Recalling the properties of the Stand Crazy Diamond, Chingetsu already had a plan in mind.
He picked up a drink provided by the archery hall and took a sip.
Chingetsu picked up the case containing the cash and headed toward the entrance to the baths.
The baths inside the archery hall were provided for members who practiced archery there. Taking a bath after finishing a session was the best way to wash away fatigue.
Chingetsu reached the entrance to the baths. Water splashed.
Before Chingetsu could step through the doorway, he heard the clear sound of running water from a private stall inside. But he distinctly remembered that the archery hall had admitted only him that day.
"Interesting."
A faint smile appeared on Chingetsu's lips. Rather than retreating, he advanced. Water kept splashing.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but Chingetsu felt that the sound of water inside had grown louder. Hot water sent up clouds of steam that drifted through the wooden partition door and swirled around his feet. The mist was thick.
But Chingetsu still spotted something.
A fishlike creature with an almost transparent body floated in the mist.
With the mist concealing it, the swordfish-like creature had achieved almost perfect invisibility. Unfortunately, it had encountered Chingetsu, a "monster" who could not be judged by ordinary standards.
The swordfish watched menacingly from the mist. Chingetsu was in no hurry either.
The swordfish Shikigami's presence was not powerful, but Chingetsu was curious about its master. What was the objective of the Shikigami user controlling the swordfish from behind the scenes?
In the instant Chingetsu was thinking,
the swordfish Shikigami accelerated through the mist, its sharp teeth already biting through a steel pipe. Scalding water erupted from the pipe, spraying straight toward Chingetsu's face. "Very good. You've successfully made me angry."
At that point, Chingetsu no longer cared what intentions lay behind the swordfish Shikigami's master's actions.
He directly activated his Stand's ability, Bites the Dust, erasing the stream of scalding water spraying toward him. Then Chingetsu clenched one hand, erasing the mist within the space.
Without the mist to conceal it, the swordfish Shikigami's nearly transparent body was exposed right before Chingetsu's eyes. "The Hand!"
A blue phantom crossed its hands and slashed down abruptly through the space in front of Chingetsu.
Space was instantly erased, and Chingetsu severed the panicking swordfish Shikigami's sharp bill with a chop of his hand. It had lost its most powerful weapon.
The swordfish Shikigami instantly turned vicious.
It snapped its sharp teeth toward Chingetsu's shoulder. But it was all futile.
Before overwhelming strength, the swordfish Shikigami was like clay in a child's hands, to be molded at will. "What a cold-blooded bastard. You don't even care if your Shikigami dies?"
Chingetsu demonstrated expert fish-butchering skills to the swordfish Shikigami's master. First came the dorsal fin, then the tail fin.
Every part Chingetsu's fingers passed over disappeared eerily. It was like an eraser rubbing out a simple drawing on paper.
Chingetsu was perfectly capable of obliterating the swordfish Shikigami in an instant. But he did not do so.
He wanted to subject its master to psychological pressure and humiliation.
"Still refusing to come out? Is that filthy drain really so comfortable?"
Chingetsu could not be bothered to keep up the act. He stomped straight down on the bathroom drain. "Killer Queen!"
Killer Queen appeared behind Chingetsu and drove a charged punch into the floor. The floor burst apart instantly.
A disheveled figure was blasted out by the powerful shock wave.
? -
Chapter 58: The plan
"You rat." A cold gleam flashed through Chingetsu's eyes.
He tightened his hand slightly, crushing the swordfish Shikigami outright. "P-please, spare..."
Yusuke Zenin began begging for mercy, his speech slurred. The blast had injured his jaw.
Yusuke Zenin's mouth was a bloody mess, making even speaking difficult. Yusuke Zenin was a Shikigami user who served the same boss as Kusumoto Hajime. However,
the two had never gotten along. Neither could stand the other.
Recently, Yusuke Zenin had noticed something strange about Kusumoto Hajime's behavior.
