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Sorry for the delay. Life's been quite troublesome these days, and it probably will for quite some time.
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Tokyo Jujutsu High:
Currently, outside the curtain where the Grade 1 sorcerers were fighting the group of rogue curse users, things were in favour of the Jujutsu High sorcerers.
Thanks to Utahime being involved in the fight as well, her technique gave an output boost to the remaining fighters as well.
Combined with the relentless assaults from Mei Mei's crows and Yaga's cursed corpses, the Jujutsu High team was overwhelming the curse users.
The only curse users still standing were the black guy, the hand-sword man, and the heart-pasties dude.
The muscular guy and the woman had been defeated relatively early in the battle, and the hand sword dude was suffering as well.
The other two were faring better because they were collaborating better with each other.
The pasties dude had a technique that forcibly made his targets ignore others and focus only on him, giving free attacking chances to the black dude.
Gakuganji was the first one to be defeated on the sorcerer's side.
The old man was the first one who was targeted because his technique was useful at keeping the threats away from him and the others.
For the most part, the curse users were physical fighters, and long-range fighters were quite annoying for them.
Now, only Utahime, Yaga, and Mei Mei were the ones left standing on the sorcerer's side, leaving the battlefield in a three-versus-three deadlock.
*SQEEEEE*
While the fight was getting intense, a loud screech came, making the curse users flinch.
They looked at each other before giving a nod.
"LARUE!"
The black dude, Miguel, yelled out loud.
The heart-pasties man grabbed his fallen comrades and ran away.
"Bye Bye~"
The hand sword dude waved at the sorcerers and ran behind Larue as well.
"Sorry to part ways when things were just starting to get intense. We just got the call."
Miguel smiled, gripped the whip and cracked it around him.
"You think you can run away?"
Yaga asked in a serious tone.
"Well, duh."
The whip that Miguel held was a cursed tool, and without hesitation, he began lashing the whip around with full force, destroying his surroundings, kicking up a cloud of dust and sending rubble flying in every direction {A/N: It is not the black whip. Kenjaku gave it to Miguel.}
The flying rubble and the whip struck down various crows that were flying around Miguel while also pushing the cursed corpses away as well.
The sorcerers realised what the curse user was trying to do and, without hesitation, jumped ahead.
Mei Mei spun around with her axe in hand, diverting the whip attacks.
Utahime simply slammed her bat on the ground, generating a strong shockwave that sent the attack flying, while Yaga simply grabbed the whip with his cursed corpse's arms and snatched it away.
'Too light!'
The moment Yaga pulled, he felt almost no resistance.
As the dust cleared up, Miguel was no longer standing there; instead, there was a giant hole in the ground from which they were guessing that the curse user had got away.
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A few kilometres away from the Jujutsu High, Tokyo branch.
A cursed spirit surfaced out of the ground and opened its mouth.
Miguel and the other curse users who were fighting at the school came out of the cursed spirit.
"Wasn't that surprisingly fast? We didn't even get a chance to witness that problematic student?"
Larue asked as he put the knocked-out people on top of the curse.
Miguel shrugged his shoulders.
"Can't say it wasn't a let down. Though there was always a chance that the two Special Grades wouldn't even go to another location. That would have been the worst possible outcome."
"You don't see how bad things are, Miguel. We got recalled, meaning either Jogo or the curses at Tokyo were taken out soon. The enemies are quite stronger than we were expecting."
Miguel started walking as Larue closely followed behind him.
"We're dealing with the monsters at the top of the current era. A mistake of underestimating them is not something that should be done."
"True....but if they were weak, our leader wouldn't be making such elaborate plans. I am not underestimating anyone, but having some hope in yourself and the ones you are working with doesn't seem bad, right?"
"...You say that, but do you honestly want to be associated with that nutjob over there?"
Larue and Miguel looked towards their only conscious partner. The blond man in overalls carrying a hand sword.
