"I've thought it over—let's do it like this! You'll each take turns attacking me one by one. I want to see all of your full strength. Remember, use everything you've got!"
On the training ground, Satoru Gojo rolled up his sleeves and said to the five standing opposite him. His lazy tone somehow annoyed those listening.
Maki was the first to step forward, her sharp gaze fixed as she said, "I'll go first!"
Seeing Gojo change his stance, casually slipping his hands into his pockets, Maki cleared her mind of distractions and charged toward him, wooden staff in hand.
In the blink of an eye, she reached Gojo's front, but suddenly twisted her body to change direction. Simultaneously, her staff cut through the air with a tearing sound aimed at Gojo's upper body.
The blur of the staff strikes suddenly stopped—they were firmly caught in a slender hand with well-defined knuckles.
Gojo's leisurely, vacation-like voice rang out again: "Maki, did you use up all your strength during training earlier? And didn't I say to go all out?"
"Part of this training is for the upcoming exchange event, sure. But I also want you to learn something that'll help in your future missions."
As he spoke, a faint smile curled at the corner of Gojo's lips. His sunglasses slipped down slightly, revealing part of his eye. Those eyes—like the sky and the ocean—now held a serious glint.
"So… treat me like a real enemy and give it your all. I won't hold back."
Gojo laughed heartily: "Don't worry about the teacher! After all… I'm invincible."
"We are the invincible ones!"
For a moment, Gojo's thoughts seemed to drift. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a shadow darting past. Then, as Maki seized the perfect moment to sweep, Gojo narrowly leaned back to avoid the staff.
With one hand supporting himself on the ground, he delivered a sweeping strike that forced Maki to retreat. Then, with a flash, he sprang up, clenching his fists and palms as he counterattacked.
Maki, pressed onto the defensive, felt deeply frustrated. It was as if she wasn't fighting just one person—the barrage of attacks seemed like several opponents striking at once.
But now that she was truly fired up, she had no time to think about that. Each strike was almost instinctive; she wielded the long staff with incredible skill.
Still, it was useless. Every time she almost hit Gojo, he shifted just slightly from his original position, like flickering between his initial and final points—impossible to track the movement itself.
In fact, even if Gojo stood still and let Maki hit him, having already passively activated his technique, the staff wouldn't actually touch him.
Every wave of Maki's attack was dismantled by Gojo, who casually pointed out her openings or lectured himself on how she should attack next.
Although Gojo's counterattacks seemed effortless, they still landed painfully. It was clear he intended to let his students experience a relentless storm of affection.
They had all faced cursed missions before, and injuries during training weren't rare—especially for someone like Maki, a ruthless close-combat fighter. These minor wounds only fueled her desire to attack harder.
After exchanging dozens of moves in a fast-paced battle, Gojo finally knocked Maki down with a palm strike to her forehead, declaring her out and calling for the next challenger.
Shingen Kazuo sighed from the sidelines: "He even used his technique—how are we supposed to compete with that?"
Panda clasped his hands and stretched before saying, "Isn't that perfect? I'm up next!"
Kazuo watched as Panda quickly switched to "Gorilla Mode," only to be thrown backward shortly after, while Gojo stretched leisurely like he was warming up.
Panda, a mutated cursed corpse, differed from others by having three cores, or rather, three personalities:
The balanced Panda—the usual self; the Gorilla Mode—focused on strength; and the "Sister," which emphasizes speed but rarely appears out of shyness.
In Gorilla Mode, Panda's signature move was the Shockwave Palm—an attack that ordinary defenses couldn't block and had high "armor penetration."
Yet, none of that mattered. Panda was quickly forced back into balanced mode, lying on the ground battered and bruised.
"Hey! Next student, please!"
Gojo smiled brightly, his eyes locking on Kazuo. Knowing he couldn't dodge, Kazuo reluctantly picked up a wooden sword and approached.
"Teacher Gojo, I don't see the point. I can't break your limitless technique right now—it'll just be me getting beaten up one-sidedly, right?"
Gojo waved his hand dismissively. "Don't say that, Kazuo. Let me see your true strength now…"
"Bang!"
A crackling explosion shattered the air. Everyone's vision blurred briefly as Kazuo, who had been standing casually, suddenly appeared right in front of Gojo—but was immediately knocked flying backward.
His wooden sword shattered into tiny fragments. Kazuo's form vanished midair, only to reappear along the trajectory of his fall.
Rubbing his wrist, Kazuo grumbled, "Teacher Gojo, that's just unfair."
Gojo stroked his chin with interest. "Kazuo, you've mastered your technique to this extent? That last move was a technique reversal, wasn't it?"
