"Mission complete!"
After handing things over to the police and the personnel who had come to clean up afterward, Kaito Kamishiro had nothing left to do there.
He had spent quite some time either training at school or carrying out missions without going anywhere else, so he decided to take a look around before heading back—and pick up some gifts for everyone while he was at it.
By the time he returned, Maki, Panda, and the others had all completed their missions. Maki had run into a minor mishap and suffered a small injury in battle, but fortunately, it was nothing serious.
Meanwhile, Yuta Okkotsu’s girlfriend—Rika—had apparently revealed her full form and effortlessly torn apart the Cursed Spirit from his mission.
And according to Maki after she got back, Yuta Okkotsu had actually been classified as Special Grade! At present, only three Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers were known to exist: the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer alive, Satoru Gojo; Yuki Tsukumo, who lived overseas year-round; and Suguru Geto, who had been designated a Curse User.
Which meant Yuta Okkotsu was the fourth Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer? But considering the terrifying... powerful presence of Yuta’s little girlfriend, it was not hard to understand.
"N-No, it’s not like that..."
Yuta could barely endure the circle of eyes fixed on him. Panda kept letting out astonished noises at his side, while Toge Inumaki voiced his own amazement in rice-ball ingredients.
Maki stood nearby with her arms crossed and clicked her tongue. How did this bean sprout look anything like a Special Grade? Take away that curse, and he was practically helpless.
Still... he had been the one to save her and those two children back then, right? He might still be weak, but... as long as he had the determination to keep striving to become stronger, that was enough.
"Come on. Training starts now."
Maki was the first to head toward the training grounds. Panda patted Yuta on the shoulder and declared with great spirit, "Let’s go! We’ll walk the road to strength together!"
Yuta nodded heavily and broke into a smile. The group followed behind Maki down the corridor, one after another, as warm sunlight streamed through the windows and fell over their smiling faces.
...
"Huff... huff..."
Yuta leaned on a wooden training sword, gasping for breath. His limbs and body were so numb they hardly felt like his own. Across from him stood Maki, her fighting spirit blazing.
"Hurry up! Pick up your sword and get on your feet. You’ve already rested for five minutes."
Maki urged him on impatiently.
From the lawn nearby, Panda said sympathetically, "Yuta’s incredible. Maki and Kaito have been taking turns sparring with him. This is the seventh round already, right? It’s amazing he can still keep going."
"Salmon."
After Yuta had volunteered to say that he wanted to get stronger as quickly as possible, Maki had sneered and set this training regimen: she and Kaito would take turns putting Yuta through high-intensity training.
His improvement was obvious, but it was also an immense test of Yuta’s willpower and stamina. The objective was to push him beyond his physical limits. As for injuries, with Shoko Ieiri at Jujutsu High, they were no problem for someone who had mastered Reverse Cursed Technique.
Only after Yuta stood up once more and assumed his stance did Maki reveal a satisfied smile.
"Ready to weather the storm?"
Kaito had only recently been swapped out and was just about to watch for a while when he suddenly spotted Principal Yaga approaching. Someone was walking beside him, and Kaito’s eyes immediately lit up as he sprang to his feet and ran over.
The figure in front of Masamichi Yaga also came racing happily toward Kaito. As it drew closer, he saw that it was White Wolf, whom he had not seen in quite some time.
White Wolf seemed to have grown larger. It shot over to him at top speed, then pounced, knocking the unprepared Kaito to the ground before wildly nuzzling and licking him.
After giving the dog’s head a vigorous rub, Kaito finally got White Wolf to settle down. It obediently sat on the ground, allowing him to take a proper look at how it had changed.
First, it had grown bigger. Even sitting down, it nearly reached his waist now. It had become much stronger too; he had let his guard down for just a moment, and the thing had easily bowled him over.
There were also more black streaks in its fur. Beyond those outward changes, the Cursed Energy contained within White Wolf’s body had become considerably denser. To use an admittedly imperfect comparison, White Wolf was probably now about as strong as an ordinary Grade 2 Cursed Spirit.
That was in its combat state, of course. Although White Wolf was also a Cursed Corpse made by Principal Yaga, it was entirely different from Panda. After all, Panda was Masamichi Yaga’s greatest masterpiece—an abruptly mutated Cursed Corpse.
Even if Yaga tried to make another one, he could never replicate such a miracle. Still, White Wolf could be considered one of the principal’s masterpieces as well.
It consumed very little Cursed Energy during normal activity and could basically sustain itself in a self-contained cycle. In combat, however, Kaito, as its owner, would need to replenish its energy as needed.
Not long after Kaito had arrived at Tokyo Jujutsu High, Principal Yaga had taken White Wolf away, saying that his craftsmanship had improved greatly since before and that he wanted to give White Wolf an "upgrade."
The main improvements were probably for combat. Masamichi Yaga walked over, and Kaito turned back with a smile to greet him before asking, "Principal Yaga, what exactly did you upgrade on White Wolf?"
Masamichi Yaga showed a faintly proud expression. "First is an overall enhancement, naturally. Provided it has enough Cursed Energy, it could probably exorcise some of the less troublesome Grade 2 Cursed Spirits on its own."
