"HAHAHAHA! TODOU! WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH YOUR FACE? HAHAHAHA!"
Just as everyone was barely restraining themselves—
Yuji Itadori pointed at Aoi Todo, clutching his stomach as he roared with laughter, completely disregarding any sense of decorum. Tears even streamed from the corners of his eyes as he laughed so hard his stomach ached.
In that instant—Yaga Masamichi, Kyoto's principal Gakuganji Yoshinobu, supervising teacher Utahime Iori, and several of the Kyoto students—all their expressions darkened simultaneously.
An aura of murderous intent radiated from the entire Kyoto group.
Aoi Todo's face was especially terrifying, his complexion darkening like a thundercloud. He looked like a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest spark.
Written on the left side of his face were the words: "I'm an idiot."
On the right side: "Please laugh at me."
It was unclear what kind of pen had been used, but his face was red as if scrubbed raw with sandpaper, blood nearly seeping through the skin. He must have tried furiously to wipe it off, yet the words remained stubbornly embedded, impossible to remove.
To make matters worse, the words emitted a faint glow—visible even in the dark of night.
"Heh."
Roy couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.
"Pfft—"
"HAHAHAHA!"
"Damn, Todo, you look pathetic!"
After Roy's laughter broke the tension—
The people behind seemed to have received a signal, all pointing at Todo Aoi and bursting into laughter. Even the usually serious and quiet Inumaki Toge couldn't help but chuckle twice.
If even the teacher was laughing, there was no harm in them joining in.
If the principal had any issues, he could take it up with Roy first!
After all, they weren't the ones who started laughing first!
Yaga Masamichi's face darkened like the bottom of a pot.
Rarely seen gritting his teeth, he glared at Roy through his sunglasses.
And you call yourself a teacher? What kind of example are you setting for these students!
Even on the Kyoto school's side, Mai couldn't help but twitch the corners of her mouth, clearly fighting back laughter.
But seeing her classmates all united in their hostility toward the Tokyo school students, she suppressed her smile with effort, forcing it off her face.
The Kyoto school students all wore grim expressions.
Before the exchange event had even begun, having their strongest member, Todo Aoi, marked with such words on his face was like a slap to all of them. It felt like losing the first round before the competition had even started!
Under the Tokyo school students' jeers, Aoi could no longer hold back. He leaped up from below in one swift motion.
Just as Yuji and the others thought he might lash out in anger, Todo didn't even glance at them. Instead, he landed right in front of Roy.
Like lightning, he pulled out a small notebook from his pocket, flipped to the first page, and showed it to Roy.
"Roy-sensei, please undo the curse you placed on me!"
Scrawled messily across the page was this sentence.
The Tokyo school students craned their necks to read the words in the notebook, and suddenly, everything made sense.
So this was Roy-sensei's doing?
Probably payback for Todo Aoi coming to pick a fight yesterday!
Well done!
The Tokyo school students couldn't help but admire Roy, thinking how protective he was of his own. Who wouldn't love a teacher like that?
Only Yaga Masamichi's expression grew darker and darker.
"What are you talking about? If you're the one who got cursed, why ask me to undo it? It's not like I was the one who cast it."
Roy glanced at the notebook, then shrugged, laughing with complete nonchalance.
Aoi's face flushed slightly red.
He pulled out a pen and scribbled furiously in the notebook.
"Mai saw it yesterday! Right after you punched me away, these words appeared on my face!"
"I already let you hit me once—that should've been enough to make up for my rudeness. But writing on my face? That's going too far!"
"And now I can't even speak—that was you too, wasn't it?"
Todo glared at Roy with indignation.
Even with his murderous expression, the words "I'm an idiot, please laugh at me" written across his face completely undermined any sense of intimidation. It just made people want to laugh.
If anyone else had done this to him, he would've already thrown a punch.
Unfortunately, the culprit was Roy—someone he couldn't beat.
"Oh, Mai saw it, did she?"
Hearing this, Roy turned his gaze toward Mai below.
Mai suddenly met his eyes, her face visibly flustered as she quickly looked away.
When she had found Todo lying in the forest yesterday, the words were already on his face. She had immediately guessed it was Roy's doing.
The moment Aoi woke up and noticed the writing on her face, she voiced her thoughts without much consideration.
Could he really be bothered by this?
Bothered enough to hold a grudge against her?
Mai felt a wave of unease.
If possible, she didn't want to clash with Roy at all.
She had come with a family mission—she was supposed to establish a good relationship with Roy right away. How had things escalated to this point?
Was Roy really that concerned about his student?
Then—
Would he care about his own family?
Would he care about someone who became family the same way he cared about his students?
Mai's mind was in turmoil, thoughts swirling chaotically as she sank deep into her own reflections, barely registering what was happening around her.
"Alright, I did tamper with you—made it so you can't speak, and the words on your face won't disappear. But it'll only last a week."
Roy glanced at Mai briefly before looking away, showing no intention of reprimanding her.
"Just wait it out for a week. Consider it the price for your treatment. Take this time to endure the mockery from others—it'll temper your spirit. It's for your own good!"
As he spoke, Roy suddenly understood the twisted satisfaction adults felt when saying such things.
It was a mix of condescension and the smug superiority of pointing fingers.
Who asked you to do what's "good" for me?!
I don't need it!
Aoi was furious.
But before he could write those words out—
"Enough!"
A furious shout already rang out across the field.
It came from the principal of Kyoto Jujutsu High, Gakuganji Yoshinobu.
The nearly eighty-year-old man had long lost the hair on his head, leaving his scalp bare, while his eyebrows and beard grew thick and wild, hanging long and white. His snow-white eyebrows draped down the sides of his face, swaying in the wind alongside his lengthy beard, almost like a braided hairstyle.
