Jujutsu Kaisen- The Golden mountain part 3

 *Duuuuuush!

Yuji slammed the palm of his hand on the surface of the water, sending a shockwave towards Hanami, blocking her view, and allowing him to close the distance.

Hanami attempted to block Yuji, however the young boy managed to land three consecutive kicks. One to the knee, one to the torso, and one to Hanami's face.

Hanami took note of Yujis speed and power. 

It was obvious that he was faster and stronger than Maki, but still he lacked the strength to deal real damage to Hanami.

Yuji reached up and landed another blow to Hanami's stomach, knocking the cursed spirit backwards before trying to pursue.

However, when Yuji jumped forward Todo, who had been watching on the side, got in the way and slapped him in the face.

" Itadori, my friend. Anger is a valuable thing for a jujutsu sorcerer." Todo stated. " There have been instances where people have been put on their heels after provoking an inferior opponent. The opposite is not good either. Mishandling cursed energy when angered wastes your skill and the fight will end in defeat." Todo explained to the boy. " Your friend Fushiguro is hurt. And worst of all, our bonding time was interrupted, so I understand better than anyone why you would lose your cool. But that anger is not for you. Suppress it, for now." Todo slapped him once more.

This interaction quite confused Hanami, who watched from the side quietly wondering if the two of them had a falling out. 

However, it was far from the truth.

" Any more distractions?" Todo asked.

Yuji wiped his face and grinned. " Nope. Thank you! My Best Friend- Todo!" 

Yuji was now beginning to feel the flow of the battle.

Black Flash.... When an impact of cursed Energy is applied within one millionth of a second before a physical hit, a distortion in space is born. That is the Black Flash. The impact of a Black Flash is equal to a normal hit to the power of 2.5. There is not a single jujutsu sorcerer who can use it at will. However, for those who have experienced Black Flash, as compared to those who have not... Their understanding of the essence of Cursed energy is immeasurable.

Yuji was so focused on the fight now, that he failed to notice the drool coming out of his mouth. And as Hanami moved to attack him, Yuji responded, concentrating his cursed energy in way he hadn't even imagined before.

And there, as his fist connected with Hanami's torso, the Black Flash was born!

" There it is." Todo remarked.

Hanami was completely stunned. The strength of this blow was unlike anything she had felt from the boy before. A completely different sensation altogether. 

Todo uncrossed his arms and joined Yuji as the young man looked to be quite stumped by what he was feeling. 

" You got to taste a sample of your cursed energy. Until now, it's like you've been putting ingredients you're not familiar with into a pot and cooking haphazardly. But with Black Flash, you've gained the ingredient that is Cursed energy. As a chef, or in this case, a jujutsu sorcerer, you're on a different level than you were just three seconds ago." Todo explained. " Congratulations brother. You will be strong!" 

As the two young men were talking, Hanami took the time to regenerate the damage Yuji had done to her.

" It can heal itself?" Yuji asked in surprise.

" Cursed Spirits are made from Cursed energy. They're different from us. They can easily heal themselves without using high-level reverse cursed technique. It's child's play for a special grade." Todo explained. " But it's cursed energy is undoubtedly weakened. If we can get its head, then it's game over. So.... Shall we get cooking?!" 

Without a word Yuji and Todo readied themselves to battle Hanami.

Sensing the intensity from the two men, Hanami freed her remaining arm from its sling and launched a massive wave of tree branches right at Todo and Yuji. The resulting product is a large gathering of sharp branches sticking jutting out into the sky.

" What an attack range!" Todo shouted. " Don't be scared! It sacrifices power and speed in exchange." He said unaware of the Cursed spirit emerging from behind the two of them.

The two men, sensing the cursed energy, quickly turned around and dodged just as Hanami fired two of her cursed seeds at the two of them.

Yuji and Todo dodged the attacks and rushed Hanami, both of them landing a strong blow on the spirit's forearms sending her stumbling backwards.

" Todo! Let's sync up our timing better!" Yuji yelled to the man.

" Gotcha!" Todo yelled as the two of them pushed Hanami together.

However, as the two of them were getting ready to continue their battle, Hanami suddenly shut off her technique, causing the branches they were standing on to disappear. 

Yuji and Todo both began plummeting back towards the forest below, Hanami, However, was left standing on just a small patch of branches allowing her to attack the two men. 

Her branches fired out at the two men.

" BROTHER!" Yuji yelled.

" Right!"

