I Play Ninjutsu in Jujutsu Kaisen! Chapter 20

"..."

How the hell did I get tangled up with some scumbag?

I've lived two lives in this world—counting the original owner's memories, I've been alive for thirty-three years. And you're calling me a scumbag?

Why does this person's affection feel so hard to raise? I pull out all my flirting tricks and just get labeled a scumbag.

Whatever...

Scumbag it is, as long as I can finish the System Quest. These two quest rewards are crucial for my growth—they'll determine whether I can go toe-to-toe with Todo Aoi later.

The two of them walked into the alley.

No sooner had they entered than a burly man in a black suit with a crew cut lunged at Mitsuchi Mi.

Everything happened in an instant. By the time Mitsuchi Mi reacted, it was too late to dodge—a giant hand was reaching for her head.

Just as she was about to close her eyes, the hand stopped in front of her. A pained scream died in the man's throat, turning into muffled "mmph" sounds.

As the tall man dropped to his knees, she finally saw the scene clearly. Natsu Hiraku had his right hand clamped tight on the man's outstretched shoulder, his left hand covering the man's mouth. He shook his head and whispered, "If you dare make a sound, I'll break one of your arms. If you scare them off, I'll break both. Why suffer yourself when you can pass the pain to someone else? Like those two teammates of yours... You know what to do?"

The man felt the searing pain in his arm. This kid in front of him was like a cold-blooded demon, his icy gaze fixed on him like he was already a corpse.

Listening to the demon's whisper, he nodded frantically. "Mmph, mmph mmph!"

"Good boy."

Natsu Hiraku let go of his left hand and asked in a low voice, "Did Mitsuchi Shinichi send you?"

"I don't know, anyway—"

Before the suited man could finish, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. His vision blurred, and he passed out cold.

Tch. I'm an idiot. I already knew it was him, but I had to open my mouth and ask. Makes all that tough talk I just said look stupid.

Natsu Hiraku was speechless. Maybe this was from watching too many movies—whenever this kind of situation came up, he'd blurt it out on instinct.

"Hey, Jiren, you done? Hurry up and get out here. Bring the guy back and claim the bounty."

A hoarse voice came from the street corner.

"Alright, you two wait a second. I'm coming."

As soon as Natsu Hiraku finished speaking, he shot out of the alley. Before the two men could react, he struck each of them on the neck, knocking them out cold.

Under Mitsuchi Mi's astonished gaze, he dragged them both back. She praised him inwardly: So strong! No wonder he lasted ten seconds under Captain Ido—his strength is undeniable. And he's so young too. Definitely the right choice to keep him as a Younger Brother!

Natsu Hiraku lined the three men up and started looting the spoils. Sure, he'd get ten million yen as soon as he got back, but a top-tier Cursed Tool cost several hundred million—that was just a drop in the bucket. He still had to scavenge what he could. Every little bit counted.

"This pair of sunglasses is nice. I'll take it."

"Hey, this watch is pretty good. All shiny and gold. I like it."

"As for the clothes... I'll leave you your underwear. I'm not a bandit, after all."

You are a bandit...

Mitsuchi Mi covered her eyes with her hands, her face flushed red. Every now and then, she'd peek through her fingers—adorable.

After finishing his looting, Natsu Hiraku nodded in satisfaction. He hung all three gold watches on his left arm. Whether they were real or not, the nouveau-riche aura was instantly dialed up.

And the sunglasses—once he put them on, the sky went dark. Forget the view ahead, the shading effect was top-notch.

He walked over to Mitsuchi Mi and said with an innocent look, "Let's go, sis. These guys are all taken care of."

"Oh, right. Let's hurry."

Looking at this "innocent" Younger Brother, Mitsuchi Mi's only feeling right now was overwhelming safety.

Night fell.

"Here's the room arranged for you, little Xia. I'm right next door. If you can't sleep at night, feel free to come to big sister's room~!"

