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A few days passed by since their day off. Currently, Naoya was in the school's training field, testing out a new technique.
After making multiple signs, Naoya called out the shikigami.
[Rabbit Escape][Nue]
[Well of Unknown Abyss]
His shadow darkened, and inside it, two types of cursed energies merged. A moment later, a winged rabbit jumped out of the shadows.
Naoya looked at the creature hopefully. He had been at this for a few days, and the technique was a bit unstable.
'Let the curse energy balance be right...' thought Naoya hopefully.
"How is it?" asked Naoya.
The winged rabbit looked at its body and jumped up and flew around. After a minute of flying around, nothing happened to it, seeing which the rabbit gave a nod to Naoya.
"Phew....one combination down. Now then, show me what you can do," ordered Naoya.
The rabbit nodded and flew higher. A moment later, the entire view was filled with the army of rabbits.
Naoya nodded and gestured for them to go ahead.
The rabbits nodded and launched an attack at Naoya.
[Will of Shadows: Great Serpent: Viper Chain Whip]
With the whip in hand, Naoya started moving his arm around, destroying the fleet of flying bunnies coming at him.
Seeing the incoming attack, some of them dodged midair, while some were caught and exploded upon being destroyed.
Naoya noted the change. The rabbits now burst into electric shocks as well, though the power of explosions was reduced.
The rabbits, upon getting closer to Naoya, started to emit electricity, and a moment later, the combined might of the remaining rabbits rained down electric shocks at Naoya.
Activating Projection Sorcery, Naoya spun the whip at extreme speed, forming a pseudo-omnidirectional shield. The electric attacks dispersed, and the rabbits were shredded rapidly.
The electric shocks around him dissipated, while the rabbits also started getting destroyed one after another.
Some managed to pass through, but there were not many.
However, the rabbits were smart. The moment they got closer to Naoya, they multiplied once again and overwhelmed the Zenin with their numbers and released electricity with all their might.
Caught a bit off guard, Naoya got hit by the attack, zapping him. Though not for that long, as Naoya activated [Solid Shadow] and formed a shadowy armour around him that protected him from the shocks.
Done with his testing, Naoya decided to get the testing over with and channelled his cursed energy through the chai whip, making it deadlier than what it already was.
Within seconds, the entire flying rabbit squad was annihilated.
Deactivating his technique and cursed tool, Naoya looked at the damage around him caused by the flying bunnies and concluded.
The combination of shikigami with the [Well of Unknown Abyss] were weaker than the base shikigami since their own cursed energy is split and merged with others' cursed energy, making them weaker in what they could do, but gave them the versatility of the other shikigami as well.
He first needs to find out how much cursed energy from each shikigami was required for the combination to be stable. If the balance is off, the shikigami won't sustain.
It was different from [Totality], another application of the technique, where a shikigami inherits the powers and cursed energy of a dead shikigami. That required no measurement and is an overall stronger shikigami.
Still, [The Well of Unknown Abyss] had its advantages. He could make countless copies of the merged shikigami. These shikigami also don't die when destroyed, unlike [Totality].
"Are you done with your experiment?"
A new voice came, making Naoya turn around and snap out of his thoughts.
"What happened, senpai?"
"A new mission came....Ugh..." said Utahime, and a sour look appeared on her face.
"...Wow, such a happy expression," said Naoya with an eye roll.
"...Grade-1 cursed spirit. You and I are being assigned," said Utahime.
"...And let me guess, you aren't unhappy because of the cursed spirit."
"Why do I have to be paired with you?! I mean, they sent the three of us for a Semi-Grade-1. Why just the two of us for a Grade-1?!" complained Utahime.
Naoya stared at her with a deadpan look and flicked her forehead, making the miko wince in pain.
"They probably didn't include Tetsuya-kun because genuine Grade-1 might be too dangerous for him. Semi-Grade-1 could be handled while protecting him, but a Grade-1 might not be feasible while protecting him....or that's what the higher-ups might have thought. Well then, partner. Do your best and don't hold me back," said Naoya, and gestured for a handshake.
