Seeing their attacks easily neutralized by Souma and his team, Atsushi Kamo and the others turned pale with shock.
"Impossible! This move defeated a Grade 2 curse!"
"My Divine Dog was swallowed instantly... what kind of monster curse was that?"
"Damn it! They're so strong!"
Souma, Satoru, and Geto exchanged glances, trying their best not to laugh out loud.
"Hey! You guys," Souma called out. "Those aren't the real inherited techniques of the Zenin and Kamo clans, are they?"
Hearing this, Atsushi Kamo exploded with rage.
"What?! Bastard! Don't you dare insult the Kamo clan's technique! This is our family's glory!"
"Blood Manipulation: Blood Meteor!"
The two Zenin students were equally indignant.
"The Zenin clan's honor cannot be tarnished! Ten Shadows Technique: Rabbit Escape!"
The four of them seemed to lose their minds, unleashing a barrage of attacks at the trio like maniacs.
Satoru looked speechless. "What is with you people? Family honor this, family honor that. Are you sick?"
"Cursed Technique Lapse..."
"Satoru, wait!"
Souma stopped Satoru from counterattacking and pointed at the four students. "Look closely!"
Satoru and Geto looked.
They saw that after using "Pseudo-Blood Manipulation," the bodies of the two Kamo students were visibly withering. Their cheeks sunken, eyes hollow, looking like they had been drained of life essence.
Meanwhile, the two Zenin students had dull expressions and unfocused eyes, as if their brains had been fried.
Thanks to the Six Eyes, Souma and Satoru saw the problem instantly. Geto, with his heightened senses, felt it too.
The so-called "Blood Manipulation" used by the Kamo students was actually stimulating their bone marrow with cursed energy to forcibly produce blood. It was a technique that burned their very lifespan!
And the "Ten Shadows" used by the Zenin students summoned mutated, weak shikigami at the cost of abnormal mental backlash. Their brains were being turned into mush!
"This isn't an inherited technique! This is a suicide technique!"
Souma's face turned serious. "Stop them! Now!"
Geto waved his hand. "Rainbow Dragon!"
The Rainbow Dragon swung its tail, slapping the four students away and forcibly interrupting their casting.
Geto had held back significantly, afraid that a full-force hit would kill these half-dead students.
Lying on the ground, gasping for air, Atsushi Kamo looked up at the trio and gave a miserable smile. "I didn't think you'd be as strong as the rumors said... no, you're even stronger."
Souma didn't care about the compliment. He asked sharply, "Do you realize the technique you just used is killing you?"
"That isn't the Kamo clan's Blood Manipulation. And your Ten Shadows is wrong too. Who taught you this?"
To Souma's surprise, the four students on the ground tried to struggle to their feet.
They were too weak and collapsed again, but their eyes were still fixed on the trio with murderous intent.
"Don't... insult... our family's technique! This is... our glory!"
"You're sick!"
Souma couldn't understand their thought process. He knocked them out with two clean chops to the neck to remove them from the game.
However, they hadn't gone far before they encountered more students from the two clans.
"Blood Manipulation: Piercing Blood!"
"Ten Shadows Technique: Orochi!"
It was as if they had received orders to attack at all costs. They unleashed their techniques recklessly, nearly killing themselves in the process.
But facing these attacks, Souma simply waved his hand, deflecting them all.
And just like before, when Souma mentioned "Pseudo-Blood Manipulation" and "Pseudo-Ten Shadows," the students exploded like cats having their tails stepped on, screaming about "Family Honor."
By now, even someone as usually carefree as Satoru realized what was happening.
"The Zenin and Kamo clans... they developed castrated versions of their inherited techniques. And they're using these people as guinea pigs!"
Souma's words made Satoru and Geto's expressions turn ugly.
"Researching such a twisted technique and using living humans as test subjects... are those old geezers insane?"
Satoru was furious.
"They probably saw the Gojo clan produce two Six Eyes while they had no heirs, so they got desperate," Souma sneered. "They want to find a shortcut."
"Letting these people use unstable, castrated techniques... those scumbags."
When they encountered another group, before the enemy could even attack, Satoru teleported in and knocked them out with two punches.
He tied them up and squatted down, trying to explain the danger of the techniques to them patiently.
But one of the Zenin students just laughed coldly.
"We know all that. We volunteered for the experiment. As long as the research succeeds, our family can mass-produce sorcerers with inherited techniques! We won't have to wait for a miracle anymore!"
"Our sacrifice has meaning! It's all for the glory of the clan! We die gladly!"
Their eyes were filled with fanaticism.
"You people..."
Satoru felt a fire of rage in his chest. These guys didn't value their own lives at all!
Geto patted Satoru's shoulder from behind. "Satoru, don't bother persuading them."
Satoru tilted his head. "Ha? That doesn't sound like you, Suguru! Don't you always talk about saving the weak?"
Souma let out a cold laugh. "Satoru, look closely. These people have been brainwashed by those old men a long time ago."
"And if I'm not wrong, they are all from branch families. Expendable failures in the eyes of the main house."
Satoru fell silent. Behind his sunglasses, his blue eyes were icy.
Geto looked up at the sky and sighed from the bottom of his heart.
"What a dirty world."
"Let's go."
Satoru stood up abruptly.
"Where to?"
"To find that Grade 2 curse. Kill it, finish the match, and go home."
Satoru shrugged, his voice devoid of its usual playfulness. "I don't want to stay in this shithole for another second."
Souma and Geto looked at each other, smiled bitterly, and followed him.
"Hai, hai~ Looks like Young Master Satoru is angry."
"Shut up, bastard!"
"Speaking of which, do the Three Families do this kind of thing often?"
"Bastard! Don't lump the Gojo clan in with them!"
"Then when you become the clan head later, you better manage the family properly!"
"Ha? You're the older brother! The head should be you, right?"
"Dame! Don't even think about it!"
"Eldest son inheriting is natural law! The elders definitely want you to be the head! Hahaha!"
"Shut up! Let's fight. Loser has to be the clan head!"
"Actually, if neither of you wants it, you can consider me."
"GET LOST!" x2