Iron Lady, Kugisaki Nobara

The next day, at Okamori Station, Lin Mu and the others arrived early and waited outside.

To kill time, they wandered around the area. Itadori held a bag of popcorn and an ice cream cone, wearing a pair of tacky glasses.

The three of them leaned against the railing in matching school uniforms.

Lin Mu's and Itadori's uniforms had both been rushed out, but they had turned out quite well.

Lin Mu's style was similar to Satoru Gojo's. He looked slender, yet seemed to contain terrifying strength.

Before long, they spotted Kugisaki tormenting a talent scout.

Lin Mu remembered that, before coming here, she had fantasized about being discovered by a talent scout. The moment she arrived at the station, she had grabbed one and asked whether she had what it took to be a model.

The scout had been completely dumbfounded by Kugisaki's fiery personality. It was his first time seeing someone directly ask a talent scout whether they could become a model.

Seeing how intimidating Kugisaki looked, the scout only wanted to get away as quickly as possible.

If Satoru Gojo had not arrived in time to greet Kugisaki, that scout had no idea how much longer he would have been tormented.

After temporarily checking her luggage, Kugisaki gave a brief introduction, then narrowed her eyes and stared at Lin Mu's group.

Itadori spoke first, his face completely innocent. "My name's Itadori. I'm from Sendai."

Fushiguro merely stated his name flatly.

After hearing them, Kugisaki looked utterly helpless and had already formed her own opinions of the two.

Itadori looks so tacky. He definitely ate his own boogers as a kid.

Fushiguro only gave his name. I don't like guys who are full of themselves.

Kugisaki sighed without trying to hide it.

"I'm Lin Mu. Nice to meet you." Lin Mu smiled and waved.

Kugisaki froze. The disappointment Itadori and Fushiguro had brought her suddenly turned into excitement.

Her eyes seemed to shine as she looked at Lin Mu.

Thank goodness. At least they're not all a complete mess.

Naturally, Lin Mu had no idea what Kugisaki was thinking. Right now, all he could think about was how to kill a few more cursed spirits later.

According to the plot, they were about to undertake their first mission since becoming jujutsu sorcerers.

Enter an abandoned apartment building and exorcise cursed spirits!

After everyone had introduced themselves, Fushiguro asked, "Where are we going next?"

Satoru Gojo put on a mysterious act. "It's rare for all four first-years to be together, and we're even in Tokyo."

"Of course we're sightseeing!"

At that, Itadori and Kugisaki immediately became incredibly excited, mentally running through every fun place in Tokyo.

Tokyo Skytree, Chinatown, Sensoji Temple...

Yet in the end, they arrived at an abandoned apartment building on the outskirts of Roppongi.

There was even a cemetery nearby.

Upon reaching their final destination, Itadori and Kugisaki both wore expressions as though they had been tricked, unable to accept this outcome.

Lin Mu had expected it long ago. Right now, he felt nothing but excitement.

"There's a large cemetery nearby, and together with this abandoned apartment building, it gave rise to curses." Satoru Gojo briefly explained the situation.

Itadori asked, "Are cemeteries more likely to produce curses?"

"No. It's the human feelings that associate cemeteries with horror that cause curses to form."

Satoru Gojo waved a hand. "I want to see just how far you can go, so consider this a field test."

"Lin Mu, Itadori, Kugisaki—you three will exorcise the curses here!"

Excitement flashed through Lin Mu's eyes. In a place this abandoned, he could freely use the ninjutsu he had just learned.

I wonder how much the inheritance progress will increase this time?

Just as Lin Mu and Kugisaki were about to enter the abandoned apartment building, Itadori interrupted them with a question.

"Didn't you say curses can only be exorcised by curses? I don't know any jujutsu."

Satoru Gojo pointed out Itadori's issue. "No, you're already half a curse. You have cursed energy inside you now."

"But controlling cursed energy isn't something you can learn overnight." As Satoru Gojo said this, his gaze involuntarily shifted toward Lin Mu.

The meaning was obvious. That statement did not apply to a monster like Lin Mu, who had figured out how to use jujutsu on his own the moment he gained cursed energy.

Satoru Gojo pulled out a weapon resembling a kitchen knife from behind his back.

"A cursed tool—Tuzuo Demon. It contains cursed energy, so it can harm curses too. Use this for now."

Itadori's eyes lit up as he took the cursed tool, but then he suddenly thought of something. "What about Lin Mu?"

"He's different from you. He already knows how to use jujutsu, and he's very skilled at it!"

Itadori was slightly speechless. "Oh..."

"Come on! Hurry up!" Under Kugisaki's impatient urging, the group entered the abandoned apartment building.

After the three left, Fushiguro asked Satoru Gojo in confusion.

"Why didn't you let me go?"

Satoru Gojo said, "You've only just recovered, so don't push yourself."

Fushiguro said, "But someone still needs to keep an eye on Itadori, right?"

"That's true, but this test is mainly meant to assess Lin Mu and Kugisaki."

