Exchange Event

"Mission complete!"

After handing things over to the police and the people who had come to handle the aftermath, Shen Yuanyi had nothing else to do there.

Since he had been either training at school or carrying out missions and had not gone out for a while, Shen Yuanyi decided to take a stroll before heading back, picking up some gifts for the others while he was at it.

By the time he returned, Maki, Panda, and the others had all completed their missions. However, Maki had run into a minor mishap and suffered a small injury in battle. Fortunately, it was nothing serious.

Apparently, Okkotsu Yuta's girlfriend—Rika—had also revealed her full form and brutally torn the Cursed Spirit from their mission to pieces.

Moreover, according to Maki after she returned, Okkotsu Yuta's rank was actually Special Grade! At present, there were only three known Special Grade Sorcerers: Gojo Satoru, the strongest sorcerer alive; Tsukumo Yuki, who spent most of her time overseas; and Geto Suguru, who had already been designated a Curse User.

In other words, Okkotsu Yuta was the fourth Special Grade Sorcerer? But thinking about the terrify—powerful presence of Yuta's little girlfriend, it was not impossible to understand.

"N-No, not really..." Okkotsu Yuta could barely withstand all the eyes focused on him. Panda kept letting out sounds of amazement beside him, while Inumaki Toge voiced his own astonishment in rice ball ingredients.

Maki stood off to the side with her arms crossed, curling her lip. How did this bean sprout look like a Special Grade? Without that curse, he was practically useless in a fight.

Still... back then, he had saved her and those two children, hadn't he? He might still be weak, but... as long as he had the conviction to strive toward becoming stronger, that was enough.

"Let's go. Training starts now."

Maki was the first to head toward the Training Ground. Panda patted Okkotsu Yuta on the shoulder and declared spiritedly, "Come on! Let's advance together on the path to strength!"

Okkotsu Yuta nodded firmly and smiled. The group followed behind Maki through the corridor, one after another, as warm sunlight streamed through the window lattice and fell over their smiling faces.

"Huff... huff..."

Okkotsu Yuta leaned on his training Wooden Sword and gasped for breath. His limbs and body were so numb they hardly felt like his own. Across from him stood Maki, brimming with fighting spirit.

"Hurry up! Pick up your sword and get to your feet. You've already rested for five minutes." Maki urged him impatiently.

From the lawn nearby, Panda said sympathetically, "Yuta's really tough. Maki and Yuanyi have been taking turns sparring with him. This is already the seventh round, right? It's amazing he can still keep going."

"Salmon."

After Okkotsu Yuta volunteered to say that he wanted to grow stronger as quickly as possible, Maki had set this training regimen with a cold smile. She and Yuanyi would take turns putting Okkotsu Yuta through high-intensity training.

Though his improvement was obvious, it severely tested Yuta's willpower and stamina. The purpose was to push past his physical limits. As for injuries, with Ieiri Shoko at Jujutsu High, they were not much of an issue for someone who had mastered Reverse Cursed Technique.

When Okkotsu Yuta got up once more and took his stance, Maki finally revealed a satisfied smile. "Ready to face a raging storm?"

Shen Yuanyi, who had only recently been rotated out, was about to watch for a while when he suddenly saw Principal Yaga approaching with a figure beside him. Instantly energized, Shen Yuanyi got up and ran over.

The figure in front of Yaga Masamichi also happily ran toward Shen Yuanyi. Upon getting closer, he saw that it was White Wolf, whom he had not seen in quite some time.

White Wolf, who seemed to have grown larger, darted over in a flash and pounced, knocking the unprepared Shen Yuanyi to the ground. It then frantically nuzzled and licked him.

After tightly hugging that dog head and giving it a thorough rubdown, White Wolf finally settled down somewhat and sat obediently on the ground. Only then did Shen Yuanyi have the chance to examine how it had changed.

First, it had grown larger. Even sitting down, it now nearly reached his waist. It had also become much stronger—one moment of carelessness had been enough for it to easily knock him down.

There were now streaks of black amid its fur. Beyond those outward changes, the Cursed Energy contained within White Wolf's body had also grown considerably denser. To use a rather inappropriate comparison, White Wolf was probably now about as strong as an ordinary Semi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirit.

Of course, that was in its combat state. Although White Wolf was also a Cursed Corpse made by Principal Yaga, it was entirely different from Panda. After all, Panda was Yaga Masamichi's greatest creation—a suddenly mutated Cursed Corpse.

Even if he tried making one again, he would never be able to recreate such a miracle. Still, White Wolf could be considered one of Principal Yaga's masterpieces as well.

Its daily activities consumed very little Cursed Energy, allowing it to basically sustain itself in a self-contained cycle. In battle, however, Shen Yuanyi, its owner, needed to replenish it as the situation demanded.

Not long after Shen Yuanyi had arrived at Jujutsu High, Principal Yaga had taken White Wolf away, saying that his craftsmanship had improved greatly since before and that he wanted to "upgrade" White Wolf.

The improvements were probably mainly focused on combat. Yaga Masamichi walked over at that moment, and Shen Yuanyi turned back with a smile to greet him before asking, "Principal Yaga, what upgrades did you give White Wolf?"

Yaga Masamichi faintly revealed a hint of pride. "First and foremost, an overall enhancement. If it has sufficient Cursed Energy, it might even be able to exorcise some less troublesome Semi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirits on its own."

"Second, I strengthened its tracking ability. It can now track traces of Cursed Energy more accurately and over a wider range."

