Mission

"Hahaha!"

Todo Aoi let out a hearty laugh. His towering frame traded blows with the figure darting and shifting opposite him, fists and kicks colliding amid howling gusts of displaced air. It was clear that Todo was thrilled and enjoying himself—if one ignored his bruised, swollen face and the various injuries covering his body, it would have been perfect.

Of course, Shen Yuanyi was not doing much better. His ribs still ached faintly, and traces of blood remained at the corner of his mouth. Earlier, after Todo realized that feints and similar techniques were completely ineffective against Shen Yuanyi, he had decisively chosen to meet force with force, trading injury for injury.

Amid the crisscrossing punches, Todo Aoi's chin was struck solidly by an elusive uppercut. His head snapped back, but the next instant, Todo blocked Shen Yuanyi's follow-up elbow strike with his arm, only to be driven back and forced apart by a straight punch that landed squarely on his chest.

Todo inhaled deeply, like a whale drawing in water, an enraptured expression appearing on his face. Then he opened his blazing eyes. "Shen Yuanyi, to show my respect for you, I'll be using my full strength now! No cursed techniques, just a battle of flesh against flesh—this is the true passion of combat!"

Shen Yuanyi, who was already starting to regret this a little, began wondering whether he should just activate his cursed technique and end it. Hearing that, he raised a brow. "Todo, there was one thing wrong with what you said earlier. While there is a limit to how much Cursed Energy can strengthen a person... everyone's limit, and their Cursed Energy, are different. Let's settle this now!"

The smile on Todo Aoi's face grew wider and wider, while the Cursed Energy surging around him began to boil. Shen Yuanyi's figure blurred, and he appeared before Todo in an instant. Then his raised right leg came crashing down from above like a descending blade.

With a thunderous boom, the solid ground shattered beneath the stomp. Dust and fragments of earth flew up, obscuring the view. After dodging the attack, Todo widened his eyes and stared into the rising cloud of dust.

"As long as movement disturbs the air, it will alter the flow of the dust. If I can see the direction of its movement, I can determine his position!" Todo Aoi made his judgment in an instant, taking in everything before him.

Suddenly, he saw the dust shift in one direction. It was... toward him!

Attack against attack!

Todo Aoi clenched his right fist and pulled it slightly back, like drawing a bowstring to gather power. Then he blasted it into the dust. The powerful gust from his punch scattered the dust before his fist could even reach it, revealing a figure within.

At the same time, Shen Yuanyi's outstretched hands slipped past the fist and clamped down on Todo's joint, while his other hand followed like a shadow and seized Todo's upper arm.

Shen Yuanyi's full-body charge also broke apart Todo's half-raised defense. The moment Shen Yuanyi grabbed hold of him, he spun, twisted his waist, drew power from the ground, and released it through his hips. Todo's massive body was lifted off the ground and hurled forward.

Todo only had time to assume a defensive posture in midair before he was slammed viciously into the ground. The earth seemed to tremble, and a web of cracks spread beneath him.

Shen Yuanyi rushed in and mercilessly stomped down. Todo rolled away from the heavy stomp twice, then agilely braced himself against the ground and swept out with his leg, forcing Shen Yuanyi back before rising to his feet.

Without another word, Todo Aoi kicked loose stones from the ground toward Shen Yuanyi, then charged forward like an arrow loosed from its bow.

Shen Yuanyi merely raised a hand to shield his face and allowed the stones to strike his body as if he felt nothing.

Todo Aoi exhaled hot breath through the corner of his mouth and threw a punch with all his strength. The Cursed Energy around his fist began to distort at that instant, and black light flashed from it.

Now this is getting interesting...

Shen Yuanyi also threw a punch, unable to suppress the excitement rising in his heart. That feeling of becoming one with Cursed Energy, with no distinction between them, surged through him as well.

Then black light shone from Shen Yuanyi's fist too. The fluctuations from both sides distorted the space around the two fighters, and the watching students and teachers widened their eyes. This coincidental clash of Black Flashes sent Todo Aoi's blood racing even faster.

"Shen Yuanyi, though you and I did not become best friends... the bond between us is real. This is fate!"

Sitting beside Gojo Satoru, Ieiri Shoko smiled and remarked, "Young people these days really are incredible. Satoru, your student still hasn't used his cursed technique, has he?"

Gojo Satoru lounged in his seat as though watching a movie. "Of course not. He's my student, after all. It's just an Exchange Event between students—if he wants to enjoy the fight without using his cursed technique, that's fine. Otherwise, it wouldn't be any fun."

As the two spoke, Shen Yuanyi's and Todo Aoi's fists had already collided. A Black Flash meeting a Black Flash at full force created a terrifying impact. A wide ring of ground around them instantly shattered and collapsed.

The result was decided in the instant after the collision. Todo Aoi was the one sent flying backward. In the end, Shen Yuanyi's superior Cursed Energy won him the contest of Black Flashes. Though Todo looked battered and miserable as he lay on the ground, he still wore a satisfied smile.

"No regrets... no regrets."

The victor had been decided, and it was the final match. Shen Yuanyi grabbed Todo Aoi by the pant leg and dragged him toward the resting area, intending to have Ieiri Shoko treat them both.

Yaga Masamichi immediately announced the result. "Shen Yuanyi wins. The final score is six to zero. Tokyo Jujutsu High wins this Exchange Event."

"Nice!"

Shen Yuanyi's injuries were mostly superficial, and Miss Shoko quickly healed them. When he returned, everyone welcomed him back. Shen Yuanyi wore a smug smile, lightly resting his right hand against his forehead as he chuckled. "It was nothing. Nothing at all. I haven't even used my full strength yet."

