Utterly Overwhelming

"Geto, have you noticed over these exchanges? His strength keeps changing. With a cursed tool in hand, he approaches special grade. Without one, he's only on Naobito Zenin's level."

Satoru Gojo hated to admit it, but the man before them was genuinely strong. Thankfully, he had Limitless to defend him; otherwise, he would certainly lose in close combat.

Suguru Geto naturally understood what his best friend and partner was thinking. The man drew all his weapons from the mouth of the cursed spirit he kept.

Their next move was to use Cursed Spirit Manipulation to subjugate it while he was distracted. That would be like pulling a tiger's fangs, leaving him with nothing but brute strength and nowhere to use it.

While the two analyzed him, Toji Fushiguro walked out of the wall completely unscathed. Not daring to underestimate them, he tightened his grip on the Soul Liberation Blade.

The thought of that blue sphere still sent a shiver of lingering fear through him. Fortunately, he had blocked it in time; otherwise, it would have blasted a hole straight through his body.

If he was right, that blue sphere was the Rasengan everyone outside coveted, one of the Unusual Techniques Tsukasa Hatayama had created.

And when had Suguru Geto noticed him moving behind him? He had instantly summoned the Skeleton Cursed Spirit to defend himself, as though he had foreseen it.

Was Mind's Eye, which Suguru Geto mentioned earlier, really designed to track and predict the movements of physically powerful opponents?

Geniuses really were the worst!

The three watched one another from a distance, their eyes solemn and burning with fighting spirit. As the bell rang at Jujutsu High at the Foot of the Mountain, all three moved.

Bang!

The air burst around them. Toji Fushiguro took two heavy punches with one arm, drove the pair back with overwhelming strength, and swung the Soul Liberation Blade at their vulnerable throats.

Satoru Gojo swiftly pulled Suguru Geto behind him. Limitless froze the Soul Liberation Blade in place, preventing it from advancing any farther.

Toji Fushiguro's gaze sharpened. Knowing that Limitless granted Inviolability, he reached back toward the mouth of the cursed spirit on his shoulder, intending to change weapons.

When his hand was a centimeter from its mouth, the bright daytime sky abruptly darkened within a barrier, and a girl with disheveled hair appeared out of thin air.

"Am... am I beautiful?" The girl slowly lifted her face. Countless horrifying eyeballs burst from it, and she kept repeating her question through a mouth full of sharp, beastlike teeth.

Toji Fushiguro reached out expressionlessly. The cursed spirit on his shoulder immediately spat a short, fork-shaped blade out of its stomach.

A streak of light flared like a meteor, instantly slicing the Imaginary Cursed Spirit's Simple Domain to pieces and restoring the radiant blue sky.

But the moment he emerged from the Simple Domain, the cursed spirit on his shoulder floated up against its will and flew straight toward Suguru Geto behind Satoru Gojo.

With a contemptuous look, Toji Fushiguro swung the Inverted Spear of Heaven, easily severing the cursed energy unique to Cursed Spirit Manipulation. A moment later, he vanished in a flash.

Suguru Geto's pupils contracted, and he shouted a horrified warning to Satoru Gojo. "Satoru, use Cursed Pressure! His short blade forcibly nullifies cursed techniques..."

Before he could finish.

The Inverted Spear of Heaven descended from above, aimed straight at Suguru Geto's head. As though he had foreseen it, Geto threw everything he had into dodging sideways.

Toji Fushiguro suddenly appeared behind him, seemingly having anticipated that response. With unexpected speed, he seized Suguru Geto's right arm.

Then he violently tore it off.

Next, he delivered a vicious kick that sent Suguru Geto flying like a soccer ball shot toward the goal. Geto slammed into a distant boulder and lost consciousness.

Satoru Gojo stared at the unconscious Suguru Geto, his pupils contracting. In just a few seconds, his best friend had been left without even a chance to fight back?

At that moment.

Satoru Gojo lost all reason. Furious, he searched for Toji Fushiguro with the Six Eyes, only to see him darting toward Riko Amanai.

Panic engulfed Satoru Gojo. Forgetting his defense, he shouted to the mistress and maid behind the boulder, "Amanai, Kuroi, run..."

