"...chamaru, do you have a grudge against Naoya Zenin?"
Momo Nishimiya frowned.
From what she knew of chamaru, he rarely showed such obvious hostility, at least not toward the teachers and students at Jujutsu High.
Simply put, chamaru was the kind of person who cared deeply about his comrades.
And Naoya Zenin was a teacher at the school. Even if they had not known each other for long, with chamaru's personality, he should have held a great deal of respect for him.
Unless...
He knew about the darkness of the Zenin Clan too.
"Yeah. The things Naoya Zenin has done behind the scenes are far worse than either of us can imagine. If this keeps going unchecked, I think sothing is bound to happen to everyone at the school sooner or later."
chamaru did not hide anything and spoke to Momo Nishimiya with complete frankness.
"But most of the students have been fooled by Naoya Zenin's surface act. Looking at it now, Nishimiya-senpai really is the smartest. You saw through his two-faced nature from the very beginning."
"He's not soone you can deal with."
Momo Nishimiya's voice dropped.
"And driving Naoya Zenin out of the school is even more of a pipe dream. He's the next heir to the Zenin Clan, and his classes are widely praised and loved by the students. What reason do you have to bring him down?"
The little witch had already completely forgotten that when she and Mai first discussed it, their original goal had been to drive Naoya Zenin out of the school.
But now, things were different. She had grown.
If chamaru had co to her a few days ago asking to work together, she definitely would have agreed without hesitation.
But now it was different.
Momo Nishimiya had already found a partner a hundred tis, a thousand tis more reliable than chamaru.
Sponsor-sama was supporting her from the shadows.
Going to the principal's office to report Naoya Zenin, that was the kind of move only weaklings used.
A true expert would defeat that great demon king head-on.
As long as she studied hard and learned everything Naoya Zenin had to teach, she could launch a full-scale rebellion against her master as his top disciple, make him lose all face on the spot, and leave him unable to survive in the Jujutsu World ever again.
That was what real revenge looked like.
So now that chamaru had co to propose an alliance, Momo Nishimiya looked down on that kind of approach completely.
They were not even on the sa level anymore.
Without Sponsor-sama's support, chamaru would accomplish nothing.
"I know that very well. If we're talking about family background, I'm no match for Naoya Zenin at all."
chamaru began to explain.
"But Nishimiya-senpai is different. Your father has considerable influence in the Jujutsu World. Could you let et him? I have so extrely important information about Naoya Zenin that needs to be passed on to him."
"chamaru, what does this have to do with my father?"
Momo Nishimiya's mood instantly soured.
"If you hate Naoya Zenin so much, then beat him with your own strength. What kind of skill is there in running to an adult to tattle?"
"Nishimiya-senpai, you don't understand. Naoya Zenin ca to Jujutsu High with a purpose. He ca to gain everyone's trust so he could openly steal the special-grade cursed object in the taboo vault. His true identity is not the young master of the Zenin Clan, but a sorcerer who has already lived for over a thousand years!"
"chamaru, the more you talk, the more ridiculous this gets."
Momo Nishimiya's tone turned completely sharp.
"I know you Japanese can be petty, but everything needs evidence. Who told you all this? Bring them out here and have them testify to my face. Do not stand there spreading crazy nonsense behind people's backs."
"I know you're angry right now, Nishimiya-senpai, but I have my own intelligence network too. There are so things I can't produce evidence for yet, but you have to believe . It's not just Mai. Miwa is the one in the most danger! Naoya Zenin has been paying a lot of attention to Miwa lately. Haven't you noticed that?"
"All right, I get it now."
The little witch was utterly exasperated.
"So that's what this is. You think Naoya Zenin has been getting a little too close to Kasumi lately, and it bothers you, right? Seriously, chamaru, isn't this a bit unnecessary? There's a huge age gap between them. One's a teacher, the other's a student. You don't need to be this sensitive about it, do you?"
"Nishimiya-senpai, I'm not joking!"
"And do I look like I'm joking with you?!"
Momo Nishimiya snapped.
"At the end of the day, chamaru, what right do you even have to ddle in Kasumi's life? Who are you, her boyfriend? You've always hidden behind your puppet and never once dared show your real face to anyone! Compared to soone as sneaky as you, even Naoya Zenin looks more trustworthy!"
chamaru had never expected this.
