Chapter 2: The Strongest Sorcerer of the Modern Era
"Oh. Looks like I'm a little late."
Satoru Gojo lightly hopped down from the broken pillar, his leather shoes landing on the gravel with a crisp, almost casual sound.
He did not spare so much as a glance for the giant cursed spirit lying on the ground. Instead, he walked straight toward Yami.
Though the blindfold covered his eyes, Yami could still feel it.
It was as if the man was studying him like some rare species he had stumbled across by accident.
Yami tightened his grip on the bent iron bar in his hand.
He knew Gojo was supposed to be an ally.
But knowing that and actually standing in front of him were two completely different things.
The pressure pouring off Satoru Gojo was overwhelming. It was not the suffocating malice of a cursed spirit, nor the blood soaked terror of a battlefield. It was something grander, calmer, and far more absurd.
It felt like standing beneath the entire sky.
A presence so vast that it reduced everything else to something small.
"Who are you?"
Yami asked, even though he already knew the answer.
He needed to speak, if only to cover up how abnormal everything about him had just been.
Gojo stopped about three meters away, a trace of curiosity curling at the corner of his lips.
Then he lifted one hand and hooked a finger beneath the edge of his blindfold, tugging it down just enough to reveal one eye.
An eye as clear and boundless as the heavens themselves.
The Six Eyes.
The instant that azure gaze landed on him, Yami felt as though his entire body had been stripped bare.
Muscle, bone, veins, breath, blood flow, every last detail was laid open beneath that single eye.
"...Strange."
Gojo tilted his head slightly, genuine confusion flickering through his voice.
"No cursed energy."
"Not even a trace."
He studied Yami more closely, his tone growing lighter, but the meaning of his words was anything but.
"That's more complete than Maki's case. Honestly, you'd make the perfect vessel for a curse."
As he said that, Gojo suddenly leaned in closer, those sky blue eyes locking directly onto Yami's.
"Hey, kid."
"What you used just now... that wasn't a Cursed Technique, was it?"
Yami's heart gave a violent jolt.
As expected of the Six Eyes.
He had already noticed the anomaly just from the traces left behind.
Yami's thoughts spun rapidly as he searched for an answer that would not expose too much too soon.
But before he could respond, the atmosphere behind them twisted.
"Flesh... my flesh..."
A guttural, distorted roar suddenly rumbled out from the ruins behind them.
Yami's expression changed instantly.
The cursed spirit that had been lying motionless, seemingly dead, began convulsing violently.
The wounds left behind by Hinokami Kagura writhed like living things.
Then, from those scorched gashes, a massive amount of black cursed energy burst out like overflowing crude oil, corroding everything it touched. Concrete hissed. Steel groaned. The already ruined construction site began to collapse further under the pressure of that sinister power.
And the presence radiating from it...
It was more than twice as strong as before.
Yami's pupils narrowed.
This thing had not died.
His strike had torn through its vitals, but instead of killing it completely, it had pushed the cursed spirit to the brink and stimulated its core.
It had evolved at the edge of death.
Not just strong.
Now it had become a true top tier cursed spirit.
"Watch out! It's not dead yet!"
Yami shouted, his body tensing instinctively as he prepared to attack again.
In the corner, the high school girl who had only just regained consciousness lifted her head, saw what was happening, and promptly fainted all over again.
The cursed spirit's body swelled grotesquely, doubling in size. The countless human faces fused together, condensing into one enormous, venomous demonic face filled with hatred and hunger. Its roar shook the air as it lunged at Yami and Gojo from behind, carrying an aura of raw destruction.
"I'm going to... eat... you!!!"
The reeking wind of its charge stirred Gojo's silver hair.
But the strongest sorcerer of the modern era did not even turn around.
He remained exactly where he was, still facing Yami, the smile on his lips not changing in the slightest.
Then he casually lifted his right hand and pointed a single finger behind him.
The motion looked less like combat and more like someone brushing away an irritating insect.
"So noisy."
He spoke softly.
In the very next second, the world went silent.
Cursed Technique Reversal: Red.
A blinding red shockwave erupted from Gojo's fingertip without the slightest warning.
It was pure repulsion, the violent reversed output of the Limitless. No flourish. No buildup. Just absolute force unleashed with terrifying ease.
Boom!!!
There was no struggle.
No resistance.
No dramatic final scream.
The moment the evolved cursed spirit came into contact with that crimson blast, it was erased.
Not wounded. Not blown back. Erased.
Its massive body vanished on the spot, reduced to dust along with half of the abandoned building behind it.
The ruins shook violently.
Concrete exploded outward.
Steel twisted like paper.
Then, beneath the cold moonlight, the dust slowly began to settle.
The hellish slaughterhouse from moments ago had been flattened into a wasteland.
A complete instant kill.
Yami's eyes contracted.
So this was Satoru Gojo.
The strongest.
He had seen it in the anime. He had read about it. He knew, in theory, what kind of monster Gojo Satoru was.
But witnessing that power in person was something else entirely.
It struck straight at the soul.
Compared to that overwhelming red flash, the little trace of flame from his own Hinokami Kagura really did feel like the difference between candlelight and the sun.
"Hoo."
Gojo blew lightly across his fingertips as if he were brushing off imaginary dust, then adjusted his blindfold back into place.
The entire exchange had been so effortless it was almost insulting.
To him, it truly seemed no different from swatting a mosquito.
Then he looked back at Yami, and the grin on his face widened.
"Well? Pretty cool, right?"
He tilted his head with shameless confidence.
"Interested in becoming my student?"
"Oh, right. Name's Satoru Gojo. Teacher at Tokyo Jujutsu High."
Yami slowly let out a breath, forcing down the turbulence in his chest.
He understood it clearly now.
From the moment Gojo appeared, his fate had already changed.
Then the cold mechanical voice rang out inside his head again.
This time, it sounded sharper than before, almost excited.
[Ding!]
[Detected: "The Strongest Sorcerer of the Modern Era," Satoru Gojo!]
[Hidden Reward Triggered!]
[Use "Tsugikuni Yoriichi Full Ability Trial Card" ? Duration: 10 minutes. Role Playing Output: 10%. All abilities unlocked.]
[Note: This trial card allows the host to temporarily obtain the combat instinct and all sword forms of Tsugikuni Yoriichi at his peak. Due to the host's current physical limitations, only 10% of the role template's full power can be exerted.]
Yami froze for a second.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi at full power?
Even if it was limited to only 10% output, being able to access all of Yoriichi's abilities was still outrageously broken.
His gaze fixed on the casually smiling man in front of him.
And suddenly, something surged up from deep inside his chest.
It was not recklessness.
Not fear.
Not even simple curiosity.
It was the raw, instinctive fighting spirit of a swordsman who had come face to face with a true powerhouse.
Since he had already come to this world...
Since he had inherited that man's template...
Then if he walked away without testing himself against the legendary strongest, wouldn't that be a complete waste?
Yami slowly tightened his grip around the bent iron bar.
Then he lifted his head and looked straight into Gojo's eyes beneath the blindfold.
A faint smile spread across his lips.
It was arrogant, sharp, and utterly unlike Yoriichi Tsugikuni's calm nature.
"You want to be my teacher?"
His gaze did not waver for even a second.
"Then first... let's see if you can take this strike."
In his heart, he spoke coldly.
System.
Use the trial card.