Playing Ninjutsu in Jujutsu Kaisen!

As usual, he got up at 5:30, stepped out of the villa, and waited for them to come seek sparring and instruction.

After fourteen days of Ido Shuichi's guidance, Natsu Hiraku had learned all of his fighting techniques. Tonight at eight would be the time for him to graduate.

With those fighting techniques, even if Natsu Hiraku's physical abilities were inferior to theirs, he could still trade blows with them. If he truly could not win, he would still reinforce his body with cursed energy.

Except...

How could today be normal?

Not to mention the brothers Kira and Yoshikage standing guard at the entrance. Normally, they would be waiting for him at this hour, then swarm him to beg for instruction.

What was going on today?

Had the sun risen in the west? Or had the world ended? There was not a single person here.

He looked at the two of them and asked, "What's going on today?"

The two stood there like wooden statues, completely motionless, and did not answer Natsu Hiraku's question.

Natsu Hiraku continued, "Kira, Yoshikage, what's going on today?"

The two still did not reply. Their gazes remained fixed ahead, as if they did not know him.

Weird!

Natsu Hiraku even began to wonder whether he had not fully woken up and was still dreaming. Yet this dream was remarkably similar to reality.

The green leaves on the trees swayed in the breeze. With one glance, Natsu Hiraku knew this was not a dream. After all, the brain could not possibly handle such detailed and immense work.

The veins of the leaves were clearly visible, and every leaf had different patterns. Unless he slept with his Sharingan activated, there was no way he could imagine something so vividly.

So what exactly was happening right now?

Whenever these two heard the door open, they would usually excitedly shout, "Good morning, Vice-Captain!" Then they would be the first to ask him for instruction. What was wrong today?

The more Natsu Hiraku thought about it, the stranger it seemed. He glanced at them and was about to leave when Kira and Yoshikage began clapping and shouted, "Vice-Captain Raku, thanks for your hard work."

As the applause rang out, dozens of people surged in from the roads on both sides. As though they had rehearsed it beforehand, the person at the front held a cake while everyone behind him applauded and cheered.

Though they were applauding and cheering, they were not particularly loud. One after another, they offered their most sincere blessings.

Go-in Roku: "Thank you for being willing to teach us, Vice-Captain. If we meet again someday, I'll definitely vote for you to become captain!"

Ryusui Ruo Bing: "Yeah. That captain only taught us for three months. He wasn't nearly as dependable as you, Vice-Captain."

Hinata So: "Vice-Captain Raku, thank you very much for your guidance over the past half month..."

Looking at the people who had come to bid him farewell in advance, Natsu Hiraku scratched his head and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Don't make me sound so noble. You're making me embarrassed. By the way, why don't I see Vice-Captain Shoichi or Master Shuichi?"

"I'm here..."

Murata Shoichi pushed through the crowd, walked to the front, and said, "The captain is out on patrol and had no time to come, so he asked me to pass along a message. Don't fucking come over tonight. Get the hell out tomorrow morning. If you keep learning, I won't even have any underwear left."

His words made everyone burst into laughter.

Natsu Hiraku also gave a bitter smile.

At that moment, Natsu Hiraku felt fortunate to have a master who had taught him for fourteen days. Though meeting had depended entirely on fate, getting to know one another depended on themselves. He had learned much these past days. Although he did not know how to thank this bargain master of his, he still had to see him one last time.

Perhaps they would never meet again, but this memory would remain forever in his mind. Of course... the twenty-five people before him would be the same.

"Alright, I understand. Please tell Master Shuichi that I'll come by tonight to say goodbye."

After saying that, Natsu Hiraku took the cake from Nagato's hands and headed toward the gate. Waving, he said, "I'll accept the cake. Hurry back to your respective posts. I'm heading out for a while."

"Alright, Vice-Captain!"

Natsu Hiraku did not respond. Carrying the cake, he walked straight out through the gates. Right now, he needed to find a location for the final battle. Although this place was somewhat removed from the city, there were unusually many elderly people living nearby, all of whom had come here to retire.

The air was fresh, there were few cars, and plenty of trees. The developers had clearly turned this place into a paradise for retirees. But that also meant that if a battle broke out nearby, those elderly people would be caught in it.

As for a "Curtain," there was no need for one at all. After all, he could not set up any advanced barriers, like one that prevented cursed spirits from leaving or prohibited certain people from entering.

Setting one up would be completely useless. Rather than waste the cursed energy in his body on that thing, he might as well breathe fire.

Natsu Hiraku wandered around while eating cake. He had to admit, the things those rough men bought were pretty tasty. Fruit cake—did they think he was a child?

After wandering around for a full half hour, Natsu Hiraku settled on a cemetery as the site of the final battle. Fighting in someone else's graveyard was somewhat immoral, but he had no other choice.

