The spring morning was bright and clear, with sunlight falling across the grounds of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
"Osu! Osu!"
The students' shouts rang out in unison, accompanied by the sound of fists cutting through the air.
The place where they were training was the same battlefield from yesterday. However, the ruined school building was already gone, and the damaged ground had been filled in and leveled.
After all, Tokyo Jujutsu High had plenty of land, very few people, and more buildings than it needed. Losing one classroom was hardly worth worrying about.
Satoru Gojo had waved his hand and filled in the damaged ground, while Masamichi Yaga simply arranged for everyone to use another classroom.
Just like that, the matter was settled.
The school had lost an old building, but the students had gained another training ground. Considering how often things were destroyed around here, it was probably a useful exchange.
After the chaos of his first day, Yuta Okkotsu had officially become a student of Tokyo Jujutsu High. He was also the youngest member of the class.
To welcome him, Akira had organized a dinner gathering that evening. It was partly a celebration and partly a chance for everyone to relax after the intense battle with Rika Orimoto.
For Akira's mother, who had gradually gotten used to life at Tokyo Jujutsu High, the incident only strengthened her decision.
She had completely given up on returning to the front lines.
Twenty years ago, being a Grade Three Jujutsu Sorcerer would have been respectable enough. At the very least, there would have been plenty of opportunities for someone at that level.
But now?
Looking around Tokyo Jujutsu High, she had trouble finding anyone weaker than herself.
The difference between generations was simply too large.
Take Toge Inumaki, for example. He was already a Grade Two Jujutsu Sorcerer and was steadily working his way toward Grade One.
As for the newly enrolled Yuta Okkotsu, he had entered the school with a Special Grade classification because of Rika Orimoto.
That alone was enough to make most ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerers feel inferior.
And the remaining students were hardly normal either.
Akira, Panda, and Maki Zenin were currently registered as Grade Four Jujutsu Sorcerers, but that was only because none of them had undergone a proper assessment.
Since they had never been officially evaluated, they naturally started at the lowest grade.
Their actual combat strength was another matter entirely.
All three had already reached at least the level of a Grade Two Jujutsu Sorcerer. As long as they passed the necessary assessments, promotion would only be a matter of time.
Akira was an even more ridiculous case.
According to Satoru Gojo, he had the potential to become the fifth Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer.
A student who had barely enrolled was already being considered a future Special Grade.
What was an ordinary Grade Three like her supposed to think about that?
The times really had changed.
Even Makoto, who had experienced the Jujutsu world twenty years ago, could only sigh when she thought about it.
Back then, a Grade Two Jujutsu Sorcerer was already qualified to teach at Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Now, the school had someone like Satoru Gojo, a genuine Special Grade, serving as a teacher.
Of course, having Satoru Gojo as a teacher was already strange enough in itself.
Thinking about it carefully, Toge Inumaki might actually be the only student who resembled a traditional Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Maki Zenin relied almost entirely on her physical abilities and Cursed Tools.
Panda was a Mutated Cursed Corpse unlike anything an ordinary sorcerer would encounter.
And then there was her own son, Akira, who had somehow brought a Pokemon into the world of Jujutsu.
Each one was more unusual than the last.
After seeing these children together, she could only admit one thing.
She was getting old.
...
On the second day after Yuta Okkotsu enrolled, Akira began fulfilling the promise he had made.
Before the sun had even risen, he went to Yuta's room and dragged the still-sleepy boy out of bed.
Their training began with a slow run around the school grounds.
Once everyone had warmed up, they moved on to basic punching exercises.
"Osu! Osu!"
Under Akira's guidance, the students practiced their punches together.
At first, Yuta Okkotsu tried his best to keep up.
Unfortunately, his physical condition was far below that of the others.
It did not take long before his breathing became heavy. Sweat ran down his face, and his arms gradually grew too tired to maintain the proper posture.
Looking at the others, who were still punching without showing much fatigue, Yuta could not help feeling a little discouraged.
More importantly, he was confused.
Wasn't this supposed to be a school for learning Jujutsu?
He had come here because he wanted to learn how to control Rika Orimoto, or what Akira had called his "Familiar."
So why had he been dragged out of bed before dawn just to practice boxing?
He had expected to learn something about curses and Cursed Energy.
Instead, he was being taught how to throw a proper punch.
Was this really necessary?
Akira noticed the confusion on his face.
"Wondering why we're doing this instead of teaching you how to control Rika?"
"Ah..." Yuta hesitated before nodding. "Yes. I thought we would start with that."
"We'll get to it later," Akira replied calmly. "Right now, your first priority is improving yourself."
He looked at Yuta's exhausted appearance before continuing.
