Playing Ninja Arts in Jujutsu Kaisen!

It was like being forcibly switched to another position, giving him the feeling of Sasuke's [Amenotejikara]. The activation condition was probably clapping.

Natsu Hiraku pondered as Todo Aoi resumed his attack stance. "Let's continue, my best friend."

"Yeah, let's continue."

Natsu Hiraku glanced at the System Quest countdown, clenched both fists, and assumed an offensive stance. His lips parted slightly as he took a deep breath, reactivated his Sharingan, and muttered inwardly:

"Right now... perhaps I can really raise some hell."

[3:45]

[3:44]

The two exchanged glances and attacked at the same time, their flesh-on-flesh blows cracking through the air.

Within two breaths, Natsu Hiraku knew he could not match Todo Aoi in strength and leaped onto a tree to evade. His hands rapidly formed seals as he muttered inwardly, "Rat, Ox, Dog, Horse, Monkey, Boar, Tiger... Great Fire Annihilation!!"

He opened his mouth and took a fierce breath. It felt as though a blazing mass of fire ignited within his chest, then poured out of his mouth along with that breath.

Swift flames erupted from his mouth. The tightly compressed fire found vastly more room to spread, exploding outward in every direction.

The towering sea of fire instantly swallowed all the surrounding trees. Great Fire Annihilation, fueled by 400 cursed energy, was no exaggeration to describe as setting the entire mountain ablaze.

Yoshinobu Gakuganji, who had been watching from the principal's office, could no longer sit still. He slammed the table and shouted, "Fuck, put out the fire already! That bastard Gojo Satoru never warned his student that you can't set a forest on fire!"

"Hahahaha! I'm dying! That kid Hiraku really did set the woods on fire! Principal Gakuganji is probably so mad he's about to ascend on the spot!" Gojo Satoru laughed so hard in the broadcast room that he could not close his mouth, as if none of this had anything to do with him.

Utahime Iori glanced at Gojo Satoru's grinning face, veins bulging on her forehead. She really wanted to kill him, but there was nothing she could do. She simply could not beat him.

She grabbed the microphone and shouted, "The match is suspended! Put out the forest fire first! Put out the forest fire first!"

The scorching waves of flame surged toward Todo Aoi. The surrounding trees sizzled the instant they touched the fire, showing just how terrifyingly high its temperature was. His best friend was truly incredible. He was clearly only a first-year, yet he could already use such a powerful technique.

However...

"Heh! A mere inferno won't scare me off!"

Todo Aoi picked up the remains Mech-Maru had left behind. There was still cursed energy inside them, so he could use his "Immoral Game" to switch positions with them. He could have directly switched places with Natsu Hiraku, but... wouldn't that be too boring?

Though the loudspeaker had ordered the match to stop, neither of them paid any attention. They continued their decisive battle, which had already reached its climax!

Sensing something rapidly charging through the flames, Natsu Hiraku frowned. At the temperature of his firestorm, let alone a person, even iron would melt into liquid metal in moments.

"Whoosh—"

A cursed corpse burst through the flames and appeared beside his face. His scarlet pupils locked onto the red-hot cursed corpse. Seeming to realize something, he immediately stopped his ninja technique and kicked at the remains Mech-Maru had shed, intending to send them flying.

"Clap!"

The sound of clapping rang out. The remains instantly switched places with Todo Aoi. Fists and kicks collided, and after only a moment, both men used the force to spring apart.

"Beautiful prediction, my best friend. Next, I'm getting serious!" Todo Aoi praised him with a grin, but the power behind his punch did not diminish in the slightest.

The whistle of wind tearing past his ears roared by. Natsu Hiraku did not fear him either. After all, he had not learned Jeet Kune Do for nothing. Aside from being suppressed in strength, he was no weaker than Todo Aoi in any other aspect.

After several exchanges, the two shifted from the trees into the sea of fire. Trees burned around them, smoke and dust billowed, and birds scattered from the branches with miserable cries, painting a scene straight out of the apocalypse.

"Crack—"

A branch burned through by the flames fell from above, dropping directly toward their heads.

Natsu Hiraku's scarlet eyes flicked toward it. His right palm caught Todo Aoi's solid punch, disrupting his center of gravity and borrowing the force to fling him away.

He then caught the falling branch. Though it radiated searing heat, it was nothing to Natsu Hiraku, whose hands were already covered in cursed energy. The muscles in his arms bulged like coiling dragons as he hurled it fiercely at Todo.

[2:55]

"Heh!"

Having just regained his footing, Todo Aoi watched the incoming flaming tree branch. He could feel it—the passion and fervor of giving everything in battle, of getting to know each other through combat.