So he had secretly followed Kusumoto Hajime, wanting to find out exactly what he was up to. Thanks to his Shikigami's unique properties,
Yusuke Zenin had avoided drawing Kusumoto Hajime's attention the entire way. As for what was inside Kusumoto Hajime's case,
Yusuke Zenin knew that perfectly well too. A full twenty million yen. If he stole that money,
the enormous sum would be enough for him to live it up for quite some time. More importantly,
he could use the opportunity to take Kusumoto Hajime down a peg and put him in his place.
So when Yusuke Zenin discovered the briefcase in a teenage boy's hands, he could no longer suppress his greed.
Kill the boy, steal the money, and pin it on Kusumoto Hajime. Yusuke Zenin's plan sounded wonderful.
But things went wrong at the very first step. He had chosen the wrong target.
The scene of him brutally killing the boy as he had imagined never came to pass.
Instead, his Shikigami was discovered, leaving him at a disadvantage.
Yusuke Zenin watched helplessly as the boy used an extremely bizarre power to erase the swordfish Shikigami's body bit by bit. But he dared not make a sound.
The power Chingetsu had displayed was far beyond the reach of a mere Shikigami user like him. "Is begging for your life all you can do?"
A trace of disappointment flashed through Chingetsu's eyes.
He had thought the man might be someone formidable, but he turned out to be nothing more than a coward. As for why the man had attacked him, Chingetsu was no longer interested in knowing. An elephant never cared about an ant baring its fangs at it.
All it would do was stomp down.
Five minutes later, Chingetsu walked out of the archery hall carrying the briefcase. He had left some money behind to cover the repairs.
As for Yusuke Zenin, he had completely erased him with his Stand's ability.
"Cursed Spirits, Curse Users, Shikigami users, unidentified people coming to steal a Special Grade Cursed Object. What will show up next?"
A cold glint flashed through Chingetsu's eyes.
"This world is getting more and more interesting."
"Curse Users, Shikigami users... I hope you don't come looking for trouble with me." It was already evening when he returned to the bar.
Chingetsu pushed open the bar's front door.
The bar had remained closed during the past few days while Nanami was injured. Fortunately, Chingetsu only ran the bar as a hobby,
so he was not particularly concerned about whether it had customers. He found a comfortable position and lay down.
Chingetsu took out his phone and began searching for a place name from his memories. "Yes, this is the place."
Chingetsu's brow furrowed slightly as he settled on a location. Mimiko and Nanako.
If he remembered correctly, the villagers should already have discovered that the two children were different. After all, even in a place like Kyoto,
ordinary people knew very little about Jujutsu Sorcerers. In a remote, backward village,
ignorance would only make those people fear the existence of such supernatural powers. Chingetsu calculated the journey.
A flight, followed by a train ride and some mountain roads. It would take about a day.
If he booked a ticket now, the earliest flight would be tomorrow at noon. Without hesitation, Chingetsu booked a ticket for the next day.
Since he had decided to save those two little girls, Chingetsu would not waste another minute. Click.
A crisp sound came from the second floor.
Chingetsu's ears twitched, and a helpless expression appeared on his face. A dark figure appeared behind him.
Chingetsu's vision suddenly went dark. "Guess who?"
An affected, high-pitched voice sounded beside Chingetsu's ear.
"Satoru Gojo, if you climb through the window again..." "Hmm?"
"I'll kill you!" "Tch!"
Satoru Gojo sheepishly removed his hands.
Then Chingetsu's phone screen caught his attention. "Going on a trip? That's rare, Chingetsu." Satoru Gojo was curious.
As far as he remembered, Chingetsu had never ventured very far.
Now that he saw Chingetsu buying a plane ticket, clearly preparing to travel somewhere distant, he could not help feeling a little curious.
Chapter 59: Well? Tempted?
"Are you going on vacation? I'm so jealous."
Satoru Gojo pulled up a chair and sat down as if he owned the place, taking a can of cola from the refrigerated cabinet. As a student of Jujutsu High,
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