19 Encounter with a Special Grade

A bloodcurdling cry came from above. I looked above and saw a shadow in the moonlight. A humanoid curse crashed into the road, attempting to crush Gojo with his landing. Gojo nimbly dodged backwards to avoid the curse, and a giant crater was left from the impact.

Gojo dusted himself off and smirked at his assailant. "Who might you be?"

"Hahaha... Jogo's the name," the curse laughed.

His cursed energy jumped for a brief moment, and a volcano head appeared on the side of the wall next to Gojo. It glowed magma red and blasted out a huge rush of intense flames, engulfing Gojo.

Oh... that's hot. A black cocoon engulfed me as the flames came toward me. It's a good temperature for BBQ.

"That was easier than I expected," Jogo commented offhandedly.

Did he really think it's over? How naïve. Who does he think he's fighting?

"Easy?" Gojo emerged from the inferno perfectly unharmed, an invisible shield around him. "Who are you calling easy?"

"Annoying punk." Jogo twiddled with the plugs in his ears.

"He's a cursed spirit, but he can communicate clearly. And the sheer amount of cursed energy..." Gojo muttered. "Is he an unregistered special-grade? He's probably stronger than the current Sukuna. Though not as strong as..." Gojo glanced at me in the distance, and I gave him a thumbs-up.

"Special-grades are supposed to be just that, special," Gojo said. "They wouldn't be special if they keep popping around like this, y'know."

"Did I hurt your pride?" Jogo retorted.

"Nah." Gojo cracked his knuckles and grinned. "I'm starting to find this fun."

"Finding this fun, you say?" The magma in the volcano on Jogo's head started to bubble. "You've got no sense of danger at all."

Jogo chose a place where there's no one around? No, it's to make sure that Gojo can't call for backup.

"Ember Insects!" A dozen mosquito-like insects spawned from the magma, and they rushed at Gojo, trying to stab him with their stingers.

"Well, for someone trying to target me," Gojo chuckled, "it's true that you have no sense of danger."

Gojo slowly held up his hand and raised his index and middle fingers. His figure flickered, and the insects were stopped by an invisible force in front of Gojo. The collision crushed several feet of the asphalt road behind Gojo.

"What happens if this stings me?" Gojo asked curiously.

Suddenly, a high-pitched noise came from the insects. Sound? The insects detonated in a series of explosions, and the flames engulfed the entire road.

"A two-stage attack of sound and explosions?" Gojo leapt away from the road and landed on the wall next to the demolished road. "That's clever."

"Have some more!" Jogo rushed at Gojo with a palm full of flames. He struck Gojo's head, and the sorcerer's head went up in flames. Laughing triumphantly, Jogo struck Gojo's exposed stomach, causing a purple explosion to push both of them backwards. Skidding to a stop, Jogo turned his back to the man and started to walk away.

"Is that it?" Jogo mused. "Now that I've seen it for it myself, it was just an exaggeration."

I landed a small distance away from where Gojo had been. Noticing that the tail of my jacket had caught on fire, I patted out the flames and yawned behind my hand. Tears came to my eyes as it passed midnight. What's this guy doing? Showing his back to his opponent in the middle of a fight?

"He was just as weak as the rest. He wasn't living a life of truth. It's all so nauseatingly repulsive," Jogo continued. "I'll spread real strength—the truth—through death."

I smiled as I rubbed the tears from my eyes. Just as weak as the rest, huh?

"Didn't we go over this just a moment ago?" Gojo's voice sounded through the smoke. Jogo stopped in his tracks. "When are you gonna learn?"

"Ugh, this smoke," Gojo coughed as he waved away the remainder of the smoke in his face.

Jogo turned to face the sorcerer, murder in his gaze. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Well, simply put, you didn't hit me," Gojo answered.

"Ridiculous. I saw it happen," Jogo denied. "I know I touched you and killed you."

"What you touched was the Infinity between us." Gojo parted his index finger and thumb an inch from each other.

"Here, I'll show you." Gojo raised his right hand. "Put your hand out."

Jogo blinked in confusion.

"Come on, do it." Gojo encouraged. I sighed quietly. Not again with his stupid antics.

Again, Jogo hesitated.

Just hurry up already. You're just wasting time at this point.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon." Gojo waved his hand invitingly.

"No hostility? I guess I'll see what it's about," Jogo decided. He raised his hand and attempted to touch Gojo's hand. When his fingers came close to Gojo's, his hand suddenly couldn't move forward anymore.

"See?" Gojo prompted.

I can't touch him? Jogo's eye widened. My hand stops just before him. Is this Infinity?

"I'm not exactly stopping you," Gojo clarified. "It's more like, the closer you get, the slower you go. So, what do you think?"

"We can even hold hands like this." Gojo parted Jogo's fingers. How embarrassing.

"I refuse!" Jogo shouted.

"Don't be shy, now." Gojo closed his hand around Jogo's. "You're making me embarrassed too."

"Damn you!" Jogo snarled.

Gojo grabbed Jogo's hand and struck Jogo's lower abdomen with the palm of his left hand. Jogo spat out purple blood after taking the brunt of the attack.

"He's fast!" Jogo noticed. "It's not just a blow infused with cursed energy! What is this?! I don't get it! I have to know!"

