Playing Ninjutsu in Jujutsu Kaisen!

"What are you two arguing about?"

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice came from behind them. The two turned around together and saw that it was Vice-Captain Hiraku. They hurriedly said, "Nothing, just our usual bickering."

Their eyes still held a hint of anticipation after they spoke.

Natsu Hiraku naturally knew why they were looking at him so expectantly. He cleared his throat and said, "I won't teach you any moves, but you can spar with me. I'll give you some pointers during the match."

The Vice-Captain was actually serious about this. We're gonna cry!

Go-in Roku hurriedly said, "It's fine, it's fine. We wouldn't dare trouble you to teach us any techniques, Vice-Captain. Just a few pointers would be enough."

Ryusui Ruo Bing took out an unopened pack of cigarettes from his pocket and said, "Exactly. Vice-Captain, do you smoke? Want one?"

"You dare bring out that crappy brand?"

Go-in Roku also took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and said, "His are cheap and harsh on the throat. Mine are expensive. They soothe the throat."

"..."

Damn it, this was the first time he'd heard that smoking soothed the throat... Even if he'd never smoked before, there was no need to try and fool him like that, right? Were those cigarettes made from throat lozenges or something?

Natsu Hiraku was speechless and quickly declined. "No, I don't smoke yet. There aren't many people on the streets right now anyway, so let's practice here for a bit."

"Alright, Vice-Captain. Please wait a moment."

The two quickly removed their cumbersome outer uniforms, revealing short-sleeved shirts underneath. Their muscles were nowhere near as exaggerated as the ones inside the compound, but they were still stronger than his.

"Alright, one-on-one, or what?"

"Do we even need to ask? Of course we're both coming at you together."

Natsu Hiraku grinned, assumed a stance, and beckoned to the two of them.

"Smack, smack, smack, thud..."

The sounds of collision echoed through the street. If any passersby had gone by, they would have seen two grown men being completely suppressed by a skinny child.

Even more astonishingly, the child seemed to be holding back. He nimbly evaded their fierce attacks, then closed in on them, apparently saying something as he did.

"Too slow."

"Your leg strength isn't enough."

"Your stance isn't stable enough."

"You've got the ruthlessness, but not the power."

As Natsu Hiraku simply pointed out their flaws, he drew closer to them. Whenever he truly couldn't avoid an attack, he would block it. For now, his priority was to draw out their full strength.

Learn, guide, correct.

This wasn't merely about correcting them. It also gave more meaning to his own practical combat training. Using cursed energy, he adjusted his physical strength to roughly match theirs.

Then he taught them from there. It was also a form of training for him. It wasn't difficult, but it wasn't easy either, making it perfect for reviewing what he had learned yesterday.

The fight between the three quickly caught the attention of patrollers passing by. They gathered around with the mindset of only taking a quick look. But after one glance, they couldn't look away and began discussing it in low voices.

"What is Vice-Captain Hiraku doing? Shouldn't he be practicing with people from inside the compound? Those two are so weak."

"How the hell would I know? But it looks like Vice-Captain Hiraku is teaching them. Other than blocking a few hits, he's been dodging the entire time."

"Seriously? Are those two lucky bastards about to rise to heaven!?"

"What are you looking at? Why aren't you patrolling?"

Ido Shuichi's sudden appearance startled the crowd of onlookers. His rough voice made the three people fighting outside stop moving.

"W-We're going now, Captain."

Soro Ju, who had been leading the spectators, waved at the brothers beside him, signaling for them to hurry up and leave with him.

"Y-Yeah, we're returning to our posts right now. Goodbye, Captain."

The people around him were no fools either. They hurriedly nodded and admitted their mistake, following behind Soro Ju as they prepared to leave.

"Since you've all been watching for so long, how about training together tomorrow? I can't teach you, but I can still give you some guidance."

Natsu Hiraku's voice startled everyone who had been about to leave. Ido Shuichi also looked at his distinctive disciple with interest. He was the one who had set all the rules in the squad.

The weak were only fit to guard the gates, while the strong were qualified to climb higher. Everyone who joined this squad wanted to become stronger. After all, the people who didn't want to improve and only wanted to muddle through had all died on the battlefield. Those who remained still varied in strength, but they were considered strong outside.

