The next day, when the boys and girls gathered again at the hospital, all of them were covered in bruises. The scene was strangely comical. It was hard not to laugh.
Satoru Gojo seized the chance and took a flurry of photos, exactly like Akira had done the night before. Even after the group returned to Tokyo Jujutsu High, the signs of fighting still had not faded. The marks were far too obvious.
The ones who had stayed behind, Panda and Toge Inumaki, were left staring in shock. They could hardly believe what they were seeing. It was beyond expectations.
"This was your vacation?" Panda asked.
"Salmon?" Toge added, meaning, "Are you okay?"
After Maki Zenin proudly announced her battle results, Panda raised a paw to cover their face. "This idiot," they muttered. "Even I, a Panda, can't stand watching this."
The only one who was truly happy was the childlike Pancham. With so many new dark circles to look at, it was overjoyed, swinging its little fists around. It was quickly restrained and taken away by Gardevoir using Psychic Power.
Right after that, Panda and Maki Zenin started fighting as well. The main reason was that Panda had been getting more and more excessive lately. The behavior was becoming unbearable.
One moment they asked Maki Zenin what kind of boys she liked. The next, they asked Akira whether he preferred women with larger chests or smaller ones. Asking things like that in front of so many people was shameless. What an outrageous gossip-loving Panda.
At Tokyo Jujutsu High, training battles often ended in chaotic brawls. Even Megumi Fushiguro could not avoid getting dragged in this time. In the end, the one still standing was Toge Inumaki.
True to his name, he focused entirely on survival. His legs were quick, he ran fast, and he kept a low presence by rarely speaking. One well-timed, wide-range use of Cursed Speech sealed the victory.
After a period of training, his sense of timing when releasing Cursed Speech had improved greatly. When he stayed silent, it was fine, but once he spoke, there were guaranteed results. That reliability stood out.
When the brawl ended, the boys, girls, and the Panda lay sprawled across the training field. They recovered their strength while listening to Akira and the observing Satoru Gojo summarize and review the fight. The atmosphere was tired but focused.
For the first-year students who were already used to this, there was little to say. The issues were old and familiar, things that required slow, steady polishing over time. What was truly worth mentioning was the newly joined prep student, Megumi Fushiguro.
"For the next period of time, you need to focus on improving your close combat abilities," Akira said. "Hand-to-hand fighting, tool usage, and coordination with Shikigami." This was the initial plan he laid out.
"Not subjugating Shikigami?" Megumi Fushiguro asked, puzzled. In his view, mastering as many Shikigami as possible was the fastest way to grow stronger. It seemed obvious to him.
"That's important too," Akira replied. "Everyone will help you think of ways."
"I appreciate the kindness," Megumi Fushiguro said, "but the subjugation ritual doesn't allow outside interference. Once external force is involved, it's judged invalid."
If it were possible, Megumi Fushiguro would have already brought all ten Shikigami under his control. Unfortunately, he happened to have the "strongest" person by his side, which complicated things.
Akira simply wagged a finger. "That's small thinking. Your perspective is too narrow. What counts as external force, and how is it defined? As long as you understand the trigger conditions, there's always a way around it."
Megumi Fushiguro's biggest problem was that he was too conservative about certain matters. He was trapped by habitual ways of thinking. Those invisible limits held him back.
He was like a model student who only knew how to study hard, solve problems honestly, and rely on his own ability in exams. That mindset had served him well, but it also confined him.
What Akira wanted to teach him were methods he had never even considered before. They were ways of bending the rules, approaches far beyond what he had imagined.
Author: Third Magus
"Based on my understanding of Jujutsu, there are only two ways it gets judged," Akira said calmly. "Individual judgment, and Cursed Energy judgment. Individual judgment can be further split into body judgment and soul judgment."
"Body judgment is the easiest," he continued, speaking as if it were routine. "Grab a few Cursed Spirit as cannon fodder, or borrow a Cursed Corpse from the principal. Wear it down most of the way, then let Panda beat it up, and if that is still not enough, Gardevoir can hold the line. You take the final blow yourself."
Megumi Fushiguro froze after hearing that. "You can do it like that?"
"Rules are dead, people are alive," Akira said, continuing his life philosophy. "This world is not about who follows the rules better, but who can bend them legally and reasonably. As long as the subjugation is complete, the process does not matter at all."
"Jujutsu Sorcerer already live outside normal society, in the shadow of common sense," he went on. "If you do not know how to adapt, you will die."
The so called delinquent teenager had his values completely refreshed, and his fairly handsome face twisted as if it were about to wrinkle into a rag.
"Then what about soul judgment?" the shaken boy asked.
"That one is more troublesome," Akira replied. "Cursed Spirit definitely will not work, and I have never tested Cursed Corpse. Even if it does not work, we still have Cursed Tools. Smash it in the face with Cursed Tools first, and once it is beaten enough, you go in and subjugate it."
This was the exact method that let the great hero king become an Archer, and Akira called it the "Golden Flash Tactic." On second thought, "Panda Tactic" also worked, since they were both ancient human techniques.
Maki Zenin chuckled when she heard that. "The Cursed Tool Vault of Tokyo Jujutsu High is under my control. We have dozens of Cursed Tools, more than enough for you to throw."
Megumi Fushiguro fell silent.
It really felt like he had walked into a den of thieves, and the whole tone was completely off.
"Cursed Energy judgment is even more annoying," Akira continued. "You cannot use Cursed Corpse, Cursed Tools, or Cursed Spirit. The good news is that Tokyo Jujutsu High never lacks close combat fighters. Even without Cursed Energy, they are still strong."
"We can find a way to restrain the movement of Shikigami," he added. "You just focus on attacking."
Akira clenched his fist, while Maki Zenin flicked her ponytail. Together, they looked like a perfectly matched pair.
As an aside, Akira had already tested Gardevoir's psychic powers. At their core, they were mental power, and since Cursed Energy was part of that, it was also excluded.
"Unfortunately, none of that works," Satoru Gojo said, pouring cold water without any change in tone. "The restrictions of Ten Shadows Technique include all of the above. Makoto was a very stingy ancestor."
"If Taira no Masakado or Abe no Seimei knew about this, would they be angry enough to crawl out of their graves?" he added casually, while exposing the old secrets of the Three Great Clans.
The origins of the Three Great Clans corresponded to three infamous vengeful spirits in the legends of Japan.
The Gojo Clan traced its origin to Sugawara no Michizane, which needed no explanation.