Ten Shadows in the Heian Era

A/N: CONTEXT!! This is an Omake set in a pure JJK world. It's a what if for if the world Narauko was born in was just pure JJK, no crossovers. Meaning that while there are some very minor kinda spoilers inside, everything here is still strictly non-canon. Though it does hint at things that are gonna happen in the future of the fic.

I say hint, but it's hardly as subtle as my usual foreshadowing. (Btw, I'm pretty sure like 65% of my foreshadowing goes unnoticed lol, but it's fine, cuz I don't do foreshadowing so you can predict the future, I do it so you can reread and catch one line and be like "wait a second, is this talking about that?" cuz I think those moments are fun :P

///

Under dark night sky, lit only by the dim lights of the rooftop and the general light pollution of Shibuya's cityscape, Takuma Ino considers his foes.

An old hag in loose robes chanting with a beaded necklace in her hands and some guy in a white sweater and black pants while styling a mohawk that really doesn't look good on him, at least not in Ino's opinion.

Maybe it's just because he's blond like Nanami that Ino is being so critical of his hair. It's hardly important right now.

The man is about as unimpressive as he appears, but he's doing everything he can to protect the old hag, and he doesn't think he wants to find out what all her chanting is leading up to.

Sorcerers tend to waive chants and such to trade power for speed, because speed is what matters most in a battle. By that reasoning, whatever she's doing is likely to be powerful, or at least very difficult, which makes it not something he wants to experience.

As if to prove his thoughts exactly right, the old hag's aura abruptly changes, beginning to rise for reasons he really doesn't want to learn. Neither of them were very daunting opponents before, but as her aura continues to grow, Ino feels a weight settle on his psyche, a foreboding warning that he has come to trust over his time as a Sorcerer.

Danger.

"We're all set now," the old hag says, stopping her mumbled chanting. The abrupt absence of her chanting almost feels loud to his ears, like there's a vacuum trying to fill the gap.

"Got it, Granny," the dude answers, and Ino's foreboding feeling only grows.

"I won't let you!" He yells, his technique summoning Kaichi between his hands, the black-patterned golden horn manifesting, rearing to go.

But even as he does, he feels his bodies hairs stand on end, his skin growing clammy with a sudden sweat and he heaves in a sudden desperate breathe, as if he had forgotten how to breathe for a moment.

I'm in danger.

The guy throws something into his mouth and swallows it even as Ino launches Kaichi forward at the old hag.

It's so close. The man swallows, but it's so close.

And then, with his attack mere seconds away from landing, the old hag speaks.

"Zen'in no Narauko."

The very instant the final syllable is spoken, Ino's attack is halted entirely, caught in the dude's hand as if it's nothing, even though he very clearly remembered that very attack carving a chunk out of his arm just earlier.

It's only then that the old hag's words are comprehended by his brain and the implications set in of what just happened, and he only notices himself stepping backwards after the fact.

That building dread returns full force, that sense of danger, honed through dozens of near death experiences screams at him more that it ever has in his life as he stares at a face split in half.

On one side, is that random dude he has been fighting, but the other half of his face has morphed into a rugged, handsome face with soft skin, a strong jaw, and short black hair.

"How is it, Grandson?" The old hag says, but Ino barely hears it.

Zen'in no Narauko. 

He knows that name. Everyone knows that name. The Blessed Sorcerer of the Heian Period. The founder of the Zen'in clan, inventor of basically every Technique. The only one who has ever equalled fucking Sukuna.

One of the most famed names in all of the Jujutsu world, up there with the likes of Tengen-sama.

Fuck.

"Yeah, it's great, Granny," the guy answers, "Better than any before."

Transformation through Seance? Ino thinks to himself, bringing a hand up to his mask so he can pull it away from his skin, hoping to get some air as his breathes come in short and sweat flows from his every pore. I didn't think that hag was a Medium!

No, that's not the problem here, he thinks to himself. Is it really Him? His stance has changed, it's dangerous. Just looking at him, I feel like I'm going to die if I do anything, even thinking about running doesn't feel safe. If he really has the abilities of Zen'in no Narauko, then what can I do? That guy was the first user of Ten Shadows, right? Will Megumi be able to help, or would he just die too? But unlike Megumi, Narauko was said to be proficient in every aspect of Jujutsu, I don't think it would matter if he has the technique or not. Fuck. Fuck fuck.

