Reversal

"I've got it—let's do this. Come at me one at a time and let me see everything you've got. Remember, give it your all!"

At the Training Ground, Gojo Satoru rolled up his sleeves and spoke to the five standing across from him. For some reason, his lazy tone was rather irritating.

Maki stepped forward first, her gaze sharp. "I'll go first!"

Gojo Satoru stood there with his hands in his pockets, having shifted his stance. Maki cleared away every distracting thought, gripped her staff, and burst toward him.

In the blink of an eye, Maki reached Gojo Satoru, but she abruptly twisted aside and changed angles. At the same time, the staff in her hand sliced through the air with a tearing whistle as it struck toward his upper body.

The nearly continuous blur of staff shadows suddenly came to a halt, firmly caught in a long, well-defined hand.

Gojo Satoru spoke again in the same leisurely tone, as though he were on vacation. "Maki, did you use up all your strength in training just now? And didn't I tell you to go all out?"

"Part of this training is for the upcoming Exchange Event. But I also hope you'll learn something from it—something you can use in your future missions."

As Gojo Satoru said this, the corners of his lips curved into a smile. His sunglasses slipped down slightly, revealing part of his eyes. Those eyes, like the sky and sea, now held a trace of seriousness.

"So... treat me like a real enemy. Give it everything you have. I'll be happy to teach you."

Gojo Satoru laughed. "Don't worry about your teacher! After all... I'm invincible."

"We are invincible!"

For an instant, Gojo Satoru's thoughts drifted. Then a blur flashed before his eyes, and Maki seized that opening, unleashing a sweeping strike. At the critical moment, Gojo Satoru leaned backward and narrowly avoided the staff.

He then planted one hand on the ground and swept his leg, forcing back Maki, who had shifted into another attack. His figure flashed, and he sprang up from the floor, closing his fist and flattening his palm as he counterattacked her.

Maki, who had fallen into a disadvantage, felt utterly stifled. It felt like she was not facing one person at all—this barrage of attacks was like several people attacking her at once.

But once her fighting spirit had truly been stirred, she gradually had no time to think about that. Nearly every attack she made now came by instinct, and she wielded the long staff with almost miraculous skill.

Yet it was useless. Whenever she was about to strike Gojo Satoru, he would shift ever so slightly from his original position. It was like blinking—only his starting and ending positions could be observed, while the process itself was completely invisible.

In truth, even if he stood still and let Maki hit him, Gojo Satoru, having turned his technique passive, would not truly be touched by the staff.

Maki's every wave of attacks was dismantled by Gojo Satoru, who kept pointing out the openings she exposed or casually explaining how she should have attacked instead.

Though Gojo Satoru's counterattacks looked casual, they were anything but pleasant when they landed. It seemed he had made up his mind to let his students experience the love of a raging storm.

But they had all gone through several cursed missions, and injuries were hardly uncommon during normal training. Especially for a ruthless close-combat fighter like Maki, such minor wounds only made her desire to attack grow stronger.

The two exchanged dozens of moves in a rapid flurry. Then Gojo Satoru knocked Maki down with a palm strike to her forehead and declared her out, calling for the next person.

Shen Yuanyi sighed from the side. "He's even using his technique. How are we supposed to fight that?"

Panda clasped his hands together and stretched them a little. "Isn't that better? I'm up!"

Then Shen Yuanyi watched as Panda, having activated Gorilla Mode, was thrown back upside down not long afterward. Meanwhile, Gojo Satoru was stretching his body as if warming up.

As an abruptly mutated Cursed Corpse, Panda differed from other Cursed Corpses in that he had not one core, but three. In other words, he possessed three personalities.

The first was Panda, who valued balance, his usual form. The second was Gorilla Mode, which valued strength. The third was "Sister," who valued speed but rarely appeared due to shyness.

Panda also had a special move in Gorilla Mode—Shockwave Palm. Simply put, ordinary defenses were ineffective against this attack; its "armor penetration" was extremely high.

Yet none of it had any effect. Panda was beaten straight back into his balanced form and lay on the ground, bruised and battered.

"Hi~ Time for the next student!"

Gojo Satoru smiled brightly, but his gaze settled on Shen Yuanyi. Knowing he could not avoid it, Shen Yuanyi could only pick up a Wooden Sword and walk over.

"I'm saying, Gojo-sensei, isn't there no point in me going? I can't break through your Limitless Cursed Technique right now. Wouldn't this just be me getting beaten up one-sidedly?"

Gojo Satoru waved a hand. "Don't say that, Yuanyi. It'd be good for your teacher to see your true strength now too..."

Bang!

The sound of air exploding rang out sharply. Everyone present saw a blur, and Shen Yuanyi, who had been standing there leisurely, instantly appeared not far in front of Gojo Satoru—only to be sent flying backward.

The Wooden Sword in his hand had already shattered into tiny fragments. Shen Yuanyi vanished again in midair, only to reappear farther along the path of his flight.

Shen Yuanyi rubbed his wrist and complained, "Gojo-sensei, that's way too unfair."

Gojo Satoru stroked his chin with interest. "Yuanyi, have you already mastered your technique to this extent? That was Cursed Technique Reversal just now, wasn't it?"

Shen Yuanyi grinned. "Gojo-sensei, how about making an agreement? Let's have a purely hand-to-hand match. I won't use my technique to accelerate myself, and you won't use your technique to bounce me away. How about it?"

Gojo Satoru still wore a calm smile. But when he heard Shen Yuanyi taunt, "No way, no way! Would invincible Gojo Satoru-sensei really refuse?" he could not help laughing. "This brat."

