Mahito's Trail

Itadori let out a long sigh. "You're underestimating me way too much, aren't you?"

Nanami calmly explained, "This isn't a matter of underestimating you or not."

"I'm an adult, and you're a child. I should be taking on more responsibility."

"Besides, I haven't acknowledged you as a jujutsu sorcerer yet."

Itadori helplessly waved a hand. "Come on, Lin Mu, let's go..."

"Lin Mu???"

Itadori turned around but found no trace of Lin Mu. When he turned back again, the white cursed spirit in the corner had somehow turned to ash.

Knowing how things would unfold, Lin Mu had acted the instant Nanami assigned their tasks. With a chakra-infused hand strike, he tore the cursed spirit apart.

Life and death had been decided in an instant. It had not felt any pain.

Lin Mu knew that these things had once been human. Every moment they remained alive, they endured unbearable agony.

And there was currently no way to save them. Death was, in truth, a release for them.

After killing the human-turned cursed spirit, Lin Mu discovered that his inheritance progress had not changed in the slightest.

In other words, the system still classified them as humans, so they would not increase his inheritance progress.

Lin Mu let out a breath of relief. This was actually for the best.

He could not bring himself to kill innocent humans just to increase his inheritance progress.

If he acted purely to free them from their suffering, that was one thing. But once his own interests became involved, the nature of it changed.

This only strengthened Lin Mu's resolve to exorcise Mahito with his own hands—and he would not let it die so easily!

"Lin Mu, you could at least let me get some exercise too," Itadori complained helplessly.

Nanami's expression shifted slightly. He had noticed Lin Mu's movement. "What incredible speed!"

"His method of exorcising cursed spirits is clean and decisive as well."

"If it were me, I probably wouldn't have done much better."

Although Nanami had noticed the instant Lin Mu moved, even as a Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer, he had failed to see how Lin Mu killed that cursed spirit!

"Satoru Gojo, what kind of monster did you shove onto me?"

"Uweegh—"

The cursed spirit before them lunged forward. Nanami activated his Ratio Technique and split it apart at the seven-to-three point using only the blunt side of his blade.

His cursed technique could forcibly divide a living being or object into ten equal parts, even isolating a specific body part.

Once divided, striking the seven-to-three point would guarantee a critical hit and inflict tremendous damage.

Thus, for Nanami, there was no such thing as an opponent without a weakness!

As he shook the blood from his blade, Nanami's attention was drawn to the watch on the wrist of the dying cursed spirit at his feet.

"This is..." Even Nanami, who was always composed, showed a flicker of emotion.

Ordinary cursed spirits could not possibly wear human accessories. Not only were they uninterested in such things, they did not even know what they were.

The watch on this cursed spirit's wrist aroused Nanami's suspicions. It was very likely not a cursed spirit!

Nanami took out his phone and pressed the shutter at the cursed spirit beneath his feet. With a click, the cursed spirit's appearance was clearly captured on the screen!

But cursed spirits could not be photographed by electronic devices. That meant whatever stood before them, it absolutely could not be a cursed spirit.

A terrible suspicion began to form in Nanami's mind. These monsters might very well have been transformed from humans!

Itadori looked at the photographed cursed spirit in confusion. "Why? Aren't cursed spirits supposed to be impossible to photograph?"

Lin Mu explained, "They aren't cursed spirits. They're humans. Look at the watch on its wrist."

Itadori's expression froze. "How is that possible? Lin Mu, stop joking around."

Nanami affirmed Lin Mu's judgment. "Lin Mu may be right. These may very well have been transformed from humans!"

Thinking of the three high school students in the movie theater, Nanami deduced that these two cursed-spirit-like creatures had also been the work of that cursed spirit.

For all they knew, the residuals had been deliberately left behind to lure them here!

If that was the case, then this cursed spirit possessed considerable intelligence. Continuing the pursuit could be dangerous.

"We'll stop here for today. Leave these bodies to the people from Jujutsu High."

A torrential downpour began to fall, washing away the tears at the corners of the eyes of those monsters transformed from humans. As Lin Mu watched, the stitched face of that curse, which treated human lives like dirt, uncontrollably surfaced in his mind.

His disgust for Mahito from his previous life was stirred once more. One by one, the atrocious things it had done resurfaced in his mind. Perhaps he should start seriously considering how to torture it later.

Back in Jujutsu High's safe house, surveillance footage from the screening room played on the projector. Lin Mu and the other two stared intently at the screen, unwilling to miss even the slightest detail.

