Gojo sat there as Ijichi stood in front of him and said, "They went into the detention centre and..."
Gojo looked annoyed, thinking, 'There was a Special-Grade. Sending first-years to rescue five who may or may not be alive should be out of the question. They were trying to get rid of Kiyotaka using the Special-Grade. And if the other two had died, it would be more harassment for me. Those higher-ups... maybe I should just kill them all.'
"They exorcised the Special-Grade Curse."
Gojo looked surprised before smirking and thinking, 'I underestimated you three.'
"Well, they are my students. It's to be expected."
Gojo said this as he got up, stretching his limbs.
'Though Kiyotaka is likely the reason they managed to pull through.'
He walked over to Kiyotaka's room, knocking on it as Kiyotaka opened the door, letting him in.
"Did you get a check-up?"
"Shoko-San said I was fine. She said some bed rest would be enough."
Kiyotaka then rummaged through his pockets as he pulled out another of Sukuna's fingers.
"I found this when the Curse fully evaporated. It's why I stayed behind while Fushiguro and Kugisaki left the scene."
Gojo nodded and said, "I'll hang on to this one. No need to let the higher-ups know that we found one."
Kiyotaka nodded, handing it over to Gojo and saying, "Let's pretend it doesn't exist in our possession."
"They got what was coming to them for targeting my students like that."
Gojo opened the door, leaving as he said, "Go spend some time with Megumi and Nobara."
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The trio sat together on some steps as the heat poured down on them.
"It's hot, huh?"
Megumi said this, and Nobara agreed with a smile, saying, "Yeah. Wonder if it's time for summer uniforms."
"It is a bit hot out."
Kiyotaka said this, but it didn't actually bother him at all. That's when a woman in boots, carrying something in a long bag, walked over saying, "What's this? You look like you're in a better mood than usual, Megumi. Did something good happen?"
She said this with a slight smile as Megumi looked to her, saying, "Zenin-Senpai."
Maki looked annoyed, saying, "Don't use my last name."
A giant panda stood next to her, alone with a boy with white hair, as Kiyotaka thought, 'Is that panda... standing on two legs?'
The panda sweated a little and called out, "Maki."
Maki turned her head to look at him and said, "I'm talking here."
"You actually don't know why they're in a good mood?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The three of them worked together and took down a Special-Grade Curse."
The boy simply said, "Bonito Flakes."
Maki's eyes widened as she smirked, shouting to Panda, "A Special-Grade? Seriously? They took down a Curse as strong as that?"
Inumaki nodded, saying, "Tuna and Mayo!"
Nobara looked confused, asking, "Who are these guys?"
Megumi sighed as he said, "Our second-year upperclassmen."
Magumi gestured towards Maki and said, "Zenin-Senpai is the best of all the students at wielding Cursed Tools."
Kiyotaka looked intrigued, thinking, 'Cursed Tools. Fushiguro mentioned that that was a way to kill Cursed Spirits.'
Then he gestured to the boy and said, "Inumaki-Senpai is a Cursed Speech User. He can only speak in ingredients of rice balls."
Then Megumi gestured to the Panda and said, "Panda-Senpai."
Megumi sighed and said, "There's one more, Okkotsu-Senpai, who's the only one I can openly respect, but he's overseas right now."
Nobara looked at him, annoyed, saying, "You're not adding more about the panda named Panda?"
Kiyotaka sighed and said, "It's a Panda that can talk. Apart from his abilities and behaviour, there's not much else I need to know."
Megumi sighed and said, "He's good-natured. More so than most Jujutsu Sorcerers, and he's strong."
Kiyotaka nodded, accepting this information as he walked over to Maki, offered his hand and introduced himself, saying, "I'm Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. It's nice to meet you. I hope we can work well together."
Maki shook his hand, thinking, 'Whoa, his grip strength is pretty good. Are my glasses fogging up, or does this guy have even less Cursed Energy than me? He's probably a main factor that helped them beat the Special-Grade.'
Nobara then shouted, "Don't just repeat the same lame introduction with her as you did with me!"
Kiytoaka sighed, asking, "Is it necessary to uselessly waste energy on such things?" as he then asked Maki, "If you don't like your last name being used, how should I refer to you?"
Maki smirked, saying, "You're the respectful kind of Kohai, huh? I like it. You can just call me Maki."
"Alright, Maki."
He turned to Inumaki, offering his hand and saying, "I'm Ayanokoji Kiyotaka..."
