"Reinforcements will be here in an hour. I understand. Tell them to come as fast as possible."
Click.
After hanging up the phone, Masamichi took a deep breath and returned inside Tokyo Jujutsu High.
All the staff of Tokyo Jujutsu High were gathered there.
There were chefs who had lived easy lives since Emiya arrived, Jujutsu Sorcerers responsible for guarding and maintaining the barrier, and some ordinary people from the Big Three Families who lacked talent.
These ordinary people usually handled miscellaneous tasks at Tokyo Jujutsu High, such as cleaning and restocking vending machines.
However, none of them expected that the iron rice bowl their families had painstakingly secured for them would also involve such dangerous situations.
First, the Jujutsu Sorcerers maintaining the barrier discovered a sudden influx of Cursed Spirits within Tokyo Jujutsu High.
After confirming they were all just Fly Heads, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But what followed quickly exceeded their expectations.
The barrier surrounding Tokyo Jujutsu High was forcibly broken from the outside.
Then, a large number of powerful Cursed Spirits surged into the school.
These were not the kind of Fly Heads that even Assistant Supervisors could handle with ease.
They were powerful Cursed Spirits, most with energy signatures above Semi-Grade 1.
There were even multiple Special Grade reactions.
"Do those Curse Users want to declare war on the entire Jujutsu World?"
As this overwhelming force appeared inside the school's barrier, Masamichi finally realized how abnormal the situation was.
At first, although it seemed suspicious for two Special Grade Cursed Spirits to appear at the same time, the higher-ups had designated Eichi, Artoria, and Emiya to handle them.
Situations like that could still happen by coincidence.
But now, with Tokyo Jujutsu High's forces spread thin, and right after Satoru and Suguru brought the Star Plasma Vessel back to the school, such a powerful force had emerged.
A force that even the Big Three Families would treat with extreme caution.
If not handled properly, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Masamichi finally realized how serious this situation was.
He recalled a line from the intelligence gathered earlier about the Curse User group Q.
A group intending to drive Tengen berserk to overthrow the current Jujutsu World.
But Q had already been dismantled. So this couldn't be Q.
This meant another group of Curse Users had been acting in the shadows. Q was merely a decoy, a distraction.
The real group had always been hidden.
They were the ones truly trying to overthrow the Jujutsu World.
"Are you alright, sensei?"
Shoko's voice came from behind.
Masamichi's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.
"Don't worry. I just received word that Eichi and Artoria have already rushed back, and reinforcements from Jujutsu Headquarters will arrive soon."
The Curse Users had attacked Tokyo Jujutsu High with multiple Special Grade Cursed Spirits.
Not knowing that Kenjaku's true goal was to intercept Eichi, the higher-ups believed the Curse Users intended to assassinate the Star Plasma Vessel and then move on Tengen.
This incident was serious enough to potentially shake the foundations of the current Jujutsu World.
The Big Three Families responded with rare unanimity.
Not only did the Jujutsu Headquarters send out their sorcerers, but the Big Three Families also dispatched their elite members as reinforcements.
"You too, sensei."
Shoko gave a reassuring smile.
"Those three are the strongest. There's nothing to worry about."
As she said that, she gently rubbed Masamichi's tense face.
"Yeah, they're the strongest."
A rare smile finally appeared on his face.
On the battlefield, Eichi and the others did not disappoint Masamichi and Shoko's expectations.
Suguru, who had already subjugated Taotie, joined Emiya in the battle against the Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Bone Woman.
After Jorōgumo was exorcised, Bone Woman was left fighting alone. Her bones continued to sprout, only to be shattered by Eichi and Artoria.
With Suguru and Emiya joining in, she was pushed to the brink of death within a few rounds, and Suguru successfully subjugated her.
That left Yamata no Orochi.
At first, Eichi didn't join the fight between Mahoraga and Yamata no Orochi, as he knew he would only be a burden to Mahoraga.
As a half-decent summoner, Eichi's close-combat ability was solid thanks to training with Suguru, Satoru, and Toji.
But he had always prioritized his Technique over physical combat.
So, Eichi's hand-to-hand skills weren't exactly top-tier.
Against something like the Cursed Womb: Death Painting, his physical Techniques were fine.
But to go up against a monster that could go head-to-head with Mahoraga?
No thanks. No need to make things worse.
So Eichi decided to first team up with Artoria to exorcise Bone Woman.
Then, have Artoria use Caliburn on Yamata no Orochi.
Since Yamata no Orochi was something akin to Mahoraga, the best move was a direct kill with Caliburn.
However, Suguru's arrival made Eichi change his mind.
After ordering Mahoraga to pause its assault, the team completed an encirclement around Yamata no Orochi.
An arrow silently struck its torso.
To Yamata no Orochi, it was insignificant compared to Mahoraga.
But at this point, the Cursed Spirit no longer had the capacity to track everything happening on the battlefield.
"Broken Phantasm."
Boom.
A massive explosion erupted from Yamata no Orochi's torso.
Several of its central snake heads were blown off at the roots.
Mahoraga put away its Sword of Exorcism, grabbed the remaining snake heads with both hands, and tore them off violently.
Eichi and Artoria weren't idle either. One from the left and one from the right, they sliced through Yamata no Orochi's snake tails one by one.
"It's time to switch out cursed tools. This time, I'm definitely getting a good Special Grade cursed tool."
Glancing at the chipped katana in his hand, Eichi tossed it into his shadow, then continued attacking with lightning-wrapped fists.
Soon, the battlefield was covered in the remnants of Yamata no Orochi, slowly dissipating.
With only its torso remaining, Yamata no Orochi writhed weakly.
It had lost all ability to resist and was quickly turned into a Cursed Spirit Orb in Suguru's hand.
"Eichi, I need an explanation."
After subjugating Yamata no Orochi, Suguru looked at him with a serious expression.
"Don't worry, Amanai Riko is safe. We'll explain everything together once we find Satoru."
Seeing Suguru's stern gaze, Eichi knew he was genuinely angry and immediately gave him a reassuring smile.
"Got it. I'll go find Satoru now. Make sure you explain things clearly later."
After leaving the Tombs of the Star, Suguru had felt continuous bursts of Cursed Energy from this direction.
So he had rushed straight to the battlefield and hadn't checked on Satoru yet.
Looking at the unscathed Suguru, Eichi remembered the message Medea sent before leaving.
Back then, he was fighting Kenjaku desperately and didn't think much about it.
But now that he recalled it, it really felt like Suguru had gotten the best deal.
Satoru was beaten nearly to death by Toji. Eichi had to go all out against Kenjaku.
Suguru, on the other hand, just followed behind and picked up three Special Grade Cursed Spirits.
Forget it. Let's go check on Satoru first.
However, what they didn't know was that Satoru had already left Tokyo Jujutsu High long before their battle ended.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)