"You! How dare you flick me!!! Agh! I swear....take care of me on the mission," replied Utahime and sighed. Having bad blood before an important mission was not something she wanted. She might have many reasons to be pissed at Naoya, but he was a capable sorcerer who was quite normal for a Special Grade. Her safety depended a lot on him if the situation were to turn out for the worse.
She shook his hands and clicked her tongue, making Naoya smirk.
"So. When are we leaving?" asked Naoya and started walking.
Utahime joined him and turned serious.
"Tomorrow morning. Be sure to be ready with what you might need."
"What about classes?"
"Day off for Kuroko. Tsukumo-senpai is out of town anyway."
"Lucky bastard."
"Agreed."
The two nodded and looked enviously at Kuroko, who was practising with Zankyo.
After discussing for a while, the two called Kuroko and headed to the cafeteria.
After their meal, Naoya left for home.
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The next day, in the car on their way to the curse's location, Naoya was sleeping peacefully.
Last night, he was busy getting the combination of another set of shikigami correct for his technique and didn't get enough sleep. Since the way to their destination was quite far, he slowly drifted off to sleep. Though he wasn't unguarded. Maou, the rabbit shikigami and Mr. Hiss, the serpent shikigami, were keeping guard.
Maou was already quite small, while Mr. Hiss could make himself smaller to fit in tight areas and was just lap-sized right now.
Though, because of the snake, Utahime was sitting as far away from Naoya as she could and was silently cursing the Zenin for summoning such a creature there.
While she was mentally cursing, the car took a sharp turn, and Naoya's body swayed, and he fell sideways, and his head landed on Utahime's shoulder.
Surprised by the sudden weight, she looked sideways and saw his face right in front of her. A blush appeared on her face because of the closeness, and she was about to shove the bastard away.
*HISS*
Mr. Hiss, however, gave a warning. The boss was tired, and he wasn't going to let someone disturb Naoya's sleep.
"Wa-" replied Utahime and raised her hands in surrender.
Mr. Hiss gave her a threatening look before focusing back on the surroundings.
'Why am I stuck here....' thought Utahime in defeat before she looked at Naoya's peaceful sleeping face.
'This bastard....he doesn't look that bad when he is not speaking...' thought Utahime when she suddenly realized what she thought, and her face started to heat up and turn red.
The driver who was seeing what was going on behind him through the mirror smiled in satisfaction.
'Good shit...' thought the driver and focused on driving.
Not knowing about the show that she was showing to the driver, Utahime slapped her cheek to snap out of idiotic thoughts and sat straight with determination.
Though she couldn't maintain that for long, as she started to feel soreness around her shoulder.
'Ugh! Such a pain!' thought Utahime and was about to wake Naoya. However, seeing him asleep without a care in the world, she couldn't bring herself to wake him up. The boy looked genuinely tired.
"...Whatever, I am just paying him back for helping me train..." muttered Utahime and slowly lifted his head and placed it on her lap, making both herself and Naoya more comfortable.
She looked at Naoya, who seemed to be feeling cosier on her lap and started to feel embarrassed.
The driver who saw it all through the mirror took a deep breath.
'I need something bitter now...too much sweetness....' thought the driver.
*HISS*
Suddenly, the driver heard a threatening sound near him.
The snake was near him and gestured for him to look at the road.
'Don't interrupt my guilty pleasure,' thought the driver.
'Boss's safety important. Look forward,' thought the snake.
The two glared at each other for a while before they focused back on their jobs.
.
.
.
"Oi.Oi. Wake up."
"Ugh... 1 more hour."
"Wake up!!!!!"
Hearing the shout, Naoya's eyes shot open, and he looked around to see which bastard dared to interrupt his sleep.
To his surprise, the face he saw in front of him was familiar and was looking quite pissed.
"Hm? Senpai? Good morning."
"Good morning, my foot!!!! Get off my lap!!!" yelled Utahime, gesturing for him to get up.
Naoya blinked in surprise and turned to his side and found himself on the girl's lap.
Still feeling a bit groggy, she poked her stomach, trying to see if it was real.
.
.
.
