Inverted Spear of Heaven

Gojo Gen hadn't had a single good thing happen to him all week.

First, Jianxia had ambushed him with his manure tactic a few days ago. Then a cursed tool had broken through his Limitless defense.

And now, out of nowhere, someone with Heavenly Restriction had appeared, wielding yet another cursed tool that could penetrate his Limitless.

Anyone who didn't know better would think Six Eyes plus Limitless was some lousy combination.

"You're really ruthless. Don't you have a heart?"

Gojo Gen slowly moved his right hand away from his abdomen and reinforced his body with cursed energy, minimizing the wound's effect on him.

U had aimed straight for the left side of his chest. If he hadn't twisted his body in midair, that uniquely shaped cursed tool would have pierced his heart.

If Jianxia had been there, he would have recognized it at a glance.

A special grade cursed tool capable of forcibly nullifying any cursed technique-the Inverted Spear of Heaven.

This was the secret weapon the Fujiwara noble had authorized U to carry to ensure the mission's success, and one of the most precious treasures in the Fujiwara Clan's Forbidden Storehouse.

U didn't reply. She tightened her grip on the Inverted Spear of Heaven and kept her eyes fixed on Gojo Gen.

Just as he had said, she had aimed that strike at a vital spot.

She hadn't expected him to sense the danger and wrench himself out of the attack's path.

An ambush that should have ended the fight had failed to even seriously injure him.

"You know what? You're the second person to hurt me while I had my guard up. So be proud. You're strong."

Gojo Gen took a fighting stance. He had begun taking this battle seriously, abandoning his earlier playful attitude.

It was different from Evening Mist, which Jianxia had used. Evening Mist's effect was a guaranteed hit, so it could injure Gojo Gen even with Limitless active.

But this cursed tool was clearly different. When the Inverted Spear of Heaven touched him, Gojo Gen distinctly felt Limitless shut down on its own, without his command.

"Let me guess. That cursed tool nullifies any cursed technique it touches, right?"

After just one exchange, Gojo Gen already had a theory about the cursed tool's effect.

"..."

U answered him with silence once again. Her face betrayed nothing. Even Gojo Gen, who prided himself on having seen plenty, couldn't glean a single clue.

Yet, for some reason, her cold indifference kindled a surge of excitement in his heart.

Countering each move, trading blows, piecing together clues from the information at hand... now this was a fight between jujutsu sorcerers!

Not arranging a fight behind the mountain, frantically building an earthen sphere, then filling it with liquid manure to drown the enemy.

For the first time in ages, Gojo Gen, who hadn't found a worthy opponent in so long, felt his whole body come alive.

U was taken aback by the sight. How could someone grow happier the longer he fought?

"Now that we've gotten this far, I still don't know your name." Blue light flared around Gojo Gen's hands again, and his gaze brimmed with enthusiasm as he looked at U. "I'm Gojo Gen, head of the Gojo Clan. What should I call you?"

To U, fighting was merely a means of completing her missions. She took no pleasure in taking other people's lives.

Only by completing more missions could she earn the noble's praise.

Only then could she get... closer to the captain...

A graceful figure in pink flashed through her mind. U's heart trembled, and her breathing quickened involuntarily. That was the person she had always been chasing after.

"..."

But U still chose not to answer Gojo Gen's question, as though the one fighting her wasn't a person at all, but merely a rock.

Gojo Gen shook his head, his enthusiasm undiminished. "Don't want to tell me? That's fine, Miss Silent. You can open your heart after the fight."

The instant he finished speaking, Gojo Gen vanished from where he stood and hurtled toward his enemy like a cannonball.

He had now disengaged Limitless's protection and concentrated his cursed technique's full output into his Blue Fist.

If she could counter his mechanics, then Gojo Gen would show her his beautiful raw stats.

U held the Inverted Spear of Heaven horizontally in front of her, hoping to use its properties to nullify Gojo Gen's attack.

