Jujutsu Kaisen: Limitless

Barrier techniques were something Minamoto Sōjun had been studying from an early age.

Though not as formidable as Tengen with his millennium of accumulated knowledge, Sōjun's expertise was nothing to scoff at.

He had long forged his own path.

While others were still relying on talismans and incantations to deploy barriers, Sōjun had already mastered the art of seamlessly blending barriers with their surroundings, leveraging environmental factors with ease.

The scrolls Tengen provided were not extensive. The paper was pristine, suggesting a partial transcription of the original text. They mostly detailed protective barrier structures, which were Tengen's forte.

The scroll outlined variations in the nature of barriers, connection principles, embedding techniques, synergistic enhancements, and a few methods for creating sealing barriers.

It also briefly mentioned Japan's ten major barriers, though not in full. The focus was on Tokyo's First and Second Barriers, as well as Sendai Barrier in Miyagi Prefecture.

Sōjun shook his head. A glance at a map of Japan and key nodes was all he needed to deduce the barrier distribution:

From north to south, it likely spanned Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Tokyo's First and Second Barriers, Aichi, Kyoto's First and Second Barriers, Hiroshima, and Kagoshima.

Adding Hokkaido's barrier, maintained by the Ainu Jujutsu Federation—an entity on par with the Jujutsu higher-ups—this effectively completed the map of Japan's jujutsu framework.

While his hypothesis might not be entirely accurate, it was close. Japan wasn't that large; a field investigation would confirm his theory.

Sōjun had long recognized the potential of barrier techniques. However, due to his solitary research, he lacked peers for comparison.

Now, with Tengen—a living example—present before him, his interest was piqued.

Through his mastery of barrier techniques, Tengen had essentially achieved godlike abilities over most of Japan:

Omniscience.

Within the Jujutsu world, Tengen was universally acknowledged as the "Omniscient Sorcerer."

However, the contemporary development of barrier techniques had a defining feature: "Curtains" (帳). These barriers, invisible to non-sorcerers, were designed to isolate curses and often came with additional effects like blocking cell signals or alerting sorcerers to breaches.

Modern sorcerers could only enhance Curtains by adding conditional effects—nothing more.

This starkly contrasted with Tengen's applications of barriers, a comparison between the heavens and the dust.

The reasons were obvious:

Barrier techniques were inherently difficult to master. Advanced jujutsu knowledge was hoarded by a select elite. Unable to learn themselves, they ensured no one else could either.

The techniques revealed to ordinary sorcerers were merely the tip of the iceberg. Even Sōjun's access to barrier techniques was thanks to Yaga Masamichi's influence.

He couldn't comprehend such stagnation. Gathering the brightest minds to push the evolution of jujutsu, continually iterating and advancing techniques—it was a win-win proposition.

Yet, fear of losing their status drove the higher-ups to hoard resources and suppress competition. Such behavior, exploiting resources to exhaustion, led to inevitable decay.

Time corrodes all things. The Star Religious Group, Tengen, the higher-ups—they were all examples of this decay.

The scroll's content was straightforward and quickly absorbed by Sōjun.

To be honest, he found it underwhelming.

These concepts were merely old ideas repackaged, lacking innovation.

Better to carve his own path.

He set the scroll aside and picked up a book on formations—a subject he had deliberately studied long ago.

In the worldview of ordinary people, barriers relied on special powers. Without such powers, barriers would be dismissed as fiction.

Formations, on the other hand, were ancient strategies devised for battlefield tactics, designed to maximize military strength and secure victory.

A well-executed formation was a true "formation."

From technological matrices to natural phenomena, formations manifested in various ways, showcasing their extraordinary power. Through continuous development and iteration, they had become highly sophisticated.

The concept of formations varied, depending on interpretation.

Their scope was vast, ranging from the cosmic cycles of celestial bodies to the Earth's geological and environmental changes influenced by the sun, moon, and stars. They even extended to the psychological impact of a person's birth conditions on their personality, and how personality shaped emotions—directly tying into curses.

Sōjun chuckled. He enjoyed beginning with tangible concepts and gradually forging a grand path.

While most sorcerers followed conventional methods to grow stronger, he believed outdated traditions and information monopolies needed to be shattered. Breaking them down and leveling the playing field was the foundation for true progress.

From the fundamentals of yin-yang and the triad of heaven, earth, and man, to the nine palaces, ten directions, twelve zodiac signs, and twenty-four mountain formations—

Studying and creating a "Jujutsu version" of formations seemed far more intriguing.

Inspired, Sōjun removed his upper garments and began reconstructing a spirit barrier.

He used a fly's head as the core, positioning it over his heart. Black lines formed by a fly's head, a skull, and a paper-wrapped head twisted and aligned with the eight cardinal directions. They combined with 24 mountain orientations spaced at 15° intervals, forming a compass-like structure.

Focusing his mind, Sōjun stood up and unleashed a Black Flash. The space twisted, creating a human-head-sized black vortex. He reached into the vortex, his arm extending through space and reappearing a short distance ahead.

This time, he didn't rely on the fly's spatial technique. Instead, he combined the spatial distortion of Black Flash with enhanced spatial awareness from the formation, achieving effects comparable to a space-based technique.

Reflecting on his past, he remembered mastering Black Flash through spatial techniques, and now, achieving spatial effects through Black Flash.

Satisfied, Sōjun felt this self-developed ability suited him far better than inherited techniques.

So long as he continued refining and mastering it, his path to transcendence seemed limitless.

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