When Utahime Iori jolted awake, it was already seven o’clock.
Realizing she had slept later than intended, she hurried out of bed to wash up.
As she recalled everything that had happened yesterday, the memory of last night’s dream made her blush slightly in embarrassment.
Don’t misunderstand.
There had been nothing strange about the dream.
She had simply dreamed that, after developing a way to attack on her own, she was showing off her newfound strength in front of a certain junior.
Now that she was awake and thinking back on it, the version of herself in that dream really had been childish.
Grumbling inwardly, she tied the sash of her shrine maiden outfit, picked up the textbooks and materials she had prepared beside her, and hurried downstairs.
After saying goodbye to the elderly woman who managed the dormitory, she jogged toward the training ground.
Just as she reached the entrance, she heard a distant voice calling out.
“Senpai~ I’m over here~”
Not far away, beneath the morning sunlight, a certain junior stood quietly waiting.
When he noticed her looking over, he even raised a hand and waved.
Perhaps it was because of the sunlight, but from Utahime’s perspective, Tōru Azuma almost seemed to be glowing, making it strangely difficult to look away.
The next second, she hurriedly shook her head and slapped her cheeks, scattering those strange thoughts while scolding herself for letting her imagination run wild again.
Sure, this junior was fairly handsome.
And after a night of rest and a proper wash, the face that had previously been covered in dust was much cleaner.
His torn clothes had also been replaced by a fitted Jujutsu High uniform, outlining a physique that wasn’t skinny, but well-proportioned.
But none of that was a reason for her imagination to run wild!
This was a junior who trusted and looked up to her, someone who would eventually become her underclassman at school.
She had to set a proper example!
Tōru Azuma, meanwhile, was somewhat confused.
Utahime had suddenly frozen after seeing him, then started slapping her own cheeks.
Was she still half asleep?
Was eight o’clock really too early after all?
Should he suggest changing it to nine next time?
“Senpai, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.
I just slept a little too deeply last night.
But you’re here pretty early.
It isn’t even seven-thirty yet.”
Utahime quickly changed the subject, looking at him with some curiosity.
“I thought you might be a little late.”
Tōru Azuma could only smile helplessly.
Perhaps because of the unusually rigid sleep schedule he had developed before transmigrating, he had always woken up at seven every morning without fail.
Apparently, that habit had followed him into this world. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Or perhaps he had simply gotten enough rest already.
Either way, he had woken up early enough to run several laps around the dormitory buildings before coming here.
There had seemed to be some mysterious music playing in his ears the entire time he ran, but he hadn’t felt any discomfort.
Afterward, he had checked himself in the dormitory mirror, and his lips hadn’t turned purple either, so there was probably nothing to worry about.
Thinking of that, he picked up a wrapped sandwich from beside him and handed it to Utahime.
“Senpai, have you eaten breakfast yet?
I stopped by the cafeteria earlier and grabbed one for you.”
Utahime looked at the sandwich her junior was offering her.
She was just about to say she wasn’t hungry when her stomach gave a very faint growl.
Unfortunately, in the quiet of the early morning, that tiny sound was still painfully obvious.
She immediately turned her head away in embarrassment, a faint blush creeping up her neck.
Tōru Azuma didn’t tease her.
Instead, he deliberately put on a regretful expression.
“If you don’t want it, senpai, I guess I’ll have to throw it away.”
“Wasting food is unacceptable.”
Realizing that he was deliberately giving her an excuse to accept it, Utahime felt a little touched.
Outwardly, however, she remained stubbornly composed as she took the sandwich and began eating, even shooting him a glare in the process.
“Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you just because of this, okay?
I’m very strict when I teach!”
“Understood, senpai.”
And so, the rest of the early morning passed with Tōru Azuma chatting casually while Utahime ate.
Naturally, they mostly talked about simple things, such as how he had found the dormitory the night before.
It was obvious that Utahime at this age was fairly talkative and had plenty to say.
But once the formal lesson began that morning, she immediately became as serious and focused as she had promised.
“So, the fundamental nature of Cursed Energy is…”
The morning was devoted to teaching him basic knowledge.
It was the first proper lesson Utahime had prepared for him.
Normally, this kind of class would have taken place inside one of the school buildings, but since the school was currently on break and Tōru Azuma wasn’t yet an official student, they simply held the lesson at the training ground.
Tōru Azuma also felt that the outdoor air made it easier for him to memorize the material.
Much of what Utahime explained was already familiar to him, but there were also several obscure pieces of information he was hearing for the first time.
So he listened carefully and committed everything to memory.
And after this lesson, there were finally some subjects he could openly discuss with Utahime without making himself seem suspicious.
“I didn’t expect you to have such a good memory.
After questioning him for a while, Utahime stared at him in surprise.
The basic knowledge of the Jujutsu World wasn’t particularly difficult, but there was a huge amount of it.
Memorizing everything normally took some time.
Yet the moment she finished explaining, Tōru Azuma had claimed that he already remembered it all.
At first, that had annoyed her.
She thought her junior was merely brushing her off, so she deliberately asked him several of the more difficult questions on the spot.
To her surprise, he answered every single one correctly.
For Tōru Azuma, who had endured endless practice exams and mountains of questions in his previous life, this was nothing remarkable.
Besides, he had already studied much of this information while researching Jujutsu Kaisen lore back then, so memorizing it now was hardly difficult.
“Maybe I’m just naturally talented when it comes to this kind of thing.
But now that we’ve covered the basics, shouldn’t we move on to practical training?”
Utahime considered his suggestion.
Originally, she had expected the basic knowledge portion to take at least a day or two.
She hadn’t anticipated that Tōru Azuma would memorize everything so quickly.
If that was the case, then she really could adjust her lesson plan and move on to practical training.
There was one thing she was curious about, though.
Did Tōru Azuma possess a Cursed Technique?
And if he did, what exactly did it do?
Of course, that wasn’t something she needed to worry about right now.
The first priority was getting this junior to properly master the flow and control of Cursed Energy.
With that in mind, she nodded.
“That’s fine.
But I should warn you, controlling Cursed Energy isn’t as simple as you seem to think.”
“The way you used Cursed Energy at the subway station was incredibly wasteful.
If you didn’t have such an enormous amount of Cursed Energy, the way you were using it would probably have drained you completely in just a few seconds.”
Seeing her serious expression, Tōru Azuma immediately focused.
“Then what should I do, senpai?”
Utahime thought for a moment before giving him his first direction.
“First, precise control.
Start by remembering what it felt like when Cursed Energy flowed through your body, then gather it into your hand.”
Tōru Azuma nodded and recalled the sensation from before.
Before long, a mass of deep blue Cursed Energy appeared over his hand like a flame.
Its edges were clearly defined, and its form remained perfectly stable.