I Play Ninjutsu in Jujutsu Kaisen! Chapter 4

Toge Inumaki raised his right hand in a token greeting.

"Salmon."

Gojo Satoru said, "And then there's Panda."

Panda spoke in a human voice. "I'm Panda. Nice to meet you."

Gojo Satoru said, "Yeah, that's about it. There are five first-years now. Next is this afternoon's jujutsu training. You'll split into groups of three and two."

"Inumaki and Panda are one group. Maki, Yuta, and Hiraku are the other."

Exorcising cursed spirits, huh...

He would try it and see whether killing cursed spirits earned those so-called points. Mainly because he did not have much time to study that thing right now. It would have been better if it were nighttime. Whatever, he could experiment slowly. There were powerhouses around to make sure he did not kick the bucket anyway.

Natsu Hiraku grinned and immediately hugged Maki Zenin's right leg, shouting, "Boss, protect me!"

"..."

The three people and one panda watching were all dumbfounded by that move. Maki Zenin, the person involved, was equally confused. Looking down at Natsu Hiraku clinging to her thigh, her face instantly flushed red. She lifted her left foot and kicked him away, shouting:

"Get the hell off me, pervert!!"

That kick sent Natsu Hiraku, who had been hugging her leg and rubbing his face against it, flying away. He looked utterly bewildered. He had only hugged her leg—was that really necessary?

Crash—

The window shattered as a black figure flew out through it, rolling twice across the ground before coming to a stop.

"Cough, cough... I've been beaten up too many times today. My body can't really take it anymore..."

Natsu Hiraku slowly got to his feet and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Then he froze as a blue panel suddenly appeared before him, his expression gradually turning puzzled.

[Mission: Exorcise 10 cursed spirits. Reward: 5 points, Genin-level physical strength. Time limit: 9:59:59]

Uh, this mission...

It came at just the right time!

He had been wondering how to get more points, and it turned out missions were issued for them. Natsu Hiraku's face lit up as if he had discovered a new continent. Like someone who had gone seven or eight days without food suddenly seeing a meal, he practically drooled at the sight.

"Why didn't that guy get kicked to death?"

Maki Zenin had originally been worried that she had used too much force and seriously injured him. But seeing his excited expression now, her eyes were filled with nothing but disgust. She practically wanted to finish him off herself.

As for Panda, Toge Inumaki, and Yuta Okkotsu, they had no idea what words could possibly describe Natsu Hiraku at this moment.

They had seen perverts before, but never one this perverted. He had just been kicked hard, yet he actually looked excited...

"What wild tastes..."

Even Gojo Satoru could not help but make a jab.

"Where are we?"

Yuta Okkotsu looked around at the empty buildings.

"An elementary school."

Gojo Satoru's tone grew grave. "But it's an elementary school where children have gone missing."

"Missing!!"

Yuta was shocked. Gojo Satoru continued, "Considering the location, it's probably naturally formed curses causing trouble."

"The children were taken by curses?" Natsu Hiraku asked.

Gojo Satoru said, "That's right. Two so far."

With a long black case slung across her back, Maki Zenin said, "Places filled with memories tend to gather curses. Schools and hospitals, for example. Whenever people think of them, they become receivers for negative emotions. Once enough accumulates, curses are formed like this."

"Right. Exorcise the curses and rescue the children. If they're already dead, retrieve the bodies." Gojo Satoru raised his right hand, extending his index and middle fingers while folding the other three down, then continued:

"Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."

Drip—

The sound of water droplets came from overhead. Natsu Hiraku looked up.

A droplet like a ball of ink spread outward, slowly enveloping the school.

The shock of seeing it in person was incomparable to the manga, though he had not read much of it.

Yuta said in shock, "It got dark!!"

"Relax." Gojo Satoru smiled as he walked toward the entrance, saying in a light tone, "This is a veil. People outside won't be able to see you now. Veils are barriers that make curses visible, and they're easy to dispel from the inside. That's it. Be careful, and don't die."

After saying that, the black veil completely covered the ground, while he remained outside it to wait.

"Die? Sensei!"

Yuta looked panicked, as if he wanted to say something else, but Natsu Hiraku reminded him, "Stop looking around. The cursed spirits are already here."

"What!"

Yuta looked over at the sound. Maki Zenin had already taken the Naginata from her case, while three tall, one-eyed cursed spirits now stood on the previously empty road.

They all looked identical. Then, as if they had gone mad, their entire bodies began to tremble, their hoarse voices terrifying:

"Come... in..."

A pair of long, slender arms moved beneath the single eye, then reached into the opening sewn shut with thick thread. As it whispered in a chilling voice, it forcefully tore apart the threads sealing the opening.

White fluid continuously flowed from the gaps, the viscous liquid slowly dripping onto the ground.

So disgusting.

Natsu Hiraku felt slightly nauseated as he watched. Even though he had observed corpse dissections during clinical training, he still found this revolting.

"Snap—"

The white thread snapped, and a broad tongue emerged from within. As the rift fully opened, the curse revealed its true form before the three of them.

That sewn-up opening had been a mouth!

As the mouths opened wide, the three curses charged at them like mad. The saliva dripping from their mouths proved how desperately hungry they were, and they occasionally let out chilling roars.

"They're coming this way!"

Yuta looked at the calm-faced Natsu Hiraku, assuming he had some solution, and hurriedly asked, "What do we do?!"

