The duo with bounties on their heads

The little girl before him certainly looked much better than those two jujutsu sorcerers who had been smiling like messengers from hell.

"Hey, little girl, thanks for saving my life."

The curse user breathed a sigh of relief, assuming it had been a lucky accident.

Miwa Chisei said nothing more and formed a seal with one hand, casting a Curtain.

"Born from darkness, darker than darkness, purify all that is impure."

A black, spherical barrier enveloped them. A flicker of surprise crossed the curse user's face before it quickly darkened.

"Little girl, what are you trying to do?"

Ordinary people could not see inside the Curtain. After all, this was not some deserted place; she had to keep ordinary people from witnessing what happened.

When Miwa Chisei had blessed Yamato Kaho with her technique, she had already locked onto the last sight in Yamato Kaho's eyes before she died. "Jujutsu: Red Path Return" would never find the wrong target, so there was no need even to ask.

She raised a hand and removed her sunglasses. She was not as conceited as Satoru Gojo; sunglasses obstructed her vision. Unlike him, she did not wear them to filter out things she did not want to see and avoid processing an overwhelming amount of information.

Those crimson eyes looked rather eerie inside the dim Curtain.

The curse user froze, then his expression twisted viciously.

"Those red demon king eyes... little girl, you're that girl from the Miwa family, aren't you?"

At that moment, a ripple finally passed across Miwa Chisei's expressionless face. It was confusion.

The Miwa family had all but vanished from Jujutsu Society. Few people would associate red eyes with them anymore, so why would a curse user like this know who she was?

"You probably don't know yet, but you're worth a lot right now. The bounty on you is a whopping two hundred million. Hey, hey, with a price like that on your head, aren't you scared of getting caught walking around on your own?"

The curse user marveled at his good luck. He had escaped two walking disasters only to run into a walking fortune.

But Miwa Chisei was baffled.

What the hell was he talking about? Why offer two hundred million for me? The Miwa family had faded into obscurity a hundred years ago and hadn't been mentioned since. Why had a bounty on me suddenly appeared?

Was it because Jujutsu Society wanted to bring the Miwa family back?

What was the connection here?

"Hahahaha, I'm so lucky! Don't struggle, and I'll be gentle."

After that strange laugh, the curse user drew a dagger Cursed Tool from behind his waist and coated it in cursed energy, then darted toward Miwa Chisei like a phantom.

He was fast, without a single wasted movement. His martial arts and jujutsu had been honed solely for killing.

His figure split into two, then four, completely surrounding Miwa Chisei.

Then Miwa Chisei slid her right foot back a step, her wooden sandal scraping shrilly across the road. She clenched her fist, and red cursed energy became razor-sharp currents that wrapped around her entire arm. Without hesitation, she drove it hard into one of the four figures!

Black lightning erupted alongside her cursed energy, and a single punch slammed the curse user straight into the asphalt.

The remaining three figures wavered feebly in the wind a few times before dissipating.

"How..."

The curse user could no longer speak. He spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling pain flare through all his organs. Why had this girl seen through to his real body in an instant? He was a Grade 1 Curse User!

Miwa Chisei approached the crater, her knuckles cracking as she clenched her fist. Without hesitation, she struck again, only for a large, warm hand to wrap around her fist.

She stared in surprise at the boy who had caught her full-force strike.

"Don't kill him. You're not part of Jujutsu High yet, after all. It could get you into trouble."

Miwa Chisei was about to argue her case, but Satoru Gojo simply turned and raised his foot, a breezy smile tugging at his lips.

"Let me do it."

His black leather shoe mercilessly crushed the back of the curse user's neck. Miwa Chisei heard bone snap. The curse user's head lolled sideways, his eyes rolled back, and he died on the spot.

Clean and efficient.

Then, a second later, that same person's hand closed around the back of Miwa Chisei's neck.

"Thanks to you, I had to run all that extra distance in the pouring rain. Snatching him away out of nowhere-what, are you his accomplice?"

Her rain-soaked body was cold, but his hand was warm.

Miwa Chisei raised a hand to smack away his unruly hand, her brows drawing tightly together.

"It's because you're an idiot."

"You little brat! That's the thanks I get for helping!"

When Suguru Geto dismounted his cursed spirit, he saw Satoru Gojo holding Miwa Chisei up like a rabbit. Beside them, the curse user lay utterly silent in an out-of-place crater.

"All right, Satoru. Contact the Assistant Manager first. We caught and killed him, so the mission's complete."

Satoru Gojo clicked his tongue and reluctantly let her go, only to see Miwa Chisei staring blankly at the corpse again.

"You damn brat, don't tell me you're planning to beat up his corpse?"

Satoru Gojo's shouting successfully earned him a scornful look.

"Satoru Gojo, there's a bounty on me."

"Huh?"

"Two hundred million, at that."

"..."

Satoru Gojo really wanted to crack her head open and see what was inside.

But Miwa Chisei was not someone who would joke about this sort of thing.

Suguru Geto could not help wondering whether every strange kid with silver hair and sunglasses ended up with a bounty worth hundreds of millions.

An odd silence settled over the three of them. After a long while, Satoru Gojo burst out laughing.

"You're not worth as much as me! Pretty weak, aren't you?"

Miwa Chisei decided there was something wrong with his brain and gave up trying to communicate. She waved a hand to dispel the Curtain and prepared to leave.

Satoru Gojo watched her slender figure. Though the torrential rain washed over her, her back remained perfectly straight.

Like a resilient, stubborn red-eyed rabbit.

"Miwa, I'll help you look into the bounty."

Satoru Gojo's bold voice carried clearly to Miwa Chisei's ears, undrowned by the downpour. She turned slightly, her long silver hair hanging against her cheeks, making her look a little pitiful.

"Thank you, but I can handle it myself."

With that, her figure disappeared into the hazy downpour.

Seeing his best friend's disgruntled expression, Suguru Geto patted his shoulder with a little sympathy.

"At least she didn't turn you down completely."

Satoru Gojo pulled down his sunglasses and scrutinized Suguru Geto.

"Why do I get the feeling you're laughing at me on the inside?"

Shit, since when could this guy read minds? Suguru Geto thought.

Outwardly, though, he continued patting his shoulder, looking perfectly respectable.

"Don't overthink it. So, can we get out of the rain first?"

Satoru Gojo seemed to remember something. He raised a hand and formed a seal, and an invisible barrier appeared around his body, keeping the rain out.

"Forgot to turn it on. Now you're the only one getting rained on."

Looking at that eminently punchable face, Suguru Geto tilted his head back and sighed, a sentence slipping through his lips.

"Satoru Gojo, just go die."