Pipe Fox

Did the sun rise in the west? No, it was still nighttime!

Xia Jie stared at Maki in shock. He had never expected her to say something like that.

This tsundere girl had always said one thing and meant another. Even if she truly felt grateful to him, she should never have said it aloud. Why had she suddenly changed?

As if she knew what Xia Jie was thinking, Maki said calmly, "I know my own strength very well. With my current abilities, exorcising a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit is almost impossible. But even so, I still asked Gojo Satoru to include me in this mission."

"Do you know why?" Maki asked.

Xia Jie shook his head. "How would I know? Don't tell me it's because the Jujutsu Sorcerers on this mission are Okkotsu and me?"

Maki looked at Xia Jie for several seconds before saying quietly, "You're right. It's because my teammates are you and Okkotsu!"

"Why?" Xia Jie asked, puzzled.

"Only when people face absolute danger can they truly grow." Maki said, "I want to become stronger, and I want to witness even greater power. That's why I deliberately create opportunities to put myself in danger!"

"But that doesn't mean I want to die for nothing!"

"That's why I chose to travel with Okkotsu and you." Maki said softly. "Because I believe in your strength, and I believe you won't let me die so easily!"

"So, thanks, Xia Jie!" Maki said again. "I'll only say it this once. If something like this happens again, I won't thank you!"

"We're friends, aren't we?" Xia Jie said with a smile. "Friends don't need to thank each other all the time!"

Maki had not expected Xia Jie to say that. After a few seconds of silence, she said, "Aren't you angry that I used you?"

"What kind of use is that?" Xia Jie said in surprise. "It's not like you sold Okkotsu and me to some villain in exchange for benefits. Don't worry, I'm not that petty!"

"Now, let's hurry up and find Okkotsu! Who knows where the Cursed Child punched him off to? Why hasn't he come back yet?"

As Xia Jie spoke, he looked around, searching for Okkotsu.

Okkotsu pulled himself free from a pile of shattered buildings. When that fist had struck at him, he had hurriedly slashed through a gap, but he had still been sent flying.

Though he had not been injured, he had no idea where he had landed. Looking around, he could no longer see Xia Jie or Maki.

Okkotsu's heart sank. I wonder how Maki and Xia Jie are doing. I hope neither of them is hurt!

Okkotsu closed his eyes and sensed the Cursed Energy around him. He found that Maki and Xia Jie seemed to be fine, which relieved him considerably.

Just as he was about to set off to find them, a white fox wreathed in ghostly blue flames suddenly appeared before him.

"It's Iizuna-senpai's Shikigami, the Pipe Fox!"

Okkotsu paused. After a brief moment of thought, he decided to follow the Pipe Fox and find Iizuna Noriyuki first.

Xia Jie had two Cursed Spirits that seemed to be Special Grade, enough to ensure his and Maki's safety. Iizuna Noriyuki, on the other hand, had endured for so long within a Cursed Spirit's Innate Domain. His situation was likely far from good.

He had initially mistaken Shadow Maru for a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit, but after interacting with Xia Jie and going out on missions, he had learned that the Shadow Maru Xia Jie controlled was actually a Special-Grade Cursed Spirit. And the Cursed Spirit that had saved Shadow Maru from him was undoubtedly another Special-Grade Cursed Spirit.

In other words, Xia Jie was a Cursed Spirit Manipulator who controlled two Special-Grade Cursed Spirits.

Although Xia Jie kept claiming that he was weak, if he truly unleashed those two Special-Grade Cursed Spirits, then aside from Gojo-sensei, probably no one at Jujutsu High would be his match.

Having figured that out, Okkotsu's anxious heart settled considerably.

Both Okkotsu and the Pipe Fox were fast. Before long, the man and fox arrived at the center of the amusement park, where they found Iizuna Noriyuki and his group surrounded by more than a dozen Vengeful Spirits.

Iizuna Noriyuki stood on the outside of the crowd. His expression was terrible, his face pale, and he had a wound at his waist. Even so, he had summoned a great number of Pipe Foxes to block the Vengeful Spirits and keep them from approaching the crowd.

However, he could not control the Pipe Foxes to kill the Vengeful Spirits directly. Once they were killed, they would let out soul-piercing cries that stirred people's emotions and caused hallucinations.

He could endure hearing them, but the ordinary people trapped in the amusement park could not. They would immediately fall into a frenzied state.

Earlier, he had let his guard down and summoned Pipe Foxes to kill more than a dozen Vengeful Spirits directly. Not only had he become entangled with the monster formed from those Vengeful Spirits, but the humans whose minds had been controlled had also begun attacking him.

It left him unable to fight freely. He had been stabbed by a human when he was not careful, and in the end, he had barely managed to use the Pipe Foxes' Genjutsu to mislead the Vengeful Spirits and lead both them and the humans away.

"Iizuna-senpai!" Okkotsu called out loudly.

The Vengeful Spirits surrounding Iizuna Noriyuki all turned their heads. They saw Okkotsu, dressed in white, draw his katana and walk straight toward them.

"Okkotsu!"

Iizuna Noriyuki's eyes lit up when he saw Okkotsu. He remembered this capable junior well, and Rika Orimoto, the Queen of Curses, had left an especially deep impression on him. But he remembered that Rika Orimoto had already been freed from her curse, and Okkotsu had been demoted to a Grade 4 Jujutsu Sorcerer. Why would Jujutsu High send him to rescue him?

Before Iizuna Noriyuki could figure that out, Okkotsu had already raised his katana and slashed at the Vengeful Spirits.

"Hey, Okkotsu! You can't kill them just by cutting them—" Before Iizuna Noriyuki could finish, the Vengeful Spirits' eerie, sorrowful wails had already begun.

Seeing the humans he had calmed beginning to show signs of madness again, Iizuna Noriyuki had no choice but to summon the Pipe Foxes to cast Genjutsu again and confuse them.

He resented Okkotsu's recklessness, but he could not help worrying for Okkotsu's safety.

But when he looked up, he saw a brilliant flash of blade light. The towering, multi-headed monster had already been split in two in an instant.

Okkotsu... was he really this strong? That monster formed from the Vengeful Spirits had possessed Semi-Grade 1 strength! He had actually taken it down with one strike? Iizuna Noriyuki secretly swallowed, concealing the shock in his heart.

Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly sensed a shadow appear overhead. He looked up and saw an enraged blue giant infant peering down from midair, and his heart immediately leaped into his throat again.

The blue giant infant first saw Okkotsu on the ground, then looked toward the dissipating Vengeful Spirits and let out an incredibly piercing roar.

The next instant, the Cursed Child leaped down from the sky.

As its enormous body landed, it shrank to the size of a three-year-old child, but both its physical toughness and speed rose to their limits.

The Cursed Child charged toward Okkotsu at high speed. Okkotsu swung his blade down one-handed, trying to seal off its movements.

The Cursed Child twisted its body, slipping past Okkotsu's incoming katana. It opened its mouth full of sharp teeth and bit toward Okkotsu's thigh.

Okkotsu spun away swiftly, then tossed aside his katana, grabbed the Cursed Child by the shoulders, and flung it away.

"Come on!" Okkotsu beckoned at the snarling Cursed Child, his gaze cold. "I'm not very good at hand-to-hand combat, but dealing with you should be enough!"

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