Todo catching Yuji's intentions twirled in the air and placed his feet right where Yuji's where and together the two men pushed off of each other to avoid the oncoming attack.

Hanami was left surprised to see that the two men had managed to avoid her attack. However, instead of being disappointed or feeling some kind of resentment, the woman had indeed found herself enjoying the sensation of the battle in front of her.

Todo and Yuji rushed Hanami together, falling right into her trap.

As they got in close, the ground below them suddenly exploded and sharp rocks attacked them, forcing them to halt their advancement and fall back.

" Are you alright?" Todo asked.

" No problem." Yuji responded.

" There you go! Well then... get ready. I'm gonna release my cursed technique!!" Todo exclaimed.

" Didn't you use it earlier?" Yuji asked the man.

" There's no time to go into details. There's only one thing to say. Don't stop! Believe in me!"

" Gotcha! That's two!" Yuji exclaimed.

Yuji and Todo resumed their advance on Hanami, however, before Todo could use his technique as planned, a branch suddenly came out of the ground and grabbed Todo by his leg, stopping his momentum completely.

Hanami lifted Todo off of the ground and launched the man far into the fields.

" Todo!" Yuji shouted. However, remembering Todo's words inspired Yuji to keep going forward.

Yuji and Hanami traded blows with one another as Todo was flung towards a sharp wall of spikes.

However, just before he hit the wall, he clapped his hands together and suddenly Hanami found herself the one impaled on the spikes while Todo had Yuji's face lodged into the side of his jaw.

" Oh Todo!" Yuji exclaimed. He quickly pulled back and looked at the man in surprise. 

Hanami pulled herself off of the wall and healed her wounds quickly. It was clear to her what had happened.

" Yup!" Todo exclaimed. " My cursed technique lets me trade places with someone else. Boogie Woogie!"

" Todo!" Yuji spoke.

Todo looked at Yuji and silenced him with a finger and a wink.

" By the way... Clapping my hands is how I trigger my technique!" Todo explained to Hanami as he and Yuji ran at her, switching places multiple times. 

Using Todo's technique, Yuji and Todo started the most vicious jumping imaginable. Switching places back and forth as they rained down blows on the woman's body.

The two sorcerers gave the woman no time to recuperate, leaving Hanami disorientated.

The body, weight, speed, and power the two men possessed were so different that adjusting to the swap was impossible, especially since Todo wasn't just swapping himself and Yuji. He was also swapping with Hanami, leaving the woman even more confused as she didn't know who was being swapped around. 

Yuji was feeling the flow of the battle once more. He was in the zone.

And Hanami could tell, it was the same feeling as before.

However... 

* Fwak!

Yuji landed another Black Flash to Hanami's back.

Hanami coughed up blood as the fist was slammed into her back.

However, this wasn't the end of things. Yuji jumped up and delivered a fierce kick to Hanami's head, releasing another Black Flash. And then he delivered a knife edge chop, forcing out another powerful Black Flash.

Hanami readied herself as Yuji landed on his feet, ready to strike again. However, as she prepared herself, she was also keeping watch of Todo. And as Todo brought his hands together, and the moment she heard the clap, she turned anticipating the switch.

However, the switch never occurred, leaving Hanami wide open. 

This left Todo smiling as there was one detail he hadn't revealed. Clapping his hands didn't technically mean he was going to swap places. It just meant that was how he activated his technique. 

" A clap doesn't necessarily mean I'm using my cursed technique." Todo explained. " It's simple but effective, right?"

Hanami looked back as Yuji drew closer, unable to do anything but watch as Yuji landed another powerful Black Flash to Hanami's backside once more.

Once again, Todo joined Yuji, and once again the two men proceeded to attack Hanami together, moving in perfect unison.

However, even after suffering so many Black Flashes, Hanami was beginning to catch on, and as Todo switched, Hanami launched two attacks simultaneously, forcing Todo to dodge and landing a strong attack on Yuji.

Though the jig was up, Todo and Yuji both came to the realization, that even though Hanami was adapting, she was still hurt badly.

They could exorcise the cursed spirit. 

That, however, did not mean that Hanami was going down easy.

She summoned a flower behind her and launched a bunch of flower buds towards the two men.

Yuji dodged out of the way of the buds, but Todo was lacking behind just a bit.

He quickly put up a shield of cursed energy to defend himself, however he came to a realization. He remembered what happened to Fushiguro and then he suddenly shut off his cursed energy and just allowed the buds to bounce off his skin.

