Unchanged

Boom!

A thunderous blast erupted out of nowhere in Tokyo on a weekday. Pedestrians on the streets looked up at the sky, searching for the source of the tremendous noise.

"Getting distracted like this isn't good, Satoru."

At a street café neither too near nor too far from where Lin Yi and Yuta Okkotsu were fighting, Satoru Gojo, whom Suguru Geto had been holding back, removed his bandages and looked toward the elementary school.

His sapphire-blue eyes stared blankly in the direction of the school.

This was Satoru Gojo—or rather, the Six Eyes, a hereditary trait unique to the Gojo Family, one of Japan's three great Jujutsu Society clans.

It was an ocular technique capable of passively receiving all information from the outside world around the clock, without blind spots. It could also observe and control cursed energy down to the atomic level.

This atomic-level precision in controlling cursed energy, combined with the Gojo Family's inherited Limitless technique, allowed Satoru Gojo's already massive reserves of cursed energy to reach nearly zero consumption under the Six Eyes' control. Put simply, his mana regeneration outpaced his mana consumption, letting him cast skills with practically no cooldown.

The price of obtaining such a bugged ocular technique was the constant torment of his brain receiving vast amounts of useless information. Before mastering the advanced cursed energy technique known as the Reversed Cursed Technique, which could heal himself, Satoru Gojo wore sunglasses to block some of the useless information within his field of vision and ease the strain on his mind.

After mastering the Reversed Cursed Technique, he instead kept himself wrapped in bandages year-round. The Six Eyes gave Satoru Gojo an observation range far beyond ordinary people, so he did not need to worry about being unable to see where he was going just because his eyes were bandaged.

Having watched the entire battle from this distance through the Six Eyes, Satoru Gojo rewrapped his bandages after hearing Suguru Geto's teasing, much to the disappointment of several female customers seated nearby.

"I swear, Suguru, where did you find someone whose technique is this fun? He can actually transform into a Kamen Rider?"

"Right? I also think he's an amazing, kind person. His technique does far more than simply transform him into a Kamen Rider. If he'd been classmates with us and Shoko, maybe we would have gotten along really well by now."

"You think highly of him, Suguru. Now I want to meet him too."

"There'll be a chance. Thanks to him, I got to see the full form of the Special-Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit, Rika Orimoto. She really is an extraordinary Special-Grade Cursed Spirit. Well then, Satoru, that's enough for today."

Suguru Geto, who had likewise watched Lin Yi and Yuta Okkotsu's battle through the shared vision of the Cursed Spirits he had released, rose to leave, believing he had gathered all the intelligence he needed. Satoru Gojo, however, called out to stop him.

"You think I'm just going to let you leave like that, Suguru?"

"Lord Geto, when can we go back already~?"

Suguru Geto's two adopted daughters answered Satoru Gojo's words. The Hasaba sisters stood across the street, each holding an elementary school student as they urged Suguru Geto to leave.

Seeing the Hasaba sisters with hostages, the cursed energy surging around Satoru Gojo subsided. He allowed Suguru Geto to get up and join his two adopted daughters. Once Suguru Geto and the sisters had reunited, the two children ran toward Satoru Gojo in the direction Suguru Geto pointed.

In that brief back-and-forth, Suguru Geto and his two adopted daughters had already vanished into the crowd. Meanwhile, the conversation he had just had with Suguru Geto echoed through Satoru Gojo's mind.

Elsewhere, in the elementary school's open yard after the battle.

The aftermath of the fight had nearly turned the entire ground inside out, and the school building was now riddled with pits and craters. Fortunately, most of the shockwaves had been absorbed by the barrier. Even though the final commotion had been considerable, no one would come investigate anytime soon.

Yuta Okkotsu looked at the school, which seemed to have been bombarded by artillery fire, and for a moment, he doubted whether he had really done it. But seeing Maki Zenin and Yuko Takagi unharmed eased his anxiety considerably.

"Mr. Knight, are you all right?"

"Just superficial wounds. Nothing serious."

"But you're spurting blood."

Lin Yi had no idea how to explain to Yuta Okkotsu the relationship between spurting blood and being in poor condition. His current state was not good, but neither was it terrible.

Yuta Okkotsu might have been a Special-Grade Sorcerer with an empty skill set for now, but his nearly limitless cursed energy was no joke. Even if it had only been a simple cursed energy blast, Lin Yi had not come away unscathed under the percentage-based damage reduction mechanic.

The Kamen Rider Joker suit, his second skin, was covered in cracks that could not be repaired for the time being. The capillaries beneath his skin had burst, and blood seeped out through the suit's cracks.

Even though Lin Yi had not mastered the Reversed Cursed Technique, injuries like these would basically heal completely after a night's sleep.

Compared to Yuta Okkotsu's concern for him, Lin Yi was more curious about Yuta Okkotsu's current condition.

"Rather than worrying about me, kid, have you figured out what kind of relationship you have with your Cursed Spirit?"

Hearing this, Yuta Okkotsu looked at Rika, the Cursed Spirit still floating beside him. Cursed Spirit Rika did not have a complete body; her lower half was a mass of cursed energy, tightly connected to Yuta Okkotsu.

When Yuta Okkotsu looked at her, Cursed Spirit Rika looked back at him and softly said, "Yuta~"

The enormous Cursed Spirit dissolved into cursed energy and returned to Yuta Okkotsu's body.

Feeling the nature of the cursed energy within him, Yuta Okkotsu seemed to understand something.

"Mr. Knight, it wasn't Rika who cursed me. I cursed Rika, and that's why she became like this?"

"You understand it well enough. Then figuring out how to lift your curse on her is something you'll have to resolve yourself. The next time we meet, I hope you'll bring me even more surprises. Ciao, kid."

"Mr. Knight?"

Ignoring Yuta Okkotsu's attempt to stop him, Lin Yi left him with a dashing back as he headed out. The moment he exited the school gates, he broke into a full sprint. He had no desire to run into Satoru Gojo.

Not long after Lin Yi left, Satoru Gojo returned to the school gate and happened to see Yuta Okkotsu carrying Maki Zenin and Yuko Takagi out on his back.

"Looks like you really caused quite a scene, Yuta."

"Teacher Gojo?"

"Your teacher saw it all. You did well, Yuta."

With the battle over and Lin Yi having fled before Satoru Gojo could arrive, he recuperated at Suguru Geto's base, Akasaka Palace.

Under his technique's disguised form, his physical abilities—normally comparable to a Grade 2 Sorcerer reinforcing their body with cursed energy—were slowly healing his injuries. Then Suguru Geto's voice came from the doorway.

"Yi-chan, you look a little worse for wear. Are you all right?"

"More or less. What about you? How did your meeting with your best friend Satoru Gojo go?"

"It's been a long time since I had such an enjoyable chat with Satoru. He's very interested in your technique, Yi-chan. Maybe you and Satoru will become good friends."

The moment Lin Yi heard Suguru Geto say that Satoru Gojo had noticed him, he jolted upright.

"Relax. Satoru's Six Eyes can't see through Yi-chan's disguise from that far away. But I saw the beautiful form of the Special-Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit Rika perfectly clearly."

"So you still intend to go after the Special-Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit—after Yuta Okkotsu?"

"Of course, Yi-chan. It's for the greater good."

"You'll die, Suguru Geto."

"I know."

Only Suguru Geto and Lin Yi sat facing each other in the room, speaking words they both understood before falling silent.

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