Chapter 68: Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event Group Battle.
The next day.
6:50 AM.
The members of the Tokyo school had already entered a state of combat readiness.
Tatsuro drew the long blade from his waist and glanced at his reflection in the hilt. His black pupils slowly turned crimson, two tomoe spinning within them.
Excitement!
He was very excited at this moment!
This was his first battle against other jujutsu sorcerers. After finishing this "job," his points would probably reach 30+. Then he could save up for another all-in on the system's mission roulette.
He just didn't know what kind of outrageous mission this stupid dog system would issue him.
"Yo! Looks like everyone rested well."
Gojo Satoru walked over. Tatsuro slowly deactivated his Sharingan and asked, "Gojo-sensei, what are the rules for the first day's competition?"
Facing everyone's expectant gazes, Gojo Satoru said with a smile, "It's a group battle! The name is 'Thrilling Tag Snatching Contest'!"
As he spoke, he took out four badges from his pocket, distributed them to the four individuals, and continued, "Wear the badge on your chest, then go snatch the opposing team's badges. If your badge is snatched, it doesn't matter; you can still continue to fight or snatch it back. If you surrender, then you forfeit. Your team only loses if all of your badges are taken by the enemy. Conversely, if you snatch all the badges from the opposing team, you win."
"Other than that, there are no rules whatsoever!!"
"Be careful not to kill your opponents or cause them irreparable harm. That's about it. The competition starts at noon. You are now free to disperse!"
"Okay, Gojo-sensei!"
Everyone pinned the badges to their chests. Tatsuro, however, unzipped his school uniform, pinned the badge to the clothes underneath, then zipped it up and patted his chest, saying, "This feels much safer."
The others glanced at him and纷纷followed suit.
Gojo Satoru merely smiled at this and then waved goodbye, saying, "Do your best this afternoon! I'll be watching you."
"Leave it to us, Gojo-sensei!" Kinji Hakari flexed his biceps, balled his fists, and shouted.
Watching Gojo Satoru leave, Okkotsu Yuta said, "Shouldn't we discuss some tactics?"
"Indeed. Normally, 1v1 would be an even match. But considering Aoi Todo's personality, he definitely won't follow any so-called plan. Instead, he'll look for me, his brother, for a spar as soon as the competition starts. At that time, we'll surround..."
Before Tatsuro could finish, a system mission suddenly appeared.
A blue electronic screen popped up.
[Mission: In a one-on-one fight with Aoi Todo, survive for ten minutes without having your badge snatched. Mission Reward: 12 points (halved), permanent 100 cursed energy bonus (halved).]
"..."
"Surround... surround... surr..."
Tatsuro stared at the popped-up system mission, at a loss for words. He finally changed his tune, "When the time comes, I'll fight him one-on-one. You two seniors and Yuta will take care of the other three. As long as I tie down their strongest member, the rest are just small fry."
"Are you sure you won't be the one getting ganged up on first, junior Tatsuro?" Kinji Hakari asked after a moment of contemplation.
"Yeah, that's so dangerous. I'll be the bait, and then you guys can ambush them from nearby." The supposedly difficult task sounded like it was supposed to be this way coming from Kirara Hoshi's mouth, as if it wasn't too hard for them alone to hold off four people.
"I think... I should be the bait. After all, I'm the weakest here. Even without me..."
"Stop!"
Before Okkotsu Yuta could finish, Tatsuro interrupted him. He looked at Kinji Hakari and said, "How can a battle between men allow others to interfere? I believe Aoi Todo thinks the same way. So, when the competition starts, I will go all out against him. Isn't this the passion a man should have?"
This speech left Kinji Hakari unsure what to say. After a light snort, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He said, "Alright, then it's an all-out brawl. We won't interfere in your duel with that Aoi Todo. I didn't want to participate in that anyway."
"Hmph, great minds think alike." Tatsuro extended his right hand, muttering inwardly, "Dog system, you really live up to your name. My ganging-up tactic has flown right out the window."
"Great minds think alike!" Kinji Hakari gripped Tatsuro's right hand, his satisfaction with this junior growing. He liked these juniors who were both passionate and polite.
"What about tactics...?" Okkotsu Yuta whispered from the side.
Pat, pat—
Kirara Hoshi patted Yuta's shoulder and shook their head helplessly, as if saying, "There are no so-called tactics anymore."
"..."
Kyoto School's side.
Noritoshi Kamo sat in a chair, glanced at the two people in the room, and asked, "Where's Todo?"
Momo Nishimiya, holding her broom, shook her head and said, "I don't know. But given his personality, he's probably in his room watching a replay of Takada-chan's concert from yesterday."
"This senior is really unreliable, even though we're about to fight the Tokyo school," Mechamaru complained.
"Forget it, never mind him. Anyway, when the battle starts, he'll be the first to rush in and disrupt the enemy's formation. We'll just be responsible for ganging up on the stragglers," Noritoshi Kamo said with a sigh.
...
11:58 AM.
Tatsuro and the others followed instructions and arrived at the target point: the edge of the forest.
Gojo Satoru's voice came through the loudspeakers: "There are two minutes until the competition begins. Everyone present, listen carefully to what I'm about to say. That is... Give it your all! Alright, that's it. Next, let's welcome Teacher Utahime to give us an inspiring speech."
"Eh! Uh, th-this... um..." Utahime Iori's surprised voice came through the loudspeakers.
Tatsuro, meanwhile, was warming up, his eyes fixed on the system's ten-minute survival mission. He had just reached second-grade sorcerer, and Aoi Todo was definitely stronger than him, but for some reason... he felt very excited at this moment!
He had been looking forward to this for a long time. Shura's cursed energy had also increased to 312. As a backup battery, it was already qualified, but it just tended to act foolishly in battle.
"Sigh! Ah, life..."
Just as Tatsuro finished sighing, the announcement "Officially begin!!" blared from the loudspeakers.
Kinji Hakari patted his shoulder and directly charged in with Kirara Hoshi and Okkotsu Yuta, shouting, "Good luck, junior Tatsuro!"
Kirara Hoshi: "Good luck! We'll take care of those few people quickly."
Okkotsu Yuta: "I'll try my best not to drag the seniors down. See you later, Tatsuro-kun."
"No problem, leave it to me."
Watching them leave, Tatsuro felt immense pressure. It wasn't the psychological pressure of facing Aoi Todo, but rather that they had given him too much encouragement, making it seem like he absolutely had to win.
"Sigh, don't put too much pressure on myself. The system mission comes first; everything else is bullshit." After a brief self-hypnosis, Tatsuro plunged into the forest.
Meanwhile, on the Kyoto school's side.
Noritoshi Kamo looked at Momo Nishimiya flying in the sky and asked, "Have you seen Todo?"
Momo Nishimiya, sitting on her broom, surveyed the entire forest. She noticed a cloud of dust rising in one area, rushing fiercely towards the Tokyo school's side. There was no doubt; no one but Todo would make such an obvious move. She said into her phone:
"Seen him. Todo is already charging over."
"..."