Time flew by, and a month had passed since Sakurada Niji enrolled.
Throughout that month, he trained his body every day, practiced controlling his cursed energy, and dodged attacks from Satoru Gojo or Suguru Geto.
There were cursed spirit exorcism missions every day, but most involved spirits around Grade 3, so the three usually completed their missions separately.
Only when cursed spirits of Grade 2 or higher occasionally appeared did the three go together to help Suguru Geto capture them. Shoko rarely went on missions.
Through training and actual combat, Sakurada Niji had improved in every respect. In hand-to-hand combat alone, he could now take on two of his former self.
That day, all four classmates were in the gym. As always, Shoko was studying medicine on her own, occasionally watching the boys play basketball when her eyes grew tired.
Since Sakurada Niji was terrible at basketball, Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo weren't just going easy on him-they were practically handing him the game.
"I'm done. All I do is chase the ball... even if I am the one who keeps losing it..." Sakurada Niji had no talent whatsoever for basketball. He felt he was better suited to sports that didn't require much height. He absolutely wasn't making excuses for his utter lack of talent.
Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo scratched their heads. After an entire morning of instruction and practice, Sakurada Niji's understanding of basketball remained at zero.
With a swish, the gym door slid open. The person who opened it was Masamichi Yaga.
"Good, you're all here. We've got a mission. Everyone, come to the classroom."
"Okay!" the four answered in unison. They exchanged glances, got up, and left the gym together.
In the classroom, Masamichi Yaga stood at the lectern.
"This mission is on Mount Takao in Hachioji City. According to a report from Window, someone spotted a dragon. We estimate it's a Grade 1 cursed spirit. All four of you will go this time."
In the car, Sakurada Niji gave Shoko the front passenger seat and squeezed into the back with Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo, drink in hand.
"There should be cherry blossoms to see on Mount Takao around this time," Sakurada Niji said.
"Did you come here for picnics a lot when you were little, Saku-chan?" Satoru Gojo asked teasingly.
"Satoru, stop calling me that, or this car might break down. And Mr. Yaga will believe you did it," Sakurada Niji threatened.
Suguru Geto didn't join their conversation. All he could think about was the dragon-shaped cursed spirit mentioned in the report.
"I have to get it!" Suguru Geto opened his eyes wide for once.
"I get it! It's like catching a rare Pokémon! Your ability is awesome, Geto-even if very few cursed spirits look good." Sakurada Niji was getting excited too.
If nothing unexpected happens, it should be Rainbow Dragon. Well, we share a name!
Just as Sakurada Niji was about to finish his drink, the car finally reached the foot of the mountain.
After they got out, the assistant supervisor led the four over fallen cherry blossom petals, through a trail of pink, until they reached a spot near the summit.
The assistant supervisor said, "The cursed spirit's code name is Rainbow Dragon. Its estimated classification is a Grade 1 imaginary cursed spirit. Window's report mentioned that Rainbow Dragon was first spotted in the air roughly twenty meters from the summit. We believe its basic ability is flight."
"We're almost at the summit now, and Rainbow Dragon should be up there. I'll put up a Curtain here. Ieiri will stay with me, so you can return for treatment at any time if you're injured. Now, may fortune favor you in battle!"
After finishing, the assistant supervisor chanted, "Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify all that is impure." As the assistant supervisor recited the Curtain's incantation, a pool of soy-sauce-colored substance appeared in the sky and began pouring down. It looked as though it were being poured over an inverted hemispherical container, slowly flowing down its outer surface until it covered the whole thing, forming the Curtain.
"Shoko, wait for us here! Once we're back, we'll fly straight to Jujutsu High!" Satoru Gojo said, waving at her.
Sakurada Niji also gave the assistant supervisor and Shoko a brief farewell. "Sorry for the trouble, Supervisor, Shoko! We won't get hurt."
"We're heading out, Shoko. Stay safe here too," Suguru Geto reminded her.
The three headed toward the summit. They could faintly hear strange roars, which grew louder the farther they climbed.
"Well, we're about to get ourselves a better way to travel!" Satoru Gojo said casually.
Rainbow Dragon is seriously cool! Sure, Toji sliced him open with the Soul Liberation Blade, but that's because the blade attacks the soul and ignores physical toughness. Wait, in that case, if the Soul Liberation Blade cut Mahito...
The three reached the summit.
There were no cherry trees at the summit-or rather, all the trees had been knocked down. Dark clouds filled the sky, as though rain could fall at any moment.
Suddenly, the clouds churned, and a dragon over ten meters long appeared in the sky, flickering in and out of sight among them.
It's Rainbow Dragon!
Upon spotting the three, Rainbow Dragon twisted his enormous body and plunged toward them from the sky. His movements whipped up fierce gusts, until all they could hear was the wind roaring in their ears.
"Spatial Severance Lines, then Spatial Barrier."
A month earlier, Sakurada Niji's cursed technique had only affected the area covered by his own cursed energy, which extended roughly twenty centimeters beyond his body.
