The initial meeting of the group at Tokyo Jujutsu High School concluded under the intervention of Yaga.
"All of you, stop! Go to your dorms, put your things away, and get settled. Gather at the training ground in one hour; you'll have your chance to fight then."
In the dorms, Genji discovered that his room was right next to the other two boys' rooms. The three of them stood at the doorway, glaring at each other.
"Hmph."
Finally, Gojo Satoru stepped into his dorm first, and the remaining two exchanged helpless glances before going inside as well.
One hour later, at the Tokyo Jujutsu High training ground.
"Alright, from today on, you are classmates who will be spending the next four years together. Stop bickering."
Yaga Masamichi said this while glaring at a certain white-haired boy who had been acting arrogant and disdainful since just a moment ago. Seeing Gojo Satoru remain unmoved by his gaze, Yaga sighed inwardly and continued.
"Let's start with self-introductions. State your names and, if you don't mind, a brief description of your Forbidden Technique. Shoko, you go first."
"Okay, Teacher. My name is Ieiri Shoko, and I can use Reversal technique to heal others."
Hearing Shoko's self-introduction, even though Genji and Gojo Satoru already knew about her special talent, they couldn't help but feel amazed. After all, Jujutsu Sorcerers who could use Reversal technique were already rare, let alone natural users like Shoko. Geto Suguru, however, having had little contact with the Jujutsu World before this, didn't have much of a reaction to Reversal technique for the time being.
"My name is Geto Suguru. My Forbidden Technique is Cursed Spirit Manipulation. I can absorb masterless Cursed Spirits without limit for my own use. If the target Cursed Spirit is two grades lower than me, I don't need to tame it; I can absorb it directly. Once absorbed, the Cursed Spirit can be summoned without any medium, like this."
As Geto Suguru spoke, he waved his hand. A black rift opened beside him, and a few small Cursed Spirits crawled out before he took them back in.
"Currently, I have tamed three Grade 1 Cursed Spirits, and the rest are mostly grade 2 or 3."
"My name is Genji. My Forbidden Technique is Destruction, which specifically allows me to reproduce various destructive properties and integrate them into my flames."
As Geto Suguru finished his introduction, Genji followed up with his own.
"Yours truly is Gojo Satoru. My Forbidden Technique is Limitless. The principle is based on the mathematical Achilles Paradox applied to reality—the so-called 'never catching up to the tortoise.' It manifests as 'impenetrability' against external attacks and a certain degree of spatial manipulation."
"Alright, since you've all finished your self-introductions, let's move on to the next part."
The next part? The group felt puzzled by Yaga's words.
"I know you can all be considered once-in-a-century geniuses, but no matter how strong you are, you cannot carry everything on your own. Therefore, I need you to increase your understanding and trust in one another. As a first step, start by understanding each other's strength."
Yaga said this while bringing out a lottery box.
"Excluding Shoko, you are responsible for treating them after their spar. You three, come over and draw lots to determine the order of the battles."
Hearing this, Gojo Satoru, who had been itching for a fight, rushed up first. He reached into the box and randomly pulled out a slip of paper with "1" written on it. The other two were a step slower and also came up to draw a slip. As it turned out, the slip in Geto Suguru's hand was 2, while Genji's was 3.
"Alright, the battle order is set. First up is Gojo Satoru versus Geto Suguru."
Yaga said, glancing at the slips in their hands.
"Hey, Weird Bangs, it's not too late to beg for mercy now." Gojo Satoru stood opposite Geto Suguru, saying this with an arrogant expression.
"It's alright, I'll be sure to respect the elderly, considering this prematurely aged classmate in front of me." Geto Suguru narrowed his eyes and responded with a smile.
"Ha?"
Hearing Geto Suguru's mockery, Gojo Satoru didn't waste any more words and directly activated his Forbidden Technique.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
In an instant, a pale blue orb condensed in Gojo Satoru's hand and was launched toward Geto Suguru. Geto Suguru, however, did not panic.
'This must be the move that shot down my Cursed Spirit earlier. It seems to generate a powerful suction force to pull the target in and cause damage.'
