Yuki Tsukumo glanced at Yoshinobu Gakuganji. "These are the three 'genius youths' you mentioned?"
Gakuganji's eye twitched, causing the wrinkles on his face to ripple like a disturbed pond.
"You bastards... someone's coming!"
Souma suddenly noticed a large group of people gathered in front of the school building and hissed a warning.
Satoru and Geto reacted instantly, letting go of each other.
The three of them scrambled up, dusted off their uniforms, wiped the blood from their noses, put on their cracked sunglasses, and looked around innocently.
Whistling casually...
The silence was deafening. It was awkward enough to kill a man.
"Oh! Yaga-sensei, you're here too!"
Satoru spotted a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye and waved heartlessly.
In the crowd, Masamichi Yaga, who was trying his best to fade out of existence, shuddered.
Facing the scrutinizing gazes of the crowd, Yaga said nothing. He kept his face stern and stoic.
On the surface, he was calm. Inside, he had already been dead for several minutes.
It wasn't just Yaga. The Gojo clan executives were also nursing massive headaches.
Ogi Zenin, the elder sent by the Zenin clan for this event, spoke sharply:
"Is this the upbringing of the Gojo clan? Scions of the Three Great Families brawling like street thugs in public... what a disgrace!"
Although he was annoyed, Geto knew this man was a high-ranking member of the Three Families. As someone from a non-sorcerer background, he didn't have the capital or standing to talk back, so he kept his face expressionless.
Satoru, on the other hand, channeled his inner rich kid brat. He looked at Ogi Zenin with disdain and spat on the ground.
"You rude little—!"
Ogi's face twitched, and he looked ready to explode.
Souma patted Satoru on the head.
"This is an elder of the Three Families. As a junior, you should mind your manners!"
Hearing this, Ogi puffed out his chest. "At least one of you knows proper etiquette..."
Before he could finish, Souma continued:
"After all, with that dried-up, skinny body of his, he clearly doesn't have many years left to live. We young people should be considerate of the elderly!"
"You..."
Ogi choked, his hand instinctively reaching for his katana.
"Hahahaha!"
Yuki Tsukumo laughed loudly, holding her stomach.
She had wanted to roast these old geezers for ages but was held back by her status. Now, she genuinely envied Souma's ability to insult people without using a single curse word.
"Alright, enough arguing. Don't forget we are here for the Goodwill Event," Gakuganji coughed twice and said dryly.
Ogi took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and decided to ignore the brat.
Soon, Tokyo High and Kyoto High lined up on opposite sides.
Compared to Kyoto's twenty-plus students, Souma's three-man team looked pitifully small.
"Inside the competition area, we have placed several Grade 3 curses and one terrifying Grade 2 curse!"
"The rules are simple: the team that exorcises the Grade 2 curse first wins. If neither team exorcises it within the time limit, the team with the most Grade 3 kills wins!"
"Additionally, as long as it isn't fatal, interfering with or incapacitating the opposing team is allowed!"
Yaga announced the rules loudly.
Then, he glanced at the trio, who were visibly nodding off, and his face darkened.
"Dismissed!"
At the command, the twenty Kyoto students rushed into the dense forest in unison.
Souma, Satoru, and Geto looked at each other, then turned around and walked into the competition area with the energy of zombies heading to a graveyard shift.
"Big Bro, did you bring any snacks? I'm hungry."
"Shut up, Satoru. I still haven't settled the score for you stealing my ohagi last time."
"I can't believe you two eat sweets all day without getting sick of them. Soba is infinitely better!"
"Salty faction, get out!"
The three chatted idly as they walked.
Suddenly, a streak of blood shot out like an arrow, aiming directly for Souma's heart.
DING!!!
The blood arrow hit an invisible wall twenty centimeters from Souma's back and shattered instantly.
The three stopped walking and looked back lazily.
A group of four—two from the Zenin clan and two from the Kamo clan—walked out from behind the trees.
One of the Kamo students was clapping, a smug smile on his face.
"As expected of the Gojo clan's Six Eyes Twins. The Limitless technique is truly excellent!"
Souma chuckled. "You're pretty good too!"
The student, Atsushi Kamo, raised an eyebrow. "Was my attack that impressive to you?"
"No. I mean your eyesight is pretty good. Recognizing my greatness and all."
"..."
Satoru and Geto tried to stifle their laughter.
Atsushi turned red with anger. "Damn it! Don't look down on people! Watch closely—this is the Kamo clan's inherited technique!"
"Blood Manipulation: Piercing Blood!"
Atsushi clapped his hands together, firing a dense barrage of blood bullets.
Souma raised his right hand and casually flicked his middle finger.
Ping!
The blood bullets were deflected instantly.
"What?!"
Atsushi turned pale.
"Don't be surprised yet. Let me be surprised first."
Souma raised an eyebrow. "As far as I know, the Kamo clan hasn't produced a legitimate Blood Manipulation user in this generation, right?"
Atsushi sneered. "That's just your ignorance! Muneya!"
"Understood!"
Another Kamo student behind him, Muneya Kamo, formed hand signs. A rain of blood materialized around him.
"Blood Manipulation: Thousand Senbon Needles!" x2
At the same time, the two Zenin students moved.
Shadows writhed around their feet like living things, eventually forming two shikigami!
"Ten Shadows Technique: Divine Dogs!" x2
The trio froze. "Are you kidding me?!"
First the Kamo clan produces Blood Manipulation users, and now the Zenin clan has Ten Shadows users too?
Are these techniques cabbages you can buy at the supermarket?
"Wait..."
Souma looked closer. These Divine Dogs were very different from the ones Megumi Fushiguro would summon in the future.
Their fur was patchy, their limbs were slightly deformed, their eyes were dull, and they drooled uncontrollably like they were infected with a zombie virus.
This is a Divine Dog? Calling them stray mutts is an insult to strays.
And their power was pathetic. Before they could even get close, Geto's Sandworm swallowed them whole.
"And this Blood Manipulation..."
The blood needles hit the Limitless barrier and disintegrated instantly. Geto summoned a defensive Grade 2 curse, which also blocked the attack easily.
These so-called "Blood Manipulation" and "Ten Shadows" techniques were suspiciously weak.
Geto frowned. "If these are the famed techniques meant to rival the Limitless... they're a bit disappointing."
Souma rubbed his chin and gave his verdict.
"It feels like a castrated version."
"We should call them Pseudo-Blood Manipulation and Pseudo-Ten Shadows."