I Play Ninjutsu in Jujutsu Kaisen!

Uh... how should I describe them?

Distinctive?

They were only one year ahead, but one of them looked like he was already in his thirties. His hair was tangled up like it had not been washed in ages, his face looked like that of a gangster who could make children cry at a glance, and a gold chain as thick as a pinky finger hung around his neck. He gave off the air of a nouveau riche. The muscles on his arms, exposed beneath his black short-sleeved shirt, bulged visibly. One look was enough to tell that he was not someone to mess with.

As for the other one...

Was that a man or a woman?

The impression was not as exaggerated as the muscular senior's, but there was still something strange about him, as though he were a man dressed as a woman.

It was not just him sizing them up. They were sizing him up too.

"Hey, hey! Look over here."

Gojo Satoru called out, "I believe you've all gained a preliminary understanding of each other from that little stare-down just now. Introduce yourselves! Hiraku-kun, you go first!"

Hearing Teacher Gojo call his name, Natsu Hiraku walked up to the podium, took a deep breath, and said solemnly, "Hello, my name is Natsu Hiraku. This dog is Shura, my son. His strength is that he can take a beating, while his weakness is that he's a little dumb. I'm not particularly talented and don't know that much. I specialize in all kinds of martial arts and assassination techniques. If I had to sum myself up in one sentence, I'm a ninja!"

"Huh? What the hell?" ×2

The two people in their seats stared at Natsu Hiraku on the podium in astonishment.

Gojo Satoru clapped his hands and said:

"Alright, Yuta's next."

"Yes, Teacher Gojo."

Yuta Okkotsu nervously took a deep breath and walked to the podium. Honestly, this was his first time speaking to upperclassmen. One of them did look a little like a street thug, but maybe he was actually a nice person?

Uh...

Alright, he should stop lying to himself.

"My name is Yuta Okkotsu. It's nice to meet you for the first time. I may not know much, but... please take care of me."

After Yuta Okkotsu finished, he walked over to Natsu Hiraku's side. Gojo Satoru also beckoned to the muscular man and said, "Alright, come introduce yourself, Kashiwagi."

"Got it!"

Kento Nanami stretched lazily as he rose to his feet. After rolling his neck a few times, he walked up to the podium with a confident smile on his face. He picked up a piece of chalk and wrote his name on the blackboard. "My name is Kento Nanami, a second-year student. I'm your reliable senior! If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me."

Wow! This senior really is a good guy!

Yuta Okkotsu shouted inwardly.

"Hey, hey!" Gojo Satoru cut in. "I know the two of you get along personality-wise, but save it for later. Kirara, come introduce yourself!"

"Alright."

Kirara Hoshi slowly rose to his feet. He had a woman's appearance, but his voice was unmistakably male.

Just as Natsu Hiraku had guessed, he was a man dressed as a woman. As for how he had figured it out, of course it was from the collarbones. That made it easy to tell. He had merely not been entirely certain at the time. After all, he lacked experience and did not dare be blindly overconfident.

Still...

Anyone who could become a jujutsu sorcerer had some sort of psychological flaw. He did not discriminate against people like Kirara, men with women's hearts. Or rather, he only discriminated against those who knew they were weak yet refused to work to change themselves.

Kirara Hoshi walked calmly to the podium and gave Natsu Hiraku and Yuta Okkotsu a slight smile. "My name is Kirara Hoshi. I'm Kashiwagi's companion. It's nice to meet you."

"Kirara Hoshi... senpai?"

Yuta Okkotsu was somewhat surprised. With Kirara's long black hair and makeup, he had thought Kirara was a female senior. He had not expected him to be a male senior!

Still, Yuta only muttered about it inwardly and did not say it aloud. No matter how others were, they deserved at least basic respect.

Gojo Satoru cut in, "Alright! Now that everyone has introduced themselves, let's talk about the Kyoto Jujutsu High Sister School Exchange Event."

"Next Monday, four days from now! We'll set out a day early. You all need to get along well over the next three days."

"Yes, Teacher Gojo!"

