Idle Chatter Between Training Sessions

Although Yaga Masamichi had said that, when their day off arrived, the three of them still showed up at the training grounds without arranging it beforehand.

Gojo Satoru stood in the middle of the training grounds, a rotating azure sphere floating above his palm. But he was not merely maintaining it—he was controlling the sphere and slowly moving it around.

Geto Suguru sat nearby, having summoned several low-grade cursed spirits. As he observed their bodies and abilities, he also considered and arranged things in his mind.

When Toho Che and Mei Mei had conducted their practical combat training earlier, they had practically cleared out the back mountain. But some time had passed since then, during which he had frequently gone on missions and begun his formal studies, so another batch of cursed spirits had emerged, allowing him to subdue quite a few.

Moreover, the cursed spirits on Jujutsu High's back mountain came in many different types, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, strength-based ones tended to have larger bodies, while speed-based ones had more streamlined builds.

If he wanted to achieve perfect tactical coordination, he still needed to understand each of his cursed spirits as thoroughly as possible.

As for Toho Che, he was conducting physical training nearby, accompanied by control and compression exercises for cursed energy reinforcement.

After all, he could not reveal too much of his current technique, so he could only put more effort into strengthening his fundamentals.

As for one particular person, he was not here at the moment.

When a mechanical alarm clock rang, they all stopped what they were doing.

"Whew, I have to say, this is even harder than I imagined. Firing Blue out is one thing, but controlling it steadily and making it move according to my thoughts is another."

Having dispersed his cursed energy, Gojo Satoru lazily sprawled across a nearby seat. Holding up his sunglasses as he looked at the mild sunlight, he complained in irritation.

Geto Suguru recalled his cursed spirits and sat beside him, glancing at him with amusement.

"Didn't you used to refuse to do this kind of training? Why the sudden change of heart? What made you finally see the light?"

Faced with words that sounded like they were meant to start something, Gojo Satoru unusually did not bicker with him. Instead, he answered quite seriously.

"Because I was thinking that if I'd been able to perfectly control Blue and move it freely that day, I probably would've dealt with that cursed spirit long ago. Then none of what happened afterward would've happened."

Geto Suguru paused at the sight of his expression, but before he could say anything, Gojo Satoru smiled and looked at him.

"Aren't you the same? I heard from the old guy managing the dorms that you didn't get back until very late last night. You went to the back mountain to catch cursed spirits, didn't you?"

Geto Suguru did not deny his guess.

"Yeah. I used up too many cursed spirits in the previous battle, and Jujutsu High allows me to replenish them on the back mountain. Of course I should restore my numbers as quickly as possible."

Toho Che walked over at that moment, though he still held several cans of drinks he had just bought. After tossing two cans to them, he asked curiously, "By the way, Geto, what's the upper limit on the number of cursed spirits your Cursed Spirit Manipulation can subdue?"

He truly was curious about that.

The time Geto Suguru had displayed the greatest number of cursed spirits in the original story should have been when he launched the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.

At the time, he had released more than two thousand just for diversion, and when Maximum: Uzumaki clashed with the Pure Love Cannon afterward, he had fused all four thousand-plus that remained.

So, more than six thousand in total?

But that might not have been his limit. The number might have been tied to his strength at different stages of his life, or to how far he had developed his technique.

Unfortunately, the original story had never given a definitive answer. Asking him directly now seemed like the best option.

After thinking for a moment, Geto Suguru gave his answer.

"There probably isn't a limit. Cursed Spirit Manipulation seems to have opened up... or perhaps connected to, a space inside my body.

I can turn subdued cursed spirits into spheres and swallow them, then store them in that space and summon them out when I need them.

I've never tested it before, but that space should be extremely large."

Hearing that, Gojo Satoru, who had used Limitless to catch his drink before taking it, grew curious as well.

"In that case, couldn't you subdue a huge number of ordinary cursed spirits, then just use a sea-of-cursed-spirits strategy when the time comes?"

Though it was a good idea, Toho Che knew the answer was no.

Sure enough, Geto Suguru shook his head.

"Of course not. I can store a large number of cursed spirits, but there's a limit to how many I can control at once.

Right now, I can simultaneously control around a hundred low-grade cursed spirits. But if I add Grade 2 or Grade 1 spirits, or increase the number further, it affects my mind.

So rather than winning through sheer numbers, it's better to subdue cursed spirits with special abilities that can produce better tactical coordination."

Besides, swallowing cursed spirits was an incredibly disgusting and nauseating experience. If he truly had to swallow that many cursed spirits, perhaps he would be the first to break down and collapse.

Thinking that, he lowered his gaze to look at his hands, recalling certain unpleasant sensations.

But he would not tell the others about such things.

"So, subduing cursed spirits from the back mountain is only a temporary emergency measure. Next, I need to find cursed spirits with special abilities."

Hearing words that sounded like a hint, Gojo Satoru waved his hand in exasperation.

"Fine, fine. We'll keep an eye out for rumors about special cursed spirits during this period. When the time comes, we'll subdue them together and stuff them into your cursed spirit stockpile."

Seeing his helpless look, Geto Suguru smiled as though he had achieved some purpose. Then he shifted to another topic.

"By the way, Gojo, I heard that the Six Eyes can see through other people's techniques. Can you analyze Toho's technique and help him develop it?"

At those words, Toho Che's heart tightened slightly.

If anyone could potentially notice something unusual about his technique, it would probably be Gojo Satoru. After all, the Six Eyes' ability to see through every technique sounded excessively overpowered.

Yet Gojo Satoru shook his head.

"Actually, that's a misunderstanding many people have about the Six Eyes.

The Six Eyes can only help me see the flow of another person's technique, along with possible changes and effects. I can then infer their technique from that. It's not like I can learn every detail about someone's technique with a single glance."

Hearing something that should have counted as a secret even within the Gojo Clan, both of them froze. What he said next made them even more curious.

"But Toho is different. I can only see that there are some unusual pathways or traces inside his body, but I can't tell at all how they operate or what effects they might produce."

After saying that, he shrugged.

"So I can't help with that. He'll have to rely on himself."

Hearing this, Geto Suguru pondered briefly before looking at Toho Che again.

"Then there's nothing we can do about that. Toho, how has your technique development been lately? Have you discovered anything new?"

Facing the curious gazes of both of them, Toho Che thought for a moment, then repeated to them exactly what he had previously told Yaga Masamichi.

After hearing it, the two, who had initially been somewhat expectant, only became more confused.

"You can observe special traces of cursed energy flowing inside other people's bodies? It sounds a little like the Six Eyes' function, but could what you're observing be traces of technique flow?"

"It does sound kind of similar, but why would a technique have an effect like that?"

Gojo Satoru quickly gave up thinking about it and stood up instead.

"There's no use overthinking it. Let's test it now. Try observing me, and I'll use the Six Eyes to observe you. Let's see whether we can find any special traces."