He had already been this honest, so close to laying out the fact that he was the mole right then and there.
And yet even Momo Nishimiya, who had always been against Naoya Zenin, refused to believe a word he said.
He should have known it would turn out like this...
He should have known this was how it would end...
After all, from childhood to now, he had always fought alone. He had never truly had any comrades...
"...I'm not going to let Naoya Zenin get his way. I'll protect everyone myself."
chamaru already knew there was no point saying more, so he had no intention of wasting any more words on Momo Nishimiya.
"And who exactly said we needed you to protect us?"
Momo Nishimiya already had the temperant of a haughty princess, and chamaru's arrogant, self-important attitude pushed her over the edge completely.
Where did he get this elentary-school attitude from?!
Who was this guy trying to move with his little solo act?!
"Get back here!!!"
Momo Nishimiya snatched up her wand and, on the spot, gathered Cursed Energy and blasted it straight at chamaru's back.
In the past, a move like this from Momo Nishimiya would have stirred up nothing more than a strong gust at most, no more than the kind of force a senpai would use to teach a junior a lesson.
But after Naoya Zenin's special training, her whole way of thinking had changed. A circuit diagram flashed through her mind instinctively. Her Cursed Energy roared forth like electrical power, her [Innate Technique] activating in an instant, and a violent gale burst from the tip of her wand.
The [Kamaitachi] turned into bloodthirsty monsters one after another and slashed toward chamaru's body.
At such close range, if the [Wind Scythe] struck an ordinary student head-on, it would likely slice straight through the waist of a body with no defensive Cursed Technique in place.
"[Sword Option]. [Ultra Shield]!!!"
But chamaru was no ordinary student.
The puppet's right arm transford in an instant. A sharp bladed shield sprang out and blocked Momo Nishimiya's attack.
"...Can I take this as a one-sided declaration of war?"
Momo Nishimiya had looked flustered a mont ago, but the instant she saw chamaru unhard as he slowly turned back around, her face imdiately returned to its usual prideful arrogance.
"I'm just teaching you the manners a junior ought to have, chamaru. Don't get so full of yourself."
"Nishimiya-senpai, you can't beat ."
chamaru's voice was utterly cold.
"I may be a first-year Grade 1, but my actual strength is at the Semi-Grade 1 Sorcerer level."
"With that scrap-tal body of yours, you think you're worthy of being a Semi-Grade 1 Sorcerer?"
"You're welco to try."
There was no need for any more words.
Both of them had been bottling up their frustration for a while now. Since they finally had a chance to fight, neither of them had any intention of holding back.
The next mont, Momo Nishimiya flew up into the air on her broom and began bombarding chamaru on the ground from above.
chamaru did not sit there waiting to be hit either. His body began to transform violently, and in the blink of an eye countless black cannon muzzles appeared, roaring toward Momo Nishimiya in the sky.
In only a brief instant, the sports field, which had been full of track-and-field spirit just monts ago, turned into a dueling ground ruled by Cursed Energy.
Blasts of Cursed Energy shot out like bullets, blowing several terrifying craters into the ground.
The students who saw it imdiately scread.
None of them had expected students at Jujutsu High to openly blast Cursed Techniques at each other.
This was Kyoto's sacred ground.
Private fights at school were already against the rules, but using offensive Cursed Techniques was a taboo among taboos. Had these two lost their minds?!
"What the hell?! I told you to train freely! I didn't an this kind of free!!!"
Kusakabe, who had still been chasing Kasumi Miwa around monts earlier, saw this and was so shocked the cigarette fell right out of his mouth. He hurriedly tried to run over and stop Momo Nishimiya and chamaru.
But the two students were already red-eyed with bloodlust.
chamaru's Cursed Energy was already vast and profound to begin with. [Heavenly Restriction] had given him a total volu of Cursed Energy that even Satoru Gojo would find hard to match. The barrage of Cursed Energy shells he unleashed in such a short ti ford a dense curtain of fire, crazily hunting down Momo Nishimiya in midair.
And after Naoya Zenin's special training, Momo Nishimiya's Cursed Energy output efficiency had beco astonishingly high. Her total Cursed Energy reserves had already been above average to begin with, and now she could control them with perfect ease. Riding her broom through all kinds of difficult aerial maneuvers, she made the Cursed Energy shells chasing behind her crash into each other in succession, leaving behind brilliant streaks of Cursed Energy exhaust.
