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The next day arrived.
Naoya, who commuted to school from the Kyoto Zenin estate, had an early morning. Freshening up and getting ready for classes, while also making sure that Zankyo keeps in mind to look after the kids.
After having a hearty breakfast, Naoya left for school and arrived slightly before the classes started.
"Good morning, Kuroko," greeted Naoya, making the blue-haired boy look at Naoya with surprise. He was not used to getting acknowledged unless he made an effort for it.
"Good morning, Zenin-kun," replied Kuroko.
"Call me Naoya. There are too many Zenins in my family for me to recognise who amongst us is being called," replied Naoya.
Kuroko nodded, not understanding much about the clan affairs.
"Alright. You can call me Tetsuya as well, if you feel like it," replied Kuroko.
"Got it. Tetsuya, it is," said Naoya and took a seat as well.
Soon Nagino entered the room and did the homeroom stuff. After that, their normal classes started.
In Jujutsu High Schools, the normal subjects were part of the curriculum along with the Jujutsu-related stuff. Nagino would be handling the jujutsu-related classes for them, while the normal subjects were taught by 'windows', people who could see curses but were not sorcerers themselves. They do help the jujutsu division by monitoring curse activity and helping in other matters, but their fighting potential is near common folk.
Later that day, after lunch, Naoya, Kuroko, Utahime, and Yuki were present in the school's grounds in their outdoor uniform.
"Well then," Nagino began, "for the seniors this is nothing new, but for the first-years, this is your first outdoor jujutsu class. These sessions are held jointly across all years."
He turned to Kuroko.
"Kuroko-kun, the others here are already well-versed in cursed energy. What about you? Can you control it? Use your technique?"
"I can use my technique, but my control is kinda wacky," replied Kuroko.
"...Usually it's the other way around. Well, anyway, everyone has their own thing that they are good at. For now, let's start with the basics. Zenin, Kuroko come forward."
The first years stepped forward while Utahime and Yuki just took a step back, making enough space for the three of them.
"Let's take things practically first. Zenin, don't use your cursed technique. I too won't use mine. Kuroko, you can use whatever method you want. Both of you come at me. Your goal is to knock me off my feet. You two win if both of you make me fall," said Nagino with a smirk.
Both the first years looked at each other and shrugged. None of them was even bothered a bit.
Nagino looked at the two of them and felt that they were a bit too arrogant. They weren't even bothered by facing a Grade 1 experienced sorcerer.
Naoya was a Special Grade, but without technique, they should be around the same level....were the thoughts Nagino had.
And Kuruko...the brat was new to this stuff.
'Well, it is the duty of teachers to make the students realise the vastness of the world,' thought Nagino.
"Iori, give the start signal," ordered Nagino.
"Yes, sensei," replied Utahime.
Naoya and Kuroko looked unbothered, not even taking a stance. Nagino, on the other hand, looked quite excited.
"Start!" declared Utahime.
Naoya started to move.
Nagino got serious, ready to intercept any attack that may come his way. But contrary to his expectations, Naoya was simply walking towards him.
Nagino and the seniors blinked their eyes in surprise.
"Zenin....are you ser-" started Nagino, feeling a bit annoyed.
However, the moment he let his guard down for a bit, Naoya's figure, who was quite far away, suddenly blurred and appeared in front of Nagino.
Without wasting a second, Naoya simply flicked Nagino's forehead with cursed energy reinforcement, making the burly man fall.
Utahime's and Yuki's mouths opened in surprise. Naoya was simply too fast for them to react to. Nagino winced in pain and soon opened his eyes only to see the blue sky above.
"Dropping your guard...rookie mistake," said Naoya and offered his hand for Nagino to get back up.
Nagino looked at Naoya with exasperation. He was supposed to be the one to lecture the students.
Still, the man sighed and took Naoya's hand.
'Well, he is not a Special Grade for nothing, I guess...' thought Nagino and stood back up.
"Well, one of you made me fall. Now then, Kuroko, your turn," said Nagino and got ready to face the other first year.
However, the boy was nowhere in sight. He looked around, yet he could not see the kid.
Yuki and Utahime realised that as well. While they were focused on Naoya, Kuroko seemed to have vanished from the field.
This time, Naoya was surprised as well. He, too, could not see the boy anywhere.
"Where did he g-" muttered Nagino when suddenly his knees buckled, and a second later he was on the ground once again.
"I did it," said Kuroko in a calm tone, appearing behind Nagino.
"Nice," said Naoya and raised his hand for a high five.
Kuroko responded and high-fived Naoya.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't "nice" him. What even was that?" complained Nagino.
"Sensei," Naoya said mildly, "being sore about losing isn't a good look."
"Very uncool," Kuroko added.
Seeing the two of them looking at him with pity made Nagino feel even more frustrated.
"Still, even I didn't see you this time. How low is your presence?" asked Naoya.
"I can lower it actively as well, but it wasn't that. You recognise me even when I lower my presence. Right now, I used my cursed technique," replied Kuroko.