After hearing that, Shen Yuanyi thanked Yaga Masamichi again. Panda and the others noticed what was happening and came over to greet him as well, but their attention was quickly drawn to White Wolf.

Naturally. Who would not love a goofy dog with such an affectionate personality? Even giving it a couple of casual pets was enough. Surprisingly, Maki also seemed rather willing to get close to dogs. At first, she looked somewhat disdainful, but after the silly dog came up to her and played hard to get for a bit, she finally could not resist reaching out to pet it.

Okkotsu Yuta, who had gotten a brief chance to rest, looked at White Wolf with gratitude. "What a good dog."

Shen Yuanyi then had White Wolf demonstrate its combat form. After releasing its Cursed Energy, White Wolf's body visibly expanded, becoming nearly a full size larger than normal. Even one of its paws was as large as Shen Yuanyi's face.

Its claws and fangs became more aggressive, and its fur could no longer conceal the powerful, muscular body beneath. Though it looked much more imposing, the silly dog could not even keep it up for two seconds before coming over again to beg for pets.

Still, despite how foolish it looked now, once it was actually in battle and had Shen Yuanyi's orders, it could handle quite a few things.

Its excellent tracking ability alone was incredibly useful. If White Wolf had been there last time, they would not have had such a hard time tracking down that murderer.

Before long, Okkotsu Yuta was dragged off by Maki to resume training. Yaga Masamichi had already left as well; as principal, he had plenty of matters to attend to.

The days that followed were ordinary Jujutsu High life. Aside from daily training, Okkotsu Yuta also had to learn all sorts of knowledge about the Jujutsu World. After all, he had previously known practically nothing about it.

Shen Yuanyi and the others were occasionally assigned missions as well. In particular, he and Inumaki Toge could take on missions independently because they were Semi-Grade 1 Sorcerers.

Inumaki Toge's Cursed Speech made dealing with Semi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirits and those below them quite easy, while Shen Yuanyi used missions as opportunities to train his coordination with White Wolf.

Day after day passed. Under repeated "brutalization," Okkotsu Yuta improved at an astonishing pace. In terms of pure hand-to-hand combat and weapon use, he could now hold his own against Maki or Shen Yuanyi one-on-one.

After finishing his morning physical training and other exercises, Shen Yuanyi was practicing his technique when he heard Panda shouting from afar.

"Yuanyi, the Exchange Event with Kyoto Jujutsu High is about to begin."

Shen Yuanyi paused. He seemed to remember something about that. Right! It was some kind of competition with another school.

Seeing him deep in thought, Panda assumed Shen Yuanyi didn't know much about the Exchange Event and continued explaining, "It's a competition between us and Kyoto Prefectural Jujutsu High School, with the format decided by the principals of both schools."

"Originally, the second- and third-years were supposed to take part, but most of them aren't at school. Plus, with Yuta being a special grade, they decided to let us and the First-years from Kyoto Jujutsu High participate, partly to give the First-years some experience."

Shen Yuanyi followed Panda toward the Vending Machine. As for the snacks and drinks he had brought, they had long since been wiped out. As they walked, Shen Yuanyi asked, "With us and Yuta, doesn't that mean we've got this in the bag?"

Panda inserted some coins, took out two cold drinks, and handed one to Shen Yuanyi. Then he said, "Can't say it's a hundred percent certain. It's just an Exchange Event, after all, so Rika definitely can't appear. But Yuta's already very strong now. We're allowed to use Cursed Energy and techniques during the Exchange Event, so our odds are pretty good."

"What's the Exchange Event about?"

Although Shen Yuanyi roughly knew, he still asked Panda. Panda scratched his head. "Probably team battles and individual fights. We'll find out soon enough."

When they arrived at the Playground, Inumaki Toge was running laps, with White Wolf running behind him. On the grass, Maki was fighting Okkotsu Yuta.

The two seemed to have been sparring for some time. Not long after Shen Yuanyi and Panda arrived, the winner was decided. In a contest of Weapon and Physical Techniques alone, Maki still had the upper hand.

Maki lowered her hands. Seeing Panda and Shen Yuanyi approach, she said, "You already know, right? It'll probably be next week. We need to step up our training until then."

Inumaki Toge and White Wolf, having finished their training, came over as well and voiced their agreement with Maki. Panda immediately raised a hand and declared passionately, "That's right! Let's do our best together!"

"Hey, hey! My adorable students, seeing you all so full of energy makes your teacher very pleased!"

Everyone turned to look. Gojo Satoru, dressed casually and wearing sunglasses, stood some distance away. After they greeted him, Maki said with some irritation, "What's that unreliable blindfold doing here?"

Gojo Satoru walked over with both hands behind his head and said lazily, "Your teacher came to see his adorable students, of course. Seeing you all so energetic has gotten my blood pumping too! I've decided—before the Exchange Event, I'll give you some special training!"

Maki and Panda didn't think much of it, but Shen Yuanyi's face darkened the moment he heard Gojo Satoru's words. Put plainly, Gojo Satoru's "special training" was true Hell Training.

Gojo Satoru would personally train them to the limits of their potential—not the limits they thought they had, but their objective limits. Shen Yuanyi had experienced it before. All he could say was that it made one feel both alive and dead.

After draining his drink in one go, Shen Yuanyi said calmly, "'Hell' is about to descend..."

Still smiling, Panda asked in confusion, "Yuanyi, what did you just say?"