Kusakabe knew full well that if he rushed in recklessly, he would only end up injured himself.
And getting hurt over this would be a total loss.
So the teacher could only stand at the edge and watch from a safe distance, shouting at the two students again and again.
"Stop fighting! Both of you, stop fighting! If you want to fight, go do it at the training grounds! Don't fight on the sports field!!!"
"Oh my god! Upperclassman, can you please act a little more like a teacher?!"
Compared to Kusakabe's half-hearted concern, the mont Kasumi Miwa saw Momo Nishimiya and chamaru actually fighting, she threw down her gaphone without hesitation and ran straight toward the center of the Cursed Energy bombardnt.
"Hey! Don't go near them! Miwa! Sothing bad will happen!!!"
Seeing that, Mai Zenin imdiately shouted to stop her.
But Kasumi Miwa's steps did not slow in the slightest. The more violently Cursed Energy surged, the more determined she was to charge forward.
Because that was the kind of person she had always been, the sort of foolhardy idiot who would head straight for the mountain even knowing there was a tiger on it.
"Kasumi! Don't co in!"
"Miwa! Don't co over here!"
Only then did Momo Nishimiya and chamaru notice what was happening over there.
Both of them hurriedly tried to stop their techniques.
But once a technique had already been driven this far, how could it possibly be controlled so easily by a sorcerer?
It was too late.
Because that was the rule of jujutsu.
[Sorcerers never get a chance to take it back!]
A [Hollow] appeared where their Cursed Energies had collided earlier.
It was a wind cavity ford by the intertwining of Cursed Energy.
Like a vanishing point, it drew in the surrounding dirt, trees, well water, and tal.
"Get out of the way! It's going to explode!!!"
The compressed and constricted Cursed Energy finally detonated at that mont, tearing apart even the rubber track and sending it flying.
The debris shot out wildly like bullets, piercing through the entire space.
The sorcerers who foresaw the disaster hurriedly erected barriers.
An ominous sound rang out, like sothing being torn apart.
And the center of the explosion was the exact section of track Kasumi Miwa had just rushed onto.
"Huh?"
The blue-haired girl blinked several tis.
No way.
It cannot be this bad, right?
Why...
Why does it have to be ...?
No way?! I, I don't want to die yet!
I still have two little brothers at ho to support!!
I still have so many things I haven't done yet!!
I'm even still a virgin right before I die!!!
Kasumi Miwa squeezed her eyes shut.
In the end, all she could do was tremble like a stray cat and pray.
Pray in despair.
One second, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds...
The wind whistled past.
"...???"
No matter how long she waited, the impact she expected never ca.
Shivering all over, Kasumi Miwa felt utterly confused, so she slowly opened her eyes.
"Ah?!"
Her whole body instantly went rigid with shock.
Because the debris from the explosion was suspended right in front of her eyes.
And yet it could no longer move forward even an inch.
Cursed Energy had stopped.
Not only that, it was as if everything around Kasumi Miwa had stopped too. Even the flowing air had gone still, as though gravity itself had vanished.
"...The wind?"
Kasumi Miwa finally realized it.
It was the wind.
An elegant wind beyond compare had swept through the corridor, erasing every destructive force.
"Nishimiya-senpai, was this your doing?"
chamaru hurriedly asked Momo Nishimiya.
But this ti, even that arrogant little witch wore a baffled expression.
"No way. My [Tool Manipulation Technique] can't do anything on this level, much less with this kind of precision. To take complete control of the entire situation in such a short instant..."
"Then who was it...?"
At Kyoto Jujutsu High, whose technique was synonymous with precision and godlike speed?
There was no need to say it out loud anymore.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?"
Thunk. Thunk.
Authoritative footsteps followed.
"Gulp...!"
The sudden oppressive presence made everyone swallow hard at once.
Cold sweat ran down their backs, as though every muscle in their bodies had been locked in place.
Momo Nishimiya and Kasumi Miwa turned around trembling.
The teacher who had just cald the situation in an instant with Cursed Techniques.
The teacher who was supposedly absent today.
Naoya Zenin was standing there.
Expressionless.
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