In addition to physical training and the like, Kaito Kamishiro trained his own Cursed Technique every day. After all these years, he had become quite proficient in its ordinary use, and under Satoru Gojo’s guidance, he had also begun to grasp the basics of Cursed Technique Reversal.
If [Wheel of Time: Forward] accelerated an object’s time, then its reversal, [Wheel of Time: Reverse], was naturally the opposite: reversing time!
A Jujutsu Sorcerer’s Cursed Energy was extracted from negative emotions. If that Cursed Energy was regarded as negative energy, it could generally only be used for combat. But if a sorcerer multiplied their Cursed Energy by more Cursed Energy, then, just as a negative times a negative became a positive, they could produce positive energy.
This stable positive energy could heal the human body, though each person’s aptitude differed, and users capable of it were exceedingly rare. At present, the strongest practitioner of Reverse Cursed Technique was probably Tokyo Jujutsu High’s resident physician, Shoko Ieiri.
And if that “positive energy” was infused into a Jujutsu Sorcerer’s Innate Technique, it could reverse the technique itself—Cursed Technique Reversal.
Of course, Satoru Gojo could do it too, though his Reverse Cursed Technique could only heal himself. Kaito had also taken this very seriously. As an experienced gamer, he understood all too well how important a recovery skill like this was.
He had indeed succeeded in refining positive Cursed Energy. Perhaps because he was still unpracticed, however, he could not maintain it for long. He was nowhere near capable of casually restoring severed arms or organs.
Still, it had its uses. It allowed Kaito to initially achieve Cursed Technique Reversal. Even if he could only sustain it for a brief moment, that was enough time to channel it into his technique.
Kaito was still practicing it and could not yet use it freely. Depending on the extent of its application, his technique reversal consumed anywhere from a little to a great deal of Cursed Energy—at its highest output, far more than the forward application. With his current rudimentary command, he had managed to create a partial degree of neutralization between the reversal and the forward application of his technique.
In other words, when Kaito used his technique to accelerate himself and recreate the Flash’s speed, [Reverse] meant he no longer had to worry quite as much about the potential strain on his body.
That state was called [Time Null], meaning that at such extreme speed, time itself had no meaning. Of course, Kaito could only barely achieve it by going all out.
Incidentally, Gojo had named it. Kaito had originally come up with an incredibly long name, but Gojo had loudly vetoed it.
With Gojo’s cooperation, Kaito had tested that state before. He could deliver countless attacks, as wild and furious as a raging storm, all at once in a single instant. Or he could settle the fight with only one blow—a godspeed strike beyond any reaction speed!
As for why he had not used it on the previous mission, that was obviously because that Cursed Spirit had been too weak! It had not even endured two of his serious punches. What right did it have to eat his ultimate move?!
For now, Kaito’s usual method of attack remained using Annihilation and looking for opportunities to accelerate his Cursed Energy arrows. Under Maki’s training, he was also considering getting a bladed Cursed Tool for close-range combat.
Just imagine it: if an enemy broke through his ranged assault, they would still have to face lightning-fast sword strikes once they got close. Even if they were strong enough to destroy his weapon, he could transform his approach again and smash them to pieces with Black Flash-infused fists!
"What are you grinning about?"
Maki gave the cackling Kaito a shove that nearly sent him stumbling. Panda leaned in from behind with a mysterious look. "I heard a new first-year student is enrolling."
Kaito’s eyes lit up. With Masamichi Yaga, the principal and practically Panda’s biological father, as his source, the news was highly credible. That meant they would soon have another new classmate, bringing the first-year roster to five. When Gojo showed up, he further confirmed the news.
"They’ll be here the day after tomorrow, so get ready to welcome your new classmate!"
Maki pointed at Gojo expressionlessly. "Why is he more excited than we are?"
Kaito leaned back in his chair, rocking gently back and forth to keep his balance. The lightly wavy hair atop his head bobbed along with him. A few days ago, he had changed his hairstyle again and dyed it a grayish shade. The first time Maki saw it, she had mocked him for it, and after Kaito talked back, the embarrassed Maki had chased him down.
