Chapter 92

With an expressionless face, Gojo rubbed the slippery blood on his fingers. The distinctive sting of a burn was clear on his forehead.

He lowered his hand. His eyes flickered with immense disbelief and a strange euphoria.

"…You."

How did you do it?

'No, that's not important.'

Whether it was using the power to turn his body black, somehow creating fire from the sword, or whatever his identity might be.

None of that mattered to Gojo anymore.

What remained was a deep sense of satisfaction, fulfillment, and an endless fighting spirit.

'I want to fight.'

To know just how strong he is, for sure.

To clash with all my might, and again.

...To finish it.

"—That's enough."

Toji, holding his Inverted Spear of Heaven, blocked between Gojo and Zoro. He completely shielded Zoro from Gojo's view, as if protecting him.

"This is no longer a sparring match."

That line had already been crossed.

"Ugh."

Zoro made a strange noise, fumbling with his mouth, then spat something out onto the ground. Three baby teeth.

Whether the faces of Shoko and Toji went pale or not, Zoro nonchalantly wiped the blood mixed with saliva from his mouth onto his sleeve.

"It felt weird somehow."

Was it the aftereffects of that red attack that had shaken his baby teeth loose?

Gojo raised his hand towards Toji, then slowly lowered it.

He wanted to send Toji flying and continue fighting with Zoro. They both still had energy left, hadn't shown all their cards, wanted to fight more, and yet…

...But Satoru Gojo and Zenin Zoro were not enemies, and what had just happened was supposed to be a sparring match.

Zoro was already badly injured, and to continue would make it not a sparring match, as the gorilla said.

It would be a battle to the death.

Gojo pouted his lips.

'Annoying.'

Why is he still 6 years old and on my side?

If he were about my age and an enemy, we could be fighting to the death without any hesitation right now.

However, Gojo was aware that his thoughts were quite strange, so he didn't voice them out loud.

He took a step back, then another, slowly distancing himself from Zoro. Gojo took out his sunglasses from his pocket and put them on. Wearing fragile sunglasses was a signal that he had no intention of fighting further.

Toji sighed in relief. He had been inwardly worried about Gojo's eyes, but fortunately, Gojo decided to stop on his own.

Ieiri hurried over to Zoro. His entire body had been battered and torn by the strong repulsive force, bleeding from everywhere. Though they were just baby teeth, he had lost three of them.

This was not an injury that could be treated here. They needed to go to the infirmary. Shoko assessed the situation at a glance and called Toji.

"Sensei."

"Right."

Toji quickly picked up Ieiri and Zoro in a princess carry and ran towards the infirmary.

...

"Do I have to keep this on?"

Zoro, sitting on the infirmary bed with a sullen face, lifted his wrist connected to a blood pack.

Next to Zoro's bed, Toji sat cross-legged in the chair meant for guardians. Beside him, Megumi and Tsumiki were hugging each other, sleeping soundly.

Toji responded to Zoro's question as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Of course."

While Shoko could heal wounds with her Reverse Technique, it couldn't regenerate the blood already lost.

Perhaps her skills with the Reverse Technique might improve to make it possible in the future, but for now, it was beyond her capabilities. Thus, even after applying the Reverse Technique to patients, blood transfusions were essential.

Zoro moved his arm connected to the transfusion tube back and forth, his face turning grumpier.

"It's uncomfortable to move."

"Then you shouldn't have bled so much."

And to top it off, losing three teeth.

Toji refrained from scolding his injured son, instead ruffling his green hair vigorously.

Shoko recorded on the chart. Administering AB type blood to Zoro had depleted their stock of reserved AB type blood.

'We'll need to request more.'

Just in case something like this happens again, better to have plenty.

Zoro had lost a lot of blood and had many wounds, but his internal organs, bones, joints, and ligaments were mostly unharmed. Thus, by disinfecting the external injuries and applying the Reverse Technique, they could complete most of the treatment.

'Whether he defended himself or it was because Gojo controlled his power during the sparring, I'm not sure.'

Ieiri thought it was the former.

Considering the latter, Gojo's eyes at the end of the sparring clearly showed he still wanted to fight.

'Always acting younger than his age.'

Wanting to fight with a kid ten years younger. Shoko shook her head in disapproval.

Meanwhile, Gojo was kneeling in front of Yaga in the corner of the infirmary, his fists clenched and held up awkwardly.

"Hold your hands properly, Satoru."

"Sensei, can we stop this? I think I've been punished enough."

"What nonsense are you spouting after launching a high-level spirit technique at a kid who hasn't even started elementary school?!"

"Cough, cough!"

An infuriated Yaga put Gojo in a rear naked choke. Gojo, struggling for air, tapped on Yaga's thick arm, signaling surrender.

Watching this scene, Zoro attempted to sneak off the bed, but Toji stopped him.

"What are you doing?"

"I was going to raise my hands too."

"Why bother?"

"We fought together."

It's unfair if only Satoru gets scolded.

Yaga turned to look at Zoro. Being one of the more reasonable among sorcerers, he couldn't possibly ask a 6-year-old, who had just been bleeding profusely and was still receiving a blood transfusion, to kneel and raise his hands like Gojo.

"Next time, don't join him, Zoro."

"It wasn't me who joined; it was Satoru."

It was Zoro who had requested the spar.

Quickly escaping Yaga's choke, Gojo said,

"See! I wasn't the only one causing trouble; we fought together."

"Are you six years old like him?!"

Yaga was so frustrated he almost fell backward, clutching his neck. Toji looked at him with a pitiful gaze.

