Ch.88 Todo's Invitation

Hayashi had a long dream. In it, he found himself surrounded by a group of special-grade curses, at least more than twenty of them. Just when he was about to reach his limit, Gojo Satoru suddenly descended from the sky, making an extremely cool entrance, and with a mere wave of his hand, wiped out all the special-grade curses, saving Hayashi.

Seeing Gojo's brilliance, Hayashi's admiration for him was magnified infinitely. It was as if the man standing before him was an insurmountable mountain.

"Be yourself, and you can surpass me," Gojo said gently, his words like a cool breeze that woke Hayashi up from his dream instantly.

"Where am I?" Hayashi sat up and, as his vision cleared, he realized he was in the infirmary, and there wasn't a single person around.

Soon, he remembered why he ended up here. It was because he had exhausted his cursed energy while helping Todo restore his damaged arm.

"I didn't expect 'Time Trace' to consume so much cursed energy." Hayashi was a bit scared, realizing just how tremendous the cursed energy consumption of this technique was. However, from another perspective, it showed how powerful this 'Time Trace' technique truly was—it could reverse almost anything.

It was an incredibly broken technique. If Hayashi had more cursed energy, he could even reverse a person who had died a minute ago back to their state a minute before death. This kind of ability was something even Shoko Ieiri couldn't achieve—it was a legendary technique lost to time.

Hayashi moved his previously injured hand and found it had healed well, thanks to Shoko Ieiri's treatment and bandaging. Although it still needed some rest, the pain was negligible to Hayashi. However, one thing was clear: he couldn't use 'Reversal' to heal his own arm.

'Reversal,' in essence, was like a time-based rule. It could only reverse things that had just happened or those that occurred within a short time frame.

For example, if Hayashi got stabbed in the stomach a second ago, he could immediately reverse the wound to its state before the stabbing. However, while he could heal his injuries, he couldn't alter the opponent's actions.

It wasn't true time reversal; it could only restore damage to a previous state. Of course, there was another use for this.

While it couldn't change human actions, it could affect non-living things. For instance, if you took a bite of ice cream, you could reverse it back to its original, uneaten state.

In theory, as long as Hayashi had enough cursed energy, he could eat the same ice cream endlessly.

This was the absurd nature of 'Reversal,' and it's why Mai and the others were so shocked. However, Mai didn't believe that Hayashi's cursed technique was 'Reversal'—it had long vanished into history.

They assumed Hayashi had some sort of rare bloodline ability that could restore severed limbs.

After washing his face, Hayashi left the infirmary. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but he felt hungry.

Since Todo and the others were here, it meant the principal of Kyoto Jujutsu High, Gakuganji Yoshinobu, was likely here as well, probably discussing matters with Gojo.

"That old conservative," Hayashi muttered to himself, thinking about the old man and snorting in disdain. "Truly a disrespectful elder."

"Brother, you're awake?"

As Hayashi walked along the stone path, a deep voice called out, and without looking, he knew it was Todo Aoi.

"Hold on, when did I agree to be your brother? Why are you assuming things on your own?" Hayashi looked at Todo, who was sitting shirtless on a large rock, unsure whether to be happy or concerned.

Itadori Yuji should be the one to share this "best friend" relationship with Todo, not him, Hayashi thought.

But it was what it was, and there was no avoiding it now. Todo was actually a pretty decent guy. People who didn't understand him might think he was hard to communicate with, arrogant, or condescending.

But in reality, Todo was someone with sharp intellect and judgment. He handled things quickly and accurately, and once he recognized someone, he would fully trust them.

"I never thought someone like you, my best friend, would attend a different school. If only we had studied together from the start. Time is always so fleeting," Todo said, looking up at the sun with a smile.

Hayashi didn't bother arguing with Todo about whether they were best friends or not. If Todo was happy, that was enough. "By the way, how long was I out?"

"Just one night," Todo replied, hopping down from the rock and standing in front of Hayashi. Although Todo was taller, the difference wasn't too great. "Other than Black Flash and that one move, what else can you do?"

Todo was genuinely curious about Hayashi. A first-year student with this kind of strength—it was clear that Gojo Satoru knew all about it.

It seemed Gojo was keeping Hayashi as a hidden card to surprise everyone. Otherwise, with Kyoto's information-gathering capabilities, how could they have known so little about Hayashi? Everyone had assumed he was unremarkable.

Mechamaru wasn't lacking in the ability to gather intel, but there hadn't been any special information about Hayashi. Todo, Mai, and the others hadn't paid any attention to him at first.

But the result had been far beyond their expectations, shocking all three of them.

After hearing that he had been out for an entire night, it made sense why Hayashi was so hungry—he hadn't eaten for nearly a whole day.

"Do you think it's appropriate to ask that? Who in their right mind would reveal all their cards?" Hayashi rolled his eyes at Todo.

"Knew you wouldn't tell me," Todo chuckled and walked over to stand right in front of Hayashi. Despite being shorter, Hayashi didn't mind. "Actually, I didn't come here to ask that. I want you to come with me somewhere."

"You're looking for me? Isn't it more like I ran into you? If I hadn't walked this way, how would you have found me?" Hayashi almost believed Todo had the ability to predict the future, waiting here for him.

"Or are you trying to take me somewhere? I'm not meeting that old man," Hayashi crossed his arms.

"Old man? Who said I was taking you to see him?" Todo rubbed his forehead with one hand, looking a bit exasperated. "I'm taking you to Takada's private handshake event. I have four tickets. Each one lets you shake her hand once. I'll give you one, and I'll use the other three. That's enough for me."

"You're really obsessed with Takada, huh? So devoted," Hayashi said, waving his hands. "I'll go with you, but you can keep my ticket. All four chances to shake hands are yours."

"As expected of my best friend! You knew I couldn't bear to give up one of those tickets. I'm so moved. But don't you like Takada? This is a rare chance to shake hands with her, and you don't want it?" Todo was genuinely touched. Takada-chan was the dream girl of so many men, and even the chance to shake her hand was a great honor. Yet Hayashi didn't seem interested.

On the other hand, Hayashi was being considerate, giving Todo the extra chance to shake hands with her. Such a selfless act from his best friend was truly moving.

If Hayashi knew what Todo was thinking, he'd probably punch him. Hayashi didn't care about Takada at all. Sure, she was cute and beautiful, but the women he interacted with were all stunning—he wasn't short of attractive company.

So Hayashi wasn't bothered. Takada was nice to look at, but there was no need to get caught up in it.

Of course, he respected Todo's choice. Everyone had the right to pursue their own interests and chase their dreams.

"Todo, you keep the tickets—all four handshake chances are yours. Make the most of them," Hayashi said, patting Todo on the shoulder reassuringly.

Takada didn't mean much to Hayashi, but he couldn't help feeling that Todo's devotion was a bit sad—such a pure pursuit, expecting nothing in return, just hoping for a smile from his crush.