But the moment his Blue Fist touched the cursed tool, U realized how naive she had been.

Even with the cursed technique forcibly nullified, the immense force of the impact remained. As Gojo Gen drove his right arm forward, U was sent flying.

As U hurtled backward, a thought that should never have existed surfaced in her mind.

This guy... was terrifyingly strong!

No matter how powerful the enemy or how difficult the mission, the Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad had no reason to retreat. They had to act by the principle of sacrificing the self in service of duty.

Yet even without using a cursed technique, relying solely on the most basic cursed energy manipulation and output, the man before her could surpass most of the sorcerers U had ever seen.

An unfamiliar feeling welled up in U's heart. It wasn't quite fear, but she couldn't call it happiness either.

It was more like... anticipation?

U smashed through several large trees without slowing in the slightest. She then straightened her legs, intending to use friction to steady herself.

Before U could regain her balance, Gojo Gen appeared behind her again. This time, the blue light shone not around his fists, but around his right foot.

Then Gojo Gen raised his right leg high and brought it crashing down, so fast that even U had no time to react.

"Blue · Heel Drop!"

Boom!

The residents of Hiraizumi Castle felt a tremor. They stopped their work and looked toward the horizon, only returning to their tasks after confirming it wasn't an earthquake.

In the forest where Gojo Gen and U were fighting, dust filled the air. Gojo Gen activated Limitless to keep the choking debris away.

When the dust cleared, an enormous crater more than ten meters in radius lay before him. The violent shock wave had snapped every tree around it.

Gojo Gen looked into the crater but found no sign of U, nor any recognizable human remains.

"No way. Did I kick her so hard there's nothing left?"

He admitted he had gotten a little carried away, but considering the physical resilience granted by her Heavenly Restriction, there should have been something left.

At worst, there should have been pieces scattered here and there.

To confirm his suspicion, Gojo Gen scanned the surroundings with his Six Eyes and, sure enough, found the cursed energy of that cursed tool.

Through his Six Eyes, he saw the cursed tool slowly moving along the ground, as though something was crawling.

It seemed his attack really had struck her and inflicted considerable damage. U was now crawling along the ground, trying to escape.

"Hey, hey, hey. That's hardly ladylike, is it? Will you tell me your name now?"

With both hands behind his head, Gojo Gen strolled toward the cursed tool emitting those cursed energy fluctuations, making sure to keep up his trash talk.

The victor had the privilege of saying whatever he liked, and he intended to enjoy it.

He pushed aside the bushes to reveal the cursed tool's location. But instead of a battered U, what greeted him was a rabbit with an injured leg, slowly limping along.

The ring at the end of the Inverted Spear of Heaven was looped around the rabbit's injured leg. Already struggling to move, it startled at the sight of Gojo Gen and tried to flee, but its injury and the cursed tool's weight held it back.

Cursed energy existed only in humans. Wild animals had none in their bodies-just like someone with Heavenly Restriction.

Gojo Gen's pupils abruptly contracted. He turned to guard against an attack, but U already had a short sword in hand, ready to thrust.

U looked utterly battered. Part of the left side of her chest had caved in, blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, and her right shoulder seemed immobile.

Gojo Gen immediately activated Limitless to defend himself, but this was precisely the opportunity U had been waiting for. The instant Limitless deployed, she darted in, seized the handle of the Inverted Spear of Heaven, and drove it toward his neck with a reverse grip.

Shhk!

The sound of flesh being pierced rang out. U stared coldly at Gojo Gen, struck in a vital spot, and finally spoke.

"Your eyes can see the flow of cursed energy, can't they... You rely on them too much. That's why I won in the end."

Loop the cursed tool around the leg of a rabbit that likewise had no cursed energy, then attack when he let his guard down, taking victory with a single strike.

What a delicious treat, Miss Silent...

Gojo Gen's vision gradually blurred. With a smile lingering at the corner of his mouth, he fell into the dirt, satisfied.