Boom!!!
In that instant, it felt as if a napalm bomb had detonated within the enclosed passageway, sending flames and dust exploding outward.
The Fly Cursed Spirit was slammed heavily against the wall by the shockwave; its three left arms and a small portion of its body were charred, and flames licked greedily at its pus-covered surface.
—In other words, Ryuichi had won!
However, that was not the case.
The Fly Cursed Spirit flapped its wings to extinguish the flames, rising shakily into the air.
Its mouthparts vibrated, and a hoarse voice filled with resentment echoed through the passage:
“Brother…”
“Why… did you kill… my… brother…”
Generally speaking, the higher the grade of a Cursed Spirit, the more fluently it can communicate with humans.
The Fly Cursed Spirit could speak in fragmented sentences, which meant it probably wasn’t considered weak among Grade 2 Cursed Spirits.
Yet, upon hearing this, Tokiwa remained completely unmoved.
Cursed Spirits and humans are complete opposites; they are born from humans, yet they feed on humans and human resentment.
In other words, from the weakest Grade 4 Cursed Spirits to the Special Grade Cursed Spirits capable of causing natural disasters with a mere gesture, none can defy their nature to coexist with humans.
Cursed Spirits are the natural enemies of humanity, and there is no room for reconciliation.
Tokiwa did not answer but suddenly launched an attack!
He kicked off the wall with his left foot, and the shigurekiri, heated by the high temperature, slashed straight toward the Fly Cursed Spirit.
The latter, realizing the danger, flapped its wings frantically to retreat, leaving the long blade to only carve a shallow wound on its chest.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
The Fly Cursed Spirit’s remaining three fists grazed past Tokiwa, smashing wildly into the tiled wall on one side.
The death of its brother, combined with taking a half-charged Lord Flame head-on, had already caused it to lose its basic combat intelligence.
“Well then, goodbye…”
Tokiwa’s voice echoed eerily from behind the Fly Cursed Spirit.
“Fire.”
Boom!
Flames erupted once more on the Cursed Spirit’s body.
Intense pain coursed through it, and it flailed its arms and flapped its wings in a desperate attempt to extinguish the fire.
But it was already too late; Tokiwa lunged forward, his shigurekiri humming in his hand.
Swish—
With one slash, the pus-covered fly head went flying high into the air.
[Grade 2 Cursed Spirit eliminated, +60 points]
The system notification sounded, and Tokiwa finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As the adrenaline gradually faded, a deep sense of exhaustion slowly washed over him.
Tokiwa knelt on the ground, while the bloodstains and the Cursed Spirit’s corpse beside him slowly evaporated and vanished.
Although Lord Flame is versatile, its properties are actually more focused on high heat and explosions.
Against an enemy like the Fly Cursed Spirit, which is weak to fire and highly flammable, the initial Cursed Technique “Flame” would actually have been more effective.
Although he had the advantage of elemental compatibility, the Fly Cursed Spirit was still a Grade 2, and its strength was not below Tokiwa’s.
Tokiwa looked at the long blade in his hand.
Only now did he realize that this was not a traditional katana or tachi; the blade was long, thin, and possessed an inherent streamlined beauty.
During the battle just now, it had conducted the high heat of the Lord Flame energy in just a second, felt almost weightless while being swung, and had endured a major battle without corroding or deforming…
Furthermore, it was incredibly sharp.
The more Tokiwa looked at it, the more he liked it.
He sheathed the long blade and prepared to return to the hospital entrance.
“Bro… ther…”
From behind, a resentful child’s voice came, accompanied by the sound of viscous liquid rubbing against the floor.
“Maggot?!” Tokiwa was shocked.
“More?!”
He didn’t have time to look back; Tokiwa picked up his blade and bolted.
His stamina and Cursed Energy were already bottoming out; even an ordinary Grade 3 Cursed Spirit could potentially exorcise him.
“Bro… ther!!”
Behind him, the child’s voice was filled with uncontrollable rage.
Splat!
Splat!
Although he couldn’t see what was behind him, he could imagine the Maggot Cursed Spirit constantly slapping the ground, twisting its body as it chased after him.
Furthermore, its strength might even be greater than the Maggot Cursed Spirit he had just killed!
Ten meters.
Five meters.
Three meters!
Tokiwa used every ounce of his remaining strength to leap across the hospital gate.
