Two more followed in quick succession.
Akira looked over and finally noticed Maki Zenin, Panda, Toge Inumaki, and Yuta Okkotsu nearby. Each of them was carrying something, either a section of fencing or a wooden pole, and they seemed rather busy.
"What are you all doing?" Akira asked.
"Helping Megumi catch rabbits," Maki Zenin answered casually.
"Catch rabbits?"
Akira looked at the rabbits running around the training ground, then at the equipment in their hands. He quickly understood what was going on.
Apparently, subjugating a Shikigami did not always mean defeating it in a straightforward fight.
Rabbit Escape was a good example. Its individual combat strength was almost negligible, but it made up for that weakness with overwhelming numbers. Its main purpose was scouting, distraction, and disrupting the enemy.
Naturally, the conditions for subjugating it were also troublesome.
Megumi Fushiguro had to catch every single rabbit.
Not one could be allowed to escape.
It sounded simple enough, but Megumi had already been stuck on this step for quite some time.
"Wait. Aren't you worried that helping him will count as outside interference and cause the ritual to fail?" Akira asked.
"We already tested that," Maki replied. "As long as we don't enter the ritual area when it starts or directly attack the targets after it begins, there's no problem."
Panda nodded beside her.
"We're just putting obstacles in their way. That doesn't count as attacking them."
"I see."
Akira nodded in understanding.
It seemed there was some room to work around the rules of the Exorcism Ritual.
In that case, there was no reason for him to stand around watching.
"Then I'll help too."
As he spoke, Akira released his hold on Darkrai, allowing the Mythical Pokémon to fully reveal himself.
The effect was immediate.
Darkrai did not need to attack or even make a threatening gesture. The innate pressure belonging to the Nightmare God was enough.
The rabbits that had been charging straight ahead suddenly changed direction.
Faced with the terrifying presence before them, their instincts told them to stay as far away as possible.
After all, what creature would willingly run toward something that represented nightmares themselves?
Unfortunately for the rabbits, changing direction meant losing speed.
And that brief hesitation was exactly what Megumi needed.
The pursuers immediately closed the distance.
Maki and the others continued throwing fences and wooden poles into the rabbits' paths, forcing them to change direction again and again. Meanwhile, Megumi concentrated on catching them with his Shikigami.
The Divine Dogs rushed forward and grabbed their targets. Great Serpent struck from another direction, catching rabbits in its jaws.
As for Megumi himself, Akira had no idea where he had found a large wooden mallet.
Bang!
A rabbit disappeared beneath the hammer.
Bang! Bang!
Two more followed.
Looking at Megumi swinging that ridiculous weapon with a serious expression, Akira almost laughed.
Wasn't this just a real-life game of whack-a-mole?
Except the moles had been replaced by rabbits, and the person holding the hammer was a Jujutsu Sorcerer trying to master his inherited technique.
What a wonderful use of the prestigious Ten Shadows Technique.
Fortunately, their combined efforts worked.
Before long, the last rabbit was finally caught, and the Exorcism Ritual came to a successful end.
Megumi Fushiguro had officially obtained his fifth Shikigami.
With this, he had taken another step toward his two great future careers.
Zoo director and Disney princess.
Truly something worth celebrating.
Of course, those two titles were only Akira's personal opinion.
Back in his previous life, plenty of people on the internet liked calling Megumi Fushiguro a "Disney Princess." Considering his appearance, personality, and ability to summon all kinds of animals, the nickname was rather fitting.
However, Akira personally preferred another title.
Pokémon Trainer.
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
Just look at the Ten Shadows Technique.
It had Shikigami capable of fighting on land, in the water, and in the air. Their sizes ranged from large to medium to small, while their appearances covered just about every category imaginable.
Some looked cool and intimidating. Others were cute enough to keep as pets. A few were downright ugly, although even that ugliness had its own strange charm.
Their combat roles were equally diverse.
There were tanks capable of taking damage, attackers specializing in physical combat, and others that relied on techniques resembling magical attacks. There were also support types that could help with scouting, movement, and disrupting enemies.
Almost every role a proper team needed was covered.
More importantly, the user had to subjugate each Shikigami before being allowed to use it.
Wasn't that basically catching Pokémon?
Even the ability to grow stronger through sacrifice and inheritance resembled evolution, although the cost was certainly much higher than anything an ordinary Pokémon Trainer would want to pay.
And that was only the beginning.
The Ten Shadows Technique even possessed rare humanoid forms and godlike beasts, just as the Pokémon world had its humanoid Pokémon and Legendary or Mythical Pokémon.
The similarities were simply too obvious.
Akira was convinced that if Megumi Fushiguro were suddenly thrown into the Pokémon world, he would adapt extremely well.
Who knew? He might even become a famous Trainer.
At that point, even Gary Oak or Green might have to worry about being overshadowed.
Just imagining Megumi standing in a Pokémon stadium with his usual serious expression, commanding his Divine Dogs against another Trainer's Pokémon, was enough to make Akira want to laugh.
