Jujutsu Kaisen: False Dawn

The Dark path of Power - Chapter 138

Ren leaned back against the wall, a grin spreading across his face as his thoughts spiraled into something both dangerous and brilliant.

"If this works with Kai2, then what's stopping me from doing this with every single cursed technique I've copied? Imagine it—eight cursed tools, each imbued with a different cursed technique. That would be a damn arsenal. It's not impossible, just complicated. I'd need more cursed spirits, each bound by a binding vow to me. I'd need powerful bases—cursed tools like the Inverted Spear of Heaven. But the biggest issue? I'd be left without any techniques of my own. I'd have to rely entirely on the tools. That's… not exactly smart."

He tapped his fingers against the hilt of the broken spear lying beside him.

"And how the hell would I even hold eight cursed tools at once? What would I look like, some clown juggling swords while fighting? No, that's stupid. But for someone like Sukuna? If he had eight cursed tools—each with a unique technique—he'd be unstoppable. Then again, Sukuna doesn't need crap like this; anything he touches is already broken beyond belief."

Ren exhaled, leaning forward.

"So, turning all my cursed techniques into tools? Possible, yes. But impractical. And on top of that, these tools would only be at their full potential when Rika is around. Those five minutes of bottomless cursed energy… yeah, they'd be lethal. Outside of that, though? Just extra steps for no reason."

He paused, thinking.

"Still… this could be useful in a very specific scenario. Maybe for something that takes too long to charge—something I can't do directly with my own pool of cursed energy. But that's for later. For now, I need to test if this is even possible in the first place."

Ren stood and reached for the Inverted Spear of Heaven. The broken blade felt cold in his hand, almost mocking him. His eyes narrowed, mind racing with ideas. Then, he stopped abruptly.

A laugh escaped his lips—low, sharp, almost bitter.

"Ahhh… great. I forgot one thing. Cursed energy. This entire experiment hinges on how much I can pour into this thing. It won't take a ridiculous amount of cursed energy to merge Kai2 into a core, but the cursed circuit… That will eat me alive. To forge a proper circuit onto this spear, I'd have to burn through more cursed energy than I even have."

His grip tightened on the weapon.

"If Rika were here, this wouldn't even be a problem. She'd refill my energy until I could build ten of these things in a day. But now? I don't have her. I'm… limited. And I hate that."

Ren's teeth clenched. His frustration boiled over as he threw the spear onto the bed with a dull thud.

"Fine. I'll fix this problem first. I'll have so much cursed energy that I'll never have to worry about it again. I'll make sure of it—I swear."

Turning, he pointed at the worm-like curse crawling near the dresser.

"Worm. Eat the spear."

The creature obeyed instantly, its grotesque mouth opening wide as it swallowed the broken blade whole.

Ren sat down with a notebook, flipping to a clean page. The pen moved fast as he started jotting down every method and every idea that came to mind about expanding his cursed energy pool.

"Simply force some cursed spirits into a binding vow… and steal their cursed energy."

"Force a human into a binding vow and steal their cursed energy."

"Turn a human into a cursed battery…"

"Turn a curse into a curse battery…"

"Experiments… human or curses…"

Ren stared at the list, the ink barely dry, and immediately drew two hard lines through the first two ideas.

"No. Won't work. Not unless I want to explode from the inside out."

His thoughts went back to the day he absorbed Kai, the raw pain that almost tore his body apart.

"Cursed energy isn't universal. Everyone's cursed energy is different—it's like trying to mix oil and water. That grade-4 curse nearly killed me, not because it was strong, but because its cursed energy clashed with mine. It's unstable and incompatible. Forcing someone's cursed energy into my system? That's suicide."

His gaze lingered on the last three lines. His pen hovered over them for a moment, and then he let out a long sigh.

"…That leaves the darker options."

Ren closed his notebook slowly, his expression calm, though there was a spark of something dangerous in his eyes.

"Human batteries. Curse batteries. Experiments. I didn't want to cross that line, but…"

A smirk crept onto his face.

"Since I'm already heading to hell, what's one more step?"

The room went quiet. Outside, the wind rustled through the trees, but inside Ren's mind, a storm was forming—plans, ideas, and the sharp edge of a new path he was about to walk.