Seeing this shocked Hanami. She hadn't expected Todo to come to the understanding of her technique so fast.

Yuji took the advantage and attacked Hanami, kicking the woman in the side of her head.

Hanami stumbled backwards right into Todo, who slammed his foot down on her shoulder, forcing her to the ground for a moment.

Hanami quickly retreated back to gain herself some room to breathe, however this was exactly what Todo was hoping for.

The moment the group had moved back to the river where they first started their battle, Todo clapped once more. This time instead of switching Yuji to attack Hanami. He switched Yuji with the special grade cursed tool, playful cloud. 

Todo twirled the staff in his hands, imbuing it with his cursed energy, and slammed the staff right into Hanami's face, damaging the cursed spirit badly.

However, even though she suffered enormous damage, Hanami was still able to launch an attack of her own, which nearly took the top of Todo's head off of her body. 

Todo was stumped. He had hit Hanami with a special grad cursed tool imbued with his own cursed energy.

He watched as Hanami placed her hand on the ground and started sucking the life out of the plants around her, causing the plant life to die away in exchange for healing her wounds. He could also feel her gathering an insane amount of cursed energy.

" Todo!" Yuji shouted the man's name as he rejoined him.

Todo, however, held out his hand telling Yuji to stay away. " Stay away brother!! It's gonna be an incredible blast of cursed energy!"

Hanami stood back up and placed a hand on the flower bud on her other arm. 

The match had come to a boiling point and Hanami was not going to back down or lose. So, she decided it was time to throw caution to the wind.

" DOMAIN EXPAN-"

* BOOM!

Hanami was preparing unleash her domain expansion. However, just as she was about to use her ultimate move, the veil trapping all the students inside of it exploded, and there hovering in the sky was none other than Satoru Gojo himself.

......

Moments ago.

" The moment the veil goes down, I'm going after the students." Ishiguro said to Gojo. 

" That's fine." Gojo replied.

" And..... NOW!"

* Boom

Ishiguro destroyed the veil, and, in an instant, the two men sprang into action. Gojo appeared high in the sky, while Ishiguro disappeared into the forest faster than anyone else could see. 

...........

Now.

Gojo was observing the field wondering where to go to first.

" Where to go first?" He wondered. He looked at all the possibilities. His eyes landed on Yuji and Todo and since he could feel how much Yuji had grown, he felt he wasn't needed there. So. " Let's start with you." Gojo stated as he landed in front of Gakuganji and his opponent, who was dressed up as a butcher. 

The man wielding a hatchet rushed Gojo swiping crazily and shouting. " Rack! Rack! Rack!"

He seemed to have intentions of turning Gojo into a rack.

However, as he swung his axe Gojo blinked his eyes and a moment later he crushed the man's arms and legs, practically dismembering the man. 

" There we go. Now, what about the other one?" Gojo muttered.

Elsewhere, near the towers, Utahime, Mai, and Nobara were confronting one of the other intruders, a man named Haruta Shigemo.

" The curtain is gone!" Iori shouted as she noticed the veil disappear. 

" For real?! Has it even been 30 minutes?!" Shigemo asked.

*Clap!

The loud bang of hands clapping together alerted Shigemo to the man coming down above him.

" Ishiguro!" Iori called out to the young man as he arrived on the scene.

Needless to say... He was angry.

His face was twisted, and red with rage. He had his hands clasped together and then slowly he pulled his right hand back and thrusted it forward releasing a golden light from his body.

Sensing the coming danger, Shigemo turned and started to retreat as fast as he could. However, the moment he turned his back, a golden palm appeared to engulf his entire body, as well as the rock structures around him.

*Boom!

" AH!"

" GAh!"

" Ishiguro!"

Mai, Nobara, and Iori all shouted as the shockwave from Ishiguro's attack flung them backwards.

When the dust cleared the girls looked up and all they saw was a giant handprint embedded into the ground where the stone walls and cobble path once were. 

Ishiguro landed on the ground in front of the girls, however he felt something was off.

" Wow! That's.... Insane. He did all that with the wave of his hands?!" Nobara was left speechless, seeing the devastation from Ishiguro's attack.

" That's our senior." Mai muttered. She looked on in amusement at Nobara's disbelief.

Iori however, could tell something was wrong. She got back up and approached Ishiguro from behind. 

" Did you get him?" She asked.

" No. I felt some kind of sensation. Like he had been standing right in-between where my attack would have hit him or should have hit him." Ishiguro told the woman.