"With your current physical ability, you can't bring out Rika Orimoto's real strength. If you keep relying on her like this, you'll only become a burden to her."
Yuta fell silent.
The words were rather harsh, but Akira had no intention of hiding the problem from him.
Yuta Okkotsu possessed tremendous potential because of Rika Orimoto. However, that did not mean he was capable of protecting himself.
In fact, that was precisely the weakness Akira wanted to correct.
Even Satoru Gojo could not simply exorcise Rika Orimoto without considering Yuta Okkotsu's safety.
The relationship between the two was far more complicated than an ordinary Cursed Spirit possessing a human.
Rika Orimoto was bound to Yuta through a curse born from love.
As long as that connection remained, she could continue drawing upon her enormous power while remaining anchored to him.
But what if Yuta Okkotsu died?
The chain connecting the two would be broken.
Without Yuta as her anchor, Rika Orimoto would almost certainly lose control and go on a rampage.
However, the seemingly endless endurance and recovery that made her so troublesome would also be affected.
That was the weakness hidden behind the terrifying power of the so-called Queen of Curses.
And the higher-ups of Jujutsu Society were well aware of it.
In fact, their original plan had been very simple.
Execute Yuta Okkotsu.
Rika Orimoto was far too dangerous to leave alone. From their perspective, eliminating the boy before the situation grew worse was the safest solution.
The sooner that danger disappeared, the better.
The only reason Yuta was still alive was that Satoru Gojo had personally intervened and prevented the execution.
Yesterday's incident had only made the situation worse.
Akira had certainly enjoyed the battle with Rika Orimoto.
Satoru Gojo, on the other hand, had been forced to deal with the consequences afterward.
The higher-ups had immediately called a special meeting to criticize him.
Allowing a dangerous Special Grade Cursed Spirit to fully manifest inside Tokyo Jujutsu High was already bad enough.
But letting it fight with enough force to destroy an entire school building?
Naturally, the old men were furious.
Unfortunately for them, the person responsible was Satoru Gojo.
He was strong enough to ignore their threats, and shameless enough that their lectures had little effect on him.
In the end, all they could do was criticize him before letting the matter go.
If someone else had been responsible, things would not have ended so easily.
And that was exactly what worried Akira.
Even if the higher-ups did not openly order Yuta Okkotsu's execution, there was nothing stopping them from arranging something in secret.
After all, Yuta was still an ordinary boy in terms of physical ability.
There were countless ways to kill someone like him.
Poison, assassination, surprise attacks, and other methods that did not require confronting Rika Orimoto directly.
No matter how powerful she was, it would be difficult to protect Yuta against every hidden threat.
That was why Akira wanted him to become stronger as quickly as possible.
He had once been in a similar position himself. Having tremendous potential meant very little if he lacked the ability to survive long enough to use it.
Yuta needed to learn how to fight, how to defend himself, and how to avoid becoming completely dependent on Rika.
As for finding suitable teachers, that was hardly a problem at Tokyo Jujutsu High.
The school did not lack experts in close combat.
Maki Zenin alone was more than capable of teaching Yuta the fundamentals, and Akira could provide guidance whenever necessary.
When it came to Jujutsu itself, there was an even better candidate.
Satoru Gojo.
Although Gojo was not particularly suited to teaching ordinary students, Yuta Okkotsu was different.
He was a Special Grade.
Most Jujutsu Sorcerers spent their entire lives struggling to reach Grade One, but Yuta had already started at a level beyond that.
In that respect, he was similar to Satoru Gojo.
Both possessed abilities that placed them far above ordinary sorcerers, and there was even a connection between the two that most people did not know about.
Under those circumstances, having Gojo personally teach Yuta was a perfectly reasonable arrangement.
Besides, Akira himself was already approaching the threshold of Special Grade.
With two such students in front of him, this was an excellent opportunity for the so-called Special Grade teacher to prove that he was actually worth something.
And just as Yuta Okkotsu was about to begin his specialized training, Satoru Gojo suddenly turned toward Akira.
"Oh, right. Akira, I think you're about ready to learn Black Flash."
"Huh?"
Akira stopped what he was doing and looked at him.
"Black Flash? Didn't you say I was still missing something?"
He had been interested in Black Flash for a long time.
Among the various applications of Cursed Energy, Black Flash held a special place. It represented an extremely high level of coordination between physical attacks and Cursed Energy, and experiencing it could greatly deepen a Jujutsu Sorcerer's understanding of their own power.
For someone who relied heavily on close combat like Akira, it was naturally something he wanted to master.
Unfortunately, wanting to use it and actually being capable of using it were two different things.
He had tried to understand it through his own training, but no matter how much effort he put in, he had never managed to grasp the necessary timing.
Whenever he asked Satoru Gojo about it, the answer was always the same.
