Rasengan

After a quiet chuckle, Tsukasa Hatayama took six pitch-black spheres from his bulging pocket. The cursed aura they gave off made his two closest friends turn serious.

Tsukasa placed them before Suguru Geto one by one and explained under his uncertain gaze, "There are six living Grade 1 Cursed Spirits sealed inside these spheres."

"These are the results of yesterday's mission, and they're also my first birthday present to you. I hope you like them, Geto."

"Tsukasa... you..."

Suguru's uncertainty turned to delight. Emotion filled his eyes, and he was so overwhelmed that he had no idea how to express his joy.

Satoru Gojo pouted jealously, gulping down his sweet milk in envy.

The moment Tsukasa had entered the classroom that morning, he had sensed six powerful cursed auras on him, but the cake fight afterward had kept him from asking.

Too moved to know what to say, Suguru stepped forward and hugged Tsukasa, expressing his gratitude in a simple gesture.

After the brief hug, Suguru excitedly used his cursed technique to turn the pitch-black spheres into black-and-yellow orbs. The black substance stripped from them dissipated in the air.

After a month of punishing training and diligent study at Jujutsu High, he could now absorb and command Grade 1 Cursed Spirits without any strain.

"Ah~"

As his two closest friends watched curiously, Suguru tilted his head back, opened his mouth, and swallowed all six cursed spirits. The taste of a filthy rag made him retch.

Satoru took the initiative to pat his back, helping ease his retching while asking curiously, "What do cursed spirits taste like?"

"Are they sweet?"

"Cursed spirits aren't sweets. Why would they taste sweet?"

Suguru rolled his eyes at Satoru in exasperation, then recalled the flavor. "Cursed spirits stink. It's like swallowing a rag used to clean up vomit and excrement."

"Ah~ So they're not sweet!"

Satoru immediately lost interest and sipped his sweet milk in disappointment.

Tsukasa rolled his eyes, speechless. Judging by Satoru's reaction, he might have been unable to resist trying one if Suguru had said they were sweet.

Thinking it over, his own tastes were completely different from theirs. He preferred slightly bitter food-the sort of person who drank bitter coffee morning, noon, and night.

He had to have some bitter melon sauce with every meal, or eating felt a little uncomfortable.

With that thought, Tsukasa couldn't help taking another sip of bitter coffee.

Once Suguru's retching subsided, Tsukasa took out the little notebook he had been sitting on and pushed it in front of him.

"What's this?"

Suguru paused, then picked it up and flipped through it suspiciously. When he saw the neatly written contents, his pupils dilated, then contracted.

"What? It's just a book. What's with the overreaction?"

Satoru leaned over with little interest, but when he made out the contents, the Six Eyes beneath his sunglasses dilated and contracted just like Suguru's.

A few seconds later, Satoru turned stiffly toward Tsukasa and asked in disbelief, "Are you sure the training method in here works?"

"It does. I modified the offensive techniques in there," Tsukasa replied, calmly extending his right hand, palm up.

His long fingers curled slightly as he formed a spinning ball of red cursed energy. The cursed energy gathering and rotating within it made it look like a ticking time bomb.

Satoru and Suguru stared at the orb with wide eyes and burning intensity, as though a peerless beauty stood naked before them.

To show them its power, Tsukasa drove his hand into the stone table. With a sharp crash, the hard stone was easily punched through.

Wisps of smoke rose from the hole, leaving Satoru and Suguru dumbstruck.

At that moment, all their doubts vanished. They eagerly fought over the little notebook, both wanting to learn this immensely powerful cursed-energy version of the Rasengan.

Once they learned it, they would have an unquestionable advantage in close combat. In the middle of a punch, they could suddenly switch moves and slam a grenade-strength Rasengan into someone's face.

How could anyone survive that?

Tsukasa took a small sip of coffee, watching his closest friends tussle with a gentle gaze.

Go on, learn it. Learn as much as you can. That'll give you one more way to stay alive in the future.

The Hidden Inventory Arc, which would become a turning point for Geto in a year's time, had to end perfectly.

It was a source of regret, and he didn't want his closest friend to head down an extremist path. They had entered Jujutsu High together, so naturally, they should graduate together.

"Tsukasa, sometimes I really have to admire that wild imagination of yours. Creating abilities based on manga-calling you a master wouldn't be an exaggeration."

Suguru spoke with heartfelt admiration, deeply envious of his closest friend's talent and passion for developing abilities.

"Exactly. Geto's right. But we'll catch up to you." Even the proud Satoru nodded in sincere agreement.

Ever since meeting this monster at Jujutsu High, the two of them had suffered one crushing blow to their confidence after another.

They used to tell everyone they met that they were the strongest. Now, that claim was a joke in front of Tsukasa.

In any case, neither had the nerve to call himself the strongest anymore. All they had was the drive to catch up to Tsukasa.

Tsukasa chuckled without a word. What kind of master am I? I was just lucky enough to get the Hōgyoku. Without its help, I wouldn't be worth a damn.

Knowing that their closest friend preferred to keep a low profile, the two stopped praising him.

"Tsukasa."

Satoru suddenly leaned in front of Tsukasa and asked excitedly, "Since there's a Rasengan, does that mean there's a Rasenshuriken next?"

Tsukasa shook his head. "Developing the Rasengan was already my limit. The Rasenshuriken requires a change in elemental nature."

"Cursed energy has only one nature. It isn't as versatile as the chakra in the manga, so there's no way to add wind-nature chakra to the Rasengan."

"Oh, really? I thought I'd get to make Rasenshuriken for fun." Satoru hung his head and slumped against Suguru in disappointment.

Unable to help, Tsukasa stood up and left. Satoru's idea was good, but cursed energy had no elemental nature, making it difficult to incorporate wind's cutting power.

Although he had developed a Rasengan, he had formed it through precise control of cursed energy. In the end, it only resembled the one in the manga in form.

Ten days later.

Time off always passed in a flash. Tsukasa once again teamed up with Mei Mei to take missions from Jujutsu Headquarters, dutifully exorcising curses and earning money.

Even though it all went into Mei Mei's pocket...

On the outskirts of Sendai.

A black minivan stopped at the foot of an overgrown mountain. Tsukasa and Mei Mei opened the doors and got out, heading up the mountain with the investigation documents in hand.

Along the way, Mei Mei studied the documents with a slight frown. Ten outdoor adventurers had mysteriously disappeared, all pointing to a curse on the mountain.

What struck her as strange, however, was the adventurers' bodies. The report specifically noted that a rescue team had found them at the bottom of a cliff.

If a cursed spirit had done it, the adventurers shouldn't have been left with intact bodies. Why would a cursed spirit show mercy and leave their corpses behind?

The report also specifically described how the dead adventurers' faces had borne what looked like heartfelt smiles, as though they had received what they wanted just before dying.

Mei Mei closed the documents and murmured, "Why does this feel like euthanasia? Could there be a Special Grade Cursed Spirit with a domain on this mountain?"

At that thought, Mei Mei turned a serious gaze toward Tsukasa. "There's something strange about this mission. I'm afraid it might be a Special Grade Cursed Spirit."

Tsukasa shook his head unconcernedly and said softly, yet with absolute confidence, "It's all right. I believe I can exorcise it."

His confidence eased some of Mei Mei's unease. Her young junior could easily exorcise Grade 1 Cursed Spirits, so surely he could hold his own against a Special Grade.

Since her young junior wasn't afraid, how could she, his senior, shrink back? If they couldn't win, she would simply sneak away with him on her back.

With an elegant smile and her hands behind her back, she walked beside Tsukasa through the woods.