Memories surged into Kazukai's—or rather, Yuji Itadori's—mind like a tidal wave, crashing and merging together. His past life's experiences as Kazukai and his new memories as Yuji collided, intertwining into one cohesive identity. It was overwhelming, like trying to drink from a firehose, but he managed to sort through the chaos.
"Thank god I know Japanese from my past life's memories, or I'd be completely cooked," he muttered to himself, his voice higher than he remembered.
His eyes darted around the room, taking in his surroundings. It was a small, modest home, but it felt strangely familiar. Then it clicked—this was Yuji's childhood home, the one that briefly appeared in the later chapters of the manga. He glanced down at his body, only to feel his heart skip a beat.
"I'm only ten?!" he exclaimed, his voice filled with disbelief.
His gaze traveled over his smaller frame, and though he was clearly a child, his body was far more toned and muscular than what could be considered normal for his age. It was reminiscent of Toji Fushiguro's incredible physique, even as a young boy.
Kazukai—no, Yuji—plopped down onto his bed, trying to gather his thoughts. His mind buzzed with new information and realizations.
"Okay... so if I'm ten, that means I have about four or five years before canon starts." He paused, trying to connect the dots. "Which means... if I have this..."
He closed his eyes and sifted through the fragments of his memories, searching for a specific detail that might explain why he had blood manipulation so early. After a few moments, the answer hit him like a truck.
"Kenjaku," he whispered, his eyes narrowing. "That bastard fed me a Death Painting when I was four!"
It made sense now. Kenjaku's meddling in Yuji's early life provided the context for why his wish to have blood manipulation had been seamlessly woven into the world's logic. It was the perfect explanation. However, that wasn't the only surprise. As he continued piecing things together, he realized something else.
"This version of Yuji has way better control over cursed energy than he did at the start of canon. It's like I've already gone through Gojo's movie-level training!"
A grin crept onto his face despite the absurdity of his situation. "Thanks, Hazel," he muttered, genuinely grateful for the goddess's touch-ups to his reincarnation.
But that gratitude was short-lived. He knew if he wanted to truly make a difference in this world, he'd need to capitalize on every advantage. The stakes were high, and changing the course of a story as chaotic and tragic as Jujutsu Kaisen wasn't going to be easy.
"Well," he said, steeling himself, "if I want to rewrite this story as much as I'm planning to, I need to get a lot stronger. Fast."
Yuji leaned back against the headboard, his mind racing. He thought about the story's creator, Gege Akutami, and how much the narrative tended to glorify powerhouses like Toji Fushiguro and Ryomen Sukuna. While he used to roll his eyes at how much Gege "glazed" Sukuna, he now found himself thankful. It gave him a baseline to measure his own power.
Closing his eyes, Yuji tried to feel out his cursed energy reserves, gauging his potential. His eyes shot open moments later, shock written all over his face.
"Eight fingers' worth of cursed energy?!"
For a moment, he couldn't believe it. That amount was absurd for someone his age. He was only ten, and he was already at a level that could rival some of the strongest cursed spirits. If this much cursed energy was his starting point, it stood to reason he could grow even stronger. Perhaps he could even reach Sukuna's level at twenty fingers.
"This is insane," he muttered, a determined grin spreading across his face.
He quickly began formulating a plan. Training was paramount. He needed to hone his cursed energy control, strengthen his body, and master his blood manipulation technique. But that wasn't all. He wanted to experiment with cursed tools, maybe even create his own. If his natural strength and cursed energy could imbue those tools with special properties, it would give him a significant edge.
At least he had one less thing to worry about: martial arts. Between his past life's years of training and Yuji's natural talent, he was already a prodigy in hand-to-hand combat. That was one box he could confidently check off.
As his thoughts settled, Yuji glanced at the clock on his desk. It was Saturday morning, the perfect time to start laying the groundwork for his plans. He still had to juggle being a kid in this world, which meant school, social interactions, and family.
"I should probably try to get into online school," he mused. "That'd give me more time to train. But if I do that, I might miss meeting Ozawa..."
His thoughts trailed off as he considered the implications. Meeting Ozawa was a small but important moment in Yuji's original timeline. Could skipping it alter things too much?
"Welp, that's a problem for future me," he said, stretching as he stood up.
Yuji's stomach growled, breaking his focus. He chuckled softly, realizing he hadn't eaten since waking up.
"Time to see what Gramps made for breakfast," he said, heading toward the door.
As he walked through the modest home, he couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia. Despite the heavy weight of his situation, the warmth of the house and the faint sound of his grandfather humming in the kitchen brought a sense of comfort.
He stepped into the kitchen, where his grandfather was busy preparing a simple meal. The old man glanced over his shoulder and gave Yuji a small smile.
"Morning, kid," he said, his tone gruff but affectionate.
"Morning, Gramps," Yuji replied, taking a seat at the table.
As the smell of freshly cooked rice and miso soup filled the room, Yuji felt a surge of determination. He wasn't just living for himself anymore—he was living for this world and the people he cared about.
"I'll change everything," he thought, his resolve solidifying. "This time, no one gets left behind."
It had been a week since Kazukai—now Yuji Itadori—had arrived in this world. In that short time, he had begun training, attending school, and fitting into his new life. To say he had a head start was an understatement.