" What? You missed?" Iori exclaimed. " How?"

" He got lucky." Ishiguro muttered. He was mad, truly mad. Being dodged by someone capable was one thing, but this... It was like something else, like some kind of force had pulled Shigemo out of the way by mere coincidence. 

And he was right.

Haruta Shigemo's cursed technique, Miracles, stores up everyday miracles and uses them to save Shigemo's life, just as they did moments ago. 

Ishiguro simply breathed a heavy breath of disappointment and turned towards the three girls. " Alright, let's get you all out of here. We still need to find the other students."

' Though I'm sure Gojo's already mopped up the rest of this mess.' He thought. 

...................

 Afterwards.

" Human casualties are as follows, three grade 2 sorcerers. One semi-Grade 1 sorcerer. Five auxiliary managers. Two storage attendants. Plus, the sorcerers waiting at the school and those moving separately from Gojo and principal Yaga." Ijichi explained. " We're still waiting on word from Ieri, but the involvement of the cursed spirit Nanami fought is all but confirmed."

" Should we share this information with the students and the other sorcerers?" Utahime asked.

" No." Gakuganji stated.

" It should be kept secret. We can't let other sorcerers know that a special grade cursed object was stolen." Yaga explained.

" Are you two stupid?" Ishiguro asked the men.

" Ishiguro!" Utahime chided the man.

" No, Iori. You want to keep these students in the dark about a threat they are very much going to have to face in the coming days? That's insane. You can keep quiet about the fingers you and your master, that old bastard Tengen, lost. That's fine. But I'm not sending my juniors into a fight blind. No way in hell." Ishiguro said to the two men.

Gakuganji took a deep breath and grumbled, while Yaga just sighed.

" That's fine." He said. " What about the curse user? Have we gotten anything out of him yet?" 

Ijichi once again stepped forward. " Well, it's not that he's stubborn. He's just babbling incoherent nonsense." Ijichi explained. " According to him, he was involved with the attack because he was made a deal and was under orders. He mentioned making a hanger rack and a monk kid with white hair, whose Gender he did not know."

" A monk kid with white hair whose gender is uncertain... Any ideas?" Mei asked.

" Nope!" Gojo muttered.

" Nothing!" Ishiguro exclaimed.

" Maybe he's just talking nonsense. Are there any sorcerers who specialize at making people confess?" Gojo asked the group.

" Why were cursed spirits and non-staff members able to escape master Tengen's barrier anyway?" Utahime asked.

" I think it may have to do with that special grade cursed spirit the students fought. It has a peculiar presence." Gojo explained. " It's definitely a cursed spirit, but it feels closer to a regular spirit."

" According to Todo, it can get into plants as well. Tengen's barrier wouldn't be effective against plants." Ishiguro explained. 

" Master Tengen's barrier hides rather than protects. That means it can be easily infiltrated." Gojo stated.

" For now... Let's just be happy the students are safe." Utahime muttered.

There was an agreement amongst all of the members present.

" It goes without saying the goodwill event is over." Yaga muttered rather disappointingly.

" Hey now." Gojo spoke up. " That's not up to us to decided."

" Hehahahahaha!" Ishiguro laughed as the other teachers looked at Gojo in confusion. He had a plan.

....................

" Since when were you buddies with that gorilla?" Nobara asked Yuji as he explained the details of what happened in his fight.

" Um... I wouldn't say we're buddies." Yuji told the woman. " I remember what happened, but I wasn't really myself." He explained.

" Were you drunk?" Nobara asked.

" Kugisaki, do you really think I'm the kind of person who would drink in a situation like that?" Yuji asked the woman. 

While those two continued talking, Megumi simply ate his food. 

" But anyway, we're glad you're okay, Fushigoro!" Yuji said to the boy.

" It ended up being a good thing I was out of cursed energy. Once we got rid of the roots, Ieri was able to heal me." Fushigoro explained.

" So, things like that happen, too huh?" Yuji asked.

" You fought against it, right?" Nobara asked Fushigoro. 

Megumi was quite for a moment. And then after some time he spoke. " Yuji... you've gotten stronger." he said. " We talked about our own truths back then. Maybe we're both right. Or both wrong." 

" There are questions that have an answer, you know." Nobara told the boy. " You're overthinking it you're gonna go bald."

" Yeah... There's no answer." Megumi said in agreement. " It comes down to whether or not you can come to terms with it. It's impossible to do that without a sense of self. Weak jujutsu sorcerers don't have a sense of self. I'll also get stronger... And surpass you!" Megumi exclaimed.

