Natural Curse Spirit, Jogo!

After his battle with Sukuna, the inheritance progress had reached 17%, not far from the next stage.

Though it seemed like only 3%, if he wanted to raise it by exorcising low-grade cursed spirits, he would probably need dozens, if not hundreds, of them.

He would not need as many stronger cursed spirits, but Grade 1 and Grade 2 cursed spirits were not exactly everywhere. They were hard to come by.

Fighting an opponent as powerful as Jogo was the perfect stepping stone for Lin Mu to break through 20% in one go!

Lin Mu had a feeling that what unlocked after 20% might no longer be a new ability, but something else.

As for whether fighting Jogo, who was far stronger than him, would put his life in danger?

With Teacher Gojo around, there was no need to consider that at all. After all, Teacher Gojo could kill Jogo in seconds.

What he needed to consider was how to persuade Teacher Gojo to let him fight Jogo. But given Satoru Gojo's personality, Lin Mu probably would not even need to ask before Gojo sent him into battle against Jogo.

As for why Jogo dared to lie in wait despite clearly being no match for Satoru Gojo, Lin Mu's assessment was simple: weak, but addicted to picking fights!

He remembered that a few days ago, Jogo should still have been discussing with Brain, who had taken control of Suguru Geto's body, and several natural cursed spirits about how to deal with Satoru Gojo.

Their goal was to fulfill their ambition of making cursed spirits the true masters of the world.

Brain's suggestion had been to recruit the King of Curses and use the special-grade cursed object, the Prison Realm, to seal Satoru Gojo. Only then would they have a chance of achieving that goal.

But in Jogo's eyes, Satoru Gojo's strength had merely been exaggerated by the weak. So he had come alone to challenge Gojo to a duel, intending to erase him with his own hands.

However, everyone knew how that ended. Satoru Gojo expanded his Domain and tore Jogo's head right off.

If Satoru Gojo had not wanted to pry some information out of Jogo, it would have died directly within the Domain!

And because of that, Hanami had been given the chance to save it.

At that thought, Lin Mu suddenly realized that fighting Jogo would expose him to Brain and the four special-grade cursed spirits too early.

Many future events might target him because of it, and the dangers he faced would rise sharply.

A special grade, and one so young—there was no way he would not attract attention.

But in the long run, this might not be a bad thing for Lin Mu!

One of the original story's biggest criticisms was that the protagonist group became completely useless later on.

Fushiguro was possessed, single-mindedly seeking death and wondering why the world had not been destroyed yet; Kugisaki was severely wounded by Mahito and immediately written out of the story; Itadori had plenty of involvement, joining every demon and monster in the grand "Me versus Sukuna?" brawl.

The strongest from four hundred years ago, the genius sorcerer courtroom guy, Africa's strongest sorcerer—fine, whatever. But in the end, they even dragged in the strongest Grade 1?

Even when slaughtering a pig, you at least use a carrot as bait. You were throwing out unsalted beans without even any salt.

And the result was that not a single one of them could trade blows with Sukuna—even though Sukuna was already badly injured!

Therefore, Lin Mu had to seize every opportunity to increase his strength. That way, it would not be a relay battle against Sukuna in the later stages.

Maybe it would be the cursed spirits taking turns challenging Lin Mu instead. After all, Lin Mu did not even dare imagine what it would be like to place Madara at full strength into this power system.

Lin Mu nodded slightly. After saying goodbye to the absent-minded Itadori, he followed Teacher Gojo and left.

On a highway out in the countryside, Ijichi was driving Satoru Gojo and Lin Mu to Tokyo Jujutsu High to meet the principal.

Satoru Gojo gazed out the window and spoke thoughtfully. "So, what was that ability?"

Lin Mu asked, "What?"

With great interest, Satoru Gojo continued, "Itadori told me all about it. Although Sukuna had suppressed him again at the time, he could still sense what was happening outside."

"He told me that you could create some kind of exoskeleton to defend against a Domain."

"Even Sukuna's attacks after expanding his Domain couldn't penetrate your defense!"

"What was that? Does it have a name?"

After thinking for a moment, Lin Mu answered, "Susanoo!"

Satoru Gojo smiled faintly. "Susanoo? That really is a good name."

"I hope I get the chance to see it for myself someday."

The moment he said that, Satoru Gojo's expression filled with delight.

"Speak of the devil."

"Ijichi, pull over here. Lin Mu and I will head over later."

Ijichi nodded without saying anything. He had long grown used to Satoru Gojo's way of doing things.

"Did you sense it?"

After Ijichi left, Satoru Gojo stretched his body and asked.

Lin Mu nodded. "Yeah. A very powerful cursed spirit!"

Satoru Gojo smiled approvingly. "I knew I hadn't misjudged you. Your senses are very sharp."

