Curse Returns, a gamble from the start, I awaken dual spells

The preparation room for the Kyoto venue is located in the west wing of the building.

The light from outside the window was filtered into a grayish-green by the layers of cedar branches and leaves, and fell on the tatami mats like a layer of mold that could not be washed off.

"Kill Yujin Itadori, the vessel of Sukuna!" Rakuganji's voice rang out in the room.

Upon hearing this, the tricycle closest to him showed a brief moment of awkwardness.

But before anyone could speak, suddenly—

boom!

Suddenly, without warning, the door next to us was kicked down, and the door frame slammed into the corridor with a dull thud.

"You can do this boring thing yourselves!"

With his hands in his pockets and a fierce look on his face, Dongtang walked outside.

"Toudou, come back!" Kamo called out to stop him, his voice somewhat indifferent.

Dongtang paused, turned his head, and his slightly narrowed eyes revealed a murderous aura that seemed almost tangible.

"The show is about to start, and Ms. Sanada will be appearing as a guest. Are you trying to stop me?"

Kamo remained calm: "The program and stuff, we can just record it."

Upon hearing this, Dongtang's voice suddenly rose: "I want to watch both the premiere and the recording. Are you looking down on me?"

As he spoke, he took a step forward, his imposing figure exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.

"Hey, hey, hey, this doesn't seem to be the point, does it?" Maya poked her head out from the side and said weakly.

"Hmph!" Dongtang withdrew his gaze. "Let me tell you, whatever you do, if you try to order me around, believe me, I'll kill you all!"

After saying this, Dongtang left the room without looking back.

Rakanji Temple also disappeared quickly, leaving only the second-year students from Kyoto in the room.

After Todo and Rakanji disappeared, only the second-year students from Kyoto remained in the room.

"Really... do you want to kill me?" Miwa's voice broke the silence.

"You think this is a joke? The principal gave the order himself." Zhen leaned against the window, his tone unreadable, neither sarcastic nor anything else.

Sanlun opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

"Isn't this great?" Nishimiya squatted in the corner with a broom in her arms. "Anyway, Toudou will cause trouble on his own, so we can just focus on the competition."

"That guy Toudou, he probably wouldn't kill me, right? Although he doesn't seem like it..." Mai added thoughtfully.

"That's enough." The voice of the mechanical ball, with a synthesized sound effect, came from the corner.

"Just because Todo isn't going to kill them doesn't mean we won't do it. We just need to keep the rest of Tokyo under control, and then we'll figure out how to deal with the rest."

Kamo spread the list of students from the Tokyo school on the table, his finger slowly sliding down from the first line.

"Itadori Hisahito." He tapped the first name with his fingertip. "Todo will come to him on his own; we don't need to worry about it."

Makoto leaned against the window, twirling a pistol in one hand, and feinting the muzzle towards the ceiling. "That guy Toudou, even if you assign him a different target, he won't listen."

"So ignore him." Kamo's voice was flat as he continued, "Fushiguro Megumi, the inheritor of the ten shadow magic techniques, I'll deal with him."

The mechanical ball took half a step forward from the corner, its metal joints creaking softly. "Leave the panda to me."

Zhenyi paused for a moment as she spun her gun, glancing at him. "You certainly know how to pick your opponents."

Mechanical Maru didn't speak.

Kamo nodded, not saying anything more about the allocation.

"Mai, I'm entrusting Maki to you. Even though you're sisters, don't hold back."

"I don't need you to remind me," Zhenyi replied.

Kamo shifted his gaze to Nishimiya, who was holding a broom in the corner.

"Nishimiya, you deal with Kugisaki Nobara. Her Chuling spell requires a medium. Suppress her from the air and don't give her a chance to get close. Mai Kaiki will come to support you later."

"Mm." Nishimiya nodded.

"The last one." Kamo's gaze fell on the bottom of the list, on the name that was printed in ink lighter than the others.

"Sato Rihito, a freshman who just enrolled this year."

Sanlun peeked over from the side and glanced at the list, then blinked.

"I've never heard of this person before."

"There's very little information either," the synthesized voice of the mechanical ball continued. "The name and effects of the technique are not publicly recorded; all we know is that it was personally recruited by Gojo Satoru."

