Fieldwork

Only after Satoru Gojo personally heard Kamo Xu establish the binding vow did he lower his hand and quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

Kamo Xu was a madman, a lunatic who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. A freak so cautious about eliminating threats that he would snap off rotten branches before they could cause trouble.

The key was that even Satoru Gojo had no idea what drove Kamo Xu forward. The guy gave the impression that someone had a knife pressed against his back, and he would die if he stopped moving.

Charging headlong ahead, regardless of the cost...

Gojo sighed. Both his friends seemed to have become extremists after experiencing the darkness of Jujutsu Society. Only he remained as outstanding as ever.

Sometimes, being invincible~ was lonely, too.

Heh heh heh~

Kamo Xu looked at the white-haired man beside him, who was gradually starting to squirm. One glance was enough to tell him the guy was fantasizing about something impossible again.

A total narcissist. Disgusting.

"With this cursed spirit lady making such a scene, what will you do if those old geezers summon you for a talk afterward?"

Kamo Xu watched Rika on the rooftop. She had ripped out a cursed spirit's organs and was holding them high as she played, with a length of bland, unspiced braised intestine dangling from her mouth. She was as excited as a child with a new toy.

The killing intent in his heart grew stronger...

He walked over and nudged Okkotsu, who lay immobilized on the ground, with his toe. "Oi, kid. Call your late wife back. I'm going to start clearing out the cursed spirits."

Yuta Okkotsu tried calling Rika back. Having barely had any time to play, she reluctantly slipped back into the shadows and lay in wait beside the boy.

After Rika returned, Kamo Xu briefly sensed the cursed spirits inside the school and arrived at a rough count.

"Quite a few. More than ten different kinds alone. About a hundred and twenty in total..."

Kamo Xu raised his hands and pressed them together...

The standard stance for Piercing Blood.

Did you think he'd been nerfed because he couldn't fire his blood instantly?

Wrong! He was about to do something else!

"[Cursed Light], [Dark Shift], [Penetrating Guide], [Source Advance, Evil Repulsion]."

The words sprang from his mouth one after another, and red light appeared between his tightly pressed hands in response. It was cursed energy!

It continuously gathered at a single point, collecting and compressing the blood before building up force in one direction.

The instant he finished the last incantation, all the gathered blood shot out. Although it fired from his glowing hands, it was now so dim that all that remained were strands of blood so red they were almost black!

And there was not just one, but countless twisting, winding piercing attacks!

Using souls as their guide, the blood threads homed in on the cursed spirits hiding inside the school buildings.

Wet punctures rang out as rapidly as exploding firecrackers. Each sound marked the death of a cursed spirit.

After Kamo Xu unleashed that attack, Yuta Okkotsu, standing a short distance away, murmured in a daze, "Amazing."

Satoru Gojo lifted his chin proudly, as though he were the one being praised.

Yuta Okkotsu had been at Jujutsu High for three months. Through physical conditioning and constant sparring with Maki Zenin-one-sided beatings-he was no longer the little weakling who could barely carry a thing.

He had now grown into a bug tough enough to hurt your hand when you crushed him!

Watching the beautiful, youthful scene on the field, Satoru Gojo could not help teasing Kamo Xu beside him.

"Don't you think I'm a genius? My student reached this level so quickly."

"He worked hard for those results, but you insist on taking the credit. You really know how to make yourself look good."

Kamo Xu shot back mercilessly, refusing to indulge the white-haired idiot in the slightest.

Rebuffed, Satoru Gojo curled up miserably on the steps, hugging his long legs and pretending to sob. Naturally, there were no tears.

Kamo Xu sighed. Sometimes he genuinely thought Gojo not becoming an actor was a huge loss for the entertainment industry.

Such a drama queen.

But that was not what he had come to discuss. He had come to tell Satoru Gojo that someone already had their eye on Yuta Okkotsu.

Gojo was not surprised by the news. "Oh, I already went to see those higher-ups. I put a scare into those shameless old men. They won't be stirring up trouble for now."

But Kamo Xu shook his head. "It's Suguru Geto..."