"Besides, Lin Mu is special. With him there, Itadori should be fine. He's much stronger than what you've seen!"

Fushiguro silently nodded. Recalling the terrifying aura that had erupted from Lin Mu back then, he couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of fear.

There wasn't a single lighting fixture inside the abandoned apartment building. They could barely see anything by relying on the sunlight streaming in from outside.

It was fine near the windows, but deeper in the corridors, it was truly impossible to see one's own hand in front of one's face.

However, this was no problem at all for Lin Mu, who possessed the Sharingan.

"Let's split into three groups. I'll take the middle floors, while you two go to the lower and upper floors respectively."

"That way, we can exorcise the curses more efficiently."

Kugisaki voiced her idea.

Itadori objected, "Isn't that a bad idea? Curses are dangerous."

Kugisaki leaped up and kicked Itadori, sending him spinning through the air two and a half times.

"You were an ordinary person just two days ago. How dare you talk to me like that?"

"Just do as I say!"

Fuming, Kugisaki headed toward the top floor.

Knowing Kugisaki's personality well, Lin Mu did not try to stop her. Instead, he pulled Itadori up and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't mind her. That's just how she is."

Lin Mu knew that Kugisaki had already dealt with curses before coming here. In the original story, this test had mainly been prepared for Kugisaki.

However, because of his appearance, he was probably also among those being tested.

The three split into two groups and began exorcising curses.

Back on the lower floors of the apartment building, the sunlight was completely blocked by the surrounding high-rises, making it nearly impossible to see anything.

Itadori complained helplessly, "What kind of place is this? It's way too dark. I can't see anything at all."

Lin Mu opened his eyes, his crimson Sharingan especially conspicuous in the darkness.

After activating his Sharingan, the low-visibility environment had almost no effect on Lin Mu.

He could see the surrounding terrain and environment with perfect clarity.

Looking at Lin Mu's crimson eyes, Itadori said enviously, "Those eyes can see clearly even in the dark?"

"That's so convenient. I really want them..."

Lin Mu ignored Itadori and turned his gaze toward the bend in the corridor ahead.

"Uweh... work... late..."

From the darkest corner, a cursed spirit with only a few strands of hair atop its head slowly turned around.

They said cursed spirits were born from people's resentment and fear. Then this cursed spirit undoubtedly came from people's fear of being late for work.

A typical corporate slave cursed spirit.

"A cursed spirit?"

Itadori squinted as hard as he could. "Where? Where?"

Lin Mu's figure flickered as he dashed before the cursed spirit. The next second, his chakra-infused right hand severed its twisted, ugly head.

This cursed spirit was barely Grade 3. There was no need to waste chakra on ninjutsu—using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

Lin Mu focused his thoughts and checked his inheritance progress. After killing this cursed spirit, it had not increased at all; it was still at 10%.

It seemed that after reaching 10%, exorcising these low-grade cursed spirits provided far too little improvement.

That was mainly because the gap between the different grades in the jujutsu world was simply too vast.

One Grade 2 cursed spirit could rival dozens of Grade 3 cursed spirits.

Not to mention the Grade 1 and Special Grade cursed spirits above them—the disparity between those ranks was even more like an insurmountable chasm.

If he wanted to significantly increase his inheritance progress now, he would probably have to hunt Grade 2 cursed spirits or stronger.

As Itadori marveled at Lin Mu's speed and decisiveness and prepared to join him, a murderous intent descended from the ceiling of the corridor.

Two sharp, massive pincers swung down.

"Splurt—"

Blood sprayed everywhere, but it was purple, foul-smelling blood belonging to that cursed spirit.

The instant Itadori sensed danger, he drew Tuzuo Demon. A flash of silver light cut through the cursed spirit's front claws as easily as tofu.

It was a bizarre cursed spirit that looked like a cross between an insect and a worm.

It had four insect-like legs and a fat, worm-like body, while its mouth constantly spewed incoherent words.

"Receipt... do you need one?"

The cursed spirit charged Itadori again, and Itadori displayed physical abilities no weaker than Lin Mu's.

Moving like a fish through water, he weaved between the cursed spirit's four insect legs, Tuzuo Demon in his hand unleashing a dense barrage of blade flashes.

Once all four of the cursed spirit's legs had been severed, Itadori leaped high into the air and drove his blade into its forehead.

"Hehe, not bad, right?"

Grinning, Itadori waved at Lin Mu in the distance.

Lin Mu smiled faintly but offered no further response, instead warily scanning their surroundings.

After they dealt with that cursed spirit, even more cursed spirits burst through the walls of the abandoned buildings on this floor.

When Itadori noticed them, his smile vanished, and he raised Tuzuo Demon with a serious expression.

"Uwee... over, overtime..."

"Year-end bonus... money."

"Uwee... perfect attendance bonus."

After briefly sweeping his gaze over them, disappointment appeared on Lin Mu's face.

"They're all small fry..."