Using Limitless' ability to create a strong force of attraction to strengthen the power of his blow. Gojo's mastery over his Cursed Technique is incredible. Impressive.

"Have some more!" Gojo followed up with a flurry of palm strikes. With Gojo's immense speed, Jogo failed to react in time and was sent flying in to the air.

"Infinity exists everywhere. My technique brings it into reality." Gojo held up his right index finger. An incredible amount of power started to form on its tip.

So he's finally getting serious? One of the Gojo's clan infamous techniques. I haven't seen it used in a long time.

"Convergence and divergence. What do you think would happen if you touch this void?" Gojo asked. A small red ball of pulsing power formed in front of him.

"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red." Gojo unleashed its power, and a huge blast of red light lit up the entirety of the night sky. The power swept across us and blasted Jogo into the nearby forest. Gojo leapt after the curse, in hot pursuit.

I scratched my head in slight frustration as I watched the two take the fight to the trees. What a pain. They're moving all over the place. Pitch black wings of darkness opened up on either side of me as I took to the skies and followed after them.

As Jogo stumbled out of the trees, Gojo met up with him there. The curse tried to take Gojo by surprise with a fire blast, but Gojo teleported away and reappeared behind him. With a powerful kick to Jogo's side, the curse was sent crashing into the large lake in the center of the forest.

"He's going to use it. He has no choice if he doesn't want to die," I commented, arriving by Gojo's side in the air. "You should be careful."

Gojo looked me up and down and gave me an approving smile. "Sick wings. You should spar with me with those after I take out this curse."

"Don't underestimate the enemy, Gojo-sensei," I warned.

"Don't worry, Rey-kun. This is perfect." Gojo examined his surroundings. "I'll be right back. Make sure the curse doesn't go anywhere, okay?"

"Mm," I nodded.

Gojo disappeared, and I flew down to the lake. Jogo had just recovered from his beating when I landed silently behind him. As he turned around, Jogo's eye bulged wide.

"You- those wings, that aura! What are you doing here?!"

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"Welcome! Would you like a seat for one?" The waitress asked the man dressed in a traditional Buddhist robe as he walked into the café.

The man smile politely, "Yes, one, please."

The waitress led the man to a booth and gave him the menu. After thanking the lady, the man put the menu aside and looked across from him.

"So you're saying your boss wants to reverse the current positions of humans and curses," the man spoke at the empty air in front of him. "Is that it, Jogo?"

"Well, roughly." A voice answered him. Three curses sat in the seemingly unoccupied seats of the table; the humans were completely oblivious of their presence. "It's slightly different, though, Geto."

Jogo turned in the seat to glance at the party of three behind them. "Humans are made up of lies. For every positive action and emotion they show, there's always a flip-side. Yet negative emotions like hatred and hostility are truths without falsehood." He turned back to face Geto. "Since we curses are born from those emotions, that makes us true, pure beings."

The volcano on top of Jogo's head flared. "All imitations should be eliminated!"

"Yet, at present, you're the ones being eliminated," Geto countered.

"That's why we've come to ask you. What can we do to defeat the jujutsu sorcerers?" Jogo questioned.

Geto cracked open an eye as he held up three fingers. "If you fulfill three conditions before going to war, then you can win."

"And what are these three conditions?"

"The first involves the man known as the strongest jujutsu sorcerer," Geto said. "You have to render Gojo Satoru incapable of fighting."

"Gojo Satoru?" Jogo repeated. "We need to kill him?"

"No, we need to seal him," Geto answered.

"Seal him? Do you have a lead?" Jogo asked, interested in the man's wording.

"We'll use the special-grade cursed object, Prison Realm," Geto revealed.

"Prison Realm? You have that detestable thing!?" The magma in the volcano started to bubble as Jogo grew excited. The temperature in the restaurant rose swiftly.

"Control yourself. Don't make too large of a commotion, Jogo," Geto warned.

Jogo grinned, but he didn't retract his flames. After a moment of contemplation, Geto shrugged and let the curse do what he wanted.

"Now, the second thing is perhaps the most crucial. There is the one individual we can not afford to offend." Geto sighed. "I didn't expect to that he would show up in this time period."

"At a low estimate, I'd say you are as strong as eight or nine of Sukuna's fingers," Geto explained. "If that individual chooses to use his power, not even Sukuna at full strength will be able to beat him." He gestured at the waiter that had walked past. "Just like how easily you can kill that human, he can just as easily kill you."

"Who in the world is that strong?" Jogo questioned. "Are you overexaggerating his strength, Geto?"

"I'm only telling you what I've heard," Geto responded. "He was given the title Reaper of Curses by the sorcerers, and he's even more ancient than Sukuna."

"The Reaper of Curses? I've heard of that name from somewhere before."

"Although he is a curse himself, he is the natural archenemy of his own kind. I've been told it's an innate form of suppression, but there's not much known about him. He's a mysterious figure who only makes his appearance when the world's balance has been shifted," Geto mused. "However, I do know that he can't use his power so easily. An individual as powerful as him must have many restrictions on how much of his power he can use. Thus, our best route is to avoid provoking him at all costs so that he will not have a reason to interfere."

Jogo recognized the seriousness in the man's voice, but he scoffed, "I'll see just how strong he is before making my decision."