"Don't you dare, or I'm going to fire a Resonance nail at you!"
Kiytoaka deadpanned, saying, "You know what I was going to say."
"Salmon roe."
"I see."
'I don't get it.'
Kiyotaka sighed, thinking, 'It'll take time, but I should be able to decipher this strange language quirk eventually.'
He said this before turning to Panda as he looked to see Panda's face, thinking, 'You're either a genetic marvel or some strange creation via Jujutsu.'
Kiyotaka offered his hand as Panda took it, causing Nobara to shout, "How are you actually shaking hands with a panda right now? How does none of this bother either of you?!"
Megumi deadpanned, saying, "I don't really care."
"It doesn't matter."
Kiyotaka said this as he let go of Panda's hand and asked, "Are you here only to introduce yourselves or..."
Panda smiled and said, "We'd like you three to participate in the Tokyo-Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event."
Nobara looked confused, asking, "Tokyo-Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event?"
She turned to Megumi, asking, "What's that?"
"It's a get-together with the other Jujutsu Tech School in Kyoto. Though, isn't that event mainly for second and third years?"
Maki looked annoyed, saying, "And those stupid third-years are suspended right now. So you need to participate."
Kiyotaka then asked, "You can get suspended in this school?"
Megumi nodded, saying, "Only if you did something really bad to piss off the higher-ups, while also not enough for them to order you to be killed."
Nobara sighed, asking, "What do we do at that event? Smash Bros.? I won't lose if it's the Wii Version. I'll meteor smash so you won't come back."
She said that last part with a smirk.
Panda deadpanned and said, "Then let's make a three-man team. The exchange event has the principals of the Tokyo and Kyoto schools. Each proposes a form of competition to be held for an entire day over the course of two days. Though that's just how it is on paper. Every year, the first day is team battles, and the second day is individual battles."
Kiyotaka sighed, thinking, 'I signed up to defend innocent people in exchange for my life being spared. Why am I getting dragged into so many unnecessary things?'
Nobara looked confused, asking, "Team and individual battles?..."
She realised, shouting, "We fight? Against other Jujutsu Sorcerers?!"
Maki smirked and said, "Yeah, it's a Jujutsu battle where anything but killing goes."
Kiyotaka deadpanned, thinking, 'There's a likelihood the other school will ignore that part of the rules if ordered by the higher-ups.'
Panda looked to them and said, "We'll train you up well so you won't get killed."
He began doing kata punches, saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"
'How eccentric' was the thought that crossed Kiyotaka's mind.
Nobara looked confused, asking, "Wait, do we have time for this event? I thought we were short on Jujutsu Sorcerers."
Panda looked to her, saying, "That's a good question. For now, we are. The glum emotions people harbour from late winter through spring cause an outburst of Curses, so that's our busy season."
"Sometimes we're busy all year long, but things should be settling down soon."
Maki said this as Nobara seemed to understand. She then asked, "So you'll do it, right? You just exorcised a Special-Grade Curse, so you guys should be on a roll."
Kiyotaka shook his head, saying, "I'll have to pass. Gojo has me assigned to a mission that's coming up."
Gojo never said such a thing. It was an excuse Kiyotaka made so as not to have to participate in the event.
Maki clicked her tongue in annoyance, thinking, 'Annoying blindfolded idiot.'
Kiyotaka sighed inwardly, thinking, 'I don't want to be involved in an Ayanokoji Kiyotaka Open Season.'
Megumi and Nobara, however, both said, "We're in!" while both thinking, 'We relied way too much on Ayanokoji in that fight' and then declaring, "I... have to get stronger! I'll do anything to achieve that!"
Kiyotaka looked to Nobara and asked, "Even if you have to eat a Special-Grade Cursed Object?"
Nobara took out a nail.
"Why are you holding that nail like that. You know I was only joking ri..."
She walked to him with an annoyed expression, holding the nail.
"Ow. That hurts you know."
"You faker!"
Kiyotaka sighed and said, "That's up to you to believe or not believe."
Nobara sighed at this attitude before turning to the second-years and saying, "If I decide this training and exchange event are pointless, I'm quitting."
Megumi agreed, saying, "Same here."
Maki smirked as Panda crossed his arms, saying, "Well, people this cocky are all the more worthwhile to train."
"Bonito Flakes."
Kiyotaka analysed the tone in Inumaki's voice, thinking, 'He's agreeing.'
