The Kamo family is the embodiment of tradition and orthodoxy in the Jujutsu world—staunch conservatives to the core. They take pride in their heritage, tracing an unbroken line back to ancient Onmyoji, and among the three major clans, they place the greatest emphasis on bloodline purity.
Even their inherited technique is blood-related—
Blood Manipulation.
A cursed technique that allows the user to manipulate blood, enhanced through Cursed Energy, for combat. As a family of exceptional lineage, the Kamo are deeply entrenched with the Higher-Ups and enjoy close ties with them.
This position reflects the overall structure of the current Jujutsu world, which leans heavily toward conservative stability.
Muneyoshi Kamo holds a high status, and of course, he possesses Blood Manipulation.
That much was obvious even without observation—Sōjun Minamoto could tell at a glance. For a clan so obsessed with preserving pure bloodlines—far more so than even the Zenin family—the importance of Blood Manipulation within the Kamo cannot be overstated.
Through the barrier, Sōjun Minamoto watched as the people from the Headquarters left Jujutsu High and disappeared into the distance. His gaze flickered slightly.
As a member of the opposing faction to the conservatives, his side naturally stood in opposition.
However, since Masamichi Yaga's intentions for reform hadn't yet become fully visible, the two sides hadn't reached open conflict.
This was evident in the fact that even the conservative Kyoto school's principal, Yoshinobu Gakuganji, had been willing to support Yaga's rise to leadership.
They still didn't have a clear grasp of their own stance.
But that wouldn't last much longer.
Sōjun Minamoto thought to himself.
Once Masamichi Yaga stabilized the situation and began making significant changes, it was inevitable that certain interests would be threatened.
Clashes were unavoidable.
Yaga's faction would finally take the stage in full, attracting a surge of reformist sorcerers. With the backing of Sōjun Minamoto, Satoru Gojo, and the Gojo family, they would stand on equal footing with the conservatives.
And all he would need to do was stand to the side and make his stance known. He wouldn't have to do much at all.
Eventually, both factions would settle into a new balance.
That would be the time for him to truly make his move.
With that thought, Sōjun Minamoto took his leave of Masamichi Yaga and exited the conference room in Taiji Hall.
Whatever the purpose of the Headquarters' visit—whether a show of force or a warning—it didn't matter. His focus was already beyond them.
...
A few days later, everything had settled down.
Jujutsu High returned to its usual calm.
So did the Jujutsu world at large.
In his dorm, Sōjun Minamoto stitched the panda back together, squeezing its paws and checking its eyes while jotting down notes.
His notebook already contained several diagram sketches—sliced views revealing the rough shapes of a panda, a Gorilla, and a triceratops, each from front, side, and back perspectives. None were particularly clear.
Inside each sketch, several glowing orbs shimmered faintly—some with as few as three, others with five, seven, even nine...
Sōjun Minamoto closed his notebook.
"Alright, get up." He patted Panda's belly—it had a great texture.
Hearing that, Panda slowly sat up, gave his own belly a pat, then calmly jumped off the lab table. Under Sōjun Minamoto's gaze, he strolled to the corner and resumed reading his comic book.
Emotionally stable—that's his whole thing now.
It seemed Panda had gotten used to everything and wouldn't say anything dumb like snitching anymore.
Sōjun Minamoto nodded in satisfaction.
Masamichi Yaga had been busy lately, and since Panda hadn't had a chance to return, he continued staying with Sōjun.
Which worked out—Sōjun could continue his research and try improving Panda a bit.
As he cleared the excess cotton from the table, Sōjun began to think.
His original plan was to make Panda more like a real living creature—internal organs, muscles, bones—something that could generate emotions faster, recover Cursed Energy more efficiently, and even raise intelligence.
But on second thought, that was unnecessary.
The more complex the design, the easier it is to break. There were advantages to the puppet form. As long as the three cores were intact, everything else could be replaced and repaired.
No need to introduce extra weaknesses.
In fact, if the cores were transformed into something like an intangible Cursed Energy source, Panda would essentially have no weaknesses.
Very few sorcerers could directly target a Cursed Energy source.
Sōjun had never met another who could.
That made the modifications much simpler.
As long as he kept improving the quality and quantity of the intangible cores, most of Panda's flaws could be eliminated.
Emotion, intelligence, strength, Cursed Energy... none of it would be a problem.
Then, looking at Panda's outer form—
What made up a puppet?
Wrappings, stuffing, button eyes, resin claws...
He just needed suitable upgrades for those parts. Something that would prevent Panda from being outright destroyed without a trace.
That way, Panda would be nearly immortal...
"Sōjun, Sōjun," Panda called, snapping Sōjun Minamoto out of his thoughts.
He turned to look. Panda handed him a handful of candy and said, "That person gave me lots of tasty stuff again yesterday."
As he spoke, he popped a piece into his mouth.
Sōjun looked on, a bit distressed.
"Don't get the suit dirty."
The moment he said it—
"Mhm." Panda nodded and stuffed in another piece.
"..."
Panda didn't have taste buds, didn't need to eat, but he understood the concept and liked to stick things in his mouth.
No wonder Yaga once gave him a pacifier.
Sōjun was only realizing it now.
He looked helplessly at the sticky, colorful mess clinging to Panda's mouth.
The "person" Panda mentioned referred to that woman from Jujutsu Headquarters.
She still dropped by now and then to question Sōjun, supposedly investigating the truth—but in reality, she had her sights set on Panda.
She often tried to secretly get time alone with him.
All this within Jujutsu High, under the barrier maintained by Sōjun Minamoto.
Apparently, Tengen's ability to observe the outside world through the barrier hadn't been exposed. Otherwise, the higher-ups would definitely suspect...
Would Sōjun be able to do the same? And if so, they'd start formulating countermeasures.
But Sōjun didn't care. He let her interact with Panda.
Panda didn't have much life experience. Strictly speaking, he was just a few months old—a baby. Naturally, he was curious about everything.
Lately, every time he returned, he brought a bunch of stuff—candy, toys, comic books, kids' picture books.
Where did it come from? What was it for? The answer was obvious.
Sōjun wasn't too worried. Panda might be naïve, but if you gave him clear instructions, he would follow them.
Like when Sōjun told him: no matter where you go, be home by 7 PM.
That rule led to the woman repeatedly thinking she had succeeded, only to watch her prize slip away at the last second—
No matter how far she tricked him, Panda would always come home on time.
He really...
The woman had indeed been tasked with bringing Panda back, and before coming to Jujutsu High, she had done her homework, memorizing all the information on Masamichi Yaga.
She'd been confident—until step one went sideways.
They'd assigned Panda to Sōjun Minamoto instead.
Still, it wasn't a complete loss. It made things harder, but she had also studied Sōjun's file before setting out.
So she quickly gave up on using force—at least not within Jujutsu High.
She wasn't strong, but her technique specialized in stealth. If she could sneak Panda out and get him to Headquarters, the mission would be done.
Once away from the school, not even a Special Grade could touch her.
She'd be in the clear.
So, she launched a series of attempts.
The pile of junk in the corner of Sōjun's room was the unintended outcome of all her efforts.
"Panda, guard the house," Sōjun said, getting ready to head out. After a pause, he added, "Be good and guard it."
"Where you going?" Panda peeked out from behind his book.
"To the Forbidden Vault."
Sōjun waved. "I'll come back and modify you."
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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