He's pretty sure this is it for him. He can't beat someone weilding the power of the revered ancestor of the Zen'in clan. But he's not going to just lay down and die.

Even if Narauko's power is too much for him to handle, the man was a Shikigami user through and through, so he might be able to do something if he's fast enough.

With that blind hope driving him, Ino doesn't hesitate to bring his hands forth.

"Number Four, Ryu!" He yells, his Cursed Energy gathering, and then there's a gust of wind and he can feel the air on his face.

Where did he go? Ino is already turning around before he even finishes forming the thought, but he barely manages to catch a glimpse of black hair before he feels all of the air leave his lungs as a palm slams into his sternum, shattering his ribs instantly and sending him ragdolling across the rooftop and off of the side, deaf to the world as white hot pain overwhelms his senses until sweet oblivion takes him.

Left alone, the man walks to the edge of the skyscraper on which they stand. "The veil's been lifted," he says. "What now, Granny?"

The old lady turns her eyes to her grandson at the question, but she hesitates to answer when she notices him start to shake.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What do we do now?" She watches him stutter, but answers the question nonetheless.

"It won't hurt to keep Gojo Satoru out of play, so go down below and kill Sorcerers." However, he does not answer, making her turn greater attention upon him. "Grandson?"

The boy stills, freezing as if a statue, but only for a moment before his body relaxes, making her think that whatever trouble there seems to have been had passed, only for his words to shatter that illusion.

"'Kill Sorcerers?' You should not give out such vague orders." 'Her grandson' says, his voice sounding rich and downright archaic, like something out of a period drama, tilting his head enough to stare into her eyes. "You're a Sorcerer too, right?"

Shock floods her system as she sees not a inch of her grandson's face left, and instinct dives her legs into action, springing her form back and away from what used to be her grandson.

"What's the meaning of this!?" She exclaims, shock and fear loosening her lips into blurting out her thoughts. "I only channelled the body's information!"

"Channelled?" The man parrots in confusion before his expression lightens up with understanding. "Ah, so that is the situation."

It's clear to her what is happening just as it seems to be clear to him. She has always made it a point not to channel the Soul's information specifically to prevent accidents like this ahead of time. So why?

The man, no, she knows his name.

Zen'in no Narauko finally turns around, facing her fully. His smile is almost welcoming, but she can see the glee hidden underneath by the way his eyes tilt with his smile.

He moves to bring his arms together, only to pause when he notices the lack of sleeving to allow it and then moves his hands back down, putting them in her grandson's pockets with an expression she would describe as almost... Nostalgic? What?

"Your understanding of the Soul is lacking," The First Zen'in informs her as he takes a step closer to her. She doesn't hear the footstep. She can barely even feel his Cursed Energy. "Allow me to educate you."

He takes another step forward. "The Soul is where we originate as living beings." Another step. "It trickles down." Another step. "The shape of the Soul defines the shape of the Body." Another. "And the shape of the Body then defines the shape of the Shadow."

He stops only a few paces away from her and continues to talk. She is too terrified to do anything but listen silently.

"The Shadow is oft overlooked. But it is a reflection of the Soul, brought to bear through the body. Do you understand what I am saying here?" He looks her in the eye and sighs at whatever he sees. "Never mind, I can tell that you do not."

Her eyes flick down at the sign of movement, and she watches as his shadow begins to bubble, it's edges dancing like flames. "You can channel a Body's information without the Soul, but so what? What does it matter, if the Body will then manifest its Shadow? As a direct reflection of the Soul, the Shadow possesses the information of the Soul, too."

"Right now, your grandson is gone, because the reflection of my Soul overpowered his own." She doesn't want to believe such absurd words, but with the identity of the one saying them, can she really claim to know better? "But I do not fancy living as a mere reflection. It is strangely uncomfortable to live without a true Soul in my body."

