Scared Stupid

Yagami Jue tilted his head, studying the beautiful sniper rifle.

He silently did the math. A Special Grade Cursed Tool... worth at least a hundred million.

"Not bad, Miss Mai. You really didn't disappoint me."

Yagami Jue gave her an utterly vicious smile.

"I'm taking that gun."

"Die, you maniac!"

Mai Zenin pulled the trigger.

Boom!

A thick bolt of deep-purple lightning tore through the air like a furious dragon unleashed, shooting straight toward Yagami Jue's face with devastating force!

In that instant, purple lightning engulfed the entire arena, so blinding that no one could keep their eyes open.

"Did it hit?!"

Below the arena, Momo Nishimiya gripped her broom nervously.

But when the glare faded...

Yagami Jue was still standing exactly where he had been.

He held out his right hand, wisps of black smoke rising from his palm.

And that bolt of lightning, powerful enough to blast a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit to pieces, was trapped firmly in his hand!

As though he had caught a wriggling loach!

"How... how the fuck is that possible?!"

The spectators all sprang to their feet, their eyes practically popping out!

"He caught lightning with his bare hand?!"

"That isn't Taijutsu! That's a miracle!"

Principal Gakuganji nearly crushed his own guitar.

"Decent power. Made my palm tingle."

Yagami Jue sneered and abruptly clenched his fingers.

Crack!

He crushed the lightning-infused cursed energy outright, scattering countless purple sparks that vanished into the air.

"Got any more? I could use a few more massages like that."

Mai Zenin was scared utterly stupid.

She stared at the still-hot Thunderclap in her hands, her mind completely blank.

My Cursed Technique... he crushed it with his hand?

A monster... he isn't human...

"If you're out of tricks, that gun belongs to me."

Yagami Jue moved.

He did not even activate the Eight Gates.

He relied solely on his speed stat of 120,000.

Mai Zenin saw a blur, and a terrifying force rushed toward her.

By the time she reacted, the sniper rifle in her hands had vanished.

Whoosh!

Yagami Jue returned to his original spot, carrying the imposing Thunderclap.

With a casual twist, he broke the Special Grade Cursed Tool into two pieces before everyone's eyes.

"Not much in the way of quality, but the materials are decent."

Yagami Jue casually tossed the wreckage off the arena.

"Miss Mai, your appearance fee is settled. Now you can get the hell off."

"You... you destroyed my cursed tool!"

Mai Zenin screamed. Overwhelmed by humiliation and fury, she passed out on the spot.

"Mai!"

The people from Kyoto Jujutsu High hurried up and carried her away.

Yagami Jue stood in the arena, surveying the crowd.

His lofty contempt weighed on everyone so heavily that they barely dared to breathe.

"Next."

Yagami Jue spoke coldly, his gaze settling on the remaining students from Kyoto Jujutsu High.

"Who wants to come give me money?"

"Move it. I've still got that fragment to collect."

Dead silence.

A deathly hush fell over the entire venue.

At that moment, the figure of Yagami Jue was no longer that detestable scumbag in their eyes.

He was a...

Being capable of overturning all of Jujutsu Society.

A Tyrant!

Below the arena, the previously clamorous chatter fell silent, as though someone had hit the mute button.

Everyone stared dumbfounded at the boy in the arena who had thrown away a Special Grade Cursed Tool like scrap metal.

That was Thunderclap! A prized treasure of the Zenin Clan, and he had snapped it with his bare hands?

"Holy shit... insane! That's absolutely insane!"

In the stands, a Jujutsu Sorcerer from some unknown family abruptly stood up, oblivious to the teacup shattering at his feet.

"That was a Special Grade Cursed Tool! Even Satoru Gojo wouldn't destroy one in such a barbaric way, would he?"

"Are that kid's hands made of hydraulic presses? This defies science!"

"Heh. Science?"

Standing in the center of the arena, Yagami Jue listened to the cries below, his lips curling into a deeply mocking smirk.

"In this fucked-up world where cursed spirits and souls exist, you want to talk science with me?"

"My fists are this world's science!"

[Ding! Host detected destroying the Special Grade Cursed Tool 'Thunderclap.' 'Recycling Reward' triggered!]

[Obtained: Physique Fragments ×100, currency: 50 million yen!]

[Host detected displaying extreme intimidation. Nearby hostility has surged. Obtained title 'Thug' (temporary): All stats increased by 5%!]