" Hehehehe! That's more like it!" Yuji exclaimed.

" Don't forget about me!" Nobara shouted.

Yuji nodded his head in agreement. " HM!"

" ALRIGHT! That's what I like to hear!" Ishiguro exclaimed.

" Right! As I expected of my brother's friends." Todo said in agreement.

The two Kyoto sorcerers suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere. 

Megumi, Nobara, and Yuji both turned to face the two men, and suddenly Yuji exploded out of Yuji's room.

" Come back, Brother!" Todo yelled as Yuji ran away. He got up and took after him.

" I'm thankful! But please, enough! I wasn't myself!" Yuji exclaimed.

" What're you talking about?! You've been like that since junior high!" Todo exclaimed.

" I didn't go to junior high with you!" Yuji shouted back.

" Oh boy. What is with those two?" Nobara asked. She held her face in embarrassment as the two young men ran around like idiots.

" Hahahahaha! I wouldn't mind it, that's just how Todo shows his affection. It's quite funny after a while." Ishiguro stated. 

" Oh, yeah, you're that guy from Kyoto. What are you doing here?" Nobara asked the man.

" Well..." Ishiguro muttered.

..............

" So, a lot of stuff happened, and people died. Whaddaya guys think? Should we continue the event?" Gojo asked the students from the two schools.

Since the attack, the event was planned on being cancelled, Gojo however, voiced that it should be the student's decision and not theirs.

" What kind of question is that?" Yuji asked.

" Then, yeah... We should continue." Todo spoke up from the corner and everyone turned to look at him. 

" What makes you say that?" Gojo asked the man.

" First off, mourning should be reserved for those who were close to the deceased. It is none of our concern. Second, if there were fatalities, what should be expected of us is to get stronger!" Todo explained. " Acquired strength is dictated by the accumulation of results. To suffer defeat or experience victory- We grow regardless. Results are important because they exist as results. Third! The unsettled feeling of having unfinished business during our school days will stick with us until the day we die!"

" How old are you, again?" `Gojo asked just out of curiosity.

" I don't mind." Megumi stated bluntly.

" We'll win anyways." Nobara stated as a matter of fact.

" HE sounds ridiculous, but he does have a point." Noritoshi said from across the room, covered in head to toe in bandages. 

" Why don't you rest, Kamo." Nishimiya told the man. 

" No objections." Panda spoke up.

" Salmon."

" Are the pairings for the individual portion drawn at random?" Maki asked.

" Huh? We're not doing that this year!" Gojo exclaimed.

The students were quickly annoyed. It seemed as though they looked forward to the individual battles.

" I don't like routines." Gojo stated. " Every year we put suggestions in this box and look at them on opening day." 

Gojo handed Yuji the box and Yuji started digging for the event they would participate in. And then after a moment he pulled out a sheet of paper.

And it read...

"Baseball?"

Out of nowhere both Principals Yaga and Gakuganji appeared next to Yuji, to view the result of the draw.

" What's the meaning of this, Yaga?" Gakuganji asked the man.

At that note Gojo turned and walked out of the building in a hurry.

" No, I'm sure I suggested an individual... Satoru get back here!" Yaga yelled. But it was too late, Gojo was already gone.

That's how we ended up here.

" Well, it seems everyone's having fun, doesn't it?" Ishiguro said to Yaga as they sat on the sidelines.

" Yes, even Satoru is taking part. But then again, he was the one who suggested this." Yaga responded.

" Oh, don't be upset Principal Yaga. I think having a battle round right after everything that happened wouldn't have been very beneficial, especially since some of the students got hurt." Ishiguro said to the man. 

He leaned back on the bench he was sitting on and crossed his arms behind his head. 

" But I will say that Yuji boy... He's very impressive." Ishiguro muttered.

" Oh?"

" Yeah. That kids a genius if I've ever seen one. It took me two years to land my first Black Flash, but this kid in just a few short months has made strides that have taken masters years to make. That's pretty fuckin scary if you ask me." 

" Hm, yes very impressive indeed." Yaga muttered.

" How can you say that?" Gakuganji asked the young man.

Ishiguro looked over at Gakuganji with one eye open.

" Do you still hate Yuji?" Yaga asked the old man.

" It's not a matter of whether or not I hate him. If we're going by Jujutsu rules, his mere presence cannot be tolerated. The only reason he's alive is because of Gojo's ego." Gakuganji explained. " Bending the rules of the group for an individual is not okay. And the fact that he remains alive could result in mass death." 