Once he is finished speaking, her attention is once more brought down to his shadow, and she lets out an involuntary gasp as she watches it writhe and churn until a hand pushes out of the inky black, stretching forward as if pushing through a sheet of silk.

As the hand reaches higher, more is revealed. An arm. A chest. A head. An entire body behind a curtain of pure shadow emerges. 

It is with morbid fascination that she watches this shadow's hands take hold of the Zen'in's shoulders before falling forward and draping itself over him. Then, she watches as the shadow starts to melt, except it does not fall away, instead, it melts into his body.

Seconds feel like hours as she watches the inconceivable scene before her, but in a moment that felt both like an instant and an eternity, the shadow finishes merging with the body, and for the first time in one thousand years, Zen'in no Narauko opens his eyes.

///

Zen'in no Narauko

///

Turning away from the old lady's corpse, I walk back to the edge of the skyscraper and gaze out at the cityscape below. My smile grows at what I see, nostalgia almost making me stagger.

How long has it been? I think to myself as I begin to laugh, luxuriating in a single fact. I'm alive again.

"Hehehahaha! The news of my death has been greatly exaggerated!!" I yell out into the city. I've always wanted to say that.

Man, this is just too good, I feel so giddy. I never thought I'd actually be able to see the world like this again. I'm not immortal like Tengen or Kenny, and I refuse to do that Voldemort shit Sukuna went with. I was honestly pretty fine with my death. I led a satisfying life. Had lots of fun, a bunch of adorable kids. 

That said, just because I was fine with my death, I'm not going to spit in the face of this blessing. Being willing to accept death doesn't equate to no longer wanting to live.

"Ahhh, I want to see so much. I have so many questions. Do they even remember me? Sukuna? Is he still around? Tengen probably is, but I can see Kenny pissing off enough people to have been killed. Gahh! I'm so fucking curious! Where do I even start!? Fuck why am I so hungry! I wanna eat a fucking pizza!!!!"

I miss so much. I want pizza and burgers and ice cream and I want to watch movies and binge shows and I want to visit a theme park and fly in planes and drive above the speed limit in super expensive cars I never would have had the opportunity to drive in my last life.

My last last life? Does this one count as a third? Who knows.

All that matters is that I can finally enjoy a nice drink that isn't just sake or tea! I have spent an entire lifetime missing my modern day luxuries! I want chemical slosh juice! I want chocolate biscuits! I want to destroy the Golden Gate Bridge! I want a milkshake!

Ah, and I guess I should see if my family still exists. I'd be pretty bummed out if my name was lost to time. They'd probably have food too.

"Hm?" My internal ramblings are cut off when I feel something strange in the distance, something... Familiar?

"Is that..." My voice drops to a whisper as I comprehend what I am feeling and struggle to understand it. "My Technique?"

Looks like I know where I'm going first.

As I look down on the city however, pushing past the strange surreality of feeling just so many people. 

Well, it actually seems pretty empty as far as population goes considering the sheer size of the place. I wasn't Japanese in my first life, so I have no idea where I am. My guess is just Tokyo, but that's only because I'm pretty sure that at this point in time Tokyo is like, basically the entirety of Japan's population. I think.

Well, I think, turning my gaze to the Veil that has been lifted. I guess there is a reason. Must be something going on if there's been such an evacuation.

Considering what that old lady said, my guess is some Jujutsu Terrorists or something of the like. I'd long wondered what the future would be like in a world with Cursed Energy. My assumption was that Sorcerers would eventually become something like a specialised police force as the population, and thus the number of potential Sorcerers, grew.

I spent a lot of nights wondering how things would change with the existence of Cursed Energy. Like, surely social programs would be better, rent would be lower and wages would be higher. After all, Curses are born of Negative emotions, so with that knowledge, it would only make sense for a government to do what it can to keep its populace happy, right?

Well, there's no point in speculating when the answers are down below.

That said, when I looked below just now, I noticed something of vital importance, so investigating the source of my Technique, or whatever is imitating it, has just become my second priority.

Not having any reason to keep wasting time, I take a step forward, off of the building, and allow myself to fall. As I do so, a passing thought crosses my mind.

I truly hope we will meet again, Sukuna.

