Jujutsu Kaisen: Wheel Of Time

Chapter 15: Kyoto Jujutsu High

"Yuta, it's your turn."

Gojo Satoru gestured for Yuta Okkotsu to step forward. Beside him, Panda, who had dragged Kamihara Hajime back, loudly cheered him on, "Yuta, go for it! Take down Gojo Sensei!"

Yuta Okkotsu gripped his wooden sword, a bit nervous. Hearing Panda's shout, he gave an awkward smile. He had witnessed the previous battle, and he was still working hard to master Rika's Curse. Thinking of the dazzling display just now, he knew that with his current strength...

However, doing his best should be enough! Yuta Okkotsu tightened his grip on the wooden sword, thinking this, and his heart seemed to calm down. Scenes of his daily training flashed through his mind...

Surging Cursed Energy rose from Yuta Okkotsu, then gradually retracted back to him under his control. Gojo Satoru raised an eyebrow; it was an unusually vast amount of Cursed Energy. Perhaps... Yuta's idea was correct; it wasn't Rika who had Cursed him, but he who had unintentionally Cursed Rika...

Already prepared, Yuta Okkotsu exhaled a turbid breath. With Cursed Energy attached to his body, he immediately left a faint shadow in the air with an extremely swift movement, the blade of his wooden sword already slashing towards Gojo Satoru's face.

But in an instant, Gojo Satoru's figure vanished again.

"Here it comes! Gojo Sensei's teleportation."

Yuta Okkotsu reacted very quickly, immediately spinning his body to bring the wooden sword around. Sure enough, Gojo Satoru had appeared behind him, and then cooperatively dodged the wooden sword.

"You're improving quickly. You're much more energetic than before. Truly my dear student."

Gojo Satoru easily dodged Yuta Okkotsu's attacks, then, catching him off guard, extended his leg to trip him. Yuta quickly recovered on the ground, rolling twice before half-crouching.

The wooden sword, retracted to his waist, shot out again after a brief moment of gathering momentum, but the fierce strike was abruptly stopped by Gojo Satoru's outstretched, clasped hands.

"I told you to treat me as an enemy, Yuta, you're still a bit hesitant, and your force isn't enough. You'll suffer if you keep this up."

Yuta Okkotsu was momentarily stunned, then was sent flying by a kick from Gojo Satoru, feeling as if his body was about to fall apart in mid-air.

Quickly getting up, Yuta Okkotsu saw Gojo Satoru beckon: "Again!"

...

For an entire afternoon, Gojo Satoru was like a robot, completely unaware of fatigue. One-on-one battles, team battles, and finally, it turned into a trial where several people challenged their limits.

Breaking physical limits, squeezing out Cursed Energy Techniques—even Ieiri Shoko, who came to watch, couldn't help but complain to Gojo Satoru a few times. She had already healed these students several times.

"The situation is already worsening. Curses are being detected to be rampant in various places again. Grade 2 and Grade 1 Cursed Spirits have increased significantly, and even traces of Special Grade Cursed Spirits have been found..."

Gojo Satoru calmly stated the somewhat volatile situation. Thinking of the clear signs of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit already observed in one location, he couldn't help but feel worried.

It wasn't worry about how to resolve the Special Grade Cursed Spirit; he worried that this was merely a signal before a storm.

Ieiri Shoko also showed a worried expression. Gojo Satoru stood up, clapped his hands, and gestured for the few who were briefly resting to come over, leaving words as he walked: "So... the burden on the young people has become heavier. While they have our protection, I hope they can grow quickly and stand beside us."

A new round of "love teachings" from Gojo Sensei soon began, and Kamihara Hajime took this opportunity to practice many uses of his Technique. Gojo Satoru's Six Eyes could quickly give him the most direct feedback.

Kamihara Hajime also discovered that when using the Technique "Reversal" on himself, his Cursed Energy and other states would return to the moment he selected, which could be called another form of "refresh."

"Reloading, right!"

However, there was something that couldn't be "refreshed," just as his consciousness would retain the state before the refresh and then return to that moment, instead of reproducing a previous version of him.