Haruta Shigemo might look like a guy with just a weird fashion sense, but unlike others in their group, he was probably the most f*cked up in the head. He was a murderer for fun, and unlike them, who were working towards a cause, the blond guy was there just for the reward of getting to kill whoever he wanted from the enemy side.
"... Can't have everything going well for us. Some loose screws are bound to be in our line."
"*Sigh*, whatever, let's hope things went well on Geto's end...we weren't even able to get that Hanami cursed spirit out."
"RIP. Though I don't think the curses ever go out towards peace."
The group walked for a while before they met another colleague, waiting for them with a car.
They boarded the vehicle and got away before anyone could follow them.
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Back at Jujutsu High:
After Miguel and the curse users got away, Naoya and Satoru returned with a knocked-out Juzo and Jogo's head.
"Yo!"
Satoru greeted Yaga and the others before his gaze moved towards the unmoving Gakuganji.
"RIP, old man."
"Who the hell are you killing off?!"
Gakuganji's muffled voice came as he yelled with his face in the ground.
"ZOMBIE!!!!!" Satoru yelled in panic.
Naoya promptly decided to ignore the idiot and dropped Juzo on the ground.
"You okay?"
Naoya moved towards Utahime and checked on her for injuries.
"I am fine, for now. Go and check on the students. We haven't got any contact from them. We will handle the aftermath here."
Naoya gave a nod and glanced towards Satoru, who simply gave him the OK gesture.
Naoya used his[Projection Sorcery] and rushed towards the goodwill event ground.
With [Nue] partially summoned, Naoya took off to the skies and immediately noticed the damage that was caused on the field.
"That's a lot of damage... something strong was here too."
Naoya's gaze moved around until it landed on the domain barrier hanging in the middle of nowhere.
Without a second thought, Naoya arrived at the barrier and took out [Inverted Spear of Heaven] from the shadows before he stabbed it into the domain's barrier.
Within seconds, cracks formed on the barrier before it shattered like glass.
The students spilled out as the shattered barrier collapsed around them.
Naoya saw the kids flying everywhere before his gaze landed on the special grade cursed spirit who was on the verge of getting exorcised.
"Everyone alright?"
Naoya asked as he checked on everyone with a concerned gaze.
The students heard a familiar voice and immediately turned towards Naoya.
A visible sense of relief spread through the group.
Seeing that no one was in excessive need of help, well aside from Miwa, who was unconscious, while resting in Mechamaru's embrace, though she too had first aid from Arata's technique and Megumi's [Round Deer].
Seeing that immediate assistance wasn't needed, Naoya walked past the students and stopped in front of the dissipating cursed spirit.
It was a Special Grade curse, Naoya could feel that. Yet after its fight with the students, it was about to be exorcised.
"Are you with the one-eyed volcano curse?"
Hearing Naoya's question, Hanami glanced at Naoya.
[Jogo....]
"So you guys have a name for yourself, too. Anyways, you two are related. Tell me, what are you guys planning? And you'd better be fast. You won't be around much longer."
[...I have no reason to answer that.]
As Naoya expected, the cursed spirit wasn't going to answer him.
If not for the curse currently being busy dying, Naoya would have saved a part of it just like Satoru, but Hanami had taken quite a lot of beating from the students, and sensing the CE slowly fading from the curse, Naoya could tell that the curse won't last long.
"Before you go, what's your name? Oh, I am Naoya Zenin, by the way."
[I know....Hanami.]
"Well then, Hanami. Goodbye."
[CTR: Shadow Containment]
Shadows swirled out and engulfed Hanami's body, and began devouring it.
The students saw the whole thing happen. They had never seen Naoya use this technique, so seeing how violently the shadows were tearing into and attacking the curse made them flinch.
The shadows tore Hanami apart, and after a while, all traces of the cursed spirit vanished.
"*Phew*, it's really been a troublesome day today."
Naoya turned towards the students.
"Good job, everyone, and sorry for not arriving sooner. Just like the school, the Tokyo and Kyoto HQs were attacked as well. Satoru and I had to rush there to control the situation."