All four replied in unison.

"Alright, I have something to take care of, so goodbye for now!"

Once Gojo Satoru left, the four people in the classroom simply stared at one another, seemingly unsure how to begin talking.

"Ahem."

Natsu Hiraku cleared his throat to draw the others' attention, then asked, "Would you two seniors like to have something to drink?"

"Yes!"

Kirara Hoshi raised his left hand, looking playful. He did not seem to care about how outsiders viewed him, or perhaps he had simply grown used to it.

"Uh... sure. Sorry for the trouble, Junior."

Kento Nanami hesitated, but seeing Kirara Hoshi's delighted expression, he did not refuse.

After all, they were seen as freaks by others. This was the first time someone had not looked at them with strange eyes.

Besides, Junior Natsuhi's impassioned speech had suited his tastes perfectly. It only suited his tastes, though. If third-year seniors or the higher-ups heard someone describe himself as a "ninja," they would probably sneer at him.

"It's no trouble."

The group left the classroom, and Natsu Hiraku continued, "Judging by Kashiwagi-senpai's build, you're probably the close-combat type, right?"

"Yeah. If there's anything you don't understand about close-range combat, feel free to ask your senior here!"

As Kento Nanami spoke, he scratched his head somewhat sheepishly. "It's embarrassing to say, but I got criticized by the higher-ups this year. If Teacher Gojo hadn't recommended us, we probably wouldn't have been allowed to attend the Exchange Event with Kyoto Jujutsu High. Hahaha!"

Although he claimed to be embarrassed, he did not sound like he thought he had done anything wrong. If anything, he sounded proud.

Natsu Hiraku had also gained a rough understanding of this senior's personality.

He was free-spirited!

He dared to do whatever he wanted, and once he did it, he never regretted it. Beneath that fierce appearance was a heart that enjoyed helping others. Perhaps one day, he would leave school to chase his dreams. He was worth getting to know.

"Junior, you've been cursed."

Kirara Hoshi was chatting with Yuta Okkotsu at the moment. He found this person truly interesting. Yuta clearly possessed an enormous amount of cursed energy, yet always spoke with such humility.

"No, I wasn't cursed. I cursed her."

Yuta Okkotsu had already realized this during his previous jujutsu studies, and he had discussed it with Teacher Gojo. The conclusion they had reached was:

He loved her too much. The moment Rika died before his eyes, he had cursed her with the conviction that this was not real, that Rika was still alive...

"I see..."

Kirara Hoshi looked at the ring Yuta Okkotsu clutched tightly in his left hand and realized he had said something wrong. In a subdued voice, he said, "I said the wrong thing. Sorry."

"It's fine. It's not your fault, Senpai. I'll take this step forward and undo Rika's curse."

Yuta Okkotsu unconsciously clenched his hands, then realized he was getting nervous. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Anyway, I'll work hard!"

"Yeah, good luck!"

Kirara Hoshi did not know how to encourage this junior with a story of his own, so all he could say was good luck. After all, that was how he encouraged himself.

At that moment, Shura's mind was filled with thoughts of the huge beef bone he would have for dinner. It was both good for gnawing and delicious.

The group left the school building, and Natsu Hiraku selected seven drinks from the vending machine. After handing them out, he still had three left in his hands.

Those three drinks were for Maki and the others. It was noon now, so they should be eating in the cafeteria.

He asked, "Want to go to the cafeteria for lunch together?"

"No need." Kento Nanami twisted open the bottle cap as he declined. "We went out to eat this morning, so we're not hungry yet. Kirara and I are going to look around the training grounds for a while. Come find us there after you eat."

"Alright, see you this afternoon, Kashiwagi-senpai."

"See you this afternoon. I really admire you." Kento Nanami patted Natsu Hiraku on the shoulder and gave him an encouraging thumbs-up.

"If anything happens in the future, feel free to call on this senior for help. The passion of youth never fades!"

Natsu Hiraku said, "Thanks, Kashiwagi-senpai. Take care."

