"Back there on the field, it all happened in the blink of an eye—you lot got there too late to see it. But that was the legendary hereditary Technique (Jujutsu Technique) of the Gojo Family—the Limitless!" The stubble-faced old man slapped the table. "Even the Tiger of Nishi Middle School, whose might shakes all directions, couldn't advance a single inch further… I really never expected that the Sakata kid would turn out to be the illegitimate son of a great family. I sure misjudged him back then."
This was outside the arena.
The battle between Yuji Itadori and Sakata had long since ended.
The one currently fighting an opponent on the screen was Fushiguro Maki, while Yuji Itadori and Mahiru were resting in a corner of the snack plaza outside the gymnasium.
From a distance, the old man's booming voice kept carrying over, drawing everyone's attention.
"You young folks have no idea how amazing the Limitless Technique is. This Limitless—it's impervious to a hundred moves, an invincible defense." Facing a bunch of kids, the old man rattled on eloquently, spittle flying everywhere. "Under normal circumstances, no one can break the Limitless at all."
A kid raised his hand: "But then why, the moment the scene cut, did Sakata get elbowed to the ground by the Tiger of Nishi Middle School?"
"Tch." The old man clicked his tongue.
"Because that Tiger of Nishi Middle School fights dirty," the old man said in a low voice. "My guess is, that Tiger of Nishi Middle School used a [Loan] of some kind, temporarily sacrificing something in exchange for an instantly-cast ultimate move."
"Ultimate move?"
"The target of that Tiger of Nishi Middle School's elbow strike was probably the world itself." The old man's expression turned grave. "The [World Elbow]—heh, truly outrageous… Hey, don't you kids go spreading this around…"
A short distance away, Mahiru could barely keep a straight face.
Yuji Itadori, meanwhile, was hunched over the table with his hood on, fully turtling up.
"Mahiru, you're bullying me…"
The boy let out a protest.
Putting on a fake match like this, he felt more exhausted than from a real fight. He was about to burn out completely.
Back then, Yuji Itadori had botched an elbow strike and missed, and it was Mahiru who saved the situation in time—but the consequence was that Sakata became a user of the Limitless, and even became Satoru Gojo's illegitimate son.
The words "illegitimate son" weren't actually said by Mahiru—they spread after the match through one garbled rumor after another.
Whether or not he was an illegitimate son, and whether it affected Satoru Gojo's reputation, wasn't really a big deal—after all, Satoru Gojo didn't have much of a reputation anyway.
The troublesome part was that during the match, Mahiru had forcibly slapped a "Limitless" setting onto the opponent, so Yuji Itadori had to respect that setting—and thus a battle that could have been settled instantly was forcibly dragged out for a long time.
He even had to pretend the opponent's attacks were especially powerful, pretend to be angry, pretend to despair, and then, just as the opponent struck a pose like he was about to win, suddenly whip out a "World Elbow" from his crotch and elbow him to the ground.
With all that fuss, the whole match took nearly forty or fifty minutes, leaving Yuji Itadori exhausted in both body and mind.
Mahiru, too, had gotten bored playing around in the commentator's booth, so she stepped down—and on the way put back the real commentator she'd had trussed up.
And now it just so happened to be Fushiguro's turn in the ring.
Fushiguro's opponent was a mysterious man dressed in an American-comics style, with dyed blond hair and a cape.
Honestly, the aesthetic was bizarre. Who knew what image a sorcerer was even supposed to have in the eyes of these newly-emerged sorcerers?
"And besides, why do you only mess with me and not Fushiguro!" Yuji Itadori protested.
Mahiru yawned. "Because Fushiguro's no fun."
"And messing with me is fun?!"
"Yep."
Even the real-life author of the original work loved watching Yuji Itadori break down—it really had been passed down in one unbroken line.
"Mainly it really is a stress reliever." Mahiru nodded in approval and gave a thumbs-up.
Once tomorrow night passed, they would face off head-on against Kenjaku and Sukuna.
Though Mahiru didn't say it, she was actually under a great deal of pressure.
Goofing around like this, she felt her stress had eased quite a bit.
Now, in terms of fame alone, Mahiru's renown in Japan's jujutsu world was second only to Satoru Gojo—the news media was full of her.
It was for that very reason that Mahiru had changed her appearance and voice. She was now a little girl with black hair and purple eyes.
There was no need to worry about Fushiguro's side—Fushiguro was hopelessly bad at fistfighting, but her dog was strong.
Normally a dog couldn't be used in the match, but Mahiru had crafted a "skin" for Fushiguro's dog that ordinary people could see too, so then it could be used.
And so the opponent was in for a real "treat."
Right now on the screen, that American-comics Superman fellow was being chased in circles around the ring by a dog, yelping as he got bitten.
The scene wasn't epic, but it was hilarious.
