Chapter 8: The Insane Entrance Exam
"Begin!"
The moment Satoru Gojo gave the order, the atmosphere on the training ground exploded.
"Divine Dog: White! Divine Dog: Black!"
Megumi Fushiguro moved first.
With a swift series of hand signs, two massive shikigami hounds burst out from the shadows. One white, one black, they shot forward like twin bolts of lightning, one circling left, the other right, both lunging straight at Yami.
At the same time, Yuji Itadori launched himself forward as well.
"Ohhh, I'm coming too!"
Yuji's physical ability was completely ridiculous.
Even without using cursed energy, the explosive force in his legs shattered the bricks beneath his feet the instant he accelerated. He charged like a human shaped tyrannosaurus, following directly behind the Divine Dogs, his fist cocked back as he drove straight toward Yami's face.
Front and rear.
A perfectly timed pincer attack.
Even though it was their first time working together, the level of instinctive coordination they displayed made Maki narrow her eyes in approval from the sidelines.
"Not bad," she muttered.
"They've sealed off his space on both sides, and Itadori's frontal attack is too weird and explosive to predict normally."
"If it were an average Grade 1 sorcerer, they'd be scrambling already."
But Yami's response to this seemingly flawless encirclement was completely unexpected.
He did not retreat.
He advanced.
His toes brushed lightly against the ground as his body slipped forward like a falling leaf carried by the wind.
Just as the Divine Dogs were about to tear into him, he passed cleanly through the narrow gap between them with almost miraculous precision.
"What?!"
Megumi's pupils shrank.
Too fast.
No, not just fast.
It felt more like prediction.
As if Yami had already known where the Divine Dogs would attack and moved ahead of time, dodging before the strike had fully formed.
This was the combat instinct granted by 2% role playing progress and Total Concentration Breathing.
In Yami's eyes, the Divine Dogs looked fierce, but their attack patterns were plainly visible.
After slipping past the shikigami, the next thing waiting for him was Yuji's fist.
"Take this!"
Yuji roared as the punch tore through the air with a howl.
If that blow landed, it could dent steel.
Yami did not meet it head on.
Instead, he flicked the wooden sword in his hand with almost delicate precision and tapped Yuji's wrist joint.
"Ow!"
Yuji's arm instantly went numb, and nearly half the force behind his terrifying punch evaporated on the spot.
Yami then turned with effortless fluidity. The wooden sword traced a clean arc through the air and lightly struck Yuji across the back.
Thud.
With that single hit, Yuji lost his balance and stumbled forward several steps, nearly planting his face into the ground.
"So strong!"
Yuji caught himself and spun around, staring at Yami in astonishment.
"You neutralized my attack without using cursed energy?"
"Don't get distracted!"
Megumi barked, immediately sending the Divine Dogs back in.
This time, he did not have them pounce recklessly. Instead, he used the mobility of the shadows to keep them circling Yami, constantly shifting positions and searching for openings.
Yuji had learned too. He no longer rushed in blindly, but began syncing his movements with the Divine Dogs, using their pressure to harass Yami from different angles.
For a brief time, the fight looked almost evenly matched.
Yami stood in the middle with a wooden sword in hand, calmly moving within the pressure of both attackers.
Each time the sword moved, it precisely unraveled another assault.
A flick.
A deflection.
A parry.
That plain wooden sword seemed to come alive in his grasp, stopping every single attack exactly one meter away from him.
"Amazing..."
Nobara Kugisaki, who had apparently arrived at some point, stared with wide eyes.
"So that's the transfer student? He has no cursed energy, right? Then how is he outmaneuvering those two monsters?"
Gojo stroked his chin, the blue of his eyes behind the blindfold gleaming with interest.
"Not just that."
He grinned.
"Watch his breathing."
"Breathing?"
Everyone froze for a second, then looked more closely.
Only then did they notice it.
Throughout the intense exchange, Yami's breathing never broke rhythm.
Long.
Deep.
Measured.
And yet, within that smooth cadence was a strange, almost unnatural rhythm, like every inhale and exhale was feeding some invisible furnace.
With each breath, his chest rose and fell in a steady pattern, as though he were gathering power from the air itself.
Maki narrowed her eyes.
"That's..."
"Total Concentration Breathing," Yami murmured inwardly.
At only 2% role playing progress, he could barely maintain it for a few minutes. But even so, the effect was immediate.
As huge amounts of oxygen flooded into his lungs, every cell in his body seemed to awaken.
His blood ran hotter.
The world sharpened.
His vision grew clearer.
"That should be enough."
Yami spoke softly.
He looked at Yuji and Megumi, both of whom were rushing him again, and let the tip of the wooden sword dip slightly.
"Warm up's over."
The moment those four words landed, a chill ran down Megumi's spine.
"Itadori, back off!"
