Chapter 49 – Little Mai, Be Careful
"I'll never forgive you!"
Yuta gripped his blade with both hands, cursed energy flaring across its edge. His eyes were sharp and unwavering.
This man had dared to hurt his classmates—absolutely unforgivable.
Forget all that nonsense about "saving the world." Yuta just wanted a quiet life, to get along with his classmates and teachers. Nothing more.
"Ha ha ha ha…"
Geto Suguru's laughter was low and wild.
"But that's not up to you!"
With a blur of motion, he swung Playful Cloud, crashing it down toward Yuta.
BOOM!
Rika thrust her massive arm out, blocking the strike. "RAHHH! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Together with Rika's cover, Yuta began to match Geto's tempo. Memories of the brutal month of training surfaced—compared to that, Geto wasn't insurmountable.
"Not bad, junior. You really are gifted."
Geto acknowledged Yuta's potential, but his eyes held no fear.
After all, he was a summoner by nature, and yet he'd been holding his own in close combat against Yuta and his monstrous partner.
"Listen, Yuta. The world as it is—broken. Wrong. Let's create a perfect one together."
Geto's grin twisted, his words echoing with zealotry as he skillfully parried Rika's claws and Yuta's blade at once.
CLANG!
With a surge of strength, he shoved them both back, forcing space between them.
"You'll never defeat me! In this entire school, only Satoru could ever hope to stand against me!"
His madness deepened—he would not rest until Rika was his.
But Yuta Okkotsu, warrior of pure love, began to shine.
After countless exchanges, he grew sharper, attuning to his cursed energy, controlling it with greater finesse. His strength was climbing rapidly.
He had awakened.
In a flash, Yuta blurred forward, blade raised.
"So your speed's improved?"
Geto roared, slamming Playful Cloud down—but Yuta's figure flickered behind him.
Power surged into Yuta's blade, and with both hands he swung a horizontal slash charged with immense cursed energy.
CRACK! BOOM!
The ordinary weapon shattered under the overload, bursting into shards.
Geto turned, sneering through a twisted expression.
"Channeling that much cursed energy at once? Any weapon would break. Didn't Satoru teach you this?"
Yuta froze for an instant, then leapt back.
Of course Gojo hadn't—Gojo never used weapons himself. Why would he care?
"You have to feed cursed energy in gradually, little by—"
BANG!
Before Geto could finish lecturing, Yuta's fist slammed into him.
SZZZZT!
Black and crimson lightning crackled violently—Black Flash.
This "boss fight" had become a training session, and Yuta had not only learned cursed energy control in minutes, but had also landed his first Black Flash—thanks to Geto's unwilling tutelage.
Geto flew backward, smashing into the rubble, groaning before dragging himself up. Blood streaked from his mouth.
Wiping it away, his expression hardened. "Tch… looks like playtime's over."
If he stalled any longer, Miguel might not be able to keep Gojo occupied.
Both sides braced themselves—the next exchange would end it.
---
Meanwhile, at the Kyoto battlefield…
Teachers and students fought desperately against waves of curses.
An old man hefted a guitar like a weapon, every strum unleashing a shockwave of cursed energy that shredded spirits in his path. He looked less like a sorcerer and more like a rock god, lost in the ecstasy of his performance.
Utahime stood sheltered behind the frontline, her technique amplifying her allies' strength.
"Such weak curses dare to invade the sacred grounds of Jujutsu?"
Mai Zen'in sneered from a rooftop, sniping weak curses one after another with calm precision. Each bullet dropped another spirit.
Tch. "Curses really aren't that scary. Why was I ever so afraid as a kid?"
ROAR!
Her arrogance nearly cost her.
A massive curse erupted from beneath the ground—a one-eyed monk spirit, its body towering over the building, its neck adorned with a necklace of skulls.
A Grade 1 curse.
"Mai! Look out!"
Flying overhead on her broom, Nishimiya Momo shouted in alarm, unleashing a wave of cursed wind to try and divert the monster's attention.
Miwa, Mechamaru, and even the hot-blooded Aoi Tōdō noticed Mai's danger.
Tōdō was just about to activate his Boogie Woogie technique to swap places with her—
—but in the very next instant, a figure blurred past the curse at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
SLASH!
Before anyone could react, a calm voice rang out:
"Little Mai, you need to stay alert."
Zen'in Shinsuke had arrived. Without pausing to chat or reunite, he gave his sister that single reminder before vanishing again—already diving headlong into the Kyoto battlefield, slaughtering curses at a terrifying pace.
He couldn't afford to waste time. Someone else might steal his prey.
"Brother?!"
Mai spun around, only to see the severed head of the Grade 1 curse tumbling through the air.
The purple ichor hadn't even finished spurting from its body before both the curse—and her brother—were gone.
"Mai, are you hurt?"
Nishimiya Momo swooped down from her broom, while the others rushed over to check her condition.
"I'm fine. That was definitely my brother! Why is he in Kyoto? Could it be… he was worried about me?"
Mai's face lit with excitement—but a second later, her expression hardened.
No. She had vowed not to forgive her sister or her brother until she defeated Maki. She had to hold on to that resolve.
"Brother? You mean the one from the Zen'in clan?" Momo frowned. Mai had been at Kyoto Jujutsu High for a year, but she'd never once mentioned having such a terrifyingly strong older brother.
"That man is a teacher at Tokyo Jujutsu High," Tōdō declared, eyes sharp. "If I'm not mistaken, that was none other than the one they call the Curse Killer—Zen'in Shinsuke."
"You know my brother?"
Mai tilted her head, genuinely curious. All she really knew was that her brother was powerful and taught at Tokyo Jujutsu High. Beyond that, she'd never bothered to learn much.
Tōdō grinned confidently.
"Who doesn't know him? There are only a handful in the entire jujutsu world who don't."
(He couldn't help but wonder, though—what kind of woman would a man like that fall for?)
"The Curse Killer… I've heard of him!" Miwa gasped, realization dawning. "The one famous for cutting down Grade 1 curses and above—and there are even rumors he's exorcised Special Grades."
"So brother is really that famous?"
Mai muttered under her breath, brow furrowing. For all his strength, he'd never once looked down on her or Maki. For some reason… she didn't want the whole world to know about him.
"Hey! What's the meaning of this? Why's that guy here?"
Kyoto's principal, Yoshinobu Gakuganji, glared at Shinsuke, clearly annoyed.
But Utahime popped up and waved cheerfully. "Long time no see, Shinsuke-sensei!"
Shinsuke smiled faintly, gave her a nod, then turned his gaze to the grumpy old man. Without an ounce of restraint, he said:
"Listen, old man—I came all the way here from Tokyo to help you lot survive this mess. You'd better remember to thank me properly."
And with that, he vanished again, already on the hunt.
"That bastard…" Gakuganji ground his teeth. "Just as infuriating as Satoru Gojo!"
Did Kyoto really need help from Tokyo? He made it sound like they couldn't handle the curses on their own.
What a joke. He only came to feed his bloodlust—and yet he dressed it up like charity.
---