“Tch.”
Xia Chuan clicked his tongue in displeasure.
He hadn’t expected to encounter such a dangerous evil spirit just by going out for the day.
The problem was that his current offensive options were still extremely limited.
At present, he could only use the energy within his body to strengthen himself and reinforce his weapons.
It seemed that he needed to train even harder.
Once his Sharingan evolved into the Mangekyo Sharingan, he would gain far more offensive options and wouldn’t be as restricted as he was now.
He had always thought that as long as he avoided actively provoking dangerous supernatural entities, nothing would happen.
But today’s incident had taught him otherwise.
He couldn’t rely on luck or loopholes forever.
After warning himself internally, Xia Chuan focused on the negative energy flowing back into him from the defeated evil spirit.
After making a rough estimate, he figured it was equivalent to the energy from more than a dozen ordinary evil spirits.
Not bad.
At least it was decent experience.
Creak…
creak…
The bus, which had been shaking violently moments earlier, gradually came to a stop after the evil spirit disappeared.
Seeing this, Xia Chuan turned around and walked toward Utaha Kasumigaoka, who was still sitting there with her eyes tightly shut.
“It’s over, Senpai.”
Hearing the voice she had been desperately waiting for, Utaha suddenly opened her eyes.
When she saw Xia Chuan standing in front of her, she finally let out a long breath of relief.
Then she rushed forward and hugged him.
Her entire body was trembling like a frightened rabbit, wave after wave of shivers running through her.
Xia Chuan could naturally feel her soft figure against him.
But he had no intention of taking advantage of her while she was frightened.
“It’s all right now, Senpai.”
Xia Chuan gently pulled Utaha along before suddenly kicking open the rear door of the bus.
He led her outside.
The moment the two stepped off, the bus behind them seemed to transform into black smoke.
It rapidly disappeared into the darkness.
The two of them found themselves back at the same bus stop where they had originally boarded.
I’m alive…
Utaha stared at the familiar city lights before her.
She had never felt the night air to be so fresh and pleasant.
Every pore in her body seemed to greedily draw in the clean air.
Only then did she notice how sticky her clothes felt.
The cold sweat produced during the ordeal had completely soaked through her inner clothes.
“Senpai, do you need to rest for a while?”
Xia Chuan looked at Utaha, who was breathing heavily and seemed almost ready to collapse.
He asked with concern.
“…Yes.”
Still somewhat disheveled, Utaha didn’t refuse.
Xia Chuan was about to take her to a nearby park so she could sit down and recover.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Suddenly, the sound of slow, deliberate applause came from a distance.
“What an excellent performance, Xia Chuan-kun.”
Clear footsteps accompanied the voice.
Before long, a man wearing a Buddhist monk’s robe and a distinctive half-up hairstyle walked toward them with a smile on his face.
The moment Xia Chuan saw him, his heart shook.
At the same time, the appearance of this man immediately gave him an idea about the dangerous evil spirit they had just encountered.
“Xia Chuan-kun.
Nice to meet you.
My name is Suguru Geto.”
The man introduced himself.
Xia Chuan didn’t need the introduction.
The moment he saw that face, the corresponding information had already surfaced in his mind.
Suguru Geto.
One of the most notorious Special Grade jujutsu sorcerers.
A user of the innate technique known as Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
Just as its name suggested, the technique allowed its user to absorb and control cursed spirits.
Even Special Grade cursed spirits could potentially be controlled.
And there was no known numerical limit to the number of cursed spirits its user could command.
Someone unfamiliar with him might look at his gentle expression and Buddhist robes and mistake him for a kind-hearted monk.
But Xia Chuan knew better.
Geto wearing those robes meant that this was the version of him who had already abandoned the jujutsu establishment and become a curse user.
His goal was to create a world inhabited only by jujutsu sorcerers.
In his ideology, ordinary non-sorcerers were nothing more than “monkeys” and should be eliminated.
He had even been willing to kill his own parents.
In other words, the man standing before Xia Chuan was a dangerous extremist.
Therefore, although Xia Chuan’s expression remained calm, every part of his body was already on high alert.
The energy within him surged continuously.
At the same time, a realization suddenly struck him.
The strange energy inside his body…
The curses that ordinary people couldn’t see…
So this world contained Jujutsu Kaisen as well!
If that was the case, then his previous understanding of the supernatural was far too simplistic.
He had underestimated just how many layers this world possessed.
“Come now…
there’s no need to be so tense.”
Geto seemed to notice Xia Chuan’s vigilance.