Shhk.

Before the words were out, scarlet blood spilled from the corner of Satoru Gojo's mouth.

He lowered his gaze to his chest in disbelief. The sight of the strange short blade buried in it made his Six Eyes constrict.

Wasn't he going after Amanai? How had he appeared behind me without a sound?

Toji Fushiguro sneered. "You two care too much about each other. Otherwise, your Six Eyes would've seen right through that afterimage heading for the Star Plasma Vessel."

"How can a jujutsu sorcerer afford so many personal attachments?"

"Goodbye, young master of the Gojo Clan. I hope you'll give them my name in hell-it's... Toji Fushiguro."

Toji Fushiguro dragged the Inverted Spear of Heaven through Satoru Gojo, brutally slicing his torso open. Then he stabbed him over and over, leaving his body a gruesome wreck.

Finally, he switched to a small knife and drove it into Satoru Gojo's forehead, twisting and churning it viciously to eliminate any possibility of him returning from the dead.

Toji Fushiguro stepped over Satoru Gojo in his pool of blood. Leisurely rubbing the scar beside his mouth, he strolled toward the despairing mistress and maid as they helped Suguru Geto up.

Yet he stopped a few meters away, calmly feeding the Soul Liberation Blade and the Inverted Spear of Heaven into the cursed spirit's mouth.

Looking at the unconscious Suguru Geto and his missing right arm, Toji Fushiguro couldn't help sneering. "Someone blessed by his parents, huh? If your technique weren't Cursed Spirit Manipulation, I probably would've killed you already."

As he spoke, he held out his hand and had the cursed spirit spit out a Desert Eagle. His eyes turned cold as he aimed its black muzzle at the despondent mistress and maid.

Bang.

Bang.

Toji Fushiguro pulled the trigger without mercy. To him, these two were nothing more than payment to squander. The people who had died at his hands were beyond counting.

But an astonishing sight followed. A pitch-black substance enveloped both women, and the two bullets glanced off their bodies.

Toji Fushiguro froze, staring in bewilderment at the two completely black women.

He wasn't the only one bewildered. The mistress and maid were, too.

They raised their pitch-black hands in a daze, staring at them in disbelief.

"Don't you think you've gone a little too far?"

In the silence, an emotionless voice came from behind Toji Fushiguro. A tall, slender figure loomed over him like a mountain.

Toji Fushiguro's heart jolted, and cold sweat broke out along his back. Despite the monstrous senses granted by his Heavenly Restriction, he had somehow failed to notice someone behind him?

The person behind him was like darkness that seeped into every crevice.

If Toji Fushiguro feared an unknown danger, the mistress and maid were shivering as they faced that terror head-on.

They clamped their hands over their blackened mouths, not daring to breathe as they stared at the newcomer. He was handsome and noble-looking, but in his hand, he held a severed head dripping blood.

The head wore an expression of terror. Its lifeless, rolled-back eyes looked as though they had seen some primordial beast.

Toji Fushiguro did his best to suppress his unease and said gravely, "The client and broker hired me. As an assassin, I could hardly refuse."

"You mean this one?"

He casually tossed the head beside Riko Amanai's feet, frightening all three in different ways.

Toji Fushiguro tensed, staring blankly at the head of his associate, Shiu Kong. Had someone returning to school killed him at the foot of Jujutsu High's mountain?

But Toji Fushiguro soon broke into a smile and said lightly, "Since the broker's already dead, I'll drop the job."

As he spoke, Toji Fushiguro smiled and stretched. At that very instant, however, he abruptly whipped the Soul Liberation Blade out of the cursed spirit's mouth.

He spun and swung with everything he had, slashing at the person behind him without the slightest hesitation.

"Kneel!"

The quiet voice and its irresistible Word of Command made Toji Fushiguro drop his blade and fall to his knees. Unable even to lift his head, he bowed before the figure looming over him.

Tsukasa Hatayama looked down with icy Red Eyes, the Cross beside his ear swaying in the breeze. With a gaze that held the world in contempt, he watched Toji Fushiguro gather his strength and struggle.

"This is how you and I should face each other."