Day three of the escort mission-15:00
"Thanks for all your hard work, everyone," Suguru Geto said, relief flooding his voice. "We're inside Jujutsu High's barrier now."
As they walked into the familiar campus, Satoru Gojo kept his hands in his pockets and gradually relaxed.
Riko Amanai panted. As a physically fragile high school student, and a girl at that, climbing such a long staircase had really taken it out of her.
Fortunately, Miss Kuroi was dependable. Seeing Riko Amanai drenched in sweat, she took a handkerchief from her dress pocket and handed it over.
"So we can finally relax now, right?" Amanai said with a smile, thinking that the days of assassination attempts were finally over and she had reached her destination.
"Yes," Miss Kuroi agreed.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They no longer had to worry about sudden attacks. It really was... wonderful.
"Satoru..." Suguru Geto looked at the white-haired boy, who had been working for days and was still holding on.
"Hmm?"
"Seriously, thanks for everything."
"..." Satoru Gojo fell silent. He let out a breath, then slowly closed his eyes.
Using the Six Eyes so heavily had left him utterly exhausted. He was tired enough to drop.
When he opened his eyes again, the light that marked his active Limitless had dimmed. Pouting, he said, "I'm never babysitting brats again!"
"Huh?" Riko Amanai frowned, annoyed that this stupid white-haired guy had called her a brat. She turned, ready to argue and throw a complaint or two back at him.
Shhk!
Everything changed in an instant!
Just as everyone let down their guard, a sharp blade plunged into Gojo's back without warning, while Riko Amanai's smile still lingered...
It pierced straight through Satoru Gojo's chest!
Caught completely off guard, Satoru Gojo instinctively tried to dodge... but the sensation of something foreign filled his chest, followed by slowly blossoming pain...
In his field of vision was Suguru Geto, who had been just as slow to react. His gaze dropped...
A blade? An enemy!
"How is that possible? This is..."
"Inside Jujutsu High's barrier!"
The sudden attack terrified everyone. Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo were the first to react.
The impaled boy turned his head and studied the black-haired man.
"Have we... met somewhere before?" Even now, he could still make a joke like that.
Having landed his strike, Fushiguro was happy to joke back. "Don't worry about it. It's much the same for me."
He raised his head, showing his face to everyone. His savage smile branded itself into their eyes like red-hot iron.
That engulfing pressure, along with the assassination strike that had caught them completely unprepared, set both fighters' nerves on edge.
Satoru Gojo was in terrible shape. Keeping Limitless and the Six Eyes' perception active without pause had dulled his awareness.
And just after they entered Jujutsu High's barrier, when everyone's exhaustion caught up with them and their nerves relaxed...
The tiger that had long lain in wait... bared his fangs!
Limitless!
Cursed Spirit Manipulation!
A blue blast and a grotesque insect-shaped cursed spirit struck together, briefly knocking Toji Fushiguro away.
With the attacker driven back, Suguru Geto immediately rushed toward Satoru Gojo, only for Gojo to stop him with an outstretched hand.
Ignoring the pain in his chest, he smiled at Suguru Geto. "I'm fine. My cursed technique didn't activate in time, but he missed my organs."
"I reinforced myself with cursed energy afterward, too. Nothing else was damaged."
Seeing that Suguru Geto was still worried, he cracked a joke as usual. "It's like a sewing needle passing through a knitted sweater."
"I'm really fine."
Satoru Gojo turned to face Toji Fushiguro, who had been knocked back and was momentarily still.
"Instead of worrying about me, protect Amanai first. Leave this guy to me..."
Hearing that, Suguru Geto looked at the terrified Amanai and Kuroi and could only force down his unease.
That was right. Amanai and Kuroi staying here would only hinder him and Satoru Gojo in battle. With the speed their enemy had shown, could he truly guarantee their safety if the man turned his attacks on them?
The enemy was strong, but Satoru Gojo's strength was no joke either. If he left this to him...
Having weighed his options and reached a conclusion, he immediately told Satoru Gojo:
"Be careful!"
After that warning, he took Amanai and Kuroi away first.
"Tch... Who do you think you're telling to be careful?"
Satoru Gojo muttered under his breath, but his eyes were more serious than ever. During their brief exchange, he had noticed something off about the enemy before him, though he could not quite pin it down.
Sure enough, once Suguru Geto left with the two women, that monster immediately tore apart the cursed spirit Geto had left behind. He rested the Soul-Eating Blade on his shoulder, the Inventory Curse Worm still draped over him.
"Well, the star plasma vessel's gone. I figured that last hit would kill you."
"Looks like that earlier fight only brought back a little of my edge..."
A fight?
Satoru Gojo frowned at those words. He had just mentioned a fight!
Shit, Asahi!
A closer look revealed a bloody hole in the man's shoulder, clearly fresh, along with burns on both arms and signs of battle on his clothes.
Kamo Xu had already engaged the enemy, and that enemy...
Was standing right before him!
"You bastard!" Satoru Gojo shouted through gritted teeth. "Where's Kamo Xu? Where is he now?"
Listening to the white-haired boy's frantic voice below, Toji Fushiguro lifted his head and glanced up at the sky, as though pondering something.
Only after a long pause did he drawl out an answer, one that chilled far more than a small corner of Satoru Gojo's heart.
Because he said, "Ah... that little blood-playing brat? Who knows?"