///

Zen'in Maki

///

Standing on the opposite side of the Curse, Dagon it called itself, as her uncle, she frowns to fight off a grimace.

This thing's Domain looking like a paradisical beach out of a fantasy does nothing to help the horrible feeling in her gut. She should be afraid, she really should. She's outclassed here, she can't even hurt the fucking thing. She will die the moment it deigns to actually take her seriously.

But she isn't feeling any fear. She's just feeling pissed the fuck off.

She's angry that she is so fucking useless. That she's so weak.

But most of all, she's pissed that even this fucking Curse is disregarding her, as if all her efforts have been for nothing. It pisses her off like nothing ever has.

Even with Playful Cloud in her hands, courtesy of Fushiguro, she knows that all she can really do is try to be enough of a distraction for either Nanami or the old geezer to actually hurt the thing.

Not for the first time, she laments her Cursed birth.

"You two!" A shout from Nanami draws their attention, "Gather 'round!"

Considering the situation, she doesn't hesitate. 

The moment she finishes processing Nanami's words, she is already moving, running as fast as she can when she needs to do so on a path of frogs, her uncle doing to same by her side.

She obviously doesn't know why Nanami called them, but in a situation like this, they have no choice but to trust one another. Even without that, she trusts Nanami.

"To Fushiguro-kun's feet!" Nanami yells once they're closer, and she hears the Curse giving chase behind her.

It takes her a second, but from his words she gathers the plan, and she smiles at Fushiguro's audacity. Maybe she won't die today after all?

As if to spite those thoughts, right as she and the old man leap for the hole in Dagon's domain, a different hand emerges, forcing them to halt their movements.

It is with wide eyes that they watch a black-haired man burst out of the ground beneath Fushiguro's feet and into the sky above them. All she manages to catch as he passes her by is the wide smile on his face.

They all freeze, as if time itself has stopped. Every pair of eyes locks onto the man in the air.

A human? She thinks. A Sorcerer?

He's wearing a white sweater and black trousers and isn't carrying a weapon, but he does have a bag in one hand. He doesn't feel strong, either. He barely feels any different from a regular human to her, and a quick glance at the others makes her think that they have a similar conclusion.

The moment of stillness passes as his arc reaches its zenith and he falls down to the shadowed platform without any fanfare.

His gaze first goes to Dagon, she notices, then it flickers to her second before glancing over the others.

"Yo!" He greets with a two fingered wave, his cheer a stark contrast to their own grim countenance. "You guys have had it pretty rough huh?" He notes, taking in their varying wounds.

Then, to her astonishment, he reveals what the bag was by bringing his free hand inside and pulling out... Tiny cookies. What?

"Who are you?" She asks first, and he quickly swallows as he turns his attention to her, taking two long steps until he is right in front of her, close enough that she takes a step back, but he matches that step, keeping his face mere inches away from her, one of his hands rubbing at his chin thoughtfully.

Without answering, he tilts his head one way and then the other way, as if trying to observe her from every angle. It is only right as she is about to tell him to fuck off that he answers.

"You remind me of one of my daughters," he says, the unexpected non-sequitur throwing her off both because it isn't an answer to her question and because of the contents of his words. "She was suuuper strong. Even stronger than me! Physically at least, she couldn't use any Cursed Energy though, a Heavenly Restriction. You feel similar to that, but you still have a little bit left in you. It's weighing you down. No wonder you're so much weaker than you should be."

At first his words leave her reeling, but then his final sentence has her reacting instinctively.

"Oy!" She shouts at him, but he ignores her in favour of turning to Fushiguro.

"You're working pretty hard, kid. Layering your Domain against the barrier of this one to make a gate is pretty innovative, nice going," he compliments Fushiguro as he walks up to him.

No one moves to stop him. Their bodies simply won't let them. But there was no danger, as when the man comes to a stop in front of Fushiguro, he simply ruffles his hair and smiles down at him.

"You can leave it to me now though," he says before turning back around and crouching down, laying a hand on the floor. "Have Ashiya's teachings not lasted through the ages? If you just want to neutralise an opponent's Domain, there is a much easier option than using your own. Simple Domain."

