"Just a slightly oversized flaming dung beetle, running your mouth nonstop. What, are you proud you managed to pick up human speech? Huh?"
After being taunted again and again, Naoya Zenin finally snapped.
If you want to fight, then fight. Since when did a Cursed Spirit get to lecture humans on how to live?
Showing off your twisted values here?
"Ridiculous. You're the real joke."
Letting go completely, Naoya Zenin clutched his charred arm, his face twisted with ferocity as he stared at Jogo. At this point, there was nothing in his eyes but his opponent. No distractions. No fear.
The moment Jogo heard that, Ember Insects began popping out from the crater on his head one after another. Flames flickered wildly in his eye. He lifted a hand to the right side of his head and twisted something like a knob, whether it was an ear or a stopper was impossible to tell.
"Kid, you really do have a death wish.
As expected of a counterfeit raised in hypocrisy and deceit.
Weak. Ignorant. Fragile inside.
And when death's staring you in the face, you can't even keep your composure…"
The insults had barely ended when a pillar of fire slammed straight into Naoya Zenin's face.
He bent backward sharply, barely avoiding a direct hit to the head.
Even so, he was a split second too slow.
The lower half of his face was scorched black. His airway felt almost cooked through, then clogged by dried blood. Blinding pain mixed with suffocating pressure rushed straight to his brain.
Without thinking, Naoya Zenin pulled a thick needle from inside his clothing. Reinforcing it with Cursed Energy, he quickly located the spot beneath his jaw and drove it in without hesitation.
The choking sensation eased at once.
He forced his technique into motion again and narrowly dodged another incoming fireball.
Through countless missions, Naoya Zenin had learned all kinds of skills to deal with extreme situations.
This was a cricothyrotomy, an emergency battlefield procedure used to relieve airway obstruction.
But it only bought him time.
It did not change the outcome.
[The lives of ordinary people.
Whether the mission succeeds.
Whether the Cursed Spirit is exorcised.
None of it means anything to me.
…
I'm going to stand shoulder to shoulder with those beings!
How could I let a filthy mass like this humiliate me?
How could I fall here so easily?!
Jogo raised his hand, ready to finish off the Jujutsu Sorcerer in front of him with a pillar of fire.
But then he saw it.
Flesh began sprouting from Naoya Zenin's arm, slowly knitting it back together. The speed wasn't fast.
But…
He had clearly grasped the Reverse Cursed Technique.
In that instant, Naoya Zenin felt utterly invigorated.
Before, the world had been like a primly dressed maiden before him, wrapped in heavy layers without a single inch of skin exposed. Even when he tried to probe deeper, she seemed faintly resistant.
Now, the world stood before him lightly clad, revealing a hidden side he had never seen.
Once so resistant—now unexpectedly enticing.
Good. Very good. This feeling was incredible.
Naoya Zenin didn't indulge in it for long. Simply mastering the Reverse Cursed Technique wasn't enough to reverse the situation.
Projecting the Reverse Cursed Technique outward, something especially effective against Cursed Spirits, was a rare application that required exceptional talent or special methods. He had never given it any thought before.
Without hesitation, Naoya Zenin sliced off the completely charred portion of his arm. That would make it easier for the Reverse Cursed Technique to restore his body.
Anyone who had used the Reverse Cursed Technique knew that healing blade wounds wasn't difficult. The real challenge was restoring damage from corrosion and burns.
Most people would strip away the damaged tissue first before attempting recovery.
As he continued dodging, Naoya Zenin's condition steadily improved. His movements grew lighter, sharper.
"Secret Technique—Falling Blossom Emotion."
At first, Naoya Zenin had no intention of using Falling Blossom Emotion for defense.
The technique wasn't particularly suited for it. With his level of Cursed Energy control, using Falling Blossom Emotion to block dense attacks like flames or torrents of water was extremely difficult.
Under normal circumstances, among known Jujutsu Sorcerers, only Satoru Gojo—with the Six Eyes and atomic-level Cursed Energy control—could pull that off.
But Falling Blossom Emotion wasn't limited to defense. In the hands of someone highly proficient, that instantaneous reaction speed and explosive release of Cursed Energy could just as easily be turned into offense.
"Modified—Falling Snow, Single Stroke."
The blade's flash moved so fast it surpassed what the naked eye could track, making it seem erratic—at times slow, at times impossibly swift.
Only after Jogo was struck did the cutting force truly erupt. In the next moment, blood burst from multiple points across his body, even from his eyes.
"A batto technique specialized in Cursed Energy manipulation."
Kenjaku's eyes gleamed as she began explaining from the sidelines without thinking.
"In the early Heian period, sword-wielding Jujutsu Sorcerers honed their techniques for one purpose—to kill their opponents before they could make a move.
But if the strike lacks the power to finish the enemy, the one who swings first ends up at a disadvantage…"
Jogo rose to his feet, brushing off the shattered obsidian shell formed by his temporary technique.
As his body regenerated, he turned his head to look at Naoya Zenin behind him.
"Human. You didn't think I was taking you seriously just now, did you?"
The moment his words fell, magma began spreading outward from him across the ground. The air warped, the stench of sulfur burned their noses, and the entire building began to melt and sink.
Naoya Zenin darted about, but there were fewer and fewer places left to land.
At the same time, a massive hand of molten rock burst from the ground and reached straight for him.
"Well then… goodbye.
Jujutsu Sorcerer."