Among Megumi's collection of "ten Pokémon," the most popular were naturally the Divine Dogs.
The two dogs were practically perfect.
In battle, they could become ferocious beasts capable of tearing apart Cursed Spirits. Their speed, sharp claws, and powerful jaws made them reliable combat partners.
Outside battle, however, they were still dogs.
They could run around, play, and behave like ordinary pets. Watching them stumble through the snow or fool around with their companions was enough to make anyone forget how dangerous they could be.
Strong enough to fight and friendly enough to keep around.
What more could anyone ask for?
Of course, if the discussion was limited to pure cuteness and the ability to heal people's hearts, there was another clear winner.
Rabbit Escape.
Even Akira, who occasionally found himself missing the taste of spicy rabbit heads from his previous life, had to admit that these little creatures were adorable.
Especially after being created through the Ten Shadows Technique.
Their bodies carried a faint ink-wash appearance, giving them a unique charm that ordinary rabbits lacked.
Small, round, fluffy, and covered with those distinctive markings.
They looked like rabbits that had jumped straight out of a painting.
No wonder everyone wanted to play with them.
As soon as Megumi completed the Exorcism Ritual, Panda was already urging him to summon Rabbit Escape again.
Megumi had barely finished recovering from the exhausting chase before a fresh group of rabbits appeared.
This time, there was no need to catch them.
Everyone immediately began picking them up.
Maki Zenin, who usually acted tough and rarely showed interest in such things, was no exception. Even she could not resist holding one of the rabbits in her arms.
Yuta Okkotsu also joined in, naturally bringing Rika Orimoto along.
Although Rika had transformed into a Cursed Spirit, she still seemed to have a soft spot for cute things.
Her enormous form carefully approached one of the rabbits.
Of course, Yuta had already warned her several times.
"Rika, be careful. Don't hurt it."
With her strength, even a little too much force could easily crush the poor creature.
Fortunately, Rika listened to him.
Seeing this, Akira became even more convinced of something he had been thinking about for quite a while.
Rika Orimoto was not impossible to control.
As long as Yuta Okkotsu could put aside his prejudice, sincerely accept her, and treat her properly, Rika would generally listen to him.
There was certainly some risk involved.
After all, her strength was far beyond that of an ordinary Cursed Spirit, and she sometimes had trouble controlling it.
However, judging from her current behavior, the overall risk remained manageable.
At least, Akira did not think there was any need to treat her as an uncontrollable disaster at every moment.
Compared to Rika, there was another troublemaker who seemed much harder to manage.
Panda's second brother, Pancham.
This little guy had apparently decided that being cuter than everyone else gave him the right to bully other creatures.
He did not care about their strength or level.
As long as they were smaller than him, he would happily wave his tiny fists and chase them around.
Right now, his targets were the newly summoned rabbits.
The little Pancham charged after them with astonishing enthusiasm, sending several rabbits fleeing in different directions.
Watching such a small creature terrorize an entire group of rabbits was quite a sight.
Akira could only shake his head.
What a little tyrant.
Fortunately, Rabbit Escape had another advantage.
Despite the name Ten Shadows Technique, it did not mean that only ten individual Shikigami could exist at a time.
The technique allowed multiple individuals of certain Shikigami to appear simultaneously.
Generally speaking, the weaker an individual Shikigami was, the greater the number that could be summoned.
Rabbit Escape was the clearest example.
Individually, the rabbits were almost useless in combat. Together, however, they could fill an entire area and overwhelm an enemy's ability to keep track of them.
Interestingly enough, Pokémon had plenty of similar examples.
Take Kangaskhan, for instance.
This fellow had earned the respectful nickname of Big Brother among certain fans and was well known for bringing its child into battle.
There were also Dugtrio and Magneton, Pokémon whose evolved forms consisted of multiple individuals combined into one.
And then there was Wishiwashi.
A single Wishiwashi was so weak that it hardly deserved mentioning in battle.
So what did it do?
It gathered its companions.
Once enough Wishiwashi came together, their School Form turned them into a massive creature capable of confronting opponents far stronger than any individual member.
If one was too weak, just gather more.
A perfectly reasonable strategy.
Looking at the rabbits scattered around the training ground, Akira could not help comparing them to Wishiwashi.
Megumi Fushiguro, and you still want to say you're not a Pokémon Trainer?
The evidence was practically everywhere!
Akira continued enjoying his own ridiculous thoughts.
Naturally, Megumi Fushiguro knew absolutely nothing about the strange labels his senior had been assigning him.
Instead, after confirming that the ritual had ended successfully, he approached Akira and bowed deeply.
"Thank you very much, Senior Akira. And welcome back."
Akira looked at him for a moment.
He suddenly remembered something Kento Nanami had once said.
The growth of a Jujutsu Sorcerer was not linear.
The same was true for people.
Some people reached adulthood physically while remaining children inside. Others could experience something that forced them to mature almost overnight, crossing the boundary between boyhood and adulthood in a remarkably short time.
