What does it mean to truly achieve perfect control?
Complete, flawless, meeting both subjective desires and objective standards—something so refined that anyone would consider it absolutely perfect.
It's the highest evaluation a thing can receive. An ideal state, without a single flaw.
Unlimited was the embodiment of Sōjun Minamoto's ideal technique—a kind of perfection born of unique, unrepeatable circumstances.
Years ago...
He barely understood the complex structure of the human body, and his authority over perfection was too vast. It was like a child swinging a greatsword—easy to hurt himself, with consequences that couldn't be undone.
But now, it was different.
His only concern was whether the perfection was concentrated enough.
As Yuki Tsukumo spoke the incantation, Sōjun Minamoto felt a ripple in his mind. In the depths of his awareness, he saw a fledgling consciousness circling around him.
It was... Garuda?!
He realized then—he had become Garuda, the physical embodiment of the Mass Manipulation Technique—the manifestation of the technique itself.
The sensation was unlike anything he'd felt before. Different from every avatar he had created—Fly Head, Chōchin-obake, the White Bone Tree.
Garuda had been wrapped around Yuki Tsukumo's arm, now resting in her embrace.
Through their connection, Sōjun Minamoto could feel the softness of her body, the firmness in the lines of her muscles, the sensation of his form entwining with hers and pressing lightly into her warm skin.
Tsukumo's body radiated a slight heat—that was his first reaction.
Then, he figured, Garuda's cooler body temperature must feel like a faint chill to her—that was his second.
Soon after, from the perspective of the technique, he felt a strange connection between them.
It wasn't just a mental link—this connection was far subtler, as if on some deeper level, it was only natural to say, "You belong to me, and I to you."
And beyond that, there was another subtle thread—one that made him think of another name for the Cursed Technique from birth—
Heaven and Innate Technique.
Was the connection directed at "Heaven" itself?
Sōjun Minamoto gently slipped free from her grasp and drifted upward.
Like a fish leaping into the ocean, or a bird soaring into the sky, he broke free from all restraint. Every new avatar brought its own sensations, and this one was no exception.
He darted freely through the sky above, letting go of all bodily limits. With each movement, he stirred the air into swirling currents.
The clouds above were churned and pulled together, gathering into thick masses that hovered over Jujutsu High, growing denser by the second. The area continued to expand outward, centered on his dormitory.
Sōjun Minamoto dove into the clouds, his presence quieting.
Though Garuda's form was small—still that of a child—the vast clouds curling around him made him appear like some strange and majestic being, gazing down over the entire school.
Fortunately, he was high enough above. By the time the winds he stirred reached the ground, they had softened, only lifting a few strands of Yuki Tsukumo's loose hair behind her head.
"What did it feel like?"
She wasn't the least bit worried about Garuda losing control. On the contrary, her face lit up with excitement as she took a few quick steps toward Sōjun Minamoto, eager for his answer.
"Perfect..."
Sōjun Minamoto didn't respond with his own voice. After a long silence, the word came softly from Garuda's mouth above.
Just how far had he come?
Garuda opened its mouth slightly and exhaled. A curved stream of air sank down in front of him, completely out of sync with the surrounding atmosphere. The pressure field surged forward, instantly enveloping the two of them.
Zzz—zzzzt...
A faint static crackle filled the air.
Yuki Tsukumo felt the weight of the atmosphere pressing in from all directions. Her skin tingled under a heavy external force, as if it were trying to compress her from the outside in.
She resisted while analyzing it.
Gravity? No—gravitational pull?
Neither. It was mass.
The same question came back again—How far had Sōjun Minamoto's mastery reached?
All it took was a gentle breath, and it had already become a physical manifestation of mass.
Garuda flicked its tail lightly, and the overwhelming pressure vanished in an instant. Yuki Tsukumo felt gravity return to her body, grounding her once again.
Just moments ago, it was like standing under a pile driver. Now she was back in a shifting gravity field, fluctuating between too heavy and too light—it left her slightly off-balance.
She stepped out of the field slowly, looked up at Garuda, and couldn't help but exclaim,
"That kind of control over mass—it looks even easier than what I can do!"
Even outside of his own body, he could freely manipulate mass, adjust gravitational pull, even shift the gravity between his left and right foot.
The precision said everything about his skill.
Whether her praise was directed at the technique or at Sōjun Minamoto himself, it wasn't clear.
Garuda suddenly dropped from the sky, plummeting fast—yet just as it was about to hit the ground, its weight shifted. The transition from speed to stillness was smooth and natural.
When it landed, not even a speck of dust was disturbed.
Show-off... Yuki Tsukumo stifled a groan. Was she really being outdone by an outsider?
Ha!
Sōjun Minamoto chuckled and clapped softly, placing a hand over Garuda's head.
He drew his consciousness back. Just experiencing it once was enough. What mattered was the act of becoming the embodiment of a technique—and knowing for certain that even under the influence of the Balance Mechanism, he could still achieve perfect control over a manifested form.
Garuda returned to itself. It looked up at Sōjun Minamoto with its round green eyes, then swam back to Yuki Tsukumo's side.
Since consuming that eyeball, it had never shown the same hunger again. That first one had been more of a patch, something it instinctively knew would benefit it. That's why the craving had been so intense.
Garuda wanted to grow stronger—desperately.
Far more useful than that mutt... Sōjun Minamoto couldn't help but feel a brief flicker of annoyance at the Fly Head.
Yuki Tsukumo felt Garuda's condition stabilize and patted its head. Garuda leaned into her palm affectionately.
They were both satisfied. Sōjun Minamoto didn't say much, while Yuki Tsukumo saw vast potential in the technique's future. These kinds of encounters with other sorcerers brought her all sorts of inspiration.
They returned to the living room. Sōjun Minamoto brought out two clean teacups and set them in front of her, then picked up the teapot and filled hers to the brim.
"Gojo's promotion exam is tomorrow, right?"
"Mm."
Yuki Tsukumo picked up her cup and took a light sip. She stretched her long legs out beside the coffee table, clearly in a good mood.
"If it goes fast, it should wrap up by noon, just like yours did."
Neither of them paid much mind to the assessment. It was just a formality—no one would go all out. Honestly, it was kind of boring.
Unlike last time, there was no need to tread carefully around the assessor-assessed dynamic, so they didn't hold back on discussing it.
Their personalities were pretty similar—straightforward, no-nonsense types. They got along like old friends.
Yuki Tsukumo didn't rush to leave. She stayed to share stories from abroad, with more than a bit of bragging in her tone. She even mentioned wanting to introduce him to her team.
Sōjun Minamoto nodded without hesitation, refilling her tea several times as the evening wore on. Yuki Tsukumo showed no signs of stopping—still chatty and full of energy.
Then Satoru Gojo showed up.
The earlier commotion had been too noticeable. Even now, fragmented clouds still loomed over Jujutsu High. He'd come to check on things.
So Sōjun Minamoto went ahead and told him about Yaga running for principal. Gojo expressed his support, and the three of them laid the groundwork for their future cooperation before going their separate ways.
Just as he was leaving, Gojo slapped his forehead, suddenly remembering the other reason he came.
"Tomorrow morning, Field No. 1. Don't forget to come witness my Special Grade promotion~~"
"..."
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(40 Chapters Ahead)
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