Jujutsu Kaisen: Nozomi no Sora

On the train.

Qi Haijian walked through several carriages without noticing anything unusual.

The survivors huddled in their seats, their faces still showing signs of terror, but at least they were safe for the time being. He gripped his blunt knife, preparing to continue his search, when a strange metallic clanging sound suddenly came from the train's connecting section.

A short, ragged old man with an unusually robust build climbed out of the crevice.

"Hey, not bad at all!"

The old man grinned, revealing two rows of teeth that were almost incongruous with each other. Beneath his thick, dark eyebrows, a pair of eyes as big as copper bells stared intently at Nanami.

"Anyone who isn't Gojo Satoru is worth trying to kill! I'm already covered in wounds!"

Nanami stopped and stared coldly at the short old man in front of her.

Kurisaka Jiro – this curse master didn’t actually have the courage to face Gojo Satoru head-on.

He knew all too well what the six-eyed wielder meant, someone who had disrupted the world's balance of power from the moment of his birth. And because of this, he knew that if he were to truly confront him head-on, he would face certain death.

"Try your best to buy us some time. If you can buy us even a second, I'll give you an extra 100 million."

He remembered that Xia Youjie had said that.

There's nothing we can do but grit our teeth and try to hold on for even a second.

The result was that he didn't even manage to touch the other person before being blasted away without any regard for safety, rolling countless times under the train wheels before finally managing to grab onto a spot he could climb up...

"So there are other curse masters?" Nanami's voice was devoid of emotion.

"What are you standing there for? Come on, give it your all!" Kurisaka Jiro grinned maliciously, his dagger suddenly turning to point at a passenger huddled in a ball next to him. "Otherwise..."

Nanami's pupils suddenly contracted.

The power of the curse surged instantly.

His figure shot out like an arrow, his blunt blade slashing furiously at the old man's bald forehead. A flash of black magical energy, and Kurisaka Jiro's body was sent flying, crashing against the carriage wall.

Nanami approached with his sword drawn, his eyes sweeping over the spot where his opponent had fallen, but his brows furrowed slightly.

Not right.

The blow, imbued with the "Ten-Stroke Spell," was powerful enough to shatter rocks, yet not a drop of blood seeped from the spot where the man fell.

"He faked his death!"

Nanami realized it instantly.

Almost simultaneously, the "corpse" sprang up, its dagger flashing coldly as it aimed straight for Nanami's throat. Nanami dodged to the side, but the sharp blade still left a long, thin gash on his collar.

"You've got some skills, haven't you!"

Kurisaka Jiro's voice was laced with sarcasm.

Nanami steadied himself and charged forward again. He ducked to dodge a horizontal slash, lowered his center of gravity, and delivered a powerful punch to the old man's abdomen.

It definitely felt like a direct hit.

There was nothing unusual.

But the unassuming old man in front of her still wore a relaxed smile, and with a backhand grip on his knife, he thrust it towards Nanami.

Nanami retreated again, and realizing something was wrong, he decisively distanced himself from the other party.

"What happened?"

He frowned.

"Those two attacks were quite powerful, enough to exorcise a level-one cursed spirit, yet this guy is completely unharmed... Is it his spell?"

Damage ineffective?

No, if that's the case, there's no need to keep it a secret after faking death and launching a sneak attack. It's better to just reveal the spell formula and gain additional enhancements to its effects.

If that's the case, then the conditions for activating the technique are met.

Nanami's gaze swept over the other person's tattered clothes and the burn-like wounds on his chest. The wounds were bloody and mangled, clearly not ordinary injuries.

Before meeting me, this guy had already fought with others.

And that person could only be Gojo Satoru.

Nanami adjusted her glasses.

"What's wrong? You look so confident," Kurisaka Jiro sneered. "Do you really think you can beat me with your skills?"

"No." Nanami's voice was calm. "I'm thinking, instead of keeping your tails between your legs and hiding, you curse masters dare to show your faces on the train that Gojo Satoru is riding? Are you tired of living?"

"We curse masters have always been like this, getting paid to do things?" Kurisaka Jiro tilted his head, his smile sinister. "While you curse masters are struggling to deal with those cursed spirits that are becoming more and more active every year, we curse masters can easily make money without any constraints."

"That's the kind of free and unrestrained life I've always lived. Do you really want to take it away from me in my old age? We're here to trample on the weak until we die!"