"Tch, what a coward." Natsu Hiraku glanced at Maki, who was holding her weapon, and continued, "These three pieces of trash aren't even enough for Maki to kill. She's not scared, so what are you afraid of?"

He said it with utterly unjustified confidence, practically embodying the spirit of shamelessly living off someone else.

"..."

Yuta Okkotsu was speechless. They were both Transfer Students, so why was the gap between them so huge...?

Maki Zenin had been about to make her move, but when she heard Natsu Hiraku using her as a weapon, she remembered how he had taken advantage of her earlier. She immediately refused, putting away her Naginata as she said:

"Since you're so amazing, why don't you handle them?"

"..."

If I could beat them, would I be clinging to your thigh?

Natsu Hiraku was speechless. Although his System Quest was to exorcise ten curses, it was obvious that he couldn't defeat these three at all. He couldn't even beat them in terms of size. Still, no one would know without trying. If he entered the Sharingan state, maybe he could beat them.

Ever since he had awakened the Sharingan himself after being struck by that doll this morning, he knew how to enter that state. But he had never tried it himself, and he might fail.

Whatever. He had to treat a dead horse like a living one. He would first try to recreate that feeling—let the cursed energy in his body flow into his eyes, then use that as a foundation to cover both arms with the remaining cursed energy.

No matter how much of a grudge Maki held, she wouldn't just stand by and watch him die, right?

I'm doing it!!

The three curses were now only a little over twenty meters away from Natsu Hiraku. At their speed, they could cross that short distance in just three or four seconds. At such a critical moment, Natsu Hiraku closed his eyes and guided the cursed energy within his body into them.

What was he trying to do?

That lunatic actually closed his eyes at a time like this!

Maki Zenin gripped her Naginata tightly with both hands, her gaze gradually sharpening. If Natsu Hiraku was about to get hit, she would attack immediately. She disliked him, but that wasn't a reason to abandon a teammate.

Seeing the human close his eyes and wait for death, the curses grew even more excited. Their hoarse wails echoed throughout the campus.

Hurry, hurry, hurry!

Natsu Hiraku was panicking like hell. He didn't understand why the cursed energy had gathered in his eyes so quickly before, taking only 0.1 seconds, while manually controlling it himself was so slow.

I'm going to die!

I'm going to die!!

I'm going to die!!!

His overwhelming desire to survive filled his mind. The despairing negative emotions within him transformed into cursed energy, continuously supplying power to his eyes until he felt the cursed energy within them reach saturation.

Natsu Hiraku opened his eyes. Within his scarlet pupils, a single tomoe spun rapidly, instantly analyzing the movements of the three curses before him with perfect clarity.

This was the feeling—the power of the One-Tomoe Sharingan. The enemy's movements seemed like they were in slow motion.

He had successfully activated the Sharingan. Next, he had to cover his hands in cursed energy and exorcise them!

"You two move aside. Leave these three to me."

Natsu Hiraku gave a light shout and retreated, buying himself some time.

His eyes had changed!

Yuta and Maki looked at his strange eyes and immediately moved aside. Provoked by Natsu Hiraku, the three curses paid no attention to the other two.

Yuta Okkotsu said, "Hiraku's eyes are different."

"Yeah, I'm not blind." Watching Natsu Hiraku nimbly evade the attacks of the three curses, Maki Zenin slowly loosened her grip on the Naginata and remarked approvingly:

"I didn't expect him to actually have some skill."

Facing the attacks of three curses, he could still weave through narrow gaps with ease. Was it because of those eyes?

Could he be related to Teacher Gojo?

Didn't seem like it. Neither his appearance nor hair color bore the slightest resemblance. Their personalities were somewhat similar, though. Still, if he only kept dodging, he wouldn't be able to defeat those three curses.

What an interesting experience. Their attack patterns had already been imprinted in his mind. He felt as though he could dodge their attacks even with his eyes closed.

But Natsu Hiraku knew there was a high chance that feeling was an illusion. This wasn't the time to show off—one mistake, and he would die on the spot.

Both hands were now covered in scarlet cursed energy. He could feel the boost in strength, a sense of fulfillment he had never experienced in his previous life.

A feeling of power welling up inside him.

Looking at the three cursed spirits that had chased him around half the field, Natsu Hiraku smiled. Seizing a gap in their attacks, he thrust out both hands and crushed the eyes of two cursed spirits, robbing them of their vision.

The remaining one opened its huge mouth, trying to swallow the human in a single bite.

"You want to dance too?"

Natsu Hiraku's scarlet eyes locked onto the cursed spirit preparing to ambush him. Then he threw a full-force punch, blasting straight through it.

So powerful!

He had never expected that punch to be so devastating, but this was clearly not the time to be shocked. The other two cursed spirits were still alive; he had only blinded them.

They could not even touch him when they had eyes. How could they possibly do so without them?

The two cursed spirits were easily eliminated. This first battle greatly boosted Natsu Hiraku's confidence. The aftereffects were rather obvious, though—he had used the Sharingan for too long, and his cursed energy was being drained rapidly.

Seeing that the mission panel still required seven more cursed spirits, he took a deep breath and withdrew the Sharingan. If he kept it active, even defeating one more might become a problem. If he could not complete this mission here, he would not get another chance.

"That was amazing!" Yuta Okkotsu shouted.

"That level was alright. If it were me, I would've instantly killed all three cursed spirits."

Maki Zenin flicked the Naginata in her hand and spoke with a confident look.

"Yeah, yeah, sure."