Ever since two Six Eyes sorcerers had been born into the Gojo Clan, its standing in Jujutsu Society had soared. Even the Zenin Clan and the Kamo Clan together could barely hold their own against it.
And the benefits of this change went far beyond prestige. Whether it was resources from Jujutsu Society or ordinary society, the Gojo Clan reaped every advantage.
In the original story, a single shirt of Satoru Gojo's cost 250,000 yen. The fees he paid others to investigate incidents started at ten million, and he had put up over a billion to free Megumi Fushiguro, the inheritor of the Ten Shadows Cursed Technique, from the Zenin Clan, buying Megumi outright.
With Chinatsu's arrival as another Six Eyes sorcerer of the same generation, the Gojo Clan had become even wealthier.
When Chinatsu bid a billion, the Elder beside her did not so much as raise an eyebrow. Clearly, a billion was no great sum to them, or at least nowhere near enough to hurt their finances.
The entire auction house fell deathly silent. Naobito Zenin clicked his tongue without bothering to hide it. They could certainly put up a billion too; they simply hated to part with it.
But no one present felt worse than Toji. He had already opened his mouth to bid when a billion suddenly came out of nowhere, like a bucket of ice-cold water extinguishing his blazing fighting spirit.
Toji: So what if you're rich?!
Chinatsu: Sorry, being rich is pretty great~
Their gazes briefly met. Though they did not truly exchange a look, it felt as if they had already had a spirited conversation.
After that brief meeting of eyes, Toji opened his mouth and heaved a long sigh.
There's no competing with this. She's already thrown out a billion. If I were just a little short on money, that would be one thing. The real killer is that she doesn't even look like she's trying.
Damn capitalism!
After grumbling inwardly, Toji rose from his seat, stuffed both hands into his pockets, and turned to leave the auction house with a disgruntled expression.
As for Playful Cloud, Chinatsu naturally secured it with ease, thanks to her financial superpower...
After the auction ended, Chinatsu took the three-section staff from a staff member backstage. Honestly, she had seen plenty of people use nunchucks, but she was not particularly familiar with three-section staffs.
She lowered her head and carefully examined Playful Cloud, then looked up toward the empty stretch of corridor ahead.
Playful Cloud was a very unusual cursed tool. Its use had nothing to do with cursed energy; its power scaled directly with the wielder's arm strength-in other words, physical strength.
Chinatsu maintained a steady breathing rhythm, gathering as much of the strength within her body as possible and channeling it into her arms.
Her eyes sharpened. Gripping one section of the staff, she swiftly whipped it toward the empty space ahead.
BOOM!!!
A deafening crack exploded through the air. Everyone beside her except Satoru Gojo reacted to the tremendous noise with a startled expression and an exclamation of amazement.
"It really does live up to its status as a special grade cursed tool..."
Unlike the astonished people around her, Chinatsu was not surprised by its power. If that was all it could do, she could achieve the same effect by wrapping her fists in Blue.
Jujutsu sorcerers who used Limitless could wrap Blue around their fists to strengthen them.
In the original story, Satoru Gojo's future students had felt their heads sink just remembering his punches, openly admitting that they had nearly thrown up after being hit. They described it as a seemingly simple blow that felt like getting struck by a massive truck hauling cargo.
Getting the most out of Playful Cloud really did require raw physical strength, and Chinatsu's physical strength... As much as she wanted to boast about it, reality would not let her.
She turned to Suguru Geto beside her. She remembered how, the moment the black cloth had been lifted to reveal Playful Cloud, his eyes had widened like copper bells. His backside had even left his seat as he nearly sprang to his feet, staring at Playful Cloud with burning enthusiasm.
Well, it was only natural that he was interested in Playful Cloud. He had come precisely to obtain a cursed tool that could improve his close-combat abilities.
He had used Playful Cloud in the original story too. After Toji died, the cursed tools in his arsenal had been confiscated, and Playful Cloud had ended up in Suguru Geto's hands.
From then on, whenever Suguru Geto found himself in close combat, he would eagerly pull out Playful Cloud and get straight to it.
What did you call that?
Cursed Spirit Manipulation is just my talent, but close combat is my passion.
Suddenly reminded of a meme from The Outcast, Chinatsu could not help laughing, and she casually tossed Playful Cloud into Suguru Geto's hands.
Suguru Geto immediately panicked. He hurried to speak and return Playful Cloud, only for Chinatsu to wave him off with an easy gesture.
"Don't be so nervous. You need a close-combat cursed tool, right? Consider it a loan. Of course, if you grow attached to it, you can buy it from me~"
Listening to Chinatsu, Suguru Geto lowered his head and looked at the three-section staff, Playful Cloud, in his hands. Waves of warmth welled up inside him.
"Thank you..."
Afterward, Chinatsu and the others left Kagoshima in a private car. She had originally intended to look for Toji again and have a word with him, but he had slipped away far too quickly.
The days passed one after another. Ever since obtaining Playful Cloud, Suguru Geto had taken it along on his jujutsu missions, unleashing a barrage of blows on low-level cursed spirits and pounding them into pulp.
Previously, Suguru Geto's attitude toward low-level cursed spirits had been that every little bit counted. No matter how weak they were, he would subdue them and swallow them, enduring the disgust.
But after getting Playful Cloud, he shifted part of his training toward cursed technique and gradually became more selective about the cursed spirits he consumed, swallowing only high-level ones whenever possible.
As a result, compared with Suguru Geto in the original story, his proficiency in Cursed Spirit Manipulation would certainly decline a little, but his cursed technique would undoubtedly improve greatly.
Of course, the greatest benefit was that Suguru Geto's life had become easier and more comfortable.
That was also one of Chinatsu's goals.
In the days that followed, Chinatsu continued training at her own pace. Although her improvement gradually slowed, she did not put too much pressure on herself, because she believed she would be absolutely fine.
While carrying out a jujutsu mission as usual, Chinatsu arrived at the entrance to an abandoned mine.
The government had originally planned to reopen the mine, but all sorts of accidents had occurred during the initial excavation. There had even been casualties, making the situation extremely serious.
Now, Chinatsu quietly raised her head and stared at the abandoned mine before her. A smile with a hint of madness appeared on her cute face.
"This cursed energy... Could it be a special grade cursed spirit?"
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