" That's a very blunt way of looking at this old man. What about the lives he's saved in the meantime?" Ishiguro asked.

" Exactly. In reality, with Todo, he was able to survive against the special grade." Yaga spoke up.

" Not only that, Gakuganji, he thrived. He's a completely different beast than he was earlier. To cut short that unbelievable talent, would only be a regret." Ishiguro stated.

" Regret isn't just limited to the students, but... He will experience a lot of it. We say things like I should've done that or done this. Or I wish I said that, or I said this. Whether the decision to keep him alive was correct or not.... To be honest, I can't say for sure." Yaga spoke. " So, for now, why don't we support him while we watch over him?"

Gakuganji turned and looked, as it was Yuji's turn to bat. And when the ball came at him.

*Bam!

He hit it clear out of the park.

" Our regrets as adults can wait." Yaga muttered.

" Heh, way to go kid." Ishiguro stated.

With that decisive strike, Yuji secured victory for the Tokyo school.

' Yuji Itadori... You are one frightening kid, you know that?'

Ishiguro looked at Yuji and then to Gojo. Of course, he was grinning from ear to ear like an idiot.

And with that the goodwill event was brought to a close

...............................

The next day

" Wow, are those two really gonna go at it?" 

" Yeah, I don't see this going very far, I mean Gojo-sensei is the strongest right?" Yuji asked.

Yuji watched on one of Mei's screens as Gojo and Ishiguro both stepped out into the arena. 

Gojo removed his blindfold and started rolling his shoulders, while Ishiguro removed the top half of his uniform, leaving his skintight blue shirt on. 

" It's been a long time since we've gone at it. Are you sure you're ready?" Gojo asked Ishiguro.

" Oh yeah. I've got a few surprises up my sleeve. Though I gotta ask, how did we get here in the first place?" Ishiguro wondered.

Earlier that day-

" Yuji." Ishiguro called out to Yuji as the boy and the other students from Tokyo ate at breakfast.

" Hm? Oh, Ishiguro, right? What are you doing here?" Yuji asked. " I thought you and the others were returning to Kyoto."

" We are, but before we go, I wanted to get a chance to speak with you. After all, it's not every day you get to meet the vessel of Sukuna who came back from the dead." Ishiguro muttered.

He took a seat next to Yuji.

" Fushiguro and Kugisaki, right? You guys were pretty impressive during the goodwill event. Seriously, I'm impressed that Satoru's managed to find such talented kids. Megumi, you're ten shadows technique, have you mastered it yet?" 

" Uh- Oh no. Not yet. I've managed to conquer a few of the shikigami, but there's still quite a few that I haven't been able to tame." Megumi stated.

" And why's that?"

" Hm? I just haven't gotten around to it, I guess." Megumi explained.

" Haven't gotten to it? Or don't won't too. I don't know, I Satoru has talked to you, but I saw you playing yesterday, and I gotta say, I was very unimpressed with your performance. You have skill that's no doubt. And as far as your teammates go, I'd be willing to say you're the strongest sorcerer in this school in terms of pure potential. But you're way of thinking, it's way out of Wack. Stop focusing on the idea of failing and start focusing on the possibility of being strong. Jujutsu sorcery isn't about what ifs. It's about being selfish and seeking to be the best possible version of yourself. Got it?" Ishiguro told the boy. " And you Yuji." 

Ishiguro then turned his attention to the young boy beside him.

" You're too focused on saving lives. Don't get me wrong kid, it's nice that you think that way, but you have to understand that there are gonna be people you can't save. You're going to lose friends, and maybe even someone you love, but you can't let this notion of self-righteousness get in your head. There's nothing righteous about us. We aren't some society of super-secret heroes. We're a society of killers trained to get rid of curses. Nothing more. Not yet anyway." Ishiguro remarked. " If you keep up this idea that you're some kind of hero, you're only gonna get yourself hurt. Don't do this for the goal of being a hero, do it because it's what you want to do. Nothing more. And spend a little more time training, I can see that you have talent for understanding cursed energy, especially after hitting all of those Black Flashes, but it isn't enough. You did good against that Cursed Spirit, but If Todo hadn't been there, you wouldn't have survived. "

Megumi and Yuji both looked slightly deflated, as though their prides had been poked with a needle. 

" Don't be down you two, that's just his way of saying he cares!" 

