Satoru's Six Eyes had failed to detect the awakening of Cursed Energy, causing him to fall into the same trap as Satoshi.
As a result, they lost the initiative during the clash just now.
Satoshi smiled. "Satoru, my warm-up is over. You and Suguru can come together now."
Satoru choked on his words.
"Alright, alright, Satoshi. Since that's your attitude, we won't hold back. Honestly, we've always wanted to beat you up." Satoru grinned, raising his fists into a fighting stance.
"Satoshi, since Satoru insists, I have no reason not to respond." Suguru smiled slightly, unbuttoning the top of his Jujutsu High uniform.
It seemed he was ready for battle too.
The defeat earlier had dampened their morale a bit.
It was a situation where they were sure to win.
Satoru couldn't help but feel frustrated, having been beaten once again by his younger brother.
But with his best friend at his side, his fighting spirit flared up again.
"Come on, Satoshi." Satoru laughed, showing his snow-white teeth.
Satoshi's heart was full of delight at the surprise Satoru brought him. In this tournament, his original intention was to gauge the peak combat level of modern sorcerers.
At this moment, Satoshi truly saw himself as playing the role of Sukuna, being tag-teamed in a Death and Annihilation-style trial.
If the two high school teams could really pose a threat to him here, then perhaps when Ryomen Sukuna returns in the future and he's not around, it wouldn't be such a tragic situation.
Though Satoru's earlier attack had indeed threatened him, he hadn't come just to witness his brother's growth.
He came to see Suguru, to see Shoko, and to see what kind of people made up Kyoto Jujutsu High.
Try to stay hidden and reap the benefits?
Sorry, that's not something Satoshi would ever allow!
Ten minutes ago, Satoshi might have thought it better to eliminate Satoru's group first.
After all, even with his Six Eyes activated, he couldn't detect the trio from Kyoto Jujutsu High. The fact that they could hide from his Six Eyes was proof of their ability.
Although using Satoru's group as a meat shield seemed a bit underhanded...
...
But if the Kyoto team continued to hide, then everything would become meaningless.
Through the battle with Satoru, he had deepened his control over Reiryoku and successfully comprehended a new Way of Ghost technique.
This time, it was a particularly useful Bakudō—Bakudō #58: Kakushitsuijaku (Footprint-Attentive Pursuing-Sparrows).
The effect of this Kidō was to sense spiritual pressure and track the enemy's position.
Though there was no spiritual pressure in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, the principle remained the same. Since Reiryoku and Cursed Energy serve a similar function, Kakushitsuijaku could be repurposed to track cursed energy with precision.
Unless the Kyoto team's concealment ability was extraordinarily refined—enough to completely erase their cursed energy and become like Toji with Heavenly Restriction.
In this world, only two people could completely restrain Kakushitsuijaku: Toji, who had no cursed energy, and himself.
For anyone else, once he used this Kidō, there was virtually no escape...
When he had first acquired the technique, Satoshi wondered what use something like Kakushitsuijaku could have. Now it felt like someone handing him a pillow just as he was about to sleep.
...
Satoru, Suguru, and Shoko surrounded Satoshi, fully focused on the upcoming duel.
But what surprised them was that Satoshi suddenly closed his eyes and appeared utterly relaxed.
This stunned the trio—and the audience watching through the broadcast from the Cursed Corpse live feed.
Was Satoshi being arrogant?
The match had only just begun! Although Satoshi held great prestige in the sorcerer world after destroying Sukuna's finger, Satoru had just proven he wasn't inferior and could even threaten Satoshi.
Of course, all of this was under the condition that Satoshi hadn't yet drawn his Zanpakutō, Sode no Shirayuki or Ryūjin Jakka.
If he used them, as the founder of the Zanpakutō system, he could very well establish an overwhelming advantage.
That was the opinion of many objective commentators.
However, Satoru and Suguru had many fans too. Some believed that the difference between Satoshi and the duo wasn't that wide.
Even though Satoshi had a Zanpakutō, Satoru and Suguru weren't pushovers—they had Zanpakutō as well.
Especially Satoru's, that elegant blade with dancing cherry blossom petals, was no less dazzling than Satoshi's.
Under everyone's watchful gaze, Satoshi murmured to himself—
"Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain.."
At that moment, both Satoru and Suguru's pupils shrank slightly.
(To be continued.)
***
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