Chapter 151
"Looking forward to working with you."
Kiriya and Gojo clasped hands, both smiling as though they had just pulled off an excellent deal.
"Come on. I’ll take you to Tokyo Jujutsu High now."
Gojo turned toward Maki and Panda.
"You two are coming too."
Neither argued. They simply followed him outside, and the group drove to the school together.
Tokyo Jujutsu High sat on a large stretch of land covered in traditional buildings.
Even at a glance, the place felt old, quiet, and cut off from the modern city around it.
"All right," Gojo said once they arrived. "I’m going to speak with the principal and sort out the paperwork."
He pointed at Panda.
"You’re coming with me to give the mission report."
Then he looked at Maki.
"You’re the senpai here, so show our new recruit around."
"Got it."
Maki rested her spear across one shoulder and glanced at Kiriya.
"Come with me."
Panda watched the two of them walk away and leaned toward Gojo.
"Sensei, are you sure leaving those two alone is a good idea?"
"What’s the problem?" Gojo asked cheerfully. "They’re new classmates. Letting them get acquainted is healthy."
Panda stared at him, once again wondering what horrible mistake in a past life had earned him a teacher like this.
Gojo tilted his head.
"Something you’d like to say, Panda?"
"No, sensei."
Panda immediately stood straighter, his voice becoming painfully respectful.
"Let’s go. I can’t wait to give you my report!"
"Good boy, Hahahaha."
...
Maki led Kiriya deeper into the school.
She did not bother showing him the classrooms, dorms, or training halls. Instead, she took him straight to the athletic field.
After a short warm-up, she pulled out her spear and pointed it at him.
Kiriya raised an eyebrow.
"What’s this about, Zenin?"
"Don’t call me that."
The reply came out sharper than she intended. Maki caught herself and softened her tone slightly.
"Just call me Maki."
"All right, Maki. What are you planning?"
"A spar."
Her expression was serious.
"I want to know exactly how far apart we are."
"A fight, huh?"
Kiriya narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
"I don’t mind, but fighting for nothing sounds a little boring."
It was time to teach this young woman how cruel the battlefield could be.
Maki frowned.
"What are you suggesting?"
"Let’s make a bet. The loser has to grant the winner one request."
Kiriya smiled.
Maki said nothing.
She only gave him a look that made her opinion very clear.
With the strength he had already shown, she had no chance if he used everything. That was not a bet. It was robbery.
"Pure hand-to-hand combat," Kiriya added. "No strange techniques, nothing else."
He lifted his sword.
"If you can last ten exchanges without losing, you win."
His smile became slightly more annoying.
"Unless you don’t have that much confidence."
"Save the cheap provocation."
Maki’s gaze sharpened.
"I’ll teach you what happens when you underestimate me!"
"I’m looking forward to it."
Kiriya drew his sword.
The words had barely left his mouth when Maki charged.
Despite her tall, lean build, her acceleration was explosive.
She crossed the ten-meter gap in an instant, her spear darting toward his heart like a striking snake.
Clang!
Kiriya knocked the thrust aside with ease, then drove a kick toward her stomach.
Maki twisted the shaft of her spear across her body just in time.
The kick struck the weapon with a heavy crack and still sent her flying several meters.
She landed on her feet, but her arms trembled from the impact. A deep numbness spread from her palms to her shoulders.
’What a ridiculous strength...’
Kiriya rested the sword against his shoulder.
"What was that? You call that an attack?"
His mouth curled into a cold smile.
"Or are you trying to flirt with me?"
"You bastard!"
Heat rushed into Maki’s face, equal parts anger and embarrassment.
She charged again.
The spear came at him from every angle—straight thrusts, sweeping strikes, heavy overhead blows.
Each attack carried enough force to break bone, and together they formed a relentless assault that would have overwhelmed most students at Jujutsu High.
But Kiriya was not an ordinary student.
He had survived hundreds of battles and polished his technique until every movement had become instinct.
Clang, clang, clang!
He met each strike without wasting a step.
His sword always seemed to appear at exactly the right place, touching the weakest point of Maki’s leverage and turning aside attacks that should have carried him backward.
Maki kept pressing, yet the spearwork she had always relied on could not break through his defense.
"Could you put a little effort into it?"
Kiriya yawned while blocking another thrust.
"If this keeps up, I’m going to fall asleep."
"RAAAH!"
Maki’s anger finally boiled over.
She gave a fierce shout and feinted high with the spear.
When Kiriya shifted aside, she immediately dropped low and swept a leg toward his ankle, trying to destroy his balance.
Her shin connected but Kiriya did not move.
Maki’s face went pale instead.
It felt as though she had kicked a steel pillar. The recoil shot up her leg, and for a moment she thought the bone had cracked.
’What’s with his body?’
He was young, but his stance was immovable, and his muscles and bones felt harder than metal.
’Is he even human?’
That single distracted thought cost her.
Kiriya grabbed the spear shaft and yanked.
Maki was pulled off her feet, and his fist drove toward her stomach.
Boom!
She managed to cross both arms in front of herself before the punch landed, but the impact still hurled her several meters away.
Her arms shook uncontrollably.
Pain pulsed through the bones, and her expression tightened despite her attempt to hide it.
"The feint wasn’t bad," Kiriya said. "You understand how to draw someone’s attention away from your real attack."
Then his tone turned critical.
"But your awareness is terrible. You lost focus in the middle of a fight."
He tapped the side of his head.
"In a real battle, that half-second would’ve gotten you killed."
Then he kept talking.
And talking!
Every small mistake became another lecture.
A vein began twitching on Maki’s forehead.
She wanted nothing more than to find a cannon and fire it directly into his smug face!
"Shut up!"
She rushed him again and abandoned the spear, throwing a fast, vicious barrage of punches.
Kiriya caught every one.
"Getting this angry because an opponent talked trash is childish," he said while trapping one of her fists.
"How do you expect to become a proper sorcerer if—"
Maki slammed her forehead into his.
Thud!
Kiriya’s vision blurred for a moment.
Maki looked just as dazed, but before she could recover, Kiriya grinned and leaned forward.
Thud!
Then again.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
At last, the field became quiet.