Seeing Zoro moving with Ieiri Shoko on the screen, a teacher from Kyoto School asked Toji,
"Is it really okay for him to participate in the exchange meeting?"
To anyone looking, Zoro on the screen still appeared as a small child. He was bigger for his age (unbeknownst to him before talking to Toji, he would have never guessed that Zoro was only six years old), but he did not seem on par with the high school students.
Seeing the teacher's worried face, Toji snorted dismissively.
"Worry about your own students."
My kid is the strongest.
Toji kept that thought to himself, swallowing the words. They would find out soon enough anyway.
...
Zoro and Shoko strolled down the path of Kyoto Jujutsu High, both as relaxed as if they were merely on a walk.
Lighting a cigarette in his mouth, Shoko murmured,
"Even though it's the same type of sorcery school, the vibe here is different from ours."
The arrangement and style of the buildings were quite different from Tokyo Jujutsu High. Looking around, Zoro commented,
"It looks old."
Shoko chuckled in agreement. She had thought the same.
"Yeah, it does seem old."
The buildings weren't worn out, so it wasn't their age—it was probably the architectural style. Or maybe they were designed to feel ancient.
"I prefer our school."
Hearing Zoro's comment, Shoko visualized Tokyo Jujutsu High, where she had been just hours earlier. It was still vivid in her memory.
However, instead of buildings, faces of people came to mind—her two classmates who couldn't stay apart even while fighting, Yaga-sensei who ran out of stomach medicine, Toji-sensei entering the medical room carrying his dirty-looking younger students, and Zoro heading into the woods searching for Gojo.
She blinked several times. The warm air, moving from spring towards summer, felt exhilarating.
...Had she been dyed by it, unknowingly?
"Me too."
Zoro was about to respond when he suddenly sensed something and quickly turned his head. Behind some bushes, he detected the presence of a curse. It hadn't noticed them yet and wasn't approaching.
'One, two, three.'
Only one was blatantly visible, but there were three in total.
Shoko exhaled a puff of smoke and crushed her cigarette under her foot.
"I'll take one."
"Okay."
Zoro watched Shoko approach one of the curses briefly, then nonchalantly turned his attention to the other two.
She had the power, after all.
[Class 2-5, Nakamura, Naaakamura...]
Muttering like a purple wolf-like curse, it turned its head. As its eyes met Shoko's, its snout opened, and its teeth, bent like wire, protruded like hooks.
[Come out!]
As the wolf curse charged, Shoko extended her hand. Power gathered in her hand and quickly transformed.
Reverse Cursed Technique.
The curse, infused with the reverse cursed technique, vanished without a sound.
Swoosh.
Having cleanly sliced down two curses, leaving only drifting ash behind, Zoro looked with interest at Shoko's vanished curse.
"More damage than I expected."
"The reverse cursed technique is positive energy."
Since a curse is composed of negative energy-based power, meeting with positive energy from the reverse cursed technique is fatal.
Very few sorcerers know how to perform the reverse cursed technique, and among them, only Shoko can apply it to others. Since multiplying power(-) by power(-) results in the reverse cursed technique(+), and no one but Shoko, who has a distinct talent for it, could use this method to exorcise curses.
"Positive, huh? Interesting."
"The interesting part is yours."
The ability to handle energy other than power that can kill curses. Zoro was a person who sparked Shoko's curiosity.
"Can I experiment later? I'm curious about the nature of your 'fighting spirit.'"
"Be my guest."
But experimenting would be difficult without knowing what 'fighting spirit' actually is. Sensing what Zoro might be thinking, Shoko took a step back.
"Just so you know, I don't plan on training with you or Teacher Toji."
"Why?"
"I'm busy."
"Can't argue with that."
Given that Shoko's reverse technique was needed almost daily by someone at the school. Even Zoro had sought her out several times.
"If it's come to me actually having to fight, then the sorcery world must be in ruins."
In a sorcery world where female sorcerers are generally underestimated, the value of Ieiri Shoko was too high to handle casually. Being a reverse sorcerer born once in hundreds of years, if she were to die on a mission, it would be a loss to the entire sorcery world. Hence, she rarely took on external missions.