"Maybe he's lying somewhere, fast asleep."
Satoru Gojo lost his patience. He raised a hand and fired a blast of cursed energy, pure blue power shooting straight toward Fushiguro.
But the man flickered, moving completely out of its range in the next instant.
So fast!
And he has [absolutely] no cursed energy? No wonder something felt off. It's a heavenly restriction!
A [gifted physique]?!
Toji Fushiguro slid the Soul-Eating Blade back into the Inventory Curse Worm's mouth and drew the Inverted Spear of Heaven.
The smile never left his face. He was savoring the thrill of the hunt.
He was also savoring the chance to personally break the spines of these self-proclaimed geniuses. Wasn't that what fighting was all about?
He moved. Driving off the ground, he shot forward like a cannonball, darting through the air too quickly for the naked eye to follow!
And that sound-his body actually whistled through the air as he moved?
Was that something a human could do?!
Seizing his moment, Fushiguro thrust his blade. His blistering speed made the ruthless attack even more dangerous, the blade carrying murderous intent as it hurtled toward Satoru Gojo like a thunderbolt!
But...
Spreading his hand, Satoru Gojo fully activated his Six Eyes, maximizing his cursed energy output and efficiency. With one simple application, he unleashed a blast!
Its range was so wide that Fushiguro, moving in a straight line, slammed directly into the cursed energy shock wave.
Oh?
Fushiguro took the hit, but his physical toughness rendered the blast insignificant. It could not even scratch his skin.
Still, the force hurled him backward, sending him crashing through several campus buildings.
Masamichi Yaga would definitely scold him if he found out, but there was no time to think about that now!
Satoru Gojo chased after the airborne Toji Fushiguro, mocking him aloud, though a bead of cold sweat at his temple betrayed his bravado.
"That cursed tool is your trump card? What a shame. You can't even get close to me!"
He looked into the building as the dust gradually cleared, then froze.
Where was the enemy?
That hit didn't hurt him?
Footsteps spread through the surrounding ruins. Like a tolling death knell, the sound struck at his heart.
Then came another whistle of air as that body exploded into motion!
Cheap tricks...
I can't sense his cursed energy. Rely on instinct?
That definitely won't work. Right, that hideously ugly cursed spirit!
I just have to follow that thing!
Found him! Wait... is this guy really that fast?
[Cursed Technique Lapse · Maximum Output · Blue]!
A mass of pure blue, bearing a terrifying pull, formed at the boy's hand! Following the sweep of Satoru Gojo's arm, it demolished the remaining ruins around him.
His field of vision was clear!
With all cover gone, the surroundings lay fully exposed. Launching a sneak attack was now nothing but wishful thinking!
"Heh. Let's see how you fight now."
He could not see the man. He was probably in the forest farther away.
Next, I just need to sense his cursed energy...
Just as Satoru Gojo prepared to keep tracking his opponent's cursed energy...
Bzzzzzzzz!
Countless fly heads came swarming rapidly from the distance!
They soon surrounded Satoru Gojo, making that faint trace of cursed energy impossible to sense as well.
Heh. You think releasing all these cursed spirits will hide you?
I'll wipe them all out with one Blue...
No, he suddenly released so many cursed spirits... Amanai!
Satoru Gojo hurriedly turned. If Fushiguro had abandoned him to pursue Riko Amanai, he absolutely could not waste time here!
One moment... one instant...
Satoru Gojo's attention slipped, and he failed to catch the rapidly approaching cursed energy.
By the time he reacted...
The Heavenly Tyrant was right beside him!
His instincts were sharp enough to detect an empty-handed Toji Fushiguro. How could he fail to recognize what made that cursed tool special?
Satoru Gojo's Six Eyes naturally revealed information about the cursed tool, which was precisely why he had deliberately kept his opponent from getting close.
But now... he had fallen into a situation where he had no choice but to defend with jujutsu.
The Inverted Spear of Heaven thrust forward, puncturing Limitless's defensive wall as easily as a soap bubble.
Instead, it was the flesh of the boy's neck and the spilling blood that offered a little resistance.
That stab was fatal.
More than half of Satoru Gojo's strength instantly drained away. Still trying to counterattack, he grabbed the weapon's handle...
But Fushiguro would never give him the chance. With a little force, the sharp blade slid down as smoothly as a knife cutting cream.
Only this time, it was not cutting food, but a living person.
The blade swept down, opening a gash from his neck to his abdomen. Blood gushed out!
It was not over. In an instant, four more stabs pierced his thighs, shutting down his ability to move.
Knowing he was finished, Satoru Gojo gathered one final blast of cursed energy and fired it. But Fushiguro merely shifted sideways, and the attack went wide, shattering only a single fly head.
He twisted into a sweeping kick. Satoru Gojo completely lost his footing, and finally...
Fushiguro drew a dagger and drove it into Gojo's forehead with a forward grip. Under that terrifying force, his body slammed into the ground!
Boom!
After the thunderous crash, the battle was over.
Satoru Gojo lay motionless in the crater he had made with his own hands, as though he had dug his grave in advance.
An open, fatal wound from chest to abdomen, four puncture wounds in his legs, and a pierced skull... lethal injuries.
Toji Fushiguro exhaled a stale breath and stood.
He rolled his arm. "Whew. Finally got a little more of that feeling back."
Before you continue