"Gojo Satoru…"
Eishi Kamo glared at Satoru but didn't dare say anything more.
The methods Eishi specialized in were completely ineffective against Satoru.
Or rather, having never spent much time with Satoru, Eishi had no idea what kind of person he was dealing with.
If anyone tried to act high and mighty in front of Satoru, they would usually end up so frustrated they'd accidentally unleash Hundred Refinements - Piercing Blood out of sheer rage.
In a way, the Kamo Family Elders who had once argued with Satoru all learned how to perform that very move.
They even went to the Gojo Family to complain.
The Gojo Family's response?
"Is that all?"
Then they led them to the backyard.
There, an Elder of the Gojo Family had already been chased by Satoru for an entire morning.
All because the Elder had tried to lecture Satoru and ended up getting flustered. He shouted:
"What do you, a brat who hasn't even grown all your hair, understand? What gives you the right to talk to me like this?"
Satoru's reply was to insist on plucking out all his hair.
"This way, I'll have the right to talk to you, right?"
Gojo Family Elder: "Don't come any closer!"
The Kamo Family Elders who had come to complain: "...Our complaint failed, but somehow we feel better now."
That was also when Satoru realized that these old men he had "educated" had all mastered Hundred Refinements - Piercing Blood.
His eyes lit up.
He turned to them and charged.
"Oh no, he's coming after me."
Several Kamo Family Elders screamed internally, "Don't come any closer!"
That run beneath the spring sunset nearly sent them to the grave.
So, as a branch family head, Eishi could only tremble with rage and hold back his words.
"You know them?"
Choso looked curiously at the group who had been silenced by Satoru's taunting.
"Ah, I know them."
Satoru suddenly appeared beside Choso, one hand on his shoulder, the other casually pointing toward the group.
It looked like he was picking vegetables at the market.
"Come on, let your senpai introduce you. That guy leading them is Kamo Ei... Ei-whatever. Doesn't matter."
Satoru scratched his head, giving up on remembering the name.
"Their family's inherited Technique lets them summon a Shikigami, a Blood Serpent. That snake is really fun. It dissolves Cursed Spirits when it bites them, and it can stretch really long. I met his son before, and we had a blast..."
"Enough, Satoru!"
Eishi finally snapped, recalling how his son was humiliated by Satoru, hung upside down on a tree during the Exchange Event two years ago.
But Satoru ignored him.
"That shady-looking long-haired guy next to him, yeah, you. Don't look around. You. I'm telling you, he's super shady. His son once showed up at a Gojo Family banquet. I punched him once and he cried forever. Just one punch. Then he called his parents. So I beat both father and son..."
A row of pound-sign veins popped on the foreheads of the Kamo Family members.
They felt a pressure building inside them.
That familiar, rising sensation.
The urge to unleash Hundred Refinements - Piercing Blood.
"Enough! Shikigami! Blood Serpent!"
A Blood Serpent over ten meters long burst forth, lunging at Satoru and Choso.
"Oh dear, how scary, how scary."
Satoru teleported away with Choso.
"Gojo Satoru! This is an internal Kamo Family matter. It's not your place to interfere!"
"Huh? Kamo Family? We don't have anyone from the Kamo Family here at Tokyo Jujutsu High."
Satoru feigned innocence.
"Enough, Gojo-senpai."
Choso's tone turned serious. He reached up and removed Satoru's hand from his shoulder.
"This is something I have to face eventually. Let me handle it."
"Ah, alright. Just don't go too hard. Don't break those two old guys' bones."
The two leading Grade 1 sorcerers from the Kamo Family twitched again, more veins bulging on their foreheads.
"Don't worry."
Satoru's nonsense had, in fact, revealed most of their Technique info.
If they hadn't attacked first, Satoru would've probably stripped them metaphorically naked and laid out all their secrets for Choso.
"Hmph, so you're finally stepping out instead of hiding behind others."
Seeing Choso walk forward, Eishi's expression improved.
"To deal with you, I don't need Gojo-senpai."
"Then die!"
The Blood Serpent lunged forward once again.
"Blood Manipulation: Red Scale Motion."
Choso leapt back, dodging the fangs.
Then, he clasped his hands together.
Hundred Refinements - Piercing Blood.
Blood compressed to its limit fired at supersonic speed, piercing the Blood Serpent's head instantly.
"Isn't the head a vital point?"
Choso calmly dodged and then met the attack head-on.
"Blood Manipulation: Blood Blade."
Dual dagger-like weapons in hand, Choso crossed paths with the serpent and sliced its body clean into three segments.
Eishi seized the moment to attack.
"Blood Thorns!"
From the ground beneath Choso's feet, blood-red thorns suddenly emerged and wrapped around his legs.
Choso jumped high into the air.
"I've got him!"
Eishi grinned.
Choso had no foothold now. He couldn't dodge.
Eishi and the Blood Serpent rushed at him from both sides.
But in the next moment, the two blood daggers flew from Choso's hands and turned into platforms beneath his feet.
"Blood Manipulation: Blood Star Cluster."
Standing mid-air, Choso formed hardened blood clots and shot them like bullets at Eishi.
Then he kicked off and moved to the side of the men behind Eishi.
His eyes locked onto the shady-looking one.
Satoru had mentioned him earlier.
"Blood Manipulation: Supernova."
Both sides unleashed attacks at the same time.
Choso was hit.
But so were they.
The shotgun-like Supernova landed squarely.
"Crimson Scale Soar: Load."
Crimson Scale Soar: Load was an enhanced version of Red Scale Motion.
Choso engaged in close combat again, exchanging blows and only retreating when Eishi struck.
"Two Grade 1s and four Semi-Grade 1s?"
His wounds were already healing.
His gaze shifted back to Eishi.
The others had already been poisoned by his blood.
It wouldn't be long before they lost combat ability.
Only Eishi was left as a threat.
The others had no idea how Choso fought and were caught completely off guard by his reckless but calculated style of trading injuries for results.
"Ugh!"
"Ahh..."
One by one, the rest collapsed in pain.
Only Eishi remained standing, locked in combat with Choso.
"What the...?"
Eishi looked around, shocked to see his team down.
Pfft.
"Nani?"
As Eishi was distracted, Choso's Blood Blade pierced through the Blood Serpent's heart.
It stopped regenerating.
"So the heart is the vital point."
Choso's cold gaze turned to Eishi.
A drop of sweat slid down Eishi's cheek.
All six of them—two Grade 1s and four Semi-Grade 1s—had failed to defeat one Choso.
Would they have to call in a Special Grade?
But the Kamo Family didn't have one.
Later, Shoko arrived to give the injured simple treatment, while Satoru casually tied them all up and hung them from a tree.
As he worked, he muttered to Choso, "Why'd you stab the Blood Serpent? Wouldn't it be better to keep it and use it as rope?" and other such nonsense.
Due to Eishi and the others' defeat, the event spread rapidly through the Jujutsu world like a sensational headline.
"The strongest Blood Manipulation isn't in the Kamo Family" became the hot topic of discussion among Jujutsu Sorcerers.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)