Hello, Fushiguro-bro

"Gardevoir!!!"

Akesato's expression changed.

Only after seeing Gardevoir shake her head and finding no loss of HP on the system display did Akesato relax and ask:

"What happened?"

Gardevoir raised a hand and pressed it against her brow. The red pattern spread across her forehead was slowly fading.

Gardevoir had tried to stop it with Psychic Power, but the results had been minimal. Akesato knew that was because their power systems were different.

As the mark vanished completely, Gardevoir simply lowered her hand, held her palms facing each other, and released a distorted rainbow-colored wave of light.

The wave did not strike anyone in the room. Instead, it landed on the wall above Miss Tsumiki's bed, projecting a somewhat blurry figure.

It seemed to be a woman. Her face was unclear, though her figure was quite good. The most distinctive feature Akesato remembered was the stitched scar running across her forehead.

"Gardevoir..." Even a blurry image was enough to make Gardevoir show obvious disgust.

Akesato's expression turned grim, and a chilling glint flashed through his eyes.

So early already? The true big bad, Kenjaku.

"This is the culprit behind Miss Tsumiki's curse. Little Sa caught her through the connection between the technique and its user."

The beam Gardevoir had fired was also one of her Skills—Illusion Ray, which allowed others to see illusions.

"A Curse User?" Satoru Gojo's expression darkened as well. "Can you repeat that just now... Tch, too late. Pretty cautious, huh."

After the Cursed Seal Gardevoir had "synced" disappeared, Miss Tsumiki's Cursed Seal, the source of it all, also began to fade. Clearly, the Curse User had noticed Gardevoir's attempt to trace the connection back and spy on them, so they immediately dispelled the technique.

"Shoko—"

"—I know. Leave the patient to me. You won't be any help staying here."

"I'll find a way to track down this Curse User."

Satoru Gojo and Shoko Ieiri had been classmates at Jujutsu High and had known and worked with each other for more than ten years. Their mutual understanding went without saying.

Healing, meanwhile, was the one and only weakness of Satoru Gojo, the ceiling of this series.

Cursed energy was negative energy. It excelled at causing harm, but it could not be used for healing—unless one reversed cursed energy into positive energy through the principle of two negatives making a positive. This process was known as the Reverse Cursed Technique.

Like Domain Expansion and Inherent Technique, it was among the highest realms of jujutsu.

Although Satoru Gojo had entered that realm, his Reverse Cursed Technique could only heal himself. Shoko Ieiri, however, could use it on others, which was how she earned the nickname "treasure."

Shoko Ieiri was also the only person who could mock Satoru Gojo when it came to talent—"Reverse Cursed Technique is very simple. Why can't you learn it?" Shoko, who had already mastered Reverse Cursed Technique, had once said that to Satoru Gojo, who had not.

One thing always had something else to keep it in check. That was probably what this meant.

"No. I'll do this."

The hospital room door was pulled open, and a long-lashed Boy with Hedgehog Head entered with a sour expression. He was Megumi Fushiguro.

"You're back, Megumi." Satoru Gojo adjusted his blindfold. "You've been out looking around for so long. Find anything?"

"What a stupid question." Megumi Fushiguro's face became even darker.

"You sounded so confident, I thought you'd already found something."

Megumi Fushiguro ignored the barb in Satoru Gojo's words and said, "It has to be me."

"This isn't about principles. It's about reality. This Curse User is highly skilled. Even Shoko and I couldn't catch so much as a trace of them. Are you sure you can find them? And even if you do, can you defeat an opponent at that level?"

"Tsumiki is my sister."

"Ah—"

Satoru Gojo dramatically slapped his forehead, speechless at his kid's attitude of "I understand all the reasons, but I'm doing it anyway."

"Tsumiki is your sister, and I'm your guardian. At least spare a thought for my position and feelings. How about this? These two are my students, only one year older than you. As long as you earn the acknowledgment of either one of them, I'll agree to let you go. Not only that, I'll recommend you for promotion to Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer. How about it?"

"By acknowledgment, you mean beating them?" Megumi Fushiguro asked.

"Yeah."

Maki admitted it outright and shot Akesato a look, meaning that he was not allowed to compete with her or interfere.

Akesato shrugged, gestured invitingly with one hand, and took Gardevoir's hand with the other as they stepped aside.