If she had to go out on a mission, it meant that there were no other sorcerers left besides Shoko. In other words, a disaster.
There's no need to recommend it to someone who dislikes it. As Shoko herself said, she primarily resides within the barriers of the school, and against curses, Shoko is not powerless.
'The problem is when the enemy is a powerful human…'
Then one of Zoro, Geto, Gojo, or Toji would have to step in. They could all jump in together if needed.
Zoro, sensing some commotion, caught a disturbance from afar. Feeling the use of power and techniques, he muttered.
"It's started."
"Who?"
"The juniors."
If Gojo or Geto were involved, the power felt in the battle wouldn't be this faint. Aha. Shoko briefly responded.
"How many from the Kyoto side?"
"Two."
"Dangerous?"
"Not particularly."
Nanami and Haibara might be pushed back, but the difference wasn't so great that it was insurmountable. They could hold their own, and through this fight, they could grow enough to potentially turn the tide.
Of course, that's from Zoro's perspective, who had turned the tables in critical moments of past battles with a single strike. Realistically, it would be very difficult for Nanami and Haibara to actually win.
Shoko flicked the ash off her hand and said.
"Let's go, if we're late, those trash will get there first."
Zoro, feeling the approach of two presences, said.
"That might not work."
"Hmm?"
"Looks like we have guests coming this way too."
Click.
With a sound like blocks fitting together, a giant, colorful sphere rolled directly towards Shoko.
Zoro quickly intercepted, placing himself between Shoko and the sphere.
"One Sword Style, Quick Draw."
Lion's Song.
Swoosh!
The swiftly drawn blade bisected the sphere, which split into small, square pieces scattering across the ground. Clang, the sword sheathed back.
Shoko picked up one of the pieces from the ground. It was divided into red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and white squares, much like...
"A cube."
Click.
As soon as she spoke, a sorcerer holding a 3x3x3 Rubik's cube appeared from the woods. With long black hair covering half of his face, he frowned upon seeing the unharmed Zoro and Shoko.
"...This wasn't what I expected."
"Yeah, sorry about that, Iro."
From behind the cube-wielding man, another sorcerer appeared. With long gray hair and a slender figure, he covered his twisted smile with a fan.
"She might not even know how to fight, being a reverse sorceress."
Seeing the sphere created by Iro destroyed, it seemed that wasn't the case. He hadn't imagined that it was Zoro, not Shoko, who would destroy the sphere.
"I thought at least one of them would be incapacitated."
He had underestimated them. He clicked his tongue.
"Iro's techniques usually take some time to reuse after one use."
Glancing at his junior Iro, who was busy aligning his cube, he looked back at Shoko. They needed to buy time until they could reuse their trump cards.
"What's your name?"
"Ieiri Shoko. And you?"
"Kamomi Hitoshi. My father, Kamomi Masato, is the proud founder of the Kamomi family, a branch of the Kamo family."
More information than she asked for. Shoko's face slightly scrunched up. Being from the Gojo family, such details were of little significance to her. After all, her teacher, classmates, and the kid who would eventually be her junior were all from the Gojo family.
"This is Zenin Zoro. My classmate and somehow also my junior."
The root cause of Tokyo Jujutsu High's complicated family tree. Shoko muttered. Yet, she had already come to terms with having two trash classmates, so having a much younger classmate wasn't much of an issue.
"Zenin? Why is a Zenin at Tokyo Jujutsu High?"
"Those damn Zenin. Everyone says that at least once."
What was it about that family? Zoro grumbled slightly annoyed.
"The Zenins are one of the three great sorcerer families known to everyone in the sorcery world. Get used to it."
"Like I care. I carry my father's surname, that's all."
To Zoro, the position of the Zenins in the sorcery world was irrelevant.
Click, click. The sound of Iro solving his cube continued. Shoko sighed deeply and intervened.
"I'm tired from working overtime yesterday. It's not like we're deciding the match by how many opponents we knock out, but by who captures more curses. Can't we not fight?"