'...I'm not one to feel pity for others.'

Seeing Zoro's condition when carrying him earlier almost made Toji faint.

Toji didn't want to see Zoro, who had stained his clothes with blood and gasped for air, like that ever again. Not ever.

"You're grounded for a while."

"...Why?"

"If I let you out, you'll end up fighting with him again while I'm not looking."

Just like now, bleeding profusely. The thought alone made Toji dizzy. Zoro just shrugged.

"That's what sparring is."

Zoro was used to fierce spars that didn't aim to kill but could result in an eye being gouged out. Compared to his sparring sessions with Mihawk, his spar with Gojo was less intense.

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

"Not really. It was bearable."

"...Don't just bear it, dodge."

Toji recalled how Zoro hadn't made a sound even when dousing his wounds with stingy antiseptic. It was admirable, but more than that, it was heart-wrenching and frustrating.

'Aren't normal kids this age supposed to cry just from falling?'

He wished Zoro wouldn't just endure, that he wouldn't accept pain just to become stronger. In the face of hard fights, it would be okay to run away and cry about the pain. Isn't that what kids his age are supposed to do?

Toji hadn't cried much at that age either.

'He takes after his mother in everything else,'

He wondered why only that trait resembled him.

It was good that he had left Megumi and Tsumiki with Yaga during the spar. It was also fortunate that they were asleep when he went to pick them up after the spar had ended.

Regardless of the fact it was a spar, both would have been severely shocked had they seen Zoro bleeding profusely and spitting out teeth or receiving a blood transfusion.

Shoko approached Gojo.

"Hey, trash. You didn't get hurt, did you?"

Normally, Gojo would retort with a "Ha, as if anything could hurt me!" but this time he silently slid his hand across his forehead. A very small scar, just below the white hair at the top of his forehead, was visible.

Its position was such that just lowering his hair a bit easily concealed it, and it was faint enough not to be noticeable unless seen from very close. Still, a scar is a scar.

Ieiri, being a reverse curse user, immediately recognized the nature of the scar.

"The wound itself healed with the reverse curse technique, but it left a scar because it was a burn."

"Yeah."

There are generally two reasons why a scar remains even after treatment with the reverse curse technique: the attack was too strong to completely erase its traces even with the reverse technique, or it was a burn. Given the minor size of Gojo's scar, similar to a paper cut, it was clearly the latter.

Ieiri nonchalantly flicked Gojo's scar with her finger.

"I can't remove this."

"I know."

"Well, I could cut out the scarred flesh entirely and then apply the reverse curse technique."

"Eek. I don't want to go that far."

"Then it'll never disappear."

"It doesn't matter."

When Gojo felt the small flame burning on that wound, he didn't get angry. He was actually pleased.

It was like proof.

That there were opponents in the world who could face him with all their strength.

That Satoru Gojo wouldn't have to be alone due to his overwhelming strength.

For life.

Seeing the faint smile on Gojo's face, Shoko decided not to worry about the scar. If he didn't mind, there was no reason to force the issue. Why bother.

"By the way, what's up with Suguru?"

Geto was leaning against the wall of the infirmary, staring blankly into space.

The scene of Zoro and Gojo clashing replayed in his head endlessly, as if the loop button on a video was pressed.

'...Survival of the weak.'

To Geto, that was the ideal of all societies.

Non-sorcerers are the weak.

Sorcerers are the strong.

For a proper society, the strong, the sorcerers, must protect the weak, the non-sorcerers.

If sorcerers do not have the right mindset and oppress non-sorcerers, the weak will be mercilessly trampled by the strong.

But recently, Geto Suguru had witnessed examples that directly contradicted his belief, right before his eyes.

First with Toji, and now with Zoro.

'Are those two exceptions?'

Even if he tried to think so, it didn't sit right with him.

Even if most non-sorcerers are powerless, if there are rare ones like these two who can even injure Gojo, can non-sorcerers truly be called weak?

'If non-sorcerers aren't the weak ones.'

Then, what about sorcerers?

...No, what about me?

'What's the purpose of fighting curses?'

Ieiri glanced at Geto, lost in thought, then waved her hand dismissively.

"Let him be. It must be hard to accept."

After all, they've been saying like a mantra every day that as sorcerers, who are strong, they must protect the non-sorcerers, who are weak. But then they saw a 6-year-old non-sorcerer giving the strongest sorcerer wounds.

It wouldn't be strange if his brain just stopped working. That's what Shoko thought.

Gojo approached Geto, who was frozen like a statue.

"Hey, Suguru? Suuuguuuruu?"

"..."

"Are you sleeping standing up?"

"..."

"Hey, you know the limited edition pudding you bought earlier? I ate it."

"..."

"Hmm, still no reaction."

After waving his hand in front of Geto's eyes a few times, Gojo then started pressing on Geto's nose as if ringing a doorbell.

"Ding dong, ding dong! Dingdongdingdongding! Is Suguru there? Are you theeeere?"

"..."

"Non-sorcerers are weak so we must protect them blah blah blah~ Working hard on your position talk~ Embarrassed Suguru because the kid he thought was weak turned out too strong— Urk!"

Geto, smiling slyly, delivered a clean uppercut to Gojo's stomach.

"Can you be quiet, Satoru?"

I'm trying to think here.

"And when did you eat my pudding?"

"Ha, so you were listening!"

"Both of you, stop it!"

Yaga intervened, trying to break up Gojo and Geto's fight, which only doubled the commotion.

Toji discreetly covered one ear each of the sleeping Tsumiki and Megumi. It didn't seem like it would quiet down anytime soon.

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