Roaring defiance

Cracks actually began spreading across it!

"Crack... crack!"

"What?!"

Kenjaku's eyes widened in disbelief!

"That's impossible! How could Maximum: Uzumaki be shattered by physical strength?!"

"Nothing's impossible when you're up against me!"

Yagami Jue roared, the muscles in his arm swelling once more!

"Break, damn you!!!"

BOOM!!!!!

With an earth-shattering blast!

The black vortex burst apart completely!

It became a storm of violent cursed energy that swept out in every direction!

Like an unstoppable blade, Yagami Jue pierced straight through the turbulence and appeared before Kenjaku in an instant!

"This punch is worth four hundred million!"

"Pay for it with your life!"

BAM!

Yagami Jue's fist slammed squarely into Kenjaku's chest!

"Pfft!"

Kenjaku spat out a huge mouthful of blood as his breastbone shattered instantly!

He flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing into the wall at the edge of the office building!

CRASH!

The wall shattered!

Kenjaku's body dropped out of sight like a torn sack.

Yagami Jue walked to the edge and looked into the bottomless darkness below, snorting coldly.

"You got away fast enough."

With that last punch, he had felt Kenjaku use some strange cursed technique at the last moment to divert part of the force, then use the impact to escape.

But it didn't matter.

The four special grades were dead, and the four hundred million yen was already his.

"System, open the panel!"

[Host: Yagami Jue]

[Current realm: Heavenly Tyrant (initial stage)]

[Account balance: 400 million yen] (earned by killing the four disaster-class special grades)

[Constitution: 20538]

[Strength: 10610]

[Speed: 11552]

Seeing that staggering figure in his account instantly lifted Yagami Jue's mood.

"Hahaha! Four hundred million!"

"System, buy me [Top-tier Taijutsu Fragment: Eight Gates Formation (Second Gate: Gate of Healing)]!"

[Ding!]

[100 million yen successfully deducted!]

[Transferring cultivation memories and physical modifications for Eight Gates Formation (Second Gate)...]

BOOM!

A massive flood of memories surged into his mind. At the same time, Yagami Jue felt some mysterious force forcibly widening the meridians inside his body!

The sensation of power filling his entire body made him throw back his head and let out a long, satisfied cry.

"Three hundred million left."

Yagami Jue looked at his remaining balance.

"My constitution's already over twenty thousand, but my strength and speed are still hovering around ten thousand. That's one hell of an imbalance."

"System, split the three hundred million evenly between strength and speed!"

[Ding!]

[300 million yen successfully deducted!]

[Allocating attribute points...]

[Strength +15000! Current strength: 25610!]

[Speed +15000! Current speed: 26552!]

BOOM!!!!!

The instant the system's notification ended!

Yagami Jue's body went rigid!

This transformation was more terrifying than any he had experienced before!

He could even feel every bone in his body creaking under the strain, as though they might collapse at any moment!

Over twenty-five thousand points of strength!

Over twenty-six thousand points of speed!

Along with over twenty thousand points of constitution!

He was now a perfect killing machine!

"Huff... hah..."

It took a full half hour before Yagami Jue gradually adjusted to his skyrocketing power.

He slowly opened his eyes, a chilling red light flashing in his pitch-black gaze.

"The way I am now."

"Even without opening the Eight Gates Formation."

"I could beat the shit out of those four special grades with one punch!"

Yagami Jue clenched his fists and casually punched the air.

BANG!

An exceptionally sharp blast rang out!

His punch actually created a spherical pocket of vacuum in the air before him!

Every pane of glass in the surrounding buildings shattered instantly!

"Hell yeah!"

Yagami Jue laughed, then turned and headed downstairs.

It was time to collect that hundred-and-fifty-million bounty from the Black Market.

The next day.

Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu High School.

Inside the first-year classroom.

In a rare change, Satoru Gojo wore black sunglasses instead of his blindfold, his expression somewhat grave.

"Hey, have you guys heard?"

Yuji Itadori stared in shock at Satoru Gojo, who was sitting on the teacher's desk.

