The arrogant usurper

The black sedan passed through the ancient torii and drove into Tokyo Jujutsu High, enveloped in a dense barrier.

Looking at the familiar wooden buildings and moss-covered stone paths outside the window, Li Shunchen's eyes briefly glazed over.

In his simulated memories, he had walked this path with his head bowed, carrying a broom or documents, buying Kikufuku for that white-haired young master with his feet propped on the desk, and handing towels to the boy with a bun and a fake smile.

He had been background scenery, an expendable, the trainee Assistant Supervisor Li-san.

But now, he was a specially recruited new student sitting in the back of a private car, respectfully escorted here by Window.

Li Shunchen adjusted the glasses he wore as a disguise, gently stroked Asagirimaru's hilt with his palm, and spoke in a voice only he could hear.

"This time, I can finally walk down the middle of the path."

The spacious, dim training room had no lights on, and oppressive fluctuations of cursed energy filled the air.

Masamichi Yaga sat with his back to the entrance amid a pile of dolls of all shapes, ugly-cute and bizarre.

Holding a needle and thread, he was mending a pink kappa doll.

"Li Shunchen, was it?" Masamichi Yaga did not turn around, his voice low and commanding. "I've read Window's report. A fifteen-year-old sorcerer who awakened independently, victorious in his first battle. Very talented. But Jujutsu High isn't somewhere you come to polish your credentials. It's the entrance to hell."

He abruptly turned, his eyes behind his sunglasses giving off a cold, appraising gleam.

"Tell me, why did you come here? If it's for the thrill of pursuing power, or some half-baked sense of justice, get out right now."

He gave Li Shunchen no time to think. As Yaga's words fell, the pink kappa cursed corpse suddenly sprang into action!

Its seemingly cotton fist, wrapped in astonishing cursed energy, hurtled straight at Li Shunchen's face with a whistle through the air!

The passive skill Cursed Energy Allergy triggered, amplifying the faint flow of cursed energy in the air endlessly in Li Shunchen's perception.

The instant before the fist touched the tip of his nose, Li Shunchen turned sideways, dodging the heavy punch by a hair.

But he did not retreat. Instead, he closed in, his left hand shooting out like lightning to clamp onto the kappa cursed corpse's shoulder as he activated Phantom Parade.

[Analyzing...]

[Target: Masamichi Yaga.]

[Detected that his cursed technique is identical to Sato's. Both are Puppet Manipulation. Comprehension greatly increased.]

[Analysis resolution greatly increased based on your simulated memories.]

With Sato's inferior version of Puppet Manipulation serving as a reference for the underlying logic, the cursed energy threads that had seemed obscure and incomprehensible to him became clearly visible. He instantly saw through several crucial cursed energy nodes Yaga had left inside the cursed corpse.

"Answer me!" Masamichi Yaga barked, his fingers twitching as he prepared to control the cursed corpse for a follow-up attack.

"The reason is simple." Li Shunchen's voice was so calm that it seemed out of place amid the fierce exchange. He watched Masamichi Yaga as he furiously eroded the cursed corpse's control circuits with cursed energy.

"Because I've seen..." Li Shunchen deliberately paused. That unfinished sentence successfully caught Yaga's attention, giving the Grade 1 Sorcerer a momentary instinct to listen.

Now!

"The weak don't even have the right to choose how they die."

As he spoke, a cold gleam flashed in Li Shunchen's eyes. His cursed energy, long poised to strike, surged like a flood and overwhelmed Yaga's control over the cursed corpse-a usurpation!

The kappa cursed corpse swinging at Li Shunchen suddenly stiffened for an instant.

Then, before Masamichi Yaga's astonished eyes, the cursed corpse abruptly changed direction, its cursed-energy-wrapped fist smashing toward the face of its master, Masamichi Yaga!

The wind from the punch stirred Masamichi Yaga's crew cut. But the fist stopped one centimeter from his sunglasses.

Masamichi Yaga merely raised an eyebrow and gently crooked a finger.

That oceanic mass of cursed energy instantly reclaimed ownership, crushing Li Shunchen's meager, crude cursed energy to pieces. The kappa cursed corpse obediently lowered its arms like a puppet with its strings cut.

Although the attack had failed, Li Shunchen had already achieved his aim.

He released his grip, stepped back half a pace, and straightened his slightly disheveled collar.

Masamichi Yaga looked at the young man before him and fell silent for a moment, then the corners of his mouth lifted in an almost imperceptible curve.

"Window's report mentioned that your cursed technique apparently lets you replicate other people's cursed techniques. And the last one you replicated was Puppet Manipulation, which belonged to that Assistant Supervisor who died. Using that experience, you instantly analyzed my construction... Not only did you answer my question, you also used words to divert my attention and tried to seize my cursed corpse to attack me?"

Yaga adjusted his sunglasses, his tone a little less stern and a little more appreciative. "Very greedy, and very arrogant. As a Jujutsu Sorcerer, you pass."

Bang-!!

Just then, someone kicked open the door to the Principal's Office.

"Hahahaha! Yaga! Was that ugly thing trying to punch you just now? I saw it! It was definitely trying to punch you, right?" An extremely cocky, boyish voice shattered the solemn atmosphere in the room.

Li Shunchen turned to look. Three figures in Jujutsu High uniforms walked in.

Leading them was a white-haired boy wearing sunglasses, his hands in his pockets and his laughter unrestrained-Satoru Gojo, radiating an aura of "I'm the greatest in the world."

Behind him came a black-haired boy with a bun and peculiar bangs. Though he wore a gentle smile, his narrow eyes held an air of arrogance-Suguru Geto.

Last was a somewhat languid-looking girl with short hair and a beauty mark at the corner of her eye, idly fiddling with a lighter-Shoko Ieiri.

These were the current first-years, the legendary "strongest generation."

"Satoru, we should be polite to the new student." Despite saying that, Suguru Geto kept his gaze fixed on Li Shunchen, a trace of curiosity in his eyes. "For that instant just now, your cursed energy wavelength became similar to Mr. Yaga's... What an interesting cursed technique."

"Who cares about that!" Satoru Gojo strode up to Li Shunchen in a few steps, thrusting his excessively handsome face right in front of him. He took off his sunglasses, his azure Six Eyes like brilliant gems as they scanned Li Shunchen without a single blind spot.

"Hey, new guy." Satoru Gojo grinned, a hint of provocation in his expression. "I hear you can copy cursed techniques? Then why don't you try copying mine?" As he spoke, he held up a finger, its tip wreathed in the daunting Limitless.

Li Shunchen looked into those eyes. Countless times in the simulation, he had not dared meet them, but now he did not look away. He activated Phantom Parade.

[Analyzing...]

[Target: Satoru Gojo.]