Kazuo grinned. "Teacher Gojo, how about a deal? Let's do a hand-to-hand fight. I won't use my technique to speed myself up, and you won't use your technique to push me away. Sound good?"
Gojo's calm smile remained. Hearing Kazuo's provocative, "No way, no way! The invincible Teacher Gojo would never refuse, right?" he couldn't help but chuckle. "That brat."
"I'm in."
Kazuo's expression grew serious and focused as he approached Gojo with his wooden sword. Though not enhanced by technique, his speed was still impressive from merely using cursed energy.
Maki, Panda, Yuta Okkotsu, and Toge Inumaki watched intently. Kazuo's sudden, mysterious attack had left them baffled—and before they fully grasped it, the match was already over?
Maki recalled missions they'd done together. Was it speed? But that level of speed seemed unfair—could anyone really defend against it?
She glanced at Gojo, who had already defended once. The two were trading blows in earnest. Kazuo seemed very familiar with the approximate spots where Gojo flickered, always changing his target in time or blocking Gojo's attacks.
Yet Gojo's demeanor and expression suggested he was guiding Kazuo through the fight; none of his flickers were especially tricky.
Kazuo dodged, blocked, and countered awkwardly but threw every punch with determination. Since he promised not to use technique to speed himself, he was committed to that.
Without technique's aid, he searched hard for the feeling of landing a "Black Flash." If he could land one, he could push Gojo back—and he had a plan for every step after that.
Though he kept falling behind, Kazuo fought on, seeking his chance to strike back. Gojo seemed to deliberately keep him on the line, tightening the tension but not finishing him off.
"Kazuo, you seem to have a secret weapon giving you a lot of confidence. Why not use it now? No way, no way—you won't use it before I knock you down, right?"
Gojo's teasing words nearly threw Kazuo off rhythm. After blocking a casual swipe, Kazuo stepped back, gathered his strength, and punched hard.
"This feeling! It's coming!"
A black cursed energy glow appeared. Gojo's expression changed slightly—now it was getting interesting!
"Black Flash!"
Maki, sighing in awe, remembered how Kazuo had used Black Flash during a mission to eliminate a cursed spirit descending from above. Yuta Okkotsu curiously asked, "What's Black Flash? Is it that black cursed energy glow? It looks really dangerous."
Maki paused, then explained the essence of Black Flash. Meanwhile, Kazuo's terrifying energy was caught firmly in Gojo's outstretched hand after the strike. With his other fist, Gojo punched fiercely.
The fight continued as Maki narrated, and everyone saw Kazuo's Black Flash seemingly have no effect—it was caught by Gojo, and Kazuo was flung through the air.
"My dear student, when you're knocked into the air, you better be careful!"
Before Kazuo could recover, Gojo closed the distance with a faster flicker. His bright smile hinted he already knew Kazuo was about to become a punching bag.
"That's how it is! If you use technique directly against Teacher Gojo, considering the gap right now, you have to consider so much if you want to reverse him to a certain moment. The conclusion? Most likely failure!"
"So… the real plan is…"
Kazuo, off balance, slowly smiled. He saw Gojo's smile change to one of confusion. Kazuo activated his technique.
"Technique Reversal! Wheel of Time: Reverse."
Suddenly, everything around Kazuo shifted. Gojo, who had been attacking, now looked at Yuta and the others with a puzzled expression. Feeling the cursed energy surging inside him, Kazuo smiled, and his punch—directed as planned—swung behind him, right where Gojo's empty gate was wide open!
Black cursed energy flashed again. Kazuo timed his reversal perfectly, anchoring to this moment and reversing position—right at the instant he was about to strike with Black Flash!
A pseudo-double Black Flash.
But turning around, Kazuo saw Gojo's triumphant smile. Before Kazuo's grin could stiffen, Gojo caught his attack in hand again, the enormous cursed energy shockwaves crushed completely.
Gojo then punched Kazuo's abdomen. In his mind, Kazuo could only think of one word—"damn!" Then, feeling like his insides were being overturned and utterly powerless, he collapsed to the ground. Still struggling, he looked at Gojo and asked, "Teacher Gojo, how did you sense it?"
Gojo whistled. "Kazuo, I know your technique. And didn't you just show me the effect of your technique reversal? I thought you'd use it on me. Besides, haven't you forgotten? My Six Eyes give me 360-degree, no-blind-spot vision."
Gojo slid his sunglasses down slightly, revealing his sparkling, amused eyes. Kazuo slammed his fist on the grass, frustrated: "That's cheating! Someone's got full-map vision!"
(End of Chapter)
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