"There was an absolutely terrifying fight in Roppongi last night. Apparently half a street was wrecked!"

Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki looked serious as well.

They had already received scattered bits of information from the assistant supervisors.

"Apparently, traces of extremely powerful special-grade cursed energy were left at the scene."

Megumi Fushiguro spoke in a low voice.

"And... there were also signs of destruction with absolutely no cursed residue."

At those words, everyone instinctively turned toward Yagami Jue, who was asleep with his head on his desk in the corner.

Signs of destruction with no cursed residue whatsoever.

Who else could it have been?

Satoru Gojo pushed up his sunglasses and studied Yagami Jue with an inscrutable gaze.

He had sensed the terrifying disturbance coming from Roppongi the previous night.

By the time he arrived, all that remained was rubble and the extremely faint traces left by four disaster-class special grade cursed spirits.

This kid...

Satoru Gojo marveled inwardly.

He actually faced four disaster-class special grades in a single night and came out unscathed?

Just where are the limits of his body?

Just then.

Someone shoved open the classroom door.

Masamichi Yaga strode in, his face full of fury.

"Gojo! That Yagami Jue you brought back has caused a disaster!"

Masamichi Yaga slapped the teacher's desk, sending chalk dust flying everywhere.

"The higher-ups have gone berserk!"

"Last night in Roppongi, not only did the four disaster-class special grades appear, but the special envoys the higher-ups sent to keep watch were all killed!"

"The destruction at the scene points straight to Yagami Jue!"

At those words.

The entire class was stunned!

Yuji Itadori's eyes widened as he stared at Yagami Jue in disbelief.

"Yagami... killed the higher-ups' special envoys?!"

Megumi Fushiguro sucked in a sharp breath too.

This was serious trouble!

Killing the higher-ups' people was no different from declaring war on the entire Jujutsu Society!

"Now, now, Principal. Don't get so worked up."

Satoru Gojo remained as flippant as ever.

"Those old geezers at the top have needed replacing for ages."

"You could say Jue did everyone a favor by getting rid of them."

"You!"

Masamichi Yaga trembled with anger.

"This is no time for jokes!"

"The higher-ups have issued their most severe Wanted Order!"

"They've even mobilized the elites of the Three Great Families to launch an all-out hunt for Yagami Jue!"

At the mention of the Three Great Families.

Yagami Jue, who had been sleeping with his head on his desk the whole time, slowly raised his head.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"The Three Great Families?"

A cruel sneer curled Yagami Jue's lips.

"Sounds like they've got plenty of money."

"Perfect. I'm broke again."

"If they dare come after me."

"I'll make sure none of them leave alive!"

Arrogant!

Arrogant beyond belief!

Faced with a hunt by the entire Jujutsu Society, he showed not a trace of fear. Instead, he treated his enemies as walking ATMs!

"You bastard!"

Yagami Jue's brazen attitude left Masamichi Yaga fuming.

"Do you have any idea what the Three Great Families represent?!"

"They're the pinnacle of power in the Jujutsu Society! How could you possibly fight all three families alone?!"

"Old man, you talk too much."

Yagami Jue stood, slipped his hands into his pockets, and slowly walked up to Masamichi Yaga.

He looked down at the principal of Jujutsu High, his pitch-black eyes radiating a chilling sense of pressure.

"Just watch. You'll see whether I can fight them."

"Tell those so-called higher-ups."

"If they want to kill me, they'd better bring plenty of money."

"If they don't have any, I won't even bother looking at them."

With that.

Yagami Jue walked straight past Masamichi Yaga and out of the classroom.

He left everyone staring in stunned silence.

As Satoru Gojo watched Yagami Jue leave, the smile on his lips grew wider and wider.

"How interesting."

"It looks like this dreary Jujutsu Society is finally about to face a real storm."

That afternoon.

Yagami Jue left Jujutsu High alone and made his way to an open area beneath Tokyo Tower.

He waited.

For the higher-ups' so-called lackeys, or the elite fighters of the Three Great Families.

Since they had already issued a wanted order, someone would surely be eager to claim his head and earn their favor.

Sure enough.

It wasn't long.