Early morning. Jujutsu High training ground.
The sun had just peeked out from behind the ridge line. Junpei Yoshino sat cross-legged on the smooth wooden floor, listening to the two in front of him talk animatedly.
Satoru Gojo wore a loose black T-shirt, sunglasses pushed up on his head, hands in his pockets.
"Yoshino-kun, your shikigami seems to have the ability to freely control its size within a certain limit—just like real jellyfish species. The smallest shouldn't be smaller than a fingernail. As for the largest... it should be able to reach the size of a Lion's Mane Jellyfish?"
The Lion's Mane Jellyfish. One of the largest jellyfish species in the world. The tentacles trailing behind it could reach over thirty meters—equivalent to the length of a blue whale.
However, creating a shikigami of that size would consume a massive amount of cursed energy. Junpei probably couldn't manage that right now.
"Besides that, the tail end of the jellyfish can extend spiked tentacles to attack enemies. The spikes contain a neurotoxin that can paralyze people."
"It's quite a good ability. Yuji, what do you think?"
Satoru Gojo looked at the pink-haired boy beside him.
Yuji nodded. "That's right. For an average shikigami, having two out of three abilities is already good. Yours can freely change size, has extendable tentacles for mid-to-close range attacks, and possesses crowd control abilities."
"You might even become a Grade 1 sorcerer in the future, Junpei."
Junpei froze, eyes widening.
"A—A Grade 1?"
"Yeah." Yuji walked up and patted his shoulder. "Take your time. There's no rush."
Satoru Gojo, uncharacteristically serious, added: "Yuji's right. Your innate technique has a lot of potential. Don't waste it."
"I will work hard!"
Junpei said excitedly.
"Haha, then do your best, kid."
Satoru Gojo gave him a thumbs-up.
The memory ended. Junpei looked at the blue-haired girl slowly getting up from the riverbank. Ripples stirred in his heart.
"The Kyoto school people might be trying to kill Itadori."
—He recalled what Megumi Fushiguro had said on the phone.
Junpei's fingers tightened.
The girl in front of him—although she looked harmless—her broken sword indicated she must have been part of the plan to attack Yuji.
Junpei took a deep breath.
"Sorry. Although you look... like you're not a bad person—what if you're pretending? What if you pose a threat to my companions after you go back?"
I just need to use Moon Dregs' toxin to paralyze her here...
Junpei thought to himself.
"Come out, Moon Dregs!"
"...?"
Kasumi Miwa looked up—only to see a massive, light blue jellyfish, a full head taller than Junpei, appear behind the boy.
"A—A shikigami?" She clutched her head and stood up, instinctively stepping back. "So big!"
"Eh? Where's my sword?"
Kasumi looked down and found her hands empty. She quickly scanned the area and realized her sword had been thrown from her hand when she fell... and landed right next to Junpei's feet.
"...Help!"
A loud boom echoed from deep within the forest.
BOOM—!!!
Yuji's fist, wrapped in pitch-black electrical arcs, smashed fiercely against Aoi Todo's crossed defensive arms.
Unable to withstand the impact, Aoi Todo flew backward—only stopping after snapping several thick tree trunks.
"Nice punch!"
Aoi Todo landed from the air, stabilized his posture, and plowed two deep grooves in the ground with his feet.
That was... the sixth Black Flash, right? As expected of my best friend—to have such formidable strength after only five days of enrollment!
My passion is simply burning up!
Aoi Todo kicked off the ground with his right foot, his body shooting toward Yuji like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Todo—your best friend has landed multiple consecutive Black Flashes right in front of you. How can you remain stagnant?
Your best friend clearly has such formidable talent. How can you let him leave you behind? Are you going to drag your brother down?!
Aoi Todo dove right in front of Yuji in an instant. He planted his left foot, raised his right leg, and kicked fiercely at Yuji—his cursed energy shifting from cyan to pitch-black.
"Black Flash!"
BANG—!
Yuji raised his arm to block but was sent flying by the immense force. Just like Aoi Todo earlier, he only slowly got up amidst the dust after smashing through several trees.
The dust cleared. Yuji stood. He shook his numb arm and smiled approvingly at Aoi Todo.
"Nice kick."
"Again!"
Aoi Todo charged forward, clashing with Yuji once more.
The two seemed to be fighting—but in reality, they were deepening their bond through something akin to a spar.