Panda cooperatively crouched beside Shen Yuanyi and struck all sorts of goofy poses. Inumaki Toge gave two thumbs-up. "Salmon!" Okkotsu merely congratulated him before quietly sitting down. Maki had been smiling too, but when she saw the two of them fooling around, her smile froze and turned into a look of disgust. "Don't tell me those two caught it from that blindfolded idiot."

And so, this year's Kyoto sister-school Exchange Event came to an end. Tokyo Jujutsu High had claimed victory once again, which meant that the next Exchange Event would also be held at Tokyo Jujutsu High.

After the busy days came to an end, the five first-year students followed their teacher, Gojo Satoru, to Shinjuku to relax and have some fun. Naturally, their beloved Gojo-sensei paid for everything.

They went to a high-end restaurant and enjoyed premium wagyu along with a dazzling assortment of expensive dishes. Naturally, Gojo had booked the whole place—otherwise, Panda would have drawn far too much attention. As for how Panda got there, the explanation was absurdly simple. Panda did not use any magical disguise; he merely added a zipper decoration to the front of his body, and everyone saw him as a large mascot costume.

Although passersby did glance at someone wearing what looked like a thick mascot suit in such warm weather, who could notice that he was not actually a mascot over such a short distance? Once they entered the restaurant, Gojo Satoru had already reserved the entire place, so there were no unrelated people around. Gojo-sensei casually let slip that this seemed to be one of the Gojo Family's properties as well. He truly had money to burn.

Afterward, Gojo Satoru took his students to his favorite dessert shop and bought them a wide variety of sweets to try. Then he packed some up for himself, said he had something to do and needed to leave first, and tossed Shen Yuanyi a card, telling them to charge whatever they wanted to it.

A powerful Jujutsu Sorcerer like Gojo Satoru naturally would not lack money, let alone when he was the head of the Gojo Family. Shen Yuanyi certainly did not stand on ceremony with him, and the group began wandering through bustling Shinjuku. The area was modern and diverse; compared with people dressed in truly bizarre outfits, Panda's appearance was not all that strange. In fact, his cute looks even drew requests for photos from some adorable girls.

Panda happily agreed to the first two, but once there were too many requests, he found it troublesome and refused them all. It had to be said, Panda played the part quite convincingly. With the others surrounding him, he genuinely did not expose any flaws.

To be honest, none of them had anything in particular they wanted to buy. Maki was not the sort of woman who enjoyed shopping either. In the end, Shen Yuanyi simply took them to pick up some clothes for the changing season. They had uniforms, sure, but they had to wear casual clothes from time to time, didn't they?

Shen Yuanyi also went to buy some discs and cartridges for popular new releases. He might not necessarily have time to play them, but he wanted to buy them anyway. As night fell over the bustling streets, he also picked up some street food along the way.

The earlier feast had been great, but it still felt as though something was missing. Finally, at an enormous electronics store, Maki, Okkotsu, and the others took turns trying out the VR equipment, while Shen Yuanyi found an old-fashioned arcade cabinet to indulge in some nostalgia.

Hearing a burst of footsteps, Shen Yuanyi looked up—and unexpectedly saw all six students from Kyoto Jujutsu High there.

"Yo, what a coincidence!"

Shen Yuanyi greeted them. They were also dressed casually and appeared to be out having fun. Sure enough, Kamo Noritoshi spoke up. "We were out playing and happened to see you while passing by, so we came over to say hello. As expected, you're all here."

Maki Zenin looked at Maki, who was trying out the VR equipment, and could not help secretly mocking her "ugly" appearance. But... she kind of wanted to try it too.

Shen Yuanyi was bored playing The King of Fighters alone, so seeing so many people, he warmly invited them over. The first to respond was, naturally, Todo Aoi.

"Takada's handshake event won't start for a while yet, so I'll play with you."

Then, with absolutely no suspense, Todo was utterly crushed. As an experienced gamer, combined with his current physical coordination and reaction speed, Shen Yuanyi found it far too easy to beat a "newbie" like Todo.

Then Kasumi Miwa and Kamo Noritoshi, their interest piqued, came over to give it a try as well. The result was an unquestionable, crushing defeat for both of them.

"Invincible~ How... how lonely..." Shen Yuanyi got carried away with himself, only to be challenged again by Okkotsu, Maki, and the others, who had finished up over there.

Then this group of people, who normally did not play many video games, was beaten soundly by Shen Yuanyi one after another. Still, because they refused to admit defeat and learned quickly, they gave him a greater sense of accomplishment. After all, there was not much fun in simply crushing complete newbies.

It was the same even after switching games. In the end, amid Shen Yuanyi's laughter of "Pathetic, pathetic," no one was willing to challenge him anymore.

After leaving the shop, which housed all sorts of classic gaming equipment from years past to the present day, the group from Kyoto Jujutsu High said their goodbyes. Todo was going to Takada's handshake event, while the others were preparing to head back.

Shen Yuanyi had not played for very long either. After visiting a few more shops and eating their fill, the group brought their pleasant outing to an end as well.

The days after the Exchange Event were ordinary and uneventful, though the frequency of missions increased considerably. Shen Yuanyi often received solo assignments.

After quickly completing numerous missions only to receive even more frequent ones in return, Shen Yuanyi deliberately slowed down. There was plenty of time to make money later; running around every day exorcising cursed spirits would wear down even an iron man.

Following the principle of relaxing and having fun for a while after each mission, Shen Yuanyi lived fairly easily afterward. During one rare break, Gojo Satoru, whom he had not seen for several days, suddenly came looking for him.

"Yuanyi, I have a mission for you."

Shen Yuanyi looked at Gojo Satoru. What kind of mission required him to make the trip over personally to explain it?

"You might be getting a new classmate soon."