While analyzing the move in his mind, Geto Suguru summoned a snake-like Cursed Spirit, swung it toward a nearby tree like a rope to anchor it, and pulled hard. Using the reaction force, he pulled himself over, dodging the attack range of Blue. While in mid-air, he summoned a few Squids (a type of grade 4 Cursed Spirit that looked like Squids) and fired them at Gojo Satoru like bullets. However, before the Squids could hit the target, Gojo Satoru used his Forbidden Technique to float in mid-air, dodging the attack.
'Although his Forbidden Technique is different from a typical Shikigami User, it's fundamentally the same. Close combat should be his weakness. I need to find a chance to close the distance and take him out in one hit.'
Gojo Satoru made his tactical plan while condensing another Blue in his hand, this one several times larger than the previous one.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue - Maximum Output."
A Blue nearly two meters in diameter, carrying powerful energy, rushed toward Geto Suguru again. This time, Geto Suguru didn't dodge but let Blue hit him. However, the next second, Geto Suguru's entire body suddenly shattered like a mirror. His real body then appeared diagonally behind Gojo Satoru, accompanied by two Grade 1 Cursed Spirits, which spewed flames and electricity respectively, attacking Gojo Satoru.
But Gojo Satoru seemed to have anticipated this attack. He flashed, passing through the attack unscathed, and arrived directly in front of Geto Suguru.
"The ability to create a mirror-like substitute must be the ability of your last Grade 1 Cursed Spirit. Unfortunately, my eyes are quite good; such an ability is useless in front of Rikugan."
As Gojo Satoru spoke, Geto Suguru focused his gaze on Gojo Satoru's eyes, discovering that he had removed his sunglasses at some point, revealing those clear, azure eyes.
"And so, it's over."
Gojo Satoru declared the end of the battle; once a Shikigami User is engaged in close combat, their resistance is greatly weakened. However, things did not develop as he had expected.
Geto Suguru grabbed the wrist of the fist swinging toward his face and twisted it to the side, forcing Gojo Satoru to hunch over. Just as he wanted to readjust his stance, Geto Suguru's knee drove up into Gojo Satoru's stomach, causing Gojo Satoru to pause for a moment. Geto Suguru firmly seized this fleeting moment and unleashed a combo on Gojo Satoru.
Just as Geto Suguru wanted to end the fight while Gojo Satoru was caught off guard, he found his fist stopped in front of Gojo Satoru. Despite feeling no resistance, he couldn't advance even a millimeter.
Taking advantage of the moment Geto Suguru was stunned, Gojo Satoru immediately kicked him away with a whip kick.
"That was close. I even thought I could win without activating Limitless. Come to think of it, I've never seen a Shikigami User who can fight as well as you." Gojo Satoru said, rubbing his body.
"Close combat is my hobby. Besides, how do you think I tamed Cursed Spirits in the first place?"
Geto Suguru curled his lips.
"By the way, was that 'Limitless' just now? What a strange feeling."
"I acknowledge you. You are indeed a strong person. Now, I'm going to go all out." Gojo Satoru had also put aside his playful attitude.
"Bring it on!" Geto Suguru, hearing this, once again took his starting stance while opening the rift to the space where he stored his Cursed Spirits.
After the two exchanged a few more rounds, Geto Suguru was ultimately defeated by Gojo Satoru and knocked out of the arena. He was now receiving treatment from Shoko.
"What a shame."
Genji said, standing beside Geto Suguru.
"Your close combat ability and overall combat awareness are indeed stronger than Gojo's. However, at this stage, you have no means to counter Limitless. Other than stalling for time until Gojo can't hold on anymore, you don't have much of a chance of winning, yet you chose to go up and fight him head-on."
"Seeing Gojo Classmate get serious, I couldn't help but get a bit fired up. Although I lost, I'm quite satisfied. It's just that I'm still undergoing treatment, so I'll have to trouble you to fight Gojo Classmate first."
Geto Suguru said, lying on the ground.
"Fine. Hey, you white-haired guy over there, I guess I'll have to fight you first. Do you need time to rest?" Genji shouted toward Gojo Satoru.
"Ha, I don't need it. It's you who wants to delay the time until you get beaten down," Gojo Satoru retorted.
The second spar was already filled with tension before it even began.
"Alright, you two, since Geto can't go on for now, you two go first." Yaga said to the pair from the side.
Thus, the second match, Gojo Satoru versus Genji, began.