Maximum Technique

The two quickly recovered. Satoru Gojo curled his lip in frustration, while Suguru Geto's lips rose into a smile, his delight written all over his face.

He narrowed his small eyes and gave Satoru Gojo a meaningful glance, looking smug enough to say, Your second place isn't even as good as my third.

Satoru Gojo curled his lip disdainfully, then turned a defiant look on the solemn blond boy with side-swept bangs. "Junior, am I your idol?"

"Uh..."

Kento Nanami froze on the spot, unable to handle the question thrown at him out of nowhere.

He really wanted to tell this famous Six Eyes senior a loud, emphatic no. The person he admired a little was the one studying over there.

Unfortunately, Satoru Gojo put on a threatening expression, forcing Kento Nanami to agree against his conscience. "My name is Kento Nanami, and my idol is Senior Satoru Gojo."

"Hahaha..."

Satoru Gojo laughed triumphantly, lowering his sunglasses to raise an eyebrow at Suguru Geto in challenge. "Sorry about this, Geto, but I've got a junior fanboy too."

Then he approached Tsukasa Hatayama's desk, leaned over, and said mockingly, "Oh, Tsukasa. Seems your title of strongest doesn't have the public's support. Is this a sign that I'm about to take the throne?"

"I support him!"

Shoko Ieiri, who had been quietly playing on her phone, suddenly raised her hand and lazily made herself the center of attention for once. It was her way of repaying him for the fireworks she had watched on the field last time.

Besides, Tsukasa Hatayama was universally acknowledged as the strongest on campus, so there was nothing wrong with raising her hand.

Satoru Gojo rolled his eyes helplessly at Shoko Ieiri, then sat on the desk without much enthusiasm, swinging his feet in gloomy silence.

After spending a year beneath Tsukasa, he had wanted to seize this chance to score a little verbal victory. He hadn't expected the food-and-drink-loving Shoko Ieiri to ruin it.

From now on, whenever I come back from exorcising curses, I'm bringing mountains of desserts. I'll drown Shoko in sweetness until she's sick of it.

"Senior Geto, Senior Gojo looks a little unhappy..."

Warmhearted Yu Haibara wanted to go over and comfort him, but Suguru Geto stopped him as if this were nothing new. "Don't worry about Senior Gojo. He'll be fine in a few seconds."

Sure enough, a few seconds later, Satoru Gojo bounced back at full strength and started making snide remarks at Tsukasa Hatayama's desk again.

Yu Haibara and Kento Nanami stared blankly for a few seconds, then both pressed their lips together to stifle their laughter.

Unfazed, Suguru Geto took on the air of a kindly older brother and explained life at Jujutsu High to the two new students, helping them settle in sooner.

During their conversation, Suguru Geto learned about his juniors' innate cursed techniques.

The rather solemn Kento Nanami possessed the Ratio Technique.

It divided a target's length into equal portions and forcibly created a weak point at the seven-to-three mark. It worked on both living and nonliving targets.

Combined with Black Flash, it should deliver truly devastating damage.

The energetic Yu Haibara, who admired him, possessed the Superhuman Strength Cursed Technique; its effect was to double his strength in battle.

Overall, both new students had the potential to become Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers. More importantly, like him, they had been scouted and brought into the school.

That alone made Suguru Geto especially fond of them. The reason was simple: most of the senior students at Jujutsu High came from sorcerer families.

His close friend's senior, Mei Mei, for example, had also enrolled through her family background. Her name was fake too; Tsukasa might know her real one.

While the three of them chatted, things were getting noisy over by Satoru Gojo... though it was really just Satoru Gojo circling Tsukasa Hatayama and rattling on nonstop.

Tsukasa Hatayama ignored him. As usual, he plugged both ears with dark matter and quietly immersed himself in his studies, determined to get into the University of Tokyo for his mother.

When his close friend tired himself out, Tsukasa Hatayama even thoughtfully handed him a sweet drink. The heartbreaking ease of that practiced gesture made it clear this wasn't the first time.

The next day.

On the field, Kento Nanami and Yu Haibara were thoroughly enjoying their sparring match. Watching them, Masamichi Yaga lowered his standards and nodded with some satisfaction.

Having taught countless students, he could naturally tell that both boys had solid physiques and hand-to-hand skills. With training, they would surely reach the level of Grade 1 Sorcerers.

