Playing Ninjutsu in Jujutsu Kaisen!

Although Toge Inumaki technically did not need to train his body either, he still worked out regularly because of Maki, so he had the muscles he should have.

Panda had truly given up on striving. After all, his upper limit had been set from the moment he was born, completely sealed off.

"Good afternoon, Kashiwagi-senpai!"

Natsu Hiraku's voice reached Kento Nanami's ears. He stopped swinging his fists, waved, and called back, "Good afternoon."

Kirara Hoshi glanced at the newcomer and revealed a faint smile.

He normally would not smile at outsiders, not even upperclassmen. To him, Kento was his kindred spirit, but these younger students were all so sensible that he had a fairly good impression of them.

Maki Zenin looked at the sweat on Kento Nanami's body and felt the urge to spar with him. There was nothing she could do about it—she desperately wanted to fight strong opponents. The people at home were simply too weak; they were nowhere near enough to satisfy her.

Kento Nanami immediately saw the fighting spirit in this junior's eyes. People with personality were always drawn to one another; that was absolutely true. He, too, had once wanted to fight strong opponents... no, he had always wanted to!

"Hey, junior, want to come over and spar?"

"Heh!"

A smile appeared at the corner of Maki Zenin's mouth. She took off the black backpack slung over her shoulder, unzipped it, pulled out a brown three-section staff, and said, "Of course!"

"Maki, are you really going to fight him? He's a senior, you know?"

Yuta was the only one still worried. The clever ones had already found a shady spot and gotten ready to watch the show.

Panda shouted, "Yuta, Maki's hands will get itchy if she doesn't fight. Hurry over and watch!"

Toge Inumaki agreed, "Salmon, bonito flakes."

"Shura, go get the chilled watermelon from our fridge. Get back here within a minute, or you're continuing training tonight."

Natsu Hiraku, the real genius, was even more outrageous. He had already activated his Sharingan to watch the show, with chilled watermelon to boot.

Eating ice cream in the blazing summer heat was quite dull. Only gnawing on watermelon could bring him back to life, even if autumn was almost here...

Shura looked at his owner, who only knew how to order dogs around, with utter disdain. Using physical training as an excuse, he made him haul vegetables around, then lay on him whenever he felt like it and gaze up at the sky.

But he could not refuse, or there would definitely be no escaping training. Better get moving.

"..."

Was this really okay?

Yuta Okkotsu looked speechlessly at everyone already sitting in the shade to watch, then glanced at Maki. After saying, "Good luck," he simply left.

"..."

Maki Zenin's feelings were complicated right now. She both loved and hated these awful friends, especially Natsu Hiraku, that training maniac. Even now, he had his eyes open to copy their hand-to-hand techniques...

Although this had already become normal, it still annoyed her a little.

Meanwhile, Natsu Hiraku was shouting inwardly, Fight! Fight! If you don't fight, how am I supposed to get stronger?!

Honestly, this was his first time seeing a Grade 1 Sorcerer fight, especially against Maki. In any case, he could not beat Maki himself. She could deal with him as easily as chopping vegetables.

He was completely suppressed in hand-to-hand combat, his Sharingan refused to evolve, and Maki had thoroughly figured him out. Whenever he formed hand seals for ninjutsu, he suspected Maki was deliberately going easy on him just to watch him breathe fire.

Honestly, his crowd-control abilities were inferior to Toge Inumaki's, he could not beat Maki Zenin in close-range one-on-one combat, he did not have as much cursed energy as Yuta Okkotsu, and he was less durable than Panda.

Though he wanted to develop in every area, it seemed he was still at the starting line in all of them...

Commonly known as: a sorcerer still stuck guarding the gate.

"These juniors really are close and caring."

Kirara Hoshi glanced at the people beside him. Honestly, their friendship made him a little envious, though only a little...

In the field.

Maki Zenin stood before Kento Nanami with her three-section staff in hand. Her face was filled with joyful confidence as she said, "My name is Maki Zenin."

"Zenin?"

Hearing that surname, Kento Nanami could not help associating it with the Zenin Family. He asked, "The Zenin from the Three Great Families?"

Japan's three major sorcerer families were the Gojo Family, the Kamo Family, and the Zenin Family. The Gojo Family stood at the head of the Three Great Families, and its most representative figure was Gojo Satoru, known as the strongest.

