Satoru Gojo agreed.
After taking some time to recover, we stepped into the training grounds once again.
"Divine Dogs."
As the words fell, two imposing canine shikigami, one black and one white, emerged from the shadows.
As though sensing their master's anger, the Divine Dogs were especially agitated. They bared their teeth at the white-haired boy nearby, growling low in warning.
Satoru Gojo gave a provocative grin. "Let your shikigami come at me too."
Utterly arrogant.
At my mental command, I called, "Divine Dogs!"
The two large dogs charged forward in perfect sync to cover me. I closed in behind them, Hidden Light wrapped in cursed energy as it hurtled toward him.
Almost there. Satoru Gojo was right before me.
-I swung my blade down.
...Wait, something's off.
Why isn't he dodging?
Clang-
After the blade shrieked through the air, the scene I had imagined never came to pass.
-Instead, Hidden Light stopped dead in front of him, as though someone had suddenly pressed pause.
"This is my cursed technique~" Satoru Gojo said. "Limitless."
Limitless... what is that?
Before I could think, his counterattack came rushing at me.
Satoru Gojo raised his right hand, spread his fingers, and aimed at me. "Cursed Technique Lapse-"
An immense amount of cursed energy rapidly gathered between his fingers, gradually condensing into a blue-black orb of light.
My pupils contracted.
Not good-
"Rabbit Escape!" An enormous swarm of rabbits appeared before me, slowly merging into a single giant rabbit roughly half the size of the training grounds.
"Blue-"
Its eyes were scarlet, its massive body blotting out everything as it charged at Satoru Gojo with unstoppable force.
Boom-
The enormous impact shook the earth.
The entire training grounds collapsed in an instant, and rising dust filled the space.
"Quick, raise the barrier!"
Before the massive collision, all I managed to hear was the Seventh Elder's urgent voice.
Yet a strange calm came over me.
Somehow, a subtle, mysterious feeling lingered in my heart. I felt that Rabbit Escape could block this attack.
"Nue-"
The great bird emerged and carried me into the sky.
It took no effort on my part, and I didn't have to end up covered in dust.
When the dust gradually cleared, Satoru Gojo was still standing unharmed in the same spot. Shielded by Limitless, he remained spotless.
He looked up to see a girl sitting composedly on the back of an enormous bird shikigami, her expression indifferent, her green eyes watching him without sorrow or joy.
-We couldn't continue any longer.
With the training grounds destroyed like this, even the Zenin Clan would need time to repair them. So I returned to the ground and told him, "I won."
His eyes widened slightly.
Satoru Gojo said, "How can you be sure you won? We haven't even settled this yet!"
...What exactly is he being so stubborn about?
Isn't it obvious?
I said, "Do you have any cursed energy left?"
Satoru Gojo said nothing.
I didn't mind his silence and simply continued, "You've already run dry, haven't you? But I still have strength to spare. More than enough to gouge out your eyes right now."
Satoru Gojo finally seemed to catch on. He huffed, turned his head away, and muttered, "Our match was interrupted anyway. This one doesn't count."
His cheeks flushed slightly. Suddenly, he turned back and glared fiercely at me. "I'll come again! And then I'll beat you fair and square!"
I was genuinely baffled.
-Did children this age already have such strong pride?
Without much thought, I gave him an utterly perfunctory "Okay."
Delighted with my reply, Satoru Gojo was just about to say something else when his vision suddenly went black and he fainted.
The Seventh Elder, who had been watching the situation on the grounds the whole time, paled and hurried over to check him with cursed energy. Then he let out a relieved breath. "He's all right. He just overexerted himself."
Before you continue