Outskirts, deep in the mountains.
Outside the gates of Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu High School, Jiahao spotted Satoru Gojo and a shifty-eyed Itadori the moment he got out of the car.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Jiahao sized Itadori up. After a moment, he nodded slightly. "Hmm... you've gotten quite a bit stronger."
It looked like Itadori had finished arranging his grandfather's funeral and eaten a second Sukuna's Finger, just as he had in the original story.
"Don't rush to praise your student. The principal hasn't approved your job application yet."
Satoru Gojo cut into the conversation, shifting his meaningful gaze away from the black blindfold covering Jiahao's eyes.
"Come with me. Whether either of you gets to stay at Jujutsu High still depends on your interview with the principal."
Satoru Gojo led the way with his hands in his pockets, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Yuji hadn't learned to control cursed energy yet, but Jiahao had immediately detected the change in the cursed energy inside Itadori.
Those eyes beneath the black blindfold... interesting.
"What the hell? So you aren't the boss of the jujutsu sorcerers?"
"Not ranking yourselves by strength? How boring."
A little mouth suddenly split open on Itadori's cheek, releasing Sukuna's malicious voice.
Before Satoru Gojo could respond, however, Jiahao lashed out with a lightning-fast slap.
Smack!
Itadori spun sideways a full three hundred and sixty degrees through the air and landed on his backside.
Clutching his swollen, reddened cheek, Itadori glared at Jiahao with a look that was three parts bewilderment, three parts innocence, two parts grievance, and one part anger. "I wasn't the one talking! Why'd you hit me?!"
What could Jiahao say? He couldn't exactly admit that he'd suddenly slapped Sukuna to farm Valor Points.
Jiahao cleared his throat. "You need to train harder, Itadori. Don't let that foot-soaked chicken claw take you over so easily."
Itadori covered the corner of his mouth. "Sure, foot-soaked chicken claw is a pretty accurate description, but that subject change was way too clumsy."
Ignoring his resentful gaze, Jiahao continued his lesson. "Itadori, the curse inside you, the pickled... Ryomen Sukuna, is a fictional demon god with four arms and two faces."
"He was the strongest jujutsu sorcerer during the golden age of jujutsu a thousand years ago. Even after death, he was given the ultimate title of King of Curses."
Is this brat stealing my lines...?
Watching Jiahao play the precocious little teacher, Satoru Gojo suddenly had the strange thought that the boy seemed more like a teacher than he did.
After listening to Jiahao's explanation, Itadori looked a little more serious. "So the chicken claw inside me is that powerful..."
Itadori looked at Satoru Gojo's back. "Then who's stronger, you or Sukuna after he regains all his power?"
"Heh. Hahaha!"
Jiahao chuckled, delivering a stunning debut of the line. "I'll win."
Satoru Gojo: Confirmed. This guy really is stealing my lines!
Megumi Fushiguro: I've already endured three days of the Trials of Swagger. Keeping a straight face through this little boast is easy.
Itadori's eyes turned into little dots. I seriously suspect he had that answer ready the moment he started explaining how powerful the foot-soaked chicken claw was, then just waited for an innocent college guy like me to ask.
Jiahao strode past the three of them, radiating an aura of swagger and absolute confidence.
"Whether it's the strongest in history or the strongest of today, the only one who will stand invincible in the world of swagger sorcery is your king."
Behind him, Fushiguro and Itadori exchanged a look and silently nodded. Even the arrogant Satoru Gojo had no intention of arguing.
After all, in the field of "swagger sorcery," he really was invincible.
[Valor Points +45] [Valor Points +47] [Valor Points +110]
"You're late, Satoru."
In a dim room, a burly principal wearing black sunglasses sat cross-legged in the center.
His clothes and demeanor made him look like a mob boss, yet he sat amid a pile of plush toys.
The principal of Jujutsu High, Masamichi Yaga.
He looked like a crime lord, but he was actually a passionate educator.
While Jiahao was still comparing the anime character designs with their real-life counterparts, Itadori stepped forward first to introduce himself. "My name is Yuji Itadori. My type is Jennifer Lawrence."