Kamihara Hajime temporarily called this mental power, because after multiple, continuous uses of Technique Reversal, he felt dizziness, fatigue, headache, and disorientation, and the more continuous the use, the stronger this feeling became.

But with Ieiri Shoko's treatment, that feeling would recover significantly, meaning the idea Kamihara Hajime had previously entertained was shattered.

He had intended to use Technique Reversal to achieve various bug-level ideas, such as constantly "refreshing" himself during combat, not only preventing injury but also making his Cursed Energy infinite!

Unfortunately, he couldn't... It could only be used as a recovery method with a cooldown. It seemed Reverse Cursed Technique was still the way to go! Perhaps if he could further master Reverse Cursed Technique, combined with his own Technique Reversal, he could use it with almost no side effects? Thinking about it, it seemed to make some sense. Kamihara Hajime was somewhat stirred, but now was not the time to think about these things, so he put it aside for now.

Gojo Satoru's special training didn't last long. The next day, after only half a day, he had to stop due to other matters he needed to handle. As he left, Gojo Satoru feigned shedding a tear: "I know my dear students must be very reluctant to see me go. Don't worry! When I return, I will bring you even better special training!"

"No!"

Ignoring everyone's wails, Gojo Satoru turned and walked away with a smile. As for strength, Gojo Satoru was undoubtedly powerful; he knew everything about Jujutsu. But when it came to teaching others, it was somewhat difficult for him.

In Gojo Satoru's own words: "Isn't this simple thing very clear?" However, in reality, those listening were completely confused. And while Kamihara Hajime's Technique Reversal did indeed have Gojo Satoru's guidance, the time spent and the hardships involved were hard to describe.

Therefore, Gojo Satoru preferred practical teaching. If the mind couldn't learn, then let the body learn first! Gojo Satoru said this with a thumbs up.

Although they complained about Gojo Satoru's training, they still gained a lot of improvement. After all, being able to face an exceptionally powerful enemy without true life-threatening danger was a very valuable experience.

Days flew by quickly. During this time, Kamihara Hajime also met two second-year seniors who had temporarily returned. Yes, seniors! But he saw a male and a female, and they seemed to be a couple.

The male, named Kinji Hakari, was tall with thick hair combed back and up, looking somewhat like... a broccoli? His square face had some stubble, and both eyebrows had two cuts, making him look less like a student and more like a delinquent uncle from society.

The other senior was named Kirara Hoshi. From her appearance alone, she was female. She wore a very fashionable outfit, with straight bangs and medium-length hair. Several decorative studs were embedded below her lip and on her chin. She also wore a crop top, revealing her slender waist. The most peculiar thing was her eyes, where the pupils were shaped like a five-pointed star, and there were needle-like decorative patterns around her eyes.

There wasn't much interaction between them. That senior, Kinji Hakari, seemed to have a subtly displeased attitude towards the exchange event or something else. He said a few words and then waved goodbye.

The day before the exchange event arrived, and the principal and students of Kyoto Jujutsu High had already arrived. The venue for each "Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event" was the school of the previous year's winner, meaning Tokyo Jujutsu High had won the last one.

In a large room usually used for meetings, the principals, teachers, and students from both sides gathered. The principal of Kyoto Jujutsu High was an old man with a cane, dressed in traditional white robes and wide trousers, with a bald head and only completely white eyebrows and beard.

Both were very peculiar: his beard hung long to his chest, and his eyebrows were most striking, thick white eyebrows hanging down as long as his face. Kamihara Hajime had never seen such real eyebrows before.

The leader of the Tokyo Jujutsu High team was Gojo Satoru, while the Kyoto Jujutsu High team was led by a woman in a miko outfit. Her originally beautiful face was marred by a scar extending from her right cheek to above her nose bridge.

The woman, named Utahime Iori, was Gojo Satoru's senior during their Jujutsu High days. They seemed very familiar with each other. As soon as Gojo Satoru arrived, he approached her with a grin and said something, which only added to Utahime Iori's already disgusted expression upon seeing him.

