Thinking of one of Panda's forms, Akira felt that Xiao Wan probably saw him as his own final evolution. A delinquent Panda. Akira was already looking forward to the scene of two Panda fighting side by side.
"Akira, this uniform?" Maki Zenin noticed that Akira had changed clothes. He was now wearing the same dark green jacket and pants as hers.
"Let me make a formal announcement." Satoru Gojo finally did something a teacher should do. "From today on, Akira is your classmate. Please get along well."
Unfortunately, the students were not impressed.
"That is rare. You actually showed up close to noon," Maki Zenin said.
"By usual practice, you should eat lunch first, then find a place for afternoon tea and desserts," Panda added. "Near the end of work, you would come by for a quick round, using an overseas business trip or getting lost in life as an excuse."
"Salmon," Toge Inumaki said, meaning yes.
"This time it is really not my fault." Satoru Gojo complained and casually sold Akira out. "He tore up half the floor in the principal's office. I have been fixing it the whole time."
"Well done," Maki Zenin said, giving Akira a thumbs-up.
"There is more good news." Satoru Gojo continued. "The school has hired two new teaching assistants. One is me, mainly responsible for combat training. The other is his mother, mainly responsible for theory."
"I get it." Maki Zenin waved her hand. "Hey, idiot teacher, you are useless now. Go wherever you like."
"They are only teaching assistants. I am the teacher. A great teacher."
"I do not have a habit of being late."
With just that one sentence, Satoru Gojo's resistance was completely crushed. His worst habit was being late, and everyone at the school had long been fed up with it.
"Cod roe!" Toge Inumaki shouted, meaning hooray.
"And also," Akira added, "my experience should suit them better. Gojo-sensei is actually not very good at teaching people."
"Huh? I thought I was doing pretty well. Are you denying my whole earlier life?"
Satoru Gojo's bad traits lay in doing things his own way and harmless pranks. In other aspects, his temper was actually fine, and he did not get angry at Akira's words.
"It is a simple reason." Akira raised one hand. "The highest level of close combat, Black Flash. What do you think of it? Be honest."
"Not much. I can use it whenever I want, though I do not really get many chances to use it."
"And the extremes of Jujutsu, Maximum techniques and Domain Expansion?"
"Not that hard either. It just takes some time to attach a technique to the domain."
"That is the answer." Akira sighed and pointed at the three classmates who were clearly affected. "Your starting point is higher than the finish line of most Jujutsu Sorcerer. The things we struggle to grasp are effortless for you."
Satoru Gojo asked sincerely, "Is it not effortless if you have hands?"
Akira fell silent. Even if I am also cheating, this guy is still hard to take.
He made up his mind. The next lesson topic would be how to beat up Satoru Gojo.
Because of the gap between geniuses and ordinary people, plus their unreliable teacher's personality, the students completely ignored Satoru Gojo's presence. No one even pretended to listen to him. The class naturally shifted to someone else taking charge.
Maki Zenin said, "Alright, let's start class, Akira."
Panda followed up, "Please take care of us, Akira."
"Kelp." Toge spoke, meaning hello.
"Then we'll get straight to it. The first lesson is tactical thinking, how weak people fight."
Akira did not refuse and entered teaching mode at once. Being hired as a teaching assistant had not been part of his plan, but he was certainly not a bad teacher. Training others was itself a form of learning, and the fact that he had not inherited Jujutsu in his past life had made him think about this problem many times.
What looked like a wild idea, using a Road Roller to block a Cursed Spirit, was actually the result of careful thought. It was the optimal solution to break a deadlock. That kind of thinking was exactly what he wanted to pass on.
"Weak people? Are you talking about me?" Maki Zenin asked.
The corner of her mouth lifted in a self mocking smile, as she was the most competitive among the students. She never liked being placed on the lower end of anything.
"No. You, me, Toge, Panda, and even my Little Sha. Everyone on this field except Teacher Gojo is a weak person. We all have clear flaws and shortcomings, so words alone will not convince you. We'll talk while we fight."
"I'll go first," Maki Zenin said.
She stepped forward without hesitation. A fierce wind rushed in as the long bladed weapon in her hands swept across, and from that single move it was clear she had trained in martial skills for at least ten years. Her foundation was extremely solid.
Akira was prepared and took a step back to evade. Maki Zenin pressed the advantage and closed in, fully using the heavy power of a long weapon. The sound of the blade cutting through the air grew louder with each swing.
Her physical ability was clearly above average, and combined with excellent technique, her attacks became faster and faster. In a short time, she forced Akira into a position with nowhere left to dodge.
"I've got you!" she shouted.
The blade came down hard, but with a sharp crack it snapped in the middle where she was gripping it. Just before the strike landed, Akira shifted aside and punched the wooden shaft with his fist.
The sudden change in balance threw her body off, and she nearly fell. She managed to adjust and flipped backward to create distance, but she was still slower than Akira at full readiness. He drove an elbow into her abdomen and sent her flying.
Akira did not hold back just because Maki Zenin was female. He closed in, clearly intending to finish the exchange in one sequence. At the critical moment, a voice filled with force rang out.
"Don't move!"
Cursed Speech activated as Toge Inumaki pulled down the collar covering his mouth. The markings of rings and wave patterns were revealed, the curse seal of the Inumaki Clan, symbolizing snake eyes and fangs. Under the effect of the voice, Akira was forced into stiffness.
Using that opening, Panda rushed in with speed that did not match his bulky figure. He slapped Akira and knocked him back several steps. Because Akira had protected himself with Cursed Energy in time, he was not injured and simply rolled his shoulders to shake off the restraint of Cursed Speech.
"Good teamwork," Akira said. "You've already grasped one way that weak people fight. But your thinking is still not flexible enough. Panda, why did you attack from the front? A human's back is harder to guard than the front."
"Because I had to cover Maki Zenin. If I couldn't drive you back, I would take her and continue to widen the distance," Panda replied. He had clearly thought it through, fitting his role as the strategist.
"Good, but not enough. If I were commanding, I would have you ambush instead. You are a Cursed Corpse, not a normal living creature, and having no breathing is a huge advantage." He raised one finger, then a second. "The second way weak people fight is by using your own strengths. Pull the enemy into the field you are best at, then defeat them with your experience."
"Then what about Maki Zenin?"