Jujutsu Kaisen: Wheel Of Time

Chapter 14: Reversal

"Let me think, how about this? You all come at me one by one and show me your full strength. Remember, I mean full strength!"

In the training ground, Gojo Satoru, with his sleeves rolled up, said to the five people standing opposite him. His lazy tone somehow sounded a bit annoying.

Maki stepped forward first, her eyes sharp as she said, "I'll go first!"

Watching Gojo Satoru stand there with his hands in his pockets, having changed his posture, Maki cleared her mind of distractions. Holding a wooden staff, she moved her feet and charged at Gojo Satoru.

Maki, who arrived in front of Gojo Satoru in the blink of an eye, suddenly changed direction, and the staff in her hand simultaneously let out a tearing sound as it struck towards Gojo Satoru's upper body.

The almost continuous blur of the staff suddenly stopped, firmly grasped in a long, well-defined hand.

Gojo Satoru's leisurely, vacation-like tone sounded again: "Maki, did you use up all your strength in the previous training? And also, didn't I say to use your full strength?"

"Although part of this training for you is for the upcoming exchange event, I hope you can learn something that can also be used in your future missions."

As Gojo Satoru said this, a smile curled at the corner of his mouth. His slightly lowered sunglasses revealed part of his eyes. At this moment, those eyes, like the sky and the sea, held a touch more seriousness.

"So… treat me as a real enemy, use all your strength, and I will not hesitate to teach you."

Gojo Satoru laughed heartily: "Don't worry about your teacher! After all… I am invincible."

"We are invincible!"

Gojo Satoru, whose thoughts were momentarily dazed, suddenly saw an afterimage flash before his eyes. Then, under Maki's precisely timed sweeping attack, Gojo Satoru leaned back at the last moment to avoid the staff.

Then, supporting himself with one hand on the ground, he swept his leg, forcing Maki, who had changed her attack, to retreat. His figure then flashed, springing up from the ground, and he counter-attacked Maki with clenched fists and palms.

Maki, who was instantly put on the defensive, felt incredibly frustrated. She felt as if she wasn't facing just one person; the dense attacks seemed like several people attacking her simultaneously.

However, as she got fired up, she gradually stopped thinking about these things. Every move she made was now almost instinctual, and she wielded the long staff with incredible skill.

But it was useless. Every time she was about to hit Gojo Satoru, he would subtly shift from his original position, like a flicker where only the initial and final positions could be observed, with no way to see how the process happened.

In fact, even if Gojo Satoru stood still and let Maki hit him, he would not actually be touched by the wooden staff, as his Technique was already passive.

Then, Gojo Satoru dismantled every one of Maki's offensive waves, while also muttering about the openings Maki exposed, or talking to himself about how Maki should attack.

And while Gojo Satoru's counterattacks looked very casual, they would certainly not feel good if they landed. It seemed he was determined to let his students experience the love of a storm.

However, they had all experienced several Curse missions, and injuries were not uncommon in regular training, especially for a fierce close-combatant like Maki. Such minor injuries only intensified her desire to attack.

The two exchanged dozens of blows, back and forth, like a flash of lightning. Then, after Gojo Satoru knocked Maki down with a palm strike to her forehead, he declared Maki out and called for the next person.

Kamihara Hajime exclaimed from the side, "He even used his Technique. How are we supposed to play?"

Panda clapped his hands together and stretched, then said, "Isn't this perfect? I'm going in!"

Then Kamihara Hajime saw Panda, who had soon entered "Gorilla" mode, being thrown back upside down, while Gojo Satoru was still stretching as if warming up.

As a suddenly mutated Curse Corpse, Panda differs from other Curse Corpses in having only one core. Panda possesses three cores, or rather, three personalities.

The first is the balance-focused Panda, which is his usual self. The second is the strength-focused Gorilla mode. The third is the speed-focused "older sister" who rarely appears due to shyness.

In Gorilla mode, Panda has a special move called "Vibration Palm." Simply put, this attack bypasses ordinary defenses and has very high "armor penetration."

However, none of these had any effect. Panda was directly beaten back into his balance mode, lying on the ground bruised and swollen.

"Alright~ next student!"

Gojo Satoru smiled brightly, his gaze directed at Kamihara Hajime. Knowing he couldn't avoid it, Kamihara Hajime could only pick up a wooden sword and walk over.

"I say, Gojo-sensei, there's no point in me coming. I can't break your Limitless Technique right now. This is just a one-sided beating, isn't it?"

Gojo Satoru waved his hand: "Don't say that, Hajime. It's good for your teacher to see your true strength now…"

"Bang!"

The sound of air exploding suddenly rang out. Everyone present felt a blur before their eyes. The originally leisurely standing Kamihara Hajime instantly appeared not far in front of Gojo Satoru, but his figure was flying backward.

The wooden sword in his hand had already shattered into tiny fragments. Kamihara Hajime's figure in mid-air suddenly disappeared again, replaced by his reappearance along the path of his being struck.

Kamihara Hajime rubbed his wrist and complained, "Gojo-sensei, you're too much."

Gojo Satoru stroked his chin and said with interest, "Hajime, have you mastered your Technique to this extent? That was Technique Reversal just now, wasn't it?"

Kamihara Hajime chuckled, "Gojo-sensei, how about a deal? Let's have a close-quarters combat match. I won't use my Technique to speed myself up, and you won't use your Technique to push me away, how about that?"

Gojo Satoru still wore a calm smile. Then, upon hearing Kamihara Hajime's taunt, "No way, no way! Would the invincible Gojo Satoru-sensei refuse?" he couldn't help but laugh wryly: "This brat."

