Tokyo Jujutsu High.
An institution proposed by Master Tengen and funded by the Three Great Families to nurture the next generation of sorcerers.
Of course, adhering to the principle of equal opportunity (on paper, at least), Tokyo Jujutsu High accepted not only members of the Three Families but also talented sorcerers from civilian backgrounds.
At this moment, Masamichi Yaga stood in the school courtyard, holding the files of the new first-year students. His brow was furrowed so deeply it looked like a canyon.
Six Eyes Twins.
Natural Reverse Cursed Technique user.
Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
What the hell is this lineup?
Can he even handle this class?
There was no doubt that this year's batch was the most talented group Yaga had ever seen in his teaching career. But honestly, they were a bit too talented. Yaga felt a migraine coming on before the semester had even started.
Just then, a breeze swept through the courtyard.
Two figures appeared abruptly in front of Yaga.
White hair and eyelashes, pristine as snow. Sky-blue eyes that seemed to hold the endless depth of the cosmos.
With features like that, there was no mistaking their identity.
Satoru Gojo grinned and raised a hand in greeting. "Yo, old man! You're our teacher, right?"
Yaga kept a stern face and nodded. "That's right. I am Masamichi Yaga."
Souma and Satoru introduced themselves briefly.
Before they could finish, a black sedan pulled up to the shrine entrance.
The door opened, and a girl with short brown hair stepped out. She had a cigarette dangling from her mouth and a look of utter boredom on her face. Despite her drooping expression, her features were delicate and cute, especially the beauty mark under her eye.
"Souma! Satoru!"
Shoko Ieiri raised a hand to greet her old friends.
Since meeting at the banquet eight years ago, the three of them had kept in touch and were quite close.
Souma looked at Shoko and teased, "Oi, oi. You're barely fourteen and you're already smoking like a delinquent?"
"Tch."
Shoko rolled her eyes. Then, she pulled a metal hip flask from her jacket pocket.
Gulp. Gulp.
Yaga's eyelid twitched violently.
This girl looks like a pure, innocent student on the outside, but she's already hitting the tobacco and booze?
Shoko wiped a drop of alcohol from her lip, then noticed the stern, sunglasses-wearing man standing behind the twins.
"Hello, old man. I'm Shoko Ieiri."
"I am Masamichi Yaga. I will be your teacher."
Yaga nodded. So this was the "National Treasure" sorcerer who could output Reverse Cursed Energy.
Now, all that was left was...
SCREEE—
A sudden, piercing cry like a bird of prey cut through Yaga's thoughts.
Everyone looked up.
A massive bird-like cursed spirit, easily six or seven meters wide, was descending from the sky. It had webbed feet like a duck and a gigantic gullet pouch.
Souma recognized it immediately. It was Suguru Geto's flight transport, the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit: Pelican.
However, Satoru didn't know that.
Seeing a cursed spirit flying boldly over the school grounds, his instincts kicked in.
"A filthy curse dares to act wild here? Take this!"
Wrapping his fist in cursed energy, Satoru launched himself into the air, aiming a punch straight at the Pelican's head.
Only then did he realize there was someone standing on the bird's back.
Suguru Geto was confused.
He was just arriving at school to report in. Before he could even land, some maniac jumped into the sky to punch him.
Is this some kind of special welcoming ceremony?
"What the hell?! Are you serious?!"
Geto reacted instantly, leaping off the Pelican. He reinforced his own fist with cursed energy and swung to meet the attack.
BANG!!!
Since Satoru hadn't activated his Infinity, the impact of their fists created a shockwave that blasted them both apart.
They landed on opposite sides of the courtyard.
Geto looked at Satoru, his face dark. "Are you crazy?"
Satoru realized he'd made a mistake, but looking at Geto's face—and those weird bangs—he suddenly felt annoyed for no reason.
"Ha? Weird Bangs, don't think just because you blocked one punch you can get cocky!"
"releasing a curse on school grounds is a violation! Believe it or not, I'll beat you up!"
Geto gave a cold, twitching smile as menacing cursed spirits began to emerge from his shadow. "Try it then, you bleached idiot!"
Souma, who had been ignored, blinked. Then he grinned, pulled a megaphone out of nowhere, and started chanting.
"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Ignoring the instigator, Satoru and Geto were already locked in.
In that brief exchange just now, both of them had felt it. The other guy was strong. Maybe as strong as themselves.
It was a strange sensation. Like finding another apex predator in a world of sheep.
The atmosphere froze for a second.
Then, they moved.
"Phase."
"Twilight."
"Eyes of Wisdom."
Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!
A blue orb, looking suspiciously like a Rasengan, shot toward Geto, carrying terrifying gravitational force and tearing apart the ground as it flew.
"Sandworm: Earth Burial Swallow!"
The ground beneath the Blue orb suddenly cracked open. A massive worm curse surged up, opening a mouth like a black hole, and swallowed the attack whole.
Before Blue could tear it apart from the inside, the worm dragged itself back underground, muffling the explosion.
RUMBLE—
The ground collapsed into a crater.
"You diverted Blue like that?"
Satoru looked interested. That was the first time someone had neutralized his attack so effectively.
"Hey! Don't get distracted during a fight!"
Geto's voice suddenly appeared behind Satoru.
"Rainbow Dragon!"
A hard-shelled dragon curse roared and slammed into Satoru.
But the attack stopped half a meter away from his skin.
Infinity.
Geto's eyes widened. "As expected of the Gojo clan's inherited technique!"
Satoru grinned. "Your technique is pretty good too. And you're fast!"
Geto had used the dust from the collapse to flank him. That speed was impressive.
"It's pure taijutsu!"
Souma, acting as the color commentator on the sidelines, looked surprised.
Suguru Geto, a sorcerer from a non-sorcerer family, had better taijutsu than Satoru, who had received elite training since birth.
In terms of martial arts ranking, Geto was at least "Kaiden" level.
But thinking about it, it made sense. Cursed Spirit Manipulation had a ramp-up time. Before he collected strong curses, Geto would have had to rely on his fists to survive and capture them.
"ENOUGH! STOP IT!"
Yaga's roar echoed across the campus.
"LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO THE SCHOOL!"
The aftermath of their short duel was devastating. The pavement was cracked, there was a crater in the ground, and trees were knocked over. The courtyard looked like it had been plowed by a bomb.
Satoru and Geto stopped, looking around at the wreckage with sheepish smiles.
"Satoru Gojo! Suguru Geto!"
"Here!" x2
"Run five hundred laps around the track! No dinner until you finish! And remember—NO cursed energy allowed!"
Satoru and Geto exchanged looks of despair.
Souma and Shoko snickered on the sidelines.
"You two as well!"
"HUH???"
Souma and Shoko froze, faces blank with shock.
Shoko raised her hand in protest. "Teacher! I'm a non-combatant! I didn't do anything!"
"Then two hundred laps!"
"..."
In the end, four miserable figures began jogging around the track as the sun began to set.
The golden light of twilight bathed them, casting long shadows on the red track.
Years later, whenever they looked back on this moment, they would all sigh with the same sentiment—
That running under the sunset... was the beginning of our lost youth.