Chapter 123

The first match of the individual competition at the exchange event was between Nanami and Haibara.

Gojo, who was listlessly hanging around, flapped his long arms and whined.

"It's so hoooot."

"Spring is almost over."

"The curses will be swarming soon."

Summer is the high season for curses. It's the time when the stress accumulated by non-sorcerers during spring explodes. When that happens, sorcerers become incredibly busy.

As they watched the two competitors facing off in the open field of Kyoto Jujutsu High, Shoko, with a cigarette in her mouth, asked her classmates sitting next to her,

"Who do you think will win?"

"Does it matter? It's like measuring acorns anyway."

Gojo rested his chin on his hand and spoke with a dull expression. Geto chided him.

"Satoru, calling your juniors 'acorns'?"

"It's the truth."

Neither side would make it to the end anyway. Gojo assessed coldly.

Suddenly playful, Gojo made a circle with his hands in front of his mouth and shouted.

"The loser gets special training with Teacher Toji!"

The color drained from Nanami and Haibara's faces instantly. Haibara asked in an anxious tone,

"No… right? Senior Gojo is just joking, right?"

As their eyes met Toji's, who silently mouthed words,

"Do well."

Chills ran down both their spines as they locked eyes with a fiery gaze. Classmate or not, they had to win this duel. No matter what.

Sitting in Toji's lap, Tsumiki turned to look at him and asked,

"Dad, who do you think will win?"

Toji answered without much thought.

"The blond."

"Why?"

"He can use sorcery."

Conversely, Haibara can't use his sorcery against Nanami. Haibara's sorcery itself is such that it can be used against some opponents and not against others.

"Sorcery?"

"You'll see."

Toji nonchalantly stroked Tsumiki's head. She blinked in surprise, then soon beamed and giggled happily.

Megumi, who was clinging tightly to Zoro, asked,

"Why aren't you fighting, big brother?"

"It's not my turn yet."

...Well, even when it's his turn, Zoro wasn't sure if he'd be able to fight. That's what he thought to himself.

Since the match between Zoro and Geto was decided, Geto hadn't really said much. Even though he usually wasn't too keen on fighting Zoro.

'Is he planning to go all out this time?'

Zoro glanced at Geto. Geto smiled inscrutably. It was somewhat suspicious. Zoro snorted through his nose.

Standing between the two, Gakuganji said,

"Bow."

As Nanami and Haibara bowed to each other, Gakuganji, dressed in a rocker t-shirt and wielding an electric guitar, solemnly explained the rules of the duel.

"Self-harm, suicidal attacks, attacks meant to kill the opponent, and techniques that harm individuals who are not competitors in the tournament are prohibited. Using any of these will result in immediate disqualification."

"Okay!"

"Understood."

After hearing their responses, Gakuganji plucked the guitar string and shouted loudly,

"Begin!"

As soon as it started, Nanami pulled out a long katana-shaped weapon from the big bag he was carrying and charged at Haibara. Nanami could see lines dividing Haibara's arm into ten sections.

Whoosh!

Haibara quickly dodged the attack aimed at his arm. Nanami raised his sword to block a spinning kick aimed to crush his face.

Clang!

The power wrapped around their legs and swords clashed, sparking blue sparks. With a loud bang, the two pushed each other back but did not give in and charged again.

Of course, to Gojo, who had fought against Geto, Toji, and Zoro, this didn't seem impressive at all.

"What are they doing, playing house?"

"Satoru."

"I get it. Can't I say anything? I'll sulk! Hmph!"

Pretending to pout childishly, Gojo puffed up his cheeks, and Geto, smiling with his eyes, shook his fist. Be patient, he's still a classmate and friend after all.

"That's decent enough."

Zoro, who started his previous life as a common frog in a well and struggled to reach the top within a few years, didn't look down on their achievements. They would grow in time.

Watching the fight, Geto remarked,

"Haibara is definitely getting pushed back."

"His techniques are poor. ...Ouch!"

"Please, just shut up."

Gojo, who had been hit by Yaga, grumbled as if stating a fact.

Zoro tilted his head and asked,

"What was Haibara's technique again?"

"It interferes with domains."

