Hidden inventory

Just as Kamo Xu had expected, before they could deal with more than a few extra odd jobs involving cursed spirits, Tengen served up the Star Plasma Vessel Incident.

As soon as Masamichi Yaga summoned them, Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, and Kamo Xu sat in a row in the classroom, waiting to hear what he had to say.

The burly man before them wore a fierce expression, with two additional rings shaved into his buzz cut.

He was Masamichi Yaga, their teacher.

He had called the three of them in to assign a mission issued by Tengen.

First: protect the Star Plasma Vessel, Miss Riko Amanai.

Second: erase the girl...

Kamo Xu, who already knew the plot, had little reaction to the mission, but Satoru Gojo's and Suguru Geto's reactions were much more interesting.

Protect her and kill her at the same time?

Wasn't that a contradiction?

So Yaga explained the reason to them.

As it turned out, Tengen wasn't immune to aging, but had to find someone to merge with every five hundred years.

Aging alone wouldn't have been a problem, but if too much accumulated, no one could predict what changes might occur in Tengen's condition.

Evolution. Continued aging would cause the cursed technique to reshape Tengen's body, creating a higher-dimensional existence.

But no one could say whether Tengen would evolve toward humanity or toward a cursed spirit...

That made the Star Plasma Vessel essential, regardless of life or death.

And two groups had their sights set on the Star Plasma Vessel.

The curse user organization Q, and the Time Vessel Association.

At that point, Masamichi Yaga struck a bizarre pose, pointed at the three of them, and commanded loudly, "Master Tengen will merge with the Star Plasma Vessel under the full moon in two days."

"Until then, keep the girl safe and deliver her to Master Tengen!"

He shifted his gaze to the two brimming with confidence and spoke in a stern tone that brooked no argument:

"If you fail, the consequences will spill over into ordinary society. Take this seriously!"

Finally, he looked at Kamo Xu.

He was the only one there weighed down by worries. Unlike the other two and their confidence, he looked distinctly grave.

"Kamo Xu, the Kamo Clan is also watching this mission."

"Your father has spoken to me as well. If this mission succeeds, he'll agree to give your mother better living conditions."

Only upon hearing that did his tightly knitted brows relax a little.

But before he could say anything, Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto grabbed an arm each and swaggered out of the classroom with him between them.

They couldn't be bothered to listen to Masamichi Yaga's lectures. They were the strongest, after all.

Kamo Xu gave a wry chuckle and had no choice but to leave with them.

Soon, the three arrived at their destination.

Looking at the place, identical to the original story, Kamo Xu felt a flood of emotion. The Hidden Inventory Arc really was something he had never been able to get over.

If they handled things properly this time, Riko Amanai wouldn't die, and Suguru Geto wouldn't have to question everything he had done up to that point.

They would still be the strongest trio, joking together, fooling around together, and talking about the future over sweets.

"Hey, Satoru, you and Asahi watch the perimeter. I'll go inside and get the Star Plasma Vessel."

"Sure~ Go on, go on." At some point, Satoru Gojo had started imitating Kamo Xu's way of speaking. "I'm invincible anyway. Whoever comes gets killed."

And so Suguru Geto entered the building, leaving Satoru Gojo and Kamo Xu outside chatting.

But barely five minutes later, a tremendous boom erupted high up in the building. Thick smoke surged out immediately afterward, spreading all the way into the sky!

An explosion!

The two looked up. Suguru Geto had already burst through a window and appeared completely unharmed.

He then caught a girl and released a flying cursed spirit, gliding through the air.

The explosion hadn't caused him any trouble. The trouble was the pests that had come knocking.

As Kamo Xu lowered his gaze, Satoru Gojo was already under attack. Dozens of throwing knives shot toward him without warning, but as their sharp edges approached Satoru Gojo, they gradually lost momentum and hung eerily in midair!

With Limitless activated, nothing external could approach the user.

A long-haired man wearing a face mask clapped his hands. "I hear you're strong? Let me see for myself..."

Whoosh!

A crimson streak flashed past, and the man's body crumpled to the ground as though all his strength had drained away.