This made all of them curious and look intently at the blue-haired boy.
"You want to know my technique?" asked Kuroko.
"If you are comfortable. It is mostly personal stuff," replied Naoya, not trying to pressure him. The revelation of the technique might also reveal one's weakness, so telling about it to others is a matter one seriously needs to consider.
Nagino and the others looked at Naoya with annoyance. They wanted to know about the technique, but also knew that it was entirely Kuroko's choice to tell them about it.
"It's fine. We will be on the same team now, right? I can tell about it." replied Kuroko.
"My technique is called [Dead Space]. Once the technique is activated, as long as I don't make eye contact with others, they cannot detect my presence at all; slowly their focus shifts from me too, forgetting about me," replied Kuroko and simply closed his eyes and vanished from everyone's sight.
Naoya tried to detect the boy but was not able to sense him at all. No cursed energy signature. No scent. Nothing, it seemed like the boy vanished into nothingness.
Suddenly, Naoya felt someone tap on his shoulder and turned around, but spotted no one.
A second later, he again felt someone tap on his back and tried to grab Kuroko, but his hand caught nothing.
"That's the gist of my technique," replied Kuroko and appeared not near Naoya, but behind Nagino.
Naoya narrowed his eyes. It seemed like Kuroko didn't give them the complete information on his technique.
He actually didn't do. In addition to the stealth effect of the technique, it could also delay his opponents from feeling his actions, if he wanted.
Kuroko simply smiled at Naoya while the Zenin simply stared intently at him.
Kuroko's threat level suddenly skyrocketed in Naoya's mind. The boy was a born assassin. He was even harder to detect than Toji.
'It's good, I didn't tell them everything,' thought Kuroko. He was new to this whole Jujutsu ordeal and wanted to see whether he should stick around or not, and whether he could trust everyone here or not.
His technique had one more application, but for now, he decided to let it be.
After the small commotion about Kuroko's technique was over. Nagino clapped his hands to bring everyone's attention back to him.
"Well, you two certainly passed, but this training went vastly differently from what I was thinking. This won't help anyone. So for now, pair up and learn things the old-fashioned way. Kuroko and Iori, you two fight each other. No techniques this time, Kuroko. You need to learn cursed energy manipulation right now. I will see and check where you need improvement," said Nagino.
He then looked towards Naoya and Yuki, and a small, dreadful feeling came up within him.
"That leaves-"
"I will be fighting Naoya-kun, right? Bring it on!" declared Yuki.
Naoya looked at Nagino and wanted to ask if the man was stupid.
"Let me ask this just to be sure....You want to have two Special Grades to brawl it out.... I am saying this in advance. I won't be paying for the damage that will be caused by the brawl," stated Naoya clearly. He clearly knew that the damage caused by their fight would be significant.
"Don't worry, I know....You two will be doing that at the edge of the field. Away from us. Try to be within limits," said Nagino.
Naoya and Yuki nodded and moved away from the others, and took some distance from each other.
"Ready to learn from you, senpai?" asked Yuki.
"Try your best to teach me, senpai," replied Naoya with a smile.
Yuki smirked and activated her technique.
"Garuda!" called Yuki as a shikigami materialised out of nowhere.
Naoya observed the shikigami. It was a white serpentine shikigami with bony sections on its body, floating around Yuki.
"Shall we start?" asked Yuki.
"I am ready," replied Naoya and gave his body a few light stretches.
Yuki took out a coin from her pocket and looked at Naoya with a smile.
Naoya understood her sign and gestured for her to go ahead.
Yuki tossed the coin and let it fall freely.
The moment it touched the ground, she rushed towards Naoya.
"Oh, look. Found a coin on the ground. Welp. Finders Keepers," said Naoya, already crouching near Yuki and picking up the coin that just landed on the ground.
"You certainly are f-" started Yuki.
"Fast. I know," finished Naoya, appearing in front of Yuki and touching her shoulder, trapping her in a frame.
Cursed energy gathered in his hands as he punched the frozen frame, sending the Special Grade sorcerer flying.
"Agh! Garuda!"
Receiving the command, the shikigami set its sight on Naoya and got ready to attack him.
Naoya, though, decided to play unfairly.
[Divine Dogs]
The wolves emerged from his shadow and howled in excitement.
"Fang over Fang!" ordered Naoya.
The wolves immediately locked in on Garuda and bared their claws at him while rotating violently in unison like a drill.
"No Garuda!"
Yuki, who got back on her feet, saw Garuda being pushed back by the violent drill attack from the wolves.
Cupcake and Frosting didn't care, though; they saw one more target back on her feet and decided to take down that one as well and headed the girl's way.
Yuki saw the attack heading her way and activated her technique.
[Star Rage]
Virtual mass started adding up in her fist.
"Enough playing around!" yelled Yuki and smashed her fist in the ground, cracking up the ground and sending the earth around her flying in every direction.
