Going Home

"It's time to head back!"

Naomitsu left the street and returned to the place where he had arranged to meet Fujiwara and the others.

However, although Naomitsu had only been gone for a little over ten minutes, another battle had broken out there.

All six were exhausted, clearly unable to keep fighting. If Naomitsu had arrived any later, or if there had been even one more cursed spirit, someone might have died there.

"Let's head back! Since you all survived, you've passed this Grade Advancement Exam!"

The six youngsters all looked relieved at Naomitsu's words.

There was no helping it. There were simply too many cursed spirits here. Every street was like a Cursed Spirit House. They had practically walked into the cursed spirits' lair.

Grade 2 cursed spirits were everywhere, and Grade 1 cursed spirits were a dime a dozen. Even seeing a special grade cursed spirit here was nothing unusual.

Naomitsu alone had already seen three or four.

Naoya Zenin and the others had long been desperate to return. Now that Naomitsu was here, they finally felt safe.

"The plane's been destroyed, so we'll have to ride Nue back."

Fujiwara and the others thought nothing of that statement. But Naoya Zenin, who knew enough about the Ten Shadows Technique, immediately dropped his jaw.

"Boss! You're kidding, right? It's a full thousand kilometers from Sapporo City to Kyoto Prefecture!"

Naoya Zenin's words gave Fujiwara and the others a rough idea of the distance. Even a brute like Aoi Todo thought Naomitsu was exaggerating.

Naomitsu merely smiled and snapped his fingers. Using 100,000 cursed energy, he summoned a Nue larger than a commercial airplane.

Naoya Zenin and the others stared at Nue, their mouths hanging open. With a giant bird like this, never mind their little group-even dozens or a hundred passengers would be no problem.

"Come on! Let's go home!"

The six of them landed on the giant Nue's back along with Naomitsu. Just then, a question suddenly occurred to Naoya Zenin.

"Boss! A cursed technique this huge must burn through a lot of cursed energy, right? If you can't keep it up, remember to warn me first. I'll find somewhere over the sea to jump off."

Naoya Zenin's words instantly drew the other five's attention. Out of trust in Naomitsu, they had never worried about that.

But now, after thinking it over, they broke out in a cold sweat.

"Relax. This flight goes straight to Kyoto, with no layovers. You can close your eyes and sleep. By the time you wake up, we'll be back in Kyoto."

Naoya Zenin quietly shut his mouth, while the exhausted Fujiwara and Aoi Todo flopped down and fell asleep without a care in the world.

Kugisaki gave up worrying too, lying down to rest.

Naoya Zenin sighed. He stopped pestering Naomitsu with his chatter and followed their example, lying face down on Nue's soft back and closing his eyes.

On Nue's back, Naomitsu's cursed energy was steadily draining at a rate of 1,000 per minute.

Flying all the way from Sapporo City to Kyoto would take about two and a half hours. Altogether, the cursed energy cost would only be a little over a hundred thousand.

To Naomitsu, that was barely a drop in the bucket.

They flew fast, but Nue's back was warm and steady. Apart from Naomitsu, practically everyone fell asleep.

When they woke up refreshed, more than two hours had already passed.

They had arrived in Kyoto Prefecture!

Nue descended from the sky toward Kyoto Prefecture School below. Both principals, along with Satoru Gojo and Utahime Iori, were waiting there.

The six jumped off Nue's back, and Naomitsu returned Nue to the shadow space.

Utahime Iori came over and looked Naomitsu and the others up and down, asking whether they were injured or needed treatment.

Meanwhile, Satoru Gojo and the two principals approached Naomitsu. The first thing they said was bad news.

"The members of the families who went to Shikoku and Kyushu... have all been wiped out..."

"Naomitsu, you really are impressive, making it back like that." Satoru Gojo draped an arm over Naomitsu's shoulders.

"They all died? Looks like the other places were just as dangerous!"

Hearing Naomitsu mutter those words, Masamichi Yaga and Yoshinobu Gakuganji moved closer and began asking him for the details of his trip and what he had experienced.

Naomitsu told them the truth, explaining that Grade 2 cursed spirits were everywhere, Grade 1s were a dime a dozen, and there were around ten special grades.

After hearing his account, both Masamichi Yaga and Yoshinobu Gakuganji looked grave. Only Satoru Gojo kept his usual carefree smile.

"It's fine. They're only cursed spirits. Naomitsu and I are more than enough to deal with all of them."

Naomitsu turned his head. What was this guy talking about? I never agreed to exorcise those cursed spirits.

The higher-ups of Jujutsu Society wanted to deal with me, and they still expected me to help them exorcise cursed spirits? They could keep dreaming!

Still, Naomitsu said nothing, and Satoru Gojo and the others took his silence as agreement.

I'll put up with it for now, until my cursed energy surpasses Satoru Gojo's. Then they want to put me to work? Hah, dream on. Turning them into cursed spirits would be more like it.

As far as Naomitsu was concerned, as long as the cursed spirits did not affect his life, they were none of his business.

Even if they did, he could still keep himself and his two older sisters safe. At worst, their quality of life would suffer a little, but they would certainly live more comfortably than non-sorcerers.

Satoru Gojo and the others left, taking the information Naomitsu had brought back to report to Jujutsu Society's higher-ups.

After announcing that all six had completed the Academic Promotion Assessment, Naomitsu also left Kyoto Jujutsu High and returned to the Zenin Clan.

"Boss, I'm counting on you from now on."

On the way, the bootlicker Naoya Zenin chattered nonstop. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was being made to go to Hokkaido again.

"Enough. If you've got time, go improve your hand-to-hand skills. With your current strength, never mind having me protect you-you probably couldn't even run away on your own."

Naoya Zenin genuinely took those words to heart. After returning to the Zenin Clan, he did nothing else and devoted himself to practicing his escape skills.

Naomitsu, who had also returned to the clan, headed straight for his Bamboo Grove Courtyard.

At the entrance, Naomitsu happened to see Zhenwei fighting Megumi Fushiguro, who was a few years older than him.

"Divine Dogs!"

They were the same Divine Dogs, but compared to Naomitsu's, Megumi Fushiguro's looked like tiny puppies.

As a result, Zhenwei fought them without giving an inch. And after spotting Naomitsu, she sent a Divine Dog flying several meters with a vicious sweeping kick.

Why did her strength suddenly shoot up like that...?

Cold sweat beaded on Megumi Fushiguro's forehead. He was a summoner. If Zhenwei had kicked the dog aside and then attacked him just now, he might have instinctively summoned Mr. Mahoraga.

As someone who could not handle pressure at all, Megumi Fushiguro's mental resilience was as poor as ever.

Here in the Zenin Clan, not only could he not beat Naoya Zenin, but now he could not even beat Zhenwei.

The only ones he could gain a slight edge over were Maki and Mai.