Jujutsu Kaisen: Wheel Of Time

Chapter 7: First Year

"Panda!"

Not far away, a bipedal panda, taller than a human, was waving. Despite its large size, it looked very cute and endearing.

Panda waved and shouted from a distance, "Hajime~" Kamihara Hajime put down his luggage and embraced the large, fluffy panda. Looking at them, Panda was significantly taller than him.

After catching up, Panda helped carry some of the luggage, patting Kamihara Hajime's shoulder. "Gojo-sensei was supposed to pick you up, but you know... I'll take you to the dorms first, then you can meet your first-year classmates. They're all super interesting!"

Kamihara Hajime picked up the remaining luggage and walked beside Panda, smiling and saying something. Panda continuously exclaimed, "Really? They're all the latest! I can't wait to play."

Their voices gradually faded. After finding Kamihara Hajime's dorm and dropping off his luggage, Panda led Kamihara Hajime to a classroom.

Panda pushed open the door and yelled inside, "Whoa whoa whoa! Maki, Inumaki, the new student's here!"

Sitting in the classroom were a boy and a girl, both wearing Jujutsu High uniforms. The girl had a neat ponytail and dark green hair. Her features were excellent, though somewhat obscured by the rather old-fashioned round glasses she wore.

The boy had short silver hair, and the lower part of his face was covered by his collar, making him look very refined.

Maki and Inumaki Toge, sitting there, watched as Panda entered with a white-haired boy. The boy always had a gentle smile on his face, and although he wore stylish sunglasses, his appearance was still remarkably striking.

But... why did he look somewhat familiar, especially with an indescribable feeling?

"This is Kamihara Hajime, the one I often tell you about," Panda introduced them, gesturing with one hand up and one hand down.

Of course, they had heard Kamihara Hajime's name, not just from Panda's occasional mentions, but also due to his relationship with Gojo-sensei.

Recalling Gojo-sensei's past words, Maki silently thought to herself, "He's an adopted son, definitely an adopted son! That somewhat punchable look really resembles him..."

"However, he seems a bit better than that eye-mask idiot," Maki concluded silently, watching Kamihara Hajime politely remove his sunglasses and greet them.

"Kelp!"

Inumaki Toge also politely returned the greeting. Panda then continued to introduce Kamihara Hajime: "This is Maki. She doesn't like people calling her by her last name. She's very strong in martial arts."

"Inumaki Toge! Because he's a Zouge user, he can't speak like normal people, so he usually uses rice ball-related words."

Among them, Panda, of course, was an old acquaintance of Kamihara Hajime. Inumaki Toge, though he couldn't speak freely, was easygoing. And Maki, despite her cool and somewhat aloof appearance, was surprisingly kind.

After chatting for a while, they heard the wooden door slide open, and Gojo Satoru, with his white hair covering his eyes, walked in with his hands in his pockets.

Gojo Satoru, who was a few minutes late, seemed to have no shame. As soon as he entered, he clapped his hands cheerfully, drawing everyone's attention.

"Everyone, have you all gotten to know each other?"

Panda and Inumaki Toge were the first to respond to Gojo Satoru. Maki, however, had a black line on her face. She had already witnessed Gojo Satoru's unreliability several times. Her impression of the rumored strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer had already collapsed and been rebuilt after getting to know him up close.

As for Kamihara Hajime, he was already used to it. In everyday matters, Gojo Satoru could be said to be very eccentric, or rather, he acted as he pleased, giving off an impression of unreliability and... being punchable.

"Alright, alright, Maki is from the Zen'in, Panda has Yaga-principal's teachings, Inumaki also has his family's inheritance, and Hajime has also learned early on. I won't go over the basic knowledge again. To give you all the best welcome gift for the new school year, I'll find two suitable missions for you. Wait for my good news."

"How about it? Surprising, right? Let me think, Maki and Hajime a team, Panda and Inumaki a team. You all can get acquainted these next few days."

"Huh?" Maki's face almost turned black. It wasn't that she was unwilling to Exterminate Cursed Spirit, but it was too casual and sudden. What kind of scoundrel would send newly enrolled students on missions like this?

Panda rubbed the back of his head: "Ah... is it that sudden? And why aren't Hajime and I on the same team?"

"Salmon."

Gojo Satoru raised a finger and explained, "Because Maki and Panda are both close-combat types. Team building requires a balanced 'professional' distribution!"

Panda said with a drawn-out tone, "This isn't a video game, Gojo-sensei."

Kamihara Hajime had no objections. He wouldn't be surprised no matter how Gojo Satoru messed around. What

he was looking forward to now was the upcoming real combat. After all, his long-practiced Technique and martial arts had never had a chance to be used, so having an opportunity for actual combat was naturally good.

"Alright, alright, let's start training! Teacher, I'm free today and can guide you all."

...

At the training ground, the four of them warmed up. M

aki, holding a wooden staff, stood opposite Kamihara Hajime, who had a wooden sword. She asked, "According to Gojo-sensei, you're not good at martial arts?"

Kamihara Hajime twirled his sword a few times, then scratched his head. "It's not exactly like that. My Technique is acceleration. Simply strengthening my body with Cursed Energy is decent. It's just that I haven't learned enough moves, you know? You can't learn much from practicing with Gojo-sensei; he's too strong."