Harukaze Chizuko smiled softly, then walked back to her room. The door was left slightly ajar, unlocked.

"..."

"I was just joking..."

Natsu Hiraku muttered, glancing at his own room. Instead of pushing the door open to check out his space, he went looking for Ido Shuichi's room.

It was already eight at night. He didn't need to guard Mitsuchi Mi overnight, and honestly, it didn't seem necessary anyway...

With a Quasi Grade 1 Cursed Spirit standing watch, anyone who came would just be walking into a trap—as long as they threatened Mitsuchi Mi's life.

Besides, there was a night-shift bodyguard. Ido Shuichi was probably that person. He should be able to spot him as soon as he stepped outside.

In the silent hallway, faint light flickered like fireflies, illuminating the dark space. Every now and then, a few floating Cursed Spirits drifted by.

They muttered, "That room is so scary. The air feels so oppressive."

Natsu Hiraku just glanced at them, then swatted all the floating Cursed Spirits out of existence.

He didn't know whose grudge they were, but the room they were talking about was definitely Mitsuchi Mi's.

Pushing open the villa door, he looked at the two security guards standing at the entrance and asked, "Where's Captain Ido? I need to see him."

The two heard someone asking for the captain, turned to look, and upon seeing it was Natsu Hiraku, who had beaten the captain that morning, said with some delight, "Oh, it's you, Vice-Captain Natsu. Come with us, we'll take you to the captain."

"Vice-Captain? What the hell?"

Natsu Hiraku looked puzzled, as if he didn't quite understand this sudden title.

The other person explained, "It's like this. Since Vice-Captain Natsu beat the captain this morning, the vice-captain automatically gave up his position to you."

"Uh... is this vice-captain named Murata Shoichi?"

"Yes, Vice-Captain Natsu has a good memory. I didn't expect you to remember after just one meeting this morning. I was watching from the sidelines too. Honestly, it's the first time I've seen someone last that long against the captain, especially a kid. It made us all lose confidence. Let me ask, Vice-Captain, what do you usually eat?"

Cheating, kid—you've got it. Irresponsible as that sounds, it's the truth.

Natsu Hiraku cleared his throat twice and said, "Since you recognize me as vice-captain, I won't hold back. Listen up, I'll say it once."

"Go ahead, Vice-Captain."

Both of their tones had changed, as if they were desperate for the training plan that could beat the captain.

"Every day: 1,000 push-ups, 1,000 sit-ups, 1,000 squats, and a 10-kilometer run. As for food, eat whatever you want. Stick with this, and you'll have a strong body worth having. Good luck!"

"..."

That's beyond human limits, isn't it?

Vice-Captain, you're only 15—are you already giving up on being human?

There's no way that training plan is possible...

They wanted to say it, but found they couldn't. After all, aside from this brutal training regimen, there was no other way to explain why the vice-captain was so strong.

"Haha, kid, stop messing with those two. Come with me."

Ido Shuichi's voice came from the hallway, and behind him was Murata Shoichi.

"Good evening, Teacher Shuichi. What are you going to teach me first today?"

Natsu Hiraku replied warmly.

"Haha, I'll start with the basics, of course. If you learn fast, I'll keep going. Shoichi, you handle the patrol. Let me go teach this freak."

Ido Shuichi patted Murata Shoichi on the shoulder.

Feeling the heavy responsibility on his shoulder, Murata Shoichi didn't refuse and said with a hint of pride, "Well, the captain lost, so leave it to me."

"Good."

After a brief exchange, under the envious gazes of the others, Natsu Hiraku was taken away by Ido Shuichi.

After all, that was the captain's lifetime of martial arts. To ordinary people, in this law-abiding society, having a big fist meant nothing—you call the cops, lie on the ground, and sue them dry.

But to them, it was more precious than a beautiful woman, worth more than gold and hard to come by.

