Special training

"Hey—Akutagawa-kun, wake up—come on, wake up."

Akutagawa Shang slowly opened his eyes. Satoru Gojo's face was so close that it filled most of his vision.

"Ow-" He instinctively jerked his head back, only for a sharp, throbbing pain to shoot through it.

Akutagawa Shang sat up and couldn't help pressing a hand to his aching forehead.

"This is already the second time you've passed out in the few days you've been at Jujutsu High, Akutagawa-kun. Sleeping wherever you please, whether for a nap or the night, is prohibited here," Satoru Gojo teased from beside him.

"How did I pass out again...?"

"Let me explain. Just now, I fed my cursed energy into your body. After you absorbed it, you seemed to gain the ability to use my Limitless, just like when you learned Reverse Cursed Technique. And you really did try using it. You even came close to succeeding."

"But... unfortunately, not just anyone can use my technique."

"Still, it's a good thing you failed. If you'd accidentally succeeded, it might have been more than just a headache. You could've burned out your entire brain." Satoru Gojo pointed at his Six Eyes, then poked Akutagawa Shang's head.

Holding his throbbing head, Akutagawa Shang also recalled what he'd done.

Crap. I was so caught up in testing whether I could use an absorbed technique that I forgot that absurd, ridiculous rule forcibly tying Limitless to the Six Eyes.

As the Gojo Clan's inherited technique, Limitless required precise manipulation of cursed energy at the atomic level to operate. Achieving that degree of precision was almost impossible without the Six Eyes. And without the Six Eyes to reduce cursed energy consumption, the demands Limitless placed on cursed energy control were downright terrifying. This forcibly tied Limitless to the Six Eyes: without the Six Eyes, using Limitless was almost impossible.

Earlier, Akutagawa Shang had tried to force Limitless to activate by following the flow of Satoru Gojo's cursed energy. But without the Six Eyes, the enormous computational burden had fallen directly on his brain. It was like trying to run a massive AAA game on an old phone from the early 2000s. The result was that he'd nearly fried his brain.

"An accident. It was an accident." Realizing that his recklessness had nearly left him in a vegetative state, Akutagawa Shang could only give an awkward smile and hurriedly change the subject.

"Was it really an accident? Never mind. As long as you're all right." Satoru Gojo gave him a meaningful look.

"Now, let's get down to business. Judging from what just happened, after absorbing cursed energy, you seem able to use not only universal skills like Reverse Cursed Technique, but even the innate cursed technique belonging to that energy's owner. If the technique you just used hadn't been my Limitless, you probably would've succeeded."

"That does seem to be the case."

Akutagawa Shang checked inside his body again. He could absolutely activate Limitless through Satoru Gojo's cursed energy inside him; he simply couldn't actually use it because he lacked the Six Eyes.

"Hmm-I can use it, sure. But if I'm sensing this correctly, once I've used up the absorbed cursed energy, the technique belonging to its source will disappear too. Then I won't be able to use that technique anymore."

"So there's a limit on how many times you can use it?"

"That seems to be how it works."

"Great!!!" Satoru Gojo suddenly threw both hands into the air, his voice brimming with excitement.

"Now that we've figured out your ability, it's time to put together a special training plan for you."

"Huh? I really have to do special training? Can I skip it?"

"Huh? Skip it? Sure. But without special training, you won't get stronger, Akutagawa-kun. Without getting stronger, you won't be able to take high-level missions. Without high-level missions, you won't get any reward money. And then what will you eat? Oh, I almost forgot to mention: your teacher has been covering all your meals so far. You wouldn't want to end up unable to afford food, would you, Akutagawa-kun?" Satoru Gojo said with a wicked grin.

"..."

Akutagawa Shang fell silent. Everything he'd eaten and drunk over the past few days had gone on Satoru Gojo's tab. He was essentially penniless, with only the ten yuan he'd brought from his original world. He didn't even know whether he could use it here.

"Come on, sir, you can't do this to me. I'll train. I'll train, okay?" Tears streamed down his face. There was no helping it-even a hero could be brought low by a single penny.

"That's more like it. I'll lay out your plan now, so listen carefully." As Satoru Gojo spoke, he began counting on his fingers.

"First, since absorbing cursed energy directly from a Jujutsu Sorcerer's body meets resistance and isn't very efficient, let's try a different approach. Why not absorb the cursed energy a Jujutsu Sorcerer voluntarily releases outside their body?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm? Is it that hard to understand? Then let me put it plainly. When Jujutsu Sorcerers attack with their techniques, their attacks contain cursed energy. What you need to do is take those attacks while keeping yourself safe, then absorb the cursed energy they release."

"To put it in the simplest, most direct, most straightforward, most decisive, plainest, most practical, least roundabout, most to-the-point terms-'get beaten up.'"

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???

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"What did you say, sir? Did I hear that right?" Akutagawa Shang thought he'd misheard.

"That's right. Get beaten up. You have very little cursed energy, but you can increase your reserves through absorption. Most enemies will let their guard down when they see you. After all, how strong could you be with so little cursed energy? All you have to do then is bide your time, play weak to take down someone strong, and make the meter run backward. When your enemies see you gaining more cursed energy the longer they fight you, they'll definitely be shocked and leave an opening."

"Uh... so what should I do now?"

"First, reinforce your body with cursed energy. That shouldn't be hard for you. I've watched you, and almost none of your cursed energy leaks out when you use it. That means you're very efficient with it, so reinforcing your body shouldn't cost you much."

"And then?"

"Next comes hand-to-hand training. You have too little combat experience, whether against humans or cursed spirits. You need a one-on-one sparring partner. At the very least, you need to get good enough not to be at a disadvantage against an enemy."

Akutagawa Shang suddenly had a bad feeling.

"I think Maki would be a good choice. In terms of hand-to-hand combat alone, she should be the strongest in this year's class. With her as your sparring partner, we shouldn't have to worry about your hand-to-hand skills anymore, Akutagawa-kun. Besides, I'm sure Maki would be very happy to help train you." Satoru Gojo looked at Akutagawa Shang with a wicked grin.

"What? I object!!"

"Overruled. Objection denied!!"

"No way! Even if I, Akutagawa Shang, got beaten to death by a cursed spirit or jumped off a building, I would never ask Maki to spar with me!"

"That's a shame. Then I'll have to ask you to pay back what you owe your teacher Gojo-"

In the cafeteria, Maki put down the Coke in her hand.

After swallowing the mouthful of hamburger she'd been chewing, she said, "So that's why you came to me? You want me to be your sparring partner and help improve your hand-to-hand skills?"

"That's right. Please. Pretty please!!" Akutagawa Shang pressed his palms together and kept bowing deeply to Maki.

Yes, he'd come to Maki after all. To ask for her help, he'd even made a point of bringing her favorite fried chicken and hamburgers. (P.S. Satoru Gojo had paid for the fried chicken and hamburgers too. It seemed Akutagawa-kun's debt was growing ever larger.)

Maki tore into the food before her, bite after bite, feasting heartily and occasionally making satisfied noises.

"Delish!!"

"All right. Since you're being so sincere, I'll agree for now. I'll make sure to train you properly."

"But-once my training starts, you can't call it off halfway through." Maki licked the salad dressing from the corner of her mouth and looked up at him.

A chill ran down Akutagawa Shang's spine. He suddenly felt that things weren't looking so good.