According to the footage, aside from the three high school students who had died mysteriously, there was also a boy sitting in the corner who had escaped unharmed.

However, they could not rule out the possibility that the boy was the culprit. To investigate further, they needed to make deeper contact with him and determine whether he was a jujutsu sorcerer.

"Creak." The door to the safe house opened, and Mr. Ijichi walked in, carrying a specially made waist pouch in his hand.

"Lin Mu, the cursed tools you had customized are ready."

Lin Mu's heart leaped with joy. He took the waist pouch, which held four kunai and ten shuriken neatly arranged inside.

Earlier, after considering how he had no weapons of his own, he had approached Teacher Gojo about having some custom-made. He had even provided sketches of the weapons he needed.

Since kunai and shuriken were both simple in design, and with Satoru Gojo's authority behind the request, there had been no resistance to having them made.

Lin Mu casually drew out a kunai. Its weight was just right, and it felt smooth and natural in his hand when he swung it.

It would be perfect as a temporary weapon when it was inconvenient to use the Uchiha Fan.

And unlike in Naruto, these kunai and shuriken were cursed tools with special abilities!

Those abilities were not what Lin Mu had originally wanted. Teacher Gojo had probably found someone to add them based on the characteristics of the weapons.

The special effects of the kunai and shuriken were written on a slip of paper. In the lower-right corner was a chibi portrait of Satoru Gojo, accompanied by a note: Best Teacher Gojo.

Lin Mu felt a wave of helplessness as he began reading the explanations for the kunai and shuriken's special effects.

Kunai: When the same area was struck consecutively, the damage dealt increased with each hit.

The range considered to be the same strike area was extremely small, roughly the size of a ping-pong ball.

This special effect was practically useless to most people, since the activation conditions were too demanding. But for Lin Mu, who possessed the Sharingan, it could not have been easier.

Even if the target area were reduced to the size of a fly, Lin Mu would still handle it with ease.

The Uchiha Clan's talent for concealed weapons was no joke.

Putting the kunai away, Lin Mu turned his attention to the shuriken.

Shuriken: When thrown, its power stacked with every ricochet; there was no upper limit to the number of stacks.

Based on the description, it seemed like there might be a loophole. As long as he held it in his hand and kept tapping it around, wouldn't its power be maxed out the instant he threw it?

However, that method did not work. The cursed tool's activation criteria were precise—damage only began stacking after it had been actively thrown. That counted as a kind of binding restriction.

And while the unlimited number of stacks sounded powerful, the maximum number of ricochets still depended on the user's own strength and skill. It could only be said that the potential was theoretically unlimited, and the future was promising.

Lin Mu's brand-new cursed tools also caught Itadori's attention. His eyes nearly turned into flashlights, constantly shining with envy.

"So cool! I really wish Teacher Gojo would customize a cursed tool for me too."

Lin Mu ruthlessly shattered Itadori's fantasy. "You should learn to control the flow of your cursed energy first."

Itadori's face instantly turned pale, as though he had suffered ten thousand critical hits.

After putting on the waist pouch, Lin Mu looked at Nanami. "Teacher, what do we do next?"

Nanami snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing that. "You two will make contact with that boy. I'll handle the cursed spirit."

"This is my decision. Just follow it."

Nanami's decision was still the same as before. Not wanting his students to be dragged into danger, he had decided to face Mahito alone.

But Lin Mu was worried that the cursed spirits already knew part of his strength and might have prepared some unforeseen countermeasures. If Nanami still fought Mahito one-on-one, something could easily go wrong!

Lin Mu did not point it out directly. With Nanami's personality, he would never agree to let Lin Mu accompany him anyway, so Lin Mu could only make other plans.

After leaving the safehouse, Lin Mu and Itadori got into Ijichi's car and headed for the home of that boy, Junpei Yoshino.

But after briefly explaining things to Itadori midway through the trip, Lin Mu quietly slipped away.

He hurried toward Mahito's location. Although the original story had not mentioned Mahito's exact whereabouts, Lin Mu had already roughly deduced his hiding place through his earlier observations with the Sharingan.

Besides, Mahito had not deliberately concealed himself. If anything, he seemed to be intentionally luring them over.

Channeling chakra, Lin Mu used the Body Flicker Technique to race through the city. Before long, he arrived at the maze-like, intersecting sewers where Mahito was hiding.

A terrifying, chilling presence continuously seeped out, accompanied from time to time by the sounds of fighting. Mahito and Nanami were not far ahead!