Miwa's expression wavered slightly. "Was it Gojo Satoru who personally confessed?"

"So what?" Zhenyi drew her pistol from her waist and pointed it lightly at Rito on the list.

"What can someone learn in less than half a year? Gojo Satoru never recruits based solely on combat strength. Wasn't Etoko considered a liability when he enrolled?"

"That's right." Kamo looked up from the list and scanned everyone present.

"Newcomers without practical experience, even with special techniques, will find it difficult to be effective in team battles. We don't need to waste too much energy on them."

His gaze finally settled on the tricycle's face.

"Three-wheeler, keep an eye on him."

The tricycle paused for a moment, then stood up straight.

Am I... alone?

"That's enough."

"Your opponent is a new student who has been in school for less than half a year. All you need to do is restrict his movements."

Sanlun was silent for two seconds, then took a deep breath and nodded vigorously.

"Understood, I'll keep an eye on him."

"And Dog Roll." Nishimiya looked up from the corner. "How should this person be assigned to the spellcaster?"

Kamo remained silent for a moment.

"Dog Roll's spells can instantly suppress anyone, making them unsuitable for one-on-one combat. Mechanical Maru, do you have a way to interfere with him?"

The synthesized voice of the mechanical ball paused for half a second, as if it were retrieving data.

"We can use ranged attacks to keep him in a difficult position at mid-range, preventing him from speaking. But if he breaks through to close range, I can't guarantee the suppression effect."

"That's enough." Kamo's gaze swept across everyone's faces one by one. "Dog-Tsubaki Thorn doesn't have a fixed opponent; whoever is closest will be responsible for restraining him."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Is everything clear?"

No one asked any more questions.

Kamo reached out and flipped the list on the table over, back side up, as if turning a page of a chapter that had already been read.

Let's go!

......

At 10 a.m., the students from the Tokyo campus stood in front of a dense forest.

Although the trees in early winter have lost most of their leaves, their trunks are already dense enough to cut the line of sight into countless narrow fragments.

A few bird calls occasionally drifted from the depths of the forest, sounding somewhat abrupt in the silence.

Gojo Satoru stood before the crowd with his hands in his pockets, a smile that never changed.

"Alright, while you're still dawdling around in Kyoto, let me review the rules with you first, so you won't blame me for not explaining things clearly if you get lost later."

Kugizaki crossed his arms and frowned.

"That notice you gave last time—"

"Oh dear, this time it's just a verbal explanation, so there won't be any ambiguity." Gojo Satoru waved his hand, quickly changing the subject.

"Listen carefully, the location for the team battle is this forest and the surrounding abandoned buildings. The battle area is defined by the boundary of the barrier."

"Once the competition begins, you will need to hunt down the cursed spirits scattered throughout the area. The higher the level of the cursed spirit, the higher the corresponding score."

"Two points for a level two cursed spirit, four points for a near level one, eight points for a level one. If a special-grade cursed spirit appears, retreat immediately and notify the referee."

"At the same time, this is also a confrontation between the two schools." Gojo Satoru raised his second finger.

"Defeating the opposing team members will allow you to acquire all the points they have accumulated, so the strategy is simple: either focus on hunting cursed spirits to widen the score gap, or directly steal other people's points."

After listening, the person had a clear understanding of the rules.

Hunting cursed spirits is a basic way to score points, but the risk is that if you painstakingly accumulate a lot of points, you will lose all of them to your opponent if you lose in battle.

This means the team must balance two things at the same time: the ability to efficiently hunt down cursed spirits and the combat power to hold onto their score.

"The last rule." Gojo Satoru raised his third finger.

"The team battles will continue until sunset. The side with the higher score at the end of the day wins. Got it?"

Everyone nodded.

"Let's go then." Gojo Satoru turned to the side, tilting his head towards the forest. "Don't disappoint your teacher."

Itadori took the lead, followed closely by Kugizaki, with Fushiguro in third place.

Rito walked at the back, glancing up at the sky before entering the forest.

The sunlight was perfect, clean and bright.

But his thoughts wandered elsewhere.

"The real person should have already infiltrated in by now."