Time flew by, and before long, Ijichi had driven Yuta Okkotsu and Toge Inumaki to the mission site.
It looked like... an ordinary shopping street?
Kamo Xu had arrived well ahead of them, a cigarette hanging from his mouth, already more than half burned down.
Three or four cigarette butts lay scattered on the ground, too. He had apparently been waiting at least ten or fifteen minutes.
After getting out, the three approached the waiting man. Seeing everyone assembled, Kamo Xu nodded at Ijichi. "Thanks for your hard work, Ijichi. Sorry for the trouble, but I'll need you to give these two brats a ride back later, too."
"It's no trouble at all. You're too kind, Mr. Kamo." Ijichi was a little overwhelmed by Kamo Xu's friendliness. Satoru Gojo's usual nonsense had probably worn him down so much that meeting a normal person like Kamo Xu was inevitably a relief.
Thank goodness! There were still normal human beings around Satoru Gojo!
Kamo Xu smiled and turned toward the two boys.
"Toge Inumaki, a Cursed Speech user. Your ability affects reality through the words you speak. Stay safe during this mission. Call me if you're in danger."
"As for you... Yuta Okkotsu, was it?"
Hearing his name, Yuta Okkotsu immediately straightened and replied nervously, "Yes! I'm Yuta Okkotsu. I only enrolled this year, so please-"
"Stop right there. I'm here partly to back you up, and partly to make sure the cursed spirit inside you doesn't go berserk."
Kamo Xu walked past Yuta Okkotsu and headed into the mission site on his own. "So there's no need for pleasantries. I'm not interested in making conversation with you, either."
Ah...
That was harsh...
Yuta Okkotsu wondered whether he was being bullied again. Fortunately, Ijichi stepped forward to explain who Kamo Xu was and what he currently did.
"Mr. Kamo previously had some health issues and was confined to a wheelchair. After getting back on his feet three years ago, he immediately began traveling throughout Japan to exorcise cursed spirits."
"He has resolved thousands of curse-related incidents, large and small, including four Special Grade incidents."
"His attitude toward curses is extremely uncompromising, so... please try to be understanding, Okkotsu."
So that was why. Okkotsu nodded to show he understood.
Then Ijichi lowered the curtain, wishing Yuta Okkotsu and Toge Inumaki good luck before leaving.
With that, the two entered the mission site.
"Huh? Where's Mr. Kamo?" Yuta Okkotsu looked around as he entered the dim shopping street, but couldn't spot Kamo Xu, who had gone in ahead of them.
"Spicy cod roe." Toge Inumaki offered another baffling remark. He probably meant he didn't know, either.
They walked farther in. The surroundings were eerie and unpleasant, and the flow of cursed energy was strange, too.
Weren't there supposed to be cursed spirits here?
Where were they...?
Everything was quiet. Nothing happened.
After walking for several minutes, Yuta Okkotsu still hadn't spotted any sign of cursed spirits. He wondered whether they were hiding.
He hadn't dropped his guard completely, but he was no longer as tense as he had been at first.
Toge Inumaki, on the other hand, was far more professional. He surveyed their surroundings while keeping his body taut and ready.
Never let your guard down during a mission. Stay alert even after reaching a safe area. That had been Mr. Gojo's first lesson.
He watched every patch of shadow with complete concentration, missing none of the corners where a cursed spirit might be lurking.
But... nothing.
There was nothing at all. If not for the nauseating cursed energy hanging in the air, they really would have thought the place was empty.
"Inumaki, could Mr. Kamo have already dealt with those cursed spirits?"
"Spicy cod roe..." Toge Inumaki replied, perhaps still meaning he didn't know. He looked around. Everything about the place felt wrong.
[ZOMBA]
Yuta Okkotsu: ?
Toge Inumaki: !
A cursed spirit? How could that be? Weren't there only supposed to be low-grade cursed spirits here?!
A beam descended from above, instantly targeting one side of both their bodies.
Toge Inumaki reacted first, shoving the boy who was still staring blankly away...
Boom!
The area beneath the beam collapsed as though suddenly crushed by gravity, everything inside twisted and compressed. Even though Toge Inumaki pulled his arm back in time, the sudden attack still grazed his index finger, breaking it on the spot!
"Inumaki!"
"[Twist]!"
Toge Inumaki pulled down his collar and gathered cursed energy in the curse mark on his tongue. As the words left his throat, a reality-altering force obeyed his command and shot straight toward the cursed spirit!
But his counterattack had been too rushed, and his aim was slightly off.
The attack intended to twist the cursed spirit's head off only struck its arm.
With a teeth-grating sound, an invisible force twisted the cursed spirit's arm into a corkscrew, splattering blood across the ground!
"Cough!"
Toge Inumaki landed his hit, but the backlash came just as quickly. This thing was a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit-was it on his level?
No, it was a little stronger than him!
This level of backlash was far beyond anything an ordinary cursed spirit could cause!
Semi-Grade 1?!
There was no time to hesitate. Yuta Okkotsu immediately scooped Toge Inumaki up around the waist and fled the battlefield!