Though the other two families were not as prosperous as the Gojo Family, they were still among the Three Great Families, so they naturally could not be weak. To ordinary sorcerers, it was a surname that carried immense pressure.

Of course, that was only for ordinary sorcerers. Kento Nanami was merely curious when he asked. It would not affect how hard he hit her later.

"Of course." Maki Zenin assumed her stance. "I'm the future head of the Zenin Family. Now that you're done asking, shouldn't we begin?"

"Interesting!"

Kento Nanami did not care whether she would become the Zenin Family's head in the future. His passion was already boiling over. How disappointing would it be if he did not go all out? Slowly clenching his fists, he said, "Let's begin!"

The moment he finished speaking, he lunged forward and threw a punch at Maki Zenin.

"Clack—"

The sound of metal chains colliding rang out. Knowing that their size difference was enormous and that she might lose in a contest of strength, Maki did not meet him head-on. Her three-section staff wrapped around Kento Nanami's right arm, and she kicked toward his groin.

"Damn! This junior's using dirty tricks!"

Kento Nanami looked down at the incoming right leg, his heart jolting as he pulled his knees inward and clamped them together.

"Smack—"

A heavy, solid sound echoed beside the onlookers' ears.

Yuta Okkotsu twitched his brow. "I've never seen Maki use that move before..."

Panda explained, "That's because you guys are too weak in close combat, so Maki has no need to use it. Before long, she'll probably have a chance to use it on Hiraku. He trains so hard, after all."

Toge Inumaki chimed in, "Salmon."

"N-No... I don't think I'm worthy of being served by that move yet."

Natsu Hiraku's voice trembled as he spoke. It had not landed, sure, but if that thing did land, would he even survive?

Uh... he seemed to know that move too, but Maki was a woman, so he had never had the chance to use it. It could be called an academic counter. As for using it on Yuta... if Yuta lost the ability to have children, he would probably die on the spot.

No matter how he looked at it, this was an extreme one-for-a-hundred-million trade that was not worth it.

Kento Nanami had not been caught off guard, but he was still shaken. Seeing the smile at the corner of Maki Zenin's mouth, he knew that this junior was looking down on him.

"Heh, now this is something."

Blue cursed energy instantly wrapped around his entire body. Feeling the increase in power within him, he kindly warned her, "My next punches might hurt a little."

"No problem! I consider myself pretty tough."

Maki Zenin was not bragging. Because of Heavenly Restriction, the cursed energy in her body was extremely scarce, no different from that of an ordinary person. Yet unlike ordinary people, she had traded away her innate cursed energy for physical strength.

Ordinary people simply had low upper limits for cursed energy. Since their parents possessed little cursed energy to begin with and could not use sorcery, the foundation they were born with would not be high either, though they still had a chance of becoming sorcerers.

So-called Heavenly Restriction was a binding forcibly bestowed upon someone from birth, sacrificing some innate condition in exchange for tremendous power in another aspect.

When it came to taking hits, she was, in some ways, even tougher than Panda!

Feeling his right arm bound by the three-section staff, he prepared to force his way free. But Maki Zenin was determined to lock horns with him today. Her arm muscles bulged as she directly held him fast.

His right leg was tightly clamped between her knees. From head to toe, only his left leg and head could move, but that was enough!

His left foot shot up and kicked hard at her waist.

The instant his foot rose, Kento Nanami released his clamped legs. Veins bulged across his right arm as he directly flung Maki Zenin away. He raised his head, swept a glance toward the junior, then exerted force through his legs and chased after her.

He shouted, "My passion... is burning! Hahaha!"

"Tch, upperclassmen really are upperclassmen. What ridiculous strength."

The moment Maki Zenin landed and steadied herself, she saw the senior rushing toward her. His fist, as large as a sandbag, blasted toward her. In an instant, he threw several punches. Though they were chaotic and easily dodged, the wind from his fists carried a scraping sensation.

It felt as if she were being rubbed by sandpaper, and that was only from being grazed, not actually hit.

What would happen if one landed!?

"Maki's dodging. That's really rare."