Though they were the ones attacked first, Shoko wasn't interested in fighting unnecessarily. She wasn't a brawler like her classmates. But Hitoshi scowled.
"Then it would be an easy win for you."
Because they had Gojo Satoru. Coming from a branch family of the Kamo family, he knew the power of the Six Eyes. The mysterious eyes that were said to see everything couldn't miss the curses scattered around the high school.
So, the only way for the Kyoto side to win was to tie down Gojo Satoru while suppressing the rest of the Tokyo Jujutsu High staff as much as possible.
Shoko blinked.
"Ah, right. You want to win."
That's unfortunate. You're going to lose anyway.
"If you really want to get beaten that badly."
Shoko stepped back, which might have looked like she was preparing for a fight. The Kyoto side raised their fists as well.
Click click click click!
The man known as Iro rapidly twisted his cube. With his unkempt bangs hanging down, he addressed Zoro.
"Kid, why don't you step out?"
"Nope."
"…Well, that's a privilege of youth, I guess."
Click, click.
The cube was almost solved. Zoro licked his lips slowly, pleased to meet a challenging opponent after not having been on a mission for a while.
"Shoko, you want to fight too?"
"Not really. I'm tired from working overtime last night."
Zoro grinned wickedly and drew two swords.
"Then it's all mine."
"Fight two against one?"
"It's not just two."
—It's three.
Click.
As Iro aligned one side of his cube to red, a massive cube dropped from the sky, seemingly about to crush Zoro.
Boom!
The ground caved in and dirt flew everywhere. Zoro swung his sword to scatter the dust cloud blocking his view.
Of course, that wasn't the end.
Swoosh!
Someone quickly burst through the forest and lunged at Shoko from mid-air. Zoro swiftly stepped into the spot where she had been standing, and she quickly retreated.
Clang!
A giant black insect's head collided with Zoro's sword as if it was being impaled. The head, about the size of a human's, seemed to envelop the sorcerer's fist like a gauntlet.
Zoro frowned at the insect's appearance. This was, well...
'An ant?'
No sooner had he thought it, two other people from Kyoto Jujutsu High charged at Zoro.
Clang!
While one sword blocked the insect's head, the other fiercely swept towards the two attackers.
Swoosh!
"Ugh?!"
"Ah!"
Both, one hit in the stomach and the other in the shoulder, were knocked back by the strike. The two sprawled figures tried to get up but tripped over each other's feet. Zoro glanced briefly away from his opponent to observe them.
'Those two, they haven't quite got the hang of fighting together.'
Their paths crossed, interfering with each other's actions. Even Nanami and Haibara, who had only been in school for a few months, didn't mess up like that. It was a total disaster.
Zoro clicked his tongue and turned his gaze back to his opponent. The man with very short hair and a large build clenched his teeth and tried to press down on Zoro using the ant's head.
Creak, creak.
The sound of metal scraping against metal echoed, but Zoro's arms did not give an inch. Instead, it was the sorcerer wielding the ant knuckle who was slowly being pushed back.
"What kind of strength is this?!"
He hadn't enhanced his body with energy, so how could he possess such physical power? The sorcerer was taken aback, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Zoro smiled lazily and suddenly, using his strength, pushed off the giant ant's mandibles that were clamped around his fists, as if they were knuckles.
Crash!
As the sorcerer's stance faltered, Zoro gripped his sword as if to finish him off.
Scrambling up, Kamomi Hitoshi, who had been observing, quickly waved his fan. With the movement of the fan, three blue energy arrows formed in the air.
Whizz, whizz, whizz!
The three arrows shot towards Zoro, aimed precisely at his head, chest, and stomach.
Caught mid-air and hard to dodge, Zoro reinforced the targeted areas with armored energy. The energy-formed arrows, when hitting the armored parts, shattered instead of piercing through. Astonished that not a drop of blood was drawn despite a direct hit, Hitoshi gasped.
"What the—"
There was no time to be shocked. By then, Zoro had already closed the distance to the sorcerer with the ant knuckles. Click. Zoro switched the blade and blunt side of his swords and declared.