"The HQs were attacked?!" The students were surprised by the revelation. Attacking Jujutsu Headquarters required either incredible courage or incredible stupidity.
"Tokyo HQ, Kyoto HQ, Tokyo Jujutsu High, all at the same time? Big Brother, was it..."
"Seems like it. Coincidences are not that common. Not at this level. A three-pronged coordinated attack to split up forces."
The smarter students immediately understood the implications of the coordinated attacks.
"Do we know who was behind it?" Megumi asked.
"Not yet. We've captured some of the attackers, but no solid leads yet."
The situation was serious; there might be bigger things playing in the background.
"Alright. All of you, don't think too much. You guys did great, staying alive against the Special Grade cursed spirit. Give yourselves a pat on the back and be content for now."
Naoya clapped his hands to get the students' attention.
"Leave the serious stuff to us adults and do what students should do...learn from this incident and better yourself. Okay?"
"Yes!"
"Good."
Naoya looked at all of them with a content smile before he asked them to recount the whole incident while they slowly made their way out of the game field.
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While things seemed to be wrapping up, at a different location at a supermarket, another scheme seemed to be brewing:
Miyuki Fushiguro, the mother of Megumi and Tomoko Fushiguro and the wife of Toji Fushiguro, was walking through a local shopping street.
She was out there getting groceries and was humming a peaceful tune.
While walking, she felt someone tap on her shoulders.
"Hm?"
Miyuki turned around and saw a lady standing with a small smile on her face.
"Miyuki Fushiguro? Megumi Fushiguro's mother?"
The lady asked sweetly.
"Eh? Ah, um? Yes?"
Miyuki replied with confusion. She didn't know who this lady was, but apparently she knew her son.
"Oh, nice to meet you. Can you please swallow this?"
The lady smiled and handed something to Miyuki.
"What?"
Miyuki blinked in confusion. She didn't know what the lady meant by her words. She checked what she was handed and saw a bone-like object with various ominous markings on it.
"Eat it."
The lady repeated with a smile.
Miyuki was now getting suspicious. She was about to make a run for it and use the safety-cursed tool that Naoya had given her, but all of a sudden, her body became motionless, and her expression became blank and relaxed.
Her hand moved on its own, slowly, and she put the bone in her mouth before she swallowed it.
"Here, some water to help you."
The lady kindly handed a water bottle to Miyuki, who took it and gulped it down along with the bone.
"Good girl~ Now sleep tight~" The lady waved her hand and walked away.
As if on cue, Miyuki's body started swaying, and a moment later, she fell on the ground unconscious.
The other lady walked away with a smile on her face.
"Hello, there is an emergency here, we need an ambulance-"
Another person who was watching the whole thing from the sidelines immediately called for help.
.
.
.
After walking quite far away from the shopping district, the lady took out her phone and called.
"Hello, target secured."
[Excellent as always, Kureha.]
"I know, what about you? Things going well on your end?"
The one who was speaking from the other side touched a barrier formation with a calculating smile on his face.
"It's proceeding well. I might meet my old friend soon."
[Do things in moderation, Geto, Naoya Zenin and Satoru Gojo are near the school.]
"I know...I know. I'm the most patient guy you'll ever meet. Well, then, go back and check up on our new hire."
[On it.]
Geto disconnected the call and turned towards Mahito, who was using his technique to transform his body and pass through the sealed warehouse where forbidden, cursed objects were placed.
"Mahito, time's up. Need to go."
"Aww...I just started shopping."
Mahito grabbed whatever he could before coming back to Geto.
Geto smirked, seeing the haul that Mahito brought before, gesturing for him to go.
Mahito nodded and walked out of the storage warehouse.
Geto soon followed, though, on his way out, he placed a talisman on the entrance.
"Better not die just yet....I still have use for you...."
Geto spoke as if talking to someone before he and Mahito made their escape.