Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event (Part Two)

The victory conditions for the first stage of the Goodwill Event, the team battle, were straightforward.

Find and kill the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit released into the forest by the Jujutsu High higher-ups, or kill more low-grade cursed spirits than the opposing school before sunset.

To secure victory, Tokyo Jujutsu High had prepared three separate contingencies.

"I'll hold him off! You guys go!"

The Tokyo Jujutsu High students scattered, leaving Itadori and Todo a space to fight alone.

Although Todo remembered Principal Yoshinobu Gakuganji's orders, with Itadori "keeping him occupied," he could only be "forced" to fight back.

"Where's Yunyi? Did we get separated?!"

Maki abruptly stopped as she raced through the forest. Hajime Kashimo, who was supposed to be in their group, was nowhere to be seen.

After weighing her options, she finally gritted her teeth and decided to hunt cursed spirits according to their original plan.

"If anything happens to you, you've only got your own weakness to blame!"

Megumi Fushiguro beside her did not hear Maki's hoarse growl. The first-year who wielded the Ten Shadows Technique was busy using his shikigami to check their surroundings...

"I can't find any trace of Yunyi... It looks like he never followed us."

The guess Megumi Fushiguro shared with Maki was correct.

Hajime Kashimo was standing in the treetops not far from where Itadori and Todo were fighting, silently sensing the movements of the other Kyoto students.

Just as he had expected, when Todo asked that crucial question that would lay the foundation for countless battles to come, Kashimo keenly detected several cursed energy signatures heading straight toward Todo and Itadori with a clear target in mind.

"I'm not interested in women."

"But I do like fighting."

The ambush happened in the single instant it took Noritoshi Kamo to blink.

An overwhelming pressure descended from above, accompanied by a figure in a student uniform wreathed in electric arcs.

"One."

The cold voice rang out beside Kasumi Miwa's ear.

Holding the key position on the team's left flank, with her index finger resting on her sword's hilt, she had failed to sense Kashimo's lightning-fast approach at all.

By the time she turned toward the voice, a full-force punch had already slammed into the scabbard at her waist.

Bang-crack!!!

The thunderous sound of a heavy impact against wood echoed through the forest. Kasumi Miwa went flying helplessly in the opposite direction-her back slammed into a tree trunk, and the solid wood instantly buckled under the force. In the space of a breath, web-like cracks spread across it before it burst into several pieces...

Dust billowed up, swallowing the figure curled on the ground.

The other Kyoto students had no time to worry about whether Kasumi Miwa was alive or dead-

Because Kashimo's vicious whipping kick was already aimed at Momo Nishimiya, who was flying through the air on her broom...

"Second."

As Kyoto Jujutsu High's "eyes" in the team battle, the Semi-Grade 2 sorcerer Momo Nishimiya was not particularly strong in combat, but she was undeniably the team's "core."

Losing her would be no different from the entire Kyoto Jujutsu High team losing an eye...

"Don't even think about it!"

Of those who could help the airborne Momo Nishimiya, Mai Zenin was the only one able to act quickly enough.

Her Construction Technique could create objects from cursed energy that remained permanently in the real world, and among everyone's weapons, her revolver was the fastest to ready and fire.

Although her meager cursed energy only allowed her to create one revolver round a day, she had recently been making nonlethal rubber bullets in preparation for the Goodwill Event, since she could produce more of them.

The instant she drew her revolver, she fired all six rubber bullets imbued with cursed energy at Kashimo, without any thought of conserving ammunition.

At the same time she pulled the trigger, Momo Nishimiya also used

Tool Manipulation Technique to control her broom and unleash high-pressure blades of cursed energy wind...

"At this distance... At this speed..."

"They'll hit!!!"

Their palms grew hot and sweaty. Faced with Kashimo charging at them like a beast off its leash, the hands gripping Mai Zenin's revolver and Momo Nishimiya's broom were already slick with sweat.

But both believed their attacks would hit Kashimo. Both trusted their combat experience, and both believed the bullets and wind blades sealing off his escape routes would stop his attack...

That confidence came from-

Never having seen a true "powerhouse."

The instant Kashimo's lips curled into a grin, the faint electric arcs coiling around him swelled and surged into rampaging thunder.

Kashimo had been steadily honing his cursed technique and strength.

Before learning to use a domain, he needed to fully master the power of Lightning, and even grasp its essence.

Only then could he end the lives of those top-tier fighters before they expanded their domains.

But using this move on low-level sorcerers like Momo Nishimiya and Mai Zenin...

"What a waste!"

Violet-blue lightning cursed energy crackled as dazzling arcs burst from Kashimo's limbs and torso.

The air around him burned hot enough to shimmer-with lightning empowering him, his speed broke physical limits, overtaking even the bullets already fired!

Before Momo Nishimiya's disbelieving eyes, Kashimo's lightning-wreathed foot became a razor-sharp dagger of electricity.

The cursed energy wind blades she unleashed at him were mercilessly torn apart by surging lightning! Those blades could kill a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit, yet now they could not cancel out even one ten-thousandth of the lightning's residual power!!

Crack-snap!!!

The sturdy broom cursed tool snapped in the approaching lightning.