Touching the Cursed Spirit in the Ring would not provoke any reaction right now. The difficult part would be taking the ring off Mitsuchi Mi's hand. If he made too much noise, the cursed spirit sleeping inside might wake up.

That would not be fun. And he only had one chance, because he was not some pervert who carried out night raids every day. As for the key, it would not be difficult to make. He had already memorized the model with his Sharingan.

He could carve one from a slightly sturdier piece of wood. The prerequisites had all been handled. Next, he just needed to familiarize himself with the route.

Natsu Hiraku took out his phone and opened the map. This place was three kilometers from the villa, and its location was remote. If he ran at full speed using cursed energy, it would take around eight minutes.

After all, the streets were complicated. He could not travel in a straight line through the houses.

Eight minutes...

Honestly, that was a little too long. It would be fine as long as the cursed spirit did not go berserk during that time, but if it did, things would become disastrous. If necessary, he could only find another place.

This was really going to kill him.

Wait... what kind of place was this?

Natsu Hiraku looked at the black dot on his phone map, then zoomed in. Two kilometers west of the villa, there was actually an unfinished building.

He had no idea what the place was, but the west side, like the southern corner where he was, was close to the mountains and woods. When he took walks with Mitsuchi Mi, they had never gone in either of those directions.

After all, they had either been thinking about becoming familiar with the Cursed Spirit in the Ring or training with those people. Who had time to go wandering alone?

"Let's go take a look."

Natsu Hiraku memorized the route, turned off his phone, and headed toward his destination.

Fifteen minutes later, Natsu Hiraku arrived beside the unfinished building. There was a blue sign beside the gate that read:

[Construction incomplete. Entry prohibited. If you are injured by falling debris, you bear the consequences.]

Natsu Hiraku merely glanced at it before walking straight inside. Four three-story flat buildings had been constructed within. Only the frames were finished; the walls had not been plastered or decorated. There was also a foundation resembling a swimming pool. No one knew how long the place had been abandoned, but the grass on the ground was already a meter tall.

Perhaps some wealthy person had planned to retire here, only to suddenly decide against living here. In any case, this place was much more suitable than that cemetery.

And he would not need to take any convoluted routes to get here. One main road led straight to it. It was nearly two kilometers away, and at fastest, it would only take two or three minutes. It was far better than the previous place.

"Here it is. I can even help the owner clear the weeds. I might wreck a few buildings, but that doesn't matter anymore. As long as nobody dies, it's fine."

Natsu Hiraku nodded approvingly. Though he did not know why that cursed spirit's body was like thin mist, or what kind of technique it was, it could not change the fact that curses themselves were formed from cursed energy. Since that could not change, techniques formed from cursed energy would still damage it.

This battle would be a four-to-six split. He was the four, and the cursed spirit was the six.

After learning from Master Shuichi for fourteen days, his reactions and combat instincts were no longer what they had once been. Physical techniques might be ineffective, but they were already enough.

After all, the original purpose of learning physical techniques was not to deal with a cursed spirit like this, but to deal with Todo Aoi. A contest between sorcerers was far more dangerous than one against cursed spirits.

That excluded intelligent Special Grade Cursed Spirits. If he encountered one of those, he probably would not even be able to run away. Forget strategizing against it—he would just be competing in wits with the air.

After walking around the abandoned villa twice to familiarize himself with the terrain, Natsu Hiraku left.

It was almost 6:50. Mitsuchi Mi should be awake soon. No matter what, he was still her bodyguard today. Once he completed the quest, he could also collect the ten million yen reward that belonged to him from the principal.

Wonderful.

Ten million yen—if converted into RMB in his previous life, that would have been an unimaginable amount. It felt like he could coast for more than a decade.

He could not buy a house, but he could rent one and live a carefree life of doing nothing.

The state of young people nowadays: either slack off to the absolute limit, refuse marriage and children, and simply adopt one in the future if necessary; or compete to the absolute limit, with the noble mindset that if you did not crush others through competition, they would crush you.

Natsu Hiraku currently belonged to the second type. Maybe next year, if he was still alive, he could slack off and become a cook who made meals every day without worrying about food or clothing.

But this year, no matter what, he had to reach Special Grade. He did not need to stand on equal footing with Gojo Satoru, but at the very least, he had to catch up to Yuta Okkotsu.

For them, becoming Special Grade might have been inevitable. But for Natsu Hiraku, he could only desperately complete System Quests to improve his strength.

No inherited technique, physical skills copied entirely from others, the Sharingan consumed cursed energy at an extreme rate, his body was weak, and his cursed energy was pitifully low. A whole pile of shortcomings.

