Chapter 76: Group Battle.
11:30 AM.
Kyoto School Campus.
"It's huge..." Kirara Hoshi commented.
"Mm..."
Everyone nodded, falling silent as they gazed at the enormous earthen high wall before them. After all, this was the center of the forest, the place Tatsuro had burned to smithereens yesterday. Now, a massive maze stood here.
Okkotsu Yuta complained, "There was nothing here yesterday. How did a maze with ten-meter-high walls appear today...?"
"Hmph hmph, of course, I made it!" Gojo Satoru patted his chest, wearing an expression that screamed 'I'm so strong, praise me quickly!' and said, "This thing took me from eight in the morning until eleven to build. I almost collapsed from exhaustion."
Kinji Hakari asked, "Gojo-sensei, what are we going to do in this big maze today?"
Seeing someone had hit on the main point, Gojo Satoru let out a light "hmph," a smile playing on his lips, and announced, "Of course, it's the... thrilling 'Maze Rat Catching Competition'!"
"The rules are as follows: there are seven cursed spirits in the maze. They will roam various parts of the maze and are called 'rats.' Your mission, naturally, is to catch as many of those 'rats' as possible. The time limit is one hour."
"Within one hour, the 'rats' from both sides can be contested, meaning if you can't find any, it's fine; you can just snatch them from your opponents. By the way, the 'rats' cannot be killed, and these walls are very sturdy and slippery."
"Alright, that's roughly it. Any other questions? If not, then Teacher will be taking his leave!"
Okkotsu Yuta raised his hand and said, "The other team has someone named Momo Nishimiya who can fly. Is her flight altitude restricted?"
"Good question, student Yuta!" Gojo Satoru waved his hands in praise, then his next sentence dragged him into the abyss, "Nope. Miss Nishimiya, apart from not being able to leave the maze boundaries, can fly as high as she wants~"
"No way!" Yuta exclaimed in surprise.
"It's true," Gojo Satoru added, twisting the knife.
Kirara Hoshi commented, "A disadvantage, then..."
"Mm, indeed a disadvantage. Even a fly would sprain its ankle on this thing, and with these ten-meter-high walls, we've lost the advantage of vision," Tatsuro said, reaching out to touch the wall. Though it was made of earth, it felt like a ceramic bowl, remarkably smooth.
"Junior Tatsuro, step aside, let me blast it open with one punch!" Kinji Hakari walked to the wall and, after a few warm-up movements, took a deep breath. He clenched his right fist, and immense cursed energy, like flames, enveloped his body. Then, he threw a punch.
"Ora!"
Thump!!
A dull sound echoed in everyone's ears, but when Hakari removed his fist, they found only a few cracks, with no significant damage.
Hakari was frustrated. His full-power punch only made a crack? He complained, "This is a disadvantage! The maze is so big, just finding the Kyoto school bunch will be troublesome, let alone finding a few 'rats'."
"There's no restriction on shikigami, right?" Tatsuro asked.
"Nope. What, Tatsuro-kun, can you summon Shura over?" Gojo Satoru asked, somewhat curious. After all, the dog he raised wasn't strictly a shikigami, as it couldn't be summoned at will and was more like a pet.
Everyone else also looked at Tatsuro curiously; after all, he could always pull off some strange and bizarre techniques.
Under everyone's gaze, Tatsuro no longer hid it. He bit his right index finger, and his hands began to form seals (Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Ram). He slammed his hand on the ground and shouted, "Summoning Technique!"
Sensing its master's summons, Shura, currently at home, quickly snatched the last piece of meat from its bowl. With a "poof," a cloud of white smoke appeared, and Shura was summoned away.
Zenin Maki, who was feeding the dog, watched Shura suddenly disappear. She wasn't overly alarmed about finding the dog but merely commented, "Disappeared with a poof, huh."
After all, this was Tatsuro's dog; any strange occurrence became extremely normal. Because it's Tatsuro, that king of grind. Has this guy become so competitive he's even taking on summoners now?
"..."
As the white smoke dissipated, Shura, who had been eating at home, now appeared within the Kyoto school grounds.
Gojo Satoru said in surprise, "Wow, he really summoned it..."
"Hmph hmph!" Tatsuro sat on Shura, patted its doggy head, and said, "Raise a son for a thousand days, use him for one moment. Today is your time to shine."
"Woof! Woof! Woof!" Shura seemed to be seeking praise, shouting internally, "Master, Master, I learned a new move!"
