I Play Ninjutsu in Jujutsu Kaisen! Chapter 2

Natsu Hiraku looked at himself on his phone screen. He felt no change in his black pupils, but he could sense an indescribable something that had appeared inside his body out of nowhere.

He knew that this was probably cursed energy. After seeing Gojo Satoru and the others off last night, he had tried to control it, but every attempt had ended in failure.

It was like mud—difficult to control.

"Hey, are you the new Transfer Student?"

A crisp, forthright female voice called out.

Natsu Hiraku looked up at the newcomer. She wore a black uniform, her green hair tied into a ponytail. Holding a phone in her hand, her roaming gaze seemed to be comparing him with the photo on its screen.

"If this is Jujutsu High, then you've got the right person. My name is Natsu Hiraku."

"I'm Maki Zenin. I came to pick you up. Honestly, my first impression of you isn't much."

Maki Zenin, huh...

So the current timeline was one year before Okkotsu Yuta, the protagonist, enrolled.

Looking at Maki Zenin in her pink glasses, Natsu Hiraku grinned, stood up, and extended his right hand. "If I look that weak to you, then please protect me for free. After all, I really am weak."

"..."

Looking at Natsu Hiraku so boldly admitting it, Maki Zenin did not know how to respond for a moment. After all, Gojo Satoru's message to her had been very clear.

The boy before her had considerable potential. Her earlier remark had been meant to provoke him and test his strength.

Was it really okay for him to admit it so decisively...

Natsu Hiraku did not care what she thought. His top priority was finding someone powerful to cling to and coast through life with. This place was genuinely dangerous, and without a powerful backer, it would be easy to die suddenly.

With a sturdy thigh like Maki's to cling to, coasting through life would definitely be safe!

"Ahem!"

Maki Zenin coughed twice and said, "Come with me. I'll take you to Jujutsu High."

"Alright!"

Following behind Maki, Natsu Hiraku asked as they walked, "You look pretty tall. How old are you this year?"

"Fifteen."

"Fifteen, huh? You're developing really well. What do you usually eat?"

"Fast food."

"Fast food? Why don't you cook for yourself?"

"Too much trouble. You sure ask a lot of questions!"

"I'm concerned about your health. Eating too much fast food is bad for you. How about I be your head chef? It's only fifty thousand yen a month. Pretty cheap, right?"

Natsu Hiraku was returning to his old trade from his previous life.

Maki Zenin was speechless. "Cheap my ass. If you want a beating, just say so."

Natsu Hiraku waved a hand. "How is that not cheap? My cooking is comparable to a three-star chef's. That's practically just the cost of ingredients—I'm barely making anything."

As soon as he finished speaking, Maki Zenin stopped. Her brown eyes stared straight at him, and her fists slowly clenched as though she were about to strike.

"Let me tell you, a gentleman settles things with words, not fists. This is about your health. Don't waste those eyes of yours."

Natsu Hiraku spoke as he backed away. When it came to fighting, he was complete trash. Why would someone who studied medicine to save lives hurt people with his hands? More importantly, he really was garbage...

He was well aware of his own fighting ability.

Watching Natsu Hiraku retreat, Maki Zenin sighed, took out a 5,000-yen bill from her pocket, and handed it to him. "Use this to buy something. If it doesn't taste good, you're done for."

"Of course. If it doesn't taste good, you can beat me up."

Natsu Hiraku took the 5,000 yen from her hand and slipped it into his pocket, his eyes full of smug satisfaction, as if they were saying:

Trust me when it comes to cooking.

Hehe, wasn't this a future source of income? All he had to do was move around a little and buy groceries, and he could make a killing. As expected of me.

Fifty thousand from one person, one hundred thousand from two, one hundred fifty thousand from three... Even if he did not become a jujutsu sorcerer, he could still make a living by opening a restaurant!

This start did not seem too bad.

