The Match

"Geto, see? I told you he was useless. I insulted him that much, and he still didn't dare come fight me."

Satoru Gojo grinned at Suguru Geto beside him.

Suguru Geto rested a hand against his forehead and smiled helplessly. Clearly, he considered Naoya Zenin weak. "Satoru, don't bully the weak."

"If I don't bully the weak, am I supposed to bully the strong?"

Satoru Gojo burst out laughing and patted Suguru Geto on the shoulder.

Sukuna: Why does that sound kind of familiar?

Early the next morning, cicadas chirped outside the window. The end of summer also meant they were nearing the end of their lives.

Woken by their chirping, Sukuna searched the large tree outside his window for the culprit. Catching a cicada in summer was like grasping the entirety of one's youth.

At last, Sukuna found the cicada. "Chirp, chirp~"

He casually sent a slash its way, and the annoying chirping abruptly stopped. "Why'd you stop? Put yourself back together and keep chirping!"

Still yawning, Sukuna got dressed, covering the black markings all over his body.

"Fuck you. I'm in a bad mood today. If some blind idiot gets in my way, I'll fucking slice them into three pieces on the spot. Then they can be in a bad mood too."

Although those were just his words, anyone who knew him understood that he would absolutely follow through.

"Morning, Sukuna!"

Shoko draped a white lab coat over herself and eagerly came over to greet him. She clearly loved what she was wearing.

Sukuna merely waved tiredly and headed straight for the competition grounds. He had no energy left for greetings. Having slept poorly, he felt uncomfortable all over.

Especially since those damned cicadas had woken him. He could have let it slide if it had been a gorgeous woman, but a tiny insect had actually dared disturb his sleep.

The thought made Sukuna want to go back and desecrate the cicada's corpse, just to teach it how wicked human nature could be.

The route to the competition grounds took him past the cafeteria, where he grabbed two cans of Coca-Cola to force himself awake.

For Sukuna, Coca-Cola was even better at keeping him awake than coffee. He had once pulled off the miracle of staying up all night on a single can.

He had just left the cafeteria when Suguru Geto approached, dragging Satoru Gojo behind him.

It was obvious which of them had woken the other.

"Morning, Sukuna."

Suguru Geto looked at the cans of Coca-Cola in his hands, momentarily at a loss for words. He had originally come to get something to eat.

But what kind of normal person drank Coca-Cola first thing in the morning?

"Morning."

Sukuna waved without stopping. He just wanted to finish the match quickly and go back to sleep.

"Satoru, stop moping around. Hurry up and drink!"

Suguru Geto was pouring a cup of scalding coffee into Satoru Gojo's mouth. With his love of sweets, Satoru Gojo wasn't particularly fond of anything this bitter.

His half-closed eyes flew open, partly from the heat and partly from the bitterness. Fortunately, he had snatched a few lollipops from Shoko the day before.

Now he could at least ease the bitter taste in his mouth.

"Geto, what are you doing now? I told you I don't like bitter drinks."

Satoru Gojo shot Suguru Geto a complaining look.

Suguru Geto's smile didn't fade at all. He took a sip of his own coffee, then spat it out with a blank expression.

Who on earth drank coffee without sugar? In the end, he had only a glass of ice water for breakfast before dragging Satoru Gojo to the competition grounds.

"All right, all right. Since everyone on both sides is ready, the match is about to begin."

Acting as the referee for this competition, Masamichi Yaga directed everyone onto the grounds.

Unsurprisingly, the competition grounds turned out to be the dense forest within Jujutsu High.

Apparently, the trees had been planted several hundred years ago, when Jujutsu High was first founded.

Over the years, the forest had grown larger and denser. Who knew how many people had secretly fertilized the soil there?

Since this was an individual competition, the six contestants entered at different times, roughly five minutes apart.

As soon as Sukuna entered, he picked out a large tree, jumped up, and found its sturdiest branch. He leaned against it and fell asleep.

He couldn't pass up such a quiet spot. Luckily, summer was nearly over and most of the cicadas were already gone. Otherwise, he might have turned into an expert exterminator.

Yamagami Kuro was hiding behind a large tree when a man wearing sunglasses approached.

The instant he saw the man, Yamagami Kuro activated his cursed technique, Immovable, reducing his presence to almost nothing. An ordinary person would never have noticed him.

When he looked at the man in sunglasses again, he discovered that the man had vanished. However, the prerequisite for activating his cursed technique was that he couldn't move his body.

That meant he couldn't look around to see where the man had gone.

"Hey, loser. Looking for me?"

A sudden voice came from behind him. Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Yamagami Kuro hurriedly turned around.

