(Pov Toji)
This had been going so smoothly, too. The plan was working; use others to wear down the Six Eyes and then kill him while he's off guard. Once that was done, find the girl and kill her, and maybe the other guy too if he got in the way. Step one had gone off without a hitch, but now this other kid had messed everything up. The girl was gone, and if I was right, they were both hiding deeper into the tomb. I may have been able to get through earlier, but now I'd be actively misdirected, so there's no way to make it. Thirty million Yen right down the drain.
Looking at the newcomer, I noticed something he was familiar with, and not just because he looked like the other Gojo. He was there that day when I'd gone ahead to see the Six Eyes myself; he had noticed my presence as well, and I had almost forgotten about him. I had expected to hear something, but after I left, it was like he disappeared, no mention of him outside a few bounties. Yes, now I remembered he was the other one's brother, Gojo Satoshi, and while he wasn't worth as much as a dead Six Eyes, he still carried a price. Looks like I won't be leaving empty-handed after all.
(Pov Satoshi)
After situating myself away from Toji, he just looked at me for a moment before a sudden clarity came across his expression. "Hey, you're Gojo Satoshi, right?" He asked suddenly. He sounded calm, but I could tell he was frustrated underneath it. In most fights, making your opponent mad was good, as it meant they'd lose focus. On this occasion, it felt much more like being watched by a predator.
"Maybe what's it to you?" I asked back
"Oh, just wondering how much I'll get for you after this, seeing as you did just cost me thirty million." Oh yeah, he was pissed, but I had no choice, I had to fight no matter what. I drew my sword and prepared for his attacks, but still, he just stood. Then he opened his mouth, and out from it came a small ball of haze which quickly grew in size before wrapping around his body. It was the inventory cursed spirit capable of storing just about anything in its body, and it could shrink down and be stored in the stomach. A useful, if not slightly gross, companion, one that I wanted but that would have to wait.
He drew out a rather plain-looking katana, most likely the one he used to ambush Satoru earlier. Toji would carry normal weapons alongside cursed tools, which allowed him to sneak attack sorcerers who would be able to detect the energy coming from a cursed tool. I don't know how much he knows about me, or if he knows about my own restriction. If not, he might be relying on my not being able to find him without knowing my own senses are still good.
Before I can try to understand what he's going to do, Toji vanishes, and it's only due to my improved senses and reflexes that I manage to deflect his strike. It came from behind, so he must have been assuming I had cursed energy and had tried to get around that. Though even if I managed to block this strike, it was just barely, he's way too fast. I fully turned just in time to block the next strike before I felt a pain in my stomach, and I was launched backwards across the room.
I manage to get up, but I can feel a bruise forming already. He had kicked me while I was distracted by blocking the sword. The worst part was that I didn't even see it until I was flying away. Even still, I may have missed that one, but I got the other two, so even if I couldn't keep up entirely, I could follow and react fast enough to mostly protect myself.
"Oh, you're not like the others, are you? I had heard rumors." Toji began to speak once again and returned the katana to the inventory curse before drawing a much more dangerous weapon, the Soul Split Katana, a weapon that could pass directly through any resistance to target the soul with each cut. Though the weapon couldn't be fully utilized until the wielder understood the shape of their soul, so while it wouldn't be as devastating, it would still put me out of commission. Only after noticing the cursed tool did I process his words; he didn't know me or hadn't heard of me, which meant he was going to take this more seriously.
"I thought I had recognized you as a Gojo clan member with no cursed energy, Gojo Satoshi, right?" He said, and with that, he attacked once again. This time, I managed to dodge the strike, his weapon cleaving into the ground. I took the opportunity to make my own attack, but before I could land the attack, he had spun the sword back up and stopped my attack.
We both began trading blows, or I attempted to, but each of my attacks was deflected, blocked, or dodged, and while I could keep the sword from hitting me, the same wasn't true for his punches and kicks. I wasn't fast enough to keep track of both his body and the sword, and I couldn't afford to let the sword hit me, something he clearly knew. He began lifting the sword again, but when I tried to back up, I realized he had pushed me against the wall during our clash. I quickly brought up my own blade to intercept, only for it to break in two.
As the sword broke, the cursed energy stored within exploded outward, launching Toji away and slamming me into the wall. My arm felt numb, and the sword I had used for years was broken. Even if I put it back together somehow, it had expended all the cursed energy it held, returning it to a regular weapon. I knew that I was going to lose even before losing my main weapon. Toji's attacks had already broken a few ribs.
I had thought when I learned about my own restriction that I could be strong and change things. I had thought that my own strength would automatically be like his, and even when I knew it wouldn't be there yet, I believed that I had everything planned. I was wrong, my strength wasn't enough, and my plans fell apart because I couldn't be bothered to check what day it was. I was so sure of myself, and now look where it has gotten me.
No, I couldn't think like that. I still had one last resort. Slaughter Demon was still in its sheath. I could use it when he next gets close, sure, he'd probably kill me too, but that seemed like a forgone conclusion now. He had gotten back up now and was moving towards me, and the next moment, he once again was moving fast. I drew Slaughter Demon and struck out, but then I felt a searing pain in the arm holding it. When I looked over, Toji had dodged my attack and used his own knife to stab into my arm, and I lost the strength to keep holding the blade.
As one final attack, Toji brought the katana down and across my front. Pain worse than anything I had felt so far exploded not just from where he cut me but from deep inside as well, even though he couldn't use the full power of the blade, my soul had still been cut. As I fell, I could only hope the others would be safe wherever they had managed to make it, and then the world around me turned black, and I couldn't see anything anymore.
(Pov Toji)
Well, that was surprising. The Gojo brat really was like me. Though not as strong, maybe if he had a few more years, he would have had more of a chance, oh well. I gave him a nudge just to see if he was still breathing, as, fortunately for him, the contract on him wanted him back alive. Good, he is breathing at least currently. Now I just needed to get him and the other one out of here and get my pay. I grabbed his collar and began dragging him back out of the tomb, but when I got outside, someone was standing there.
'Who is that?' I thought as far as I knew nobody else should be here, and the sun was keeping him obscured. When I lifted my hand to block some of the rays, I noticed who it was.
"Huh?" It slipped out, I couldn't help it. How was this possible?
"Hey, Its been a while."
"For real?"
"For real, real. I'm alive and kicking!" and he certainly was. The Six Eyes had survived somehow, even when I stabbed him in the head, and now he was back.
"The Reverse Curse Technique."
"Bingo..." He started talking, going on and on about how he'd done it. He sounded high. I started to focus again as he was finishing up.
"The reason you're going to lose is because you didn't chop my head off, and because you didn't use that cursed tool when you stabbed my head." He finished up, but this could work. He was overconfident; now I could use that.
"I'm going to lose? Our fight is just getting started."
"Oh? Is that right? You could be right. You're so right!"
With that, our fight began once again, and this time I'd be sure to finish it.