### Chapter 18: Conversing with Tengen Through Her Eyes
"What happened?"
Kuroi Misato was bewildered.
Those two Curse Users, who were originally spewing harsh words at Ryota and preparing to attack him, suddenly turned and attacked their own colleague after exchanging a single glance with Ryota.
Judging by the ruthlessness of their attacks, it seemed as if they weren't colleagues at all, but rather enemies who held a grudge for killing each other's fathers.
Neither of them made any defense; they just desperately poured their Cursed Techniques onto each other.
In just a few breaths, both Vayer and Kokun collapsed in a pool of blood created by their own gore, losing their lives.
"Mere gravel, not even worth half of me."
The faint voice pulled Kuroi Misato's wandering consciousness back.
She looked incredulously at Ryota, standing in front of Amanai Riko with a relaxed and casual posture, as if he had merely stepped on two ants.
The black-haired young man's words and attitude undoubtedly made it clear.
The reason those two powerful Curse Users suddenly slaughtered each other was entirely his doing!
"—?!"
Suddenly, Kuroi Misato noticed Ryota turning and walking towards Amanai Riko.
She hurriedly disregarded the pain in her body and stumbled towards them.
"P-Please don't hurt the Young Lady!"
Even after witnessing Ryota's strangely unpredictable and powerful strength, Kuroi Misato couldn't help but speak out to stop him.
"Hmm?"
Ryota glanced back at her. "In terms of courage, you deserve some praise."
Then he ignored her and stood in front of Amanai Riko.
Facing Ryota's crimson eyes that instilled fear and palpitations in others, Amanai Riko showed no sign of fear.
The girl's eyes sparkled, like a fangirl admiring a star.
"So handsome! So amazing!"
"You're not afraid of me?"
Looking at the girl sitting on the ground, Ryota raised an eyebrow.
"Why should I be afraid? You won't hurt me, right?"
"Oh?"
Hearing Amanai Riko's response, Ryota's expression showed a smile of interest.
Originally worried and anxious, afraid that Ryota, whose performance earlier seemed even less benevolent than the two Curse Users, would harm Young Lady Riko...
Kuroi Misato was also stunned by Amanai Riko's response.
"Intuition, is it..."
Ryota quickly bent down, his right hand lifting Amanai Riko's smooth chin.
His Sharingan met the girl's black eyes, the three tomoe spinning rapidly.
Amanai Riko's eyes subsequently became unfocused.
Ryota's consciousness followed Amanai Riko's emptying mind, passing through numerous unknown white lines, and finally arrived in a blank space.
In that space where time seemed not to flow and nothing existed.
Ryota's Sharingan spun as he turned to look behind him.
There was an elderly woman, her body slightly hunched, looking like withered wood.
However, the eyes of that elderly woman showed no signs of decay amidst the vicissitudes of time; her quiet and deep gaze seemed to have experienced thousands of years.
"—"
The elderly woman obviously hadn't expected someone to suddenly intrude here.
But soon, she realized it and spoke with an aged voice:
"No, you came through Amanai Riko's consciousness?"
"You seem to know me... So, you're the source of that feeling of being secretly watched recently."
Ryota's Sharingan stared at the elderly woman, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
"I was originally just looking for the anomaly in that girl, but I didn't expect such a harvest."
"Tengen is my name. I hold no malice..."
The elderly woman named Tengen wanted to express her lack of malice, but ripples began to appear in this consciousness space.
Ryota's figure gradually blurred until finally, it completely disappeared.
"Tengen, huh."
Having extended his consciousness through Amanai Riko to another consciousness space, Ryota returned to his body.
Only a few seconds had passed in real time.
Before using his Dōjutsu, Ryota had coated his surroundings with a layer of Chakra.
He didn't need to worry about being attacked from the outside during this period where unknown things might happen.
If touched by someone, Ryota would have recovered his mind immediately.
However, the current situation wasn't like that. It was because he was using his pupil power to probe the anomaly in Amanai Riko for the first time and accidentally entered that consciousness space.
The connection created was unstable, hence the interruption.
Ryota had no intention of using the girl to converse with the elderly woman calling herself Tengen again.
After all...
"We'll meet soon enough."
Thinking this, Ryota released Amanai Riko's chin.
Light returned to Amanai Riko's eyes.
It felt like having a dream she couldn't quite remember, giving Amanai Riko a somewhat dreamlike feeling.
But seeing Ryota's handsome face so close in her vision, and feeling the lingering warmth and touch on her chin, the girl couldn't think of anything else.
Her smooth cheeks instantly turned beet red, the blush spreading all the way to her earlobes.
"Wah!"
Amanai Riko hurriedly broke free from Ryota's hand, scooting back a few times to create distance.
She breathed heavily, her heart pounding as if it were about to jump out of her throat.
Ryota, on the other hand, acted as if nothing had happened, straightening up naturally.
Just as he felt no wavering or discomfort in his heart seeing blood shed by his hand for the first time.
Ryota's mind and psychological quality were vastly different from the ordinary person he was before transmigrating.
If he hadn't transmigrated, let alone actively reaching out to touch a girl's chin, even initiating a conversation would have been almost impossible.
But now, doing such a thing, Ryota felt none of the throbbing typical of a boy and girl in their youth.
Watching Amanai Riko's innocent reaction, he just found it amusing.
...
Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College, abbreviated as Jujutsu High.
It is one of only two jujutsu educational institutions in Japan.
Publicly, it is known as a private religious school.
But in reality, it is the core of the Jujutsu world.
Many Jujutsu Sorcerers continue to operate with it as their base even after graduation.
Jujutsu High is not only an educational institution but also responsible for mission mediation and support, making it a key location in the Jujutsu world.
Currently, the first-year teacher Yaga Masamichi was calling Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru, who had just gone out to execute the mission of escorting the Star Plasma Vessel.
"Gojo, your mission with Geto is over. The mission to escort the Star Plasma Vessel is now taken over by the second-years, Iori and Mei Mei."