He smiled and waved his hand.
“If anything, I’m impressed by what I just witnessed.”
“It was only a small Semi-Grade 2 cursed spirit, but even an ordinary jujutsu sorcerer wouldn’t necessarily be able to exorcise it so easily.”
“Your energy really is quite unusual.”
“I’ve been watching you for some time, Xia Chuan-kun.”
“You should understand that you’re different from ordinary monkeys…
I mean, humans.”
“You possess tremendous potential, and that potential could help you accomplish something far greater.”
Geto spread his arms.
His emotions became increasingly impassioned as though he were preaching.
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
Xia Chuan asked bluntly.
As for the so-called “greater goal,” he didn’t need to ask.
He already knew what Geto meant.
Xia Chuan wasn’t some delusional fanatic who would willingly stand against the entire human race.
Geto’s fervent expression gradually faded.
He returned to his earlier smile.
“Your abilities are far from their full potential.”
“And I can guide you toward unlocking that potential.”
As he spoke, a card suddenly flew out from inside his robes.
“If you’re interested, you can come find me here.”
Xia Chuan caught the card.
When he looked at it, he realized it was a business card.
The front prominently displayed three words:
Time Vessel Association.
An address was printed on the back.
After seeing Xia Chuan take the card, Geto turned around and began walking away.
He didn’t forget to add,
“I look forward to seeing you.”
“But don’t bring that human with you.”
With those words, Geto disappeared into the shadows.
Only after Xia Chuan could no longer sense his energy did he finally relax slightly.
Seeing this, Utaha, who had been filled with questions ever since the incident began, finally spoke.
“Junior, I think you owe me an explanation.”
“What exactly was all of that just now?”
“And what was that man talking about?”
“…”
Xia Chuan remained silent for a moment.
Then he looked up at the now-dark sky.
“…It looks like it’s getting late.”
“We should get somewhere and rest.
Maybe I’ll explain everything another time, Senpai.”
Utaha’s mind had already been completely thrown into turmoil by everything that had happened.
Even if she went home now, there was no way she would be able to sleep.
She had no idea whether those things might return.
And, more importantly, she didn’t particularly want to walk home alone anymore.
Utaha looked around.
Then she noticed a hotel nearby.
A thought occurred to her.
After hesitating for a moment, she finally made up her mind.
“If we’re going to rest, I know somewhere nearby.”
“Come with me.”
Xia Chuan followed her gaze.
“That’s a love hotel, isn’t it?”
Utaha’s face flushed slightly at his question.
She immediately turned around and forced herself to remain calm.
“Yes.”
“Do you have some other suggestion, Xia Chuan-kun?”
“Or was all that talk about resting just an excuse?”
Xia Chuan thought about it.
It didn’t seem like a bad idea.
He nodded.
“Fine.”
…
At the love hotel.
The sound of running water continuously echoed from the bathroom.
Xia Chuan sat on a sofa in the lounge area, waiting.
He couldn’t help feeling somewhat distracted.
After all, he knew that Utaha Kasumigaoka was currently in the bathroom.
But even knowing that, he had no intention of doing anything inappropriate.
After everything that had happened today, he believed that his position in Utaha’s heart had already improved considerably.
There was no need to complicate things.
He could simply let nature take its course.
Besides, the large single bed in the room seemed to indicate at least something about Utaha’s current state of mind.
Xia Chuan decided not to dwell on it.
Instead, his thoughts returned to everything that had happened today.
Until today, he had believed that the supernatural phenomena he encountered were limited to the kind of ghosts Miko Yotsuya could see.
Then Suguru Geto had appeared.
Jujutsu.
Cursed spirits.
Cursed energy.
All of this had dealt a considerable blow to his understanding of the world.
At the same time, it had answered many of the questions he had previously been unable to explain.
Most importantly…
His Sharingan.
The Sharingan evolved through the special chakra produced by negative emotions.
And cursed energy was also born from negative emotions.
No wonder the two systems could interact so strangely.
The negative energy produced by cursed spirits could actually strengthen his Sharingan.
The jujutsu world also possessed famous techniques such as Domain Expansion and Reverse Cursed Technique.
If his Sharingan was effectively his own innate technique, what would happen if he eventually mastered those abilities as well?
What kind of Domain Expansion would he develop?
Would it be something resembling Infinite Tsukuyomi?
Or perhaps Amenotejikara?
Xia Chuan’s imagination began running wild.
Then—
Click.
The sound of the bathroom door opening pulled him back to reality.