Naoya Zenin

"Where the hell did a Jujutsu Sorcerer like you come from? How do you know the Kamo Clan's Blood Manipulation?!" Yoshinobu Gakuganji demanded angrily.

The stubborn old man was a conservative too. Though he wasn't as absurd as the Zenin Clan, he'd still pulled plenty of outrageous stunts.

Of course.

Compared to Jujutsu Society's higher-ups, he was practically a little girl.

"Get lost. I'm going meat-free today, so I'm not killing anyone." Kinoshita waved them off like beggars.

Naoya had immense pride. He could look down on others without a second thought, but he would never tolerate anyone looking down on him.

"I'll kill you!"

"Projection Sorcery!!!"

This time, Naoya Zenin didn't approach Kinoshita recklessly. Instead, he kept circling him, forming a high-speed perimeter.

The moment Kinoshita focused on him, Yoshinobu Gakuganji unleashed his jujutsu.

Accompanied by rousing rock music, the vibrating shock waves actually left Kinoshita momentarily dazed.

"What a pain...!"

Having to fight them while making sure he didn't kill them was harder for Kinoshita than fighting Sukuna.

After all, Kinoshita had barely fought any Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers to begin with. He'd always gone straight for the kill.

"Maximum Technique: Blood Red-Modified."

A vast amount of blood began erupting outward from Kinoshita.

During his fight with Sukuna in Shibuya, Kinoshita had realized that Maximum Technique: Blood Red had a major flaw in using massive quantities of blood to simulate Domain Expansion.

Domain Expansion couldn't be evaded, and afterward, the cursed technique would burn out. Using it meant settling the fight-a true man's showdown.

But when Kinoshita unleashed his cursed technique to its fullest, he spent just as much cursed energy, yet his opponent could simply run away.

Wasn't that just a joke?

So Kinoshita divided Maximum Technique: Blood Red-Modified into two stages. The first spread out a layer of blood, while the second fully released all his cursed energy.

The first stage conserved blood, letting him attack or defend, advance or retreat. He could even exploit his opponent's lack of information to spring a nasty surprise.

The moment Naoya saw the blood spreading, he thought of Choso and ran outward without hesitation.

Yoshinobu Gakuganji didn't have that speed. As the layer of blood approached him, he could only resist it with jujutsu.

"Blood Binding."

"Don't underestimate me!"

Clang, clang, clang-!!

The vibrations made the blood tremble. Seeing it stop spreading, Yoshinobu Gakuganji immediately began searching for Kinoshita.

"So fast!"

Bam!

Their brief exchange left Yoshinobu Gakuganji's face bloodied, but Kinoshita hadn't come out unscathed either.

Those sonic vibrations were incredibly tricky. They could actually damage his internal organs directly.

"Cough..."

The move reminded him of Panda's Surging Palm, which could bypass defenses and strike an enemy directly.

Of course, Roku's electric cursed energy was even more overpowering, bypassing defenses outright to destroy an enemy's body.

"Boy, I've lived longer than you..."

He never finished.

Yoshinobu Gakuganji's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

Kinoshita curled his lip and immediately healed himself with Reverse Cursed Technique.

Sukuna was the King of Curses, with unrivaled precision in controlling cursed energy. That was why Kinoshita's poison had barely affected him.

These humans, though, were easy for Kinoshita to bring down.

"This kid sure runs fast." Kinoshita stood atop an abandoned parking garage.

Watching Naoya accelerate, Kinoshita used Blood Manipulation to coat his body with Blood Armor.

"Good, the blood's all condensed into a single point!"

"As long as I'm fast enough, I can kill you!"

Naoya Zenin quickly figured out how Kinoshita had seen through him.

Projection Sorcery wasn't exactly a secret, but he hadn't expected this man to understand it so thoroughly.

Still, even then, he had a solution!

"Toji... Satoru Gojo!"

In his eyes, only the truly strong deserved to stand above him.

Someone like Kinoshita didn't deserve that!

He didn't deserve to defeat him so effortlessly!!!

"1, 2, 3, 4..."

"9, 10, 11, 12..."

"19, 20, 21..."

Kinoshita kept counting. As long as he pinpointed Naoya's position and used multiple Piercing Blood attacks to anticipate his direction, he could settle this fight easily.

After all, Naoya's attacks weren't particularly powerful. To land blows on Kinoshita, he still had to rely on Projection Sorcery to hit him repeatedly.

Bam-!

"What?!"

The punch landed squarely on Kinoshita.

For a moment, Kinoshita was stunned.

Why?

I'd only counted twenty-one frames, and Naoya had only flashed past twenty-one times. Why did he attack me now?

"So that's it..."

Kinoshita flipped over and steadied himself. Taking advantage of that hit, Naoya continued pummeling him.

"You're deliberately staying in one frame two or three times, disguising three frames as one when you've actually gone through three. That keeps me from counting the frames of your Projection Sorcery, right?" Kinoshita smiled as he wiped the blood from his mouth.

Exposed, Naoya said nothing.

After all, if he could conceal his frame count, Projection Sorcery was no longer a predictable twenty-four frames. Kinoshita wouldn't even know which was the final frame, so naturally, he couldn't anticipate his movements.

In other words...

He was going to win this fight!

"Supernova!"

Bam!

A blood clump exploded behind Naoya. Unfortunately, his experience fighting Choso had left him prepared.

"In a city this vast and complex, with my speed, you'll never hit me!"

Naoya moved through three-dimensional space like a ghost.

Having experienced Choso's move, he would never carelessly touch Kinoshita's blood.

"You're pretty clever for a warrior of feudalism!" Kinoshita clenched his fists, his gaze constantly shifting.

But the next moment, Naoya appeared in front of Kinoshita again as though he'd teleported.

He threw a punch.

Dozens of Piercing Blood attacks crisscrossed the spot where Naoya had appeared.

Naoya merely dodged them, laughing wildly.

"Useless, useless!!!"

"Too weak! I've grasped the true essence of Projection Sorcery! Thanks for that!"

Thud-!

Kinoshita struggled to keep up. Countless Piercing Blood attacks rained down, but Naoya only grew faster. He seemed to have adapted to everything!

"Supernova: Swarm!"

Maximum Technique: Blood Red-Modified entered its second stage. There was already enough blood in the surrounding area.

With a clap.

Kinoshita smiled and brought his palms together.

Naoya's expression immediately turned serious. This time, he was being absolutely cautious against Blood Manipulation. He wouldn't repeat the mistake he'd made against Choso.

A clump of blood slowly floated upward, then suddenly exploded!

"That move again? I've already seen through it!"

"Projection Sorcery!"

Naoya immediately dodged that Supernova.

But a second Supernova erupted soon afterward.

Naoya stared coldly at Kinoshita.

What exactly was he trying to do?

Supernova wasn't particularly fast. Relying on sheer numbers alone, Kinoshita wouldn't hit him in a lifetime.

"Hmph...! Useless!"

The next moment.

Dozens of Supernovas condensed into shape.

"The outcome... is decided." Kinoshita gave a confident smile.