Only to see a fist closing in on him. A moment later, the punch sent him flying.

"Impossible! How could you have found me?"

Yamagami Kuro's face was full of disbelief. He had clearly activated his cursed technique, yet someone had still discovered him.

"You really are useless. Guess I'll start with you."

Satoru Gojo gave Yamagami Kuro a disdainful look. A Grade 2 Sorcerer like him didn't even deserve to have Gojo use his cursed technique.

Satoru Gojo vanished from Yamagami Kuro's sight again. Before Kuro could react, he had already lost consciousness.

An enormous lump swelled on the back of his head.

This startled the others watching. The entire area was under surveillance, mainly because that woman hadn't returned, so they had been forced to install cameras at the last minute.

Shoko realized it was her turn to get to work. Soon, the unconscious Yamagami Kuro was brought in.

As Shoko activated her Reverse Cursed Technique, the enormous lump rapidly shrank before their eyes.

Looking at the healing sorcerer before him, a talent rarely seen even once in several centuries, Yoshinobu Gakuganji could only think that Tokyo Jujutsu High had struck gold.

Every first-year student was ridiculously gifted. Even the weakest was a healing sorcerer, something they desperately wanted but didn't have.

"Young lady, would you like to come back to Kyoto Jujutsu High with me? We'd absolutely recruit you with the best resources we have to offer."

Yoshinobu Gakuganji ultimately couldn't restrain himself and openly tried to poach her.

"Ahem. Yoshinobu Gakuganji, I'm still right here. Isn't that a little inappropriate?"

The principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High gave him a wary look and hurriedly signaled Shoko with his eyes to leave the Tea Room.

He was terrified that this rotten old man would lure her away.

Suguru Geto had also successfully eliminated Kino Noriko, and he had made an additional discovery.

He had found Naoya Zenin!

As it turned out, Naoya Zenin had been searching for Sukuna ever since entering the grounds. After all, he figured Sukuna was the weakest.

"Suguru Geto!"

Naoya Zenin's expression was grim. Of course it was. Who could look cheerful facing a Special Grade as a Grade 1? Against someone of that level, only his father could put up a fight.

For him as he was now, it was far too unrealistic.

Naoya Zenin took a few steps back.

Suguru Geto had no intention of letting him off easily. Numerous centipedes emerged from his hands and swiftly surrounded Naoya Zenin.

Seeing this, Naoya Zenin knew he couldn't escape the fight. He charged forward, and the instant both his hands touched Suguru Geto-

"Projection Sorcery!"

At Naoya Zenin's shout, Suguru Geto felt as though his entire body had been sealed inside an airtight frame of film. His movements instantly froze.

[Projection Sorcery]: When used against an enemy, touching their body with a hand presets their movements into twenty-four frames over one second. If the enemy fails to follow those predetermined movements, they are turned into a photograph and frozen for one second. It can also be used on the user, rapidly increasing their speed through preset movements.

Within that single second, Naoya Zenin landed three punches on Suguru Geto's face.

When the second ended, Suguru Geto was sent flying backward.

"I didn't expect you to have a trick like that." Suguru Geto wiped the blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Then he summoned countless cursed spirits around himself, completely surrounding Naoya Zenin and leaving him no chance to touch Geto's body again.

Suguru Geto thought victory was already assured, but Naoya Zenin suddenly vanished before his eyes.

"What? How is he so fast?"

The moment Naoya Zenin realized he had been surrounded, he had used Projection Sorcery on himself.

In just one second, he escaped the encirclement of cursed spirits and appeared directly in front of Suguru Geto.

Just as his palm was about to touch Suguru Geto again, an enormous creature dropped from the air and slammed him deep into the ground.

As the dust cleared, it became apparent that Suguru Geto had already stationed his only special grade cursed spirit circling overhead.

It had been a precaution, and unexpectedly, it had actually paid off.

With Shoko Ieiri rushing over without delay, the first match came to an end.

And the biggest winner of the match was Sukuna.

A speechless Masamichi Yaga found him up in the tree, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.

"Ah~ Is it over already?"

Sukuna looked at Masamichi Yaga through bleary eyes.

"It's over. You can go sleep in the lounge. The next match will be held this afternoon."

The two matches were originally supposed to run back-to-back like a relay, but Naoya Zenin had been injured too badly by that impact.

Even Shoko needed some time to heal him completely.

To keep the competition fair, Naoya Zenin had to be fully healed before he could participate.

Although they were already considering withdrawing, the Goodwill Event between the two schools couldn't end just because of them.

They had to wait until the competition ended before they could leave. Upon hearing this news, the three students from Kyoto Jujutsu High looked utterly miserable.