"Let's go to the roof."

With his hands in his pockets and his back slightly hunched, Megumi Fushiguro walked ahead. One look was enough to tell that he did this often.

As it happened, Maki was familiar with this routine too. Carrying her weapon over her shoulder, she walked behind him, even matching his pace exactly.

No wonder they were relatives within five degrees of kinship. The same blood ran in their veins.

Akesato glanced at Satoru Gojo and asked, "What exactly are you thinking?"

"Better to guide him than block him. And let him learn what a real battle is."

Since it concerned his foster son's future, Satoru Gojo stopped acting on impulse.

"I'll have to trouble you then. There are some things he may not be willing to listen to if I say them."

Akesato nodded, showing that he understood.

In his previous life, he had gone through a rebellious phase too. No matter how earnestly his parents tried to reason with him, he would not listen. Yet he treated whatever motivational slogans and pseudoscience he heard from others as sacred truths.

When he thought back on it after growing up, all he could think was, Why the hell was I so stupid back then?

"From darkness, darker than black. Impure residue, cleanse it all."

When Megumi Fushiguro opened the rooftop door, Satoru Gojo had lowered a Curtain.

By the time Akesato arrived on the rooftop with Gardevoir, Maki was already holding her Battle Blade to Megumi Fushiguro's throat.

After only exchanging a few words, Megumi Fushiguro had lost.

Combined with what Satoru Gojo had said before, it was not hard to guess that the difference lay in their fighting philosophies.

Influenced by Akesato's "Weakling Style," Maki had completely discarded every unnecessary movement in battle. At such close range, she would naturally rush straight at her opponent at the fastest possible speed, striving to give them no time to react.

She, Akesato, Panda, and Inumaki had all practiced this routine. They knew it inside out.

Megumi Fushiguro, on the other hand, was different. At his age, it was difficult for a boy to completely cast aside his adolescent delusions and dramatic pre-battle lines.

What was more, he wanted to earn everyone's acknowledgment. It was not enough for him to win—he had to win with style.

Displaying his cursed technique, or even offering a Cursed Spirit Revelation, had been his first choice.

But with Maki's abilities and this little distance between them, unless she had already been on guard, saying even one extra word would count as her loss.

"Too naive. Only an idiot would stupidly wait for you to make a move. Anyone who thinks their opponent would do that is worse than an idiot."

After tossing out those words, Maki flicked her ponytail and briskly drew back her Battle Blade.

"Your opponents aren't Cursed Spirits. They're Curse Users without any bottom line. With that mindset, you'll die."

Megumi Fushiguro never got the chance to voice his complaints. His face flushed bright red, and after holding it in for a long while, he finally squeezed out a sentence.

"I just wasn't prepared this time. Again."

"Sure. You can try as many times as you want." Maki curled a finger at him provocatively. "You go first this time."

Having learned his lesson once, Megumi Fushiguro crossed his hands and formed a strange gesture, pressing and separating his middle fingers, leaving a dog-head-shaped Hand Shadow on the ground.

Yet the instant the Hand Shadow appeared, the shadow of an even larger Battle Blade had already fallen over him.

The curve of the girl's lips was dark and savage, silently declaring—she had let him go first, but she had never said how much of a head start he would get.

Never place your hopes in your enemy's stupidity, nephew!

PS: The Zenin Family genealogy. Megumi Fushiguro's grandfather and Maki's father were brothers. Megumi Fushiguro's biological father, Toji Fushiguro, also had an older brother named Jinichi Zenin. "Ji" actually means two, so Toji was really Zenji.

PS2: I've been a little busy lately. I had someone help me with the book cover, and I only just finished setting up the tags. I also never thanked everyone for their monthly votes and tips, so I'm making up for that here. Thanks to Midnight's Swamp Mud, Crouching Dragon in the Fields, Reader 20201231024915609, X丶alter, Sword Chant, and twenty other readers for your support. The list is rather long, so I won't name everyone individually, but I thank you all here. This book reached eleventh place on the contract ranking entirely thanks to you. It officially goes on recommendation tomorrow, and whether it can receive more exposure and promotion will depend on its performance there. I hope everyone will continue supporting me by reading the new chapters every day. Following updates is currently the most important reference metric. I will also continue updating as always and ensure the quality. Thank you all once again.