Chapter 60: Emiya-kun is Very Gentle
Confident?
Of course, he had to be confident. After all, he was the undisputed "Strongest." How could he lack this level of self-assurance?
Gojo Satoru not only possessed the confidence of being the strongest in the world, capable of defeating the strongest of a thousand years ago, but he also naturally assumed he was the strongest of all time.
In the history of the Gojo family, the "Six Eyes" appears once every few centuries, and the "Limitless Cursed Technique" is inherited every few decades. The combination of the two has even occurred several times throughout history.
But... Gojo Satoru is the only one of his kind in the world.
Across Heaven and Earth, I alone am the Honored One.
Gojo Satoru held this confidence, and he had the foundation to back it up.
Although, it was true that he still hadn't figured out how to counter Emiya's Noble Phantasm.
Conceptional Cursed Tools that cannot be defied once certain conditions are met have appeared quite a few times in Jujutsu history.
Gojo Satoru had never felt the need to seriously clash with such things before, but for some reason, this time he genuinely wanted to break through it head-on.
He felt he needed to try again when he found the chance.
Gojo Satoru believed he simply lacked experience and information on dealing with this type of Noble Phantasm.
"I see, so this is Ryomen Sukuna?"
Emiya looked toward Yuji Itadori, who was still wrestling with the mouth that kept appearing in various places on his body.
Of course, Emiya wouldn't completely trust Gojo Satoru's judgment before acquiring more information, but it served as a reference. At least Gojo Satoru truly placed Ryomen Sukuna on par with himself.
However, while Gojo Satoru would inevitably be restrained by his individual conscience and morality during a fight, the King of Curses from a thousand years ago would not necessarily be.
Purely based on danger level, Ryomen Sukuna definitely had the advantage.
Therefore, if possible, eliminating such a threat is indeed the optimal solution, but that should only be done under circumstances that do not negatively affect others.
Emiya would never recognize an act as righteous if the rationale was, "There might be something here that could destroy the world, so let's wipe out the area and the people living in it without hesitation."
Similarly, Yuji Itadori in front of him was merely Sukuna's vessel, not the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna, himself.
The fact that he was sentenced to death solely for this, with the purpose being to eliminate one of Sukuna's fingers, was yet another act of arbitrarily stripping someone of their life in the name of justice. This aligned perfectly with Emiya's previous perception of how the Jujutsu Headquarters operates.
Emiya would never agree with such a thing.
Moreover, Yuji Itadori, this child, didn't look like the type to do evil at all.
"Itadori-kun, what is your Cursed Technique?"
Although asking so directly might be considered rude, understanding his Cursed Technique and fighting preferences is essential to teaching him better.
"Huh?"
Hearing the question, Yuji Itadori scratched his head sheepishly and replied a bit awkwardly, "Um, I don't think I have one.
Didn't you say that only Cursed Sorcerers with excellent bloodlines or talent can awaken an Innate Technique? Maybe I'm just not very talented in that area."
He was not only clearly aware of his shortcomings but also openly admitted them. This was probably one of Yuji Itadori's strengths.
"It's alright. After all, I haven't awakened a Cursed Technique either, yet I can still exorcise Cursed Spirits and become a Jujutsu Sorcerer, can't I?"
Whether in the world of magecraft or the Jujutsu world, Emiya himself did not have a long-standing bloodline heritage, nor did he believe in the idea that bloodline and talent determine everything.
"Oh, wow! Emiya-sensei, you don't have a Cursed Technique either, and you fight solely with your own strength!"
"...That's right."
Which 'Emiya Shirou' isn't Emiya himself?
"I understand! I'll definitely follow Emiya-sensei closely and study hard!"
In any case, at least Yuji Itadori's drive was fully activated, wasn't it?
However, Gojo Satoru, who witnessed this development from not too far away, couldn't help but want to mock them.
'You might temporarily not have a Cursed Technique, but that Projection Magecraft you use is completely superior to any number of Cursed Techniques, isn't it? Emiya-kun, you're using this cheated ability to deceive the naive Itadori-kun!'
That being said, Gojo Satoru had no intention of stepping forward to interrupt Emiya. After all, anything that encourages Yuji Itadori to train hard is a good thing.
"Well then, I'll leave Itadori-kun to you for now. I'm taking off!"
Like a parent who had finally dropped off a problem child at school, Gojo Satoru stood up, quickly slipped to the door, waved his hand, and prepared to leave completely unburdened. Although, in reality, Gojo Satoru usually had to leave soon after eating to continue his mission assignments.
"Gojo-sensei..."
At this moment, Emiya suddenly called out to the other party but did not immediately speak.
He was simply thinking about whether he should tell him about today's events.
In principle, the sooner such important and relevant matters are told to the person involved, the better. And given Gojo Satoru's careless nature, only knowing beforehand would prevent him from being caught off guard.
But Nanami Kento also made a good point: rashly informing Gojo Satoru of something that neither of them had yet confirmed could easily burden the already exhausted man even more. It might even cause him to fall into self-reproach and confusion by reminding him of the fact that he personally executed his best friend.
Emiya can be decisive and swift in combat, but when two options are both reasonable, it is inevitable that he would hesitate. The only ones who would never hesitate in any matter would probably be people like Mahito or Ryomen Sukuna.
"I know. You want to talk about that matter, right?"
To Emiya's surprise, Gojo Satoru seemed to have already known about it.
"Nanami-chan probably asked you not to tell me for now, but actually, after you defeated that Cursed User last time, I had already found some clues at the Headquarters. I have you to thank for that."
"Emiya-kun, you and Nanami-chan are both very gentle people..."
Gojo Satoru raised his head and let out this sigh of admiration, but the tone suddenly reversed polarities the next second.