Maki has seen a Simple Domain before. Even just recently against Miwa in the goodwill event. She knows what it is, knows what it can do, knows how it manifest.

Which is why it is all she can do to keep her jaw from dropping when from this mysterious man an empty Domain expands, and expands, and expands until it covers the entire Domain.

Glancing around, she's glad that she's not the only one gaping at the scene. Because it really is just absurd. How the hell can he cover the entire Domain?

It doesn't make any sense, but there's that old saying about gift horses right?

"There we go, no more sure-hit." The man says, smiling with satisfaction. His eyes briefly glance over them all before settling back on the Curse. "I would love to chat further, but I suppose it would be best to exorcise this octopus first."

For some reason, his own words seem to stun him, and his mouth parts slightly as if he's drooling. "Mmmm," he mutters lowly, eyeing the Curse. "Octopus... Squid... Sashimi... Maybe Curses have evolved to become edible? No, that's stupid."

With a shrug, the man walks forward until he is between them and Dagon, who was not idle, and has send an enormous eel-like Shikigami surging forward.

The mysterious man just raises a palm in the direction of the Curse, and then all four of them simultaneously buckle and fall to their knees as an overwhelming weight of Cursed Energy falls upon them. So much so that she is convinced that she would be able to see it even without her glasses.

All of it, more Cursed Energy than she has ever felt, more Cursed Energy than this Octopus has in its entire body, and all of it, all of it, gathers in his palm, compressing into a ball so dense with Cursed Energy that it starts to generate gravity.

"Jujutsu Sorcerers are obsessed with Innate Techniques," he says, not seeming bothered at all by the approaching Shikigami. Though, she doesn't think he needs to be bothered. "I get it. They're strong. But you can still be strong without them too." He lets out a sigh and shakes his head. "You really shouldn't underestimate simple Cursed Energy Manipulation."

And then, that building pressure, he simply lets it go.

A sound like a bomb going off hammers into her and residual force knocks her onto her back, but none of that can be compared to the pure destruction that her eyes behold.

The Shikigami, the ocean, the island, none of it remains in sight, everything crushed to oblivion from where the man stands all the way to what must be the opposite edge of the Domain.

All that is left is a massive trench. A cavern. Dozens of metres deep and even more wide.

A second passes and rushing water hurries to fill the void, crashing against each other as they do so, sending spray all through the air.

Who the hell is this man!? She thinks. Where has a Special Grade been hiding?! That power.. Could he be as strong as Gojo-Sensei?

"Oh~?" The man hums. "That didn't kill you? I suppose your durability must be one of your strengths then."

In a burst of speed that is a blur even to her eyes, the Curse appears once more, right behind the man but missing an arm and much of its torso with the rest of its body horribly mutilated as if it took a bath in acid.

"Die!!!" The Curse yells as it swings a punch for the man's head, and she wants to help, but she is too slow to even try. 

However, there was no need.

Without even turning around, the man catches Dagon's fist in a casually raised hand, and to her shock, the fist stops. Immediately.

"If your focus is durability, then you should focus on a battle of attrition," he says as he turns around, the movement seeming casual even as it is faster than any of them can react to. "Well, not like it would have made a difference."

Dagon tries to get away, but before his struggle can even begin in earnest, the man's free palm lays on the Curse's chest, almost tenderly.

"Goodbye."

Dagon dies.

There is no build-up or big show like his last attack.

He simply placed his palm on the Curse, and it died.

No, she thinks to herself as she watches the Disaster Curse disintegrate into motes of light. He didn't just kill it. He purified it.

She blinks and she is back in the station. The Domain dismissed with its master's death.

But the tenseness in her shoulders does not go away.

After all, this man may have saved them from the Curse, but now comes the question of who he is, and whose side he is truly on?

The feeling of tension grows as the four of them stare at the man and he stares back, an unnerving silence that has her clenching down on Playful Cloud.

And then the mood is shattered when he strikes a pose, half turning to the side, raising one leg slightly and turning his face up, flicking his bangs with the back of one hand.

"Feel free to stare all you want~! I was pretty cool just now, was I not? You needn't be shy with your praise~!"