Hearing her, Kaito waved a hand. "Huh? You’re not used to it yet? Gojo’s always like this~"
A day later, the four headed for the classroom together, ready to meet their new classmate. Panda had somehow gotten hold of more information and said as they walked, "I heard that before transferring here, the new student stuffed four classmates into lockers."
"Did he kill them?" Maki asked from the side. Toge Inumaki also chimed in curiously, "Tuna mayo?"
Panda shook his head. "No. Apparently, they were seriously injured."
"Whatever. If he’s too arrogant, we’ll just beat him up." Maki spoke without looking back as she walked ahead.
"Maki’s so scary," Panda said in an affected voice, joining Kaito’s teasing. "Yeah, yeah, so scary~"
Veins bulged on Maki’s forehead as her face darkened. They bickered and roughhoused all the way to the classroom. Not long after they sat down, Gojo arrived. He practically spun into the room, declaring with exaggerated gestures, expressions, and tone, "Time to introduce the transfer student! Everybody, get hyped!"
He was met with total silence. Gojo froze, then said weakly, "Come on, liven things up a little."
Maki sat sideways with one leg crossed over the other, her Cursed Tool propped against her desk. "I heard he’s hard to get along with. Why would anyone set the mood for someone like that?"
"Salmon."
Toge and Panda agreed with Maki. As for Kaito, he was feeling a little drowsy. He had stayed up too late watching anime and playing games last night, leaving him short on energy.
Besides, he was trying to remember whether there had originally been other students in this year. He remembered only Maki, Panda, and Toge—wait! Had there been a name mentioned somewhere? Could this transfer student be that person?
"Whatever."
Gojo did not seem discouraged in the least by his failure to stir up the atmosphere. He immediately called loudly toward the door. "Come in!"
At the same time, outside the classroom...
A black-haired boy dressed in white stood nervously outside. The atmosphere inside was so quiet that it made him uneasy...
At Gojo’s call, he gripped the doorknob and paused. Then he took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and walked in with his head slightly lowered.
The instant the new student appeared, Kaito’s drowsiness vanished. What an intense cursed presence!
Maki’s previously indifferent expression changed as well. Panda and Toge both shuddered in alarm. Every step the boy in white took seemed to tread directly on their hearts.
The dense cursed presence was almost tangible. Within the profound darkness behind him lurked the vague outline of something terrifying, and the pressure it gave off was nearly suffocating.
Maki reached for the naginata beside her, Panda put on his gauntlets, and Toge pulled down his collar, ready to use Cursed Speech at any moment.
The poor boy in white had barely raised his head after reaching the teacher’s desk when a sharp blade sliced past his face and buried itself deeply in the blackboard behind him.
"My name is Okkotsu..."
Frightened stiff, the student looked at the “Four Horsemen of Evil” before him and could not stammer out the rest. Maki gripped the weapon’s handle, her eyes filled with scrutiny. "You... you’re cursed. Someone like you can become a student here? What the hell...?"
Panda put on a deliberately fierce expression. Kaito, who stood slightly farther back, felt that something was wrong. The curse on this boy was simply too immense. The sharper one’s senses were, the more clearly they could detect that lethal threat.
"Something’s not right..."
Kaito quietly backed away a few steps. Only then did Gojo, lounging by the door, speak up. "Every year in Japan, more than ten thousand deaths and disappearances are deemed unexplained. Many of them are caused by curses born from humanity’s negative emotions."
"Some are the work of Curse Users. And only curses can deal with curses. This is Tokyo Jujutsu High, where we study curses in order to exorcise them."
The boy in white looked miserable. "Why didn’t you explain that to me beforehand...?"
The others all turned toward Gojo in speechless disbelief. Their understanding of just how unreliable he could be had reached a new level.
Gojo offered a completely insincere apology, then seemed to remember something. "You should probably stay away from him..."