"Jujutsu High, also known as Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College, is one of only two jujutsu educational institutions in all of Japan. On the surface, it is a private religious school. Many jujutsu sorcerers start operating from here after graduation. It does not merely provide education—it also carries out missions and provides support. It is an important stronghold of the jujutsu world."

As Natsu Hiraku listened to Gojo Satoru's introduction, he looked around at the tree-filled grounds of Jujutsu High and breathed in air free of dust, immediately feeling refreshed in both body and mind.

As for Maki Zenin, who had been leading the way, she left directly, handing him over to Gojo Satoru.

"Anyway, you'll need to have an interview with the Principal first. You might even be denied admission, so do your best!"

"Huh!"

Natsu Hiraku stared in shock at the tall Gojo Satoru before him. "There's still a test? I can't even control the cursed energy in my body right now. What if I get expelled?"

Gojo Satoru said, "It's not a cursed energy test, so there won't be any problem, as long as your personality isn't particularly twisted."

"..."

Natsu Hiraku was speechless. "A twisted personality... Why do I feel like there's something behind those words..."

Gojo Satoru: "How could that be? I could just sense that you were different. I read your file too. Natsu Hiraku, fifteen years old, frequently skipped school, average grades, extremely dependent on his parents, and no history of sorcerers in his family."

Natsu Hiraku: "And? What does that prove?"

Gojo Satoru: "Nothing. I originally thought you'd shut yourself away for a few weeks, maybe even months, to calm down and accept reality. I didn't expect you to come here so quickly."

"..."

Natsu Hiraku fell silent for a moment before saying, "Maybe... my personality really is twisted. But that doesn't prove anything. I'm not who I used to be."

"You've got quite the resolve."

Gojo Satoru lowered his head and stared intently into the boy's eyes. Seeing that he was not joking, he pushed open the black wooden door and led him into a spacious room.

The floor was clean and bare. A rough-looking middle-aged man with spiky black hair and sunglasses was sitting there, sewing a cloth doll with a needle.

Without looking up, he continued stitching and said, "Is this the student you've taken a liking to, Satoru?"

"Yes. I ran into him while having a late-night snack. I thought he wouldn't come for another month, but he called me today. He seems like a very promising prospect."

Gojo Satoru smiled broadly, seemingly very satisfied with Natsu Hiraku beside him.

"Hello, my name is Natsu Hiraku. I've come here to learn jujutsu."

Natsu Hiraku bowed at a forty-five-degree angle and stated it without any attempt at concealment.

"Mm."

The man looked over the perfect doll in his hands, snipped the thread, then raised his head toward Natsu Hiraku and asked, "Learn about curses, learn how to exorcise them—then what?"

"Of course, I'd exorcise curses. Then I'd study medicine, or maybe open a restaurant or something. After all, seeing curses made me realize how dangerous this world is. If I don't learn how to exorcise them, I can only wait to die—or watch the people closest to me die right in front of me. Both would be unbearably painful for me."

"Mm. Your reason passes," the man said, rising to his feet and shaking out his right hand, which had just held the needle. "Next comes testing your resolve. The simplest method is to bring you close to death. Are you ready!?"

"Hey! Wait, didn't you say there wouldn't be a practical combat test?"

Natsu Hiraku hurriedly waved his hands and backed away. He shot a panicked glance at Gojo Satoru, his eyes seemingly saying:

Come help me out. I'm not good at fighting.

Gojo Satoru irresponsibly stuck out his tongue, stepped back twice, and said with a smile, "This isn't a cursed energy test. It's just a test of your resolve. At worst, it'll hurt for two days. It's no big deal."

Hurt for two days...

"..."

"No big deal my ass! Is it because you're not the one getting beaten up?"

The moment Natsu Hiraku finished complaining, a cloth doll suddenly appeared right in front of his face. Looking closely, it was the one Principal had just sewn!

What looked like a soft, powerless fist struck with the heavy force of a grown man, smashing viciously into his chest.

So fast!

