Winner?

Bam!

A crisp impact resounded across the field. The two spectators, Suguru and Shoko looked on in shock and utter bafflement.

Gojo Satoru skidded backwards due to the impact, his cheek had a large bruise on it, as if it had been hit with a sledgehammer.

His crystal blue eyes looked on in shock at the perpetrator, the cursed tool tinkerer of Jujutsu High, Zenin Shuichi.

Shuichi stood his ground with a smug smile, his eyes never leaving Gojo's figure. His gaze held a type of confidence that spoke volumes of his inner thoughts process. Gojo Satoru scanned him with his surprised eyes.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? Or was it the barrier? Did it take away your mocking attitude along with your infinity?" Shuichi's voice sounded like a hammer on a nail. The weight of his words hung around in the air.

Someone had done it. Someone had touched Gojo Satoru in combat. No, not just touched him. Someone had actually managed to punch him.

Suguru's face, although a mixture of disbelief and wariness couldn't help but morph into a smile.

Shoko who sat beside him also looked on; the cigarette in her mouth had fallen off onto the ground due to her open mouth. Though, if one looked closely, they would be able to notice a small tug on her lips.

Indeed, the friends are the first to smile when one falls down. However, this went beyond just that feeling. They were exhilarated.

Gojo Satoru remained silent for a moment, trying to make sense of what had happened.

He looked around the training field which had been mostly destroyed. The weapons and objects that Shuichi had thrown were nowhere to be seen now. They had also been merged into the barrier and been used to supply it.

His Six Eyes scanned the barrier that covered the entire field, taking in the intricacies that went into it's making. After some time, he spoke.

"Using a barrier to neutralize the technique... I commend you for thinking up such a method." Gojo continued, "Making such a strong rule within the enclosed space in such a short amount of time and such efficiency... I'm honestly surprised that you even managed to pull that off.

"But..." He paused, his eyes morphing into a dangerous curl as his lips curled upwards. "Doing so has also sealed your own cursed techniques. Do you think you could best me in hand to hand?"

His lean figure adopted a martial arts stance, cursed energy blaring at his hands.

Seeing him get ready for combat, Shuichi also propped up his fists. "We'll just need to see right? Let's throw hands!" He said with a slightly crazed smile.

Without wasting any time, both of them leaped at each other.

Cursed energy blared at both sides, taking the form of a dense flickering flame. The light blue hue of cursed energy appeared all over the field as both of the fighters blizted all over; their speeds too fast for the normal human eye to follow.

Bam bam bam!

Boom boom!

The sound of impacts and explosions rang out incessantly. The ground was propped up at random while a large dust cloud impeded the vision on the two onlookers.

He has reverse cursed technique and great control over cursed energy. His reinforcement and cursed energy circulation is strange. It doesn't feel like the conventional way of reinforcement. So far, his empowered physical attributes seem above me. Gojo thought as he deflected a jab to his side. However, his combat skills lessen his prowess to barely above average. It's not too hard to keep up.

[Shuichi's strange state of cursed energy superposition coupled with reinforcement and a strong base physique proved to be difficult for Gojo Satoru to counter.]

Bam!

Shuichi's head snapped backwards as a punch was thrown directly at his head.

With a wide grin, he pushed back and countered.

A flurry of attacks consisting of linked punches, kicks and slaps were thrown at the white haired teen. Yet, somehow, most of them were either deflected, parried or straight up blocked. The ones that impacted were of minimal damage, leading to a swift counter by Gojo.

All of this led to Shuichi getting battered by Gojo uncontrollably.

It was not that Shuichi was any weaker than Gojo, neither was it that the disparity in skill was too large.

It was simply because his opponent was a freak like Gojo Satoru, who possessed the Six Eyes which would somewhat delay the perception of time around him. Allowing him to spend a second for the normal world as 10 seconds in his own mental world by concentration!

Coupled with the years of training in combat by his clan, he was more than a match for Shuichi!

[Gojo Satoru, as a possessor of the Six Eyes was almost unbeatable in close quarters combat.]

[Ever since the emergence of the Gojo Clan and the Six Eyes since the Heian era, very few had ever come close to defeating a member of the Six Eyes in pure jujutsu-less combat, regardless if they had the limitless or not.]

Shuichi slipped back, enduring another swift kick to the chest with reinforcement.

His figure was not too damaged but did not look too great as well. His expression was solemn as he looked on at Gojo Satoru.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? Or was it the beating I have you?" Gojo said with a mocking smirk. His crystal blue eyes were widened to the extreme.

Shuichi did not reply, instead he moved.

[However...]

At that moment, something unexpected by Gojo or even the onlookers happened.

Shuichi adopted the same stance as Gojo...

Gojo stood flabbergasted, looking incredulously at the black haired teen in front of him.

What is... this? He thought.

[Shuichi's confidence never stemmed from his current prowess and skill in combating other sorcerers.]

A crazed smile made it's way onto both Gojo and Shuichi's face.

"I see! So that's what you're doing!" Gojo yelled with a manic tone to his otherwise mocking and sarcastic voice.

[At this moment... something began to blossom deeply in Gojo Satoru's heart...]

"If you've figures it out, why don't you come at me already!" Shuicui yelled back in fervor.

[Acknowledgement!]

Gojo didn't respond in words, instead opting for a dash and a punch.

Shuichi countered. Only this time, it wasn't as sloppy as it had been all this time. He caught Gojo's arm in between his right elbow and knee and countered with a jab to his side.

With a slight twist of his body, Gojo's fist went into the air and smashed right into the side of Shuichi's neck. Or it was targeted to.

Letting go of his arm, Shuichi drop kicked him away and propelled himself from falling with his arm.