This didn't slow down the wolves, though. They tore through the incoming projectiles.
Yuki's intention, however, wasn't to slow them down.
The Special Grade lady used the earth cover to catch the wolf's blind spot and punched the doggy drill, sending the wolves flying.
Naoya was already on his way to rescue and caught the wolves in his frames, stopping them from flying away.
Placing them on the ground, he partially summoned Senzu and healed the wolves who were glaring at Yuki and Garuda in anger and growled.
"Good mutts you have there."
"Calling my cuties mutts....Alright, this is on. Time to make it even more unfair," replied Naoya.
[Rabbit Escape]
The rabbit horde led by Maou emerged from the shadows in the form of a tsunami and headed straight towards Yuki and Garuda.
"Bring it on!" declared Yuki as she used her technique on Garuda, turning the shikigami into a ball-like cursed tool.
With cursed energy reinforcing her legs, she kicked the virtually heavy Garuda straight towards Naoya.
The ball tore through the rabbits and headed straight towards Naoya.
Yuki looked at Naoya with a smirk, as if mocking him to show her what he could do.
Naoya, however, simply raised his hand and activated his [Projection Sorcery], trapping the cursed object in his frame and sending it flying back towards Yuki.
"I already have enough Shikigami. Take yours back," replied Naoya and deactivated his technique, making Garuda break out of the frame and move towards Yuki with all its momentum behind it.
Yuki's eyes widened in surprise. She wasn't expecting her attack to be backfired at her. She immediately deactivated her technique on Garuda, turning it back into shikigami form.
By this time, the rabbit horde had already surrounded the Special Grade lady.
Yuki looked around with caution, wondering what the rabbits would be doing.
As if responding to her question, the rabbits somehow gave her the middle finger and started expanding.
"What the-"
An instant later, a huge explosion occured egulfing the entire area where Naoya and Yuki were fighting.
Naoya erected a [Solid Shadow] Barrier protecting himself, the wolves, and Maou from the explosion.
"Well, looks like it's over," muttered Naoya, but suddenly his senses warned him of incoming danger.
"Over? Don't make me laugh! We are just getting started!" yelled a bloodied and burnt Yuki, breaking through the shadow barrier while healing in real time with RCT.
Naoya was a second too late to react and, unfortunately, couldn't dodge the [Star Rage] enhanced punch from her.
He still activated his technique to trap the girl in a frame, but was still sent flying and had his jaw broken by the punch.
Without hesitation, he used RCT immediately while also sending the shikigami back into the shadows.
His jaw soon got fixed and came back to its original position.
"F*ck...that hurts..." muttered Naoya and moved his mouth, making sure that his jaw was working.
Meanwhile, Yuki was free from Naoya's frame and was focusing on healing herself.
Her outfit was burned at various spots, and even she was slightly burned by the rabbit's explosion.
"Alright! Let's con-" said Yuki once she got fixed.
However, this time Naoya didn't show any mercy and was staring intently at Yuki.
Naoya had a simple ideology. According to him, if someone can hit you once, then they can kill you in the next move. End them before that.
He may start as an easy-going fighter. Land a hit on him, and he will make sure that you regret all your life choices.
He took out the [Inverted Spear of Heaven] from his shadows and, with the blade part still covered, launched towards Yuki.
Without any warning, the Special Grade cursed tool that was reinforced by a Special Grade sorcerer's cursed energy struck Yuki's gut, sending her flying.
Though before she could fly far away, Naoya seemingly teleported behind her with his Projection Sorcery, trapped her in a frame and struck the frame with the spear with all the power that he could muster.
The frame broke, and Yuki found herself coughing blood and crashing to the ground.
"Damn...looks like I struck a nerve..." muttered Yuki as she wiped the blood from her mouth and looked up.
Naoya, who was falling freely, sent the spear back into his shadows and held the amulet around his neck.
[Will of Shadow: Nue- Storm Feather Bow]
A bow materialised in his hands as he strung it.
Lightning crackled around Naoya, and with enough cursed energy charged within the bow, Naoya let go of the string, sending a massive blast of electricity straight at Yuki.
"AHHHH!!!!"
The Special Grade Sorcerer screeched in pain on being zapped by the lightning.
Naoya, though, hadn't finished and strung the bow once again this time, appearing directly in front of her with the bow being at a point-blank range from Yuki.
"Should I fire?" asked Naoya.
"I surrender..." muttered Yuki, feeling the cursed energy building up inside the bow.
"...Good," replied Naoya and deactivated his cursed tool.
He partially summoned Senzu once again and started healing Yuki.
"You okay?" asked Naoya with a bit of concern.
Yuki blinked in surprise. Did this junior of hers have a few screws loose? Wasn't he the one who attacked her?
"Mostly fine. Seriously though. It was just a friendly spar."
"You are one to talk. You started this by breaking my jaw!" complained Naoya.
Yuki blinked in surprise.
Seems like she, too, had a few screws loose.