In just ten seconds, the one-sided battle came to a temporary halt.
"Just who the hell is this kid called Itadori..."
As the words left his mouth, Sukuna, who had been thoroughly enjoying the fight, lost control of the body again.
Itadori, who had timed his return perfectly, patted his woozy head. Before he could complain, Satoru Gojo knocked him out with a tap of his finger.
"All right, we'll discuss Sukuna's vessel later."
"For now, let's talk about Motorcycle Man."
Satoru Gojo's figure flickered, and he teleported beside the piano, tilting his head as he studied Jiahao.
The Six Eyes, a special trait passed down through the Gojo Clan, appeared only once every few centuries.
With a field of vision that left no blind spots, they could tell at a glance whether someone was a sorcerer.
"An unaffiliated jujutsu sorcerer hiding among ordinary people?"
"Who would've thought a casual stroll would turn up a genius on par with Okkotsu?"
"So, interested in joining our Jujutsu High, Motorcycle Piano Man?"
"No problem."
Jiahao agreed readily, standing up to face Satoru Gojo's blindfold. "Jujutsu High... so you want me to teach Itadori and that guy with the hedgehog hair?"
[Valor Points +69] [Valor Points +699]
A short distance away, Fushiguro froze, his mouth twitching.
You haven't even enrolled as a student, and you already want to be a teacher? Who skips grades like that?!
After coughing up a hefty sum of Valor Points, Satoru Gojo recovered and focused again on Jiahao's face, which showed no sign of joking.
"Interesting. Very interesting!"
Satoru Gojo grinned, revealing two rows of gleaming teeth. "Excellent! I don't dislike people like you!"
"A jujutsu sorcerer should have exactly that kind of confidence!"
Satoru Gojo might have seemed flippant on the surface, but deep down, he was also extraordinarily arrogant.
Brimming with confidence and convinced he was the strongest in the world, Satoru Gojo actually appreciated Jiahao's almost absurdly arrogant personality all the more.
"I wouldn't mind having you as a colleague."
"But whether you can become a teacher isn't up to me. Come to Jujutsu High in three days and talk to the principal yourself."
After leaving his contact information, Satoru Gojo slung the unconscious Itadori over his shoulder and vanished in a teleport.
Upon receiving a text notification, the bald underlings immediately climbed onto the rooftop and carried the piano back to the classroom.
Meanwhile, Fushiguro, who felt as though he had been abandoned, met the gaze of those blinking purple contact lenses beneath the moonlight and felt inexplicably unnerved.
Awkwardness spread through the air~
Before Fushiguro could figure out what to say, a flash appeared in front of him, and Satoru Gojo teleported back.
Fushiguro secretly breathed a sigh of relief. His unreliable white-haired teacher hadn't completely forgotten him.
"Sorry, forgot the treats for the trip back."
With that, the bag of sweets in Fushiguro's arms vanished along with Satoru Gojo.
"Fushiguro, bring Motorcycle Man back to Jujutsu High with you in three days!"
Jiahao smiled at the dumbfounded Fushiguro and slipped his hands into his pockets. "The wind tonight is awfully boisterous!"
[Valor Points +66]
Early the next morning.
A guest room in the Sendai Villa District.
Fushiguro looked at the bald underling who had come to wake him at the crack of dawn and asked impatiently, "What's the matter? It's so early."
The bald underling said, "The king has business to attend to. He wants you to come along."
"The king..."
King, my ass. What happened to the 'Jiahao' after 'Wang'?
It wasn't enough that the guy swaggered around himself. The bald underlings he'd recruited were every bit as bad.
Fushiguro instinctively got up and headed for the door, then stopped. "Wait... why does he need me along for his business?"
"The king said that if you don't come, he'll come invite you personally."
Forget it. I'd better go see what King... Jiahao is up to.
Presumably, Satoru Gojo hadn't left him here for three days just to act as a guide. More likely, he wanted him to observe Jiahao.
Fushiguro pushed open the living room doors, and his eyelids twitched wildly at the sight before him.
Bald underlings stood in two rows, with a tall chair in the center.
The chair was decorated with skulls and lightning bolts, and a huge character for "swagger" was carved right in the middle.
Jiahao sat upright on his swagger throne.
He hadn't had time to change his Taiji hair coloring, but his outfit had received an upgrade.
His long black coat was embroidered with red clouds, its hood covering his head and his bangs concealing his eyes.
Of Jiahao's entire face, Fushiguro could only clearly see the faint, ambiguous smile at the corners of his mouth.
A cheap throne, an Akatsuki outfit straight out of Naruto... and a bunch of deadly serious bald underlings.
There was way too much to roast!
One glance was enough to break Fushiguro's composure, making him contribute a large amount of Valor Points.
Jiahao said, "You've come."
Fushiguro said, "Honestly... I didn't want to."
"But you came anyway."
"Let's go."
Escorted by the crowd of bald underlings to the pennant-covered Ghost Fire scooter, Fushiguro looked utterly exasperated. "You can afford to live in a villa district. Buying a car shouldn't be hard, right?"
