"What! You can speed up too?"
Mech-Maru was already at top speed, so he was startled to see Yuta Okkotsu somehow running even faster. He had not expected that despite looking frail, the guy was anything but weak when he actually started running.
But Mech-Maru was already at maximum speed. After all, his body was a cursed corpse, and every movement consumed cursed energy. Speeding up any further would be cheating.
Except...
Nishinomiya Momo had no speed limit. As long as he could pass the baton to her, they would definitely... win!
Then they could look down arrogantly at those Tokyo School losers.
Yuta Okkotsu had already passed the baton in his hand to Natsu Hiraku and shouted, "I did my best. I'm leaving it to you, Hiraku!"
Natsu Hiraku said nothing. The instant he took the baton, he sprinted forward. The muscles in his legs bulged beneath his long pants as he charged ahead like a rampaging wild boar, smashing through every defense.
Nishinomiya Momo was dumbfounded. She had not even taken off yet, while he had already run nearly a hundred meters. What kind of insane speed was that?
"Here, Nishinomiya-senpai."
Mech-Maru passed her the baton. Nishinomiya Momo gave a soft acknowledgment, took it, bent down, and flew out along the designated track.
She was the only one here without restrictions on cursed energy. She did not know why, but if she still lost like this, it would be utterly humiliating.
Natsu Hiraku lowered his body, reducing wind resistance to the minimum. As long as he ran fast enough, he would not lose his balance and fall over.
That was both theory and practice.
People could lose control from leaning too far forward when running too fast. Reduce wind resistance, take long strides, lean forward, use this body as the center of gravity, advance, advance, advance!
Until he reached what could be called the fastest!
His breaths came rapidly, his heart pounded, and it was only a thousand meters. Crush them.
Watching Natsu Hiraku run faster and faster, Nishinomiya Momo screamed internally, He's not human! Humiliation surged through her as well.
Kento Nanami and Noritoshi Kamo entered the track as well, watching Natsu Hiraku, who had nearly completed a lap already. Kento Nanami laughed. "No way, no way. Your Kyoto School second-years really aren't much, huh? She's flying through the sky on a broom, yet she's still slower than my junior."
Noritoshi Kamo said, "Don't get too cocky. The real contest is between the two of us. Don't think you can outrun me."
"Pfft!"
Kento Nanami merely smiled and said nothing. Natsu Hiraku shot past him with a whoosh, while Nishinomiya Momo, flying through the air, was still a hundred meters behind.
Maybe that was what it meant to have a professional advantage. When someone applied all their life's learning to running, it might produce extraordinary results.
As an amateur runner, Natsu Hiraku could only say that he had done a tiny bit of research into how to run faster.
Just a little. He had only studied it for four or five days.
What if you could not win on the battlefield? First, do not panic.
Keep your eyes in every direction and your ears open to all sides. Once you found a suitable escape route, put your sturdy legs to use. Kick off the ground rapidly with both feet, then shout:
"Run away!"
"I'm leaving the rest to you, Kashiwagi-senpai!" Having completed two laps, Natsu Hiraku passed the baton in his hand to Kento Nanami.
"Oh!"
Kento Nanami snatched the baton and charged out like a humanoid tank.
That baton carried not only the glory of Tokyo School's inevitable victory, but also the conviction of Yuta Okkotsu and Natsu Hiraku. The fire of passion burning in their hearts would never be extinguished.
Nishinomiya Momo arrived five seconds later and passed her baton to Noritoshi Kamo. Blushing, she said, "Sorry, Captain. Natsu Hiraku was just too fast. I did my best."
Noritoshi Kamo had no intention of blaming her. He simply gave an acknowledgment and ran out. Every second counted now. It might have been a small competition, but he could not lose. That was his responsibility as captain!
After all, losing meant he was inferior in skill. If word got out, the Kamo Family would become a laughingstock.
"Water."
"Thanks."