He was still a little short.
And now Gojo was suddenly telling him that he was ready?
"That was before," Gojo replied casually. "Things are different now."
He raised a finger as he explained.
"Your fight with Rika yesterday pushed your Cursed Energy through its final adjustment. The problem you had before is basically gone."
Akira listened carefully.
"Your Cursed Energy can now keep up with your body. The two have finally reached the right balance, so all the conditions are in place."
This was something Akira had struggled with for quite some time.
Because his physique was far stronger than that of an ordinary person, his Cursed Energy had initially seemed rather weak by comparison.
His physical strength improved so quickly that his Cursed Energy could barely keep up.
Even when he reinforced his body, he could not draw out his full physical potential through Cursed Energy alone.
For a normal Jujutsu Sorcerer, this would have been a rather unusual problem.
Most sorcerers relied on Cursed Energy to make their bodies stronger.
Akira, however, had started with a body that was already abnormally powerful.
His Cursed Energy needed time to catch up.
Fortunately, the problem had gradually improved through daily training.
As Akira grew older, his Cursed Energy reserves continued to increase. His control also became more precise as he practiced using it alongside his physical abilities.
And during yesterday's intense battle with Rika Orimoto, the final gap had finally closed.
His Cursed Energy and physical strength had reached a state where they could work together properly.
The change was extremely subtle.
Even Akira himself had not noticed it at the time.
But there was no hiding something like that from Satoru Gojo's Six Eyes.
Gojo had seen the entire process clearly.
"So that's what happened..." Akira muttered.
Then his expression brightened.
This was certainly good news.
It seemed that fighting the Queen of Curses had been even more worthwhile than he originally thought.
Not only had he gained valuable combat experience, but he had also solved a problem that had bothered him for quite some time.
As expected, there was nothing better than fighting a powerful opponent when it came to improving one's strength.
Akira rubbed his hands together, already eager to give it a try.
"So, you'll teach me?"
"Of course!" Satoru Gojo replied without hesitation.
Akira immediately became more attentive.
Black Flash was something he had wanted to learn for a long time. Now that Gojo had finally agreed to teach him, he naturally wanted to hear the explanation.
Unfortunately, the next words that came out of Gojo's mouth were...
"It's really simple. I can explain it in two sentences."
"Just go by feeling."
"As long as you have hands, you can do it!"
"..."
Akira stared at him.
For a moment, he genuinely wondered whether he had heard correctly.
That was it?
He had waited so long for an opportunity to learn Black Flash, and this was the explanation he received?
Go by feeling?
As long as you have hands?
If Black Flash was really that simple, wouldn't every Jujutsu Sorcerer in the world already know how to use it?
Akira looked at Satoru Gojo's confident expression and suddenly remembered something important.
This guy was Satoru Gojo.
Why had he expected a normal explanation from someone who could make even the most ridiculous things sound easy?
He had almost forgotten how much Gojo enjoyed showing off.
The more Akira thought about it, the more irritated he became.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Gojo-sensei, believe it or not, I'll team up with Okkotsu and beat you up."
At this point, Akira seriously suspected that the reason the System had failed to collect enough information about Satoru Gojo was simply because nobody had ever managed to punch him properly.
If that was really the problem, perhaps it was time to fix it.
Unfortunately, Satoru Gojo showed no signs of being threatened.
Instead, he pressed a hand against his chest and acted as though Akira had deeply hurt his feelings.
"How cruel!"
He even pretended to sniffle.
"Akira, you would rather look for Rika Orimoto as a sparring partner than ask your own teacher for help?"
Gojo shook his head sadly.
"Is Gojo-sensei really that disappointing? Am I not good enough for you anymore?"
If not for the blindfold covering his eyes, Akira suspected that Gojo might have tried squeezing out a few tears to make the performance more convincing.
Naturally, Akira had no intention of playing along.
"No. Rika Orimoto is much cuter than you."
His answer came without the slightest hesitation.
"..."
Satoru Gojo fell silent for a moment.
Then he slowly turned his head toward Yuta Okkotsu.
Although his eyes were hidden behind the blindfold, the raised eyebrow made his intentions quite obvious.
Yuta, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, suddenly found himself caught in the middle.
"Eh? Me?"
On one side was Akira, who had already arranged his physical training and promised to help him learn how to handle Rika Orimoto.
On the other side was Satoru Gojo, the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer and the person responsible for teaching him Jujutsu.
Both were now looking at him.
Yuta glanced at Akira, then at Gojo.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Why did he suddenly feel as though choosing the wrong person would cause him even more trouble than the morning's training?
For a boy who had only enrolled yesterday, this was turning out to be a surprisingly difficult decision.
Yuta Okkotsu hesitated.