It looked like something unexpected had happened.
Jin quickly rose to his feet as concentrated streams of flame coiled around his arm.
Orange-red fire traced twisting lines through the air.
He raised one hand toward the cursed spirit in midair.
Flames condensed at his fingertip into the shape of an arrowhead.
His other hand lightly pinched the tail of the flame, mimicking the motion of drawing a bow.
The flowing arrow of fire suddenly shot forward like a blooming crimson lotus.
Whoosh!
Sensing danger, the cursed spirit twisted its body in an attempt to evade.
Orange firelight reflected in its eyeballs.
The next instant, a huge hollow cavity exploded through its bloated body.
Its mangled remains were instantly reduced to ash by the intense heat and scattered away.
The flaming arrow continued forward without losing momentum and slammed heavily into the outer wall of the abandoned building.
BOOM!
The building violently shook.
The windows around the impact point shattered instantly beneath the force.
Glass rained down into the interior with a series of sharp cracks.
Watching this, Jin helplessly scratched at the bangs over his forehead.
“That cursed spirit was way too weak.
I thought I’d already lowered the power enough.”
Yuji leaned most of his upper body out of an upstairs window, eyes shining as he stared at the scene.
“A flaming arrow!
That’s so cool!”
Nobara had also noticed the burst of fire.
She frowned slightly and thought to herself,
‘So that guy’s ability is controlling flames?
That technique really does suit a chain-smoker…’
Once the last cursed spirit inside the building had been exorcised, Nobara and Yuji soon emerged through the entrance.
Nobara was holding the hand of a little boy around seven or eight years old.
There was dust on his clothes and several black smudges across his face.
But he didn’t seem injured.
He simply held Nobara’s hand tightly.
Gojo propped one hand against his chin and swept his gaze over the group, looking troubled.
“Hmm…
how should I judge this?
One of the cursed spirits was exorcised by Jin.”
He tilted his head.
A slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth beneath the black blindfold.
“Should I count this as a failure or a pass?”
Yuji scratched the back of his head and gave an awkward laugh, his voice clearly lacking confidence.
“Well…
there was a tiny unexpected problem.”
Nobara lowered her head and instinctively pressed her lips together.
There was really no excuse for allowing a cursed spirit to escape.
Seeing the big sister holding his hand make that expression, the boy released Nobara and stepped forward.
He stood directly in front of Gojo, not even reaching the top of Gojo’s thigh.
He raised his face, pressed both palms together in front of himself, and loudly pleaded in a trembling voice,
“Uncle, please let big sister and big brother pass!
Please!”
The moment Gojo heard the word “uncle,” his entire body instantly petrified.
Even the relaxed smile he always wore froze solid.
Megumi pressed his lips together, then turned around and raised his face toward the sky as the corners of his mouth refused to stop rising.
Hearing Gojo get called “uncle,” Jin immediately lost it and burst out laughing.
“Hahahahaha!”
Yuji’s mouth also fell open.
He looked from Gojo to the little boy, his face turning red from trying not to laugh.
Gojo abruptly snapped back to reality, leaned forward, and pointed at himself, his voice rising more than an octave.
“Ah!
Damn it!
Don’t call me uncle!”
“You should call me big brother!
I obviously look like I’m still big-brother age!”
The boy jumped in fright at Gojo’s sudden reaction and took half a step backward.
He blinked twice and quietly said,
“But…
you’re wearing a black blindfold, so you look like a blind uncle…”
Gojo staggered backward and clutched his chest as though he’d just been stabbed.
There was even a follow-up strike.
Yuji and Nobara couldn’t hold it in anymore.
Leaning against the wall, they doubled over laughing.
“HAHAHAHAHA!!!”
A vein bulged on Gojo’s forehead as he roared internally,
‘Damn brat!’
He took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and barely managed to regain control of his expression.
Then Gojo forcibly changed the subject, dragging the conversation away from the humiliation and back to business.
“Fine.
Since the hostage wasn’t injured…”
“You pass!”
Yuji immediately straightened up, his eyes shining.
“Really?!”
“Really.”
Gojo gave him a thumbs-up.
“The process was a little rough, but the result was acceptable.”
Only then did Nobara raise her head.