"Haah?" She unintentionally vocalises her thoughts as her face falls into an expression she is familiar with, though only Gojo-Sensei has caused her to make this face before.

Why are the powerful always so weird? She laments.

"What?" He asks, blinking at her with an expression that she just finds to be strikingly... Open. Sorcerers are secular people by nature. It stands out. "Ah, I understand. I am too cool that words cannot describe me, right? Understandable, I am very handsome~."

"Would it have been better to die?" She mutters to herself, though she thinks he heard her anyway. She mentally notes that, because she spoke quietly enough that he shouldn't have been able to hear.

"Who... Who are you?" Her uncle, Naobito, eventually asks the pressing question.

"Who knows~," is the swift response, and the man follows it by taking a step forward and then leaning his torso towards them with his fingers on his chin, inspecting them thoughtfully.

"You," He points to her, "Remind me of my daughter." His finger moves to be pointed at Nanami, and he shudders dramatically. "You remind me of one scary lady." His finger then turns to Fushiguro and he seems to hesitate slightly before a wry smile grows on his lips and he chuckles lightly. "And you. You remind me of Gojo."

Finally, his finger turns to Naobito. "As for you..." He trails off, furrowing his eyebrows and for a moment she thinks he's going to give some deep revelation. Then he just shrugs and sticks his tongue, turning to her with an expression that would only be fitting if they were both in on a joke. "Who is this guy?"

"Heh," the old geezer snorts. "My name is Zen'in Naobito, Head-"

His introduction is interrupted as the man's head snaps to the old man with incredible speed as a joyous gasp leaves his throat. "Zen'in!?!" He exclaims. "You are a Zen'in!? Haha! That is so cool~! What are the chances~!? Hahaha~!"

That, was not a reaction she was expecting, and clearly neither was anyone else.

"I am.." The old man cautiously answers, treading carefully with the potentially insane but incredibly powerful Sorcerer. "But who are you?"

The man waves him off, "Don't worry about that yet. I'm the one against four, so it falls on me to have the most dramatic introduction, which means I need to go last. So you lot introduce yourselves, oldest to youngest, starting with you, Geezer, make sure it is all proper and formal too, that would make it more dramatic if this was an anime or something."

Why does he remind her of Gojo-Sensei so much? It's kind of starting to piss her off, but in a good way. Does that make any sense? Not really, but the feeling is confusing to her anyway.

Regardless, with the power imbalance here, it's not like they could deny him anyway, so the old man just coughs and straightens his back.

"I am Zen'in Naobito. Grade One Sorcerer and the Twenty-Sixth Head of the Zen'in Clan."

"Nanami Kento. Grade One Sorcerer and Heir of the Nanami Clan."

The man's eyes turn to her, so she follows the lead set out, trying her best to sound formal and not as annoyed as she is about this farce. "Zen'in Maki. Grade Four Sorcerer. Second year."

Surprisingly, he only gains a curious, and oh so gentle smile when she declares her Grade. His expression is so damn open and welcoming that a long repressed part of her soul almost wants to cry in his embrace. It's like by just looking at him, she knows that he would accept her, support her, encourage her. That he would care for her, genuinely and truly.

It pisses her off.

It pisses her off how badly she wants that.

"Fushiguro Megumi." The words snap her thoughts back into focus. "Grade Two. First year."

Out of all them, it is only Fushiguro's introduction that has the man's eyebrows rising in apparent surprise.

"Fushiguro, huh?" He mutters, not trying to hide the words but not saying them to anyone else either. "And Megumi, too? That is a pretty mean spirited joke."

Before any of them can ask what he means, the man shakes his head and brings back his grin, facing them with his chest puffed out and his hands on his hips.

"Greetings! My dear children!" He starts, spreading his arms out wide as if in adulation. "This one whom you stand before is The Blessed One! Zen'in no Narauko!!"

...."Haah?"

///

A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

What do you think lol?

I got randomly motivated to write this out, and now it's 3am and my sleep schedule that I was trying to fix is fucked again XP

If I do finish the omake it'll probably end in like 2 or 3 chapters, cuz I really can't see the rest of JJK lasting long with Narauko added to the mix lmao. Then again, I've been wrong before.