After enjoying the lavish meal Satoru Gojo treated them to, Itadori and the others returned to Jujutsu High.
Meanwhile, Jiahao, well fed and satisfied, was still working overtime alone to earn Valor Points.
Listening to the gasps on either side of the street and the system's pleasant notifications, Jiahao climbed onto his Harley with a faint smirk.
The engine roared, and Tokyo's dazzling nightscape slowly receded.
He wore a Ginyu Force outfit from Dragon Ball-the battle armor Vegeta wore when he first arrived on Earth-with a yellow, single-lens scouter hooked over his left ear to measure power levels.
He had gone from fearing society to making society fear him.
In less than two and a half years, Jiahao had reached the realm of true swagger, where going a single day without showing off left him uncomfortable all over.
Just as Jiahao was basking in the crowd's cries of admiration, their gazes suddenly shifted to the other side of the street.
His Valor Points plummeted. Jiahao looked toward the corner in irritation, then sucked in a sharp breath.
A blond guy emerged from around the corner, holding up his phone to livestream. With only a tiny leaf covering his crotch, he looked like a stark-naked caveman.
"Come take a look! I'm a new streamer, Matsumoto Blondie!"
"As the saying goes, wise men don't fall in love, while blondies specialize in rich ladies!"
Blondie patted his single, jiggly abdominal muscle and lowered the camera. "All you rich ladies watching, light up your fan badges and hit follow! Just one rocket gift will unseal this monster!"
I lost. I lost completely!
The pupil has outdone Jiahao!
Of course these Japanese freaks would pull this off. Tokyo really is one hell of a stage.
Looking utterly dejected, Jiahao opened the throttle all the way and fled like a beaten dog.
Night fell beneath a full moon as round as a platter.
The Harley entered the deserted mountains, but Jiahao still looked distracted.
Just as Jiahao was pondering how to beat Matsumoto Blondie with a more dignified swagger outfit and reclaim the crowd's attention and his Valor Points...
Whoosh!!
A boulder weighing several tons tore through the air, hurtling down from above toward Jiahao.
Boom!!
A massive crater smashed open in the mountain road, sending rubble flying!
Before the dust cleared, an old man with a turd-shaped hairstyle and a short blade plunged from the mountaintop into the cloud!
Several seconds later, as the dust dispersed, the turd-haired old man stood in the crater, looking puzzled.
White socks, shorts, and a handlebar mustache.
The old man climbed out of the crater and looked around. "Huh? Where's that kid in the weird outfit?"
"Did he run away, or is he hiding nearby, shaking in his boots?"
After a fruitless search, the curse user Jiro Awasaka prepared to call his companion and withdraw.
"What are you looking for?"
Old Kusaka froze, then whipped around.
On the mountain road that had been empty a second ago, his target appeared without warning, riding his Harley, along with two black cars packed with young sorcerers.
"Huh?!"
"What's going on? Weren't we at the gates of Jujutsu High a second ago?!"
"Are we trapped in some supernatural maze? Did this mountain road curse us?!"
Itadori started squawking the moment he got out.
"Shut up!"
Kugisaki kicked Itadori away from where he was blocking the door, then got out and surveyed their surroundings.
Fushiguro climbed out of the passenger seat. Behind the wheel, Ijichi silently breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted Jiahao on his Harley.
Then Panda, Maki, and Inumaki got out of the second car.
Kugisaki pointed at the old man nearby and said irritably, "You could handle trash like that on your own, couldn't you?"
Maki raised an eyebrow. "Did you bring us all the way here just to watch you show off?"
Fushiguro nodded silently. Maki had probably guessed the truth.
"Trash like that?"
"My, my. Young people these days really don't know how to respect their elders."
Looking at the injured youngsters before him, Old Kusaka slowly relaxed his tense body.
Pointing his short blade at Jiahao, Old Kusaka narrowed his eyes. "Has Jujutsu High run out of people? You only brought a bunch of injured brats to die?"
If a teacher from Jujutsu High or an upperclassman who was a Grade 1 Sorcerer had come, Old Kusaka would have fled without another word.
But with only this battered bunch of youngsters, even if he couldn't kill them, stalling them shouldn't be difficult.
The old woman needed a little more time to prepare her killing move, so he might as well trade insults with these arrogant brats.
The old man looked at Jiahao on his motorcycle and grinned, baring his teeth. "You must be wondering why I attacked you, and how I knew your route and got here ahead of you to set up an ambush, right?"
"Someone put a hefty bounty on your head. And your own school's higher-ups gave me your location!"
"Someone needed to give you his location?"
Looking skeptical, Kugisaki pointed at Jiahao, who was gazing up at the moon. "Dressed like that, does he look discreet when he goes out?"
