By the time Akira finally noticed that his Cursed Energy could no longer keep up with his consumption, there was no one left standing in the base except Kento Nanami.
The base had originally been decorated like an upscale bar. Now, the tables and chairs were broken, the liquor cabinets had collapsed, and almost everything inside had been smashed apart by Akira's fists.
Looking at the destruction around him, Akira slowly lowered his hands.
He had spent the entire fight trying to match his Cursed Energy with his physical movements. Yet even after using up so much energy and beating down every enemy in sight, he had failed to grasp that brief moment he was looking for.
"I failed."
Kento Nanami had already buttoned his suit jacket and straightened his tie. Hearing Akira's words, he shook his head.
"That's normal. If Black Flash were that easy to learn, it wouldn't be considered a dividing line for Jujutsu Sorcerers. And that person wouldn't have sent you to find me in the first place."
Akira thought for a moment before asking seriously, "Then what am I still lacking?"
"Two things."
Kento Nanami raised two fingers.
"First, everything I told you earlier came from my own experience. What works for me might not work for you. You need to find an image of Cursed Energy that suits your own understanding instead of forcing yourself to follow mine."
Akira nodded and continued listening.
"Second, training. Once you find that image, keep using it to improve the coordination between your body and Cursed Energy. Repeat the process until it becomes natural. As long as you're still improving, you're moving in the right direction."
"And when I reach my limit?"
"Keep training."
Kento Nanami answered without hesitation.
"Even when you feel that you've reached your limit, don't stop. Keep practicing until your fists and Cursed Energy move together without you having to think about them. Turn that coordination into instinct."
He looked at Akira and continued.
"If you can reach that point, you might eventually break through your limit and land a Black Flash. And once you've experienced it for the first time, finding that feeling again will become much easier."
"I understand."
Akira nodded seriously.
If these words had come from an ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerer, Akira might have treated them as general advice. However, the person standing in front of him was Kento Nanami.
The current world record holder for consecutive Black Flashes.
Four consecutive Black Flashes in a single day.
When someone with that kind of experience spoke about Black Flash, Akira naturally had every reason to listen.
More importantly, Kento Nanami's explanation matched what Akira had believed and practiced all along.
Practice.
Keep practicing until the movement becomes part of your body.
It was no different from professional athletes repeating the same movements thousands upon thousands of times. After enough training, their bodies could sometimes perform beyond what they normally considered possible.
Even the athletes themselves might not understand exactly how they achieved their best performances.
They only knew that, at that particular moment, their bodies had moved naturally.
Black Flash was probably something similar.
It was an extremely rare state that could not be forced through determination alone. However, without enough training beforehand, even if the opportunity appeared, the body might not be able to seize it.
In the end, there was no shortcut.
He could only keep training, improve his control, and wait for the moment when all that effort finally produced results.
"All right, let's go."
Kento Nanami checked his appearance one last time.
"We'll report the situation to Gojo first. After that, I'll see if I can help you find a more concrete feeling for your Cursed Energy."
Hearing him speak as though the mission had already ended, Akira was slightly surprised.
"That's it? What about these guys?"
"They're already dead."
"Huh?"
Akira froze for a moment.
Dead?
He looked around at the Curse Users scattered across the ruined bar.
During the fight, he had been concentrating almost entirely on controlling his Cursed Energy. Although he had knocked down quite a few people, he distinctly remembered that neither he nor Kento Nanami had deliberately delivered a killing blow.
Could he have accidentally killed them without noticing?
Seeing his reaction, Kento Nanami immediately understood what he was thinking.
"Don't bother checking. They weren't killed by your attacks."
"Then how did they die?"
"A curse."
Kento Nanami's expression grew serious.
"Someone placed a curse on them beforehand. Once they tried to reveal information about their organization, the curse activated and killed them. It seems this matter is more complicated than we expected."
Akira frowned slightly.
Earlier, when Kento Nanami had tried to question one of the Curse Users, the man had barely opened his mouth before his heart suddenly split apart.
Immediately afterward, the hearts of the other Curse Users had shattered as well.
There had been no warning and no opportunity to stop it.
Whoever had placed those curses clearly had no intention of allowing the organization's secrets to leak.
"This isn't your responsibility," Kento Nanami continued.
Akira looked toward him.