Watching Kirara Hoshi leave, Yuta Okkotsu waved and called out, "See you this afternoon, Senpai."

Kirara Hoshi did not say anything. He merely waved goodbye.

Watching the seniors leave, Yuta Okkotsu let out a breath of relief. "That's great. I was worried the seniors would be hard to talk to, but they're both good people!"

Natsu Hiraku agreed. "Yeah, the seniors are both strong too. Yuta, is there anything you want to ask them about this afternoon?"

"Ask them about?"

Yuta Okkotsu thought for a moment. "If I were to ask something, it would probably be how to become as confident as the seniors!"

"I see. I'm going to ask about hand-to-hand combat."

"I'm so jealous of Yuta and Hiraku. They'll get to go to Kyoto Jujutsu High soon and bring glory to the school."

Maki Zenin complained as she ate in the cafeteria.

"Next year will be the same. It's held once a year, anyway." Panda comforted her. "This year, we're going to Kyoto. Next year, Kyoto might come to Tokyo Metropolitan. Besides, Hiraku-kun and Yuta train really hard normally. There's no need to envy them over something like this."

"Salmon!"

Toge Inumaki chimed in.

"I know. I know they're improving quickly and training hard, but... I want to go have fun too! Maybe I could run into Maki and beat her up."

Maki Zenin scratched her head and complained, "Ah! So annoying."

"What are you troubled about? Let me hear it."

Natsu Hiraku pushed open the door and walked in. He placed the drinks in his hands on the table, then looked at Maki Zenin expectantly, as if saying, What's bothering you? Tell me so I can laugh about it.

Yuta Okkotsu went straight to get food. As he passed Natsu Hiraku, he asked, "Hiraku-kun, what are you having for lunch?"

"One extra-large pork cutlet and one plate of egg fried rice. Thanks."

"Yeah, got it."

Natsu Hiraku looked at the gloomy Maki Zenin and continued, "Just tell me whatever's bothering you. As a professional, I'll solve all your troubles."

"..."

"No... it's nothing."

Maki Zenin could not bring herself to get angry while looking at Natsu Hiraku's sincere face. Then she remembered the male and female seniors Teacher Gojo had brought over and asked, "How were the senior and senior girl?"

"They're both pretty good, except there wasn't a female senior. There were only male seniors."

After saying that, Natsu Hiraku sat in an empty seat, twisted open a bottle cap, and took a sip of his cold drink. His words made Toge Inumaki choke on his rice.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Panda hurriedly opened one of the cold drinks Natsu Hiraku had bought and handed it to Toge Inumaki. "Quick, quick, quick! Take a drink and you'll be fine."

"Not a female senior?"

Maki Zenin asked in surprise.

"No, he's a senior with a great personality." Natsu Hiraku explained, "His name is Kirara Hoshi. The other senior is Kento Nanami. He has a cheerful personality, and you might actually get along really well with him, Maki!"

"Are you talking about the seniors?"

Yuta Okkotsu came over carrying a blue tray. He placed the egg fried rice in front of Natsu Hiraku and the extra-large pork cutlet in front of Shura, then smiled as he patted Shura on the head.

"Yeah, one of those seniors has a really intimidating presence, so we were curious," Panda said.

"I see. Then the only comment I can offer is that they're good people."

Yuta Okkotsu smiled faintly, then sat down beside them and began eating heartily.

The group quickly finished lunch. After resting where they were for a while, Natsu Hiraku led them to the training grounds to meet the seniors.

Honestly, even though they had been at Jujutsu High for so long, this was their first time talking with upperclassmen. They could not help feeling somewhat expectant.

At the training grounds.

Kento Nanami was shirtless beneath the blazing summer sun, throwing punch after punch. He had always believed that as long as he became strong enough, he could make those higher-ups shut up.

What could be more passionate than that? Was there anything more passionate than training hard and defeating those corrupt higher-ups?

Kirara Hoshi sat beneath the shade nearby, watching. Because his technique was so unusual, he did not need to take part in physical training. Besides, building muscle would not look very pretty.