"Second, I strengthened its tracking ability. It can now track traces of Cursed Energy more accurately and across a wider range."
After hearing that, Kaito thanked Masamichi Yaga again. Panda and the others had noticed what was happening and came over to greet Yaga, but their attention was quickly captured by White Wolf.
Fair enough. Who would not love a goofy dog that adored people? Even giving it a few casual pets was nice. Surprisingly, Maki seemed rather willing to get close to dogs too. Her expression had initially been somewhat disdainful, but after the goofy dog approached her and played hard to get, she finally could not resist reaching out to pet it.
Yuta, who had been granted a brief reprieve, looked at White Wolf with deep emotion.
"What a good dog..."
Kaito then had White Wolf demonstrate its combat form. Once it released its Cursed Energy, White Wolf’s body visibly expanded, becoming almost a full size larger than usual. One of its paws was as big as Kaito’s face.
Its claws and fangs became far more threatening, and beneath its fur was a powerfully built body that could no longer hide its strength. It looked much more imposing, but the goofy dog could not even hold the form for two seconds before coming over again to beg for pets.
Still, do not let its foolish appearance fool you. If it entered combat and received Kaito’s orders, it could handle quite a lot.
Its exceptional tracking ability alone was incredibly useful. If White Wolf had been with them last time, tracking down that killer would not have been nearly so difficult.
After only a short break, Yuta was dragged off by Maki to train again. Masamichi Yaga had already left as well; as principal, he had plenty to do.
The days that followed were ordinary life at Tokyo Jujutsu High. In addition to daily training, Yuta had to learn all kinds of knowledge about the jujutsu world. Before this, he could be said to have known absolutely nothing about it.
Kaito and the others were occasionally assigned missions too. Kaito and Toge Inumaki especially could take missions on their own because they were Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerers.
Toge Inumaki’s Cursed Speech made dealing with Grade 2 Cursed Spirits and below incredibly easy, while Kaito used the missions as opportunities to practice coordinating with White Wolf.
Days passed one after another. Yuta improved at an astonishing pace amid the constant "abuse." In pure hand-to-hand combat and weapon use, he could now go toe-to-toe with Maki and Kaito one-on-one.
After finishing his morning physical training, Kaito was practicing his Cursed Technique when he heard Panda shouting from afar.
"Kaito! The Goodwill Event with Kyoto Jujutsu High is about to begin!"
Kaito paused. He seemed to remember something about that. Right! It was some kind of competition against another school.
Seeing his thoughtful expression, Panda assumed Kaito did not know about the Goodwill Event and continued explaining. "It’s an event between us and Kyoto Jujutsu High. The principals of both schools decide how the contests will be conducted."
"Usually, the second- and third-years participate, but most of them aren’t at school. And with Yuta being a Special Grade, they decided to let us first-years participate alongside Kyoto Jujutsu High’s first-years, partly to give us some experience."
Kaito followed Panda toward the vending machines. As for the snacks and drinks he had brought back, they had long since been wiped out. As they walked, Kaito asked, "With us and Yuta, doesn’t that mean we’ve got this in the bag?"
Panda inserted coins and took out two cold drinks, handing one to Kaito. "I wouldn’t say it’s guaranteed. This is only a Goodwill Event, so Rika definitely can’t appear. But Yuta’s already really strong now, and we can use Cursed Energy and Cursed Techniques during the event. Our odds are very good."
"What are the events going to be?"
Kaito had a general idea, but he asked Panda anyway. Panda scratched his head.
"Probably group battles and individual matches? We’ll find out soon enough."
When they reached the field, Toge Inumaki was running laps, with White Wolf running right behind him. On the grass, Maki was fighting Yuta.
The two seemed to have been sparring for a while. Not long after Kaito and Panda arrived, the match was decided. When it came solely to weapons and physical skill, Maki was still superior.
Maki lowered her weapon. Seeing Panda and Kaito approach, she said, "You know about it already, right? It’s probably set for next week. We need to ramp up our training until then."
Toge Inumaki and White Wolf came over after finishing their run, both signaling their agreement with Maki. Panda immediately raised a hand and declared grandly, "That’s right! Let’s all give it everything we’ve got!"
"Hey, hey! My adorable students, seeing you all so full of energy makes your teacher very happy!"
Everyone turned to look. Satoru Gojo, dressed in casual clothes and wearing sunglasses, stood some distance away. After they greeted him, Maki said with some annoyance, "What’s that unreliable blindfold doing here?"
Satoru Gojo walked over with both hands behind his head and said lazily, "Your teacher came to see his adorable students, obviously. Seeing you all so energetic has gotten my blood pumping too! I’ve decided: before the Goodwill Event, I’ll give you some special training!"
Maki and Panda did not think much of it, but Kaito’s face immediately darkened upon hearing Gojo’s words. To put Gojo’s so-called "special training" plainly, it was genuine hellish training.
Gojo personally trained you to the limit—not the limit you believed you had, but your objective limit. Kaito had experienced it before. All he could say was that it made him wish he were dead.
Kaito drained his drink in one go and said calmly, "Hell is about to descend..."
Panda, still smiling, asked in confusion, "Kaito, what did you just say?"
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