A month later, Satoru Gojo returned from his mission. Only then did he remember that he had a student.
Inside the room, Satoru Gojo wore sunglasses and scratched his head awkwardly.
He was about to leave again, after all, and had hardly any time to stay at Tokyo Jujutsu High.
This time, though, he had already found a teacher for Naomitsu: Kento Nanami, his junior from the year below him.
He was a workaholic who loved bread and wanted a beach vacation. An incredibly dependable guy, and a junior Satoru Gojo trusted deeply.
He had only recently returned to the jujutsu world and currently had nothing to do. Being the kindly soul he was, Satoru Gojo generously handed the prodigy Naomitsu over to him.
Naomitsu said, "I don't really mind..."
"Then let's go!"
Satoru Gojo slung Naomitsu over his shoulder and sped off to Kento Nanami's apartment.
Knock, knock, knock!
When the door opened, Nanami silently studied Satoru Gojo through his glasses. Their eyes met, and Satoru Gojo set Naomitsu down, ready to make his escape.
The two stared blankly as Satoru Gojo slipped away, then exchanged a glance. Clearly, both of them knew exactly what he was like.
"Sigh... Come in, little guy."
Inside the apartment, Nanami had kept everything spotless. While Naomitsu looked around, he had already poured him a cup of hot water.
"Are you the student Gojo took on a little while ago?"
Naomitsu nodded, studying the jujutsu sorcerer who looked like an accomplished office professional.
"Mr. Gojo left me at school for a month. He only remembered me when he came back recently."
Before Naomitsu finished, Nanami had already guessed the rest. Still, he understood Gojo's situation. Almost all the dangerous missions fell to him these days.
Perhaps once this child grew up, Gojo would finally be freed from that burden.
"You must be tired of staying there for a whole month. Come on a mission with me tomorrow. I hear you're extremely talented, but you probably still lack practical experience."
After weighing everything up, Kento Nanami decided to improve Naomitsu's combat experience. Unfortunately, he had no idea that Naomitsu had single-handedly fought hundreds of Grade 2 Cursed Spirits at the age of two.
"Okay, but I'm really weak, Mr. Nanami."
Naomitsu really was weak at the moment. He could only use half of his hundred and fifty thousand units of cursed energy. All things considered, he was currently only as strong as a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Of course, that assessment included his Reverse Cursed Technique, Ten Shadows Technique, and Black Flash.
"Don't worry. Your teacher is one of the very best Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers."
Even among Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers, there were distinctions: Semi-Grade 1, weak, average, strong, and the very best.
Nanami belonged to that top tier of Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers.
"Then I'll leave everything to you, sir!"
Naomitsu stayed at Kento Nanami's apartment that night. For dinner, Nanami treated him to a big pot of instant noodles with everything thrown in.
It wasn't exactly a feast, but it was a satisfying meal.
Early the next morning, Kento Nanami picked up a blunt blade and set out to exorcise cursed spirits, bringing a still-yawning Naomitsu along.
A black car drove Naomitsu and Kento Nanami for an hour.
When the car stopped, Naomitsu saw a school. It seemed to be a high school, and he spotted plenty of students in uniform.
"Mr. Nanami! Could there really be cursed spirits here?"
"There are, young man, there are. Follow me. I'll show you the way."
The person who answered was an old man who looked like the school's principal. With him leading the way, the three reached the mountain behind the school.
"Right over there!"
Kento Nanami was as cautious as ever. Before entering the mountain, he first asked about the cursed spirit.
What had happened before and afterward, for instance, and whether it had caused any harm. All of that needed investigating. They couldn't just charge in blindly.
That was also today's lesson. They could never let their guard down against a cursed spirit.
After listening to the answers, Naomitsu had a rough idea of the situation.
It was the usual case of school bullying again. Prolonged bullying behind the school had caused cursed energy to accumulate, giving birth to a cursed spirit.
It was a very common occurrence, at least in the eyes of jujutsu sorcerers.
By Kento Nanami's estimate, the cursed spirit should only be Grade 2 or Grade 3 and wouldn't be difficult to exorcise. After all, it hadn't even injured anyone.
"Let's go! We're heading up!"
The principal didn't accompany them up the mountain. Nanami went first, with Naomitsu behind him.
Mist blanketed the mountain. Summer was approaching, yet the cold here cut to the bone.
"Such strong cursed energy! It must be approaching Grade 1!"
Only when they drew closer did they realize how powerful the cursed spirit was. It crawled along the ground, with four eyes and cold air spilling from its mouth.
"Mr. Nanami? Are you sure it's Semi-Grade 1?"
As Naomitsu asked the question, the cursed spirit pushed itself off the ground and stood upright. It wobbled a little, but quickly adjusted.
"Mr. Nanami? Are you sure it's... Semi-Grade 1?"
The same words came out of the cursed spirit's mouth.
Now, Kento Nanami wasn't so sure.
"Step back a little. Your first lesson today is how to face a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit."
Loosening his tie, Kento Nanami raised his blunt blade. Behind his glasses, he activated his Ratio Technique.
The Ratio Technique was a rule-based ability that forcibly created a weak point at a mathematical ratio of seven to three, allowing Kento Nanami to counter raw power with reason.
By striking that seven-to-three point, Kento Nanami could hit the weak spot directly and inflict critical damage.
It was this innate jujutsu that secured his place among the very best Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers.
"Ratio... Technique!"
Naomitsu and Kento Nanami both jumped in alarm. If this cursed spirit could truly copy jujutsu, it wasn't Grade 1. It was a Special Grade among Special Grades.
Neither of them would leave this place alive today.
Fortunately, the cursed spirit was only mimicking speech. It couldn't copy Kento Nanami's Ratio Technique.
"Die!"
The scare left Kento Nanami furious with embarrassment. Once he located its weak point, he mercilessly brought his blade down in a vicious slash.
That had been close... He had nearly grabbed Naomitsu and fled for his life...
Running away in disgrace on his first outing with a student-if Satoru Gojo and the teachers and students at Tokyo Jujutsu High found out, he would never live it down.
"Mr. Nanami... That cursed spirit just now?"
With the fight over, Nanami regained his dependable air. In response to Naomitsu's puzzled question, he began calmly analyzing the situation.
"That cursed spirit was probably Semi-Grade 1, right on the verge of breaking through to Grade 1. It wasn't very intelligent. The sort that had only just learned to speak."
Naomitsu thought so too, but it had given him a terrible fright. If that thing really could copy abilities without any conditions, it would have been terrifying.
That would have been even more absurdly overpowered than Mahoraga's adaptive analysis.
"Sir, did you use your full strength just now?"
Nanami adjusted his glasses and gave Naomitsu a meaningful look.
How could he not have gone all out? For a moment there, he had thought he was going to die!
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