"You bastard," I said as I forced myself to stand up.
Naoya, who had been busy beating Choso, turned his head slightly and glanced back at me with clear annoyance. At that exact moment, Yuji, who had been knocked aside earlier, suddenly threw a rock toward Naoya.
Naoya dodged it easily.
But I already knew how his cursed technique worked.
The moment I noticed Yuji throwing the rock, I activated my cursed technique and aimed my flames upward toward the air. Naoya dodged exactly the way I expected, performing a smooth mid-air flip to avoid the projectile, but I had already predicted where he would move. For just three frames of time—barely a fraction of a second—Naoya flew straight through the flames I had prepared.
It wasn't much.
But it was enough to hit him. Naoya didn't want to get frozen by his technique so he had to endure my flames.
When he landed, his hair was slightly singed and a few small burns marked his arms and shoulders. He had clearly chosen not to cancel his predetermined movement, which meant he endured those three frames of burning rather than losing momentum.
He was not pleased.
I swallowed.
"I think he might actually kill me if we lose…" I muttered under my breath.
Still, I knew something important.
Yuta was coming.
So for now, all we needed to do was survive.
Yuji and Choso regrouped with me while Naoya stood in front of us, staring with barely contained fury. He looked especially angry at me.
Most likely because I had ruined his perfect hair.
"YOU!" Naoya shouted, pointing directly at me. "You lowly woman… I will—"
Suddenly, all of us froze.
A massive, cursed energy signature appeared nearby.
It flooded the entire area like a wave.
Yuta.
The difference was obvious immediately. His cursed energy was enormous, easily twice as large as mine. Even if I released all of my cursed energy like he did, it wouldn't have the same effect. His power carried weight behind it.
Naoya stopped talking instantly.
Yuji looked toward the distance and murmured quietly.
"Gojo-sensei…? No…"
His expression darkened. "It's even worse."
A figure appeared.
Yuta Okkotsu stepped into view and looked at the four of us.
"Huh," he said calmly. "You're not alone?"
Choso immediately tensed.
To be honest, so did I. Even though I know that he is a good guy.
The bloodlust coming from Yuta couldn't really be described with words. Even though I knew he wouldn't actually kill me, my body still reacted instinctively to the pressure.
Yuta ignored the tension and spoke again.
"What are each of you to Itadori-kun?"
Choso stepped forward slightly.
His eyes hardened.
"So you're here to execute my brother."
His voice was cold.
Naoya suddenly walked toward Yuta while raising one hand casually.
"Hold up," he said. "I'm on your side." He smiled slightly.
"You're Okkotsu, correct?"
Yuta slowly turned his gaze toward him.
"And you are?"
"Naoya Zenin," he replied confidently. "Maki-chan's cousin. I was also told to kill Itadori, just like you."
While they talked, Choso, Yuji, and I quietly moved closer together.
"Kita, Yuji… we need to run," Choso whispered.
I looked at both of them and shook my head.
"Yuji, you focus on escaping," I said quickly. "Choso and I will hold Naoya back. Even if all three of us fought Okkotsu together, we would still lose."
Yuji hesitated. "His target is you," I continued. "Run. We'll handle the fake blonde guy."
We had just finished our quick plan when Naoya said something that made my skin crawl.
"After you kill Yuji," he said casually while pointing at me, "could you leave that girl for me and report it to the higher-ups later?"
He smiled in a disturbing way.
"I want to see what I can do with her."
"Oy, oy, oy…" I muttered quietly.
He really wants to do diabolical things to me.
The moment the decision was made, both sides moved.
Yuta looked at Yuji before glancing at Naoya.
"Sounds good," he said calmly. "I'll leave the other two to you."
Yuji immediately ran. Yuta followed after him without hesitation.
That left the two of us facing Naoya.
Choso and I stepped forward.
Naoya looked at us with open mockery.
"You have Blood Manipulation," he said while looking at Choso. "Are you from the Kamo clan? Still, it's a terrible, cursed technique. The only real threat is Piercing Blood, and even that requires Convergence."
His gaze moved toward me.
"And the girl…"
He looked at me, disgusted
"You're clearly a new sorcerer. As expected from a woman, you can't even do anything right. You also look young."
He shrugged.
"I don't need to say more, do I? I'll kill you, Kamo boy…"
His smile widened.
"And you, woman… You would make a fine object."
Before we could respond, he vanished.
Naoya appeared right in front of me.
I tried to react, but he touched me first.
Instantly, my body froze.
Frame.
His cursed technique locked me into a projection frame for a second, and he quickly kicked me directly in the chest.
The impact sent me flying across the underpass.
I crashed into the wall hard.
The air left my lungs immediately.
I coughed violently as I slid down the wall, struggling to breathe.
That hurt. Badly.
My chest burned with pain, and my body felt like it had turned to jelly. My sight was blurry.
When my vision cleared slightly, I saw Naoya already beating Choso.
Choso couldn't even fight back properly.
I forced myself up and fired several flaming arrows toward Naoya. He dodged every single one and appeared right next to me again.
His fist slammed into my chest. Again.
My body smashed against the wall while he continued punching. I was pinned to the wall as he kept punching me.
I quickly reinforced my chest with cursed energy to the best of my ability. Even with my terrible control, I managed to protect myself enough to avoid dying.
Choso recovered at that moment and fired a Piercing Blood attack.
Naoya dodged it.
I collapsed to one knee and coughed again while watching him move through the underpass like a blur.
"That bastard…" I muttered.
He deliberately aimed for my chest.
Kita is fourteen years old. And your unemployed twenty-eight-year-old ass is doing this.
I slowly stood up.
My vision was blurry, and when I touched my lips, I noticed blood on my fingers.
I endured as I began limping toward the exit of the underpass.
I knew what Choso was planning.
Behind me, the battle continued.
Naoya eventually drew a knife and stabbed Choso.
That turned out to be his biggest mistake.
Choso suddenly summoned an enormous mass of blood, enough to flood the entire underpass. The crimson wave surged forward as Choso chased Naoya through it.
Naoya ran straight toward the exit.
Toward me. Exactly as I expected.
I had already prepared something.
A flaming bat!
When Naoya saw me standing there, he panicked slightly and tried to turn away.
But at that exact moment, Choso fired Piercing Blood.
Naoya couldn't dodge in time.
The attack forced him into a frame right in front of me as he failed to meet his predetermined moves.
Checkmate.
"You bastard!" I shouted as I swung the flaming bat directly into his face.
The impact launched him into the wall behind him.
Choso followed up immediately.
Another Piercing Blood pierced through Naoya's shoulder.
I limped over next to Choso.
Choso looked down at Naoya.
"Any last wor—"
He never finished the sentence.
Yuta appeared.
With a casual flick of his arm, he sent Choso flying into the wall and knocked him unconscious instantly.
He was terrifying.
I tried to turn away, but Yuta simply slapped me.
The world went dark.
When I woke up again, there was a small campfire burning nearby.
Yuta, Choso, Yuji, and Megumi were all sitting around it.
They were looking at me.
So I was the last one to wake up.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
End of chapter.