From behind Gojo came and draped his arms across Ishiguro and Yuji's shoulders.

" Satoru."

" Ishiguro, why are you picking on my students?" Gojo asked the man.

" I'm not. I'm telling them the truth. They need to improve. Despite being better than most sorcerers at such a young age, the world is changing and the need to improve is becoming more and more necessary. You and I aren't going to be the strongest forever, ya know."

" Well, now that you mentioned it, I guess you have a point. After all, if none of these kids turn out to be stronger than us, then we've failed, right?" 

" Exactly. "

" Hey, Gojo sensei, how do you two know each other so well?" Yuji asked out of curiosity.

" Oh, Ishiguro is an old friend of mine. I met him when he was just a freshman in Kyoto, during one of the goodwill events. He challenged me to a fight and loss bad. Hahaha! And ever since we've been good friends." 

" Oh?! You fought Gojo sensei?"

" Yeah, I did. And I didn't lose as bad as he's making it out to be." Ishiguro muttered.

" You couldn't even touch me."

" That's because I don't have an impenetrable shield to hide behind." Ishiguro replied.

" I mean... hey."

" If you didn't know, I have more cursed energy than this guy." Ishiguro told Yuji.

" I have better control."

" I don't have special eyes that help me. I had to learn all this shit myself."

" Hey, it's cool man. I'm just saying, I'm still stronger." Gojo said proudly.

" Oh yeah?!" Ishiguro exclaimed.

" Totally." Gojo replied sneakily.

" How about you two fight it out then?" Mei had suggested. 

Suddenly, Mei, the students from Kyoto, and the rest of the Tokyo school surrounded the two, as if they had just appeared out of nowhere. 

" Oh, come on, we don't need to do that." Gojo stated.

" Right. Besides, it's a very traumatic time right now, and we want to make sure you kids are alright."

" Hey? If you two were to fight right now, who would win?" Yuji asked.

" Oh, that's easy. I would win."

" Oh, that's easy. I would win."

Gojo grabbed his blindfold and looked down at Ishiguro with a glare in his eyes. While Ishiguro looked at the man with him a small vein growing across the side of his face.

" You wanna fight?" Ishiguro asked the man.

" Let's go."

..............

Now.

" Oh yeah, that's right." Ishiguro muttered. " I almost forgot. I can't believe we let them goad us into a fight like that."

" Well, it's no big deal, after all, it's been a while."

" Yeah, and I've learned a lot since the last time we fought."

" I bet. Don't worry, I won't use limitless this time." Gojo stated.

[ Dynazty- Human Paradox]

Ishiguro cracked his knuckles and then extended his left arm out and brought his right arm close to his chest, golden cursed energy started flowing from his palms.

" Don't you dare! I'm gonna show you the culmination of my training and I'm gonna smash that defense you're so proud of!"

Gojo returned the favor, holding out both of his hands as his cursed energy started flowing out of him.

" We'll see about that."

Ishiguro and Gojo both exploded towards one another. Ishiguro slapped the back of Gojo's hand away with his own palm, while blocking a knee to the gut from Gojo himself.

" Wow, here we go! The numbers are already going up!" Mei exclaimed in excitement. 

She was watching as the buyers for her paper view event, as she was livestreaming the fight to the world. Sorcerers from every corner tuned in to see this spectacle.

" Hey, that guy's keeping up with Gojo sensei That's crazy!" Yuji exclaimed.

" Oh, you haven't seen nothing yet." Todo stated. " They're just testing the waters right now."

Back in the field, Gojo and Ishiguro continued trading blows with one another, going back and forth between blocking and striking.

Gojo leaped backwards and pointed his finger at Ishiguro.

" HERE WE GO!" Todo shouted.

" Reverse cursed technique: RED!"

Gojo fired red right at Ishiguro, as he clasped his hands together. The golden light of enlightenment radiated off of Ishiguro, and as the blast drew closer, Ishiguro extended the back of his hand and shouted.

A giant golden hand appeared and blocked the reverse cursed technique. The sudden collision obliterated a good chunk of the forest the two men were standing in.

Using the debrief from the dirt and the falling trees as obstacles, Ishiguro leaped towards Gojo with a wide grin on his face. 

Gojo was caught slightly off-guard by Ishiguro's speed, but it wasn't something he couldn't adapt to.

He quickly raised his limitless, ready to defend against Ishiguro's strike, however, in the moment Gojo's limitless was raised, something unbelievable happened. 