"Nitoryu Ni-zan (Two Sword Style, Second Slash), To-ru (Ascending)!"
"Argh!"
The sorcerer, sliced upward across the body, thudded to the ground. Iro jumped up frantically and manipulated his cube.
Click, click, click!
As one face of the cube filled with green, a giant cube embedded in the ground shattered into pieces as small as rock candies. Once he adjusted the cube to yellow, like a barrage, it swiftly shot towards Zoro.
Zoro switched his swords to a reverse grip and spun around, releasing a sweeping slash.
"Nitoryu, Cyclone!"
Slice, slice, crinkle!
The spinning slash dispersed all the incoming cubes, which then fell like rain from the sky.
Clatter.
"..."
Hitoshi blankly stared at the halved plastic cubes, whose smooth surfaces now reflected his and Iro's faces. Although they weren't exactly on the best of terms as senior and junior, the emotions crossing their faces at that moment were identical: shock, disbelief, and fear.
Stammering, Hitoshi managed to speak.
"Just what kind of person are you?"
"Zenin Zoro."
A man destined to be the strongest.
At Zoro's bold declaration, the two were left speechless until rustling sounds came from behind him.
"It's not over yet."
Zoro turned around. The sorcerer with the ant knuckles was shakily getting back to his feet.
Zoro's eyes sparkled. It was just a student exchange event, so he had used the back of his sword, but it was still unexpected that someone would get up after being struck like that.
"What's your name?"
"Tsuda Ryota."
Ryota dusted off his clothes and stood up. He then looked at Zoro seriously and began to speak.
"I'm going to stop you because..."
"...?"
"...our homeroom teacher said he'd give us a limited edition Pokémon card for every Tokyo student we defeat."
"Is that the reason?!"
Regardless of Iro and Hitoshi's shouting, Ryota pulled out a handful of shuriken from his coat and threw them on the ground.
Whack! Whack whack!
Six shuriken embedded themselves in a circle around Ryota. Each shuriken was tied with a talisman. The yellow talismans with red writing looked ordinary at first, but Zoro noticed something different.
"The smell of blood."
These were talismans written with human blood.
Energy blazed up from the talismans. Ryota formed hand signs and solemnly recited a chant.
"Even the ant's determination reaches the heavens."
Feeling something was off, Zoro stepped forward.
"Hey, wait. Stop."
"This is the essence of my sorcery, which magnifies and enhances an ant's body. What I'm summoning now is the bullet ant curse, 'Bernard'. The pain from its poison feels like driving hot nails into the flesh. And its durability is incomparable to regular ants, strong as steel."
"Step aside. Damn, can't you hear? Stop!"
"It's too late. By the way, my babbling also strengthens my sorcery by informing the opponent about it—"
"Stop it! Satoru!"
...Satoru? As every student from Kyoto Academy raised a question mark above their heads, Shoko, seasoned in such situations, absent-mindedly pulled Iro and Hitoshi aside and dodged swiftly.
"Reversal Red, Strike!"
With a grunting chant, red energy burst forth towards them. The Reversal Red instantly obliterated Ryota's freshly summoned giant bullet ant curse, not leaving a single antenna intact.
"..."
Among fluttering pieces of talismans, Ryota stood dazed as Satoru Gojo walked out of the forest with Geto, looking extremely relieved as if he had just gotten rid of a bothersome candy stuck in his teeth.
"Ah, that feels better. I told you, the annoying kind of sorcery that clings and doesn't let go just needs to be smashed."
"..."
"...uh, did I interrupt something? I thought I directed it to an empty area."
"Trash."
Shoko spoke coldly, and Zoro solemnly patted Ryota's back as he sat down defeated.
Geto sighed and stepped forward, tenderly handing a handkerchief to Ryota, who was sobbing over the loss of 'Bernard', muttering, "Bernard, Bernard..."
"I don't know what it is, but it's your fault, Satoru."
"Why exactly?!"
︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵
If you want to read 20 chapters ahead or support me, visit my pátreon.com/fumiaki