With electricity flickering at the corners of his eyes, Kashimo kicked straight between Momo Nishimiya's legs, shattering the flying cursed tool she was so proud of...

His speed had reached four-fifths of his peak-with lightning enveloping and empowering him, his figure became a blurred electric afterimage, appearing mere centimeters in front of Momo Nishimiya...

Momo Nishimiya went deathly pale. Before she could resist, Kashimo's powerful hand clamped around her neck, his fingertips exerting a terrifying force that nearly crushed her throat.

The bullets aimed at Kashimo had reached him, but he now held Momo Nishimiya firmly in front of himself, using her as a human shield.

All six bullets struck Momo Nishimiya's back. The searing pain instantly drained her strength, and a shrill scream tore from her throat.

Spittle sprayed uncontrollably into Kashimo's hair. Momo Nishimiya went limp, losing consciousness completely...

"You bastard!!!"

Mai Zenin screamed in anguish and fury. The cylinder of her revolver was already open, and the scorching shell casings fell under gravity, about to touch the forest grass.

But Mai Zenin's body hit the ground before the casings did-

Kashimo suddenly exerted force through the hand gripping Momo Nishimiya's neck, sending the unconscious girl flying like a cannonball with a sharp whoosh,

Straight into Mai Zenin with a heavy impact.

Thud-!

Momo Nishimiya's petite body knocked Mai flat. The revolver flew from her weakened hand and fell into the dirt beside her...

The ambush on the Kyoto students had lasted only an instant, yet the battle could already be declared over.

Kashimo slowly landed. An intense, suffocating pressure spread outward from him, and every Kyoto student still conscious fell silent as the air seemed to solidify around them-

The grass and trees stirred without wind, and the ground trembled slightly.

The oppressive force radiating from Kashimo was more terrifying than any cursed spirit they had encountered before-

That suffocating pressure came from nothing more than the overwhelming superiority of his physical strength, without the slightest enhancement from a cursed technique, yet it chilled them more than any technique could...

"Grade 1? This presence... This pressure..."

Noritoshi Kamo stood shoulder to shoulder with Mechamaru. Facing Kashimo, even he, the team's captain, could not help swallowing, already beginning to consider surrender...

He had always thought Aoi Todo was the only "monster."

But now, this first-year from Tokyo Jujutsu High had demonstrated a simple truth through sheer strength: there was always someone stronger out there...

In less than a minute, only he and Mechamaru remained on the Kyoto team. If they kept fighting Kashimo, victory aside, how could they possibly last through the individual battles afterward in their depleted condition?

"Surrender now... Make a comeback in the individual battles..."

Mechamaru spoke quietly, his voice a cold, synthesized mechanical sound.

But at this moment, that cold mechanical voice, with its clear analysis of the battlefield, was exactly what Noritoshi Kamo needed.

He agreed with Mechamaru.

He had no intention of stubbornly holding out...

But just as he was about to call a halt to the battle and surrender, Kashimo suddenly did something that stunned them both-

In a flash, he appeared before the tree Kasumi Miwa had shattered and hauled her up. She was still conscious, but she could no longer move.

Gripping the back of her neck, Kashimo began outputting Reverse Cursed Technique without a word...

"One."

He moved over to Momo Nishimiya and Mai Zenin. Before Mai could refuse, Kashimo's hand had already closed around her throat, preventing her from saying anything...

"Two."

Kashimo's cursed energy was limited.

Mastering Reverse Cursed Technique did improve one's strength and endurance, making the outcome of a battle harder to predict.

But he was not Yuta Okkottsu.

Okkotsu could replenish his cursed energy through Shikigami: Rika, so he had no need to specialize in the healing efficiency of Reverse Cursed Technique.

Even wasting some was inconsequential to a walking reserve of cursed energy like him.

But Kashimo could not afford that.

He needed constant practice and experimentation to master the most efficient way to heal with Reverse Cursed Technique...

"Three."

Kashimo released Momo Nishimiya from his arms and dropped her onto the ground-she had suffered the worst injuries and consumed the most cursed energy.

He flexed his fingers. After finishing the treatment of all three girls, he had already used more than half his cursed energy reserves.

"This is..."

Noritoshi Kamo narrowed his eyes and tried to speak, but Kashimo raised a finger first, pointing at Mechamaru beside him.

"You. Yes, you."

"Come with me. I have something to ask you."

Kashimo's voice was cold. Rather than negotiating, he was issuing an order...

Todo might not be able to wipe out the Tokyo Jujutsu High students single-handedly.

But after witnessing Kashimo's terrifying combat prowess, both Mechamaru and Noritoshi Kamo believed he could probably take down everyone here by himself...

So whatever his goal was, they would have to "sacrifice" Mechamaru for the moment...

"All right. I'll go with you."

"I'll leave the rest to you."

Mechamaru strode forward. Before leaving, he handed Noritoshi Kamo a small Mechanical Tracking Device-a precaution in case something happened to him...

He did not know where this "newcomer" had come from, or what his intentions were...

But as long as Kashimo did not get in his way...

Then, apart from anything involving that person, he was willing to do anything...