Kamo Xu couldn't be bothered to listen to his nonsense. One Piercing Blood shot through the head settled it.

Satoru Gojo wasn't too pleased that the enemy had died so quickly and started complaining to Kamo Xu.

"Hey, Asahi, that guy was after me, wasn't he? Why'd you just kill him? There goes my chance to show off!"

Meanwhile, two men stood side by side atop a distant building.

One held a pair of binoculars, watching Kamo Xu with interest.

"Oh? An instant kill?" He wore casual clothes and slippers, and even his feet were filthy. Unkempt from head to toe, he lounged like an ailing tiger.

He watched Kamo Xu's attack through the binoculars. "I've heard his heavenly restriction lets him freely control his blood, but isn't that a little too free?"

He smiled, but his eyes didn't change in the slightest. Those were the eyes of a hunter watching his prey.

The heavenly tyrant, Toji Fushiguro!

The ultimate physique. Absolute martial might.

Like Kamo Xu, he too had a heavenly restriction, but he wasn't a victim of it. He was the sort heaven practically chased down to spoon-feed.

In exchange for all his cursed energy, he had received the ultimate body. That raw strength alone let him handle most people with ease.

His current targets even included the trio rumored to be the strongest.

Of them, Kamo Xu interested him most, for no other reason than that he, too, was bound by a heavenly restriction.

"Damn you! How dare a mere student treat me like this! Once Mr. Bayer takes care of that brat outside, you're finished!"

Suguru Geto, sitting with his legs crossed and drinking tea: "?"

What was he babbling about? So noisy.

He then made his cursed spirit squirm even more vigorously, leaving the man howling nonstop.

Just then, his phone rang. Suguru Geto picked it up, looked at the screen, and frowned with a wry smile. "Ah... isn't this going a bit too far? Looks like we'll get another scolding when we get back."

The image showed a man with a wound straight through his head, already dead.

When he showed the photograph to the man writhing in the cursed spirit's restraints, the man was so frightened he nearly wet himself.

And just like that, that Q group or whatever fell apart, because the fake strongest had been instantly killed by the real strongest.

With the disturbance over, the three gathered inside the building. Looking at the girl in Satoru Gojo's arms, they exchanged glances.

"This is the Star Plasma Vessel? She looks no different from an ordinary girl. Just a little prettier."

"Right. Why would Master Tengen choose a kid like this to merge with?"

"So how do we wake her up?"

The three were even more bewildered. None of them knew Reverse Cursed Technique, let alone how to apply it to someone else to heal them.

That left them with nothing to do but stand there.

Fortunately, Riko Amanai slowly came around not long afterward. The first thing she noticed upon waking was that a white-haired creep was holding her, and she immediately slapped him!

Smack!

Gojo staggered from the slap, while the girl seized her chance to twist free and get away from the weirdo, immediately adopting a clumsy fighting stance.

"Are you the enemy?!"

Satoru Gojo held his cheek, veins bulging on his forehead.

Suguru Geto tried to smooth things over, putting a hand on the shoulder of the white cat whose fur was already half on end while smiling reassuringly at Riko Amanai.

"We're not with the people who attacked you. Don't worry."

"Like hell! You've got a liar's face, and your bangs are weird!"

Now angry too, Suguru Geto stopped trying to restrain Satoru Gojo. The two approached Riko Amanai with sinister grins as she stared at them in horror.

Riko was twisted into a pretzel.

In less than a minute, the girl had effortlessly angered two of the strongest.

Kamo Xu, standing a short distance away, had escaped becoming a victim because the other two had moved too fast.

A cause for celebration.

Kamo Xu smiled...

But as he watched events actually unfold before him, following the original story's course to the letter...

A bad feeling slowly rose within Kamo Xu instead. His presence didn't seem to have caused any butterfly effect. Instead, the world was like wheels rolling relentlessly onward, crushing everything he tried to change.

But he didn't believe in any bullshit destiny. If the changes he made now weren't enough to turn the whole story into a canvas he could paint however he pleased, he would simply paint over it harder next time.

There's still plenty of time. I can't rush.

My presence has to make a difference. I can't lose my composure.

Fate? I don't believe in that shit!