Sprinting through the upper atmosphere by treading on the very air itself, Naoya looked down at the tragedy unfolding below. As expected, Gojo's long-range warp had already deployed sorcerers to Osaka. He confirmed the presence of flashing lightning and a giant 『』—likely Azuki Sakata and Megumi Fushiguro—before continuing his dash toward Hiroshima.
Conversely, his figure was clearly visible to Megumi and the others fighting in Osaka.
"That light... it's Naoya! Kyoto must be finished then!"
"Looks like it! That means there's no more risk of a pincer attack from the Kyoto side! Let's keep our guard up and finish this!"
Engaged in the fray while exchanging those shouts were not just Megumi Fushiguro and Azuki Sakata.
"As expected of Big Brother! Sister Mai's decision to send us here the moment the barrier dropped over Kyoto has been vindicated!"
"Shut up, Todo. Can't you speak a little more quietly? And who are you calling 'Sister'?"
"Why does Todo look up to Naoya so much again...? Do you know, Kamo?"
"No, if Nishimiya doesn't know, I certainly don't."
"Todo met Naoya alongside me and Maki back when he was Yuki Tsukumo's apprentice. At the time, Todo did his usual routine, and Naoya immediately answered 'A modest woman with a big ass and thighs.' Todo's brain glitched out right then and there, and he's been like this ever since."
"Kokichi, if possible, I want more details on that glitch!"
"I can't help you there. I don't understand it myself. Sorry, Miwa."
"The bottom line is that Todo's head isn't right."
" " " " We already knew that. " " " "
"Hmph. If you cannot appreciate this aesthetic... you are all still green."
This group, exchanging banter like a comedy troupe, consisted of the second and first-year students from Kyoto Jujutsu High. While the third-years and the principal fortified the school's defenses, these students had been deployed to Osaka at Mai's suggestion. Their trained teamwork allowed them to show off an impressive display against their atrocious enemies.
The core of their operation was Mai Zen'in, who supplied weapons through mass production of cursed tools while switching between her transformations, and Kokichi Muta, who commanded a vast army of puppets.
Kokichi's puppets focused heavily on coordination with his allies. His lineup included weaponized machines like an automatic spear-launcher—where one simply dumped a pile of projectiles into the top bin for automatic alignment and rapid-fire of Magical Mai-chan Pilums—as well as specialized items like a 'thought-controlled large skateboard-type flight device' designed for Miwa to move while maintaining her Simple Domain. There was also 'Comet,' a mechanical broom cursed tool to support Momo Nishimiya's Tool Manipulation, and a Reversed Cursed Technique auxiliary exoskeleton designed to maximize Noritoshi Kamo's Flowing Red Scale. His workshop was essentially the high school's own private armory.
Among those fighting with Mai and Kokichi's backup, the heavy hitter boasting the highest kill count was the boulder-like man, Aoi Todo.
Back in the third grade of elementary school, he was discovered beating the pulp out of a much older delinquent by Yuki Tsukumo—who was on a curse-hunting tour with Riko at the time—and was promptly shoved into Jujutsu Elementary. The man, who claimed to have an IQ of 530,000, lived up to his self-proclaimed brilliance by mastering the complex technique 『』, allowing him to freely swap the positions of anything with a certain level of cursed energy, friend or foe alike.
The result was an endless cycle of friendly fire between the Bitz. Forced to attack one another, the Bitz—despite their immortality—began to lose their edge as they grew wary of hitting their own kind.
Seizing those openings were Kasumi Miwa, riding her hover-tool, and Momo Nishimiya, the near-future witch maneuvering a jet-engine-powered broom.
The New Shadow Style: Simple Domain is originally supposed to be deployed under the binding vow of 'keeping both feet planted.' By exploiting a loophole in that vow—moving the very platform she stood on—Miwa was able to fly around freely while keeping the domain active. With the interception functions imbued in her domain, she was a wandering samurai, ruthlessly slashing anything that dared enter her space.
Meanwhile, Nishimiya had transformed into an aerial biker on her jet-broom. She performed outrageous aerobatics while firing cursed energy blasts from the tip of her broom handle, looking for all the world like a next-generation fighter jet. Her courage to fire back while weaving through the Bitz's heavy bombardment proved why she was considered the most reliable second-year, earning her the title 'Momo-chan-senpai.' One simply had to ignore the fact that her screams of "Girls aren't just for looking cute!" sounded a bit desperate as she clung to her broom.
Overseeing the entire battlefield and plugging any gaps that formed was Noritoshi Kamo.
As a child, he realized his name was a near-miss for the legendary, wanted curse user 'Noritsugu Kamo.' Plagued by worry, he eventually managed to contact his biological mother. It was at age twelve that he learned the 'curse' placed in his name was actually her wish: 'I want you to return to me quickly.'
