"Inumaki Senpai, stay here and provide support for Yuji. The rest of you, continue exorcising Cursed Spirits."
Megumi spoke before Maki could.
The objective of this team competition was to see which side could exorcise a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit first, not to beat down the opposing team.
Otherwise, Megumi would not have summoned Rabbit Escape and Nue, two Shikigami skilled in reconnaissance. He would have simply summoned Mahoraga and pushed through.
He did not think Mahoraga would lose to Todo in a contest of strength.
"Yuji, are you okay?"
Megumi looked at Yuji, his eyes full of concern.
"Completely fine!"
Yuji flexed his arm in a strong pose.
"Then it's settled. Senpai Maki, Panda, Kugisaki, let's go."
"Okay."
As one of the few trustworthy people at Tokyo Jujutsu High, no one objected to Megumi's command.
As he passed Toge, Megumi suddenly spoke quickly.
"About one hundred meters to the west, Noritoshi is hiding in a tree. There are no other traces of people nearby."
"Salmon."
The two exchanged a look and quickly separated.
The opponent had only sent two people. In a battle where defeating the opponent was not the primary goal, their side did not need to leave more people behind.
Therefore, Toge, who could handle both one-on-one and one-against-many situations, was the best choice to stay.
Under the effect of Cursed Speech, even if the opponent suddenly surrounded him, Toge could still take down several of them.
With two people splitting off, the remaining three continued forward in a triangular formation, protecting Megumi in the center.
"Did he find me?"
Hidden behind a tree, Noritoshi, whose right eye was surrounded by blood-red patterns, looked toward Toge in the distance.
"Hmm?"
A subtle movement beneath the tree caught Noritoshi's attention.
After using a simplified version of Crimson Binding, Noritoshi's sensory abilities had greatly improved.
Whoosh.
An arrow tipped with blood was shot by Noritoshi.
From the bushes came the sound of vegetation being continuously pushed aside.
"It's no use."
Noritoshi controlled the arrow stained with his own blood to relentlessly pursue the enemy in the bushes.
Pfft.
A white rabbit was pinned to a tree.
"Rabbit Escape, huh?"
Opening his other eye, Noritoshi carefully observed his surroundings.
At least twenty Rabbit Escapes were monitoring him.
Noritoshi put away his bow and continued observing the battle between Yuji and Todo.
He did not have many arrows, so there was no need to waste them on these harmless Rabbit Escapes.
Moreover, Toge had been staring intently at him since just now, making it impossible for him to hide himself any longer.
So Noritoshi openly revealed himself and confronted Toge from dozens of meters away.
This distance allowed him to see Yuji's situation more clearly than before, and it also greatly reduced the power of Cursed Speech due to the distance.
It was a position that allowed both offense and defense.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
Todo looked at Noritoshi with displeasure.
"Please rest assured, I will not interfere in your battle with Yuji."
Noritoshi promised.
"Wise of you."
Having said that, Todo turned his head to look at Yuji, who had nearly been beaten unconscious.
Toge was already standing in front of him.
"Hey, get up, brother! Is it really okay to be this weak?!"
Todo crossed his arms and questioned him loudly with a look of disappointment.
'I'm really weak, after all.'
In a daze, Yuji's memories returned to the Juvenile Detention Center.
How much he had hated his weakness back then, only able to desperately beg Sukuna for help.
But he had almost caused Megumi to lose his life.
What would have happened if Eichi-sensei had not arrived at that time?
Yuji had often wondered about that.
"No, it's not good!"
Yuji stood up, his face covered in blood.
"Being this weak is not good at all!"
"That's more like it, brother! Now, let's begin round two!"
After saying that, Todo assumed a fighting stance.
"Please let me fight alone, Inumaki Senpai."
Yuji stepped past Toge's protection, clenching his fists.
"Salmon."
Toge nodded, then shifted his gaze toward Noritoshi.
"Ah ah ah!"
"Hmph!"
The passionate, fist-to-flesh battle resumed.
"Strange, didn't the weather forecast say it would be sunny today?"
Momo, who had been searching for the Grade 1 Cursed Spirit for a long time, suddenly noticed that the sky had turned dark.
Unbeknownst to her, thick clouds had drifted directly over Tokyo Jujutsu High.
"Let's lower the altitude a bit."
Momo stopped in place, then silently descended while nervously looking at the giant owl in the distance.
It had to be said that Nue, radiating powerful Cursed Energy, put a lot of psychological pressure on Momo.
Even though Nue had not made a move, Momo still kept glancing at it, afraid that she would suddenly be struck by lightning.
"No, why is there no wind?"
As Momo lowered her altitude and considered her next search direction, she had intended to check whether she had searched downwind.
If not, she could fly downwind to conserve Cursed Energy.
It was then that she realized there was no wind at all.
"If there's no wind, why are those clouds moving so fast?"
Momo looked up with a serious expression.
"Mechamaru, can you hear me?"
"I'm here."
"There's something wrong with the clouds in the sky. Can you fly up and take a look?"
"Understood."
Although Momo could also fly.
But when investigating a potentially dangerous area, with mass-produced Mechamaru puppets available, there was no need for her to lead the charge.
After all, there were as many mass-produced Mechamaru as needed, and if Kyoto School's only little witch had an accident, she would truly be gone.
Soon, she saw several disc-shaped flying Mechamaru heading toward the clouds.
While dispatching reconnaissance puppets, Muta Kokichi also reported the situation with the clouds to Eichi.
"You all continue watching. I'm going to the restroom."
Eichi stood up and left, winking at Satoru at the same time.
The situation had not been confirmed yet, so he would not make a big fuss.
Satoru only needed to be ready by himself.
In the clouds above, several winged Tengu Shikigami flew to the center of the cloud mass.
"Lord Hakuzosu, Lady Enenra, the enemy seems to have discovered that we have dispatched reconnaissance units."
The Tengu Shikigami respectfully lowered his bird head.
"It seems the enemy is not incompetent. That is good.
Send word, all troops prepare for attack. Make the momentum as grand as possible to cover the movements of the other units."
"Yes, Lord Hakuzosu."
"Enenra, be ready. The direct confrontation is next."
"This concubine understands."
As soon as the reconnaissance Mechamaru flew out of the Tokyo Jujutsu High barrier and entered the clouds, they were destroyed by several Tengu.
Muta Kokichi, who was running on the ground, immediately stopped and, together with Mechamaru, shielded Kasumi behind him.
"All units, attention! Enemy attack!
This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill!"
Muta Kokichi's voice reached everyone on the field.
"What does 'enemy attack' mean? Does someone dare to attack Tokyo Jujutsu High?"
Nobara's face was full of surprise.
"...Indeed, there are."
As he said this, Megumi's first thought was of his own father, which made his tone much weaker.
The clouds in the sky suddenly dispersed, and dozens of uniquely shaped spear-like cursed tools were thrown down by the Tengu Shikigami, instantly shattering the barrier outside Tokyo Jujutsu High.
"All troops, charge with me!"
Instantly, countless flying Shikigami descended from the sky and rushed into Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Just then, numerous magic circles suddenly appeared among the ancient-style buildings on the grounds of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
A large number of magic bullets shot toward the sky like anti-aircraft guns.
Boom!
Several explosions echoed across various parts of Tokyo Jujutsu High, and a large number of Shikigami and Cursed Spirits burst out from underground into Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Upon closer inspection, the places they emerged from all had a withered, hollow tree.
Among the many enemies, a gigantic figure radiating terrifying Cursed Energy appeared within the competition grounds.
At the same time, a Veil capable of covering the entire competition area was deployed.
(To be continued.)