A moment later, the two sorcerers were standing in front of a hostel, and two people from the jujutsu division were standing there keeping guard around the facility.
They wanted to explain the situation to the students from Jujutsu High, but they didn't know if it was the right time to do so.
First of all, there was a slightly tense atmosphere between the students.
Secondly, the Special Grade Sorcerer had a handprint across his cheek.
'What is going on?'
'Lover's quarrel?'
'Was he cheating?'
The two people from the jujutsu division got distracted by the possible gossip. Turns out, when you are on the edge of death daily, you get quite interested in gossip and lover affairs.
"Ahem. So what is the situation?" asked Naoya, trying to break the ice.
"A-Ah! Yes, Zenin-sama. Recently..."
The two of them started explaining the situation at Naoya's request.
Long story short, the hostel's director used to give cheaper living spaces to the college students who attended the nearby university, though in reality, he used to drug the students and used to make them 'serve' customers and blackmail them.
The negative emotions accumulated over time, and a week ago, a cursed spirit took residence here and killed the director and some of the customers.
Some of the students who witnessed the scene decided to run away and informed others as well. Some of the students who were late were involved in the incident as well and were killed by the cursed spirit as well.
Right now, the facility was vacated by the sorcerers from the division, though one of the Grade-3 sorcerers who came to investigate died as well.
"...Humans truly come in many shapes..." muttered Naoya in disgust.
Utahime felt the same and gave a nod.
"So. Where is the spirit currently at?" asked Naoya.
"In the director's room, there is a door that leads to the basement. That's where the cu-"
"Got it. I will go and deal with it immediately," said Naoya and started marching towards the location.
"Hey, wait. It is a joint mission!" said Utahime.
"Leave it to me, senpai. Consider it my way of thanking you for letting me rest on your lap. I need some stretches to get my body going after resting," said Naoya with a smile.
"Wa! Don't speak that out loud!!!" yelled Utahime and blushed a bit.
The jujutsu division people and the driver looked at the scene with a blissful look.
All of them met each other's gaze and gave a sagely nod.
'That's the shit...' thought the three of them with content.
Naoya and Utahime didn't notice the gazes of the three, and Naoya gave a reassuring pat on Utahime's shoulder before going inside the building.
"Whatever. It's not like I am worrying about him. Given his strength, he would be safe anyway," said Utahime.
The moment she said that, a blast of cursed energy shot out of the building, tearing through the walls and from the cracks jumped out a disfigured, cursed spirit.
"Where the hell are you running!!!" yelled Naoya with excitement, jumping out of the crack as well.
His fist was covered in shadows, ready to attack the curse.
The curse, on the other hand, already looked quite beaten up already.
'What the hell happened!!!!! Not even a minute passed since he went in!!!!' thought Utahime and the people from the Jujutsu division in shock.
Not bothered by their gazes at all, the shadows around Naoya's fist started to move around, and Naoya punched the air in front of him.
[Solid Shadow- Shadow-Shadow Pistol]
Like a familiar rubber man, Naoya's shadowy arm extended at great speed and struck the curse.
[Shadow-Shadow Shotgun]
From the struck fist, multiple shadowy fists emerged and struck the curse, pummeling it deeper into the ground.
[Cursed Technique Reversal- Shadow Containment]
The shadow fists around the curse's body expanded and pulled the curse within, and started tearing it apart.
Naoya waited for it to struggle, but the cursed one was destroyed in an instant.
"Huh?" muttered Naoya in confusion. The power of the curse suddenly dipped. The moment it got consumed by the shadows, it got weaker...to Grade-3 level.
Naoya walked up to the crater he had made and wanted to see if something had happened there, and the moment he reached it, he realised what had happened.
"That explains it..." muttered Naoya, jumped into the crater and picked up something that had fallen there. It was a cursed object and not just any cursed object.
"One of the fingers of Ryomen Sukuna..." muttered Naoya.
On the outside, Utahime and the others looked on in shock, their mouths wide open.
A Grade-1 cursed spirit was exorcised in a minute flat.
This was not something they had seen before, and they realised once again how terrifying Special Grade sorcerers actually were.