Chapter 179
"How confident are you?"
After the meeting ended, Gojo pulled Kiriya aside and lowered his voice.
"If I said one hundred percent, you wouldn’t believe me."
Kiriya gave him a thumbs-up.
"So let’s call it ninety-eight."
"Are you serious? Maybe I should stay behind after all."
"No. If Geto isn’t certain you’re in Shinjuku, he won’t show himself."
Kiriya nudged him with an elbow.
"You wouldn’t want Principal Yaga to mobilize half the jujutsu world only for nothing to happen, would you?"
"He’d lose his mind."
"..."
Kiriya made an annoyingly good point, leaving Gojo with no real argument.
"Then hold out as long as you can. I’ll clear out the enemies in Shinjuku as quickly as possible and come back to support you."
Gojo said it as though the forces waiting in Shinjuku would barely slow him down.
"Sure. Good luck with that."
Kiriya offered encouragement aloud, but privately remained unconvinced.
Geto had recruited Miguel, the strongest sorcerer in Africa and a man famous for being absurdly difficult to put down.
With the rare Black Rope interfering with Limitless, even Gojo would probably need fifteen or twenty minutes to finish him.
That would be more than enough time for Kiriya and Geto to settle their fight.
"Don’t get reckless, kid."
Seeing how relaxed Kiriya looked, Gojo’s tone grew serious.
"If things go wrong, retreat. There’s no reason to risk your life just to prove a point."
"Of course. I’m terrified of dying. Do you really think I’d stay and fight a losing battle?"
Kiriya waved dismissively, looking completely sincere.
"I hope you mean that."
...
Three days passed quickly.
Soon, the promised sunset arrived.
In the streets of Shinjuku, vast numbers of cursed spirits swept across the sky.
Some were as large as ships, their backs covered with dense swarms of smaller curses.
Others were no bigger than flies, filling the air with an irritating buzz.
The streets were no safer.
Curses of every shape and size marched between the buildings, their sheer numbers and heavy footsteps creating the impression of an advancing army.
"Try to avoid damaging the buildings unless absolutely necessary," Yaga warned everyone.
"They’re here."
Maki stared at the approaching horde with such excitement that her eyes almost seemed to glow.
For weeks, her days had been filled with conditioning, technical drills, and sparring against Kiriya.
It had been productive, but none of that truly compared to a real fight.
Maki had been desperate for something more.
Now, with hundreds of curses rushing toward her, she could finally cut loose.
"Don’t charge too far ahead. Maintain formation," Gojo reminded her.
He had come to Shinjuku as well.
If Geto truly appeared here, no one else could reliably stop a special-grade sorcerer of his caliber.
"Got it."
Maki answered without slowing down and charged forward with the others.
Her spear moved like a living creature, striking with deadly precision.
Every thrust destroyed another curse, making her resemble a legendary warrior carving through an entire army alone.
Many of the sorcerers who had never met her before stared in astonishment.
A fighter like Maki naturally inspired everyone around her.
The others rushed forward with renewed energy, shouting as they attacked. For a moment, their aggression completely overwhelmed the grotesque cursed spirits.
"Well, now. You’re quite impressive."
A man’s voice came from above.
Miguel had appeared on the roof of a low building, looking down at Maki with open interest.
"What’s your name?"
"..."
Maki paused for the briefest moment and nearly allowed a curse to bite her.
She rolled aside, drove her spear through its body, and only then looked up.
"Who are you?"
Maki possessed almost no cursed energy, but her recent training had greatly sharpened her ability to sense danger.
The man above her radiated an extremely threatening presence.
He was not on Gojo’s level, but he was far closer than most people had any right to be.
"Oh? You can sense it?"
Miguel grinned, revealing a row of bright white teeth.
"You’re perceptive. Personally, I’d love to test your martial arts."
"Sorry, but your opponent is me."
Gojo appeared beside Maki and erased a large group of curses with a casual wave.
"Leave this area to me. Go help somewhere else."
Maki and the others immediately obeyed.
Before long, only Gojo and Miguel remained.
"So you’re the backup Geto hired."
Gojo pulled the bandages away from his eyes, revealing irises as vast and vivid as the open sky.
"I’m rather busy. Would you mind losing quickly?"
"Come and make me, strongest sorcerer."
Miguel drew out the Black Rope with a brilliant smile.
Whoosh!
The instant he finished speaking, Gojo appeared directly in front of him and drove a fist into his chest.
"Whoa!"
Miguel’s shout was remarkably strong for someone being launched like a cannonball.
He tore through an entire building before finally stopping.
"You’re surprisingly durable."
Gojo glanced at his fist.
He had rarely met anyone who could absorb a hit that well.
Whoosh!
A black blur lashed toward his neck like a striking snake.
Gojo raised an arm to block.
The instant the rope touched him, his body jolted.
For the first time in a long while, he felt pain.
"That rope is interfering with my technique."
Gojo studied the weapon in Miguel’s hands and immediately understood.
"So that’s why you thought you could keep me occupied."
"Heh. Today, I’ll find out what the title of ’strongest’ is really worth."
Miguel raised the Black Rope and settled into a fighting stance.
"I’ll show you."
Gojo rushed forward.
"Even if it kills you."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Their battle shook the city.
Skyscrapers that had seemed immovable crumbled like toy blocks beneath the shock waves generated by their clashes.
From a distance, Mimiko and Nanako stared wide-eyed as Gojo repeatedly battered Miguel across the battlefield.
They swallowed nervously.
"Miguel can barely do anything except take the hits..."
"That Gojo is really that strong."
Only now did they truly understand what it meant to be called the strongest sorcerer of the modern age.
...
Inside a first-year classroom at Tokyo Jujutsu High, the fading sunlight fell across Kiriya and Yuta.
"Um... Kiriya-san, is it really all right for us to stay here?"
Yuta hesitated for some time before finally asking.
"What else should we do?"
Kiriya glanced at him.
"Were you planning to join the front line?"
"I... did think about it."
Yuta scratched his head, embarrassed.
"Everyone else is fighting while I hide here. It doesn’t feel right."
"Forget it. At your current level, you’d only be delivering yourself to the enemy."
Kiriya rolled his eyes.
The Yuta from the original story could have torn through the Night Parade with overwhelming force.
This Yuta could not.
The attack had come several months earlier than it should have, and Yuta had spent barely a month at Jujutsu High.
He had not had enough time to grow.
Sending him into battle now would only make him a burden.
"If anything happened to you, Rika would lose control. At that point, there might not be many people left alive in Tokyo."
Kiriya’s blunt words hit Yuta like a bucket of ice water.
He lowered his head.
"I wish I were stronger."
"Give yourself enough time, and I have no doubt you will be." Kiriya spoke with complete certainty.
"But for now, you need patience."
"Right."
Yuta nodded firmly.
Then the light outside vanished.
He looked toward the windows in confusion.
"Did the sun really set that quickly?"
His eyes widened.
"Is that a Curtain?"
"Exactly."
A smile spread across Kiriya’s face.
"After all that waiting, he finally came."