Blond hair, long legs, a big butt, and D cups.
Jiahao nodded instinctively. At least when it came to sexual preferences, Itadori had his approval.
Seeing Yaga turn his gaze toward him, Jiahao stepped forward and casually pulled the black blindfold off his face.
He wanted to farm points from this fairly powerful principal, and this would also be his official debut in the world of swagger sorcery.
Jiahao decided he could show a little of his extraordinary talent as a sorcerer, along with his swagger.
"The Sharingan?"
Itadori seemed entirely unfazed. "No wonder you're wearing an Akatsuki uniform. So you're cosplaying Sasuke today, Jiahao?"
Itadori and Fushiguro couldn't tell, but the instant Jiahao removed his black blindfold, a trace of seriousness crossed Satoru Gojo's languid face.
Just as I thought... those eyes are unusual.
"My name is Wang Jiahao. You can also call me King."
Jiahao had barely opened his mouth, and Masamichi Yaga was already struggling to keep a straight face.
"I am a swaggering one who does not belong to this era, the absolute sovereign above the realm of swagger, the ruler who commands..."
"Chotto Matte, Chotto Matte!"
Yaga interrupted his boast, his eyelids twitching. "No need to introduce yourself. You pass!"
"Fushiguro, take Jiahao back to the dormitory first."
"That's it? I passed?"
Jiahao raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to ask your king a few more questions, then have these dolls test my swagger?"
Though his introduction had already earned him plenty of Valor Points, Jiahao wanted to press his advantage and use the dolls around Yaga to give another Hao Flash demonstration.
Unfortunately... old man Yaga really didn't know how to play along.
Once Jiahao and Fushiguro walked out the door, Yaga breathed a sigh of relief.
He'd thought the information Fushiguro sent back was exaggerated, but after seeing Jiahao today... the report had actually undersold him.
"What about me, Principal? Did I pass too?"
Itadori politely raised his hand.
If even a bizarre character like Jiahao could pass so easily, this interview was probably just a formality.
Just as Itadori assumed he would pass as easily as Jiahao had, an ugly-cute plush doll suddenly filled his vision.
"You fail."
As Yaga's words fell, the airborne plush doll's eyes suddenly turned vicious, and a fierce left hook sent Itadori flying.
"Why?!"
After being punched away, Itadori slid down a corridor pillar, his face contorted in pain. "Even Jiahao passed! Why can't I?"
"Was it something wrong with my introduction?"
After three months together at school, Itadori had gained some familiarity with Jiahao's rhetoric.
He immediately scrambled to his feet and added, "I am the one... one of only two tycoon sorcerers born of this era. My swagger exists in the past, the present, and the future..."
Boom!
Before Itadori could finish his boast, the plush doll struck him into the air again.
Yaga's already dark face darkened further. "This isn't about your introduction!"
Yaga hadn't approved Jiahao's enrollment at lightning speed out of favoritism or because he couldn't keep a straight face.
No jujutsu sorcerer was sane, and Jiahao's madness needed no further explanation.
It wasn't born of anyone else's instructions or wishes. That brat's madness came straight from his heart.
Whether facing the strongest curse, Ryomen Sukuna, or the strongest jujutsu sorcerer, Satoru Gojo, he even dared to boast that he was invincible.
Compared with the world of non-sorcerers, only Jujutsu Society could provide a stage for his madness.
But the boy before him, the vessel named Itadori who had swallowed Sukuna, was different.
Following his grandfather's dying wish, he treated swallowing Sukuna's Fingers and saving others as a duty he naturally had to fulfill.
Clearly, this boy wasn't yet prepared to fight cursed spirits to the death.
While the plush doll was beating some sense into Itadori, Jiahao suddenly thought of an important question as he walked through Jujutsu High.
"Fushiguro, where's Jujutsu High's Broadcast Room?"
Fushiguro's face stiffened as he suddenly remembered his first meeting with Jiahao three days earlier.
Oh no. This is bad!
Before you continue