He finally escaped the dark, damp atmosphere and returned to the sunlight.
Plop.
A soft sound came.
Tokiwa instinctively looked back, but all that remained behind him was a pool of pale yellow pus slowly evaporating.
‘Ah…
my points…’ Tokiwa felt a pang of regret.
Gojo Satoru stood to the side with his hands in his pockets, his expression one of surprise and admiration:
“That was truly an eye-opener, Tokiwa.”
“For a newcomer who has only just come into contact with the Jujutsu World, you actually handled a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit so easily.”
Tokiwa stared at Gojo with an expression that screamed “Are you f***ing kidding me?”, as if to say, “You call this ‘handled easily’?”
Gojo looked away, pretending to be shy: “Don’t look at me with that expression; it makes me shy.”
“The process of exorcising Cursed Spirits is full of variables. Injuries are a daily occurrence for Jujutsu Sorcerers, so being able to win without a scratch is already quite a good result.”
That much was true.
Jujutsu Sorcerers often have to face Cursed Spirits that are a higher grade than themselves.
Even though Tokyo Jujutsu High has specialized healer Jujutsu Sorcerers, injuries and deaths are inevitable.
“Come to think of it, what kind of Cursed Spirits were inside?” Gojo said casually.
“Mr. Ijichi will need to register them later.”
Knowing what kind of person Gojo was, Tokiwa complained internally: ‘Didn’t you never register before when you went on missions?’
But on the surface, Tokiwa still answered honestly:
“…Gojo-sensei? Are you listening?”
Tokiwa waved his hand in front of Gojo.
“Oh? Oh…” Gojo came back to his senses.
“I was thinking about what to have for dinner.”
“Sigh.” Tokiwa sighed.
He understood why Gojo was unpopular at Tokyo Jujutsu High despite having a handsome face.
Gojo’s eyes lit up, and he gave Tokiwa a thumbs up.
“To celebrate you completing your first mission today, what do you want to eat? Sensei will treat you.”
A cold smile appeared on the corner of Tokiwa’s mouth.
You’ve really let your guard down, Gojo Satoru-sensei.
At this next meal, I will show you what the strongest modern-day order looks like…
…
“Yuji, Megumi, come out to eat!”
As the sun set, Gojo’s voice rang out outside the student dormitory.
“Oh, coming!”
“Gojo-sensei, didn’t you say you were on a mission outside and wouldn’t be back for dinner…”
Itadori and Fushiguro walked out of the student dormitory, and what greeted their eyes were ovens, grills, and a dizzying array of ingredients.
Steaks, beef ribs, cod, and all kinds of shelled seafood that looked expensive at a glance.
“Wow, Tokiwa-senpai, you brought back so many high-end ingredients!” Itadori pounced toward the grill like a hungry tiger.
Tokiwa waved his hand: “This meal is on Gojo-sensei; we’re having barbecue tonight.”
“Also, just call me Ryuichi.”
One could only say that the value of the head of the Gojo Family was just too high.
When he heard that Tokiwa wanted to eat barbecue—such commoner food—Gojo actually made a disgusting expression that said, “Thanks for being so considerate, my good student, love you mwah.”
“I’m so tired, Sensei, can you help me grill the meat…”
Tokiwa put down the barbecue rack and pestered Gojo shamelessly.
Gojo rubbed his chin: “Hey, you over there, Ijichi, you come help everyone grill the meat.”
Ijichi broke out in a cold sweat: “Gojo-san, I still have reports to write…”
Seeing this, Tokiwa also invited him: “Come eat barbecue with us, Mr. Ijichi, just let Gojo-sensei handle the reports or something.”
“Yeah, Mr. Ijichi,” Fushiguro nodded.
“You have to relax sometimes.”
“Everyone…” Ijichi was a little moved.
“Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”
The grill turned, the aroma of meat overflowed, and the golden-brown steaks and grilled fish made everyone’s mouths water.
“Itadori, why are you only staring at the beef? Eat some more seafood.”
“I love eating beef, doesn’t Ryuichi only eat beef too!”
“I just can’t get used to eating seafood…”
“Megumi, if you keep eating so politely, the food is going to be snatched up by them.”
“Sensei, you’re eating too fast!”
That night, everyone—hosts and guests alike—enjoyed themselves to the fullest.