The smile vanished from Gojo's face in an instant. He stopped his absurd performance art and frowned, seriously processing the news.

"He's after Rika Orimoto? As opportunistic as ever."

"And just as stubborn about it," Kamo Xu added at the right moment, taking a jab at Geto as well.

Gojo's mood began to sink. He still could not forget that bitter summer.

Nor could he forget the argument they had that day.

"Hey, strongest." Kamo Xu had intended to pat the back of Gojo's head, but Limitless stopped him. Fortunately, he could still get through to the man lost in the past.

Kamo Xu pointed toward the field, and Gojo followed his finger.

For some reason, Maki, who had been enthusiastically sparring with Yuta Okkotsu, had gone off to beat up Panda instead. The scene had descended into chaos.

That little farce finally brought Gojo's irreverent smile back. "I can't untangle all those complicated interpersonal messes... but if I run into him, I'll beat him up, then we can all go get something to eat."

"Sure. Your treat, then."

"Sure. My treat, your money."

"Screw you."

"All right~ Gather round!" Satoru Gojo walked onto the field and called everyone over. Seeing how much fun Maki and Panda were having sparring on their own, though, he left those two out.

"Toge, a few of the old guys upstairs specifically asked you to handle an incident on your own."

The words "on your own" startled Yuta Okkotsu. Fortunately, Panda explained that Toge Inumaki was the only Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer among their first-years, and Okkotsu understood.

"Wow, that's amazing..."

Dude, you're Special Grade yourself!

The other three silently retorted.

Watching this, Gojo suddenly had an idea.

"Oh? Yuta, you should go too. To assist... hmm, I suppose we'd call it fieldwork."

Now that was a bombshell. The moment Okkotsu heard it, he raised a finger and pointed at himself.

Me?

Actual combat?

Huh???

"Oh, right. I have something to do, so I can't come along. A friend of mine will supervise in my place this time."

With that, Gojo clapped his hands and performed some inexplicable shamanic dance before presenting Kamo Xu, whose face had darkened.

"Your supervisor for this assignment is~ Mr. Kamo Xu! He's quite a famous Grade 1 Sorcerer, you know~"

(Note: Special Grade classification has extremely strict requirements. Strength alone does not qualify someone. Their abilities must be exceptionally unique, or their overall capabilities must be so far beyond the norm that they are powerful enough to affect Japan itself before they can be classified as a Special Grade Sorcerer.)

Toge Inumaki had only enrolled a year ago, so naturally, he had never met this friend of Gojo's. Still, he nodded and said, "Salmon."

Yuta Okkotsu was much more polite, bowing respectfully. "Hello, Mr. Kamo. My name is Yuta Okkotsu. I look forward to working with you."

Kamo Xu smiled but ignored them both.

One he could not understand; the other he could not be bothered to listen to.

The atmosphere grew exceedingly awkward. Fortunately, Gojo was there to laugh loudly and sling an arm around Kamo Xu's shoulders, making it even more awkward.

"Come on, no need to be so formal. This guy's really strong, you know~"

After finishing her beating of Panda, Maki came over and looked Kamo Xu up and down skeptically. He was far too young, and his name suggested he belonged to the Kamo Clan.

He didn't look all that strong.

"Sounds dubious..." Panda said outright. "Mr. Gojo, who's stronger, you or him?"

Everyone else grew interested in Panda's question, eager to hear what Gojo would say.

Gojo did not answer right away. He merely tightened his arm around Kamo Xu's shoulders.

"Panda, if it weren't for your connection to Principal Yaga and having me here, you'd already be on the ground."

As he spoke, he poked Kamo Xu's cheek. "This guy's awfully petty." Ignoring Kamo Xu's dark expression, he answered Panda's earlier question.

"Who's stronger, me or him? Me, of course~" Gojo smiled and spoke slowly, unhurriedly, bobbing his head like a charlatan.

"If we fought, I'd definitely win."

No one was surprised by that answer. But just when they all thought that was the end of it...

Gojo added one more sentence.

"But if it were a fight to the death, he definitely wouldn't be the one who died."