The sunlight was dappled by the shadows of the trees, and the cicadas were screaming for their lives; the weather was so hot it sapped everyone’s strength.
“So boring, Fushiguro…”
Itadori sat on the stone steps, chewing on a stalk of foxtail grass.
“Is life at Jujutsu High always this boring?”
Fushiguro replied indifferently, “Gojo-sensei is away on a business trip, and there haven’t been any missions suitable for us lately.”
“Be content. Staying at Jujutsu High is better than running around to graveyards and hospitals to exorcise Cursed Spirits.”
Itadori yawned.
“I’d rather go on missions. There aren’t many people at Jujutsu High, and there’s nothing to do.”
“You haven’t forgotten, have you? We need to collect Sukuna’s Fingers for me to eat.”
Special Grade Cursed Object: Sukuna’s Finger.
There are twenty in total, the remnants of the strongest from a thousand years ago—the King of Curses—containing his power and his soul.
If left unchecked, they will bring disaster.
But Sukuna’s Fingers cannot be destroyed.
The only way to completely eradicate Sukuna’s power is to have Itadori consume the fingers and then kill him.
Under these circumstances, Itadori was sentenced to a suspended death penalty by the Jujutsu Higher-ups.
And if not for Gojo Satoru’s interference, his suspended death sentence would have been carried out immediately.
Fushiguro turned his head.
“Live one day at a time. Besides, collecting all the fingers isn’t something that will happen overnight.”
“If you’re really that bored, try reading more books like Tokiwa.”
“Eh…”
Itadori looked to the side at Ryuichi, who was flipping through Geto Suguru’s notes.
“You know I’m not cut out for studying…”
Ryuichi smiled.
“I’ve never had contact with Cursed Energy before, so I’m just a bit curious.”
The teaching at Jujutsu High is very haphazard.
Today is already the fourth day since enrollment, yet there are no textbooks, no instructors to guide us, and no practical training off-campus…
Gojo Satoru has been away on business, reportedly so busy he hasn’t had a moment to rest.
The second-year students are also out on missions.
Within the vast grounds of Jujutsu High, only the few of them remained, along with some administrative and logistics staff.
With July approaching, the “Juvenile Detention Center Incident,” with its unknown specific date, could break out at any moment.
Before that happens, we need to improve our strength as much as possible.
“Itadori, Fushiguro.” Ryuichi closed the notebook.
“Let’s spar.”
“Eh? Me?” Itadori was confused.
“I don’t know how to use Cursed Energy.”
Ryuichi stood up.
“No Cursed Energy, just pure hand-to-hand combat. Jujutsu Sorcerers need to be able to fight at close range too, right?”
Fushiguro nodded.
“That’s right. A guy like Itadori who doesn’t have a Cursed Technique should focus even more on training his martial arts.”
“Speaking of which, what is a Cursed Technique?” Itadori complained.
“I’m a new student too, okay? There’s so much I don’t understand.”
Fushiguro sighed helplessly.
“That’s why I told you to study seriously…”
“Simply put, Cursed Energy is like electricity. Its uses are narrow; it can only be used for offense and defense.”
“And a Cursed Technique is like an appliance; it can utilize Cursed Energy to produce various effects.”
“Like my Ten Shadows Technique, which can summon Shikigami.” You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
Fushiguro overlapped his hands, and a jet-black Divine Dog emerged from the shadow beneath him.
“Everyone’s innate talent—that is, their Cursed Technique and total amount of Cursed Energy—is fixed and cannot be changed later, unless you consume a Cursed Object like you did, which allows you to acquire Cursed Energy.”
“Huh?” Itadori was greatly disappointed.
“I was hoping I could use Spirit Guns, Fire Style, or Zanpakuto…”
Fushiguro put his hand to his forehead.
“With that freakish physical ability, just throwing punches is enough. Don’t even think about Cursed Techniques.”
“Alright then…”
Itadori was dejected, but he didn’t forget to remind Ryuichi.
“Are you sure you want to fight me? My strength is actually pretty high, you know.”
“Yeah, bring it on.” Ryuichi nodded.
Having seen with his own eyes how Itadori broke through a wall using nothing but his physical body, Ryuichi naturally dared not be careless.
“OK.”
Itadori loosened up his muscles on the spot, then jumped off the stone steps with Ryuichi and walked toward the playground.
Thud.
Ten seconds later, Ryuichi was thrown to the ground with a shoulder throw.
“What just happened…” Ryuichi was a bit dazed.
