Exceptionally gifted freshmen

Naomitsu had two theories about this.

The first was that these three might all die in the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons in the future, which was why they never appeared in the main storyline.

The second was that Naomitsu's arrival had caused a butterfly effect, changing the original plot and introducing new variables.

Either possibility was enough to give Naomitsu a headache.

For now, though, his priority was keeping these three youngsters in line. Judging by their behavior, none of them looked particularly easy to manage.

"My name is Naomitsu Zenin. I'm from the Zenin Clan, and I'm also a native of Kyoto Prefecture. I'm currently a teacher at Kyoto Jujutsu High, which makes me your teacher."

When Naomitsu finished speaking, the three before him wore different expressions.

Nobara remained curious, while Fujiwara still wore that same insincere smile. As for Inumaki Yaki, aside from giving his name during introductions, he had remained completely motionless.

"Our teacher? I'm curious! How... how old are you?"

Nobara Kugisaki raised her hand, her tone a little strange. The mix of hesitation and curiosity made her sound terribly awkward.

Naomitsu, however, was perfectly at ease and answered her question honestly.

"I'm five this year. I'll turn six in another six months. But teaching you should be well within my abilities."

After Naomitsu spoke, silence filled the classroom.

They had assumed Naomitsu was simply a rather short teacher. Who would have thought he really was a child?

"Teacher! You're really five?"

Naomitsu nodded in answer to Nobara Kugisaki. That only made Nobara feel he was utterly unreliable.

"Teacher! What are we learning today?"

Compared with Nobara, Fujiwara Sora was much more practical. He didn't care how old Naomitsu was, only what Naomitsu could teach him.

"My classes might be a little different from those of the other teachers. Today... let's test your abilities for our first lesson!"

Fujiwara was the surname of a family of jujutsu sorcerers that had been wiped out during the Heian era. For some reason, an heir had appeared in the modern age.

What was going on here? Did that old man Rakaji know?

"Follow me outside!"

Since the classroom wasn't suited to combat, Naomitsu led the three out and headed to the indoor basketball court.

"Teacher Naomitsu! How are you testing us? Are we fighting you? What if you get hurt?"

Nobara twirled a strand of hair as she asked Naomitsu worriedly. She wasn't in the habit of beating up children, especially five-year-olds.

"Don't worry. You won't be fighting me."

As a summoner, why would he fight in person? He would probe their abilities with Divine Dogs first, pouring in [1000] points of cursed energy.

"Nobara Kugisaki, you go first."

With enough cursed energy poured into them, the black and white Divine Dogs manifested at the size of black bears. They hardly looked like dogs at all.

"Cursed spirits? No! They're shikigami!"

Nobara blinked her large eyes and took out a nail passed down through her family. Her technique was the Straw Doll Technique, and she needed to get some fur from the Divine Dogs.

"Ah! How am I supposed to get their fur?"

On the open basketball court, the Divine Dogs and Nobara chased one another back and forth. The longer it dragged on, the worse things became for Nobara, because Naomitsu had supplied a thousand points of cursed energy.

[Hairpin!]

Just as a Divine Dog was about to pounce on Nobara, she threw a nail. It exploded, injuring the black Divine Dog badly enough to leave him unable to move.

"Now's my chance!"

Just as Nobara moved to collect his fur, the white Divine Dog knocked her down. His enormous jaws opened, and he lunged at her face with a roar.

"Aah!!!"

Naomitsu walked up to Nobara and lightly nudged her arm with his size 32 shoe.

"Stop screaming. I'm not going to kill you."

Nobara opened her eyes and saw Naomitsu's exasperated face. Shame and embarrassment welled up inside her.

"Go stand to the side. Oh, right, remember to work off the repair costs for what you blew up after class."

"Huh???" Nobara, who had just gotten to her feet, whipped her head around.

"Next!" Naomitsu ignored her and looked at the remaining two.

Inumaki Yaki stepped forward and slowly removed his mask. When they saw his face, all three of the others froze.

"You!"

Nobara stood rooted to the spot, even forgetting her anger at Naomitsu for making her pay.

Naomitsu was shocked too. The sight was simply too unsettling.

Beneath Inumaki Yaki's mask were two long lines of stitches. One on each side, they stretched from the corners of his mouth to his earlobes.

They were wounds that looked as though they had been cut with a knife. The stitches were crooked and haphazard, as though someone inexperienced had sewn them up at random.

The Inumaki Clan... looks like another tragic childhood with quite a story behind it.

Unlike other families that pursued the preservation of their bloodlines and trained powerful sorcerers, the Inumaki Clan followed a policy of completely ending its line of sorcerers.

Their Cursed Speech was a double-edged sword, liable to hurt others accidentally and rebound on its user. To avoid tragedy, the Inumaki Clan did not allow its children to become jujutsu sorcerers.

Clearly, tragedy had struck the boy before him, leading to his expulsion from the Inumaki Clan and leaving two deep cuts extending from the corners of his mouth.

OK?

Inumaki Yaki said nothing, making an OK gesture with his hand. Naomitsu understood and nodded, summoning the Divine Dogs again with another thousand points of cursed energy.

The Divine Dogs closed in from the front and rear, ready to pounce on Inumaki Yaki and tear into him.

"Kneel!"

It was a simple command, but with cursed energy added, its power was entirely different.

Both Divine Dogs stopped and dropped to their knees. Nobara Kugisaki knelt as well.

"Huh? I have to kneel too?" Bewildered, Nobara stared at her knees and fell into a prolonged silence.

Naomitsu and Fujiwara Sora, on the other hand, showed no reaction thanks to their abundant cursed energy. Or rather, they weren't the primary targets of the cursed energy output.

This AOE skill really was something!

Seeing both Divine Dogs completely incapacitated left Naomitsu positively craving the power of Cursed Speech.

"Let's keep going!"

With the Divine Dogs suppressed, Naomitsu summoned Toad and Rabbit Escape. Rabbit Escape would harass Inumaki Yaki while Toad seized an opening to restrain him.

"Kill each other!"

Inumaki Yaki uttered another command, and the scene instantly descended into chaos. Toad wrapped his tongue around Rabbit Escape, while the Divine Dogs lunged at Nobara Kugisaki.

"Wait, what? Do I have to die too?"

Her cursed energy was too weak. Nobara Kugisaki couldn't even control her legs to run away.

"Max Elephant!"

For the final test, Naomitsu poured in ten thousand points of cursed energy. Max Elephant dropped from above Inumaki Yaki's head. He didn't believe Cursed Speech could deal with this move too.

"Stop!"

Looking up at Max Elephant looming over him and blocking everything above, Inumaki Yaki slowly uttered the command, "Stop."

To Naomitsu's shock, Max Elephant really did freeze in midair. Not only Max Elephant, but the Divine Dogs, Rabbit Escape, Toad, and Nobara Kugisaki all stopped moving.

That Cursed Speech output must have brought his cursed energy close to its limit, right?

A bead of cold sweat appeared on Naomitsu's forehead. Just now, he had felt his own body stiffen slightly too.