Satoru Gojo brought Chiyo Shin back to Jujutsu High.
Chiyo Shin walked behind Satoru Gojo and chattered away, "Gojo-sensei, did you see how cool I was just now? With a left hook and a right kick, I knocked them all down."
Satoru Gojo smiled faintly. "You still have a long way to go. You got careless right off the bat and let yourself get dragged into the opponent's rhythm."
Chiyo Shin immediately retorted, "But I broke out of their rhythm right away and picked them apart one by one."
"You did all right in that regard, but let this be a lesson. Remember, never fight anyone on their own terms." As Satoru Gojo replied, he thought back to eleven years ago when Toji Fushiguro had completely played him.
"Thanks for the praise, Gojo-sensei. I know now." Chiyo Shin was very pleased with himself.
The two walked for a bit longer and finally parted ways at the dorm building, and Chiyo Shin returned to his room.
Chiyo Shin lay on his bed and recalled the recent experience, reflecting on the fact that he truly lacked combat experience. If he hadn't relied on his massive total amount of cursed energy and destructive cursed technique, he might have been in serious trouble.
His summary: his hand-to-hand combat was too terrible, and his actual combat experience was too weak.
It seemed he should humbly consult the second-year seniors tomorrow.
The next day, the scorching sun beat down.
Chiyo Shin, who thought he could wake up early to work out, woke up with sleep in his eyes.
Regarding this, Chiyo Shin expressed that waking up early was impossible; waking up early wasn't happening a bit.
After finishing breakfast and cleaning up, Chiyo Shin picked up his phone and dialed a number. "Moshi moshi, is that Maki-senpai?"
"It's me, Chiyo. Do you need something?" Maki answered the phone, while Panda tried to listen in from the side and got punched in the head by Maki.
"Um, I'd like to ask Maki-senpai to teach me hand-to-hand combat," Chiyo Shin said tentatively.
Maki was shocked. "Ha? You want me to teach you hand-to-hand combat?"
"Yes. Yesterday, when I went out on a mission with Gojo-sensei, I discovered my own shortcomings, and I want to make up for my shortcomings in hand-to-hand combat," Chiyo Shin said sincerely.
"Fine. I happen to be at the athletic field, so come over now," Maki said readily.
"Thanks, Maki-senpai, I'll be right there," Chiyo Shin replied immediately.
Chiyo Shin grabbed two cursed tools, left the dorms, and rushed toward the athletic field.
"Are you abandoning the old love for the new, Maki? Abandoning Okkotsu and hooking up with a junior? I won't allow such a thing to happen, heehee." Panda crawled up from the ground, rubbed his smoking head, and said in a weasely tone.
"Panda!!" Maki delivered another punch to Panda's head.
Panda was completely knocked out.
By the time Chiyo Shin arrived at the athletic field, all he saw was Panda with his head smoking and Maki leaning on a naginata.
Chiyo Shin started greeting them from far away. "Hello, Panda-senpai, Maki-senpai. Is Inumaki-senpai not here?"
"Hello to you too, Chiyo. Inumaki is out on a mission," Panda immediately climbed up and answered.
"Is that so?" Chiyo replied politely.
Maki interrupted the pleasantries and asked seriously, "Do you need to warm up?"
"No need, we can start practicing right now," Chiyo Shin said full of confidence.
Maki looked at Chiyo Shin, who had an umbrella and a tachi tucked into his waist, and said, "First, give your cursed tools to Panda. We'll start with a hand-to-hand combat test so I can check your foundation."
"Also, during the practice, you are not allowed to use your cursed technique or cursed energy. You are only permitted to do pure hand-to-hand combat. Understood?"
"Understood, Maki-senpai." Chiyo Shin handed the two cursed tools to Panda.
Panda took the cursed tools and conveniently took Maki's naginata as well.
The two didn't say much more and both assumed fighting stances.
After a moment of stalemate, Chiyo Shin couldn't hold back anymore, quickly closed the distance, and threw a straight punch.