"I told you earlier that you needed to prepare yourself for the possibility of killing people. However, that doesn't mean you should take responsibility for every enemy who dies during a mission."
Kento Nanami adjusted his glasses.
"Besides, gathering intelligence and investigating the internal structure of an organization aren't our responsibilities in the first place. We're Jujutsu Sorcerers. We handle the threats in front of us. As for the rest, there are people whose jobs are to investigate these things."
He paused briefly before adding in his usual serious tone.
"Doing things roughly is perfectly acceptable sometimes. That's a lesson you learn after becoming an adult."
"I see."
Akira nodded but said nothing more.
Of course, he understood what Kento Nanami meant.
He was not some innocent child who believed every enemy could be saved. Nor was he someone who would blindly take responsibility for deaths that had nothing to do with his actions.
What surprised him was something else entirely.
His own reaction.
Several people had just died in front of him, their hearts destroyed by curses planted inside their bodies.
Yet Akira felt almost nothing.
There was no anger toward the person responsible.
No fear after witnessing such a strange killing method.
No lingering discomfort from the fact that several human lives had disappeared right before his eyes.
There wasn't even the slightest feeling of guilt.
He was simply calm.
So calm that it almost felt as though the people lying around him had nothing to do with him.
Akira could understand why he felt no guilt, since he hadn't killed them. However, the complete lack of sympathy still surprised him.
Had he already become accustomed to the cruelty of the Jujutsu World?
Or had he always been this cold-blooded?
Akira didn't know.
He stood there thinking for a moment before quietly calling out.
"Little Sha~"
A gentle wave of psychic power came from behind him.
The familiar feeling brushed against his mind, and the tension he hadn't even noticed began to ease.
One familiar figure after another appeared in his thoughts.
Akemi Aki.
Pancham.
Maki Zenin.
Panda.
Toge Inumaki.
And, of course, that troublesome teacher of his, Satoru Gojo.
Thinking about those familiar faces, Akira's expression gradually relaxed.
That's right.
There was no need to think too much about it.
He had people he cared about, people he wanted to protect, and a life he was satisfied with.
As long as he could still feel that way toward them, things were fine.
Akira smiled faintly.
However, while he was enjoying that peaceful feeling, he failed to notice something.
The dark egg he had been carrying around for the past four days suddenly moved.
It was only a slight tremor.
Almost like a heartbeat.
Then everything returned to normal.
***
There was a saying that life rarely went the way one wanted.
Perhaps that was a little exaggerated, but there were indeed people and situations that could leave someone completely helpless.
No matter how capable a person was, there would always be something they struggled to deal with.
Akira had his own share of such problems.
As for Kento Nanami, one of his greatest sources of trouble was undoubtedly Satoru Gojo.
"You should have told me about something this important earlier!"
Kento Nanami gripped his phone tightly as he spoke.
Anyone familiar with him would have immediately noticed how unusual his reaction was.
After all, this was a man who could maintain a straight face even while fighting dangerous Cursed Spirits.
Yet a single phone call with Satoru Gojo was apparently enough to test his patience.
"Sorry, sorry!"
Satoru Gojo's cheerful voice came from the other end.
"I handled that matter too casually back then, so I completely forgot about it. Good thing you reminded me, Nanami!"
There wasn't even the slightest hint of guilt in his voice.
"Anyway, don't be so angry. I'll send you something nice to cheer you up."
"What I need is information, not..."
Ding!
Before Kento Nanami could finish speaking, his phone received a new message.
It was a photograph.
And the first thing that caught Akira's attention was an extremely familiar face.
White hair.
Dark sunglasses that barely allowed any light through.
And a smile that seemed far too pleased with itself.
There was no mistaking it.
The person occupying most of the photograph was Satoru Gojo.
More precisely, it was a selfie he had taken.
However, the most interesting part of the picture wasn't Satoru Gojo himself.
It was the person behind him.
A long-haired individual was tightly bound with ropes, their body twisted into a rather embarrassing position. Their hair covered enough of their face that Akira couldn't even tell whether they were male or female.
The clothes, however, looked familiar.
They were almost identical to those worn by the Q organization members currently lying around the ruined base.
As for the ropes...
Akira examined the photograph for another moment.
Wasn't that a turtle-shell binding pattern?
And to make matters worse, someone had even added text near a particularly sensitive area.
"It's small..."
