Toji Fushiguro looked at Igarashi Amaha, his eyes flickering briefly, then walked away without looking back.
He was right. Toji could no longer kill Riko Amanai. Leaving Suguru Geto aside for now, Igarashi Amaha was the main problem. Fighting him would be a thankless struggle no matter what, and besides, he might even end up stuck here...
Ring, ring! Ring, ring!
Tap!
"Hello."
"What happened to the 'Star Plasma Vessel'?" A calm voice came from the other end of the phone.
Toji Fushiguro rubbed the back of his neck and said indifferently, "Ah, I failed."
"What?"
"Toji Fushiguro, if you can't bring back the 'Star Plasma Vessel,' forget about getting the rest of your payment." The voice on the other end suddenly turned icy.
Toji Fushiguro held the phone farther away, picked his ear, and replied flatly, "Oh, really? Then keep it."
The other end fell silent for a moment, then roared in fury, "Bastard! What kind of attitude is that? Is that how you talk to your employer?"
"...Time Vessel Association, I know where your headquarters is. Our contract is over now. Think before you speak. I hope you understand."
...Beep! Beep!
The call ended, and Toji Fushiguro slipped the phone into his pocket disdainfully.
Suddenly, his steps halted. His eyes narrowed as he stared in disbelief at the figure before him.
"Yo, long time no see," the figure said.
"You've got to be kidding..." The sight of Igarashi Amaha coming back to life, along with everything he had said, instantly filled his mind.
"The real deal." Covered in blood, Satoru Gojo lifted his bangs, revealing a hideous wound on his forehead. Tapping it with a finger, he said, "Not only that, I'm as lively as ever."
The sight of the wound brought Toji Fushiguro back to his senses. This was worlds apart from Igarashi Amaha's resurrection. That guy could heal every injury in less than a minute without leaving a scar, whereas the wound on Satoru Gojo's forehead was still there. It had to be that. His brow furrowed slightly. "Reverse Cursed Technique?"
Satoru Gojo gave an unhinged smile and said, "Correct. The instant you pierced my throat, I willingly gave up resisting and focused everything on activating Reverse Cursed Technique. Cursed energy is negative energy. It can strengthen the body, but it can't regenerate it. So you multiply two sources of negative energy to produce positive energy. That's Reverse Cursed Technique."
"It sounds simple, but I'd never managed it before, and I couldn't understand what the only person around me who could use it was talking about..."
Watching Satoru Gojo grow increasingly manic before him, Toji Fushiguro murmured inwardly, He won't stop talking. This guy... is getting really worked up.
Satoru Gojo spread his arms and gazed at the sky in a daze. "But at the very last moment, I grasped it-the core of cursed energy! The reason you lost is that you didn't cut off..."
Toji Fushiguro's brow knitted at those words. "He really called it. How annoying."
He pulled the Inverted Spear from the mouth of the Inventory Curse Worm on his shoulder and said blandly, "The reason I lost? One unkillable cockroach after another. You really know how to piss someone off."
Gripping the Inverted Spear, Toji Fushiguro vanished from his spot in a blur and charged at Satoru Gojo. The muscles of the arm holding the Inverted Spear bulged as he slashed viciously at Satoru Gojo's face.
Whoosh!
Yet Satoru Gojo still wore that dazed expression as he dodged with ease. The Inverted Spear swept past his face, the wind it raised sending his bangs fluttering.
Toji Fushiguro quickly adjusted, flipping his wrist into a reverse grip on the Inverted Spear as he turned and thrust.
Whoosh!
"Hmm?" Satoru Gojo instantly disappeared from his spot and appeared upside down behind him, pointing several fingers at Toji Fushiguro.
Cursed Technique Reversal: Red!
Buzzz!! Zzzzt!!
Boom!!
Toji Fushiguro's pupils contracted slightly. Reacting swiftly on instinct, he held the Inverted Spear across his chest to block the blow.
Scarlet light flashed.
Boom!!
He had underestimated what this strike would bring. The impact of Red blasted Toji Fushiguro away, smashing a massive crater into the building behind him.
"What a monster." Toji Fushiguro grinned savagely, then planted the Inverted Spear in the ground and stretched both arms behind his back. The muscles of his upper body bulged, pulling his tight-fitting shirt taut.
He rapidly thought it over: My bones aren't shattered. Was that shock wave just now Limitless, Reverse Cursed Technique: Red? Feeding the positive energy produced by Reverse Cursed Technique into the Limitless engraved into his body.
One. The "power to stop," Limitless maintained in its neutral state.
Two. The "power to attract," Blue, produced by strengthening Limitless.
And three, the "power to repel," Cursed Technique Reversal: Red.
All of it is manageable!
Toji Fushiguro pulled the Chain of a Thousand Miles from the Inventory Curse Worm's mouth, attached it to the Inverted Spear, and began spinning it, ready to deal Satoru Gojo a fatal blow at any moment.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"Something's wrong..."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Lying in midair, Satoru Gojo seemed to notice something, his azure eyes glancing down.
Toji Fushiguro's expression changed.
"Something's wrong..."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"No, this works too." The corners of Toji Fushiguro's mouth rose. Then he put more strength into his hand, chopping the surrounding ground to pieces.
He violently hurled the Chain of a Thousand Miles attached to the Inverted Spear, sending it thrusting straight toward Satoru Gojo!
"I'll kill you!"
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Igarashi Amaha, Suguru Geto, Riko Amanai, Kuroi, and the others were leisurely making their way toward the gates of Jujutsu High.
Compared with Igarashi Amaha's composure, Suguru Geto looked deeply worried, asking a few questions every so often.
"Amaha, is Satoru really going to be okay? Maybe I should go help him."
"If you want to go, go. I'm not stopping you," Igarashi Amaha said helplessly.
After weighing it over repeatedly, Suguru Geto said, "He should be fine. Protecting Riko is our top priority right now. Satoru's so strong. He'll be okay."
Just then, Masamichi Yaga came running over with two cursed corpses. Before anyone could ask, he hurriedly said, "I already understand what you're planning. Some higher-ups from the Three Great Families have come to capture the 'Star Plasma Vessel.' You can't use the front gate anymore. Try leaving through the back gate."
"Yaga, is this your decision?" An aged but forceful voice came from the distance.
They looked up. They were here...
The higher-ups of Jujutsu High... and a bunch of old fossils from the Three Great Families...
Gakuganji, who stood at their head, slowly stepped forward, an unreadable trace of something in his eyes.
"Hand over the 'Star Plasma Vessel,' Yaga."
Kuroi, Riko Amanai, and the others grew nervous too. The atmosphere between the two groups was tense, daggers drawn.
"Hey, old man, this isn't a disco for seniors. If you want to dance, piss off somewhere else. Don't block the way."
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