Maki reacted swiftly, dodging to the side and landing a solid liver punch on Chiyo Shin.
With a bang, Chiyo Shin didn't seem to react at all as he swung his arm and punched to counterattack.
Maki hurriedly dodged, feeling puzzled inwardly. Although she wasn't using her full strength, what was wrong with this kid's body? It was so hard!
Seeing that his attacks couldn't hit Maki at all, Chiyo Shin sped up his attack rate, throwing rapid punches to win through sheer volume.
On the other hand, Maki dodged unhurriedly, occasionally landing a solid punch on Chiyo Shin whenever he left an opening.
As they fought on, Maki realized that Chiyo Shin's attack speed hadn't dropped at all even now, and his stamina seemed endless.
She had to think of something.
Right at that moment, Chiyo Shin threw a left punch, but didn't pull back his right. What a good opportunity.
Maki swept her leg, and Chiyo Shin instantly lost his balance and crashed to the ground.
Chiyo Shin tried to get right back up, but Maki's knife-hand strike was already pressed against his throat.
Chiyo Shin was defeated.
Maki reached out and pulled the fallen Chiyo Shin to his feet.
Judging by the fight just now, if Chiyo Shin's attacks appeared in real combat, they would be completely useless; it was just stationary, target-like punching.
Yet it couldn't be said to be completely useless either; if paired with Chiyo Shin's massive cursed energy and freakish cursed technique, stationary output could also be quite formidable.
Maki summed it up before speaking. "Your hand-to-hand combat is way too terrible. It's just like stationary output with zero variation. The enemy isn't a target dummy waiting for you to hit them."
Chiyo Shin scratched his head and said sheepishly, "That's why I came to Maki-senpai to humbly ask for guidance."
Wanting to test Chiyo Shin's learning ability to easily arrange a study plan, Maki said, "I'll teach you a few moves first and see how fast you learn."
"Oh, okay," Chiyo Shin replied.
The Jujutsu High teaching building.
Satoru Gojo and Masamichi Yaga were watching Chiyo Shin learn from Maki on the athletic field.
"How about it? The talent I've got my eye on is pretty good, right!" Satoru Gojo said happily.
"He is indeed a piece of unpolished jade, but he must be meticulously carved. It's best if he doesn't suffer a premature fracture," Masamichi Yaga said, his tone giving nothing away.
"Don't worry, I won't let that kind of situation happen. How could someone as sharp-eyed as me fail to polish a good piece of jade?" Satoru Gojo still smiled.
The athletic field.
Watching Chiyo Shin make rapid progress, Maki felt an indescribable sensation.
Does someone like that really exist? Crushing all hard work with sheer talent. It seemed one such person really did exist-Satoru Gojo.
Is hard work really no match for talent?
No!!
I will definitely rely on my own hard work to return to the clan, become the head of the Zenin Clan, and change the decadent family.
Maki once again firmed up the resolve deep within her heart.
Chiyo Shin felt deeply grateful as he learned the material Maki was teaching.
Maki-senpai was truly cold on the outside but warm on the inside. Knowing his foundation was poor, she taught him step by step from simple to complex, and the techniques she explained were simple and easy to understand.
Just as Chiyo Shin was practicing with great enthusiasm, Maki interrupted him.
"All right, Chiyo, that's it for today."
"Oh."
Maki thought for a moment and arranged, "Chiyo, I'll set up your study plan for the future."
"Starting tomorrow, for the next fifteen days of this month, come to the athletic field to find me before eight o'clock every morning. I'll teach you some moves, techniques, and routines first."
"Then for the remaining ten days, I'll teach you how to use cursed tools. That will take us right up until the start of term."
"Eight o'clock in the morning, I..." Chiyo Shin hadn't finished speaking yet.
Maki said fiercely, "Got a problem with that?"
Panda made mouthing motions from behind: Don't refuse her, Chiyo.
"No problem, Senpai, guaranteed no problem," Chiyo Shin said hurriedly when he saw Panda's mouthing.
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