As Natsu Hiraku flew backward, his mind replayed the doll's agile movements and that heavy punch. He rolled twice upon landing and immediately scrambled to his feet, only to find no sign of the doll in front of him. He hurriedly looked around, his heart pounding.

That blow had really hurt. Fortunately, this body exercised regularly, so he could barely take it. If it had been his old body, he might have fallen apart.

His racing heart seemed to beat like a war drum. His previously relaxed body instantly tensed, and the veins spreading across his arms showed that he had no intention of simply taking a beating and waiting to die.

The green doll, somewhat resembling a river demon, did not rush to attack. Instead, it swung its fists and strutted about with an arrogant swagger, as if provoking him and flaunting its might.

"..."

Natsu Hiraku glowered at the doll, his face dark. The veins on his forehead bulged with anger. If he did not beat this thing up, he swore he would not be human.

Damn it, he was being mocked by a doll.

Though furious, he did not move. He merely took up a defensive stance and waited for the doll to attack.

Principal asked, "If you and your companions faced a life-or-death crisis, would you risk your life to protect them, or abandon them and survive alone?"

"Huh!?"

The instant Natsu Hiraku was distracted, the doll vanished from where it stood and punched him in the shoulder. The sudden pain twisted his face.

He cursed the other side for fighting dirty and deliberately distracting him.

Principal paid no attention to Natsu Hiraku being pummeled and continued, "If you and your companions faced a life-or-death crisis, would you choose to risk your life to protect them, or abandon them and survive alone?"

Natsu Hiraku shielded his head with both arms, his body curled up as the doll struck him again and again. His attention was not on Principal's question at all. All he could think about was how to kill this thing.

For some reason, driven by that hatred, the cursed energy within his body began gathering in his eyes, and the world before him started to slow down.

The doll's originally agile, untouchable movements were now completely imprinted in his mind, and he could even predict its next move.

It felt as though a fleeting second had been forcibly stretched into five seconds. To everyone else, it was only a brief second, but he had five seconds to think.

It was incredible.

With the doll's attack trajectory predicted, Natsu Hiraku easily dodged its strike. He grabbed its head with his left hand, exerted force, and slammed it viciously into the floor.

The rage he had endured for so long erupted in an instant. He clenched his right hand into a fist and brutally smashed it down on the doll's body.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The dull impacts echoed through the hall.

Gojo Satoru looked at Natsu Hiraku's scarlet pupils, a satisfied smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

The dean also noticed something unusual about Natsu Hiraku and continued asking, "If you and your companions were facing a life-or-death crisis, would you choose to protect them or abandon them and survive alone?"

"You sure talk a lot! If we're all going to die anyway, why not take one of them down with us?"

Natsu Hiraku held a needle and thread in his hands. As for the doll, it had already been taken apart, exposing the fluffy white stuffing inside.

"Very good!"

The dean smiled. "You pass. Welcome to Jujutsu High."

"This is your room. Treat it like your own home and use it however you like. Oh, right, another Transfer Student is arriving today."

"Okay."

Natsu Hiraku looked at the neat, spacious room, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his lips. After all, he had earned his way in through his own ability. Saying he felt no sense of accomplishment would have been a lie.

"Come on. I'll take you to pick up the other Transfer Student first. There are quite a few first-years this year—five of you in total!"

"Five counts as a lot...?"

Natsu Hiraku was speechless. Although the protagonist's group only had three people, and his group of five was nearly twice as large, it was still only five people. Just how scarce were jujutsu sorcerers...?

Japan had The Three Great Families and two major jujutsu education institutions, yet there were still pitifully few jujutsu sorcerers. It was ridiculous.

Gojo Satoru took a card from his pocket and handed it to Natsu Hiraku. "This is your student ID. Keep it safe."

"Mm, thanks."

Natsu Hiraku took the student ID and slipped it straight into his pocket. Looking at Gojo Satoru, who had already walked out the door, he gave the tidy little room one last glance before leaving.