Maki effortlessly twirled her long staff, creating explosive whooshing sounds. "Then let's have a fight first."

"No problem! Please guide me!" Kamihara Hajime showed a brilliant smile.

The sparring quickly began. After only a few rounds, Maki couldn't help but complain internally. This was not just 'decent'; the power and speed... Although neither of them was going all out, it still greatly surprised Maki.

She knew that due to her unique circumstances, her physical strength far surpassed others. However, what Kamihara Hajime said was also true: he wasn't very good at fighting with moves and opponents of similar strength. Instead, he was quite good at defense and counterattacks under high pressure.

But... this guy is also good at long-range attacks, Hawkins?

After the sparring, Kamihara Hajime also gained a true understanding of Maki's combat abilities. In movies, it wasn't as profound as experiencing it up close now; her fierce offense was like a storm, leaving one breathless.

Afterwards, Kamihara Hajime humbly sought guidance, and Maki's impression of the modest Kamihara Hajime improved significantly. As for Panda and Inumaki Toge on the other side, there wasn't much to say; the latter's unique fighting style prevented any true sparring.

The two, or rather, one person and one panda, simply got acquainted. It was unclear how Panda understood Inumaki Toge's "rice ball language," but at least they seemed to communicate well.

Then there was Gojo Satoru's personal "guidance," but in Kamihara Hajime's opinion, he just wanted to play again. This time, however, he wasn't the only one being treated as a "toy," so he was happy to pretend not to know.

The subsequent developments were as Kamihara Hajime expected. Gojo Satoru, under the guise of guidance, had them all attack him, then effortlessly dodged and defended against all their offensives. His occasional counterattacks would not cause serious injuries but would make them grit their teeth in frustration.

Maki, who became increasingly invested in the fight, couldn't improve the situation. Panda even wanted to slack off, but after Gojo Satoru's special "attention," he had to become serious again. Of course... it was useless anyway.

And if Inumaki Toge's Zouge Technique were forcefully used on Gojo Satoru, it would not only have no effect but might even cause him to suffer a backlash and injury. Thus, he was the only one who could openly "slack off."

On the other side, Kamihara Hajime held the bow called "Extermination," first providing cover for Maki and the others with long-range attacks, and incidentally familiarizing himself with a new combat style.

In actual use, Kamihara Hajime felt that this Extermination was quite good. Whenever he infused Cursed Energy, a blue Cursed Energy would condense into a bowstring, and upon further infusion of Cursed Energy, a glowing dark blue arrow would be nocked on the string.

The attack power was also good, basically depending on the intensity of the Cursed Energy input by the user, though it did have an upper limit.

Those Cursed Energy arrows, after being dodged by Gojo Satoru, would explode upon hitting the ground with quite a commotion. Kamihara Hajime even almost accidentally injured Maki and Panda with the first few arrows, so he later had to control his Cursed Energy, trying to limit the output.

And finally, after Maki and the others withdrew from the fight, Kamihara Hajime also had to put down his long-range methods and once again accept the "beloved" Gojo Satoru-sensei's close-range guidance.

After beating up all his students, Gojo Satoru, refreshed, stretched his limbs, then showed his pearly white teeth and waved to the disheveled group: "Today's guidance was very meaningful. Teacher, I'm leaving now. You all can practice freely."

"Finally~ he's gone!"

"Salmon!"

Panda and Inumaki Toge, lying flat on the ground, sang in unison. Maki, on the other hand, recovered quickly. Now she felt that her combination with Kamihara Hajime was indeed good.

She would engage in close-quarters combat, and Kamihara Hajime could support her with long-range arrows, autonomously controlling their power. The more powerful Cursed Energy arrows would leave large craters on the ground. Moreover, Kamihara Hajime was not only capable of long-range combat; his close-range abilities were also not to be underestimated.

It was a pity that most Cursed Spirit had no brains, but if they encountered a Cursed Spirit that understood tactics, once they tried to get close to eliminate Kamihara Hajime, the long-range attacker, they would get a big surprise.

Kamihara Hajime felt a little intimidated by Maki's expression, then cleared his throat: "I'm going back to get some cold drinks. Do you want any?"

Panda instantly sprang up like a carp: "Coke, the colder the better, thank you!"

"Bonito flakes!"

Panda immediately translated: "He probably wants room temperature water. Inumaki needs to protect his throat."

Inumaki Toge nodded, indicating that Panda was correct. Seeing Kamihara Hajime look at her, Maki said, "Hmm... green tea, I'm fine with anything."

Kamihara Hajime returned to the dorm, took out the requested cold drinks from the portable refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of mineral water, and returned to the training ground.

The four of them drank water to dispel their fatigue from earlier, chatting as they did so. After the battle side-by-side, and having already gotten to know each other initially, they became even more familiar.

Panda was the type who would mischievously plot pranks with Kamihara Hajime. Inumaki Toge was usually quiet, but he was also the kind of person who would immediately join Panda and Kamihara Hajime.

Maki, while not "colluding" with them, enjoyed watching the fun as long as she wasn't involved. And she was also the type of person who trusted and cared deeply for her companions.

Plus, she was excellent at fighting, giving off an overwhelming sense of security! This was what Panda said. At the time, Kamihara Hajime watched Panda's small eyes trying to wink, and for some reason, his hand felt a little itchy...