One Ka of Chakra

Another notification sounded. Yue Liusi was a little surprised, but before he could react, a sudden pain shot through his eyes. Scarlet spread across them, and a single black tomoe slowly emerged.

"Y-you, what's wrong?"

Seeing him suddenly cover his eyes, Itadori hurriedly asked in concern.

But when Yue Liusi raised his head with one hand covering an eye, the sight of his other scarlet eye made Itadori's heart tighten.

"Nothing..."

Yue Liusi shook his head. As he gradually adjusted, his Sharingan faded away.

Generally speaking, becoming a genin had two requirements. The first was proficiency in the Three Basic Techniques, which he already possessed. The key lay in the second.

A test and approval from a jonin instructor.

Did Mei Mei count as a jonin instructor in the system's eyes?

He seemed to be starting to understand the logic behind how the system worked.

"We still have a mission. You can go straight to the assistant supervisor."

Yue Liusi shook his head at Mei Mei's words.

"Sorry, I have plans of my own."

He had to follow the system's missions.

Hearing Yue Liusi's response, Mei Mei said no more.

Good advice really couldn't save someone bent on dying...

She shook her head, turned, and left with Ui Ui.

"Suit yourself. Try to stay alive."

Before leaving, Itadori patted Yue Liusi on the shoulder, then flashed a brilliant smile and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Good luck!"

Watching the three leave, Yue Liusi took a deep breath, his gaze growing resolute.

Strength! Strength!

First, I'll finish that last mission!

Soon, Yue Liusi used the Phoenix Flower Jutsu once, easily completing mission two.

One-Tomoe, a ninjutsu, and basic chakra control.

Now he finally had some real tools at his disposal.

Ninjutsu gave him his strongest means of attack at present, while chakra control provided support capabilities, such as coating himself in chakra to enhance his taijutsu.

And the Sharingan went without saying. It was the Uchiha's cheat!

With all three missions completed, new ones arrived.

[Mission one: Eliminate ten genin. Reward: Water Dragon Bullet Technique, Explosive Tag ×10]

[Mission two: Become a chunin. Reward: Lava Release]

[Mission three: Defeat one chunin. Reward: Increase total chakra by 1 ka]

All good stuff!

Yue Liusi's eyes lit up. Mission one was the easiest to complete, followed by mission three. As for mission two, he still did not know its exact requirements.

"A chunin, huh..."

Going by what had just happened, that probably meant a cursed spirit at the top of Grade 2.

With that thought, Yue Liusi immediately set his sights on Locust GUY, the Semi-Grade 1 cursed spirit on the second basement level.

I wonder if Itadori has dealt with it yet...

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

"Since we're already here, let's clear out these transfigured humans first, then deal with the cursed spirit guarding the curtain."

Mei Mei spoke, and the other two nodded.

Because of Yue Liusi, the two who should have split up had not done so.

After swiftly dealing with the transfigured human grunts, the three hurried to the second basement level. By then, Yue Liusi had already begun fighting.

"Y-you, you... are a j-j-j-jujutsu sorcerer, right?"

At the sight of the newcomer, a stammering voice emerged from the locust cursed spirit's mouth. Before it could take pride in its own cleverness, Yue Liusi had already closed in!

After adapting to his own strength, his mindset had changed.

Now, he had no habit of wasting time.

Chakra coated his right fist. His arm, like a fully drawn bow, sent it hurtling toward the locust cursed spirit's head!

The locust cursed spirit hurriedly raised all four arms to block, but was still sent flying backward some distance. Yue Liusi had already followed it.

Another powerful whipping kick came, but this time the cursed spirit caught it with both arms. Just then, Yue Liusi pushed off with one leg, using the force to spin his body and bring a leg cleaving down!

The locust cursed spirit tried to repeat the trick with its remaining two arms, only to see those scarlet eyes shift. The descending leg brushed past its arms and slipped through its defenses!

With a bang, the locust cursed spirit's head was driven down until it nearly twisted out of shape, and its body rapidly retreated.

Yue Liusi planted one hand on the ground, flipped, and landed nimbly on his feet.

Then he swiftly unleashed his ninjutsu!

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

The locust cursed spirit had only just recovered when it looked up to see eight or nine fireballs hurtling straight at it!

Caught off guard, it barely blocked three fireballs. The rest slammed directly into its body.

Scorching flames spread rapidly. At the same time, four shuriken concealed inside the fireballs pierced straight into the cursed spirit's body!

"Hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts..."

The locust cursed spirit still tried to struggle. Flames of this intensity had wounded it badly, but were not enough to exorcise it completely.

But immediately afterward, it sensed the searing power inside its body.

Beneath its hard exoskeleton lay its absolute weak point.

The explosive tags activated!

This was Yue Liusi's only means of inflicting a fatal wound on this cursed spirit right now!

Boom!

With a thunderous blast, the cursed spirit was blown to pieces, settling everything.

That "clever" head rolled to the ground, its eyes wide, seemingly unable to make sense of what had happened.

Yue Liusi let out a soft breath.

His exorcism of this Semi-Grade 1 cursed spirit had looked swift, but it had been anything but easy.

A string of attacks to keep up the pressure, then shuriken concealed within fireballs, with explosive tags attached to the shuriken as his final move-he had used almost everything at his disposal.

If he had not gone all out in that brief window, things would probably have become dangerous once his opponent adapted to his methods.

Still, he had to admit that fighting this way was very practical.

[Mission three completed]

One ka of chakra arrived, instantly replenishing Yue Liusi's nearly depleted reserves.

As the system notification sounded, Mei Mei and the other two finally arrived.

Seeing the cursed spirit that had been so swiftly exorcised, Itadori could not help feeling shocked.

"So strong!"

This was Grade 3?!

All three had noticed the commotion just now. Most Grade 2 jujutsu sorcerers probably lacked the ability to exorcise it this quickly, right?

Had it been him, dealing with this cursed spirit would not have been difficult, but he would not have done it so quickly either.

It looked like Mei Mei's judgment was off.

Beside him, Mei Mei was also surprised as she looked at that figure.

"The power of that cursed technique..."

Had she misjudged him...?

No, his aura really had grown stronger than before.

But Mei Mei's brow furrowed even more deeply.

Even with her extensive knowledge and experience, she had no idea what to make of this baffling development.

At that moment, Yue Liusi paid no attention to the others. Only after the fight ended did he notice the abnormality in the power within his body.

Was this... a combination of cursed energy and chakra?

Emotional energy, physical energy, spiritual energy...