Jujutsu Kaisen: False Dawn

"Tricks in the Blood" - Chapter 112

The days flew by like pages in the wind.

A full week passed in a blur. Training, refining, adjusting—Ren stayed busy, running his body through its paces and letting the Perfected Red Cursed Circuit hum through his system. It was smoother now. More natural. The sharpness of its initial activation had dulled into something steady, like a second heartbeat flowing just under the surface.

But something wouldn't go away.

A feeling.

That weird itch at the back of his mind. Not a threat—no, more like a shadow in his chest that wouldn't stop shifting.

So Ren sat down.

And he opened up the books.

Yup, there was one thing he always wanted to learn and still hadn't…

Reverse Cursed Technique.

He flipped through the pages slowly, absorbing every sentence, every scribble in the margins. Even without a teacher, Ren read like he was starving.

He knew it was going to be hard. Learning something like that on his own? Practically insane.

But then—he paused.

Ren's eyes narrowed as a particular passage caught his attention.

He leaned in closer.

'Huh? Oh wow… I did not know that. For people who can't use reverse cursed technique for at least internal healing, you can use cursed energy to make your blood flow inside your body or stop blood from flowing so you don't lose blood…'

His eyes widened a little.

'But this takes mastery… huh?'

He sat back, thinking.

'Wait. My Perfected Red Cursed Circuit is pretty much in my blood system… doesn't it mean…?'

The thought lit something inside him. A connection he hadn't noticed before.

He stood up without thinking.

Walked straight to the kitchen.

Opened a drawer, grabbed a small knife, and pressed it carefully to his arm.

Just a small cut.

A thin trail of blood welled up. Nothing too deep. But real.

Ren narrowed his eyes.

He focused his cursed energy—not to heal, but to direct. To control. To press inward and stop the blood flow manually.

And…

It worked.

Just like that.

The bleeding slowed. Then stopped. His cursed energy compressed the vessels around the wound without sealing them—like putting pressure from the inside.

Ren blinked, stunned.

"…It was easy?" he whispered.

And then, without thinking, he jumped once in place.

Twice.

Excited.

But then he caught himself and calmed down.

'Well, this is nothing special… really. It's not healing; it's like just avoiding the injuries on my body and forcing my body to just work…'

He stared at the tiny cut still present on his skin. Not healed. Just… halted.

'Uh oh. This might be what Sukuna did when he first took over Yuji's body. He took his own heart out of his body, and he was using cursed energy to control his blood flow, huh?'

Ren sat on the edge of the table, eyes still locked on the cut.

'So it's like a weird trick, huh? Not even healing, since I'm not healing anything. Just making my body ignore my injuries…'

He exhaled, a half-laugh escaping his lips.

'But still… one more trick. And thankfully, it seems that it's easier for me to do this because of my circuit.'

He smiled.

'Huh. Another good thing about my circuit…'

He grabbed a small bandage from the drawer and pressed it over the wound.

It was simple. Mundane. But still—it meant something.

He stood up and looked outside through the narrow window.

The sun was still high, though fading slowly into evening.

'The war's going to come…'

He stepped outside for fresh air.

The wind was light today. Not cold. Just present. The school grounds were quiet, a few distant footsteps echoing down a hallway somewhere.

Ren walked slowly, just letting his thoughts stew—when he passed someone.

Short.

Black hair.

Focused expression.

Ren walked right by the kid, then paused.

He looked back.

'Megumi Fushiguro?'

The boy kept walking ahead like he hadn't noticed.

'What is he doing here? Uh… I mean, yeah. He must live here since Gojo did bring him here. And plus, next year he is going to entering Jujutsu High, huh? So it makes sense he would be here…'

Ren shrugged it off and kept walking.

But a thought started chewing at the back of his head.

'Ah? Wait, could I copy 10 Shadows?'

He blinked once.

'Now that's a question, huh?'

The thought spiraled.

'If I made Rika eat Megumi, I might be able to copy his CT… but how would it work? Would I only be able to summon or use 10 Shadows when using Rika?'

His steps slowed.

'Oh, now that's a little broken, huh?'

His mind flicked to the Shikigami. To Mahoraga.

'Wait. Mahoraga! What if Rika eats Mahoraga? Will I get his CT?!'

And then immediately—

'Uh, no. What the hell am I dreaming about? No way. First of all, Mahoraga is a part of 10 Shadows, and he is pretty much a shadow. How could Rika eat him? No way…'

Still, the thoughts lingered.

He looked toward the direction Megumi had gone.

'But the 10 Shadows are interesting for sure… I mean, even Sukuna wanted it…'

He shook his head and kept walking.

'But I can't do anything right now against Megumi since he is also under Gojo… whatever. That's for later…'

The sky turned a little more orange.

And Ren just kept walking.