// SURVIVOR'S GUILT // : MAKI ZEN'IN

// SMOKE BREAK.

"Ouf," Gojo leaned off of the wall and leaned his head on his hand with a smile on his face; now evidently interested. "Kind of like setting newspaper on fire, and watching the ashes go up in smoke, huh?"

"I guess so," Yaga replied, "The boy waved his fingers around in the air and made some awkward faces while we talked this over.....maybe that's what he was trying to tell me..."

"Does he possess a Technique Reversal of that which must be taken into account, sir?" Nanami asked.

"The forcible reactivation of one's given cursed technique, regardless of the intention of the sorcerer." Yaga said.

"And based off of the damage caused by his third technique, there must be something of a restriction on that as well, sir?" Nanami asked further.

"Umu. The boy gassed himself out with that attack. Hell, just the amount of cursed energy necessary to condense such an attack to a singular point would be more than what is released in the attack itself. It's definitely powerful, but efficient is the last word I'd use for it."

"Hm. Noted."

Ieri let out a drawn-out sigh and pulled a cigarette out of her pocket, letting it rest on the edge of her lip as she moved to her feet and towards the door, "Well, in any case, I don't think I'm needed here any longer."

Turning to Yaga on the floor, she said, "Just send him over sometime for a medical, and I'll-

"Hold it, Shoko."

"Mh? Why?"

"...You haven't thought much about what I have just described to you, have you?"

"Eh? Why would I?"

Yaga held his hand up in a fist, then held up a finger.

"One: the boy is adept at using Technique Reversal for Greed and Delusion. He dissipated Panda's Gorilla Mode and Inumaki's Cursed Speech without any issue, and forced Panda to use Gorilla Mode again just as easily."

"It is reasonable to assume that, to a certain degree, the boy is more than capable of using Reverse Cursed Technique on himself, leaving your role as doctor more or less redundant when it comes to the boy."

"....so why did you call me here?"

"Because you need to listen to what else I have to say," Yaga replied. The veteran sorcerer let out a brief, shaky huff, before holding up another finger.

"Two: With everything laid out on the table, it can also be reasonable to assume that, with his arsenal, Suoh Yuuya possesses-"

"Something akin to 'Anti-Sorcerer Techniques', eh, Yaga-sensei~?"

Contrasting the grim, firm expressions on Kusakabe and Nanami, Ieri looked off towards Gojo in the corner, eyemask still pulled off of an eye, grinning in anticipation.

"...Umu." Yaga stiffly nodded.

It was Gojo's turn to hold up his hand in a fist.

He held his index finger up.

"One, Delusion; Dissipate your enemy's technique, catching them off-guard with the sudden dispersal, or, in the case of an enemy recognizing and understanding the boy's technique, leaving them defenseless regardless of pre-determined knowledge."

He held his middle finger up.

"Two, Greed; Suspend your enemy in place, preventing further escape."

Lastly, his ring finger.

"Third, Hatred; Deliver an attack of hyper-condensed cursed energy, bypassing defenses due to his sheer mass and violent, explosive makeup."

"Ah~, a kid with powers like that," Almost comically, the white-haired sorcerer threw his hands out to his sides, leaning backwards until his back hit the wall again, "He could take any of us out~!"