"..."
Akira fell silent.
He looked at the bound Q member, then at Satoru Gojo's cheerful face.
There was absolutely no need to ask who had come up with this idea.
What kind of grudge did this guy have against the poor person in the photograph?
Getting captured by an enemy was already unfortunate enough. Being tied up like that and having your picture taken was probably something that person would remember for the rest of their life.
Assuming they ever managed to forget the humiliation in the first place.
Still, after looking at the photograph more carefully, Akira noticed something else.
Satoru Gojo looked much younger.
"Gojo-sensei, is this photograph from ten years ago?"
"Hm? Oh, you noticed?"
"Of course. You look younger here."
"Hey, I still look young now!"
Akira ignored that statement and continued.
"Is this from when you wiped out the Q organization?"
"Well, technically, it wasn't just me."
Satoru Gojo corrected him.
"It was us. Back then, we just dealt with everyone who came looking for trouble. Later, I heard that Q collapsed because all their Jujutsu Sorcerers had been captured in one sweep."
"Oh?"
Akira thought about those words.
So that was what had happened.
Ten years ago, Satoru Gojo and his companions had defeated the organization's main combat force.
With its elite Jujutsu Sorcerers gone, Q had apparently lost the strength needed to continue operating and eventually disbanded.
At least, that was how the story had been told.
However...
"Wait a minute."
Akira suddenly noticed the problem.
"Gojo-sensei, you said you defeated the people who came after you, right?"
"Yep."
"And the people you captured were mostly their elite fighters?"
"That's right."
"So you destroyed Q's main combat force, but you didn't actually deal with the people managing the organization?"
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Akira continued thinking aloud.
"In other words, the organization lost its fighting strength, but its management, financial resources, and other important assets might have remained almost untouched."
He looked around at the ruined base.
"Then isn't it possible that Q never truly disappeared? They could have simply announced their disbandment, waited until everyone stopped paying attention, and continued operating in secret."
Or they could have changed their name and started over somewhere else.
For an organization with enough money and connections, neither option would be particularly difficult.
Thinking about that possibility, Akira finally understood why Kento Nanami had become so angry.
Ten years!
An organization that everyone believed had been destroyed ten years ago was now operating right under their noses.
And judging by the curses placed on its members, the people behind it were far from ordinary.
"Exactly."
Kento Nanami spoke before Satoru Gojo could respond.
His voice had returned to its usual calm tone, although Akira could still hear the irritation underneath.
"The people who give orders are sitting comfortably at the top, while the ones actually carrying them out are nothing more than workers at the bottom."
Akira nodded in agreement.
"That makes sense. The important people are the ones controlling the money and resources. As long as those people remain untouched, losing a few groups of fighters won't destroy the organization."
"Correct."
"They can just announce that the organization has disbanded, wait for things to settle down, and recruit another batch of people under a different name."
"Exactly."
"And the so-called elite fighters are really just higher-level workers."
"That's right."
Kento Nanami sounded increasingly satisfied with the direction of the conversation.
"Even if someone is called the king of workers, that doesn't change the fact that he's still a worker."
Akira nodded again.
"After all, workers are still workers, no matter how impressive their titles sound."
The two immediately reached an understanding.
After all, Kento Nanami had once worked as an ordinary salaryman.
As for Akira, he had also experienced working life before.
When it came to this particular topic, neither of them needed much explanation.
They understood each other perfectly.
The real problem was always the people sitting at the top.
Those people controlled the resources, made the decisions, and collected the benefits.
Meanwhile, the workers were the ones risking their lives to carry out orders.
Even if a worker became extremely skilled, received a better title, or earned more money, that wouldn't necessarily change his position.
Thinking about it this way, Akira suddenly felt that the Jujutsu World wasn't all that different from an ordinary workplace.
The only difference was that the workers here had to risk their lives fighting Cursed Spirits and Curse Users.
And there was one more thing.
After considering Satoru Gojo's position in the entire matter, Akira suddenly spoke.
"You know, I suddenly feel some respect for Gojo-sensei."
"Heh heh heh!"
The moment those words reached the other end of the phone, Satoru Gojo began laughing.
He sounded so pleased that Akira could practically imagine the smug expression on his face.
After all, being praised by Akira, his most reliable subordinate, was clearly something worth celebrating.
"Heh heh heh!"