Kiyotaka sighed as he walked off, saying, "I'm going to go get some practice with my Cursed Technique. I'll see you all later."
Maki looked to Megumi, asking, "Cursed Technique? He has Cursed Energy?"
Megumi nodded, saying, "His Cursed Energy is invisible. According to Gojo, not even he can see it."
Maki looked shocked before feeling impressed, asking, "What's his Technique?"
"He can convert his Cursed Energy into physical mass."
Maki paused for a second as she thought of Mai before shaking off the thought and asking, "Construction Sorcery?"
Megumi shook his head and said, "No. I don't think so. Still, I don't have a clue since he hasn't said anything about it. He probably doesn't want people knowing his Cursed Technique if he can help it."
Maki sighed and said, "Alright. Whatever. Let's go train."
Megumi nodded as he and Nobara headed off with the Second-Years.
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It was night as Kiyotaka stood in the training area as he began infusing his fist with Cursed Energy, as he thought, 'Hm... this way of gathering it is actually a bit more efficient', as he changed the way he gathered it up to be like the way he had just tried and thought, 'Much better. Less waste and similar output.'
That's when Gojo appeared next to him, making him think, 'Teleportation?' as he turned to face him and asked, "Is there something you need from me?"
"We're heading out, Kiyotaka. It's an extracurricular lesson. I'm going to teach you about the pinnacle of Jujutsu battles, Domain Expansion."
Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow slightly, thinking, 'Domain Expansion? Is it superimposing a territory onto your surroundings? There must be more to it than that.'
Gojo picked up Kiyotaka by the shirt.
"Must you pick me up like this?"
"Do you prefer bridal carry, Kiyotaka-kun?"
"Never mind."
Gojo teleported them away.
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Kiyotaka looked around as the surroundings had changed. They were now standing on a lake, and there was a Curse with a volcanic head in front of them, wounded. Kiyotaka locked on to it, thinking, 'We were at the school 10 seconds ago, and now I'm face-to-face with a Special-Grade Curse that's likely more than 10x stronger than the one I fought with Fushiguro and Kugisaki.'
Jogo looked surprised, thinking, 'He brought Sukuna's vessel here? For what reason?'
He remembered "Geto's" words, thinking, 'I can't kill the Ayanokoji due to our future plans... Has he caught on to our goals?'
Jogo looked to Gojo, asking, "What's the kid for? A shield?"
"Shield? No, no. He's here to watch. I'm in the middle of teaching this boy lots of things. Don't worry about him. Just keep fighting."
Kiyotaka looked to Jogo, thinking, 'It's made from the fear of volcanoes? That explains how strong it is.'
Jogo looked to Kiyotaka, thinking, 'Wait! Why doesn't he have any Cursed Energy? Is he not Sukuna's vessel?'
Jogo smirked and said, "Bringing in someone who will slow you down just makes you a fool."
Gojo laughed, saying, "It'll be fine. After all... you're kinda weak" and smirking.
Volcanic liquid burst from the Curse's head as his anger took over, shouting, "Don't underestimate me, you insolent ass! I'm going to enjoy tearing off that smug face of yours!"
The water surged forth from the force of the eruptions and Cursed Energy, making Kiyotaka think, 'Just how absurdly strong are you to call something like that [weak]?"
Gojo patted Kiyotaka's head and said, "Stay close to me, okay?"
"Alright."
Jogo made a hand sign, shouting, "Domain Expansion!" as the black dome expanded and covered the surrounding area, trapping Gojo and Kiyotaka within it. A rocky environment spawned inside the domain as magma leaked out from cracks.
Jogo smirked, saying, "Coffin Of The Iron Mountain."
Gojo smiled and said, "This is a Domain Expansion. By fueling a barrier with your Cursed Energy and imbuing your Cursed Technique into it, you get this. What you three experienced at the detention centre was an incomplete domain that didn't have a Cursed Technique imbued into it. If it had been a proper Domain, even with your excellent teamwork and plan, all three of you would have died."
"I see. So that's why Fushiguro was so tense back then."
Gojo nodded before continuing, "Spreading out a Domain consumes a ton of energy, but the merits are worth the cost. One such benefit is a boost to stats due to environmental factors."
A column of rock edged closer to them as Gojo destroyed it with a single attack, saying, "Another one is..."
Jogo clicked his tongue, thinking, 'Most sorcerers would have burned to ash the moment they entered my Domain!'