He slammed his iron cane into the ground, a faint shockwave rippling out as his deeply wrinkled face tightened with anger.
A chilling gaze, as if emerging from the underworld, locked onto Roy.
"Writing on someone's face is the behavior of children squabbling! Is this something a Special Grade should be doing? How immature!"
"Direct that energy toward exorcising curses and protecting non-sorcerers—that is the path a sorcerer should walk. Look at yourself—what are you doing now? Throwing a tantrum like a child?"
His words were laced with fury and frustration, his long-suppressed emotions finally boiling over.
"You call him a child?"
Roy tilted his head, pointing at the towering, broad-shouldered Aoi with a look of utter disbelief at Gakuganji.
"Well, I'm only eight years old—doesn't that make me more of a child than him? Why are you picking on a kid?"
No, no, no.
There's no way you look eight years old!
The moment those words left his mouth, even the Tokyo students couldn't help but cringe in embarrassment.
Yaga Masamichi froze, recalling Roy's claim about his age when they first met. He had insisted he was only eight back then, and now he was bringing it up again. Could he really be eight? No—no matter how he thought about it, it was too absurd, like something out of a fairy tale.
"Hmph! If you truly consider yourself a child, then you should listen to your elders!"
Gakuganji snorted, his face filled with disdain.
Eight years old?
Do you really think anyone would believe that?
"Old man, are you misunderstanding something?"
Roy adjusted his glasses.
The smile on his lips stretched wider, his malice rapidly expanding.
"I entertained your nonsense, and now you're acting all high and mighty? Be careful—I might just kill you."
Gakuganji Yoshinobu.
That was a name he hadn't forgotten.
When Roy first joined the Japanese jujutsu society, the vote among the six elders of the Jujutsu High Council and the two school principals resulted in four in favor and four against.
Among the two school principals, Masamichi Yaga voted in his favor.
Meanwhile, Yoshinobu Gakuganji cast a dissenting vote.
This old bastard had opposed Roy's entry into the Japanese jujutsu world from the very beginning, which was why he had been glaring at Roy with undisguised hostility, sparing no effort to deny and reprimand him in every word.
Moreover, if Roy remembered correctly, Yoshinobu Gakuganji was the leader of the conservative faction within the Jujutsu High Council.
If something were to happen to this guy, the conservative faction would instantly lose its head, making it much easier to dismantle, wouldn't it?
"And let's not forget, you old bastard, you had quite the hand in sending my students to the juvenile detention center to deal with that special-grade cursed spirit last time, didn't you?"
As he spoke, Roy unleashed his malice toward Yoshinobu Gakuganji without restraint.
If the malice of an ordinary person was like a sharp knife stabbing straight into the heart, then Roy's malice was akin to a towering tsunami—a single wave was enough to drag someone into the abyss.
This malice manifested like the icy gales of an ice age, its mere presence sending a chill down Yoshinobu Gakuganji's spine. Even the slightest exposure to it made him feel as though he had been plunged into an ice cavern, his blood freezing in his veins.
For a moment, even the atmosphere in the room seemed to freeze over.
Both groups of students fell silent, not daring to utter a single word.
"Wait, how about this?"
At that moment, Masamichi Yaga suddenly stepped between the two.
"Let's decide based on the outcome of this exchange event. If Kyoto wins, the technique on Aoi Todo will be lifted. If Tokyo wins, we'll proceed as Roy-sensei suggested. How about that?"
Suddenly, the malice that had filled the air melted away like the first snow after rain.
Once Masamichi Yaga intervened, Roy swiftly withdrew his malice.
A cheerful smile reappeared on his face.
"Fine, let's do as Principal Yaga suggests! No need to wait for the full exchange results—we'll settle it based on today's team match outcome."
"And Principal Gakuganji?"
"...Agreed."
After Masamichi Yaga looked his way, Yoshinobu Gakuganji took a deep breath, suppressing the rapid pounding of his heart, and gave his answer. At the same time, he shot Roy a wary glance.
What in the world was that malice just now? It was like the embodiment of a wrathful deity!
It felt almost like a curse itself!
Just who the hell was this guy? Where did such malice even come from?
What kind of scheme was behind someone like this joining the Japanese jujutsu world?
Thoughts ran wild in Yoshinobu Gakuganji's mind like weeds, his wariness and rejection of Roy spreading uncontrollably.
He had to do something about this!
"Phew..."
As the tension between the two eased, the students on both sides collectively let out a sigh of relief.
Truly befitting of a special-grade—standing his ground against a principal without flinching!
And truly befitting of a special-grade—his anger alone was terrifying enough to freeze one's soul!
Even for Yuji, Maki, and the others, this was their first time witnessing Roy truly provoked. It was downright terrifying—like being dragged into hell itself—leaving them inwardly stunned.
"Gentle as the spring breeze towards companions, yet stern as the autumn wind at times, and utterly merciless like extreme heat or cold towards enemies... Roy-sensei is truly a man of contradictions."
Megumi murmured these words in his heart.
His impression of Roy underwent yet another fresh transformation within him.
As for Roy, after casting a glance at Gakuganji Yoshinobu, he silently withdrew his gaze.
This old bastard must be dealt with.
If he wasn't eliminated now, once Roy became the ruler of Japan's jujutsu world, this old man would undoubtedly scheme against him from the shadows.
However, this wasn't something he should handle personally.
If he took action himself, it would somewhat tarnish his image, which wouldn't benefit his future plans for domination.
Yet letting him off was equally unthinkable.
If he couldn't act himself, then he'd have someone else do the deed.
Coincidentally, the perfect opportunity presented itself right now.