By placing a palm on a domain, he could strengthen, weaken, or change the scope of the domain to interfere with it. However, interfering with the domain of an opponent stronger than Haibara was difficult.

That's where all the problems began. Haibara's technique only worked against opponents who were of similar strength or weaker.

"Who at Haibara's level uses domains?"

For Satoru Gojo, even the pinnacle of sorcery, domain expansion, was still beyond reach. It was very rare for anyone in modern combat to fight using domains. If someone powerful enough to perform domain expansion existed, they wouldn't need to use it to easily defeat someone like Haibara anyway.

The only ones who might trigger Haibara's technique were from the Shin Kage-ryu school, since they use a form of temporary domain in their swordsmanship. But what's the point if a sorcerer is just fighting another sorcerer? They need to be capturing curses.

'If he could interfere with other people's innate domains, that would have been overpowered.'

That too was impossible. Maybe if he became as strong as a Grade 1 sorcerer, but when would that happen?

Gojo cheerfully concluded,

"In other words, completely useless!"

"You really…"

Geto just shook his head in disbelief.

On the other hand, Nanami's technique, while simple, was not bad because of its definitive power when successful.

'The Ten Strokes Curse Technique.'

It forcefully creates a weak point at a point that divides the length of the target into 10 equal parts at a 7:3 ratio, amplifying the impact of any physical strike on that area.

'The downside is probably that it's too obvious.'

The technique is so overt that anyone with a bit of insight could immediately recognize what it is. Toji could figure out the nature of the technique even before Nanami swung his sword three times.

It was also problematic to face opponents like Toji, who was too fast to hit the weak points, or Gojo, whose attacks either didn't connect or who could recover or withstand the hits if they did.

'And it's a headache to face opponents who attack from a distance.'

What was his name, Hitoshi? That guy could launch arrows made of his own energy from a distance, and Nanami had no choice but to dodge and close in.

As they chattered, Nanami, holding his sword in reverse grip, spun around and swung his sword widely. Toji's eyes widened at the familiar movement.

"That,"

"Ah."

It was Zoro's Two-Sword Cyclone technique. He had shown it to Nanami a few times during training, and it seemed Nanami had learned it by watching.

'But it's a mess.'

Adapting a technique meant for two swords to one was a stretch, and it had too many flaws, like a cheese full of holes in an animation. It was all show.

'I'll need to retrain him when we get back. There's a lot to fix.'

Zoro casually thought that if Nanami knew this, he would be quite disheartened.

'But still…'

It was too much for Haibara.

As the sword swung down as if to split his chest, Haibara hastily concentrated his energy in his upper body.

Swish!

As the sword struck the point that divided his upper body into 7:3 by the Ten Strokes Curse Technique, Haibara staggered, having gathered all his energy to defend, but a direct hit by the technique made complete defense impossible.

Taking advantage of Haibara's destabilized stance, Nanami kicked his shin.

"Argh!"

As Haibara fell, Nanami pointed his sword down at his head. With a joyful strum of his guitar strings, Gakuganji announced,

"The winner, Nanami Kento!"

He had won. Nanami breathed heavily.

Approaching closely, Toji helped Haibara up. As Haibara got up with a groan, Nanami, feeling slightly guilty, apologized.

"Sorry."

"Huh? It's okay. That was impressive, Nanami!"

Haibara smiled brightly and gave a thumbs up, and Nanami couldn't help but smile. A warmth spread deep within him.

…until Toji snorted through his nose, shattering Nanami's sentimental moment.

"Impressive? You both still have a long way to go. Brace yourselves when we get back."

"...What?"

Haibara trembled as his eyes widened. Just as expected. Nanami resignedly looked into the distance, realizing there was no room for sentimentality in the world of sorcery.

...

Since the Tokyo Jujutsu High students were matched against each other, naturally, the Kyoto Jujutsu High students also fought among themselves. After three matches involving Kyoto Jujutsu High students, the last match of the first round of the tournament arrived.

"Geto Suguru, Zenin Zoro!"

Zoro dusted himself off and stood up. Then he turned to look at Geto.

"What are you doing? Come on out, Suguru."

It was their turn now.

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