Natsu Hiraku accepted the ice water Kirara Hoshi handed him and took a huge gulp, then looked toward the two people sprinting on the field. To be honest, it reminded him of his high school sports festival. As for why not middle school, it was because he had never participated at all...
Others avoided such things like the plague. Why would he ever take part in them?
"Are you a dog or something? How do you run that fast?" Nishinomiya Momo walked over with a bottle of ice water in hand.
"No, but I have a dog at home. If I get the chance, I'll let you see him. He runs much faster than I do."
As he spoke, Natsu Hiraku sat down on the stone steps and waited for Kashiwagi-senpai to take first place. The time gap had already been established. No matter how capable Noritoshi Kamo was, he could not possibly bridge five seconds.
Unless Todo was here...
No, even if Todo were here, it would not work. Kashiwagi-senpai was terrifyingly strong too. He was running faster and faster as though he had been pumped full of steroids, his speed already far beyond Natsu Hiraku's own.
A second-year really was a second-year. What a monster.
Kento Nanami left Noritoshi Kamo more than two hundred meters behind and claimed first place in a completely one-sided victory.
The victorious Kento Nanami pulled off his shirt and shouted, "Crushed them!!"
Natsu Hiraku glanced at Nishinomiya Momo beside him and said with a smug grin, "According to the bet..."
"Eek!"
Nishinomiya Momo hugged her broom and ran away, shouting, "Go talk to the captain, not me!"
Seeing that things were going badly, Mech-Maru quietly slipped away too.
Ten seconds later, four friendly young men blocked Noritoshi Kamo at the finish line and said, "According to the bet."
"..."
Noritoshi Kamo showed the bearing of a captain. Breathing slightly heavily, he said, "Go ahead. Don't be excessive. You can only make one request."
After exchanging looks for a moment, the four finally decided to let Natsu Hiraku speak.
"Ahem!"
Natsu Hiraku stepped out of the group and said, "It's not excessive. From now on, whenever you see any one of the four of us, you have to call us Big Brother."
Noritoshi Kamo immediately refused. "No. It would damage the Kamo Family's dignity."
"Hiss... In that case, I won't force it. How about this: grant any request? If we're in trouble, you have to save us unconditionally."
Noritoshi Kamo felt Natsu Hiraku's demand was not excessive and agreed. "Fine. But if we cannot protect ourselves, we will abandon you first."
"Deal!"
Natsu Hiraku did not care about that. The other party was the direct heir of the Kamo Family, wealthy, influential, and concerned with appearances. Breaking a promise would make him famous in the jujutsu world, and he would be cursed verbally as well.
That curse was a Contract.
"Alright, let's exchange phone numbers."
11:30 a.m.
Kyoto School.
"It's huge..."
Kirara Hoshi complained.
"Yeah..."
Everyone nodded, falling silent as they stared at the enormous earthen wall before them. After all, this was the center of the forest, the place Natsu Hiraku had burned clean with one breath of fire yesterday. Yet now, an enormous maze had appeared.
Yuta Okkotsu complained, "There was nothing here yesterday. How did a maze with ten-meter-high walls appear today...?"
"Hehe, of course I made it!"
Gojo Satoru patted his chest, wearing an expression that said he was amazing and deserved praise. "This thing took me from eight until eleven to make. I almost collapsed from exhaustion."
Kento Nanami asked, "Teacher Gojo, what are we doing in this giant maze today?"
Seeing someone get to the point, Gojo Satoru gave a light hum, curled his lips into a smile, and shouted, "Of course... the thrilling and exciting 'Maze Mouse Hunt'!"
"The rules are as follows: there are seven cursed spirits in the maze. They will wander throughout it, and they are called 'mice.' Your task is naturally to catch as many of those 'mice' as possible. The time limit is one hour."
"Within that hour, both sides can fight over the 'mice.' In other words, it's fine if you can't find any—you can just steal them from your opponents. One more thing: the 'mice' cannot be killed, and these walls are extremely sturdy. They're slippery too."