Rushing at Gojo again, a flurry of attacks exchanges followed.

Gojo looked on in wonder as Shuichi got better and better at combat. His prowess seemed to be.. evolving.

[The jump in skill was not a result of Shuichi's own talent, neither was it a result of his cursed technique, Hard to Kill.]

[Because of the turning off of his cursed techniques was a result of his own conscious decision of wanting to engage into a binding vow, and not something that was a result of outside interference, his technique was completely unable to adapt to anything as long as it was within the barrier. Which meant, he could not adapt to his fighting style.]

[Instead, it was the result of his cursed tool, Records of Tenjin!]

Keep going! That's right! Keep on fighting! Shuichi screamed in his mind, a wild grin plastered on his lips. A flood of information kept on entering his mind autonomously, as he countered with an almost robotic sentience.

[Records of Tenjin would analyze all of Gojo Satoru's actions in real time, providing Shuichi of all the information; ranging for muscular movement, flow of air into the lungs, way of energy reinforcement and the extent and way of movement.]

[Coupled with the injection of that information into not only his brain, but also his body itself, it allowed Shuichi to turn all of that battle data directly into muscle memory!]

Although the necklace can't provide me with the most ideal counter... Shuichi thought, throwing another punch at Gojo's face, one that impacted with a satisfying sound. I can just take care of that by trial and error in real time, and then analyzing that information with the necklace yet again to make a perfect counter to you!

Gojo Satoru stopped onto the ground, his figure heaving with tiredness and damage. His body was covered with bruises and his clothes were disheveled.

"Are you ready to surrender yet?" Shuichi asked.

"Surrender? Why would I do that?" Satoru countered.

Narrowing his eyes, Shuichi ran reverse cursed energy through RCT throughout his body. All of the minor and slightly major damage he had received were immediately recovered.

Gojo looked at him stupidly. Shuichi once again taunted him, prompting him to surrender willingly.

"Sigh! Even if you can use RCT, there's no way I'm just surrendering like that..." He said adopting a different type of martial arts stance this time.

Another stance... Shuichi thought.

"There's about 29 more styles where that came from." He said.

Shuichi contemplated a bit.

Looks like I'm gonna have to hit him with a black flash. He clenched his fist with strength. If there's any critical damage, I'll just heal him with RCT, not to mention Shoko is also sitting right on the sidelines.

On the sidelines, Geto Suguru was growing restless.

On one hand, Yaga-sensei had told to stop them from going too overboard. And on the other, he really wanted to see how the end result would turn out as.

He looked towards Shoko, the most responsible of them all.

"Do you think we should stop them?"

"What? Why?" She asked.

"Well.... they're destroying the entire field. Don't you think that would be 'going overboard' according to Yaga-sensei." He asked.

Shoko huffed a tired sigh, "Don't push the judgement on me. I'd hate to be the one that ruined the fun of watching the showdown where Gojo can be hit for once." She replied.

"Besides, it's your call. Yaga-sensei told you to do so. I'm not taking any part into it." It would seem Shoko would not be helping him in any way or form.

Geto Suguru looked at her with a look of betrayal.

His eyes turned to the destroyed training field where the two, still energized fighters were ready to battle it out.

He quieted down for a moment, unsure if he should stop the conflict or not.

Back to the two 'sparring' teenagers. Satoru and Shuichi looked at each other, analyzing each other's forms with the utmost concentration.

Shuichi's focus reached an all time high as his pupils dilated and his hair stood on edge. A deep sense of profound dinstinctness reached his brain as the slightest change in the state of his cursed energy seized.

His cursed heart was still there in his body, despite the inactivation of cursed techniques, magnifying his control over his cursed energy completely. Although he could not materialize objects out of his body now.

Both of them stared at each other without blinking.

The moment I get a chance, I'll hit you with a black flash... Shuichi's plan was clear.

As for Gojo Satoru's plan, it was uncertain what train of thought he was having and the plan he had to win.

However, before any of them could move, a fast moving elongated snake like being slammed right between them, breaking them both out of their state of focus. It was a gigantic eastern dragon.

"That's enough you two." They heard a voice from outside the barrier. It was Geto Suguru.

He had not entered the barrier as he felt that doing so would make his control over the dragon waver due to the cursed technique nullification going on in the barrier.

"Yaga-sensei told me to prevent you from going overboard... though I feel like that's already happened, and as much as I would like you two to continue, I must stop you now."

Both Shuichi and Satoru adopted a sour expression on their faces.

"Booooo~ what a killjoy!" Satoru yelled with his hands around his mouth.

"Booo~ go back home! No one wants you here!" Shuichi joined in...

Seeing this, Shoko chuckled a bit on the side.

A vein threatened to pop on Suguru's forehead, yet he struggled to keep his calm.

Shaking his head, Shuichi dispelled the barrier and looked towards Gojo.

At the same moment, he also looked towards him.

As their eyes met, both of them caught a similar feeling in the gaze of the other party.

A sense of acknowledgement.

Satoru acknowledged him for being efficient, for being innovative, for beint talented, and most importantly, being able to go toe to toe with him. He acknowledged him for his strength.

While Shuichi, he acknowledged him for his unwavering confidence, his fighting prowess, his resourcefulness and most importantly, his strength.

After all, strength was the universal form of acknowledgement.

Jujutsu is... strength. Human power and desire, human innovation and efficiency, human resourcefulness and pride, all coalesced into one; the greatest form of curse.

~~~

A/N: Tell me your thoughts on the chapter~~

I hate to do this, but you're not really getting a full disclosure on the fight :[).

Throw some stones~ also, leave a review while you're at it.