Maybe he was fairly quick-witted, but that alone would not keep him alive. There was still more than a month until the Exchange Event. He had to work even harder during that time. Otherwise, the system might issue a quest requiring him to defeat Todo Aoi alone.

Heh...

Did it really think he was human?

After returning to the courtyard, Natsu Hiraku stood outside Mitsuchi Mi's room as usual and waited until seven.

Harukaze Mashi approached in a maid outfit. She smiled at Natsu Hiraku standing outside the door, took out a necklace from her pocket, and said, "Today is the last day, right? I braided this necklace myself. If you come back to visit without wearing this bracelet, I won't let you through the door."

Natsu Hiraku accepted it directly and said, "I have a gift for you too, Mashi. But you'll have to wait until tonight."

"Then I'm really looking forward to it."

Harukaze Mashi rubbed Natsu Hiraku's hair, took a deep breath, then lightly knocked on the door three times. "It's already seven, Miss."

"Come in."

As soon as the words fell, Harukaze Mashi took out the key, opened the room door, and led Natsu Hiraku inside.

"Today is the last day. To be honest, I'm a little reluctant to part with you, Younger Brother Raku. Want to come sleep with me tonight?"

Mitsuchi Mi wore pink pajamas and sat cross-legged on the bed, smiling at Natsu Hiraku.

"N-No, that won't be necessary. I can still sleep by myself."

Natsu Hiraku hurriedly declined. She truly was beautiful, but what could not be done could not be done. His body was still developing, and sleeping too close to her would be awkward. After all, he was not some righteous gentleman.

"Ah, what a pity. Then if you ever want to come play with me, just call anytime. I'll drive over and pick you up."

As soon as Mitsuchi Mi finished speaking, a cloud of black smoke drifted from the ring and formed into the shape of a female human. She stretched lazily, as though she had just woken up. Then she tightly embraced Mitsuchi Mi and stroked her silky hair with her right hand.

Natsu Hiraku saw it all, and an indescribable feeling rose within him. He often wondered whether, if his mother had been like this, he would have let someone exorcise her.

That kind of thought.

Though he had thought about it, he always rejected it. After all, he had deliberately approached them in order to exorcise the cursed spirit. He should not mix too much emotion into the quest.

If he was going to do it, he had to see it through. What the hell was stopping halfway supposed to be... kindness?

If he had to put it into words, his heart had always been cold. At least, he had thought that many times himself.

Night arrived.

"Good evening, Vice-Captain Raku!"

"Mm, good. These are for the two of you—custom weighted rings. I carried them all the way here and nearly died of exhaustion. Even if you're still the weakest right now, don't lose heart. Hurry up and outcompete them to death."

Natsu Hiraku held several large and small bags in his hands, with the backpack he had brought when he arrived still slung over his back. He had spent more than an hour shopping after going out at 6:30. Some gifts were expensive and some were not, but he had carefully selected them all, and everyone could use them.

"Alright! Thank you, Vice-Captain!"

Go-in Roku and Ryusui Ruo Bing accepted the packages Natsu Hiraku handed them with tears in their eyes. In their year of military service, this was the first time they had received a proper gift.

"Alright, no need to thank me. If you want to thank me, just let me know you're safe every year. I'm going to hand out gifts to the others. Goodbye."

Natsu Hiraku waved and left directly, distributing gifts one by one to those on guard. Even those who had changed shifts and were resting received one.

By the end, only three packages remained in his hands. They were gifts for Ido Shuichi, Harukaze Mashi, and Mitsuchi Mi.

In any case, he would not wait until tomorrow morning to leave. After exorcising the cursed spirit tonight and returning the ring, he would leave immediately.

The gifts had all been handed out. If he did not leave now, he would start feeling sad, because they had all treated him particularly well.

After walking through the twisting paths, he arrived outside the small house. The iron gate stood open. Under the yellow light, a shadow rapidly threw punches, and the sounds of thud, thud, thud remained as steady as ever.

Before Natsu Hiraku could say anything after entering through the iron gate, Ido Shuichi berated him, "Didn't I tell you, you little bastard, not to come tonight? I've taught you everything that needs teaching. Get the hell out."

Facing the scolding, Natsu Hiraku said nothing. He placed the gift he had bought on the table, bowed, and left.

A moment later, the sounds of thud, thud, thud came from the small house again, as though no one had ever visited.

Natsu Hiraku left as well. His intentions had been conveyed. Sometimes, saying nothing while acting said everything.

Then came Mashi's gift. He arrived at her door, lightly knocked a few times, and said, "Mashi, your gift is here."

"I'm coming."

Harukaze Mashi opened the door. She wore loose black-and-white pajamas, and her eyes stared fixedly at Natsu Hiraku. "You brat, you're planning to run off tonight, aren't you?"