"Alright, that's about it. Is there anything you don't understand? If not, then teacher will be leaving first!"
Yuta Okkotsu raised his hand and said, "There's someone on the other side called Nishinomiya Momo who can fly. Is there a limit on how high she can fly?"
"Good question, Yuta!"
Gojo Satoru spread his hands in praise, then his next sentence dragged Yuta into the abyss. "Nope. As long as Nishinomiya doesn't leave the edge of the maze, she can fly as high as she wants~"
"No way!" Yuta exclaimed.
"It's true," Gojo Satoru added mercilessly.
Kirara Hoshi complained, "We're at a disadvantage..."
"Yeah, definitely at a disadvantage. Even a fly would sprain its ankle climbing this thing, and with these ten-meter-high walls, we've lost our visual advantage." Natsu Hiraku reached out and touched the wall. It was clearly made of earth, yet it felt like a ceramic bowl—extremely smooth.
"Junior, move aside. Let me blast it open with one punch!"
Kento Nanami walked over to the wall and loosened up his body a few times. After taking a deep breath, he clenched his right fist. Vast cursed energy clung to his body like flames, and then he threw a punch.
"ORA!"
BOOM!!
A dull sound echoed around them, but when Kento Nanami withdrew his fist, they found that aside from a few cracks, the wall had suffered no major damage.
Kento Nanami was depressed. His full-powered strike had only made a crack? He complained, "We're at a disadvantage. The maze is so huge that finding those Kyoto School guys will be troublesome, let alone finding a few 'mice.'"
"There are no restrictions on Shikigami, right?" Natsu Hiraku asked.
"Nope. What, can Hiraku-kun summon Shura over here?" Gojo Satoru asked curiously. Strictly speaking, the dog he raised was not a Shikigami, since it could not be summoned at any time and could only be regarded as a pet beast.
Everyone looked at Natsu Hiraku curiously as well. After all, he always used strange and unusual techniques.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Natsu Hiraku stopped hiding it. He bit open his right index finger, formed hand seals with both hands—Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Ram—then slapped the ground and shouted, "Summoning Technique!"
Sensing his master's summons, Shura hurriedly grabbed the last piece of meat from his bowl. With a poof, a cloud of white smoke appeared, and Shura was summoned away.
Maki Zenin, who had been feeding the dog, watched Shura suddenly disappear. She did not panic and go looking for him, merely commenting, "He disappeared with a poof."
After all, Natsu Hiraku was the one raising him. Any bizarre situation became perfectly normal when it involved Natsu Hiraku. Since he was such an obsessive grinder, had he become so competitive that he would not even spare summoners?
"..."
As the white smoke dissipated, Shura, who had been eating at home, now appeared inside Kyoto School.
Gojo Satoru said in surprise, "Wow, he really summoned him..."
"Hehe!"
Natsu Hiraku sat atop Shura, rubbed his head, and said, "Raise a son for a thousand days, use him for one moment. Today is the day you go into battle."
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Shura seemed to be seeking praise as he shouted internally, Master, Master, I learned a new move!
"A new move? A technique?"
Natsu Hiraku was puzzled. Everything he had taught Shura was close combat, and Shura had basically developed all the close-combat techniques possible. After all, how could a dog fight? Other than claws and teeth, he could only ram people with that sturdy body. Natsu Hiraku had originally planned to develop Shura's brain once he grew a little bigger, since he was still basically a child right now.
Three months old, nearly four...
I don't know what it is, but it's like this!
After shouting internally, Shura opened his mouth. A red glow appeared, and cursed energy slowly condensed into a crimson sphere inside his mouth.
"Bzzzz~!"
With a rumble, the sphere in Shura's mouth blasted into the forest near the five people, directly snapping a thick tree.
Crack—
The giant tree broke and fell.
"..."
The onlookers stood frozen, not knowing what to say.
After recovering, Yuta Okkotsu pointed at the broken tree and asked, "Shura just used a technique, right?"
"Probably... It's my first time seeing it too."
Before you continue