Sure enough, this was what a best friend was!

"Then, Immoral Game begins!"

Todo Aoi looked at the flaming tree shooting toward him like an arrow and lightly clapped his hands, switching their positions.

Natsu Hiraku watched the flaming tree rush at him and ducked low to avoid it, his mind racing for a response.

Based on how he had suddenly switched places with that cursed corpse earlier, as well as Todo switching with the cursed corpse's remains—and also himself switching with Todo—

He could conclude that this technique was not limited to living beings or objects. As long as something possessed cursed energy, it could be switched. The condition for activating the technique was probably clapping.

It looked like a straightforward technique. As long as he stayed close to him, that technique would be useless. Interesting.

The flaming tree shot past. When Natsu Hiraku looked up at the front again, Todo Aoi, who should have been standing there, had turned into a blade. It even seemed to be the Cursed Tool he had thrown earlier to block the arrows.

What terrifying combat thinking. He had actually calculated this far ahead?

Natsu Hiraku was shocked, then noticed the sound of air splitting behind him and immediately realized he was done for.

Todo Aoi drew back his right fist and punched down at Natsu Hiraku, who was lying prone on the ground.

Boom!!

The tremendous force drove the earth down, creating a half-meter-deep crater. Yet what filled the air was not merely dust, but thick smoke. The sensation of impact was also wrong, as though he had struck wood.

Todo Aoi frowned and swung a palm at the smoke. A powerful gust instantly dispersed it. In the crater, Natsu Hiraku had turned into a log.

Another bizarre technique. Fierce flames, eyes capable of mental attacks and exceptional perception, and now even a Substitution Technique. He was truly an unfathomable man.

Natsu Hiraku stood atop a tree, his scarlet pupils fixed on Todo Aoi in the crater. Though he had reacted quickly enough to use the Substitution Technique just now, his waist had still taken a hit. It hurt a little.

Another trump card exposed. His trump cards were becoming fewer and fewer, and he was starting to feel unsafe. It looked like he needed to draw cards soon to keep himself alive.

The System Quest still had...

Natsu Hiraku glanced at the panel and found that only a few dozen seconds had passed. He could not help sighing at how agonizing it was. There was not much cursed energy left in his body either, so he would have to draw some from Shura.

Shura, who was taking an afternoon nap at home, suddenly felt his body being drained dry. He woke at once and warily looked around, only to find that his master had not returned. After realizing it was a false alarm, he went back to sleep.

After all, not having to train while his master was away these past few days was wonderful.

Having obtained cursed energy, Natsu Hiraku no longer hid anything. He leaped down from the tree, picked up the Cursed Tool stuck in the ground, and neatly swung several flashes of blade light. "Let's begin the third round, my best friend."

"Hmph, you finally came out?" Todo Aoi dusted off his clothes and slowly stepped out of the deep pit.

Just as the two were about to continue fighting, Utahime Iori's voice rang out from the loudspeaker again. "Stop fighting, Todo Aoi, Natsu Hiraku! The match is suspended. Quickly put out the nearby flames!"

Gojo Satoru's laughter was mixed in as well. "Hahaha, what's wrong with letting the students keep fighting? It's only a few thousand trees. Your school can afford to plant more."

Utahime Iori snapped, "Shut up, Gojo Satoru! You make it sound so easy. If everyone thought like you, you'd be the chief culprit behind global warming! And... why didn't you teach your student that he can't set a forest on fire?!"

"Hehe, I forgot." Gojo Satoru replied playfully, as though he did not consider it a big deal at all.

"..."

He forgot...

Utahime Iori recalled what Gojo Satoru had said when the fire first began. She truly wished she could go back and turn on her phone's recording function to capture it. Then, seeing the spread of the flames displayed on the electronic screen, she sternly warned, "You two are forbidden from fighting right now. Put all your effort into extinguishing the nearby fire! As for the punishment for setting the forest ablaze, we'll discuss it afterward..."

Natsu Hiraku and Todo Aoi stood there blankly. Judging from their expressions, neither seemed to realize they had done anything wrong—especially Natsu Hiraku, the one who had set the forest on fire.

Looking at the System Quest countdown, he even smiled.

[0:05]

[0:04]

[0:03]

[0:02]

[0:01]

[0:00]

[Quest completed. Quest reward distribution begins: 12 points. Permanent increase of 100 cursed energy.]

With the System Quest complete, Natsu Hiraku no longer had any desire to continue fighting. Their burning enthusiasm had been extinguished by those words.

He said, "Let's leave it at that for today, my best friend. Let's put out the nearby fire first."

"Mm, all right."