"I agree."

The expression on Shen Yuanyi's face gradually calmed, and his eyes became intensely focused. Then, sword in hand, he closed in on Gojo Satoru. Though he was not using his technique to strengthen himself, his speed was still extremely swift with Cursed Energy alone.

Maki, Panda, Okkotsu Yuta, and Inumaki Toge watched with rapt attention. Shen Yuanyi's inexplicable attack earlier had left them completely bewildered. Before they could even see clearly, one exchange had already ended?

Maki recalled the time they had carried out a mission together, thoughts churning in her mind. Was it speed? But being that fast was simply cheating. Could anyone really defend against it?

Then she looked toward Gojo Satoru, who had already defended against it once. The two were currently trading blows back and forth. Shen Yuanyi seemed extremely familiar with the approximate positions where Gojo Satoru would flash into view, always managing to redirect his attacks in time or block Gojo Satoru's strikes.

However, judging by Gojo Satoru's current expression and state, he was still fighting Shen Yuanyi with the intent to instruct him. None of the places he flashed to were especially tricky.

Shen Yuanyi dodged, blocked, and counterattacked in slight disarray, but every punch he threw was utterly serious. Since he had said he would not use his technique to accelerate himself, he naturally intended to keep his word.

Without the aid of his technique, he was now trying hard to find the feeling of landing a Black Flash. As long as he could successfully land one and force Gojo Satoru back even a little, he had already planned every step that would follow.

So even though he remained at a disadvantage, Shen Yuanyi persisted, searching for a chance to strike back. Gojo Satoru, meanwhile, seemed to be deliberately stringing him along, keeping the tension tight without immediately knocking him down.

"Yuanyi, it seems you have some trump card that's given you a lot of confidence. Why not use it already? No way, no way—don't tell me you won't be able to use it before I knock you down?"

Hearing Gojo Satoru throw back the very words Shen Yuanyi had once used to provoke him, Shen Yuanyi nearly lost his rhythm. After raising a hand to block Gojo Satoru's casual sweeping kick, he took half a step back, gathered his strength, and threw a vicious punch.

"This feeling! It's coming!"

Black Cursed Energy flared up, and only then did Gojo Satoru's expression change slightly. Now this was getting interesting!

"Black Flash!"

Maki, who had cried out in amazement, recalled how Shen Yuanyi had used Black Flash during that mission, descending from the sky to exorcise that cursed spirit. Beside her, Okkotsu Yuta asked curiously, "What is Black Flash? Does it refer to that black Cursed Energy glow? It looks really dangerous."

Maki paused, then explained Black Flash to him. Meanwhile, after Shen Yuanyi unleashed a Black Flash, its terrifying shockwave was completely caught in Gojo Satoru's outstretched hand. Then, his other hand clenched into a fist and shot straight at Shen Yuanyi.

As the fight continued alongside Maki's explanation, the others saw that the Black Flash seemed to have done nothing at all before Gojo Satoru caught it. Right after that, Shen Yuanyi himself was sent flying.

"My dear student, once you're knocked into the air, you'd better be careful!"

Without giving the off-balance Shen Yuanyi a chance to pull away, Gojo Satoru flashed after him even faster. His smile was bright and sunny, as though he had already foreseen Shen Yuanyi being ruthlessly battered like a punching bag.

"That's it! If I used my technique directly on Gojo-sensei, given the actual gap between us right now, there would be too many factors to consider if I wanted to reverse him to a certain point in time—Gojo-sensei's Cursed Energy, his cursed technique... The final conclusion: it would most likely fail!"

"So... the real plan is..."

The off-balance Shen Yuanyi slowly smiled. He clearly saw the smile on Gojo Satoru's face, so close at hand, gradually gain a trace of confusion. Then Shen Yuanyi activated his technique.

"Cursed Technique Reversal! Wheel of Time: Reverse."

Everything before Shen Yuanyi abruptly changed. Gojo Satoru, who had been attacking him moments ago, was now replaced by Okkotsu and the other three, all staring over in shock. Feeling the Cursed Energy surging through his body, Shen Yuanyi smiled. With deliberate preparation, he redirected his thrown punch behind himself—toward Gojo Satoru, whose guard was wide open at this moment!

Black Cursed Energy flashed once more. Shen Yuanyi had deliberately chosen this moment to reverse time for the sake of this Black Flash. He anchored this instant, reversed after shifting positions, and now was precisely at the point of unleashing Black Flash!

Pseudo Black Flash Double Strike.

Yet when Shen Yuanyi turned around, he saw Gojo Satoru wearing a triumphant smile. Before Shen Yuanyi's own smile could even freeze, he saw Gojo Satoru use the same trick again and catch his attack in his hand. The shockwaves produced by the collision of their immense Cursed Energy were crushed firmly within his grasp.

Then Gojo Satoru's fist struck Shen Yuanyi in the abdomen. Only one word had time to flash through his mind—damn! Then his insides churned violently, and Shen Yuanyi, unable to muster even a shred of strength, collapsed to the ground. He still tried to look at Gojo Satoru as he asked, "Gojo-sensei, how did you notice?"

Gojo Satoru whistled. "I know Yuanyi's technique, after all. And didn't you just demonstrate the effect of your Cursed Technique Reversal? I thought you were going to use it on me. Besides, did you forget that my Six Eyes give me a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree field of vision with no blind spots in this regard?"

Gojo Satoru tugged his sunglasses down slightly, revealing those brilliant eyes full of amusement. Shen Yuanyi slammed a fist into the grass and said indignantly, "You're cheating! Someone's using full-map vision hacks!"