Ignoring what those two were entangled in, Kamihara Hajime's attention was drawn to a black-haired girl with a bob cut among the Kyoto students. Even though her hairstyle was different, this person... looked so much like Maki.

That person was also observing Maki, with an inexplicable expression. Kamihara Hajime turned his head and whispered to Panda, "I say, Panda, did you see that? That person opposite looks so much like Maki."

Panda naturally saw it too. Maki, seeing the two of them whispering and occasionally looking at her, immediately felt a vein throb on her forehead.

"She's my twin sister, Zen'in Mai. Can you two stop being so sneaky!"

"Oh, oh!"

Kamihara Hajime and Panda both let out soft exclamations of surprise, making Maki want to punch them right then and there. At this moment, Yuta Okkotsu quietly spoke up, "Hajime, Panda... shouldn't we be most concerned about that... robot? Also, that person opposite looks so fierce, and he's been watching us too."

Kamihara Hajime looked over. There were a total of six Kyoto students: two males, three females, and one robot! That robot wasn't the highly sci-fi iron man Kamihara Hajime imagined; it was more like a puppet mixed with some Jujutsu characteristics, also wearing Kyoto's school uniform.

Among the other two males, the one further away was a traditional handsome man who kept his eyes nearly closed. In Kamihara Hajime's assessment, unlike modern handsome guys like Gojo Sensei and himself, his traditional attire and demeanor made him seem more like a young master from a prestigious family.

The other burly man was much simpler: his robust, explosive physique couldn't be concealed even by his school uniform. He had a scar running from his left forehead to below his left eye, and his hair was simply tied up in a spiky bun, making him look very intimidating.

The three female students looked much more harmonious. Besides Maki's sister, who seemed to be at odds with Maki, the other two at least looked very friendly. The girl with long blue hair and slightly slanted bangs smiled back when Kamihara Hajime looked over.

The last student was very petite in appearance, with golden hair tied into two thick, spiky pigtails. Her face was also very cute and pleasing to the eye; she seemed to be a mixed-race individual. She also had personality ear studs, and a broom was placed next to her. Was she cosplaying a witch?

Over there, the Kyoto Principal and Yaga Masamichi had also finished their conversation. Yaga Masamichi stood up and said, "Gakuganji Principal and I have agreed on the content of this exchange event, which is largely unchanged from previous years. Next, you can get to know each other. Everyone here will be comrades on the same front in the future."

The blue-haired girl, who had just greeted Kamihara Hajime, was the first to stand up and bow, saying, "Hello everyone, my name is Miwa Kasumi, a first-year student at Kyoto Jujutsu High. Please take care of me!"

"Momo Nishimiya, second-year student." This was the petite blonde girl.

"Mechamaru, first-year." Of course, it was the mechanical puppet.

"Zen'in Mai, first-year. Oh? What? Did my sister never mention me to you? That's a bit sad!" Although she said this, Zen'in Mai, Maki's twin sister, showed no sadness on her face; instead, she wore a playful smile.

"Kamo Noritoshi, second-year student. Please take care of me." This was the handsome man with narrowed eyes. Hearing this, Kamihara Hajime raised an eyebrow. The Kamo Family! One of The Big Three Families, along with Gojo and Zen'in. Interesting.

Tokyo Jujutsu High also took turns introducing themselves. Yuta Okkotsu and Maki spoke first, then Panda, who also introduced Inumaki Toge, who usually only spoke in rice ball terms.

Panda naturally attracted the most attention, especially from Miwa Kasumi and Momo Nishimiya, whose eyes were practically sparkling.

Then it was Kamihara Hajime's turn. Not having time to style his hair these days, he simply tied his slightly longer hair back, which gave him an untamed, dashing look. Miwa Kasumi, though outwardly calm, was buzzing internally: Another handsome guy! But Gojo Satoru is still more handsome. I need to figure out a way to get a photo with him...

"My name is Kamihara Hajime, a first-year student. Please take care of me!"

Finally, it was the burly man's turn. His stern face showed no expression. After a brief, somewhat awkward silence, he finally spoke: "Aoi Todo, second-year."

"I say... are you all first-years? Are you... looking down on us a bit?"