On the stone steps in the distance, the group of four watched with keen interest. Whenever something impressive happened, they licked their ice pops and offered their own distinctive commentary.

Despite their commentary, something else lingered in the three boys' eyes: nostalgia for days gone by, for the match they themselves had fought after starting school.

They, too, had come along this same path...

Tsukasa Hatayama licked his coffee ice pop, letting the icy chill spread through his mouth, and asked curiously, "Have either of you figured out Reverse Cursed Technique yet?"

Satoru Gojo's smile froze, his expression verging on dejection. By contrast, Suguru Geto's smile grew considerably wider.

He said happily, "Over the past year, the Water and Tree Walking method you taught us has made my cursed energy control more and more precise. I've gradually started figuring out how reversal works."

"I think I'll be able to follow that lead and learn to use it before long."

Satoru Gojo bit hard into his ice pop despite the chill against his teeth, then said with a dispirited, rueful smile, "I'm still completely lost when it comes to Reverse Cursed Technique. It always feels like the time hasn't come yet, or maybe cause and effect are holding me back."

Cause and effect?

Tsukasa Hatayama gave Satoru Gojo an odd look. He still can't grasp even a little of it? Is he waiting for those stabs from Toji Fushiguro?

If I could, I'd really like to use my mystic eyes to kill the causality binding the three of them in Hidden Inventory.

But doing that would prevent Satoru Gojo from becoming the strongest as he had in the original story. He would never grasp Reverse Cursed Technique and would only ever be able to use Blue.

Troubled by this, he had resorted to killing the causality attached to Geto, allowing him to grasp the Reverse Cursed Technique he had never understood in the original story.

He believed Geto would be able to develop a domain later as well. As for Kenjaku's choice of body, he might already have changed targets. The Monkey-Hating Cult Leader was gone too.

All he could say was that the mystic eyes were absurdly overpowered. Lifespan, causality, time-there was nothing they couldn't kill. If you wanted it, they could do it.

As long as you didn't have trypophobia, these eyes could help you become a god among humans.

Suguru Geto patted Satoru Gojo's shoulder, silently comforting one of his two closest friends. Words would do no good now; all he could offer was encouragement.

Satoru Gojo soon let it go and began licking his ice pop with carefree abandon. Ever the optimist, he chose to keep his worries tucked away inside.

He looked curiously at Tsukasa Hatayama. "Have you figured out a Maximum Technique for your Dark Manipulation yet? You can't develop a sorcerer's domain without thoroughly understanding your own cursed technique."

The other two beside him also turned curious gazes toward Tsukasa Hatayama. He responded with a faint, mysterious smile that made him look eminently punchable.

If they hadn't been afraid of damaging that noble face, they would definitely have tucked his neck under an arm, put him in a headlock, and taken him down together for a good beating, venting their frustrations with fists and feet.

"Spit it out, or I'll give you a taste of a roller coaster."

Satoru Gojo clearly wouldn't stop until he got an answer. With his ice pop between his teeth, he shook his close friend's shoulders, and Suguru Geto was no less eager to join in.

Shoko Ieiri hesitated for a few seconds, then mischievously slipped the icy plastic wrapper inside Tsukasa Hatayama's clothes, treating him to a little freezing torture.

This mild torment was little more than a tickle to Tsukasa Hatayama, but to satisfy his close friends' and friend's curiosity, he nodded lightly in admission.

The three noticed the nod, their faces caught between surprise and speechlessness. They knew Tsukasa Hatayama was talented, but they hadn't expected his talent to reach heights they could only look up at.

He was only fifteen years old, yet at such a young age, he had actually grasped a Maximum Technique that others might fail to understand in an entire lifetime.

Tsukasa Hatayama said modestly, "The Maximum Technique I figured out isn't that strong. It's pretty ordinary, and the name is very plain. I call it Rational Universe."

"Also, my Dark Manipulation is a little special. I've figured out two Maximum Techniques."

"The other is an advanced version of Rational Universe. I call it Living Sacrifice: Divine Grace Redemption."

All three froze completely, staring blankly at one another as the words two Maximum Techniques played over and over in their minds...

Rational Universe?

Living Sacrifice: Divine Grace Redemption?