Gojo Satoru scratched his head as he walked alongside Geto Suguru through Jujutsu High.
"Yawn."
"Did you oversleep yesterday?"
"No. Slept like a good child, snoring away. Yaga-sensei made a fuss about going to bed early. Why would he come all the way to the dorms just to take away the game console?"
Gojo grumbled about the previous night when he had intended to stay awake.
In the past few days, the trio of first-year students at Jujutsu High had been unusually free. There were hardly any missions, and the classes were mostly theoretical.
Especially yesterday, they had a day off entirely uncharacteristic for sorcerers. It was even more unusual considering that Gojo and Geto were Grade 1 sorcerers, and Shoko was a rare reverse curse technician.
"And now he calls us early in the morning."
"A new teacher is coming."
"We've had enough lessons from that gorilla, haven't we? Ugh, my body still aches."
Gojo exaggeratedly punched his shoulder.
"Come to think of it, we haven't seen Teacher Toji lately."
"He must have been appointed as a Grade 1 sorcerer with our recommendation. That gorilla is probably busy with missions as a Grade 1 sorcerer by now."
"Maybe."
They didn't know the details, but it was good news. They hoped not to see him again. Not just for a day or two, but for good.
Shoko Ieiri had arrived at the meeting place first and was smoking alone. Geto raised his hand to greet her.
"Hey, Shoko."
"Good morning."
"You look well."
"I had a good night's sleep for once."
She spoke with an unusually vibrant voice.
Even as a first-year student, a reverse curse technician was very busy. After all, a sorcerer who could use reverse curse techniques, especially those that work on others, was extremely rare.
Gojo tilted his head quizzically.
"But why call us here, of all places?"
"Who knows."
The meeting place was the sports field that Satoru had recently demolished with his Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue. It was still in ruins, as the repairs had not yet begun.
"Is this the place?"
"Yaga-sensei mentioned it several times... it must be right. Here we are."
"What kind of lesson are we supposed to have in this mess?"
Gojo flopped down anywhere. Geto looked down at Satoru with a resigned expression before sitting next to him. Satoru, tilting his head, said,
"Well, it'll be good for practicing my techniques. There's nothing left to break."
"What are you practicing?"
"Omitting the incantation and hand signs. And technique reversal."
The former I'm sort of getting the hang of, but the latter, I have no clue. Gojo murmured, tilting his head.
"Right. Shoko! Teach us about reversal techniques."
"Whish and voila."
"...What?"
"Can you explain a bit more, Shoko?"
"That's all there is to it. Don't you get it? You lack sense~"
Cursed energy goes whish, then voila. Shoko flicked her fingers as she explained, but there was no way the two could understand.
Gojo sprang to his feet.
"Ah— I'm bored. When are they coming? I want to train my techniques. Flipping a place that's already been flipped over is all the same to me."
"Satoru, don't just think about destroying. Sorcery is fundamentally about protecting."
It exists to protect the weak, the non-sorcerers. Geto calmly admonished him. Satoru scoffed.
"Don't try to attach a noble reason to power."
Strength is just strength. Why attach a reason to it?
Veins popped on Geto's forehead. Gojo stuck out his tongue at him mockingly. Ieiri was contemplating whether to skip the first lesson with the new teacher when,
"—Are you two fighting again?"
Gojo paused and then looked behind Geto. Toji was walking towards them, carrying Zoro on his shoulders.
"What's this? The gorilla is back again?"
"He has arrived..."
"I can feel everyone's dismay, bangs."
Toji set Zoro down on the ground. Geto looked around, puzzled.
"Today, it's just Zoro. Where are the other kids?"
"I left them with your headmaster."
They wouldn't dare harm them. If they did, the necks of those two would be the first to go, and besides, I've placed a binding on them. While it might be safer by Toji's side considering physical safety, today's activities were too violent for those kids to witness.
Gojo pushed down his sunglasses, smirking.
"Too bad, but today's the day a new teacher is supposed to arrive. Unfortunately, we don't have time to play with you. So why don't you just leave, gorilla?"