Todo Aoi sighed as well, his eyes full of disappointment. They had been so close to deciding the winner, but after being interrupted, he could no longer summon any interest.

After watching Todo Aoi leave, Natsu Hiraku deactivated his Sharingan and looked around. He also realized how serious the fire had become. It had burned for less than four minutes, yet the flames already towered into the sky.

Combined with the recent hot, dry weather and a touch of autumn wind, it was only natural that the fire had spread so quickly.

"First, cut down the trees and make a firebreak to stop the flames from spreading further."

Having formed an initial plan, Natsu Hiraku gripped his blade and swiftly left. Every burning tree he passed was cut down with a single strike.

"Crash—"

A tree collapsed. Yuta Okkotsu wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the fire still burning within. "Hiraku-kun went a little overboard. I wonder what punishment he'll receive afterward."

"Hahaha! This is the passion and fervor youth should have! Fearless and charging forward!"

Kento Nanami threw a severed tree trunk inward, creating a firebreak.

Kirara Hoshi merely sat to the side and watched. After all, he had no strength and naturally could not lift such a thing. He only gazed at the blazing fire and remarked, "He's even more excessive than Nanami. Maybe someday he'll be on equal footing with us, at least when it comes to getting classes suspended for recovery..."

"What a hassle. There's so much smoke that I can't even see what's happening inside. The one fighting Todo should be called Natsu Hiraku, right? He really dared to burn down the forest with one fire."

Nishinomiya Momo surveyed the forest from high in the air, holding a phone in her right hand as she reported the direction of the flames to Noritoshi Kamo.

The miniature Mech-Maru gathered a cursed energy cannon in his hand and fired it at the burning trees ahead, severing their trunks.

Noritoshi Kamo cut his finger and used the Kamo Family's inherited technique, [Blood Manipulation]. The arrow that had turned while ambushing Natsu Hiraku earlier had done so because he had smeared his blood onto its tip.

Blood flowed from the wound, forming Blood Wheels as thin as cicada wings that sliced toward the burning trees.

As more support teams arrived, the forest fire was successfully extinguished within ten minutes.

Kyoto School, principal's office.

Todo Aoi and Natsu Hiraku stood inside.

Yoshinobu Gakuganji stared at the two without saying a word. Gojo Satoru sat with one leg crossed over the other, whistling as he looked at the ceiling, as though none of this had anything to do with him.

"Gojo Satoru!"

Yoshinobu Gakuganji finally could not hold back any longer. "Look at the student you taught! He actually set a forest on fire!"

"Don't get so angry. At your age, it wouldn't be good if you got sick from it. How about you come to our school next year and let you set a fire once?" Gojo Satoru said with a smile.

"Pfft!"

Though he knew he should not laugh in this situation, Natsu Hiraku could not hold it in and burst out laughing. Perhaps Teacher Gojo had infected him; he simply really wanted to laugh. He muttered inwardly:

"Come to our school next year and burn it down? What an insulting thing to say. Isn't he saying they're guaranteed to lose this year?"

"Kid, keep laughing and be careful you don't get evaluated as a Grade 2 Sorcerer!" Yoshinobu Gakuganji thought that would be enough to threaten him.

After all, someone who could fight Todo Aoi evenly was practically guaranteed to be evaluated as a Grade 2 Sorcerer. If he failed to get it this year, he would have to wait another year. Or he would need a recommendation from another Grade 1 Sorcerer—though it could not be his supervising teacher. No one would give up such an opportunity.

Hmph, so what if I don't get evaluated? I don't care about something so intangible. Can it improve my strength? Natsu Hiraku wanted to say that, but it seemed a little too disrespectful toward the old man. After all, he was the head of a school. So he merely sneered and kept his mouth shut.

Gojo Satoru said unhappily, "You think you can block my student's future? Besides, he doesn't care in the slightest. Don't be so full of yourself, old man."

"..."

Knowing he could not reason with Gojo Satoru, Yoshinobu Gakuganji said nothing more. Gojo Satoru was already shamelessly determined to protect his own student to the bitter end, so he could only wave a hand. "Fine. I'll discuss this matter with Yaga later. Gojo Satoru, take your student and leave. Today's team match does not count. We will continue tomorrow."

"Sure thing, bye!"

Gojo Satoru immediately stood up, threw an arm around Natsu Hiraku, and left. Before walking out, he kindly added, "Don't take this fire too seriously. If it really doesn't work out, burn one back next year."

"..."

Yoshinobu Gakuganji was just about to curse when Gojo Satoru very tactfully left at once. Todo Aoi looked at the veins bulging on his principal's hands gripping his cane and said: