Chapter 65 — Solo Forbidden Area
"By the way," Ren said with a faint smile as they walked a few more steps, "Utahime-sensei, your technique is really impressive."
"Huh?" Utahime blinked, clearly caught off guard.
"Impressive? In what way?" she asked, her expression openly skeptical.
"How is it not impressive?" Ren replied confidently.
"Just now, for that brief moment, I felt stronger than ever before."
He spread his arms, his face full of lingering excitement.
"That feeling—cursed energy surging through every part of my body… even thinking about it now—" he exhaled softly, almost intoxicated, "it's exhilarating."
"And besides, if you hadn't stepped in, there's no way I could've healed Tsumiki on my own."
"You brat…" Utahime wiped her forehead with her palm, muttering inwardly, Of course you'd think it's amazing.
But she herself didn't see it that way at all.
In fact, it was precisely because of this technique that she had been stuck at semi–Grade 1 for years, unable to advance.
The final requirement to move from semi–Grade 1 to Grade 1 was to complete a Grade 1 mission solo.
But Utahime's technique was a purely group-support type—the more allies there were, the stronger its effect. The fewer people involved, the more useless it became.
Sending her on a solo mission was like asking a healer in an MMORPG to clear a dungeon alone.
She had plenty of complaints about this evaluation system—but with her limited influence, there was nothing she could do.
In the end, this technique had essentially doomed her to remain stuck at semi–Grade 1 for life.
—
"Oh," Ren suddenly lifted his head and smiled, "they're coming out."
Utahime followed his gaze.
At the hospital entrance, Megumi Fushiguro was pushing Tsumiki in a wheelchair as they stepped outside.
Sunlight bathed the two of them.
Megumi's joy was impossible to hide—even from a distance, his exaggerated expression and slightly trembling body gave him away. Meanwhile, Tsumiki sat calmly in the wheelchair, her gentle composure forming a quiet contrast to her brother's excitement.
They came down the slope at the hospital entrance and walked along the tree-lined path beneath the shade.
Megumi kept talking nonstop, as if trying to tell her everything that had happened over the past year all at once. Tsumiki nodded from time to time, offering soft smiles in response.
Watching the siblings, Utahime couldn't help but smile warmly.
"That's really nice," she sighed, a long breath escaping her lips. "I'm just glad we managed to do it."
"Teacher and student working together," Ren clasped his hands dramatically beside her, enunciating each word, "invincible!"
Utahime burst out laughing at his exaggerated tone.
After laughing for a moment, she added,
"If… it hadn't worked, then the only option left would've been to wait."
"Wait?" Ren frowned slightly. "Utahime-sensei… does that mean there's another way?"
"It's not exactly another method," Utahime said, turning her gaze back to Ren.
"The reason you couldn't do it is because your output efficiency wasn't high enough."
"What I mean is—if even the two of us working together still isn't enough to heal Tsumiki…"
She paused briefly before continuing,
"I mentioned earlier that my Solo Forbidden Area increases the total cursed energy and output of all sorcerers within its range."
"But that's just its basic effect. As you know, techniques can be further developed and refined."
"For example, the direction I'm currently exploring is shrinking the range—concentrating the effect onto a single person to achieve a greater boost."
"If even our combined effort wasn't enough this time, then we'd have to wait until I succeed in that research and try again," Utahime concluded.
This was also, in her mind, the only path she had to breaking through to Grade 1.
If spreading the buff across multiple people wasn't enough, then she would pour everything into a single target.
A massive increase in cursed energy, output, and physical enhancement—
Maybe then, like Aoi Todo, she could rely purely on overwhelming strength and power to defeat a Grade 1 cursed spirit head-on and finally earn her promotion.
As she imagined activating a "single-target" version of Solo Forbidden Area, her cursed energy surging wildly as she crushed a Grade 1 curse with a single punch, a faint smile crept onto her lips, her eyes lighting up.
…but just as quickly, that bright expression faded.
"Unfortunately… I haven't made much progress so far."
She sighed, glancing sideways at Ren. There was a hint of envy in her clear eyes.
"Maybe I'm just not talented enough. Not everyone can be as gifted as you, Ren."
Ren studied her expression thoughtfully.
"Sensei," he suddenly said, "why don't you try again?"
"Hm?"
"Right now. Here."
He lifted a finger and gently tapped her smooth forehead.
"Technique Reversal: Miracle."
---
Two days after Tsumiki Fushiguro's awakening—
"Use your technique?"
"Yeah."
Half an hour earlier, Ren had approached Megumi with a request.
"It's just something I wanted to ask. If it's inconvenient, you can refuse—no pressure."
In truth, the idea had already formed back when Megumi first came to him, asking him to save Tsumiki.
But bringing it up at that time would've felt like a transaction—
I save your sister, and you show me your technique.
Even if he said, "It's fine, I'll still help no matter what," would Megumi really have felt free to refuse?
Ren didn't want to put him in that position, so he held back.
Later, after Tsumiki had been cured, he still didn't bring it up—worried it might complicate Megumi's emotions and ruin the joy of their reunion.
Only now did he finally feel it was the right moment.
He asked Megumi, if he was willing, to demonstrate his technique—
The inherited technique of the Zenin clan, one of the Three Great Families:
The Ten Shadows Technique.
"That's… fine, I guess," Megumi said, though confusion showed on his face. "But why?"
"I have a special ability," Ren replied honestly. "By observing someone's technique, I can analyze it—and possibly learn to use it myself."
"…Seriously?"
Beside them, Megumi's classmates—Yuji Itadori and Nobara Kugisaki—stared in shock.
"Isn't that kind of ability completely broken?"
"That's why," Ren said with a faint smile, "I understand it's a bit… sensitive."
"You can take your time and think it over before giving me an answer."