Boom, boom, boom!
Beam attacks kept exploding behind him as they pursued him. Fortunately, once Okkotsu ducked inside a building, the attacks stopped.
"Oh?" A man perched on a rooftop watched Yuta Okkotsu flee in all directions, looking somewhat disappointed.
"He didn't release [Rika]..."
He wore a monk's robe, its loose fabric enveloping his entire body and making him look like a religious charlatan.
The Curse User-Suguru Geto.
Two men stood beside him.
One wore a trench coat and had a freshly lit cigarette between his lips. He, too, was observing Yuta Okkotsu's actions.
It was Kamo Xu. The first thing he had done upon entering was meet up with this old friend.
As for the other man...
He was muscular all over, dressed in a plain hoodie, and leaned casually against a wall. Black hair hung lazily over his head, and a distinctive scar marked the corner of his mouth.
The Heavenly Tyrant-Toji Fushiguro!
The three watched with interest as Yuta Okkotsu ran this way and that, chatting idly now and then.
"Asahi, are you sure this is a good idea? Colluding with a traitor to Jujutsu Society like me is one thing, but you even want me to kill this boy."
Suguru Geto propped his face on one hand, smiling as he watched Yuta Okkotsu talk to Toge Inumaki inside the building. "Do you two have some kind of grudge?"
"Unfortunately, as I am now, I have no grudge against him."
"That makes no sense," Suguru Geto remarked, casting a seemingly casual glance at the Heavenly Tyrant on the other side.
"You've been standing there so long, Mr. Fushiguro. Don't you want to find somewhere to eat and take a break?"
Whenever he saw the enemy who had once slashed him twice and nearly stabbed two of his friends to death, Suguru Geto almost failed to keep the smile on his face.
Unfortunately, he had brought this guy here himself. Given his own hand-to-hand skills, trying to drive Fushiguro off in a fight probably wouldn't work, either. He couldn't help casting a resentful look at the culprit-Kamo Xu.
Toji Fushiguro remained unbothered as he leaned against the wall. For three years, he had heard Suguru Geto trying to get him to go away every single day.
"Can't do that, boss," he said, covertly glancing at Kamo Xu as well. "If I really leave, that killing machine beside you will go berserk on the spot. Better not to stir up trouble. Try to understand."
"Besides, getting over a billion just to stand beside you and do nothing? Cushy jobs like this don't come along often."
Yes, Kamo Xu had bought this tyrant's services with money. He didn't have to concern himself with anything or do anything special. All he needed to do was follow Suguru Geto around and save his life whenever he was in danger, and he would get paid.
A ridiculously simple task, a commission so monotonous it could practically be called boring.
When they first met, Fushiguro had thought the boy before him was there to kill him, and had drawn his blade and attacked.
That lunatic Kamo Xu hadn't explained anything, either. They had fought for ages, and the wounds Fushiguro slashed into him were already mostly healed before they could even bleed.
Although the Inverted Spear of Heaven could neutralize cursed techniques, Kamo Xu hadn't used a cursed technique to defend himself at all. He took the slashes with his body, then healed them with Reverse Cursed Technique a second later.
It wasn't that Fushiguro couldn't beat him. He simply couldn't kill him!
As if giving Fushiguro a massive headache wasn't enough, the bastard had finally unleashed three Maximum Techniques in a row, flattening the area where he stood!
If he hadn't run fast enough...
He would have been reduced to ashes, too!
In the end, just as he was ready to flee, Kamo Xu had inexplicably offered him a commission:
"[Protect Suguru Geto for four years. Three hundred million a year]."
Hearing that much money rooted Toji Fushiguro to the spot. Without hesitation, he immediately stepped forward, calling him "boss" at every turn and positively fawning over him, even if his flattery didn't quite fit the situation.
Back in the present, Kamo Xu saw that Yuta Okkotsu had gotten to his feet. He was dissatisfied with the cursed spirit Suguru Geto had chosen. It had no chance of forcing [Rika] out.
He frowned as he watched the two step onto the battlefield again.
Sure enough, before long, they killed the cursed spirit with teamwork that was hardly polished and could even be called clumsy.
He turned a disappointed gaze toward Suguru Geto.
That did it. Suguru Geto snapped on the spot, almost losing what remained of his smile as he cursed with a rather more than slightly ferocious expression.
"What? This thing is the only decent cursed spirit I have right now! Who do you think keeps killing cursed spirits and stopping me from getting the fighting power I need?!"
"I run all over the world, terrified that if I'm a step too slow, some bastard will steal my kill. Now I'm down another fighter, and that already hurts, but you're actually complaining?"
Suguru Geto demanded of the man before him, "Have you known what I'm planning all along?"
Kamo Xu silently turned his head away, avoiding his eyes as he gave a vague answer. "Who knows? Hard to say."
Suguru Geto scoffed at his answer. "Same as always. All you ever do is say things to keep people guessing. Not a bit of maturity. Are you a child?"
Even after all this time, he still hadn't learned to look someone in the eye when lying. It made it all too easy to tell he was talking bullshit.
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