Chapter 57: The Hidden Inventory Arc Begins
Tokyo, a construction site.
"Too slow, too slow!"
"Haibara, is your speed that of a snail?"
"Weak! Weak! (Too weak, too weak!), Nanami, speed, speed."
"Precision, do you even understand? Can you use the advantage of your Cursed Technique or not?"
Inside a building still under construction, Nanami Kento and Haibara were locked in fierce combat with a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit resembling a cheetah.
Alex Moyan stood to the side, directing them on the shortcomings in their fighting.
"Haibara, use your fire Cursed Technique to seal off that Cursed Spirit's path!"
"Geez, how can you two be so dumb? Nanami, find the right moment. Your coordination is terrible."
"Yes, right now! Haibara, use fire to disrupt that Cursed Spirit's movement trajectory."
"Nanami, keep up with Haibara's pace."
Ssssh—
Nanami Kento seized the opportune moment, utilizing his Cursed Tool and Cursed Technique to find a momentary flaw and successfully slice off one of the spirit's tails, inflicting damage.
A thick, purplish-black tail was precisely severed by Nanami Kento when he found the timing.
The Cursed Spirit let out a miserable cry, a mournful wail.
Black blood scattered and flowed onto the ground.
Looking at the injured Cursed Spirit, Haibara and Nanami Kento couldn't help but feel pleased.
Just as the two were pressing their advantage, aiming to finish off this Grade 2 Cursed Spirit.
Alex Moyan noticed his phone ringing.
Alex Moyan answered the call, "Huh? Utahime and Mei Mei have been missing for two days?"
Hearing this news, Alex Moyan was first confused, then realized with a jolt, his heart sinking.
Utahime and Mei Mei missing—wasn't this the start of the Hidden Inventory Arc?
"Alright, I'll be there immediately."
Alex Moyan hung up the phone and glanced at the two who were fighting more fiercely as the battle progressed.
In reality, the outcome had been decided the moment Nanami Kento severed the Cursed Spirit's tail.
A cheetah Cursed Spirit that lost its tail was equivalent to losing its balance system.
Its speed had significantly dropped, no longer as troublesome as before.
Alex Moyan said his goodbyes and left the scene.
Before leaving, he didn't forget to place a Curtain for the two of them.
He didn't want to be scolded later.
Arriving at the agreed location, Geto Suguru, Satoru, and Shoko Ieiri were already waiting in the car.
The four of them set off.
They soon arrived in front of a residential building.
"How should we do this?"
Alex Moyan looked at the three beside him.
Shoko Ieiri was specifically there to act as a medic.
As for Satoru, he was simply tagging along because he had no mission. He was notoriously inseparable from Geto Suguru, sticking to him even if it meant death.
Alex Moyan was also just tagging along, purely to observe.
Originally, Yaga Masamichi had only assigned Geto Suguru and Shoko Ieiri to this mission.
Unexpectedly, two uninvited guests showed up.
"We'll just do it like this."
Satoru's lips curled into a wicked smile, and he mobilized his Cursed Energy.
A ball of light emitting a blue radiance appeared in Satoru's hand.
Whoosh.
The ball of light shot straight toward the three-story building.
Rumble~~
A massive sound erupted. At that moment, Utahime, who was on a mission inside the residence, suddenly felt a sense of weightlessness.
It felt as if the house was being sucked up into the sky by something.
Soon after, the powerful gravitational pull of the Blue technique destroyed the house.
Utahime finally escaped the Cursed Spirit's Innate Domain due to the destruction of the building.
However, she was pinned down by rubble and broken walls, leaving her in a sorry state.
"Yo, you okay, Utahime?"
Satoru greeted her with a beaming smile.
Seeing Satoru's face instantly made Utahime furious.
"Bastard, this was your doing, wasn't it?"
Utahime angrily puffed out her cheeks and furiously pounded the ground with her small fists.
The person she wished she could punch right now was Satoru.
Unfortunately, this was something Utahime would never achieve in her life.
She would never break through Satoru's Limitless.
"Are you alright, Utahime-senpai? Do you need healing?"
Alex Moyan asked with concern. He quickly arrived in front of Utahime and pulled her out from the pile of debris.
Although Utahime wasn't seriously injured, as a friend, Alex Moyan thoughtfully treated the minor cuts Utahime sustained from the broken stones.
"Thanks, Alex. Promise me you won't turn into one of those two beasts later."
After thanking him, Utahime continued to stare angrily at Satoru.
"The path Utahime walks will collapse."
"Shut up."
"Baka yarou!"
Utahime cursed Satoru furiously.
The very next second, a huge, ugly Cursed Spirit burst out of the ground behind Utahime.
It let out a strange cry, very much like the painful mumbling of the elderly.
Before Utahime could even scream, Geto Suguru had already summoned an even larger Cursed Spirit to swallow that one.
"Stop eating, I was planning to swallow that one later."
Geto Suguru reminded his Cursed Spirit.
Alex Moyan watched Geto Suguru approach and asked, "Geto, doesn't it bother you to eat these things every day?"
Geto Suguru shrugged helplessly, "There's no other way, is there? How can one gain strength without paying a price?"
"I'm doing alright, aren't I?"
Alex Moyan expressed his approval. Indeed, compared to most Jujutsu Sorcererss, the price Geto Suguru paid to gain strength was quite small.
Of course, the method Alex Moyan used to gain power was even smaller, and incredibly heaven-defying.
Since that incident, Alex Moyan could sense the changes in Geto Suguru.
His original intention and belief in devouring Cursed Spirits was to protect ordinary people.
Now, it was more about becoming stronger.
To protect the people he wanted to protect.
That made sense. Some beasts weren't worth protecting at all. Alex Moyan didn't want Geto Suguru to be mentally broken and turn dark later because of those people.
Otherwise, why did he become so strong? Firstly, it was to enjoy the feeling of dominating everything.
Secondly, it was to make up for the regrets of his previous life.
What was so great about protecting certain ordinary people? Their hearts were dirtier than Cursed Spirits, and their actions more nauseating than Transfigured Humans.
They took pleasure in harming others out of sheer malice.
Alex Moyan had no good feelings toward such people—those who harmed others purely to cause harm.
School bullying, workplace oppression, the strong preying on the weak, deriving twisted pleasure from it.
If it weren't for such people, would Jujutsu Sorcerers have to run around office buildings and schools every day to exterminate Cursed Spirits?
Hospitals were different; that was truly unavoidable, as people generate massive amounts of negative emotions when facing death and illness.
Of course, how could this world be without such people?
Everyone says they hate Transfigured Humans, but Transfigured Humans are monsters born from humanity's dark side!
The disgusting things he did were what some parts of human darkness wanted to do, weren't they?
The dark side of this world, the true evil of humanity—in front of them, Transfigured Humans were just novices who had something to learn.
Jujutsu High, inside the teachers' room.
Yaga Masamichi was severely lecturing the four of them.
"Speak! Why didn't you deploy a Curtain?"
Yaga Masamichi looked down from above, the oppressive aura unique to a teacher washing over them.
The group exchanged glances, finally fixing their gazes on Satoru.
Then, they all pointed at Satoru simultaneously.
Satoru saw this and thought, Damn, you guys are really my good brothers, selling me out so fast!
Satoru tried to struggle a bit, raising his hand.
"Sensei, I think Curtains are such a hassle!"
The only response he received was Yaga Masamichi's merciless iron fist.
Alex Moyan didn't know why Satoru's Limitless hadn't blocked Yaga Masamichi's punch.
Oh, right. Satoru's Limitless at this time hadn't been upgraded to automatic; it required active activation.