But he was too late.
This time, Yami did not move to defend.
He attacked.
He drew in a deep breath, so deep it felt as though the surrounding air had been vacuumed dry in that instant.
Then he swung the wooden sword.
For a fleeting moment, everyone thought they were hallucinating.
The ordinary wooden blade seemed to burst into flame.
No.
Not real flame.
That was sword intent.
The visualization of skill refined to an absurd extreme.
"Hinokami Kagura: Dance."
Whoosh!
A circular slash bloomed in the air.
There was no actual fire.
And yet, in Yuji and Megumi's eyes, the strike shone as brilliantly as the sun itself, carrying an overwhelming wave of heat as it rushed toward them.
"What... what is this?!"
Yuji cried out in shock, instinctively raising an arm to block.
But facing that slash, he felt like a moth hurling itself into a furnace.
Megumi's expression changed drastically.
He tried to pull the Divine Dogs back to defend, but the strike was too fast.
Far too fast.
Even the shadows could not react in time.
Boom!
The wooden sword cut through the air with a thunderous roar.
A powerful shockwave burst outward from Yami as the center.
Yuji and Megumi were thrown back like kites with snapped strings, blasted through the air before crashing heavily onto the ground.
Thud.
Thud.
Dust erupted around them.
Silence swallowed the training ground whole.
Everyone stared with open mouths, as though their jaws had collectively dislocated.
Maki did not even notice her spear slipping from her hand.
Panda rubbed his eyes so hard it looked like he was trying to erase the scene.
Even Gojo's smile froze for a heartbeat before widening even further.
In the center of the field, Yami still held his finishing stance.
No cursed energy radiated from him.
The wooden sword remained intact, not even a scorch mark left on its surface.
And yet the image of that strike, of those flames that seemed capable of burning through everything, was already carved into everyone's minds.
"Cough... cough..."
Yuji pushed himself up from the ground, covered in dust.
The impact had hurt, but with his absurd constitution, he was largely fine. Even so, faint scorch marks were visible on his clothes, as though he had really been brushed by intense heat.
Megumi stood as well, staring at the charred edge of his sleeve.
His pupils trembled.
"No cursed energy..."
"Really no cursed energy..."
"Then where did that fire come from?"
That was the question on everyone's mind.
If someone could create a phenomenon like that without cursed energy, then what did that make all of them, sorcerers who had risked their lives building power through cursed energy?
A joke?
Yami slowly lowered the wooden sword and exhaled a long breath.
White mist drifted from his lips.
After using Hinokami Kagura, his body temperature had risen to a frightening degree. His skin was slightly flushed, and a fine sheen of sweat covered his forehead.
But that only made him look even more mysterious in everyone else's eyes.
"That wasn't a Cursed Technique."
Gojo stepped forward at last, breaking the stunned silence.
He looked at Yami, interest practically overflowing from him.
"That was a technique taken to its absolute limit."
"When skill surpasses the body's limits, it can create something that looks like a miracle."
Then Gojo leaned in and poked Yami's burning cheek.
"But, Yami, are you really not going to teach your teacher?"
"I want to learn the cool flaming sword thing too."
Yami helplessly dodged the finger.
"Sensei, it's a breathing technique."
"A breathing technique?"
Everyone repeated the unfamiliar words at once.
"That's right."
Yami nodded.
He did not want to explain too much, but if he wanted to use his abilities openly in the future, he needed at least a basic foundation for everyone to understand.
"By using a special breathing pattern, the heart and lungs are strengthened. That allows the blood to absorb a much larger amount of oxygen in a short time, which lets the body release power beyond its normal limits."
He paused.
"That is Total Concentration Breathing."
Everyone listened with expressions that were half enlightened, half completely unconvinced.
It sounded scientific.
Sort of.
But how did breathing turn into fire?
That was obviously supernatural.
No matter how they looked at it, this was still basically sorcery wearing a fake mustache.
"Alright, alright, method aside."
Gojo clapped his hands loudly and announced with a grin,
"Yami passes the entrance exam."
"Starting today, he's officially our fourth first year student."
"Everybody, applause!"
Scattered clapping broke out around the field.
It was not that no one acknowledged Yami's strength.
Quite the opposite.
They were just still recovering from having their worldviews smashed to pieces.
Especially Maki.
She stared at Yami with a gaze more intense than ever before.
"Breathing technique..."
"A way to become stronger without cursed energy..."
If she could learn something like that too...
Wouldn't that prove that every old fossil in the Zenin clan had been wrong?
Yami seemed to sense her gaze. He turned his head and gave her a gentle smile.
That smile was warm, like spring sunlight.
And for some reason, it made Maki's face redden again.
"Tch. What are you smiling at?"
She immediately turned her face away and muttered under her breath,
"From now on... take care of me, you annoying first year."