Chapter 180: This is to Prevent Sukuna from Sneaking Bites
About a week had passed, and looking at the results, the most successfully "remodeled" students were Itadori Yuji, Fushiguro Megumi, and Zen'in Maki.
Since their improvements were focused on fundamentally transforming their combat styles, the growth was far faster than following a step-by-step training regimen—though the degree and direction of such growth were difficult to control. However, it didn't matter; with Emiya providing close, hands-on guidance, the possibility of things spiraling out of control was virtually zero.
Itadori Yuji had found a weapon that perfectly matched his freakish physical stats. Under Emiya's deliberate forging, the weapon even had effects that catered to his Cleave technique.
Zen'in Maki had found a fighting style suited for her zero-cursed-energy body; her powerful mobility, combined with her immunity to cursed energy detection and interference, was destined to become a nightmare for most enemies.
As for Fushiguro Megumi, his improvement was even more exaggerated—the entire Ten Shadows Technique had been modified beyond recognition under Emiya's suggestions, yet its practicality and combat power had seen a very real increase.
Madoka (Round Deer) provided Megumi with the trait of being difficult to defeat directly, while the turn-based Binding Vows gave him the possibility of summoning all ten shadow shikigami simultaneously.
The combat power presented by his ultimate form was definitely far beyond that of an ordinary Special Grade cursed spirit. Most importantly, these changes could be refined further both vertically and horizontally, and they didn't hinder Megumi from continuing to improve his own raw strength.
After all, human strength has its limits, but the realm and skill of "card gaming" are infinite!
In every sense, Fushiguro Megumi was the one with the greatest change and improvement.
As for the remaining three—Kugisaki Nobara, Toge Inumaki, and Panda—their strength had also increased, just not as explosively as the others.
Their primary combat methods hadn't been overhauled by Emiya.
The biggest change for Inumaki was merely the addition of an offensive weapon—the Nodachi—which isn't a weapon easily mastered.
On the other hand, the massive cleaver he used was much simpler and more direct: use Cursed Speech to freeze the enemy, then deliver a charged vertical slash—providing cursed spirits with a smooth, painless "exorcism."
As for Nobara's modified weapon, the Black Keys... its ceiling was high, but to truly reach the level of a certain priest, she would likely need to practice for a very long time.
Regardless, everyone's strength was steadily improving, which was an indisputable success. Emiya found himself even happier about their progress than his own. This wasn't an exaggeration; Emiya's own strength had increased significantly—roughly on par with Megumi's progress—but he truly felt more joy seeing his students grow.
Emiya sought to increase his own strength only as a means to better handle upcoming dangers and protect more people. If there were ways to achieve those goals other than fighting, he would do so without hesitation.
But from a teacher's perspective, it was different.
Which elder wouldn't want to see their juniors thrive? Even if they grew to be more powerful than him, as an elder, he would only feel gratified—much like watching a plant you carefully tended finally grow taller than yourself, eventually blooming and bearing fruit.
Unknowingly, Emiya had completely adopted the mindset and position of a teacher, or perhaps even a step further: a "doting mother" figure.
To celebrate this milestone victory, Emiya invited the students to his home, intending to personally cook a massive feast for them all.
Training shouldn't just be about suffering; balancing work and rest was vital.
Although the space—which was normally quite spacious—immediately felt cramped with eight people in the living room, wasn't it precisely this crowded environment that made the scene feel warmer? Like a family squeezed onto a single sofa during a holiday, this atmosphere truly felt like a reunion.
Humans are genetically predisposed to be social creatures. No matter how solitary a person might be in daily life, they still need a reliable, warm harbor. Those who can truly live completely detached from society are a tiny minority in the world.
"So... is it really okay for us to just sit here and watch without helping?"
Fushiguro Megumi had only been on his small stool for a few minutes before he started getting restless.
In his view, Emiya was an elder; for them as juniors to sit back and wait while an elder prepared a meal for them felt somewhat inappropriate. Especially since there were seven of them—was it really okay to let Emiya-sensei work so hard alone? He usually cooked for himself anyway; he could at least help as a kitchen hand.
"Don't worry, don't worry~"
Satoru Gojo, sitting opposite Megumi, gently pressed his hand down: "You just haven't seen Emiya-kun's skill level. I'm actually afraid that if you go over there, you'll just get in his way."
From Gojo's selfish perspective, whether Emiya was tired was a small matter—not being able to eat the gourmet food was the real disaster!
What if Megumi's cooking interfered with Emiya-kun's, causing the quality of the meal to drop?
No, no, that absolutely could not happen!
"...Alright." Since Gojo, also a teacher, had spoken, Megumi had no room to refuse.
"Panda..."
Just then, Panda, sitting next to Itadori Yuji, finally couldn't contain his curiosity. He silently pointed at Itadori, who was busily wrapping bandages around various parts of his own body. "Itadori-kun, what are you doing?"
"Ah?"
Being named, Itadori looked up blankly, glanced at everyone watching him, and naturally raised his palm.
"I'm trying to block any mouths that might pop up at any time. If that guy Sukuna suddenly jumps out to snatch my chopsticks and eat, I won't get enough to fill my stomach."
Itadori Yuji was quite clever. Since Ryomen Sukuna could at most sprout mouths on the surface of his body and couldn't actually seize control of him, Itadori figured that if he just bandaged his hands—the only part that would be near the food—Sukuna wouldn't have a chance to steal a bite.
A genius! Truly!
"WOW...He'll suddenly jump out to snatch chopsticks?"
The meaning of every individual word was clear, but when linked together, they formed a picture the others couldn't comprehend. In their minds, Itadori Yuji was undoubtedly an honest kid, but the Sukuna inside him was an entity that could slaughter everyone at any moment—which was the view held by most of the Jujutsu world.
Yet now, someone was telling them that the god of slaughter, for whom killing was as simple as breathing, would actually snatch chopsticks?
"Exactly! And that guy is fast!" Itadori continued. "Back then, he just went 'snap' and bit the chopsticks in half, then swallowed the noodles and the chopsticks together! He was like a hungry Yasha or a starving ghost!"
Itadori's literary skills might not be high, but his performance skills were excellent. Combined with his physical gestures, he vividly recreated the scene for the group.
"Ooh, I see... Put that way, even a ghost-god has to eat, right?"
"But that description is so strange. Is Emiya-sensei's food really so delicious that even a ghost-god is moved?
Honestly, the way he describes it makes him sound more like a dog..."
"Salmon."
Indeed, amidst the discussion, that last very vivid description came from Zen'in Maki.
Seeing his reputation slandered to such a degree, if Ryomen Sukuna could still hold back, he really would be something else.
"Hey, hey! You brat, you dare say one more word and see what happens?!!!"
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