Many Curse Users belonged to the former category.
Megumi Fushiguro was a clear example of the latter.
Akira still remembered what Megumi had been like before his sister's accident.
Back then, the boy had been full of the kind of middle-school bravado that made him look like a delinquent himself.
He specialized in beating up troublemakers.
Whenever he encountered delinquents who bullied others or crossed his personal boundaries, he would give them a thorough beating.
Afterward, he would sit on top of the defeated troublemakers and deliver a serious speech about dignity, boundaries, and how people should behave.
Sometimes his words sounded rather philosophical.
Other times, they were simply the kind of dramatic things a middle-school student thought sounded cool.
Of course, he never forgot to finish with a threat.
If they crossed the line again, he would beat them up again.
Simple and effective.
Thinking back on it now, that version of Megumi was rather amusing.
However, the boy standing before Akira had changed considerably.
His personality was still somewhat reserved, and he was certainly nowhere near Kento Nanami's level of maturity.
Even so, he had become much calmer and more dependable.
His attitude toward others had also changed.
It was the kind of growth that could not be measured simply by comparing Cursed Energy or combat strength.
"I'm back," Akira replied casually.
For some reason, saying those words to Megumi felt a little strange.
After living in Japan for so long, Akira had already gotten used to exchanges like "Welcome back" and "I'm home."
They had practically become second nature.
However, hearing Megumi Fushiguro welcome him back still gave him an odd feeling.
Perhaps he had not completely adjusted to the sight of this former middle-school delinquent behaving like a reliable young man.
Akira quickly put the thought aside.
"So, did you come here to train today?"
"Yes."
Megumi nodded.
"I thought of a way to subjugate Rabbit Escape, but there were some problems when I tried putting it into practice. Thankfully, the seniors helped me deal with them."
"Problems?"
Akira glanced at the damaged training ground.
He could already guess that something had gone wrong.
Megumi explained what had happened.
Although Rabbit Escape had almost no individual combat strength, its numbers and speed made it extremely difficult to capture every rabbit in an open area.
Therefore, Megumi had come up with a fairly straightforward plan.
He would summon them inside an enclosed room.
Once the exits were blocked, he could use his other Shikigami to catch the rabbits one by one.
As long as none escaped, the ritual would eventually end in success.
The idea itself was sound.
Unfortunately, Megumi had overlooked one important detail.
He had greatly overestimated the durability of the buildings inside Tokyo Jujutsu High.
In order to finish the ritual as quickly as possible, he had summoned Great Serpent.
With its enormous body and impressive strength, Great Serpent should have been more than capable of catching the rabbits.
And indeed, it could.
The problem came when it moved.
A single careless movement was enough to smash a large hole straight through the wall.
With that, Megumi's carefully prepared enclosed room was no longer enclosed.
More than half of the rabbits immediately seized the opportunity and escaped through the opening.
A plan that had looked perfectly reasonable on paper collapsed in an instant.
Fortunately, Panda had been nearby.
He reacted quickly and managed to help contain the situation before the Exorcism Ritual ended in complete failure.
Afterward, Maki, Toge, and Yuta joined in, and the whole thing eventually turned into the ridiculous rabbit-catching operation Akira had just witnessed.
After hearing the explanation, Akira fell silent.
So many people were involved, and yet the one who had reacted most reliably was Panda.
A whole group of humans had somehow lost to a single Panda when it came to dealing with an unexpected problem.
What was he supposed to say about that?
Then again, considering Panda's usual behavior, perhaps this was not particularly surprising.
And as if to prove the point, Panda immediately demonstrated his impressive social skills once again.
"By the way, Akira, I heard from Gojo that you went on a confidential mission. Did everything go well?"
The question was perfectly natural.
Akira had been away for several days, and his classmates were naturally curious about what he had been doing.
However, since it was a confidential mission, there was no need to explain everything in detail.
"There were some twists, but overall it went fine," Akira answered lightly.
He had no intention of making a big deal out of it.
Unfortunately, someone else clearly disagreed.
"Fine? What do you mean, fine?"
A familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.
Before Akira could turn around, an arm had already hooked itself around his shoulder.
The owner of that arm was naturally a certain frivolous and unreliable adult male.
Satoru Gojo.
For once, he was not wearing his usual blindfold.
Instead, he had changed into casual clothes and put on a pair of newly customized sunglasses.
Combined with the smug smile on his face, he looked like a man who had just discovered another excellent reason to praise himself.
Akira did not even need to ask what he wanted.
Gojo was already speaking.
"It wasn't just fine. It went overwhelmingly well!"
He sounded even more pleased than the person who had actually completed the mission.
"Nanami already told me everything."
Gojo tightened his arm around Akira's shoulder slightly and continued with obvious pride.
"Learning Black Flash in just one week!"
He grinned.
"As expected of me. My eye for students really is excellent."
Akira looked at the man beside him.
Sure enough.
Somehow, Gojo had managed to turn his student's achievement into another opportunity to praise himself.
Truly, Satoru Gojo never changed.