Her shoulders visibly relaxed as she let out a breath.
She looked down at the boy beside her, reached out, rubbed his head, and smiled.
“Come on.
Let’s take you home.”
The boy nodded, then secretly glanced back at Gojo and whispered,
“Thank you, big brother.”
Gojo looked at him and released an almost imperceptible sigh.
Kids were just like that—annoying enough to hate and lovable enough to like at the same time.
Yuji, Nobara, and Jin had all contributed during the mission, so they went off somewhere to rest.
The task of taking the little boy home was left to Gojo and Megumi.
The setting sun dyed the brick walls of the alley a warm orange-red.
Their shadows stretched long across the ground, one ahead of the other.
After safely escorting the boy home, Gojo lowered the hand he’d been waving goodbye with and turned toward Megumi.
When he spoke, his voice was quieter than before.
“Megumi, you asked earlier why I brought up Jin’s family background.
You understand now, right?”
Megumi thought back to Jin’s reaction toward the Zenin clan and nodded, seeming to understand somewhat.
Gojo looked toward the sunset on the horizon, dusk painting half the sky in layers of orange and red.
“He’s different from you.
He’s a pragmatic opportunist, and his desire to become stronger is much greater than yours.”
“He’s quick-witted.
If getting stronger requires him to make a few compromises, he won’t hesitate.”
Megumi frowned slightly.
The hand in his pocket shifted.
“The Zenin clan isn’t that easy to fool, though.
Even if he carries their blood, getting access to a secret technique won’t be that simple, right?”
Gojo tilted his head toward Megumi with a slight smile.
“Of course it won’t.
But Megumi, you’re seriously underestimating Jin’s potential.”
“In terms of performance, his technique is absolutely no worse than Limitless or the Ten Shadows Technique.”
His profile beneath the twilight revealed no particular expression, and his voice was slow and steady.
“A clan member with a powerful technique and enormous potential?
With the Zenin clan’s personality, there’s no way they’d let someone like that go.”
“Forget carrying their blood.
Even without any blood relation, they’ll accept any powerful sorcerer who marries into the family.”
Megumi lowered his head slightly, thinking.
Gojo tugged at his blindfold.
Beneath it, his brilliant blue eyes shone with an unusually calm light.
“How Jin chooses to maneuver around the Zenin clan is his own business.”
“He’s completely different from you, Yuji, and Nobara.
Teaching according to the student’s nature—that’s my responsibility as a teacher.”
Although Gojo rarely displayed the composure or responsibility expected of an educator, he understood very clearly that every student was different.
Sorcerers weren’t products that could be mass-produced on an assembly line.
Everyone’s circumstances were unique.
Considering Jin’s personality and the strength he’d displayed, offering the right amount of support and then letting him grow freely was the best approach.
Gojo tapped his temple, his voice rising slightly.
It was impossible to tell whether he was teasing or praising him.
“On his very first mission, he killed his opponent without the slightest hesitation.
Jin…
is pretty crazy.”
“Being a sorcerer isn’t a profession for normal people.
A personality like his is actually the kind that can truly reach the top.”
He turned to face Megumi directly and looked down at the boy.
“Megumi, both times today you were in a hurry to jump in.
You underestimate Itadori and Nobara too much.”
“The result already proved it.
Even without your help, they still managed to protect the hostage.”
The topic suddenly shifted to himself.
Megumi looked up in confusion and silently waited for Gojo to continue.
Gojo raised a finger and pointed at him.
Even through the blindfold, the seriousness in his gaze could be felt.
“I don’t know whether to call you overly responsible or overly conceited.
Sometimes, try trusting your companions.”
Megumi’s pupils widened slightly.
For some reason, a gray-haired figure with a cigarette in his mouth appeared in his mind.
Even he didn’t know what he’d been thinking when he’d chosen to call Jin for help back then.
“You’re always underestimating other people.
You always act like you’ll be the one to clean everything up in the end.
That old-man mentality makes it hard to improve.”
Gojo’s voice was soft as he raised a hand and lightly patted Megumi’s shoulder.
“Try getting serious, Megumi.
Otherwise, you’ll be completely left behind.”
Megumi blinked thoughtfully.
“Get serious, huh…”