He suddenly rushed towards Qi Hai, slashing down heavily with his dagger.

Nanami parried with his sword, the crisp sound of metal clashing echoing through the carriage, sparks flying everywhere. He used the momentum to leap backward, widening the distance once more.

"What's wrong? Why have you been running away?"

Kurisaka Jiro chased after him, laughing loudly.

But he quickly realized that while they were fighting, the ordinary people around them, afraid of being caught in the crossfire, had already run to the carriages away from the two of them. And each time Nanami retreated, he conveniently led the battlefield to an empty area.

He was protecting those passengers.

At the same time, Kurisaka Jiro saw Nanami move.

"The ten-stroke incantation—'Waluo Waluo'!"

Nanami spun around, his blunt blade slashing heavily at the glass window to the side. The entire pane of glass shattered under the impact of the cursed power, and countless fragments, mixed with the storm of cursed power, swept towards the old man.

Kurisaka Jiro crossed his arms in front of him, bracing himself for the impact. The shards of glass, brimming with destructive power, bounced off like beans upon hitting him, causing no harm whatsoever.

Just as he was about to grin and laugh, the remaining shards of glass pierced straight into his arm.

"How is that possible! I clearly already..."

The old man screamed in pain as blood seeped from his wound.

Nanami's eyes turned cold.

"I originally thought your spells were highly resistant to attacks containing magical energy. However, the damage caused by the glass that wasn't infused with the spells seems to be much higher than expected."

He closed in, his fist, imbued with magical power, aimed at the old man's face. Kurisaka Jiro immediately activated his spell, but Nanami's fist paused for a moment just before reaching his face. In the instant the old man looked puzzled, Nanami withdrew his magical power and slammed down again.

The force, which shouldn't have caused such great harm, sent the old man flying, instantly striking him until he bled from all seven orifices and lost consciousness.

"That's really how it is." Nanami slowly approached. "It's a reversal of strength, isn't it?"

"How did you find out!" Kurisaka Jiro struggled to get up.

"Those wounds on your chest, were they inflicted by Gojo Satoru?"

The old man was slightly taken aback, his gaze instinctively shifting to the bloody, mangled skin.

Kurisaka Jiro's life-giving technique is called "Reversal of Strength and Weakness".

Simply put, he can reverse the "strength" of the force applied to him—a strong attack becomes weak, and a weak attack becomes strong.

Theoretically, any "force" that one can bear can be reversed, but there are upper and lower thresholds for such reversal.

In battle, he can freely adjust this threshold so that a single spit from an enemy doesn't turn into fatal damage.

But when faced with Gojo Satoru's extraordinary techniques, he had no room to adjust.

"Looks like I guessed right." Nanami Kento's leather shoes slammed onto the carriage floor with a dull thud. "You have no way to resist Gojo Satoru's attacks, at least not against those kinds of super-powerful techniques."

Therefore, my previous two attacks failed not because I was simply immune to damage, but because I experienced damage reduction under certain conditions.

But whether it's as I suspected or not, this technique, which is only meant for surprise attacks, dared to dabble in front of me for so long.

If you don't have any special offensive methods, then you can slowly test them in battle, and the effects of the spells will eventually be revealed.

Maggots like you who live in the sewers shouldn't be exposed to the outside world.

Do you really think these underhanded tactics are respectable?

"You little rascal!"

Kurisaka Jiro roared in frustration, then suddenly sprang up and sprinted toward another carriage.

Nanami followed closely behind.

It wasn't until Kurisaka Jiro casually grabbed a woman curled up next to a seat and held a dagger to her neck that things escalated.

"Hahaha! So what if you see through me? Unlike you sorcerers who exorcise cursed spirits, we curse masters started out killing people!"

"You still have to stand still, don't you!"

He laughed loudly and fearlessly slashed the dagger at Nanami's cheek. However, the difference in the concentration of the cursed power made the blow feel like hitting a wall of iron, leaving only a thin cut on Nanami's shirt before the dagger snapped in two.

The next second, his hand holding the knife was gripped tightly by Nanami.

The bones in my palm made a creaking sound as if they were about to break under the weight.

Nanami looked down at him, her eyes behind her glasses as cold as ice.

"Keep your technique going, I hope you can keep up with me—"

He slowly raised his fist.

"Are you ready to get beaten up?"