"So? Are you confident you can beat it?"

Lin Mu smiled. "Teacher, stop joking with me. I might not be able to beat it, but holding out for a few exchanges shouldn't be a problem."

Satoru Gojo's expression froze, and he looked slightly surprised. He had only been joking, but Lin Mu actually intended to fight this uninvited guest!

In his perception, this aura was powerful—at the very least, it belonged to a special-grade cursed spirit.

If its strength were measured by Sukuna's fingers, it was probably worth around six or seven fingers. Lin Mu, meanwhile, was currently only at about two fingers at most.

What gave him the confidence to say something like that?

Lin Mu's behavior clearly piqued Satoru Gojo's interest even further. "Sure. If you can't hold on, remember to call for a stop. When that happens, I'll step in."

As soon as he finished speaking, a scorching, terrifying pressure descended. A cursed spirit with a miniature volcano atop its head appeared directly before them.

The moment it appeared, the surrounding air became dry and blistering, as though it would burst into flames the next second!

The newcomer was, as expected, the special-grade cursed spirit: Jogo!

"Why is there one more person? Whatever, I'll kill them both." Jogo muttered to himself, waving one hand as two fleshy, tumor-like volcanic vents appeared on the stone walls beside Satoru Gojo and Lin Mu.

Boom—

Scalding lava erupted forth, swallowing Satoru Gojo and Lin Mu in an instant.

Jogo twisted the strange knob on his head. "That's all? They couldn't even withstand one attack from me?"

"Were they ultimately just overrated by the weak?"

"I'll use your deaths to proclaim what a true strong person is."

Just as Jogo turned to leave, he suddenly noticed two dark figures slowly emerging from where the lava had erupted.

The scorching waves and lava gradually dispersed and dripped away, revealing Satoru Gojo and Lin Mu completely unharmed.

Jogo had not seen how Satoru Gojo avoided that attack, but it had clearly seen Lin Mu.

A dark blue exoskeleton had wrapped around his entire body. The lava spewed from the fleshy volcanoes had done him no harm at all!

It had only produced bursts of smoke as the blazing lava scorched against it!

"Who did you say was nothing special?" Satoru Gojo asked calmly, as though the attack just now had been no more than a gentle breeze.

Jogo bared its teeth in irritation. It could accept Satoru Gojo evading that strike, but how could this cursed sorcerer, who looked like such a novice, withstand its attack head-on?

Satoru Gojo did not pay much attention to Jogo. Instead, his attention was drawn to the Susanoo Lin Mu had summoned.

"So this is Susanoo?"

"Just as Itadori said, it carries the aura of a domain, and its defensive power is terrifyingly strong."

"But using a domain consumes an enormous amount of cursed energy. Wouldn't activating this skill right from the start drain him too much?"

Curiously, Satoru Gojo flashed to the side. "Hey, cursed spirit over there, let my student play with you first." His gaze then fixed tightly on Lin Mu, showing no sign that he considered Jogo a threat.

Jogo immediately felt humiliated. "Ridiculous. Him? Are you planning to use your student as a shield so you can run away?"

"After I kill him, you'll be next!"

As soon as Jogo finished speaking, its body vanished, and even its aura nearly disappeared. Unless one deliberately sensed for it, it was difficult to detect.

But before Lin Mu, who had already activated the Mangekyo Sharingan, this was nothing more than hiding one's ears while stealing a bell.

Though Jogo was extremely fast, Lin Mu still caught sight of its figure. Even if it was only for an instant, that was enough for Lin Mu to judge its intended attack.

The Mangekyo Sharingan contracted sharply. A massive skeletal hand instantly grew from the side of the ribcage and slammed backward.

Boom—

A tremendous crash rang out. Jogo's attack had been seen through, and its body was sent several meters back.

"Why is this happening?" After Lin Mu easily blocked two consecutive attacks, Jogo was shaken to the core.

It also made it realize that Lin Mu was not as weak as it had thought.

"Is it because of that exoskeleton?"

Jogo noticed the unusual nature of Lin Mu's exoskeleton and summoned several insects from the miniature volcano atop its head.

"Ember Insects!"

The bizarre insects, each with a sharp beak on its mouth, shot toward Lin Mu at incredible speed. Their long pointed beaks even pierced through Susanoo's defense, penetrating nearly halfway in.

Then, the strange insects let out an explosive shriek, loud enough to rupture eardrums.

However, protected by Susanoo, Lin Mu could not hear the explosive sound.

Seeing that this attack had also failed, Jogo detonated every Ember Insect. The massive shockwave instantly engulfed Lin Mu.

As the thick smoke dispersed, the center of the explosion was empty. Lin Mu had already leaped high into the air atop the skeletal hand, forming hand seals with both hands. The already scorching air rose several degrees hotter!

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"