Toji snickered and then threw something at Gojo. A small, square object stopped in mid-air due to Gojo's barrier and dropped down, which Gojo caught.
It was an object familiar to them. It was an ID card used by the staff of Jujutsu High.
Gojo held the ID card with Toji's photo glaringly imprinted on it, his hand trembling as he read the letters written on it.
"Zenin Toji. Grade 4 Sorcerer. ...Physical Techniques Teacher at Tokyo Jujutsu High School?!"
The new teacher supposed to join was this gorilla. Gojo flopped down on the spot. And then, belatedly, he exploded in anger.
"Why! Why are you becoming a teacher at Jujutsu High! And at the Tokyo school, at that!"
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"As if those rotten oranges, they don't care as long as they're not the ones getting beaten up!"
Trash kids—! Gojo roared towards the upper management. Geto murmured in dismay.
"We clearly recommended him as a Grade 1..."
"That's just how those upper management types are."
Toji clapped his hands once.
"Now, now. Focus. My name is Zenin Toji. I'm a Grade 4 sorcerer, and as of today, I'll be the physical techniques teacher at this school. So then... shall we begin this historic first lesson?"
Toji glanced at Ieiri, who quickly stubbed out her cigarette on the ground and prepared to leave.
"I have no missions to attend to today. I'll be taking my leave."
"Sorry, but you have work to do today. You'll need to stay until the lesson is over."
Zoro silently stood next to Shoko and pointed her to a spot quite far from the sports field.
"You want me to go there? Why?"
"Because it's safe there."
This area is going to become dangerous. Zoro's presence beside Shoko was not only for observation but also to protect her. Given what Toji might do to those two, Shoko needed to remain unharmed.
"..."
Sensing that something big was about to happen, Shoko obediently moved to a spot quite far from the sports field. Life is precious, after all.
Toji shook his head at the sight of the two, who had lost all their energy and were wilting like flimsy pieces of paper.
"Don't lose your strength just yet. Since it's our first official lesson, we'll do things a bit differently than usual."
"..."
"In this sparring match, the use of cursed energy and techniques is completely unrestricted."
"What?"
"Huh?"
The previously deflated duo instantly regained their vitality and sprang to their feet.
Toji smirked.
'See? They think they'll win as long as they can use their techniques.'
It was typical of sorcerers who believed their techniques were unbeatable, like frogs in a well. It was amusing, though not uncommon.
Geto asked in disbelief,
"We can use techniques freely?"
"Yes. Cursed energy, techniques, curse tools, physical skills, tricks—use whatever you've got. Think of it as if you're facing a cursed user out to take your heads."
Imposing restrictions would only lead them to believe they lost because of those limitations. He had to crush that possibility entirely.
Gojo hummed and then teased,
"What if you end up getting your neck snapped by us?"
"We have a reverse curse technician."
"Ah, so that's why you called Shoko too, different from usual? Afraid you might die?"
"Exactly."
Of course, in the unlikely event of death, it wouldn't be Toji who would die.
Ugh, Toji vomited a storage curse from his stomach. Seeing a curse that Toji had consumed and compacted into a small, round shape springing out of his mouth, Gojo grimaced.
"Ugh, disgusting."
Geto, surprised yet puzzled at the sight of the storage curse swelling around Toji's shoulder, said,
"But you're not even a sorcerer, so why do you have a curse...?"
"It's my arsenal. I usually swallow it and keep it in my stomach."
There were various reasons, but now wasn't the time to discuss them.
Toji's expression turned impassive. Gojo and Geto instinctively tensed up, sensing something different.
This was interesting.
'These guys definitely have potential.'
They immediately knew when someone intended to kill them.
Well, it would be problematic if they didn't have any potential despite being so blessed.
"You guys might not have such intentions, but there's absolutely no need to hold back against me."
Because I won't be holding back either. Toji added with a smirk.
"Come at me together or one by one, as you like."
Though it might be more effective to come at him one by one, they could decide for themselves. Enemies in real combat wouldn't give them such advice.
"Come at me with all you've got."
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