"It's just that you cooking better than Nanami-chan makes me happier!"
Nanami Kento did have a period where he worked an ordinary job outside, but since all he thought about was earning money, it was common for him to sleep at the company after working overtime.
How could he have time to cook for himself?
Saying instant noodles were his greatest accomplishment would be the highest praise for a seasoned office worker.
But Emiya was different. He was a top chef who could make delicious food even with simple ingredients!
As for the matter of Cursed Spirit Manipulation, Gojo Satoru had indeed received some subtle information at the Jujutsu Headquarters and had been trying to investigate it in his free time.
However, no matter how hard Gojo Satoru tried, he could only find bits of inconclusive information, and the Cursed Users he occasionally caught were completely ignorant low-level types. This lack of progress certainly annoyed him, and only his daily mealtime could cheer him up slightly.
"So don't blame yourself, don't make it difficult for yourself, and there's no need to worry about me.
Don't forget, I am The Strongest.
I have to rush to Italy for overtime, Adieu."
Leaving that farewell, Gojo Satoru activated Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue and instantly vanished from the doorway at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
Being able to stop agonizing over this matter certainly made Emiya feel much lighter. However, being complimented as "gentle" and "a great cook" by a person like Gojo Satoru truly didn't make him feel happy at all.
Miko's compliments were much more sincere than his.
"What, what, Emiya-sensei? What were you talking about? Why was there a 'Nanami' plotline?"
Yuji Itadori, who heard the encrypted conversation, curiously leaned over.
"Nanami... Are you very familiar with Nanami-sensei?"
Emiya was slightly surprised by the strange nickname and asked.
"Sort of? Nanami-san took me on missions many times before... I guess that counts as being very familiar in the Jujutsu world, right?" Yuji Itadori replied after some recollection.
"..."
Emiya wouldn't be familiar with such matters, as every Cursed Spirit he had exorcised in the past few days had been done alone. So far, the only people who had gone on missions with him were Nanami Kento and Miwa Kasumi.
Emiya had even asked Ijichi where he could visit the injured Miwa Kasumi, but the latter told him that Miwa-senpai had already been transferred back to Kyoto Jujutsu High, so the matter had to be temporarily dropped.
"Alright, don't ask so many questions. Your most important task right now should be to train properly."
Refusing Yuji Itadori's request for further questioning, Emiya instead led him to an outdoor training ground at the High School.
He had lived at Jujutsu High for over ten days now, and even without the intention of wandering around, Emiya had already memorized the entire map of the High School in advance.
Before going to any new place, he would first investigate the terrain... this was what the memories of Heroic Spirit EMIYA and EMIYA Alter taught him. Didn't Mahito suffer a great loss on this very point not long ago, which led to his final state?
"Itadori-kun, did you just arrive at Jujutsu High a few days ago, and before that, you were just a normal high school student?"
Emiya asked after reading Yuji Itadori's admission report beforehand.
Transitioning from an ordinary high school student to the world of Jujutsu—even for someone craving adventure—doesn't seem like a good thing at all. After all, the real Jujutsu world is not as wonderful as described in novels and anime; death, which contradicts modern society, is the norm here.
"I guess so. I never thought Cursed Spirits actually existed in the world, and at first, I didn't believe Fushiguro-kun at all."
'Ah, come to think of it, didn't what my grandfather said seem very strange? He told me to use my strength to help others or something?'
Just as the seventh day after his grandfather's death was approaching, Yuji Itadori finally noticed this somewhat strange thing. But his grandfather was already cremated, so what was the use of noticing the anomaly now?
"In that case, since you haven't awakened a Cursed Technique, what did you use to fight Cursed Spirits before?"
Perfectly adapting to combat with Cursed Spirits in a matter of days—no, perhaps moments—from being an ordinary high school student. Who knows how carefree this child's nerves must be to achieve this?
"Fighting style?"
Yuji Itadori hesitated for a moment, then immediately looked enlightened.
"I know! You're asking about my combat technique, right?
It's this one, the one Gojo-sensei taught me... Divergent Fist!"
As Yuji Itadori spoke, he suddenly threw a punch forward, stirring up gusts of wind.
Trying to make others understand a move based solely on its name and effect is quite abstract, but Emiya still accurately deduced its principle.
"Creating a slight delay between the Cursed Energy and the physical action, thus causing two instances of damage?
The first hit might have an unexpected effect on the enemy, but the subsequent ones..."
Emiya wasn't sure how to criticize it.
The only reason this technique worked was that Yuji Itadori's own strength was great enough to cause damage with the first punch, providing a basis for the subsequent Cursed Energy attack.
And even when the Cursed Energy surged afterward, it could only cause normal attack damage with Cursed Energy added.
It was likely that Yuji Itadori's ability to defeat Cursed Spirits before was entirely due to his brute force.
Aside from the difference in raw stats, his fighting style might not actually be much worse than Gojo Satoru's. It was indeed the right decision not to let that guy raise children.
"Relying solely on such a monotonous technique for combat definitely won't work. I will try to find some suitable techniques to teach you later. But for now, let's wait for the other two students to arrive."
This was because Emiya's true combat techniques were all based on magical energy, and a skill like Projection Magecraft obviously couldn't be taught.
Emiya could try to pass on the memories he gained, but whether Yuji Itadori had a talent for using swords was debatable, not to mention that techniques of that level would require years of dedicated training, even with talent.
On the other hand, while teaching a dozen people simultaneously would be difficult for Emiya, teaching just the three first-year students was manageable.
No sooner had Emiya's words fallen than the remaining two people arrived.
"Are we starting special training? I'm so excited, so excited.
Ah? Fushiguro-kun, Kugisaki, over here!"
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