Jiahao shook his head as he climbed onto the Ghost Fire. "Then ordinary mortals would have trouble beholding my swagger."
I knew it!
Fushiguro was noticeably calmer about Jiahao's signature responses than he had been yesterday.
Under Jiahao's lingering gaze, Fushiguro reluctantly mounted a Ghost Fire and joined the convoy.
Bass speakers blared, and colorful pennants fluttered.
The dazzling convoy drove into the city, drawing waves of intense stares.
[Valor Points +1] [Valor Points +1] [Valor Points +3] [Valor Points +48]
Ordinary non-sorcerers provided too few Valor Points. That was precisely why Jiahao had gone out of his way to drag Fushiguro along so early in the morning.
A sorcerer-grade swagger charger was in a league of his own.
"So where exactly are we going?"
If they didn't reach their destination soon, Fushiguro was ready to jump off and make a run for it.
He couldn't help it. The burning stares from both sides of the street were far too scorching.
"Don't be impatient. We're almost there."
Ten minutes later, the convoy stopped outside a park.
Jiahao dismounted and removed his stud-covered helmet. "My focus will be on Jujutsu Society from now on. I might as well settle all my lingering mundane affairs while I can."
Thoroughly unwilling to talk to this swagger-spouting eccentric, Fushiguro grabbed a random bald underling and asked, "What exactly is going on?"
"Today's the day the king collects protection money."
"Protection money?"
Fushiguro struggled to keep a straight face.
The bald man cautiously glanced at Jiahao, who was leading the way ahead, and explained in a low voice, "Well, here's how it all happened..."
After the explanation, Fushiguro finally understood.
That explained why Jiahao could live in an expensive mansion at such a young age and had a bunch of bald underlings so loyally devoted to his swagger.
Three months earlier, Jiahao had come to Sendai to attend school.
Then, that very night, he had approached all the major gangs in Sendai and demanded they pay him protection money.
The bald men before him had originally been a carefree biker gang. But because they'd roamed around near Jiahao's high school, he'd forcibly recruited them.
A high school student specifically targeting gangs to collect protection money... did that make any sense?
But when Fushiguro remembered that the high school student in question was Jiahao, it didn't seem particularly surprising.
Wait!
Suddenly sensing unfamiliar fluctuations of cursed energy up ahead, Fushiguro raised his eyebrows and looked toward the dense crowd opposite them.
The park had been cleared out, and dozens of gang enforcers displaying all sorts of tattoos glared viciously at Jiahao, who stood at the front.
Even though Jiahao had only three-quarters of his face exposed and was wearing an Akatsuki robe.
That unmistakable Jiahao aura wasn't something anyone else could imitate.
"Wang Jiahao!!"
"You've got some nerve demanding protection money from our Black Dragon Society again and again, then a fourth, fifth, and sixth time!"
"Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're a jujutsu sorcerer. Today's the day you die!"
The gang bosses all shouted threats.
Jiahao slowly rolled up his right sleeve and turned his gaze toward the man leading the gangsters. "So this is what gave you dogs the courage to bark."
A little ponytail, a black suit, narrow eyes, and a katana in his hand that was leaking cursed energy.
"That's right! This is Lord Jiejian, the curse user we specifically hired to kill you!"
A curse user?!
Fushiguro's eyes instantly turned wary, and the shadows beneath his feet stirred.
Afraid Jiahao might not understand, Fushiguro reminded him quietly, "He's not a jujutsu sorcerer from an official organization. He's a curse user who controls cursed energy and operates in the underworld."
"These guys have no morals whatsoever. As long as their employer can afford the price, they'll kidnap and murder anyone!"
"Don't look at him. Look at me."
The moment Jiahao spoke, he easily recaptured Fushiguro's attention.
Jiahao unwound the bandages around his right hand layer by layer, lowering his head as he said softly, "As a teacher about to join Jujutsu High, I might as well take this opportunity to teach you a move in advance."
Fushiguro said, "..."
Wasn't this lunatic settling into his role a little too quickly? Besides, how could Principal Yaga possibly agree to this?!
Teach me a move... was he planning to teach me how to show off his swagger?!
Sorry, but I don't want to learn!
Before Fushiguro could refuse, the narrow-eyed samurai opposite them lost patience and spoke. "Oh, you're from Jujutsu High?"
"A Jujutsu High teacher at such a young age. Looks like you're a talented little brat."
The narrow-eyed samurai's voice turned cruel. "And my favorite thing... is torturing geniuses like you to death!"
After saying that, the samurai suddenly turned toward the gangsters behind him. "You said there was only one jujutsu sorcerer brat. But now there are two..."
"Once this is over, you'll pay extra!"
"Don't worry."
Having fully unwrapped the bandages on his right hand, Jiahao picked up the conversation. "He's just a student here to observe. He won't interfere."
"Because trash like you..."
"Is seriously weak."
Before you continue