Orange-red firelight collided with illusory crimson light.
BOOOOM!!!
A deafening explosion powerful enough to shatter eardrums erupted.
Ferocious repulsive force burst from the point of impact, tearing the enormous fireball apart as though an invisible hand had ripped it to pieces.
Dark-red light exploded in midair and swallowed the sea of flames filling the sky.
Countless fragments of fire scattered in every direction, dragging flaming tails behind them as they tore through the thick smoke.
The entire sky was dyed a hellish orange-red.
Shattered stone, charred wood, and ash were swept up by the shockwave and carried outward along with the flames, pouring across the surroundings like an active volcano erupting in the center of the forest.
“Not good!”
Megumi’s expression changed as he watched from a distance.
He raised his hands to form a seal, preparing to summon a shikigami.
Maki and the others also noticed the terrifying scene and immediately stood to retreat.
At the very center of the explosion, Gojo calmly opened one hand.
A tiny sky-blue sphere instantly appeared in his palm.
“Cursed Technique Lapse—Blue!”
An attractive force completely opposite to Red’s repulsion erupted.
All the scattered flames were instantly dragged back, gathering into an enormous fireball in midair and hovering above Gojo’s head.
“Hmm…
where should I throw this?”
Gojo looked left, then right, before finally raising his head toward the sky.
With a casual flick of his hand, the gigantic fireball shot straight upward.
A few seconds later, it shrank to a tiny point and disappeared from everyone’s sight.
Orange light silently exploded along the horizon before dispersing into invisible waves of heat.
Completely exhausted, Jin lay on the scorched earth, his golden eyes reflecting everything that had just happened.
This was the first time he had ever fought with absolutely everything he had.
Gojo strode over and stopped in front of him.
His tall figure wavered slightly in the heated air.
“How are you?
Still alive?”
Jin turned his head toward Gojo.
The corner of his mouth rose, and a strange look of satisfaction appeared on his face.
“I’m full.”
Gojo loosened the buttons around the collar of his shirt and fanned himself.
At Jin’s answer, an unpleasant grin appeared on his face as he teased him.
“Full?
Heh?
I thought you’d spend a while being depressed.”
Most people would feel powerless and despairing when faced with such an enormous gap.
Gojo had originally walked over planning to comfort Jin a little, but apparently that wouldn’t be necessary.
Jin rolled his eyes and fired back irritably.
“A cheater shouldn’t be standing there showing off.”
Gojo rubbed the back of his head and laughed somewhat awkwardly.
“I did use my cursed technique at the end, so technically I lost.”
He crouched down and quietly looked at Jin’s face with those brilliant blue eyes.
“But could I trouble you to join Jujutsu High anyway?”
Resting a hand beneath his chin, Gojo continued with a trace of mockery in his voice.
“If those rotten old oranges at the top found out I burned down this much forest and still failed to recruit you, they’d probably explode from anger.”
Jin had wanted to join Jujutsu High in the first place, so naturally he had no reason to refuse.
“Whatever.”
Gojo clapped his hands together, looking delighted.
“Great.
I’m glad you didn’t make things difficult for me.”
As soon as Gojo finished speaking, the system notification sounded in Jin’s ears.
[Main Quest: Join Jujutsu High (Completed)]
[Quest Reward: Beginner Conqueror’s Haki.
Claim immediately?
Yes/No]
“No.”
Less than a minute had passed since the battle ended.
The heat left behind by the flames still lingered across the battlefield, the air continuously twisting beneath the thermal currents.
Even after activating Limitless to isolate himself from the heat, Gojo’s body still hadn’t cooled down quickly.
He wiped the fine sweat covering his forehead and looked at Jin’s golden eyes, which resembled someone’s from long ago.
His expression softened, a trace of emotion appearing on his face.
“So hot…
I haven’t felt this kind of sweltering heat in years.”
Gojo fell into some strange state and remained dazed for a moment.
A breeze passed through the battlefield.
A charred tree, now brittle as a biscuit, snapped cleanly in half.
CRASH!
The branch slammed into the ground, leaving a dark mark across the scorched earth.
After their brief fight, most of the battlefield had already become lifeless blackened land.
Gojo snapped back to reality and moved his eyes around the surrounding environment.
“Honestly, fighting you is basically a disaster for any sorcerer.”
“That heat surrounding your entire body…
If you aren’t careful for even a second, you’ll get burned.”
Blood continuously seeped from the wounds on Jin’s forearms, forming two pools beneath him.
He glanced sideways at this unreliable “teacher” and quietly asked.
“Do you have a doctor?”
Gojo looked at the pools of blood beneath Jin and finally remembered that detail, raising a hand to his forehead.
“Ah…
I completely forgot you were injured.
Of course we do.”
“Satoru, you bastard!
What the hell did you do?!”
A voice filled with suppressed anger rang out from behind Gojo.
A middle-aged man wearing sunglasses had arrived at the battlefield.
“Principal Yaga, don’t get angry.”
Gojo glanced back and answered without the slightest concern.
“Compared to a useless patch of forest, the rough diamond I just recruited is much more important!”
He bent down, hoisted Jin over his shoulder, and waved to Masamichi Yaga with his back turned.
“See you later.
I’m taking him to Shoko first.”
WHOOSH!
Before he had even finished speaking, Gojo vanished from the spot.
After Gojo disappeared, Yaga frowned deeply and scanned the battle traces left behind with a grave expression.
The fight had completely ended, which meant the betting pool among the Jujutsu High students had finally reached payout time.
Megumi raised his phone and showed it to the two people and one panda in front of him.
“Maki-senpai, Inumaki-senpai.
Thanks for the 550,000 yen.”
Maki stared at the frozen number on the screen, her face darkening.
“Two minutes and twenty-seven seconds, Megumi…”
After pausing, she pointed a finger at him and sternly demanded.
“You didn’t secretly coordinate with that guy beforehand, did you?
That number is way too convenient!”
Megumi covered one ear and took a step backward, letting out an almost imperceptible sigh.
“You’re the one who forced me to participate in this bet.
There was no collusion.”
Panda happily leaned toward Maki, clearly enjoying the show.
“Maki, you’re not planning to welch on the bet, are you?”
Maki snorted, shoved Panda’s huge face away, pulled out her phone, and started tapping at it.
“Shut up!
It’s only two hundred and fifty thousand yen.
I transferred it.”
Inumaki also lowered his head and checked his own phone.
Just as they were paying out the wager—
At some point, Masamichi Yaga, surrounded by an incredibly gloomy aura, had silently appeared behind them.
“Maki.
Panda…
Have you finished your missions?!
And you’re standing here running a gambling pool?!”
All four of them looked up at the source of the voice at the same time.
“PRINCIPAL?!”