“Ah, are you okay?” Itadori’s face leaned in close.
“I tried to hold back as much as I could.”
Is this the strongest athlete…?
Although he had heard of his reputation for a long time, such a quick defeat was still beyond Ryuichi’s expectations.
In the three months since he transmigrated, he hadn’t neglected his training, and his physical fitness was considered quite good among ordinary people.
Plus the two attribute points he had put into “Physical Strength” and “Martial Arts.”
In terms of combat, Ryuichi was already solidly at the level of a Grade 3 Jujutsu Sorcerer.
He didn’t expect to be insta-killed by Itadori.
“I’m fine, let’s continue.” Ryuichi wiped the dust off his face and got back up.
“You don’t mind if I use Cursed Energy, do you?”
“Yeah.” Itadori nodded.
“I want to see it too, how Cursed Energy is actually used.”
Ryuichi calmed his mind.
“Then I won’t… hold back…”
Geto Suguru’s notes mentioned that Cursed Energy originates from negative emotions.
To avoid a lack or overflow of Cursed Energy, Jujutsu Sorcerers need to extract power from subtle emotions.
A slight surge of negative emotion was transmitted, imagining his body being enveloped by flowing water.
Hiss—
Faint black and red Cursed Energy surged across the surface of Ryuichi’s body.
On the spectator stands nearby, Fushiguro watched Ryuichi on the playground, unconsciously clenching his fingers.
Although it was a fairly crude application of Cursed Energy, for a newcomer who had only been a Jujutsu Sorcerer for three days, it was already a miraculous feat.
‘Is this what a genius is?’
The figures of Gojo and Okkotsu appeared in Fushiguro’s mind.
“Megumi, believe in yourself. You possess potential no less than mine.”
One afternoon in his memory, Gojo Satoru had said so.
‘Is that really true…
Sensei…’ Fushiguro was lost in thought.
‘This is…
Cursed Energy…’
This was his first time using Cursed Energy so intently to augment his body.
Not only was there explosive strength coming from his limbs, but his hearing, touch, smell…
his various sensory perceptions of the environment had also greatly increased.
Although the system panel showed that Ryuichi’s physical strength was only Grade 3.
But Ryuichi’s physical fitness was undoubtedly stronger than that of Jujutsu Sorcerers like Kugisaki, who relied primarily on Cursed Techniques.
It was evident that there was some discrepancy between the system’s and the Jujutsu Higher-ups’ classification of grades.
After all, with Ryuichi’s current setup, it wouldn’t be surprising if he were promoted directly to a Grade 2 Sorcerer after gaining some experience through missions.
Yet in the panel’s evaluation, he was solidly Grade 3.
Whoosh—
The sound of wind whistled as Ryuichi threw a punch.
“Oh! It’s really faster than before!” Itadori said in surprise.
But at the same time, his hands had already grabbed Ryuichi’s arm.
Thud!
Ryuichi was thrown to the ground again, and even with Cursed Energy protection, his head felt like it was buzzing.
“What kind of monster strength is that…”
Ryuichi muttered, standing up once again.
“Again.”
…
As the sun set, Gojo slowly walked along the path.
“Ah, I’ve been looking for a long time. So this is where you guys were.”
“Uh, Ryuichi, Yuji, what are you guys doing…”
Gojo looked with a strange expression at Ryuichi, who was lying in the dust, and at Itadori, who was covered in dirt beside him.
After eight rounds of sparring, Ryuichi had one win and seven losses.
That one win had been a sneak attack while Itadori was distracted.
As for his sparring matches with Fushiguro, it was a 40/60 split, with Fushiguro having the slight advantage.
But that was normal, after all, Fushiguro was a Grade 2 Sorcerer, and his martial arts were quite good.
“They’re sparring.” Fushiguro said coldly.
“Since you won’t come to teach, we have to teach ourselves.”
“Ha… haha.” Gojo gave a dry laugh.
“Can’t help it, I’ve really been quite busy lately.”
“You guys, though, you’re really full of energy!”
Watching Gojo in the distance giving a thumbs up, Itadori awkwardly rubbed his head:
“Ah, it was Ryuichi’s idea…”
Itadori changed the subject.
“What about you, Sensei? When will you teach us how to use Cursed Energy?”
Gojo laughed it off.
“Soon, soon, once I’m done with this busy period.”
“Oh right, I haven’t given you your entrance gifts yet.”
“Don’t change the subject.” Fushiguro said coldly.
Gojo looked completely sincere and bowed ninety degrees:
“I’m really sorry!”