One month ter.
Gojo Takuya's Fe
"Failed again?"
"Yeah… Looks like I failed again."
"Seems that way..."
Three voices echoed in the fe.
Veins throbbed on Satoshi's forehead, his expression dark and irritated.
Over the past month, he had attempted te Cursed Tools tless times. Not only had he failed to create another Zanpakutō, but he hadn't even mao craft an ordinary Cursed Tool.
At this point, he was seriously starting to questioher something was wrong with his system.
Satoru, Toji, and Takuya stood nearby, watg the process unfold. Their versation made Satoshi lose the st bit of motivation he had left.
"Why don't you just hand over your Sode no Shirayuki to me? You promised te a Zanpakutō for me. If you really 't do it, then just give me yours instead."
Toji stretched his arms zily before ruffling Satoru's hair, looking pletely at ease.
Ever siheir st battle, Toji had been hanging around Satoshi stantly. After much persuasion, he had finally gotten Satoshi to agree to craft a personal Zanpakutō for him.
As part of the deal, Toji agreed to join the anization Satoshi po establish iure.
At the time, it seemed like a great trade.
Satoshi had inteo set up a "Yorozuya"-style agency, inspired by Sakata Gintoki, handling bounty requests, exorg Cursed Spirits, and studying the inner ws of the sorcery world.
But now…
He hadn't expected that after aire month, he still wouldn't be able te another Zanpakutō.
Now, his deal with Toji was starting to feel really awkward.
"Toji, I don't want you as my clerk anymore! Let's just cel the deal."
Satoshi was starting to get fed up with him. The image of this future Sorcerer Killer that he had in his mind was pletely shattered.
Who would've thought that Toji was such a gossip?
In the anime, he had been a quiet, no-nonsense kind of guy!
"cel the deal? Nah, I don't agree to that."
Toji grinned, his eyes narrowing in amusement as he ughed.
"I hereby decre that Satoshi has breached our tract. So, as pensation, I'll be taking Sode no Shirayuki as payment."
"Sounds like a fair deal, don't you think? I don't have to give up anything, and I get Sode no Shirayuki for free! What a bargain!"
Toji gave Satoshi a thumbs-up.
Satoshi ched his fists, his irritation rising.
Oher side of the room, Satoru picked up one of the failed fes, examining the scrap metal with a teasing smirk. His deep blue eyes gleamed mischievously.
"Satoshi, Sode no Shirayuki is mine!"
"You promised te my Zanpakutō first, remember? First e, first served. I was at least a week ahead of Toji!"
His tone was dripping with sarcasm, but in truth, Satoru wasn't actually that ed about getting a Zanpakutō for himself. He just didn't want Satoshi to give up on his research.
After all, if Satoshi had mae one Zanpakutō, then surely, he could fe more iure.
But right now, Satoshi's fidence was at an all-time low.
---
For the past month, he had tried everything.
At first, he thought maybe he was g Cursed Tools as materials, so he had applied for some from the Gojo 's ste.
They even provided him with Grade 1 Cursed Tools for experimentation.
Yet, after burning through so many resources, he still failed te a neakutō.
It wasn't just frustrating for him, the entire was starting to doubt his f ability.
The Gojo couldn't afford to waste any more Cursed Tools, and as time passed, even the ral fa who had initially supported him began to waver.
Before, when Sode no Shirayuki was first revealed, they had believed that Satoshi could help the Gojo achieve a revolutionary breakthrough.
But now, after witnessing his repeated failures, their fidence was quietly fading.
"Gojo Satoshi was just a fsh in the pan. Sode no Shirayuki was just a ce."
"If these Cursed Tools 't be replicated, then the leader's iment in him is meaningless. We 't afford to keep throwing resources at him."
The re-emergence of doubt gave power back to the Curse Fa, who had previously been silenced.
---
Gojo Kumaen, the leader of the Twin Curse Fa, was the first to hear the news.
At first, he felt a pang ret, thinking the Gojo had once again just barely missed their ce at something great.
But soon after, he doubled down on his old beliefs.
Once again, he annouo the that Satoshi's presence was ively affeg Satoru.
Satoru, who had once been pletely focused on mastering his Cursed Teiques, had now been wasting time in Satoshi's fe for aire month.
And he wasn't the only ooji had been l around as well.
This was uable for the future of the Gojo .
---
Meanwhile, Zenin Shihe sorcerer who had been humiliated by Satoshi's Sode no Shirayuki, was thrilled.
One month ago, in front of the entire sorcery world, he had been instantly defeated.
Not only had this disgraced him personally, but it had also embarrassed the entire Zenin .
Some had tried to defend him afterward, saying that Sode no Shirayuki's ability was simply unfair.
But a loss was a loss.
As a fully-fledged sorcerer, he had lost to someoh no Cursed Energy whatsoever.
Even if Sode no Shirayuki had been the deg factor, he had still bee a stepping stone for Satoshi.
And that was unfivable.
If a person without any Cursed Energy could defeat a trained sorcerer like him, didn't that mean even an ordinary civilian could do the same?
That thought alone sied him.
inally, Shinsuke hadn't cared much about the Gojo 's Six Eyes. But after his humiliati, he had developed an unwavering hatred fojo Satoshi.
To make things worse, he had retly learhat Toji, the person he despised most in the Zenin , had bee friends with Satoshi.
That realization pushed his ao its breaking point.
"Birds of a feather flock together!"
"Trash is trash. Two people without any Cursed Energy, wasting their time on these 'legendary' Cursed Tools!"
His expression turned cold.
From that moment on, he dedicated himself even further to mastering his teiques.
In Zenin Shinsuke's mind, his previous loss had beeo a ck of strength.
If he had been Grade 2, or even Grade 1, he should have been able to dodge Sode no Shirayuki's attao matter how powerful it was…