"A new move? A cursed technique?" Tatsuro wondered internally. He had trained it for close combat, and its close-combat skills were basically fully developed. After all, how else could a dog fight besides using its claws and teeth, or its sturdy body to ram things? He had originally planned to start developing its brain once it got a bit bigger; after all, it was still just a child by any measure.
Three months old, approaching four...
"I don't know what it is, but it's like this!"
After Shura finished shouting internally, it opened its mouth. A red light appeared, and cursed energy slowly condensed in its mouth into a crimson sphere.
"Voom~!"
With a roar, the sphere in Shura's mouth shot towards the forest where the five (Kyoto students) were, directly snapping a thick tree.
Crack—
The giant tree broke and then fell.
"..."
The onlookers were dumbstruck, not knowing what to say.
Okkotsu Yuta, recovering, pointed at the broken tree and asked, "Shura just used a cursed technique, right?"
"Probably... I guess. It's my first time seeing it too, after all."
Tatsuro, currently sitting on Shura, didn't quite understand this either. After all, he had raised it to be a close-combat meat shield, and now it had suddenly turned into a long-range cannon...
"Junior Tatsuro, your pet has quite the aptitude! How did you raise it? I want to get one too." Kinji Hakari's eyes were shining, as if he was imagining something.
"Stop thinking about riding a dog and shooting lasers from its mouth. Innate techniques can't be learned later. It can't teach you," Kirara Hoshi, naturally knowing what Hakari was thinking, interrupted.
Gojo Satoru had now taken off his vintage sunglasses and was observing Shura. Then, as if he had seen something amusing, he muttered under his breath, "Is this evolution? Or some fun cursed technique? Feels like it won't be long before it can be considered 'human'."
Animals are called animals because they aren't as intelligent as humans. It is precisely because humans are intelligent enough that they distinguish themselves from animals. But if an animal also had the same intelligence as a human, could it still be called an animal?
(PS: The answer is, a kemonomimi girl! No wait... Shura seems to be male, then it's Goro!)
Shura seemed to be currently undergoing this process of brain evolution. A portion of its cursed energy was active in its brain, and quite active at that. Like a child's boundless imagination, there was only curiosity and desire.
Feeling that time was about up, Gojo Satoru took out his phone, glanced at it, and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll head back to the broadcasting room. I look forward to your performance."
"Okay, goodbye Gojo-sensei." After waving, the group continued to gather around Shura, curious.
...
11:58 AM.
Gojo Satoru's voice echoed from the broadcast.
"Ahem! Testing, testing! Sound check complete."
"We're about to begin the exciting 'Maze Rat Catching' segment! Both teams are now poised for action. Who will be the ultimate winning team in this game? Next up, your professional commentator, Gojo Satoru, will provide full commentary for this match!"
"..."
The teachers currently sitting in the principal's office had dark lines on their foreheads. Yoshinobu Gakuganji also didn't know what to say at this moment. Considering the other party was Gojo Satoru, he could only keep it in mind and discuss it with Yaga later.
From the broadcast, knocking sounds and Utahime Iori's voice could be heard intermittently, "You idiot Gojo Satoru, since when do competitions have commentary like this? Hurry up and open the door! Or I'm kicking it down!"
"Is that so? Well, can't be helped then." Gojo Satoru, sitting in the broadcasting room, continued into the microphone, "Students, please wait a moment. Gold medal commentator Gojo Satoru needs to have a little discussion."
With that, he put the microphone on the table, picked up the rope and tape he had prepared earlier, and opened the bolted door. Then, catching her off guard, he directly tied her up, saying, "Sorry, senior Utahime. Right now, I'm the gold medal commentator. No one can disturb my commentary."
"Gojo Satoru! You... Mmph mmph mmph!" Before Utahime Iori could finish speaking, her mouth was sealed with tape. Gojo Satoru, having finished his work, directly carried her into the room, placed her on a chair, took off his vintage sunglasses, and put his index finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet.
He picked up the microphone, glanced at the time, and said, "Sorry, students. The discussion with Teacher Utahime wasted a little time. The competition countdown starts now!"
"10!"
"9..."
Everyone was speechless. Don't think they didn't hear the sound of someone being tied up; her muffled cries were still audible.
As time reached zero, the competition began.
The eight students from both schools entered the maze, and the entrance closed immediately.
According to the plan, Noritoshi Kamo and the other two directly ditched Aoi Todo. Momo Nishimiya flew above the high walls, surveying the entire maze, searching for Tatsuro.
Aoi Todo watched the three leave quickly. With his 530,000 IQ, he roughly guessed what they were up to.