Accepting that wish, he was slated for education within the Kamo clan as the next head. However, he strongly insisted that 'both Satoru Gojo and Naoya Zen'in are graduates of the High School,' using that as leverage to enter Jujutsu Middle School. In Tokyo, where the Kamo clan's surveillance was thin, he reunited with his mother.
Introduced by his mother, he got along reasonably well with his stepfather and even had a cute younger half-brother. Having spent a relatively fulfilling adolescence, he grew into a modern sorcerer with a common-sense perspective—a rarity in the blood-soaked history of the Kamo clan.
Furthermore, despite it only being for three years during middle school, his technique's deep connection to medicine led him to be mentored at the Tokyo branch by 'Grade 2 Sorcerer Shoko Ieiri.' His current battle style reflected that influence.
"Dammit! Why can't we break through?! Our combat capability should overwhelm any average sorcerer!"
"Comrade! That fire support is the problem! There's no way to deal with a heavy machine gun firing homing rounds—GAH!"
"Crap, they're specifically targeting our brains. Our coordination is falling apart—!"
Indeed, heavily influenced by Shoko and supported by the physical boost from 『』 and Kokichi's exoskeleton, Noritoshi was lugging around a heavy machine gun so modified it was barely recognizable.
The feeding mechanism Kokichi designed automatically coated the bullet tips with Noritoshi's blood by connecting to transfusion packs. The barrel, prone to overheating, was fitted with a mystical cooling system that allowed for infinite rapid fire. Operating this monstrous machine gun, Noritoshi—who wore traditional priestly robes while doing something entirely un-sorcerer-like—had caused quite a stir within the Kamo clan. He eventually silenced them all with his machine gun, leading to a persistent rumor in the jujutsu world that 'The new generation of heads for the Three Great Families are all insane.'
An incarnation of violence like a homing heavy machine gun was hardly weak. Having learned to use Reverse Cursed Technique under Shoko's tutelage, Noritoshi could use the exoskeleton's support to replenish his blood for as long as his cursed energy held out.
Furthermore, his knowledge as the next Kamo head allowed him to protect everyone by immediately warning them that the Bitz 'could likely detonate their own blood' when they tried to use Blood Manipulation. He was performing brilliantly as a rear-guard support sniper.
However, as hard as the Kyoto team was fighting, they weren't exactly the main stars of this battlefield.
"Damn it! Stop! Get back! You monster!"
『Target regeneration confirmed. Beginning analysis. Hypothesis: "Neutralization possible by erasing all cells." Verifying means of hypothesis substantiation... Complete. Commencing eradication via ultra-high output alpha-ray irradiation.』
"Sto—!"
『Eradication complete. Cessation of regeneration confirmed. Hypothesis proven. Commencing alpha-ray eradication on all remaining enemy units. Considering collateral damage. Changing subsequent irradiation method to internal barrier deployment. Constructing high-speed barrier technique... Success.』
『 』.
By housing its master, Megumi Fushiguro, within its body to cover its only weakness, the strongest shikigami in history had become an ultimate existence that continued to adapt to all of creation. Against the previous Bitz, it had used the 'Burning Rush' to incinerate them, but it wouldn't settle for crude area-of-effect attacks forever. Taking this opportunity to advance its analysis, it was now capable of pinpoint eradication.
In other words, the 『 』 was now synonymous with 'Death' for the Bitz. The units caught in its sensory range were 'deleted' without exception, sending the Bitz into a state of panic. The terrorists were reduced to a pathetic state, running for their lives from the 『 』.
And hunting down those fleeing units was...
"I'm going to show Nao-sama my cool side! 'Blue Lightning Body: Flash'!!!!"
A surge of blue plasma and electricity accompanied a tackle performed at the speed of lightning. Indeed, save for the absence of a Black Flash, this was a high-fidelity recreation of Naoya's own moves by his biggest fan, the Grade 1 Sorcerer Azuki Sakata.
Her technique, 'Blue Lightning Body,' combined physical reinforcement with the properties of electricity. Her tackle, which incinerated targets with ultra-high-temperature discharges, was very similar to Naoya's 『』. It turned Bitz into silent charcoal about eighty percent of the time, and the remaining twenty percent were left with injuries so severe that regeneration took a massive toll on their 'lifespan.' Her strength was top-tier even among Grade 1s. Combined with her strategy of aggressively picking off those the 『 』 missed, her kill count was substantial.
Even so, her expression remained dark, despite using her 'idol' Naoya to motivate herself.
Fighting amidst the countless corpses and rubble covering the ground, the sorcerers felt the full weight of the damage caused by 'Q,' the group behind this horrific act of jujutsu terrorism. Naturally, they couldn't help but grit their teeth in fury.
Even so, even if they had to step over the small skulls of infants, they steeled themselves with the knowledge that the curse users had to be annihilated. It was not long after that the terror attack at Shin-Osaka Station was suppressed.
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