Inside the first layer of the curtain in Kyoto.
"What did you say?"
Both Mei Mei and Naobito found it impossible to believe that Mukuro had been sealed. With that man's strength and his abnormal physique, it was hard to imagine anything serious happening to him.
All of them had only been guarding this place as a precaution and to clean up any small fry that might appear.
"I'm telling the truth! A bald curse user and two cursed spirits with ridiculously strong energy are guarding the Prison Realm. Fushiguro isn't there!"
Seeing that they thought she was joking, Utahime straightened her face and repeated it.
"But that also means they can't leave for now, right? Because the Prison Realm hasn't processed this kind of physical information before. Or maybe it simply can't."
After taking a swig of strong liquor, Naobito rubbed his sharply upturned white mustache and made his guess.
The true value of that Heavenly Restriction was probably understood better only by Satoru Gojo.
"Then call the students who can actually help. A fighter like Todo is important."
Mei Mei opened the bag beside her, took out a large axe, rested it on her shoulder, and looked at Utahime with a smiling face, teasing her just like in their school days.
"And your Kyoto school will pay extra, right?"
In truth, she would join even without extra pay.
Whether Mukuro was the pillar of human society or the jujutsu world had nothing to do with her. She only knew he was a close friend she had known for over twenty years.
Asking for more money was just part of her routine and a cover. Her life could not be measured with money.
"Eh… they probably will…"
Utahime's eyes turned blank. She poked her two index fingers together in front of her and answered uncertainly. In her mind she recalled Principal Gakuganji's complaint after the Death Painting incident.
'That Fushiguro brat! Don't expect me to clean up his mess again!'
* * *
Less than a minute later, Todo and Noritoshi had arrived in front of the group.
"Let's go. The battle to take Fushiguro back."
With graceful steps, Mei Mei and the others officially entered the second curtain.
"They came right to us? Oh. What a nice wallet and a fine club."
When Juzo saw the sorcerers walk in, his eyes lit up as if he had found perfect materials. He had set his sights on Mei Mei and Todo's bodies.
"Don't be so arrogant, young man."
Deng, deng~
Right then, along with the sound of music, Gakuganji, who was supposed to be outside commanding, stepped into the curtain.
He had changed his usual old-fashioned look. Now he wore a trendy T-shirt and suspenders, with an expensive guitar hanging from his chest. The lip ring, nose ring, and earrings that once looked out of place now fit him perfectly.
He looked like an old rock musician.
"Huh? Get lost. Don't make me kill you. An old man's brittle bones and wrinkled skin are useless!"
Among all the sorcerers present, Juzo disliked Gakuganji the most. To someone obsessed with turning human bodies into tools and weapons, old people were the worst materials. Even newborn brats were better.
"Whether you can or can't, you'll have to kill me first to find out."
Facing someone who showed no respect for the elderly, Gakuganji only wanted to vent all the frustration he had built up over the years.
Thick cursed energy surged from his entire body. As his fingers moved, blades of wind wrapped in cursed energy shot forward with the sound of music, rushing toward Juzo and the other two.
Clang!
The powerful strike slammed into Juzo's axe and knocked him several meters back. The Smallpox Deity and Ganesha did not move at all. They endured the attack head-on by reinforcing themselves with cursed energy.
Using his own body as an amplifier and attaching cursed energy to sound for mid- to long-range attacks was Gakuganji's technique. Because of that, he was not good at close combat, and with his age he truly was not suited for it anymore.
"I'll leave those two to you. These old bones of mine can't handle special grades like that."
He played like a man possessed, fingers flying across the strings, yet every wind blade continued to target Juzo while completely ignoring the two special grade cursed spirits.
"Got it~"
Mei Mei and the others responded.
"If you want to get back to Tokyo quickly, then help me out!"
Even though Juzo had seen through the weakness of Gakuganji's ability, he had to admit one thing: as someone who only excelled in close combat, he had no way to get near him. And his own technique was not meant for fighting, so he could only defend while dodging.
As the two fought and moved, he finally could not hold back and shouted at the cursed spirits still standing there watching.
"Don't get in the way!"
Todo picked up a chunk of broken brick, wrapped it in cursed energy, tossed it in front of him, and clapped his hands.
The Smallpox Deity, who had been about to attack Gakuganji, instantly swapped places with the brick. The low-intelligence Ganesha stared in confusion.
Boom!
Todo's powerful fist smashed straight into the cursed spirit's head and sent it flying more than ten meters.
"Todo, your hand!"
Even though it looked like their side had the advantage, Noritoshi behind him noticed something wrong. The fist that had struck the cursed spirit was now covered in spots and was rapidly swelling.
"Its cursed energy isn't that strong for a special grade, but just touching it causes this level of illness…"
Both Todo and Mei Mei had extremely high battle sense. They immediately figured out the origin and the technique of the Smallpox Deity.
"I'll handle it with Mei-san. You be careful—"
Boom!
Noritoshi hadn't finished speaking when Ganesha, which had just come back to its senses, launched a furious attack. From more than ten meters away, its fist slammed into the ground in front of it, and the aftershock blasted everyone into the air.
"I'll take care of two first."
"Domain Expansion: Graveyard."
Before the people in the air could even land, the Smallpox Deity struck its left fist into its right palm and expanded its domain, trapping Todo and Noritoshi inside.
"Then let's have some fun, you big dumb elephant~"
Mei Mei did not think there was anything wrong with that arrangement. Todo could not fight at close range now, but the flexibility of his technique and Noritoshi's methods perfectly covered that weakness.
As for herself…
As the strongest active female sorcerer besides Yuki, she had already exorcised special grades before.
This was just doing it one more time.
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