying the story so far, consider supporting me on Patreon ❤️
You'll get weekly early access to chapters, along with some exclusive content:

https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheDevotedReader