Images of light projected from the pupil at the center of the Cursed Tool, Trace. They gradually reassembled, beginning to reconstruct what had actually happened.
The goose carefully watched the images projected by Trace. A stooped old man appeared in them. Kōhei Hachibonki, the organization's Grade 2 Curse User. Chi recognized the old man in the images.
Next, Kōhei Hachibonki appeared with grief on his face, discussing something with other members of the organization. Chi worked to read his lips and discovered that he mentioned "Dawn Bar" more than once.
Then something resembling a toy car charged inside. The members of the Q Organization attacked the toy tank as though they had seen a ghost, and the images cut off there.
Chi put Trace away, having gained some understanding of what had happened.
Although it sounded absurd, the culprit that had destroyed the Q Organization's branch and killed its precious Grade 2 Curse User was actually a bomb tank that looked like a toy.
"But what kind of bomb could raze such a large base to the ground? Were the Three Great Clans behind this?"
"Dawn Bar... Dawn Bar."
"Whatever the case, Dawn Bar must have something to do with the deaths of Kōhei Hachibonki and the others. I'll investigate its background first."
The eyes beneath the hood gleamed eerily.
"Gojo Chinsei, owner of Dawn Bar, a direct descendant of the Gojo Clan, apparently disowned because he couldn't inherit the clan's Cursed Technique..."
Dressed entirely in black, Chi plunged five fingers into a bald man's head and read his memories. "What remarkable information. A direct descendant of the Gojo Clan, one of the Three Great Families..."
Thud.
The bald man's lifeless body collapsed limply. Chi withdrew his fingers, covered in brain matter, and put them into his mouth, sucking them with abandon.
"How delicious. After spending so long in gloomy graveyards, I'd almost forgotten what fresh human brains tasted like. A piece of trash, but his brains tasted rather good."
"Heh heh heh..."
"Another beer!"
"A happy vacation should mean shopping, shopping, shopping, then having a few drinks, and finally singing your heart out at karaoke!" Inside Dawn Bar, Utahime Iori held up her empty beer mug and called to Kento Nanami.
There was no trace of Utahime Iori's usual delicacy now. Both her sitting posture and the way she drank were exceedingly uninhibited. Expressionless, Kento Nanami refilled her beer.
This woman was a Jujutsu Sorcerer from Jujutsu High. She went to the same school as Satoru Gojo.
Aside from a few minor details, the style and material of her clothes were nearly ninety-nine percent identical. Looking at her uniform, Kento Nanami reached his conclusion.
But this woman really couldn't hold her liquor.
Watching Utahime Iori abandon all decorum gave Kento Nanami a headache. The customers he had served in the past had all been well-mannered.
Even an eccentric like Satoru Gojo, who came to a bar without drinking alcohol and added six sugar cubes to a single coffee, had been courteous in word and deed.
This was his first time encountering a customer like Utahime Iori, who behaved badly when drunk yet loved drinking. And she was no ordinary customer, either-she was a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
That made Kento Nanami's headache even worse. He could only hope she would finish drinking and leave soon without causing trouble.
"An... another!"
The drunken Utahime Iori planted one foot on a barstool and raised her mug toward Kento Nanami again. "I hate work! Work really is shit!"
? -
Chapter 25: Ratio Technique
"Dawn Bar. This is the place."
"Born from darkness, darker than darkness; purify every trace of tainted residue."
Sinister Cursed Energy spread from Chi, and a hemispherical Curtain instantly enveloped the bar.
"I wonder what sort of surprise Hannya will give me after absorbing a direct descendant of the Gojo Clan. I can hardly wait." A sickly smile appeared on Chi's lips as he pushed open the bar's door.
"Ratio Technique: collapse!"
A calm male voice exploded beside his ear, and Chi's pupils abruptly contracted.
A slender hand swept toward him with a rush of air. The Cursed Energy enveloping it formed a blue streak that slashed viciously toward his neck.
An ambush?
"Decent speed. Too bad it lacks power."
Catching Kento Nanami's knife-hand strike with one hand, Liang curled his lips disdainfully. He had been a little flustered at first, but now he had completely regained his composure.
Chi, Mei, Liang, and Liang corresponded to the four doubles generated by Kimura €€suke's Cursed Technique.
Each of these four doubles possessed Semi-Grade 1 strength, while Kimura €€suke himself was a Grade 1 Curse User-and an outstanding one even among Grade 1 Curse Users.
Although the Jujutsu Sorcerer who had suddenly attacked him had seized the initiative, he was too young, after all. His Cursed Energy also appeared to meet only the Grade 3 standard.
With his Semi-Grade 1 strength, Chi had no regard whatsoever for a Jujutsu Sorcerer of this caliber.
"This is the difference in our strength. A Jujutsu Sorcerer at your level can't hurt me at all." Chi's lips curled with mockery.
"Really?"
Kento Nanami's calm tone instinctively alerted Chi that something was wrong.
He felt something strange at his neck. A bloody line appeared where his neck met his chest. "Strange. I clearly blocked it."
Chi checked the wound. It was shallow.
But this was a Jujutsu Sorcerer who had not even reached Grade 2, yet he had injured someone at Semi-Grade 1. It was rather unbelievable.
"How did you do that?"
At that moment, Chi seemed to have discovered something interesting. Instead of hurrying, he took his time.
"My Cursed Technique divides a target's length and forcibly creates a weak point at the seven-to-three ratio. It isn't limited to dividing height or arm span, and it works on inanimate objects, too."
"So the instant my Cursed Technique took effect, you were already injured." Kento Nanami rubbed his slightly swollen, reddened hand and revealed his Cursed Technique.
His opponent was too strong. Only by revealing his Cursed Technique and increasing its power would he have even a slim chance of escaping unscathed. "Revealing your Cursed Technique? So you're prepared to fight with everything you have?"
"Where's Gojo Chingetsu? Isn't he the owner? Why isn't he here?" He really was after the boss!
Kento Nanami's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly, and a trace of confusion arose within him. His boss was just an ordinary person. How had he provoked a Curse User? Still, thinking about that was useless now.
The Curse User before him was too strong.
His immediate priority was to escape, then find a way to contact Chingetsu and tell him to run for his life. Chi caught every change in Kento Nanami's eyes.
"Interesting, interesting! Even a mere employee is this entertaining. Looks like I'm lucky. I really want to crack open your skull and savor what's inside!"
Chi let out a deranged laugh.
"Now I'll show you just how vast the gap between us really is!" Black mist swirled around Chi's fingers.
"My Cursed Technique, Black Palm, possesses absolute absorption of Cursed Energy. It can draw an enemy's Cursed Energy out during battle." Chi revealed his Cursed Technique.
He wanted to subject his opponent to invisible pressure. This was his twisted amusement.
What Chi enjoyed most was letting despair eat away at his opponents bit by bit during battle until they finally broke. "Black Palm!"
Chi suddenly appeared behind Kento Nanami and struck his shoulder with a palm wreathed in black mist.
The strike was not fatal-or rather, Chi had made it so deliberately. With the absolute disparity in their strength, this was like a game of cat and mouse. Chi was the cat, and Kento Nanami was the mouse.
A cat did not kill a mouse with one blow; it toyed with it slowly. At this moment, Chi had fully embraced his role.
Palm strike followed palm strike. Chi attacked from extremely tricky angles, leaving Kento Nanami able only to dodge and defend passively. The injuries were not fatal.
But because of Black Palm's properties, the Cursed Energy inside Kento Nanami kept draining away. Gradually, his evasive movements grew smaller and smaller.
I've reached my limit. Am I going to die...?
I really am still too weak. Mr. Chingetsu, I'm sorry. I've made a mess of the bar. Watching the claw reaching for the top of his skull, Kento Nanami slowly closed his eyes.
"It's not time to clock out yet, Nanamin."
A familiar voice sounded beside Kento Nanami's ear.
Kento Nanami felt himself being lifted into someone's arms. He opened his eyes to Chingetsu's stern, handsome face. "When?"
Chi's hand closed on empty air where Kento Nanami had been. He stared in bewilderment at the young man who had suddenly appeared before him.
P.S. Whew, the fifth update. I almost dropped dead, but as long as readers want to read, this humble author will stay up late to deliver, if only to do justice to all the support you generous readers have given.
Chapter 26: Humiliation
"Run..."
Kento Nanami grabbed Chingetsu's arm and struggled to force a single word from his mouth. The loss of blood and Cursed Energy had left him terribly weak.
"Get some rest first, Nanamin."
Chingetsu acted as though he had not understood Kento Nanami's words.
"You've already done well. Leave the rest to me."
Chingetsu wiped the blood from the corner of Kento Nanami's mouth without looking at Chi once throughout the process. Somehow, looking at the calm Chingetsu, Kento Nanami felt himself calming down as well.
Setting Kento Nanami down, Chingetsu slowly turned and looked expressionlessly at the bewildered Chi. What a pair of eyes they were.
Beneath those seemingly calm, pitch-black eyes brewed endless indifference, madness, and slaughter. Under their stare, an intense sense of danger actually rose in Chi's heart. An illusion. It must be an illusion.
How could a brat possess such savage killing intent? I must have seen it wrong. Chi forcibly suppressed his unease and reassured himself.
"You wrecked my bar and injured my employee." "I'm very angry, so you won't get a quick death."
Before you continue