Over the past month, however, Sakurada Niji had learned Cursed Energy Extension.
Cursed Energy Extension allowed his cursed energy to reach farther from his body. In essence, the energy never detached from his body; the cursed energy covering its surface was simply "stretched."
Cursed energy surged around Sakurada Niji. He crossed his fingers and flung his hands outward, extending cursed energy from his fingertips to lay ten intersecting spatial lines in the air before him.
Then Sakurada Niji set up a Spatial Barrier in front of himself as well.
Standing behind Sakurada Niji, Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo neither used their techniques nor moved, as though they were waiting for Rainbow Dragon to arrive.
In an instant, Rainbow Dragon reached them and slammed into Sakurada Niji's Spatial Severance Lines. At the moment of impact, the spatial lines squeezed his massive body into an almost distorted shape. Though it lasted only a moment, his speed was forcibly reduced. The cursed energy in the spatial lines dissipated, and his remaining momentum carried him into the Spatial Barrier.
After a thunderous crash, Rainbow Dragon's massive body stopped before the Spatial Barrier. Suguru Geto seized the opening, activated his technique, and summoned several enormous cursed spirits to climb onto Rainbow Dragon. Sakurada Niji moved beside Suguru Geto, ready to create lines to restrain Rainbow Dragon at any moment.
Satoru Gojo walked up to Rainbow Dragon's head and looked at the completely unscathed dragon in surprise.
"This guy really is tough! He hit those spatial lines at that speed and didn't even get a scratch!"
"Well, let me try!" Satoru Gojo limbered up, raised his fists wreathed in Blue, and began treating Rainbow Dragon to a beating.
As Satoru Gojo unleashed his attacks, the pinned Rainbow Dragon thrashed wildly on the ground. Suguru Geto had to release another dozen or so cursed spirits to hold him down.
Meanwhile, Sakurada Niji placed his hand on Rainbow Dragon's head and used his technique to lock him in place, preparing to test his new move. He had discovered by chance that any damage inflicted on something while it was fixed in place would manifest all at once when the effect ended.
If Sakurada Niji attacked with his technique after fixing something in place, he could damage it directly. Conversely, as long as he didn't attack with his technique, all the damage dealt during that period would erupt the instant the effect ended.
Ten seconds passed, and Rainbow Dragon went from a motionless statue to a living creature whose head was covered in wounds. Satoru Gojo stopped attacking and plopped down on the dying dragon's head.
"This guy really takes some work..." Satoru Gojo said, somewhat surprised.
Looking at the dying Rainbow Dragon, Suguru Geto activated his technique and began absorbing him. Before long, the enormous dragon had become a gleaming black orb in his hand. Suguru Geto made no attempt to hide it and swallowed it in front of the other two.
After swallowing the orb, Suguru Geto began to gag slightly. His expression looked off too, as though he were struggling to suppress something.
"I've always wondered-what do cursed spirits taste like?" Satoru Gojo asked curiously, looking at Suguru Geto's strained expression.
"Like swallowing a rag that was used to wipe up vomit and then thrown into a sewer."
"That really does sound awful," Satoru Gojo said earnestly.
"Here, some tea I bought. Drinking it should help." Sakurada Niji pulled the honey citron tea he had prepared earlier out of his shoulder bag.
Suguru Geto looked at the drink in his hand and paused, seemingly considering something. Then he unscrewed the cap and drank.
"Thanks, Niji. That really helped. It tastes great!"
After drinking the tea, Suguru Geto looked visibly more relaxed.
"Are you two the leads in some romance drama?" Satoru Gojo quipped.
"Here, your extra-sweet honey tea, the kind little kids love." Sakurada Niji took out another bottle, this one with extra sweetener, and tossed it to Satoru Gojo.
"Saku-chan! It's so good!"
"Act normal! You're being gross!"
The sky cleared, and sunlight shone down on the three. Watching the other two bicker beside him, Suguru Geto felt much more at ease.
For him, swallowing cursed spirits brought more of a revulsion deep in his soul. The nausea and gagging were merely psychological, but this tea from his friend helped him forget that feeling...
I never truly wanted to save the weak from the bottom of my heart. I just treated saving them as some obligation I had to fulfill.
Then whose orders were the people who started drilling that idea into me, openly and subtly, ever since my technique awakened, actually following?
Suguru Geto finally worked through the question that had plagued him for so long, and some things from his past came back to him.
Suguru Geto recalled his childhood. In his hazy memories of when he was very young and his technique had just awakened, it seemed as though everyone had been instilling the idea that "jujutsu sorcerers exist for the sake of the weak" in him.
The person who discovered his technique, the person who taught him hand-to-hand combat, the people from the Jujutsu Association, even his parents-little by little, they had shaped him into a kind of "savior." Behind it all, there seemed to be an unseen hand manipulating everyone.
"Let's ride Rainbow Dragon back, Geto!" Satoru Gojo suddenly suggested.
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