As for leaving the squad?

Heh. Once you signed that lifetime contract, there was no leaving anymore. The pay was high, and they got three months of vacation every year. But if they were found not to have returned to the squad, they could only repay the debt with their lives.

There was training too, for three months. Otherwise, sending recruits directly onto the battlefield would just be feeding them to the enemy. As for how much they could learn in those three months, that depended entirely on their own aptitude. He had taught them, after all. If they died, it could only mean... they deserved it.

Go-in Roku and Ryusui Ruo Bing froze. They had thought this was their chance to turn things around, but they hadn't expected the Vice-Captain to care for everyone equally. Though they felt somewhat disappointed, neither dwelled on it for long.

After all, he was the Vice-Captain. It would have been unreasonable for him to show them favoritism just because they had met once. Besides, they had already learned a great deal today. Instead of wasting time complaining, they might as well train and correct their mistakes.

They had to spar with the Vice-Captain a few more times before he left!

At that moment, someone sent a message in the squad group chat:

[Vice-Captain Hiraku is personally training us. Anyone with time should hurry and find him. Let's squeeze everything we can out of him before he leaves.]

At first, no one paid attention to the message. But when shifts changed two hours later, the group chat went completely insane!

A whole bunch of people were asking where the Vice-Captain was. They wanted to go seek his guidance.

Ido Shuichi was lying in bed, preparing to sleep, when he glanced at the squad group chat.

99+

He muttered to himself, What's wrong with these little brats? They probably wouldn't be this active even if I died.

When he opened it, it was filled with nothing but:

[Vice-Captain Hiraku's location!]

[Vice-Captain Hiraku's location!]

[Vice-Captain Hiraku...]

He was utterly speechless. "You could scream yourselves hoarse and dig three feet into the ground, and it still wouldn't do you any good. That kid already went out with Mitsuchi Mi. Who knows when he'll be back? Sleep, sleep."

It was currently 7:55 in the morning.

Mitsuchi Mi was jogging down the street in a cool white tracksuit. The pedestrians passing by all looked at her with interest, drawn in by her swaying figure and youthful appearance.

Natsu Hiraku followed beside her, looking at her empty left hand with a sigh. He wondered when she would finally wear the ring when she went outside. As long as she didn't wear it, he would have no chance to get his hands on it.

If he forcibly fought the Quasi Grade 1 Cursed Spirit inside the villa, the casualties would definitely be enormous. The most likely outcome was that he would lose, causing the cursed spirit to go berserk and wipe out everyone inside the villa.

"Big sister, you look really pretty today. You'd look even better with that ring on."

"Is that so?"

Mitsuchi Mi lowered her head and looked at her empty left hand, gently curling it into a fist. It was as though she saw her mother's right hand in front of her. A bitter smile appeared on her lips as she said, "Maybe next time. It would be bad if I lost it."

"..."

Natsu Hiraku didn't know what to say. Right now, she was like the heroine of a dating sim. Getting her to wear that ring outside felt like an impossible dream.

But if she didn't bring it out, it would affect his ability to steal the ring on the last day. If he couldn't steal it, that meant the quest would fail. This quest had no time limit, and it might end up blocking all the following quests...

At his current Sharingan level, he couldn't forcibly alter someone else's will. This quest wasn't just difficult because the cursed spirit was hard to fight. He probably couldn't even clear the entry requirement.

"Entry requirement: Have Mitsuchi Mi wear the ring outside the house..."

"Tch..."

Natsu Hiraku was feeling irritated. All sorts of wicked thoughts flashed through his mind, but his last shred of reason suppressed them.

For example, ignoring those ordinary people and directly fighting the Quasi Grade 1 Cursed Spirit on the last day.

Or having Gojo Satoru exorcise the cursed spirit directly. That should make the system declare the quest a failure. But obviously, both choices were last resorts, plans that couldn't be used unless absolutely necessary.

Force a fight. If he won, he would get twelve consecutive draws and a permanent bonus of 100 cursed energy. The consequence would be Teacher Gojo and the others hunting him down...