Ishiguro punched at Gojo with a powerful right. His fist immediately collided with the limitless barrier, leaving Gojo with a grin on his face, however, the limitless started shaking, screeching, and suddenly Gojo's smirk faded away and his eyes widened in shock.

Gojo raised his hand, just as Ishiguro's fist broke through the limitless, and grabbed hold of the man's hand.

" No way.... I don't believe it. I've never seen anyone so much as lay a hand on Gojo, let alone break his through his cursed technique." Megumi exclaimed.

" I didn't think it was possible." Yuji muttered.

Shocked, but not defenseless, Gojo spun Ishiguro around and launched him across the forest.

Ishiguro skidded across the dirt a bit before flinging himself back at Gojo, this time, launching a powerful palm attack right at the man.

Gojo raised his limitless once more and blocked the cursed technique, however the golden light from the attack, successfully obscured Ishiguro's movements below.

Or so he believed.

As Ishiguro leaped at Gojo, the man he believed to be distracted looked down at him with a grin on his face. Not the kind he's used to seeing, this one was different.

Gojo was happy?

" Hahahah! Gotcha!" Gojo muttered as he swiped his hand down.

" Oh shit." Ishiguro muttered.

With a swipe of his hand, Gojo sent Ishiguro plummeting back down to the ground hard.

Ishiguro landed on the ground, feeling as the weight of a building had just hit him in the face. He went to pick himself up, however, before he could get to his feet, Gojo appeared next to him and delivered a strong kick to his gut, launching him through the trees horizontally. 

Ishiguro tumbled through the wood like a cannonball.

He grabbed hold of one of the trees as it fell and launched it back at Gojo, who was chasing him. 

Gojo chuckled and punched through the tree, shattering it into pieces.

As the tree broke apart, Ishiguro closed the gap and threw his right knee right at Gojo's face.

Gojo smacked Ishiguro's knee to the side, forcing the man to spin in the air.

" Hagh!" Ishiguro used the momentum and threw another strong kick right at Gojo's head.

Gojo, in turn, ducked the kick and planted one hand on the ground and kicked upwards at Ishiguro throwing him into the air.

Ishiguro spit up a bit of blood, before clapping his hands together. " HA!" Ishiguro launched another one of his strong palm attacks at Gojo, who dodged out of the way before it hit, allowing the technique to destroy the ground below him, kicking up a dust storm in the process. 

" Damn, this is scary." Yuji muttered nervously. 

From the other side of New York another auspicious party watched the event.

" I didn't know, he was that strong?! How are we supposed to beat those monsters?!" Jogo asked.

" Heh, Jogo. just watch. This is quite entertaining." Geto told the cursed spirit.

Back at the school, another party besides the students and staff was watching. 

Deep within the pits of Yuji's body, another being, the king of curses himself, Sukuna, watched as the two men's battle unfolded.

" Hm? Not bad. That brat, he's using a type of barrier technique. And he's switching between that and his cursed technique almost flawlessly, though there is a bit of a delay. Still though, his usage of his cursed energy is almost as refined as mine." Sukuna brought his hand up to his mouth and smirked. " Interesting."

The cloud of dirt began to clear away as Gojo and Ishiguro reappeared. Gojo had almost no scratches on him, while Ishiguro was bleeding from his mouth and nose. 

" They're smiling?" Yuji muttered.

" Yes." Yaga spoke up. " This has been quite an entertaining match. I haven't seen Satoru smile like that in a long time." 

" I haven't seen it either." Shoko stated bluntly. " What about that other guy? He's pretty good."

" Ishiguro? He only smiles like that when he talks about Satoru." Utahime explained.

' That's not true.' Todo said to himself.

" It's like watching two kids, who've never had candy, try it for the first time." Nobara joked. " It's kind of creepy."

The group watched as Gojo and Ishiguro traded words once more.

" You ready for the next level?" Gojo asked.

Ishiguro brought his right hand up to his chest.

" Damn right!" Ishiguro exclaimed.

Gojo laughed like a mad man and crossed his middle finger over his pointing finger and raised it up in front of his face.

The group all watched in anticipation.

" HERE IT COMES!"

The two men with devilish grins on their faces laughed and yelled out.

" DOMAIN EXPANSION!"

" UNLIMITED VOID!"

" EIGHT HELLS OF THE HEAVENLY BUDDAH!"

The two sorcerers threw out their domains. 

The Strongest Sorcerer of the Modern Era Vs The Enlightened One!

.....