"I agree."

The expression on Kamihara Hajime's face gradually calmed down, his eyes becoming incredibly focused. He then approached Gojo Satoru with his sword. Although he wasn't using his Technique to enhance himself, his speed was still very quick just by manipulating his Cursed Energy.

Maki, Panda, Yuta Okkotsu, and Inumaki Toge, who were watching, were all very serious. Kamihara Hajime's inexplicable attack earlier had left them bewildered. They hadn't even seen clearly; was one exchange over already?

Maki recalled the time she executed a mission with him, thoughts swirling in her mind. Was it speed? But being that fast was too unfair. Could anyone really defend against that?

Then she looked at Gojo Satoru, who had already defended once. The two were exchanging blows, and Kamihara Hajime seemed very familiar with Gojo Satoru's approximate flickering locations, always able to change his attack target in time or block Gojo Satoru's attacks.

However, judging by Gojo Satoru's current state and expression, he was fighting Kamihara Hajime in a guiding capacity, and his flickering locations were never particularly tricky.

Kamihara Hajime dodged, parried, and counter-attacked somewhat awkwardly, but every punch he threw was incredibly serious. Since he said he wouldn't use his Technique to speed himself up, he naturally had to keep his word.

Without the aid of his Technique, he was now trying to find the feeling of landing a Black Flash. As long as he could successfully land a Black Flash and force Gojo Satoru back, he had already thought out every step that followed.

So even though he was constantly at a disadvantage, Kamihara Hajime persisted, trying to find an opportunity to counterattack, while Gojo Satoru seemed to be deliberately stringing Kamihara Hajime along, keeping the tension but not immediately defeating him.

"Hajime, you seem to have some trump card that gives you a lot of confidence. Why don't you use it quickly? No way, no way, you won't be able to use it before I defeat you, will you?"

Hearing Gojo Satoru use his own taunt against him, Kamihara Hajime almost lost his rhythm. After raising his hand to block Gojo Satoru's casual sweep, Kamihara Hajime, having taken half a step back and completed his charge, threw a fierce punch.

"This feeling! It's coming!"

The black Cursed Energy glow appeared, and only then did Gojo Satoru's expression change a bit. This was getting interesting!

"Black Flash!"

Maki, who exclaimed this, recalled how Kamihara Hajime had launched a Black Flash from the sky to exorcise that Cursed Spirit during that mission. Beside her, Yuta Okkotsu asked curiously, "What is Black Flash? Does it refer to that black Cursed Energy glow? It looks quite dangerous."

Maki paused, then explained the existence of Black Flash to him. Meanwhile, after Kamihara Hajime landed a Black Flash, its terrifying fluctuations were completely crushed in Gojo Satoru's hands, and then Gojo Satoru's other hand clenched into a fist and charged straight forward.

The battle continued amidst Maki's explanations. Then, the others saw that this Black Flash seemed to have no effect and was taken by Gojo Satoru. Immediately after, Kamihara Hajime himself was sent flying.

"My dear student, be careful when you're knocked into the air!"

Gojo Satoru didn't wait for Kamihara Hajime, who had been struck and lost his balance, to create distance. He followed him with an even faster flash, his face beaming with a sunny smile, as if he had already anticipated that Kamihara Hajime would soon be thoroughly pummeled like a sandbag.

"That's it! If I were to use my Technique directly on Gojo-sensei, given the current disparity in strength, there would be too many factors to consider to reverse him to a specific moment—Gojo-sensei's Cursed Energy, his Technique… The final conclusion: it would very likely fail!"

"So… the real plan is"

Kamihara Hajime, losing his balance, slowly revealed a smile. He clearly saw the smile on Gojo Satoru's face, close at hand, slowly turn into confusion. Then Kamihara Hajime activated his Technique.

"Technique Reversal! Time Wheel - Reverse."

All the scenery before Kamihara Hajime's eyes suddenly changed. Instead of Gojo Satoru attacking, it was now Yuta Okkotsu and the other four looking at him with astonished expressions. Feeling the surging Cursed Energy within him, Kamihara Hajime smiled. The punch he had thrown, guided by his prepared intention, turned and struck behind him, where Gojo Satoru was now completely open!

The black Cursed Energy glow shone again. Kamihara Hajime, who had deliberately chosen this moment to reverse, was aiming for this Black Flash. He had anchored this moment, then shifted positions and reversed back. Now was precisely the moment he was about to unleash a Black Flash!

Pseudo Black Flash Double Strike.

However, as Kamihara Hajime turned, he saw Gojo Satoru with a triumphant smile. Before his smile could even freeze, Kamihara Hajime saw Gojo Satoru use his old trick, catching his attack in his hand. The massive Cursed Energy colliding and generating fluctuations were firmly held by him.

Then Gojo Satoru punched Kamihara Hajime in the abdomen. Only one word flashed in his mind—'doomed!'—before Kamihara Hajime, feeling his insides churn and unable to muster any strength, collapsed to the ground. He even tried to look at Gojo Satoru and asked, "Gojo-sensei, how did you notice…?"

Gojo Satoru whistled: "Hajime's Technique, I know it, you see. And didn't you just demonstrate the effect of your Technique Reversal? I thought you were going to use it on me. And have you forgotten that my Six Eyes provide a 360-degree, blind-spot-free view in that regard?"

Gojo Satoru slightly pulled down his sunglasses, revealing his brilliant eyes full of laughter. Kamihara Hajime pounded the grass fiercely and said indignantly, "You're cheating! Someone has full map vision!"