The weather was perfect—a crisp, clear autumn day in late September.
Today was the day of the Jujutsu High East-West Rivalry Contest, an event established following a proposal from the Kyoto school members. The Kyoto team stood before their school gates, awaiting the arrival of the Tokyo team.
"There are only two minutes left until the scheduled meeting time... they haven't stood us up, have they?"
The one voicing her unease was Azuki Sakata, a Grade 1 sorcerer and the Kyoto school's strongest third-year student. For some reason, she had put far more effort into her makeup than usual. She was the one who had originally suggested this shikigami showdown.
The catalyst for this event was a mission to exorcise a Grade 1 cursed spirit back in June, which she had undertaken with her junior, a second-year Grade 2 sorcerer named Mayo Watanabe.
Hearing that the target was a weasel curse, they had prepared various countermeasures. However, once the battle began, it turned out to be a trinity known as the Kamaitachi—three Grade 1 weasel-type curses with identical appearances and abilities working in concert to slaughter humans.
The curses possessed a technique that manipulated invisible, razor-like blades. They specialized in slowly shaving away flesh as if peeling skin, savoring the terror of their prey. Azuki and Mayo had managed to exorcise one of them, but they were forced into a retreat by the relentless onslaught of the remaining two.
They spent three desperate days fleeing through an isolated space created by the curses. They were slowly toyed with, their flesh carved away bit by bit, until they were finally cornered with no hope left. Just then, Naoya Zen'in arrived. With a flash of black lightning, he punched through the curses' innate domain. Moving at the speed of light, he beat the two Grade 1 curses to death and annihilated every low-level curse swarming the area, barely managing to rescue the two girls.
Azuki and Mayo, who had narrowly escaped death, were rushed immediately to Shoko Ieiri for treatment. Thanks to her Reverse Cursed Technique, they were able to return to duty with all their limbs intact.
Afterward, the two of them argued a point of undeniable logic: 'They added that guy as a first-year on top of having Gojo and Geto? There's no way we can beat Tokyo!' This sentiment led to the organization of today's event.
Naturally, there was significant opposition at first. However, as Naoya continued to rack up an unbelievable record of achievements and repeated rescues, the school eventually accepted Azuki Sakata's argument—that even against a single first-year like Naoya Zen'in, they would be decimated in under a second. That realization brought them to this day.
Having reached this point, the Kyoto team's enthusiasm for the shikigami contest was intense. Since they were the ones who had demanded a handicap, they knew there would be no excuses if they lost.
The team consisted of only five members: the third-year Azuki Sakata, the second-year Mayo Watanabe, and three first-years named Kazuya, Shion, and Fujiwara. Despite their small numbers, their morale was high. Under the guise of wanting to surprise everyone for the 'Jujutsu High Award,' they had developed a shikigami in total secret from the principal, and they were extremely confident in its quality.
For them, a few agonizing tens of seconds passed. One minute remained until the scheduled time.
'Are they actually late? Or did they really flake on us!?'
Just as the five Kyoto students began to seriously worry, space itself began to crack and splinter. From within fragments of light that fell like shimmering shards of glass, a group of exceptionally tall individuals appeared.
"Yeah! That looked pretty cool, didn't it? Am I a genius? Yeah, I'm a genius."
The man spoke in a flippant tone, yet his words were backed by innate brilliance. He was a modern anomaly and the strongest sorcerer of the contemporary era. This was the Special Grade sorcerer, Satoru Gojo—the man who had just teleported his team from Tokyo to Kyoto in an instant.
"Didn't that comment just ruin the cool entrance, Satoru?"
The one rebuking Gojo was the other 'strongest'—a man with a distinctive bun and a single strand of hair hanging over his forehead. Having recently found a woman who was exactly his type and being surrounded by friends, the master of cursed spirits was actually enjoying life. This was the Special Grade sorcerer, Suguru Geto.
"You losers should start by saying hello. ...Hey. We're the Tokyo school. Looking forward to today. Oh, hey, Sakata-senpai, Mayo-chan."
Despite her seemingly sensible opening, the image was entirely ruined by the fact that she was a Grade 4 sorcerer and Reverse Cursed Technique user who was currently biting a cigar, holding a half-finished bottle of dark rum, and carrying a rifle. This was Shoko Ieiri.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. We look forward to working with you today."
The one giving a polite bow was the conscience of the Tokyo school, a serious and hardworking man. Yet, in battle, he was an intellectual gorilla who forced his opponents into a rigged game of invincibility and critical hits. This was the Grade 2 sorcerer, Kento Nanami.
"Kyoto school everyone! It's a pleasure to be here!"
He was loud! He needed no explanation! An explosion of energy and a master of barrier techniques who, in close combat, shifted to a barrage of lethal strikes and physical destruction. He used the most ruthless of fighting styles. This was the Grade 3 sorcerer, Yu Haibara!
"...That's strange. I can't hear anything. What happened? Ah, I see. Did my eardrums just burst? ...They're healed now. Haibara-kun, you're getting a beating later. ———Hello. It's been a while for some of you. I'm Naoya Zen'in. Let's have a good one."
Finally, speaking with a unique rhythm, was the fastest sorcerer of the modern era—perhaps of all history—a man-made anomaly. He was also the man who had been forced by Satoru Gojo to create ten 'frozen plates of light' just to achieve that teleportation effect earlier. This was the Special Grade sorcerer, Naoya Zen'in.
These six members of the Tokyo team now stood before the Kyoto school.
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