Panda was somewhat surprised as he watched Maki Zenin retreat and circle around the field. Given Maki's strength, exorcising a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit was not difficult at all. She was only stuck as a Grade 4 Sorcerer for certain special reasons.

"Normal."

Kirara Hoshi reminded them, "Kogane's fists hurt a lot when they hit someone. If I had to describe the feeling, it's like being struck by a baseball bat wrapped in sandpaper. That junior probably noticed that and doesn't dare take them head-on."

"Normal my ass. Being able to calmly describe how it feels as the victim is the truly outrageous part."

Everyone shouted inwardly.

Natsu Hiraku glanced at Kirara Hoshi and muttered inwardly, What kind of relationship do these two seniors have? GY? Tsk... forget it, forget it. This isn't something I should get involved in.

The situation in the field quickly became clear. Though Maki Zenin occasionally counterattacked, it was no more than an itch to Kento Nanami, who had entered an excited state.

On the other hand, the punches he threw kept Maki Zenin from daring to receive them head-on. The three-section staff was what she normally used for training, not a Cursed Tool, so it naturally was not as sturdy as one. After colliding with Kento Nanami's fists several times, cracks had appeared in it.

This gave Maki Zenin quite a headache, but she also knew that if this dragged on, she would definitely lose.

Looking at the cracked three-section staff, Maki Zenin decided to go all in and snapped it apart. Gripping the broken ends in both hands, she drew a rapid deep breath, then launched her final fierce assault at Kento Nanami.

The nunchaku seemed to come alive in Maki Zenin's hands. Like a roaming dragon, they were flexible and swift, and the sharp whooshing of wind filled the air.

If this move still can't beat him, then the weapon is the problem!

Maki Zenin shouted inwardly, rapidly swinging both arms to continuously accelerate the nunchaku before striking at Kento Nanami's shoulder and waist.

As a senior, Kento Nanami naturally had a senior's pride. How could he dodge? Shouting the word "passion," he extended both arms to receive his junior's full-strength attack.

"Smack! Crack—"

The two strikes landed solidly, but the nunchaku were not sturdy enough and shattered apart.

Seeing this, Maki Zenin knew that she had lost. She tossed the broken nunchaku onto the ground, exhaled a breath of stale air, and said:

"I lost."

"Kogane is very happy."

Watching Maki Zenin admit defeat, Kirara Hoshi looked toward the juniors beside him and asked, "Kogane's passion has not faded yet. Who wants to go up and experience it?"

"..."

After hearing Kirara Hoshi's earlier description of what getting hit felt like, Natsu Hiraku and Yuta Okkotsu immediately fell silent, tossing the idea of asking for hand-to-hand instruction to the back of their minds.

What a joke. Even Maki, their big sister figure, had lost. Were they supposed to go up there and serve themselves on a platter?

It would be one thing if they were merely serving themselves up, but would one hit not hurt them to death?

"Woof woof woof! (Master, did I get here fast?)"

At that moment, Shura arrived carrying chilled watermelon in his mouth. He placed it before Natsu Hiraku, wagging his upright tail as though waiting for praise.

"..."

Natsu Hiraku looked at the match that had already ended, then at his dog's excited expression. Not wanting to discourage him, he patted his head and praised, "Shura, you ran really fast."

Children would show happy expressions when they heard their parents praise them, and Shura was no different. If he were a normal family head, he would pick up the child, but Natsu Hiraku was different—he could not lift him...

Watching Shura bounce around energetically, Natsu Hiraku picked up the watermelon from the ground and asked, "Anyone want some watermelon? It's chilled."

"I do!"

"Salmon!"

"Panda wants some too!"

Kirara Hoshi looked at the watermelon still covered in saliva in Natsu Hiraku's hand and muttered inwardly, Can you guys really eat that?

"Hahaha, eating watermelon? Count me in."

There was no need to look to know that this bold voice belonged to Kento Nanami. After the fight, his entire body was covered in sweat, and his pants were already soaked through.

"I want some too. Losing is a little disappointing, but it was fulfilling."

Maki tugged at her collar, her face flushed red. She had not felt anything during the fight, but after it ended, she realized just how hot it was.

"..."

Kirara Hoshi was speechless. Seeing that so many people were eating, leaving only himself, he stood up and said, "I want some too."