"BOOM!"
A deafening explosion suddenly erupted from the top of the luxury apartment building.
A massive flash of fire instantly swallowed the rooftop, and half a floor's worth of structure collapsed with a violent shudder.
The night sky was stained red by the flames, while debris and glass rained down from a height of a hundred meters.
"What the hell happened?!"
A few low-level combatants of the Q Organization, who were already reeling in shock from the instant death of two of their comrades, were now completely petrified by this sudden turn of events.
Amidst the rolling smoke and soaring flames...
Two figures descended slowly from mid-air, hovering in the night sky not far from the floor where Riko was located.
The man leading them wore an incredibly extravagant custom combat suit and a helmet shaped like a crown, his face twisted into an insufferably arrogant smirk.
It was the strongest fighter of the curse-user group 'Q'—Bayer!
And behind him was a man wearing a gas mask, radiating a cold and sinister aura—his adjutant, Cocoon.
"Hahaha! Is this Jujutsu High's line of defense? How pathetic!"
Bayer looked down dismissively at the shattered floor-to-ceiling windows. His gaze bypassed Yoru entirely and locked onto the white-haired boy wearing sunglasses.
"Satoru Gojo!"
"Others might fear you, the so-called Child of the Six Eyes, but I, Bayer, am not one of them!"
"Today is the day you die! Once you're dead and the Star Plasma Vessel is eliminated, a new era for our Q Organization will begin in the jujutsu world!"
Bayer's laughter echoed through the night sky, dripping with arrogance.
He suddenly formed a hand seal, and an incredibly massive and violent amount of cursed energy erupted from his body.
The surrounding air groaned under the pressure of this cursed energy.
Countless pieces of rubble and steel bars were pulled into the air by an invisible force, converging into a giant meteorite over ten meters in diameter!
This was Bayer's innate technique, the foundation of his status as Q's strongest combatant.
Once this meteorite dropped, let alone this apartment, the entire building would be instantly leveled!
"Die, Satoru Gojo!"
Bayer let out a roar and slammed his hands downward.
The massive meteorite, carrying the momentum to destroy heaven and earth, crashed toward the broken window!
"Ah!"
Riko Amanai and Misato Kuroi screamed in despair. As ordinary people, or at least those with weak cursed energy, they didn't even have the strength to run in the face of such a cataclysmic attack.
Suguru Geto frowned, and several Special Grade Imaginary Vengeful Spirits specialized in defense were already poised to strike behind him.
However, Satoru Gojo, the one Bayer viewed as his greatest enemy, didn't even flinch.
He didn't even take off his sunglasses. Instead, he simply let out a bored yawn, shoved his hands into his pockets, and turned to look at Yoru.
"Instructor Yoru, looks like someone's trying to steal your spotlight."
Satoru's tone was light and carried an unmistakable sense of mockery.
"Too noisy."
Yoru narrowed his eyes slightly.
His crimson eyes, usually gentle, turned as cold as a blade in an instant.
He ignored the massive meteorite plummeting toward them and didn't even look at the arrogant Bayer in the sky.
He simply reached out with his right hand and gripped the jet-black hilt at his waist.
"Clang!"
A clear, sharp ring of a blade sounded, cutting through the deafening noise of the explosion and reaching everyone's ears.
The next second.
He drew.
Shiranui left its sheath!
A brilliant flash of dark red light suddenly bloomed in the dark room.
As Yoru's breathing rhythm accelerated to its limit, the originally black blade seemed to be ignited, glowing with a piercing red light!
The ambient temperature soared at a terrifying rate.
Riko Amanai could even feel the air she breathed into her lungs burning with a stinging heat.
"Sun Breathing, First Form..."
Yoru's voice wasn't loud, but it possessed a magic that struck directly at the soul.
He didn't take any flashy stance; he simply swung his blade upward with effortless grace.
"Dance!"
BOOM!
A brilliant ring of fire, dozens of meters long, sliced through the darkness like a rising sun!
The speed of that fire was so fast that neither Bayer nor Cocoon had time to react.
"What?!"
The arrogant smile on Bayer's face froze instantly, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.
In his vision, the red light passed through the massive meteorite made of reinforced concrete like a hot knife through butter.
There was no violent explosion, no deafening roar.
Only a sharp, teeth-gritting sizzle.
The meteorite, capable of destroying the entire building, was instantly split in two by that extreme high-temperature slash!
The cut was as smooth as a mirror, and the terrifying heat had even crystallized the surface, which now shimmered with an eerie red glow.
Not only that.
After slicing through the meteorite, the red light didn't lose its momentum and headed straight for Bayer and Cocoon in mid-air!
"No! That's impossible!"
Bayer frantically pushed his cursed energy, trying to condense a defensive barrier in front of him.
But it was all in vain.
The red light completely ignored all of his defenses.
"Sizzle!"
The red light swept past.
Bayer's technique was severed instantly, and his pride-and-joy custom combat suit vaporized under the heat.
"AAAAAAAGH!"
Accompanied by a piercing scream.
Bayer was sent flying like a ragdoll, hurtling dozens of meters back before smashing heavily into the wall of the opposite building, his fate unknown.
Cocoon, standing behind him, was scared out of his wits.
He didn't even dare to look back at Yoru, turning instantly to flee, but as he did, he felt a terrifying surge of heat from behind.
It was the residual afterglow of the Sun Breathing's sword qi!
"Bang!"
Cocoon's body burst in mid-air, turning into a cloud of charred mist.
One strike. Just one strike.
The strongest combat power of the Q Organization—a curse-user group that gave the entire jujutsu world a headache—had been dismantled in an instant.
The scene was dead silent.
There was only the sound of the wind rustling through the curtains.
Riko Amanai and Misato Kuroi stared blankly at the slender figure standing by the window holding the red blade, their minds completely blank.
Suguru Geto couldn't help but swallow hard, a flash of shock crossing his eyes.
Even though he knew Instructor Yoru was strong, seeing such a pure display of absolute violence still made his skin crawl.
"Too weak."
Yoru slowly returned the blade to its sheath.
As Shiranui clicked home, the terrifying heat in the room dissipated instantly.
His breathing hadn't even changed pace, as if the slash he just made was nothing more than swatting an annoying fly.
"That didn't even count as a warm-up."
Yoru turned around and looked at the stunned crowd, his voice calm.
"Hey, hey, hey! Instructor Yoru! That's totally cheating!"
Satoru Gojo was the first to react, shouting out in dissatisfaction.
"I was planning on playing with that crown guy for a bit! I can't believe you one-shotted him!"
"You didn't leave me with any sense of participation at all!"
Yoru glanced at him but didn't say a word.
He knew this was just an appetizer.
The truly troublesome enemies were never the small fry shouting in the open.
It was the man lurking in the shadows, waiting for the fatal strike like a venomous snake.
Yoru turned his head and looked deeply into the night sky outside the window.
There...
He could feel an incredibly faint yet malicious gaze staring fixedly at them.
This easy start didn't make Yoru relax; instead, a flicker of vigilance rose in his heart.
Under this quiet night, how massive a storm was actually brewing?
"Pack your things."
Yoru snapped back to the present and looked at Riko Amanai.
"We need to leave this place."
The true escort mission was only just beginning.
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