"Oh, Nobara Kugisaki says she's just about ready on her end." Mahiru blinked at the message on her phone. "And Miwa… Miwa Kasumi and the others have started moving too."
"Hm?" Yuji Itadori was puzzled. "Miwa?"
He knew what Nobara Kugisaki was up to, but what was Miwa doing? Mahiru had actually arranged for other people to do other things as well.
"Of course," Mahiru said with a smile. "I've got people putting up missing-relative notices for you."
"Huh? Missing-relative notices?" Yuji Itadori was even more confused.
Where do I even have any relatives?
What on earth was this person talking about?
Mahiru opened her mouth helplessly, about to tell Yuji Itadori that as long as he was willing, all within the four seas were his brothers… but the next second, the girl seemed to sense something, and an intrigued smile spread across her face.
Tap, tap, tap.
Scrape—the sound of a chair grinding against the floor.
Someone walked up to the edge of their table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
Yuji Itadori froze, locking eyes with the person who had just sat down before him.
A burly man, with a face both world-weary and unrestrained, and an extremely sharp gaze… Above all, this face—as their mission target, Yuji Itadori would absolutely never forget it.
"...!"
Yuji Itadori's heart suddenly began to race.
Hakari Kinji!
This man was none other than Hakari Kinji, the third-year senior who had been expelled from Jujutsu High! He was the very target they had come here to find!
How had he shown up???
The man looked like he was just casually moving about, slouching back onto the chair with the posture of a worldly adult, seemingly paying no mind to him and Mahiru.
Was it just… a coincidence?
Could there really be such a stroke of luck?
"Uh… um…" Yuji Itadori opened his mouth.
He felt a bit nervous and excited.
Just like accidentally hitting the jackpot on a lottery ticket.
Having hit the jackpot, he had to cherish it. The boy's mind raced as he mulled over how he should open the conversation.
Who'd have thought—it was the other man who spoke first.
"Your name… is Itadori, right?" Hakari Kinji looked at Yuji Itadori. "What's your purpose in coming here to compete?"
Yuji Itadori's eyes went wide.
So Hakari Kinji had come for him after all!
Perhaps their earlier performance in the match had caught his attention.
Yuji Itadori grew even more nervous, because he didn't know what Hakari Kinji's purpose was.
Is he suspicious of me?
How should I answer?
Yuji Itadori secretly glanced at Mahiru, only to find the girl slurping away at the drink in her hand while watching them with great interest, with absolutely no intention of saying anything.
"I… I, um, I'm doing it for money…" Yuji Itadori could only make something up on the spot.
"Money?"
"Yeah, I compete for money."
"I see…" Hakari Kinji nodded in understanding. "Money… that works too."
Of course Hakari Kinji could tell that Yuji Itadori was different from all those misfits—the boy was talent worth recruiting.
Money, power, love… even the most vulgar of desires—as long as it could bring passion, then in Hakari Kinji's eyes they were all the same.
"I can give you money, Itadori. Are you willing to work together with me?" Hakari Kinji looked at Yuji Itadori and extended the invitation. "As long as you stick with me, you'll surely…"
…Hm?
Out of the corner of his eye, Hakari Kinji glanced at Mahiru once more, and finally noticed something was off.
Yes—ever since he'd walked into this snack plaza, his subconscious senses had been uneasy the whole time.
He'd originally thought it was just a mistaken psychological effect brought on by his recent worries, but now he realized he'd been wrong.
All the discomfort, all the eeriness, all the sense of danger—it all came from that girl beside them, the one biting her straw with a glint of wicked amusement swirling in her eyes!
Hakari Kinji's breathing suddenly quickened.
As an excellent gambler, Hakari Kinji possessed an extremely keen "sixth sense."
He could pull his hand back before a crash, and double down when a jackpot was on its way.
He locked eyes with the girl across from him.
His ever-victorious sixth sense was now roaring in his heart.
This feeling…
This feeling…
Was it [Jackpot Incoming]?
Was it [Misfortune Descending]?
No… neither.
[Run or You Die]. [Run or You Die].
"You… what exactly are you?" Hakari Kinji asked, his expression turning ugly.
Splat!
Mahiru smiled, flicked her hand, and hurled her cola cup right into Hakari Kinji's face.
A sudden turn of events.
Hakari Kinji shut his eyes tight, letting the liquid splash across his face as his hands formed a sign in front of him.
At this very moment, he had already unconsciously stepped into a gamble that could decide his life or death.
At this very moment, without the slightest hesitation, he activated his most ultimate technique.
"Domain Expansion—Idle Death Gamble!"
____
👻🔥Heey! Walnut-chan for more chapters!🔥👻
🔥 New history:Naruto: Is it reasonable to beat up an Otsutsuki with Hamon, right?
Help us reach these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 universal bonus chapter