Yuji had already mastered amplifying his physical strength with cursed energy, a skill that gave him absurd levels of power. What started with him being able to lift cars effortlessly had now progressed to him being able to hoist entire buildings with little difficulty. While such a leap might seem exaggerated, the sheer volume of cursed energy he possessed placed him well beyond the bounds of normal jujutsu sorcerers.
His potential was nothing short of extraordinary, and even Yuji couldn't help but marvel at just how far ahead he already was.
Not to mention his blood manipulation. As the name implies, Blood Manipulation is a cursed technique that allows the user to control and shape their blood beyond its natural form or motion for a variety of effects. It can be used to manipulate every aspect of the user's blood, including blood composition, plasma, and red blood cells. Internal and external blood can be utilized as long as it belongs to the user. Blood can be manipulated in a variety of ways utilizing this technique. External blood can be hardened or shaped to create mid-range projectiles. Internal blood can be used to control one's own pulse rate and body temperature, effectively giving themselves more energy to increase their physical capabilities. As with any cursed technique, Blood Manipulation's efficiency and strength depend on the user. Noritoshi Kamo's Piercing Blood was unable to harm the special grade cursed spirit Hanami, while Choso's was able to severely injure Yuji Itadori in the original timeline. Control over external blood can also be nullified under specific circumstances where the amount of water in the area renders blood unable to hold any shape. There are several Extension Techniques.
Flowing Red Scale
Using Flowing Red Scale, the user can increase their body temperature, pulse rate, and the number of red blood cells to give themselves greatly increased energy and physical abilities. Enhanced strength and speed granted by Flowing Red Scale can be used to boost the user's capabilities in hand to hand combat.
When this ability is activated, a blood marking appears over the user's eyes which visually differs from user to user.
Flowing Red Scale: Stack
Flowing Red Scale: Stack, Intensifies Flowing Red Scale in order to increase the user's physical capabilities to an even higher degree than normal.
Crimson Binding
This technique transforms the shape of the user's blood into a net capable of binding targets with great efficiency
Slicing Exorcism
A mid-to-long ranged attack that allows the user to slice their opponents by manipulating their own blood in different formations.
Convergence
A technique where the blood is compressed and condensed to its limit between the palms of the user. Then, the compressed blood sphere can be used to perform an extension technique. Because it requires time to apply Convergence to blood, the user is vulnerable against fast and quick attacks.
Supernova
After using Convergence to create multiple small orbs from compressed blood, the user has the orbs shoot out in every direction like a buckshot.
Blood edge
The user manipulates their blood and shapes it into daggers, which they can use to stab and slash their enemies. These knives are not entirely made of coagulated blood. Rather, only the outline is solidified, with the liquid blood inside the knives being rotated at high speeds in order to strengthen their lethality.
Blood Meteorite
The user hardens some of their blood and shoots it at a target. Even though this technique hardens blood, it does not have the speed or power of Piercing Blood.
Out of all the extension techniques available under Blood Manipulation, Yuji Itadori only had two at his disposal: Blood Edge and Flowing Red Scale. It was a modest repertoire, and to some, that might seem disappointing. But Yuji didn't see it that way. While these techniques were considered basic within the Blood Manipulation arsenal, their simplicity didn't make them weak. Far from it.
In Yuji's hands, they had the potential to become devastatingly powerful tools. Blood Edge, a technique that allowed him to weaponize his own blood into razor-sharp blades, could become an extension of his already insane combat skills. Meanwhile, Flowing Red Scale enhanced his body's speed, reflexes, and raw power by circulating cursed energy directly through his bloodstream. On their own, these techniques were formidable, but when paired with Yuji's immense reserves of cursed energy, they were something else entirely.
Of course, there were limits. Normally, Blood Manipulation carried a significant drawback: the strain of using one's own blood as a weapon. For a human, this could lead to exhaustion, anemia, or worse. But Yuji wasn't entirely human anymore. Thanks to Kenjaku's meddling, he was a hybrid of human and cursed spirit. This meant he could regenerate lost blood using his cursed energy—a major advantage over other practitioners of the technique.
However, that ability came with a caveat. Regeneration required mastery of Reverse Cursed Technique, a skill Yuji didn't yet possess. Without it, he had to be careful. Overextending himself could still leave him vulnerable.
"I really need to learn Reverse Cursed Technique," Yuji muttered as he prepared for the night ahead.
He was planning to hunt a grade 3 or grade 4 cursed spirit. It wasn't his first attempt at exorcising a spirit, but he was still relatively new to the process and wanted to take things step by step. Lower-grade spirits were a good starting point, and he knew he could handle them without too much trouble.
Yuji rummaged through his wardrobe, pulling out an all-black outfit for the mission. A hoodie, baggy pants, and athletic running shoes—it was simple and practical, perfect for staying agile and blending into the shadows. As he slipped into his gear, a sense of anticipation began to build in his chest.
He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was getting late, the perfect time to head out.
"Hopefully, nothing bad happens while I'm out, right?" he joked to himself, a small grin tugging at his lips.
But deep down, Yuji knew better. This was the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, and trouble seemed to follow its main characters like a curse. Even with all his preparation and newfound power, he couldn't shake the feeling that tonight wouldn't go as smoothly as he hoped.
Little did he know, his intuition was right. The unpredictable nature of his "main character luck" was still very much alive and well. Tonight was going to be anything but ordinary.