Training

"I agree!"

Panda immediately raised his hand in agreement, then lowered his head with a mischievous grin and whispered into Maki's ear like a naughty child:

"Maki, looks like you've got some serious competition!"

"Panda, what nonsense are you spouting now?"

In an instant, Panda and Maki were roughhousing again.

Kugisaki eyed Maki warily, then turned to Yuanfang with a pleading look and asked sweetly:

"Would that be okay, senpai?"

"Sure!"

With such a cute junior pleading with him, it would have been a shame to refuse.

When Maki heard their exchange, she started hitting Panda even harder.

Meanwhile, in a white-tiled room, Satoru Gojo spoke of his dream:

"That's why I chose education. I want to nurture strong, intelligent allies, so sometimes I leave my own missions to my students. It's tough love!"

Ijichi couldn't help grumbling inwardly. Isn't that just an excuse to skip class?

"You certainly give Yuanfang a lot of love!"

Shoko Ieiri made no attempt to hide her thoughts and spoke bluntly.

"What can I say? He's my most responsible student!

He's outstanding. And third-year Hakari and second-year Okkotsu in particular will become jujutsu sorcerers who stand alongside me!"

At that, the smile vanished from Satoru Gojo's face. Veins bulged on his clenched fists as he said coldly:

"Yuji should have been one of them, too!"

"Ah!"

Just then, a stunned Ijichi suddenly cried out toward Itadori's corpse.

Shoko Ieiri and Satoru Gojo immediately turned to look.

The wound on Itadori's chest had vanished, and he looked down at his completely naked body with some embarrassment.

"Ha ha..."

Satoru Gojo couldn't help laughing happily, while Shoko Ieiri felt a little disappointed that she hadn't gotten to dissect Itadori!

Early the next morning.

Everyone arrived at the field bright and early, ready to begin training.

"Senpai, please push me as hard as you like!"

Kugisaki's words struck Yuanfang as a little odd, but he didn't hesitate.

Standing in the middle of the field, he smiled and beckoned to Kugisaki.

"Come on!"

"Look how forward our junior is. At this rate, Yuanfang might fall for her before long!"

Panda sidled up to Maki again and spoke with a cheeky grin. He wanted to provoke her into dropping her reserve and boldly pursuing her love.

"Hmph!"

Maki snorted, but she wasn't as angry as before, nor did she hit Panda at the slightest provocation anymore.

She turned to Megumi Fushiguro and said:

"Come on, let's spar!"

"Senpai, could you wait a little? I'd like to spar with Yuanfang first!"

Megumi Fushiguro turned Maki down, his gaze growing serious as he looked toward Yuanfang.

"Are you looking down on me?"

Maki, who hadn't been particularly angry before, flew into a rage at his words and prepared to teach this presumptuous junior a lesson.

Panda and Inumaki were very curious about why Megumi Fushiguro had said that.

"No, senpai. You're stronger than me, and sparring with you would really help me improve.

But before that, I want to experience the strength of a Special Grade!"

Yuanfang had told them everything that had happened at the school.

They also knew that Yuanfang had defeated a special grade cursed spirit alone and held out against a rampaging Sukuna for a long time.

So even without official Special Grade certification, Yuanfang's strength had definitely reached that level.

Megumi Fushiguro wanted to feel the pressure of facing someone that powerful.

Maki, Panda, and Toge Inumaki also knew what had happened back then.

Maki was no longer angry now. Her gaze drifted toward Yuanfang as well; she also wanted to experience the oppressive power of a Special Grade.

"You need to be faster!"

Yuanfang easily dodged Kugisaki's attacks, even remembering to offer her a helpful reminder.

"Right!"

Kugisaki grew serious and pushed her speed to the limit. Small hammer in hand, she lunged at Yuanfang like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey.

"Whoosh!"

Unfortunately, Yuanfang was too fast. Even at her top speed, Kugisaki was like an ant trying to shake a tree, nowhere close to matching him.

"He looks pretty comfortable. Let's all attack together!"

Seeing how easily Yuanfang was handling things, Maki grabbed her weapon and called Panda and the others over. They launched a group attack on Yuanfang like a pack of wolves!

This time, Yuanfang didn't have it quite so easy. They were hardly weak, after all.

Unfortunately, defeating Yuanfang was nothing but a pipe dream.

After a while, everyone collapsed on the ground, utterly exhausted!

"Huff... huff..."

Yuanfang struggled to stay upright, a gentle smile still lingering on his lips.

"You're so strong, senpai! I bet even Teacher Gojo couldn't beat you now!"

Kugisaki felt that Satoru Gojo wouldn't be any better than this without using his cursed technique.

Some of the others shook their heads, while others nodded, each with their own opinion.

"Don't get carried away. Even if I were five times stronger, I still might not beat him."

Yuanfang shook his head, thinking Kugisaki was far too naive. With cursed energy enhancing them, their speed was like lightning, beyond anything an ordinary person could match.

As he was now, he couldn't even follow Satoru Gojo's movements.

Instead, he said, somewhat exasperated:

"Didn't I tell you my cursed technique has a weakness? Why didn't you use it against me?"

"..."

His words left everyone a little embarrassed. They had all wanted to experience a Special Grade's combat prowess up close, so who would have thought to exploit Yuanfang's weakness?

In a basement.

Satoru Gojo once again asked Itadori what had happened back then, and whether he knew why he had suddenly come back to life!

"Seeing that Yuanfang could still hold out, I didn't rush to take my body back. It wasn't until I realized Sukuna was about to use his domain that I immediately took control again!

I knew just how powerful a domain was. With one unleashed by such a terrifying curse, Yuanfang probably wouldn't have lasted even a second!"

"Yes, you made the right call. If Sukuna had successfully opened his domain and Yuanfang's cursed technique couldn't nullify it, he would have been sliced to pieces instantly!"

Satoru Gojo nodded with complete certainty. Even now, he didn't know whether Yuanfang's cursed technique could negate a domain.

He had never tested it, after all. If Yuanfang couldn't withstand it, he would certainly be killed in an instant.

Hearing Satoru Gojo's words, Itadori felt deeply relieved.

After all, if Yuanfang had died because of him, only for him to come back to life, he would have spent the rest of his life in agony.

"Did Sukuna say anything to you before you came back to life?"

"I don't know."

Itadori shook his head. He couldn't find any memories of anything like that.

"All right, then. Time to start your training!"

Although he felt certain something was wrong, there wasn't a single clue to go on, so Satoru Gojo couldn't be bothered to dwell on it.

He gave Itadori a doll and had him watch all sorts of movies to learn to control his emotions.

Then he went out, preparing to make a trip.

Unsurprisingly, he encountered Jogo just as he had in the original story. Even less surprisingly, he beat Jogo so badly that he nearly died.