"You two go do whatever you need to do. My brothers and I will naturally help Yuji carry the burden. That is the duty of an older brother."
Choso calmed down. Although he still did not look kindly at the civilians, he turned his head and told Nanami and Megumi to go first.
Even if it was only for Yuji, he would force himself to properly act as a qualified jujutsu sorcerer.
For the sake of his brothers.
"Then we will leave things here to you. Itadori should have already received the message and be heading this way."
Nanami nodded toward Choso and the others. Then he walked past them and headed deeper inside with Megumi.
Within a minute or two, they arrived in front of the second curtain.
"Let me try something."
Nanami took off his coat and reached behind his back to pull out his pair of metal tonfas. He planned to test the curtain first to measure its strength, then determine where the base might be located.
"Alright."
Megumi quickly took the coat and stepped back a few paces.
"Black Flash."
Because the curtain covered such a large area, Nanami could not treat the entire barrier as a target for his Ratio Technique. A barrier also had no torso that could be divided by the seven-to-three rule. So he gathered all of his cursed energy at the shorter end of the tonfas and swung with full force.
The moment the strike landed on the barrier, cursed energy like black and red lightning twisted the space at the point of contact.
Black Flash could not normally be used intentionally. That was a well-known fact throughout the jujutsu world. However, Nanami held the record for the most consecutive Black Flashes in a single day. His understanding of it was deeper than anyone else's.
If there was one person capable of using Black Flash almost like a regular attack, then for now that person would only be him.
In terms of understanding the path of jujutsu, the only thing Nanami still lacked was reaching the peak called Domain Expansion.
Just one final step remained before he could glimpse the summit.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, the pair of tonfas slammed against the barrier. Even the ground seemed to tremble.
But when the attack ended, the curtain in front of them showed no sign of weakening. The powerful strike was like a stone falling into the ocean. It caused no ripple at all.
"Even Nanami-san's full power attack couldn't shake it?"
Behind him, Megumi widened his eyes.
In the jujutsu world, barriers were rarely broken by force. Still, a curtain that merely blocked sorcerers from entering should not be that strong.
At the very least, someone like Nanami should not strike it with full strength and see absolutely no reaction.
"It is a binding vow. This barrier must be carrying a very risky one to increase its strength." Nanami pushed up his goggles and reached his conclusion.
As an experienced grade 1 sorcerer, he already had an idea the moment his attack landed.
With strength like this, even a special grade sorcerer might not break it quickly by force. But that was not necessarily bad news for them.
If the barrier both blocked all sorcerers and possessed such incredible durability, then the binding vow supporting it must be extremely dangerous.
For a barrier, the greatest risk was being discovered and destroyed by the enemy. Which meant the base of the curtain was outside the barrier, located somewhere that could be easily noticed.
It also could not be too far away. If it were far away, even if someone noticed it they might not connect it to the curtain.
Nanami began scanning the surrounding area.
Suddenly, his eyes stopped on the tallest building nearby.
The ground level was crowded with civilians and sorcerers. Placing the base there would be too risky.
But the top of that building was perfect. Easy to notice, but difficult to reach.
"Megumi, prepare to summon Nue. We are going to the very top of that building," Nanami instructed, pointing toward the towering skyscraper.
"Understood."
Megumi handed the coat back and began forming hand signs to activate his technique.
* * *
Meanwhile, outside all the curtains, on an overpass overlooking the area.
"Right, right. Nitta-san, if you have any information, please run outside the curtain to report it. Then I will assign other assistant managers to relay the message. And remember, your main task right now is rescuing civilians. If the curtain is broken, do not enter immediately. Wait for instructions from Nanami-san…"
Ijichi was currently acting as the leader of the assistant managers, calmly assigning tasks to everyone.
Nearby, Ino leaned against the guardrail, acting as his personal bodyguard.
Ijichi felt deeply moved. This was the trust his seniors had placed in him. If he could not even handle such a small task, he would rather die here.
However…
"Hm? I can't contact Sakai…"
When he tried reaching another assistant supervisor, neither calls nor messages went through.
"Who are you?!"
Just then, Ino became alert as he looked toward the staircase and shouted.
"Eh? Why is this assistant manager protected? That breaks the rules."
Two people walked up the stairs.
It was Haruta. And another curse user named Niji Ebina, who wore something that looked like a frog-head on his head.
'That guy… at least semi-grade 1 level.'
With just a glance, Ino roughly judged their strength.
The blond one looked strange but did not feel very strong. The only thing worth noting was the sword in his hand. It was probably a cursed tool made by some curse user.
The real problem was the other one. He did not bother hiding his leaking cursed energy. That level had already reached the threshold of a semi-grade 1 sorcerer.
He would not be much weaker than Ino himself.
"What did you do to the other assistant managers?"
Ijichi caught the implication in their words. Combined with the fact that he could not contact Sakai, a terrible feeling rose in his chest.
"We already killed all of them. Next are the two of you. Don't think having a sorcerer guarding you means you get to live," Ebina said arrogantly as he pointed at Ijichi and Ino.
"That's right, that's right. Weak people should be crushed. Hehehahaha~"
Haruta chimed in beside him, laughing in a disgusting way.
"Damn it… please, Ino-san."
A rare flash of anger appeared on Ijichi's usually timid face.
Many assistant managers had worked alongside him for years. Now they had been killed because of his strategy.
They had all known the risk when they agreed to it. But when it really happened, it was impossible not to feel the pain.
"Don't worry, Ijichi-san. This is the task Nanami-san entrusted to me. No matter what, I won't mess it up."
Ino pulled down the black hat on his head.
Instantly, the hat transformed into a ski-mask that revealed only his eyes.
**
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