Yeah, What Are We Supposed to Eat?

"...?!!"

A moment of stunned confusion and hesitation.

Then Kamo Noritoshi recoiled half a step as if shocked, taking on a guarded stance.

What was this?!

The instant that thought surfaced in his mind, Kamo Noritoshi had already supplied the answer himself.

Without a doubt, it was a Cursed Spirit!

The aura spilling from its body, along with the scene he had witnessed firsthand, both reinforced that conclusion again and again through everything he had learned and experienced so far.

And yet, something was strange!

Why couldn't he sense anything at all? Cursed Spirits should leave behind corresponding traces of cursed energy or leak cursed energy whenever they moved... but this one seemed entirely outside his perception, causing no disturbance whatsoever?

He could not sense its presence, but just from its build and posture, he could more or less tell...

This thing was definitely absurdly strong!

—And the truth was more or less as Kamo Noritoshi had expected.

In terms of classification, Hanami and the other three Disaster Curses all fell within the category of "Special Grade."

But this was like comparing Sukuna to some insignificant nobody from the Juvenile Detention Center in the original work. Fundamentally, that comparison made no sense.

Sukuna was also Special Grade—did that make him strong or weak? So during normal power-scaling discussions, people would usually add labels like high Special Grade, top Special Grade, mid Special Grade, and so on... It was fine to think of them as small, medium, and large sizes.

But in any case.

Although Disaster Curses like Hanami were all Special Grade, they were clearly not the lowest tier of that classification, assigned there merely because of their total cursed energy reserves and the danger they posed.

"Hey! You... stop right there!"

Kamo Noritoshi still shouted.

Though drenched in sweat, though frightened enough that his eyes had flown wide open, the agitation coursing through him at that moment also made him realize... his judgment had not been wrong.

Things that defied common sense too greatly usually foreshadowed danger.

But as the man who saw himself as the head of the Kamo Clan, as the next generation's decision-maker... he had absolutely no reason to sit by and watch a Cursed Spirit leave from a place like this.

Whether out of responsibility, or simply a moment of bravado.

Kamo Noritoshi still chose to step forward.

Just as he had in the original work, when facing Hanami under immense pressure while forcing himself to remain calm, Kamo Noritoshi suddenly widened his eyes, pressed his palms together, and produced a sharp clap.

"Cursed Spirit, what are you doing here?!"

Convergence.

As mentioned before, it was a special technique that highly condensed blood.

But compared to Kana Shizumi, Kamo Noritoshi could clearly do much more—with his clasped hands, visible streams of heat silently emerged from both sides and shot skyward.

Meanwhile, through the gaps between his joined fingers and palms, the outlines of churning blood were being violently compressed by cursed energy, drawing inward with astonishing force.

The blood was extracted and compressed.

He merely repeated those two processes over and over, yet the technique displayed an outrageously fast speed, as though it had been tempered to perfection through countless trials.

—I see.

Kana Shizumi, who had been secretly observing the situation from the rooftop, watched the entire process and leaned back slightly, wearing an expression of realization.

Some things really had to be seen to be understood.

Even if techniques related to Crimson Blood Manipulation could be retrieved and analyzed through memories, it still could not compare to seeing someone use them in actual combat.

Though there had been no specific prompt, merely witnessing that process once...

made him feel as if he had gained some subtle improvement and insight.

These things could not be quantified, but Kana Shizumi felt they could probably be categorized as technical knowledge.

As for the present.

He had used blood infused with cursed energy as bait to draw Kamo Noritoshi over.

From a planning standpoint, it could be called simple and crude.

Yet it worked unexpectedly well.

Because of the Kamo Clan's inherited technique, this guy naturally possessed a certain degree of sensitivity toward blood containing cursed energy.

"Using mosquitoes really was the right choice..."

As he sighed, Kana Shizumi casually glanced toward the flower bed.

To ensure he caught the other man's attention, Kana Shizumi had deliberately released more than ten mosquitoes. And, unsurprisingly, the result had turned out just as expected.

—To be clear, jujutsu sorcerers did not actually adhere strictly to the basic principle of exterminating Cursed Spirits.

After all, people without restraints could have all sorts of motives and personalities...

Like Mei Mei, who would not work without payment.

But as a member of Jujutsu High, one's sense of responsibility in this regard clearly outweighed everything else.

And the scene before him also perfectly proved Kana Shizumi's guess—these two were like Pokémon. Once they met, they had to fight!

Hanami itself was the quiet type. It could act carefully when carrying out a mission, but now that it had been exposed, was it supposed to keep joking around with him?

They just had to fight!

Of course, everything above had mostly been within Kana Shizumi's projected expectations. As for how the actual execution would go, he had still been somewhat uneasy.

But the result went unexpectedly smoothly...

"Maybe these people's personalities are just too easy to predict. After all, I have the original work for reference. There's inherently an information gap between me and them."

As his thoughts settled, Kana Shizumi saw the prompt appear before his eyes.

[You have altered the "passing each other by" plot.]

[Reward: 2 free attribute points.]

It worked!

Looking at the displayed message, Kana Shizumi once again confirmed that there had been nothing wrong with the logic behind his actions.

If you wanted to get stronger, you had to stir things up, everyone. If you just lived quietly and peacefully, then what was I supposed to eat?

Yeah, what were they supposed to eat?

Whoosh...

Hanami's figure suddenly blurred as it closed the distance in an instant at terrifying speed.

It swung its fist down hard at Kamo Noritoshi's head.

So fast!

Reacting to that speed was obviously incredibly difficult. Without hesitation, Kamo Noritoshi mobilized his cursed energy and activated the blood within his body in an instant.

Flowing Red Scale!

The instant every hair on his body stood on end, his blood surged and his heartbeat abruptly accelerated... Kamo Noritoshi glared furiously, turning both hands to point directly at Hanami's head.

It was not hard to see that after entering this state...

he was still a step faster.

Piercing Blood!!!

Pfft...

A flash of scarlet light burst forth, followed by a geyser-like torrent of highly condensed blood that shot viciously toward Hanami's face.

Kana Shizumi, watching from the rooftop, narrowed his eyes slightly and accurately etched this "secret technique" into his mind.

Opportunities like this were rare. Time to learn a trick or two.