After all, it was impossible for no one to die. At best, he would end up behind bars. At worst, the higher-ups of the jujutsu world would sentence him directly to death.

Sigh, he should keep working on her. There were still thirteen days left, so he could take it slowly. He really hadn't expected the system's third quest to be nightmare difficulty.

Wait...

It seemed he was the one who had unlocked this nightmare-difficulty quest. If he hadn't saved her back then, none of this would have happened...

Holy shit!

The clown was actually himself!

"Big sister, can you wear the ring tomorrow~, please? You look super pretty wearing it!"

His soft, pleading voice echoed beside Mitsuchi Mi's ear. Natsu Hiraku was clearly panicking now and had chosen to make perfect use of his advantage.

That was acting cute.

After all, he was only fifteen right now. If persuasion didn't work, acting cute definitely would.

"Even acting cute won't work."

Mitsuchi Mi directly refused. "That was a precious item my mother left me. I absolutely won't wear it outside."

"..."

You're forcing me to use my ultimate move, woman!

Natsu Hiraku raised his voice and spoke in a soft, adorable tone. "But if it was your mother's, then she would definitely want you to keep wearing it, right?"

Those words instantly plunged Mitsuchi Mi into thought. Her steps, which had been moving forward, slowly came to a stop, while Natsu Hiraku wore a triumphant expression behind her.

He laughed inwardly. Hahaha! Who said acting cute didn't work? Isn't it working now? As long as I can complete the System Quest, forget acting cute—I'd even wear women's clothes without blinking.

Mitsuchi Mi looked at her left hand, her gaze stirred. Seeing that the time was right, Natsu Hiraku continued, "Actually, you can wear it all day. With me here, I guarantee it won't leave your hand. You can try trusting me, big sister."

This time, Mitsuchi Mi did not reject him outright. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I'll consider it."

Night.

Natsu Hiraku made his way to yesterday's little house as if he knew the route by heart. Seeing the open iron gate, he heard the sound of "clang clang thump" before he had even entered, showing just how much force was being used.

When he walked in, he saw Ido Shuichi hammering away at a training dummy. He waved and called out, "Good evening, Master Shuichi."

"Good."

Ido Shuichi stopped and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was exactly eight o'clock. "Pretty punctual."

"Of course I am."

Natsu Hiraku replied confidently. Then he sat in a chair, looked at the three large gold watches and sunglasses on the table that had not moved an inch, and continued, "Are we studying first today, or sparring first?"

"Heh, of course we'll spar first. Saves your eyes from bleeding while you study."

Ido Shuichi said half-jokingly. Then he took off his sweat-soaked shirt, revealing the strong muscles hidden beneath it, and continued, "There's no time limit today. Just watch me beat your head full of bumps!"

"Uh..."

Natsu Hiraku looked at Master Shuichi, who was raring to go, and inwardly collapsed. Was it really okay for a grown man to have the temper of a child? Forget it, he would just grit his teeth and do it. Time to test what he had learned yesterday!

He took off the clothes he had bought while shopping with Mitsuchi Mi that morning and placed them on the table. After loosening up and finishing his warm-up, he directly enhanced his body with cursed energy. Crimson cursed energy instantly covered his entire body before dissipating again.

He waved to his eager master and said, "I'm ready."

The moment he finished speaking, Ido Shuichi did not respond. Instead, his calf muscles explosively exerted force, the bulging muscles like steel. The three-meter distance vanished in an instant.

Natsu Hiraku watched as his master closed in right before his face, a fist the size of a sandbag smashing directly toward him. He hurriedly raised both arms to block.

"Smack!"

A crisp sound echoed through the room. The instant Natsu Hiraku made contact with the punch, he was sent flying. History repeated itself. Yesterday, he had been sent flying into a tree trunk; today, he slammed straight into the solid wall.

"It's not over yet!"

After yesterday's fight, Ido Shuichi had roughly figured out just how tough his disciple was. He just needed to go all out and charge ahead!

His veined fists came down like a torrential storm toward Natsu Hiraku, who had yet to rise. Every punch felt as if it were striking an iron plate, impossible to shake.