Yagami Jue sneered inwardly.

Only fifty million? That Zenin Clan toy really depreciated.

Looks like I still need to get my hands on that 'Heaven-Reversing Cloud' fragment. That's where the real money is.

He looked up toward Kyoto Jujutsu High, his eyes filled with undisguised greed.

"Hey, you lot. Mai Zenin's already lying down. Who's bringing me money next?"

"Hurry up. This hoodie's a limited edition. Fight too long and it'll get creased."

"You arrogant monkey... how dare you humiliate the Three Great Families!"

In Kyoto Jujutsu High's seating area, Noritoshi Kamo slowly rose, his perpetually narrowed eyes now blazing with bone-chilling murderous intent.

He was the legitimate son of the Kamo Clan, with what they called "noble blood" flowing through his veins.

In his eyes, a commoner without cursed energy like Yagami Jue was the lowest form of life. However powerful he might be, he was merely a stronger monkey.

"If you're so eager to die, I'll oblige you."

Noritoshi Kamo stepped into the arena. With every step, a glistening drop of blood seeped between his fingers.

"I'll use the Kamo Clan's secret Cursed Technique to crush every bone in your body, inch by inch."

"You'll learn that brute strength cannot bridge the gulf between bloodlines."

"Bloodlines?"

As though he had heard a joke, Yagami Jue burst into wildly unrestrained laughter.

"Hahahaha! You're killing me!"

"What century is this, and you're still preaching bloodline superiority? Got a throne back home you haven't finished inheriting?"

"I don't care whether you're royalty or some street thug. If one punch doesn't kill you, I'll give you two more!"

[Ding! Intense arrogance detected in opponent. Random mission triggered: 'Bloodline Crusher'!]

[Mission requirement: Shatter Noritoshi Kamo's arrogance in the most brutal manner possible and demand a 'bloodline purification fee'!]

[Mission reward: 100 million yen, random Top-Tier Taijutsu Fragment ×1!]

A hundred million? And a Taijutsu fragment?

Yagami Jue's eyes instantly lit up like lightbulbs.

The look he gave Noritoshi Kamo shifted instantly from disgust to the gaze he would give a walking pile of gold bars.

"Young master of the Kamo Clan, since you're so confident, how about a wager?"

Noritoshi Kamo stopped and looked at him coldly. "What wager?"

"Whether you can walk out of this arena today."

Yagami Jue grinned, exposing a mouthful of stark white teeth, and smiled sinisterly.

"If you win, you can take my head."

"But if you lose, you'll write me an IOU for five hundred million yen. Consider it the price of your life."

"Whoa!"

The crowd erupted again.

"Five hundred million?! Yagami Jue really has the nerve to ask!"

"Is he insane? Noritoshi Kamo is the Kamo Clan's great hope! If he loses, won't the whole clan go mad?"

"He's blinded by money! He'd rather get rich than stay alive!"

"Fine. I accept."

Noritoshi Kamo snorted coldly and swung both hands.

"Blood Manipulation-Crimson Binding!"

In an instant, the drops of blood burst apart in midair, transforming into countless blood threads as fine as hair yet as tough as steel wire.

They swept toward Yagami Jue from every direction, threatening to bind him!

"What's this? Trying to knit me a sweater?"

Yagami Jue stood where he was without so much as blinking.

With his speed stat of 120,000, he reacted within the thousandth of a second before the blood threads reached him.

Whoosh!

His figure swayed slightly.

Every blood thread, sharp enough to slice through steel rebar, flew past his afterimage.

"Too slow."

Yagami Jue's voice suddenly sounded beside Noritoshi Kamo's ear.

"Your blood doesn't even flow as fast as I swipe my card."

"Eight Gates Formation, first gate! Opening Gate! Open!"

Boom!

The green vortex swirling around Yagami Jue erupted in an instant, shattering the bluestone slabs across the arena.

"What?!"

Noritoshi Kamo was horrified. He hadn't even seen how Yagami Jue had closed the distance.

As a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, his reflexes were already top-tier.

But against a base speed of one hundred and twenty thousand that had been doubled again, he was practically a blind man watching a movie on fast-forward.

"Blood Manipulation: Flowing Red Scale-!"

Noritoshi Kamo frantically accelerated the circulation of blood through his body, trying to sharpen his reflexes.

Bang!