Appreciation

Yagami Jue sprang to his feet, unleashing an overwhelming pressure.

"Where are we fighting?"

Satoru Gojo straightened up and snapped his fingers.

"Meet me on the field."

Five minutes later.

On Sugisawa High School's athletic field.

Gojo had completely sealed it off with a Curtain.

Every student had been evacuated to safety.

At the center of the field.

Yagami Jue and Satoru Gojo stood facing each other.

"Well, the rules are simple."

Gojo still had both hands in his pockets, looking utterly carefree.

"If you can make me take off my blindfold, you win."

"And what do I get if I win?"

Yagami Jue sneered.

"If you win, I'll make sure you can do whatever you want in Jujutsu Society. Those old geezers at the top won't dare so much as fart."

Gojo spoke with a cheerful smile.

"But if you lose..."

"You'll come back to Jujutsu High with me and be my student. No complaints."

"Deal."

Yagami Jue rolled his wrists.

"But I won't be holding back."

"Careful I don't kill you with one punch!"

Before he had even finished speaking!

BOOM-!!!!!

The synthetic track beneath Yagami Jue's feet exploded into a deep crater dozens of meters across!

An astonishing 11,552 points of speed!

Combined with a terrifying strength stat exceeding ten thousand!

He became a black spear of death, instantly breaking the sound barrier with a deafening sonic boom.

His fist slammed straight toward Gojo's face!

So fast!

Even Gojo, who possessed the Six Eyes, felt a flicker of shock at that speed.

That sheer physical speed had surpassed even certain teleportation Cursed Techniques!

BAM!

A deep, thunderous impact rang out!

Yagami Jue's punch, powerful enough to shatter a skyscraper.

Stopped just one centimeter from the tip of Gojo's nose!

It was as though it had struck an invisible, indestructible barrier!

Limitless!

"The closer you get to me, the slower you become, until you're infinitely close to stopping."

Gojo smiled as he explained, looking at the vein-covered fist right before his face.

"That's my Limitless."

"Strength alone can't break through it."

"Is that so?"

A vicious gleam flashed in Yagami Jue's eyes.

"Then I'll damn well prove you wrong!"

"Eight Gates Formation: First Gate! Open!"

BOOM!

The power within Yagami Jue instantly doubled!

He didn't pull back his fist. Instead, he poured an endless surge of even more terrifying power into that invisible barrier!

Creak... creak...

A teeth-grating friction sound rang out.

Gojo's smile faded slightly.

He could feel it.

Under Yagami Jue's terrifying physical force, now exceeding twenty thousand points, his Limitless.

Actually gave an exceedingly faint tremor!

"Interesting... so interesting!"

Gojo burst out laughing.

"If you want to play, then your teacher will give you a proper game!"

"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!"

A terrifying force of attraction erupted between them!

It threatened to tear Yagami Jue's body apart!

"Get lost!"

Yagami Jue roared.

With his monstrous constitution of over twenty thousand points, he forcibly withstood Blue's tearing force.

Using that pull, he hurled his other fist forward like a cannonball!

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!

A storm of relentless blows!

Every punch carried a sonic boom as it slammed into Gojo's Limitless!

Their clash left the entire field looking as though it had suffered a magnitude-twelve earthquake.

The ground split violently!

The surrounding buildings shook fiercely!

"Hahaha! Not bad! But you've still got a long way to go!"

Gojo blocked effortlessly, casually taunting him all the while.

Yagami Jue stopped attacking and retreated dozens of meters.

As he stared at the completely unscathed Gojo, his fighting spirit burned to its peak.

"If one gate isn't enough..."

"System!"

"Buy me [Top-Tier Taijutsu Fragment: Eight Gates Formation (Second Gate: Gate of Healing)]!"

[Ding!]

[Insufficient host funds detected. Purchasing the Second Gate requires 100 million yen. Current balance: 0 yen!]

"Fuck!"

Yagami Jue cursed under his breath.

He had been so focused on raising his constitution that he had spent every last yen!

Without money, he couldn't open the Second Gate!

"Looks like I'll have to use that experience card."

Yagami Jue took a deep breath.

That [Toji Fushiguro: Heavenly Restriction Experience Card (1 minute)], worth five million.

Though it only lasted a minute.

It would be enough for him to experience what the true pinnacle of physical prowess was like!

"System, retrieve the experience card!"

[Ding!]

[Toji Fushiguro: Heavenly Restriction Experience Card activated!]

[Countdown: 60 seconds!]

BOOM-!!!!!

The instant the experience card activated.

An extremely strange change took place in Yagami Jue's body.

His formerly wild, surging presence vanished completely in an instant!

It was as though he had dissolved into the air.

Not even a breath or a heartbeat could be heard!

With their eyes closed, anyone would have thought there was no one standing there at all!

"Hm?"

Gojo froze for a moment.

At that instant, his Six Eyes actually lost their lock on Yagami Jue!

"This feeling..."

The image of the man who had once driven a blade through his throat flashed through Gojo's mind.

The only man who had ever come close to killing him!

Toji Fushiguro!

Whoosh!

In that hundredth of a second while Gojo was distracted.

Yagami Jue appeared behind him out of thin air!

No sonic boom.

No rush of air.

It was like teleportation.

Holding the fingers of his right hand together like a blade, Yagami Jue swept lightly toward the back of Gojo's neck.

"Too slow."

Gojo reacted with incredible speed, spinning around and firing off a blast of Blue!

However.

His attack passed straight through Yagami Jue's body!

An afterimage!

"Above you."

Yagami Jue's icy voice came from above Gojo's head.

Gojo snapped his head up.

All he saw was a rapidly enlarging heel crashing toward his face, carrying a terrifying pressure that seemed capable of crushing space itself!

That strike.

Was so fast that even the Six Eyes couldn't fully track it!

BAM-!!!!!!

An earthshaking crash rang out!

Yagami Jue's axe kick struck Gojo's Limitless head-on!

Crack!

An exceedingly faint, yet unmistakably real sound of cracking rang out.

The smile vanished completely from Gojo's face.

Disbelief flashed through the blue eyes hidden beneath his blindfold.

Limitless.

Under a purely physical attack.

Had actually cracked!

Though the crack healed instantly.

The terrifying recoil still passed through Limitless, driving Gojo straight out of the air and into the ground!

BOOM!!!

Gojo slammed into the field's synthetic track, leaving a deep crater dozens of meters across!

Dust billowed everywhere!

"Hah..."

In midair.

Yagami Jue gasped for breath.

The experience card's time had run out.

He felt every muscle in his body ache in protest.

That last strike had exhausted every bit of stamina he had.

"This guy's shell really is damn tough."

Yagami Jue landed at the edge of the crater and looked down into the dust.

"Hey, lunatic."

"You lost."

The dust gradually cleared.

Satoru Gojo slowly rose from the bottom of the crater.

He brushed the dust off himself.

Though he was unhurt.

The black blindfold over his eyes.

Had been torn by that terrifying shock wave and fallen to the ground.

It revealed a pair of blue eyes as radiant as the sky.

Satoru Gojo lifted his head and looked up at Yagami Jue.

His expression was a complex mix of emotions.

Shock, fervor, and even a hint of... admiration.

"I can't believe it."

"You actually managed to go this far."

Satoru Gojo picked up the blindfold from the ground and put it back on.

That wild grin curled his lips once more.