Gojo finished what he was saying, "... that techniques imbued in the Domain are guaranteed to hit within that Domain."
Kiyotaka nodded, thinking, 'A guaranteed hit effect. That's quite dangerous. It makes sense now why Domains are the pinnacle of Jujutsu.'
Gojo smiled and said, "There are ways to deal with it. Block it with a Cursed Technique or Reinforcement, use a Simple Domain, though a skill like that is rare, or I don't recommend this, but you can go outside the Domain. That's usually impossible. You can also..."
"If I neutralise that Infinity of yours with a Domain, then my techniques will reach you."
Jogo said this as Kiytoaka thought, 'Infinity? Is he creating space between himself and his opponent? If so, that would be a hard technique to counter. Practically impossible in most circumstances.'
"Yeah, they'll hit."
Gojo said this casually as Jogo thought back to his deal with "Geto", thinking, 'I came here half in jest. I thought I wouldn't care if I couldn't kill him. But having this difference between us thrust in my face... On my pride as a Cursed Spirit, as the new humanity, this is completely unacceptable!'
Gojo lifted his arm, saying, "The most effective way to deal with a Domain is to lay out your own Domain. When two Domains are laid out at the same time, the more refined one will dominate that space. Though sometimes compatibility and the amount of Cursed Energy are factors.", while grabbing his blind fold and taking it off, revealing his blue eyes.
Jogo got into a stance, shouting, "There won't even be ashes left of you, Gojo Satoru!" as he unleashed an attack at them.
It stopped in its tracks as Gojo made a one-handed hand sign and said, "Domain Expansion: Infinite Void!"
An abnormal domain expanded out, stretching across the space as Jogo froze in place, unable to move.
'What just happened? Was my Domain overwhelmed? I can't see anything. I can't feel anything. No... I can see everything! I can feel everything! But the information is never complete... so I can't do anything!'
Jogo thought this as Gojo put his hand on top of his head, carrying Kiyotaka with his free hand and saying, "This is the inner world of Limitless. Perception, communication... Every action involved in living is forcibly carried out an infinite number of times."
Gojo smiled, saying, "It's ironic, isn't it? When granted everything, you can't do anything... but just die peacefully. But I have questions to ask you, so I'm letting you off the hook with just this."
Gojo proceeded to rip off Jogo's head as both Domains disappeared and shattered. Gojo threw Jogo's head onto the grass and stepped on it, asking, "Now, who told you to come after me? You don't seem like the type to act on orders. Was something good supposed to happen if you killed me? Regardless, I want to know. Who was it?"
Gojo began pressing his foot down, saying, "Come on, just tell me already."
"Like I'd ever tell you, you little punk!"
Gojo frowned, asking, "You sure you should be saying that?" as he pressed his foot down harder.
"Damn you!"
Gojo wiped the expression off his face and said, "Hurry up and tell me, or I'll exorcise you. Of course, I'll do that either way."
That's when a flower appeared, and a field of flowers extended from it, pacifying both Kiyotaka and Gojo.
Gojo looked at the flowers in wonder, saying, "Wow! Pretty!"
Gojo slapped his face, thinking, 'That is a curse, right? It's stripping away my will to fight.'
Kiyotaka regained his sense of reason first as he aimed his hand, saying, "Manifest!" as spikes appeared near him, only for a root to grab his leg, making him think, 'This is going to hurt as he was pulled away from the ground. Hanami took this opportunity in which Gojo was concerned to grab Jogo's head. Kiyotaka fired the spikes, but they were unable to damage Hanami as she ran off.
Kiyotaka fired the last one he had at the root, cutting himself loose as he landed on the ground. Gojo turned around, saying, "Wow. He got away. He's good at hiding his presence."
Gojo smiled, saying, "So Cursed Spirits of that level are forming a faction now? This is getting interesting."
Gojo turned to Kiyotaka and said, "Kiyotaka. I want you-or rather, everyone-to become strong enough to beat that."
Gojo smiled, saying, "It's better to have a concrete goal, right? Man, I'm glad I brought you here."
Kiyotaka sighed, thinking, 'Stronger than that Volcano Curse? That's a hard task.'
"Now that we've set your goal, all that's left is to pursue it. For the next month, you're going to train with me. I'll assign you some missions. Then once all is done, you can show it all off at the Exchange Event."
Kiyotaka deadpanned at his own terrible luck.
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To Be Continued
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Rating Out Of 10 For This Chapter?
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