Ambush Tatsuro, and on the principal's orders.
But he only glanced at them and then left. After all, the current Tatsuro was more than enough to handle those three. As long as he himself found enough 'rats,' his best friend would naturally seek him out. There was no need to go to the trouble of finding people.
"Has Todo caught up?" Noritoshi Kamo said into his phone. After a moment, Momo Nishimiya's voice came through, "No, he went to find 'rats'."
"Good then. Find Tatsuro's exact location. We'll test his strength when he's alone."
"Got it, I'm flying that way now." Momo Nishimiya finished speaking and put her phone in her pocket without hanging up. The maze routes were intricate and complex; some paths were as wide as roads, but some passages could only fit one person. It was hard to imagine how this thing was built in such a short time.
It was also hard to imagine why a person with such an ordinary appearance and background would attract the principal's attention.
"Woof woof woof!"
"Shura smells the 'rats' scent!"
Tatsuro and the others were currently following Shura. It kept its nose low, sniffing the cursed spirits' scent, leading the way. Now that the scent it smelled had become stronger, it knew the 'rats' its master spoke of were nearby. It barked a few times and then dashed off.
"Well done, Shura! I'll treat you to meat when we get back," Kinji Hakari said, not treating Shura as an outsider either. After all, he really wanted to raise one now, thinking that maybe one day, when it was familiar enough, he could ask junior Tatsuro to borrow it for a few days to go for a ride.
The group followed Shura around a few bends and then saw the so-called 'rats.'
They had rat-like bodies, with three eyes – a pair of rat eyes on their faces, and another human eye on their backs, constantly open and observing their surroundings, seemingly to compensate for their lack of ears and inability to hear. Their limbs were also abnormally thick.
The moment the group saw the 'rats,' they were surprised to find three of them huddled together, as if discussing something.
As the eyes on the 'rats'' backs gazed at them, they scattered in an instant, like birds startled by the twang of a bowstring.
Their speed was like an arrow from a fully drawn bow, gone in a flash. The four of them exchanged glances and had already locked onto their respective targets.
As Tatsuro left, he shouted, "Senior Kirara Hoshi, you ride Shura and follow behind Okkotsu, prevent the other side from ganging up on him!"
"Okay." Kirara Hoshi looked at Okkotsu Yuta, who had already left, and Shura, who was half a person tall in front of them. They mounted and said, "Catch up to Yuta."
"Woof!" Shura didn't object to others riding on its back either; after all, it was its master's instruction.
Tatsuro watched the 'rat' getting further and further away, exclaiming inwardly at how fast this thing truly was!
"Well then... I should speed up too!"
Crimson cursed energy covered his entire body. He took a step, and the ground, scorched dry from yesterday, cracked. He shot out like an arrow.
The eye on the 'rat's' back stared intently at Tatsuro. Seeing him chasing and about to catch up, it spoke in human language, "Escape, escape, don't want to be seen, don't want to be missed by people, must... get away..."
"Escape my ass! If I couldn't get points for killing you, you'd have been dismembered long ago!"
Tatsuro sprinted behind it, the long blade at his waist clanging, but found he couldn't catch up no matter what. When he sped up, the cursed spirit also sped up.
"Tsk, didn't expect this thing to be so fast. Let's see if the Sharingan has any effect."
As Tatsuro thought this, his black pupils turned crimson, two tomoe spinning rapidly. As cursed energy erupted from his pupils, he directly cast an illusion to make its brain crash.
But...
The 'rat' was still running for its life, seemingly unaffected by the illusion. The eye on its back merely closed for a few seconds before opening again.
"Holy crap! What the hell is this cursed spirit? Illusions don't work?"
Just as Tatsuro was surprised, Gojo Satoru's voice came through, "Forgot to mention, the 'rats' have two brains. One controls the eye on the back, and the other is the main brain."
"...Damn you!! Just a mere rat, let's see who has more cursed energy today!" It was unclear who Tatsuro's "Damn you" was aimed at, but his voice was exceptionally loud, as if his heart was being torn and lungs split.
Until... a voice came from the sky: "Got you cornered, Tatsuro!"
Two figures instantly appeared at the corner ahead.
Mechamaru's left hand was supporting its right arm, the palm of its right hand now open, cursed energy being infinitely compressed within it.
Noritoshi Kamo currently had three arrows nocked on his bowstring, the bow drawn full, red blood coating the arrowheads.
Tatsuro's heart screamed I'm done for! He hadn't expected to be the one ambushed!