At that moment, it felt as though a beast were breathing down their necks. Every hair on their bodies stood on end, and a thin sheen of cold sweat instantly spread across their backs.
The four turned around. The blackboard behind the new student had been stained an inky black, then began to ripple like the surface of water.
Two pale, grotesque arms—far too large to belong to a human—reached out one after the other. One hand easily seized Maki’s naginata, startling her into abandoning the weapon and retreating several steps with the others.
Then a strange voice rang out, one that sounded like a little girl’s. "Don’t..."
Panic appeared on the new student’s face, but it was not fear of that presence. He was worried it would hurt someone else.
He raised a hand, trying to stop the owner of those arms. "Rika... don’t!"
Before his words had even faded, the little-girl-like voice completed its sentence in a sudden explosive roar. "...hurt Yuta!"
Its other free hand immediately swept down at them. Maki felt the crushing pressure bearing down on her, almost leaving her unable to move.
Gritting her teeth, Maki said to Kaito beside her, "Kaito, you first—" But when she glanced over, Kaito, who had been standing beside her, had already vanished. Her words died in her throat.
When she looked up again, that bastard was already standing by the door, wearing an utterly gleeful, schadenfreude-filled grin.
Kaito had been on edge from the beginning. The moment those two arms appeared, he decisively chose to get the hell out of there. Was this a joke? The thing gave him the feeling that the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit at the hospital had been a newborn baby by comparison.
So Kaito had decisively run. Gojo was unreliable on a regular basis, but surely he would not let something go wrong here. If that Cursed Spirit began making lethal attacks, he would step in, right? Besides, that grab had not contained much force. Was it because the boy was restraining it?
And that was indeed how things went. Maki, Panda, and Toge merely got beaten up before the terrifying being, whose full form they had never seen, vanished behind the boy again.
Only then did Gojo step forward and properly introduce the new classmate. In short, Rika, his childhood friend—the girl he had promised to marry and spend his life with—had died before his eyes in an accidental car crash. She had then become a Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit and cursed him.
"That’s the story! This is Yuta Okkotsu, the student cursed by Rika, the person who loved him most!"
After his flamboyant introduction of the new student, Yuta Okkotsu, Gojo added, "If someone attacks Yuta, Rika’s curse may activate—or it may not. Either way, everyone needs to be extra careful~"
The three who had already been beaten up could not help complaining, "Couldn’t you have said that earlier?"
This was also Yuta’s first experience of Gojo’s style. Then Gojo began introducing everyone one by one. "This is Maki Zen’in, a Cursed Tool user skilled in wielding specialized weapons for exorcising curses."
"This is Toge Inumaki, a descendant of a Cursed Speech user. When he talks normally, he only uses single words for rice-ball fillings, so do your best to communicate with him." Toge, a bump on his head, greeted him. "Kelp."
What a strange guy, Yuta thought. Then Gojo pointed at the gray-haired boy who had run off early enough to avoid being touched by Rika. With a warm smile, Gojo introduced him. "This is Kaito Kamishiro."
Gojo paused, seemingly unsure what else to say, before simply turning to the next person.
"Gojo, why did you skip over me? Say a little more!" Kaito’s smile vanished. The cool introduction he had been hoping for was gone.
Gojo ignored him completely and pointed at the most conspicuous figure. "This is Panda."
Panda added, "I’m Panda. Nice to meet you."
Gojo then rubbed his chin. "I think that’s about it."
The poor Yuta could only complain inwardly, That’s a panda, isn’t it?! A panda that walks upright and talks! Why didn’t you explain the thing I most wanted to know?!
Gojo clapped his hands. "Great, there are five first-years now. It’s getting lively! I’ll split you into groups for this afternoon’s jujutsu field training."
"Toge and Panda are one group. Maki and Yuta are another."
Kaito raised his hand. "Gojo, what about me?"
Gojo flashed a dazzling smile. "You have a solo mission~"
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