The reason Yuji was willing to continue fighting Aoi Todo was because unleashing a Black Flash put the sorcerer into the "Zone"—a state of fully realizing their potential. In this state, the sorcerer would feel cursed energy throughout their body flowing as naturally as breathing.
During the battle with Naoya Zenin earlier, Yuji had consumed most of his cursed energy from overusing the Reverse Cursed Technique.
Now, Yuji and Aoi Todo seemed to be fighting—but Yuji actually wanted to use this opportunity to land multiple consecutive Black Flashes. By entering the Zone, he could accelerate his cursed energy recovery and quickly regain his peak condition.
Because he knew that simply defeating Naoya Zenin wasn't the end. In his past life's Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event, a cursed spirit named Hanami and several curse users had invaded Jujutsu High, exploiting the gaps in the event's defenses.
Although he hadn't sensed the opponent's arrival yet, Yuji chose to prepare for a rainy day.
Furthermore, he didn't dislike the feeling of sparring with Aoi Todo.
"Come on! My best friend!"
On the other side.
A strong beat of music played.
Unlike the intense battlefield on Yuji's side—and the battlefield where Megumi and the others faced off against the Kyoto school, each performing their respective roles...
The two people here were playing a game called "Run, Kasumi Miwa, Run."
"Wah—!"
"Don't run!"
SPLASH—!
Ripples spread across the riverbank as water splashed into the air. Kasumi Miwa ran toward the end of the riverbank without looking back, nearly tripping several times on the cobblestones.
Junpei chased after her. Moon Dregs floated above his head, its elongated tentacles lashing out like whips, aiming straight for Kasumi Miwa ahead.
Sensing the sound of something tearing through the air behind her, Kasumi quickly turned. The tentacle brushed past her school uniform and stabbed into the cobblestones.
BANG!
The stones shattered into pieces. Flying debris hit Kasumi's calves, making her grimace.
"Are you serious?! Are you kidding me!"
Kasumi wanted to cry but had no tears. She was injured. She had no weapon!
"I was serious from the start! I can't let you go back and help your other companions!"
The two ran frantically along the riverbank, one after the other, splashing water everywhere.
"I won't! I'm useless! I can't help everyone at all!"
"I don't believe you. Even if there's only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, I can't let you escape!"
WHOOSH!
A tentacle brushed past Kasumi's foot, exploding a splash of water in the river.
"Gah!"
WHOOSH!
Another tentacle brushed past her waist, tearing a slit in her uniform.
"NO! Don't hit there! This uniform is expensive, okay!"
Kasumi had no choice but to keep running frantically, trying to escape the black-haired boy behind her.
"Unlucky, unlucky, unlucky, unlucky, unlucky, unlucky, unlucky, unlucky!"
"You guys are fighting pretty hard."
Unbeknownst to the students—and the teachers watching the event, including Satoru Gojo—Jujutsu High's barrier had been infiltrated.
A dark-skinned, bald curse user wearing a black apron stood at the very edge of the exchange event area, sensing the dense cursed energy coming from nearby.
He held an axe and a nail wrapped in special bandages. He drove the nail into the ground.
This nail was the "foundation."
Unlike a normal Curtain.
An entrusted Curtain's effect mainly came from a Binding Vow—
By adding a "foundation," like this nail, inside the Curtain as a Binding Vow, the defensive capabilities were greatly enhanced.
If the foundation was destroyed, the Curtain would immediately disappear. But if the foundation remained, the Curtain gained extremely high stability—making it much harder to break from outside.
At the same time, Hanami raised its hand not far away and began the incantation.
"Emerge from darkness, darker than darkness. Purify that which is impure..."
A pitch-black, viscous liquid appeared in the air above the center of the exchange event grounds. This liquid gradually enveloped the entire area in a hemispherical shape.
Besides the Binding Vow related to the foundation, Hanami added an extra condition to the Curtain.
Anyone could freely enter and exit—except for Satoru Gojo.
With the enhancement of the two Binding Vows, this Curtain possessed extremely strong defensive capabilities. Kenjaku had previously told it that this Curtain could stall Satoru Gojo outside the barrier for at least half an hour.
Half an hour was enough.
Next to appear were the Special Grade curse Jogo, the Special Grade curse Hanami, and Kenjaku's forces: two Grade 1 curse users, three Semi-Grade 1 curse users, and five Grade 2 curse users.
<><><><><><>
Read Advanced Chapters on : patreon.com/Kaizo247
~ Every 150 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]