They walked through the winding paths to the backyard, where a small hut appeared before them. Natsu Hiraku once again felt the gap between rich and poor. This yard felt bigger than two soccer fields, and it took a full five minutes just to walk from the villa door to here.

But now wasn't the time to be envious. Strength was what mattered. When he finished learning, that would be the day to exorcise curses.

Click—

The heavy iron door opened. Ido Shuichi turned on the light inside and said to Natsu Hiraku, who was standing outside, "Come in. Stop staring."

"Okay."

As soon as he stepped inside, he saw the training equipment. The iron training dummy was pitted and scarred, as if it had been struck by something hard. The rust stains showed it had been used for a long time.

Had he trained day and night, deforming solid iron?

He wasn't sure, but Natsu Hiraku could only assume so, since this was what the man used to train.

Aside from the absurd dummy, everything else was normal—some gym equipment, a table and chairs, and a worn-out sandbag hanging in the middle of the room.

"Teacher Shuichi, when did you get here?"

"When?"

Ido Shuichi thought for a moment and said, "About half a month ago. I took a two-month guard mission. When it's over, I'll go back to being a mercenary in other countries."

"Mercenary..."

Natsu Hiraku picked up a dumbbell from the floor and asked, "Mercenaries risk their lives every day. Teacher, you look over thirty. Why not go home and enjoy life?"

"Enjoy life?" Ido Shuichi seemed to recall something, his eyes full of resignation. He sighed and said, "When I die on the battlefield, that'll be enjoying life. That's my fate—I can't sit still."

His tone was filled with helplessness, making Natsu Hiraku curious about this cheap master's past. Though he himself didn't know when he'd kick the bucket, he'd still struggle to survive.

But his master seemed to look forward to dying in battle, or maybe to finding someone who could kill him.

It gave off a vibe like Teacher Gojo—too invincible, no opponents. But maybe that was it. Without sorcerers, with that monstrous body, unless he was ambushed, he wouldn't lose to anyone.

"Alright, stop playing with the dumbbell. What's a monster who's already graduated from physical training doing with that? I'll demonstrate once. How much you learn is up to you."

Hearing Ido Shuichi's urging, Natsu Hiraku looked at his right hand, which could barely lift the dumbbell, and thought to himself, If I could actually play with this thing using just my physical strength, that'd be great.

He put the dumbbell back, rolled up his left sleeve, revealing three big gold watches inside. He took them all off, set them on the table, put on his sunglasses, then sat in the chair with his hands crossed on his lap and said:

"Go ahead, Teacher."

"Do you think I'll hit you?"

Ido Shuichi glanced at the three large gold watches on the table. From the look of them, each one was genuine. Was this guy showing off in front of him?

And wearing sunglasses on top of that?

"Don't worry, teacher. These sunglasses are specially made to help me study effectively," Natsu Hiraku said as he activated his Sharingan. "Pick whichever gold watch you like, teacher. I just robbed—uh, three kind citizens gave them to me this morning."

"Really?"

Ido Shuichi naturally didn't believe there were sunglasses that could help someone study effectively, but considering this cheap disciple was a freak, and he was only teaching him once, there was no way he'd have time to slack off.

If he really did slack off... he'd break his legs even if it cost him everything!

"Of course it's true. I can't learn without these sunglasses."

Natsu Hiraku spoke with righteous conviction, as if it were the truth.

"Then... fine. I'll demonstrate once."

Ido Shuichi gave in. If he'd acted like this back in the day, his Master would probably have broken his legs. Of course, the same applied now...

Watching his Master take a deep breath and start throwing punches, Natsu Hiraku focused with 120% of his attention.

Beneath the sunglasses, the crimson pupils spun their tomoe rapidly. Every move and stance was filled with power and ruthlessness.

If there were a real person in front of him, his attack sequence would be: charge in to break the guard, left fist slamming into the abdomen, right arm smashing the neck, knee lifting to strike the groin.

The moves were so fluid that it made you wonder if such a dirty fighting style was really okay.