Maki nodded. "A bounty isn't surprising either. The first time I saw him, I wanted to beat him up."
Everyone in both cars was still nursing injuries Jiahao had given them during that afternoon's training.
Looking at Vegeta Jiahao, the old man couldn't help nodding. They had a point.
Just then, Jiahao gazed into the sky and slowly said, "The moon is beautiful tonight, and the breeze is gentle too."
Everyone from Jujutsu High: "..."
Old Kusaka: "..."
Jiahao dismounted and folded his arms, looking at the old man. "You're stalling for time, aren't you? No rush. I won't wait for you."
Heh, wait for me?
This brat really is arrogant!
Wait, what?!
What did he just say? He won't wait for me?
In the blink of an eye, Jiahao's fist grew larger in the old man's eyes.
So fast!
Before Old Kusaka could raise his arms to guard, a punch blasted him into the rock face, shattering stone!
After sending the curse user Kusaka flying with one punch, Jiahao slipped one hand into his pocket and turned to the group from Jujutsu High. "Since you're all too weak, we had to stop this afternoon's training halfway through."
"We'll turn the unfinished half into an observation lesson."
"This old pervert is trash too, but he barely makes the cut for a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer."
Grade 1?!
Kugisaki and the others looked toward the shattered rock face, unable to hide their surprise.
Among their group of students, even Toge Inumaki, the highest-ranked, was only a Semi-Grade 1 Sorcerer.
The newly enrolled Kugisaki and Itadori were rated Grade 3, while Fushiguro was Grade 2.
And Maki, whose advancement was being suppressed by the Zenin Clan, was still only a Grade 4 Sorcerer.
Aside from the lawless Satoru Gojo, even the principal of Jujutsu High was only Grade 1.
Yet this perverted old man who had been sent flying with one punch was also a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer?
"You don't need to do anything. Watch closely and learn."
Chances to be targeted by assassins were rare. It would have been a waste not to bring Itadori and the others over to squeeze out some Valor Points.
Boom!
"You're all bluster, brat! I'll scalp you!"
A sharp chunk of stone tore through the air toward the back of Jiahao's head, followed immediately by a gleaming short blade thrust at his heart.
"Since this is a teaching session, I won't use my Cursed Technique."
Tilting his head and shifting his footing, Jiahao evaded the deadly attacks with effortless ease.
After missing his strike, the old man pushed off on his toes and swiftly opened some distance.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Old Kusaka stared fixedly at Jiahao, not daring to let his guard down for even a millisecond.
If he hadn't activated his Cursed Technique at the last possible moment, that punch might have smashed him open.
The oddly dressed brat before him wasn't one of the weaklings he enjoyed tormenting, but if all he needed to do was stall...
While Kusaka was thinking, another fist tore toward him, too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Kusaka abruptly leaned backward while reversing his grip on the short blade and slashing upward.
Boom!
The dull crack of a fist tearing through the air rang beside Kusaka's ear. In his peripheral vision, a lock of black wig hair severed by his blade drifted down.
Before Kusaka could twist away, Jiahao retracted his fist and dropped his elbow, driving a vicious, plunging elbow strike into Kusaka's abdomen.
Boom!
Kusaka was slammed flat onto the ground, and cracks spread through the mountain road like a spiderweb.
Lifting his foot and aiming at the fallen old man's turd-shaped head, Jiahao adjusted his yellow lens. "Is that all you've got? Trash with a power level of five."
As the foot was about to fall, the seemingly half-dead old man suddenly sprang up and swung his blade.
Jiahao dodged sideways and flowed straight into a whipping kick that struck Kusaka square in the face.
The tremendous force blasted the old man into the rock face, yet a second later, he charged back out, brimming with life.
Watching Jiahao whip the curse user around like a spinning top, Maki and the others frowned.
Panda scratched his head. "Weird. That old guy's cursed energy doesn't seem much weaker than before."
"Jiahao's elbow strike cracked the ground. Is that old man's back really that tough?"
As Itadori spoke, he rubbed his abdomen as though feeling phantom pain.
Watching the fight closely, Fushiguro said, "He's not just tough. Chances are it has something to do with his Cursed Technique."
Inumaki nodded. "Salmon roe!"
Although most sorcerers in the Jujutsu Society would voluntarily reveal their Cursed Techniques' effects when facing powerful enemies to strengthen those techniques...
It was like doubling the stakes by playing with your cards revealed in Fight the Landlord.
Some Jujutsu Sorcerers with unusual Cursed Technique effects deliberately concealed information about their techniques instead.
Clearly, the spinning-top old man before them belonged to the latter category.
Before you continue