Yamada landed steadily at the bottom of the pit, stepping one foot onto Toji's chest.
The weight of the leather boot pressed down, making it impossible for Toji to breathe.
Yamada leaned down and grabbed the Inventory Cursed Spirit, coiled around Toji's neck.
"Eek..."
The Cursed Spirit let out a terrified cry, trying to shrink back into Toji's stomach, but it was forcibly dragged out by Yamada with one hand and casually tossed into the Kamui dimension.
"This storage bag is not bad, I'll take the Chain of a Thousand Miles as well."
Yamada looked down at the deathly pale Toji, his tone indifferent.
"Now, do you still think your close-quarters combat is strong?"
Toji's lips pulled into a bitter smile. He gave up struggling, his eyes that were once full of wildness and arrogance now holding only defeat.
"I lost."
Toji spoke with a raspy voice, frankly accepting the fact. "Do as you wish with me. In our line of work, dying at the hands of someone stronger is nothing to complain about. I just don't understand... what kind of hell did a monster like you crawl out of?"
"That's not for you to worry about."
Yamada withdrew his foot from Toji's chest. He had no intention of taking Toji's life.
Although this man was a mercenary scumbag, his strength definitely ranked among the top in the entire Jujutsu World. Keeping him was more valuable than killing him.
Moreover, he had just made off with the guy's tools of the trade.
"I'm a fair person. Since I took your cursed tools, I'll naturally leave you a way out."
Yamada turned around, his back to Toji at the bottom of the pit.
"The Star Religious Group has already been burned down by me. From today on, your so-called Bounty Hunter career is over. Since I'm the one who let you live, from now on, you'll work for me."
Toji was stunned for a moment, then let out a weak laugh. "Work for you? I'm very expensive. Without money, I'm too lazy to even lift a knife."
"Money? That scrap paper is as plentiful as I want it to be."
Yamada tilted his head, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. "Follow me, and I can provide you with something far more interesting than the pittance you win at Pachinko. For example... stepping on all those old fogies of the Zenin Clan who looked down on you."
Hearing the words 'Zenin Clan', Toji's laughter stopped abruptly, and his gaze instantly became incredibly sharp.
That was the nightmare and humiliation he could never let go of in his life.
Watching Yamada's receding back, Toji struggled to sit up and casually wiped the blood from his face.
"The Zenin Clan, huh..."
He bared his teeth, revealing a smile.
"Deal, Boss."
...
Late at night, the cold wind of Shibuya poured into the basement through the shattered walls.
Toji leaned against the cracked wall of the pit, breathing heavily.
Although he had verbally accepted Yamada's recruitment, he knew very well that his current physical condition was terrible.
While the physical recovery of a Heavenly Restriction was strong, several of his ribs had been broken by that unreasonable brute force, and his internal organs were severely displaced. He would have to lie in bed for at least half a month before he could barely walk.
In the assassin business, being seriously injured was equivalent to washing your neck and handing it to your enemies.
He didn't even have the strength to hold a knife now. If his whereabouts were discovered by those trash from the Zenin Clan or Curse Users he had offended before, the consequences were predictable.
"Boss."
Toji twitched the corner of his lips, showing a forced smile. "Since I'm following you now, you can't just watch me die of my injuries, right? Is there a back-alley doctor you know nearby, or someone who can use Reverse Cursed Technique?"
"Back-alley doctor? Reverse Cursed Technique?" Yamada looked at Toji slumped on the ground, his gaze somewhat indifferent.
He walked down into the deep pit and stood before Toji. "I don't need such inefficient things here."
Yamada raised his right hand, palm outward, aiming it at Toji's chest from a distance.
The next second, a green light appeared from Yamada's palm. This light contained no trace of Cursed Energy residue, yet it exuded a pure energy that could revive all things.
Yang Release.
The green light merged into Toji's body.
Toji's pupils suddenly constricted. He clearly felt that wherever the warm current passed, his displaced internal organs seemed to be gently pushed back into place by a pair of invisible hands.
His broken ribs felt a slight tingling sensation as the bone fragments reconnected and grew at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Even the gruesome abrasions and bruises on his skin scabbed over and fell off within a few seconds, revealing pristine new skin.
In just ten seconds.
Yamada withdrew his hand, and the green light in his palm vanished.
"Stand up."
Toji was stunned for two seconds. Then he tentatively clenched his fists and pushed off with both arms, easily jumping up from the bottom of the pit.
No stiffness, no pain.
Not only were his injuries completely healed, but even the physical fatigue from days of gambling and drinking was swept away by this green energy, returning his physical state to its peak prime.
Toji looked down at his hands, and for the first time, a sense of genuine awe appeared in those beast-like eyes.
If Yamada's crushing physical prowess earlier had made him realize what absolute force was, then this feat of healing out of thin air shattered his understanding of the world's common sense.
This wasn't Reverse Cursed Technique. Reverse Cursed Technique is the application of Cursed Energy where two negatives make a positive, and since Toji had no Cursed Energy, the effect of Reverse Cursed Technique on his body was greatly diminished.
But this green light endowed the physical body with "vitality."
"You... are you some kind of deity descended to earth?"
Toji touched the scar at the corner of his mouth, and the way he looked at Yamada changed.
Following a boss like this, let alone flattening the Zenin Clan, even overturning the entire Jujutsu Headquarters didn't seem like a difficult task.
"Cut the chatter."
Yamada turned and walked out of the ruins. "Call your information broker. Tell him that from now on, his intelligence network is at my disposal. Double the pay."
Toji grinned, pulled out a spare phone that hadn't been smashed from his pocket, and dialed Kong Shiu's number.
The call connected.
"Kong Shiu, forget about the Star Religious Group business. Yeah, I didn't take that job. By the way, I have a new boss."
Toji spoke into the phone while following Yamada onto the streets of Shibuya.
"Your messy information channels will interface directly with me from now on. The boss is generous, money is no problem."
Kong Shiu on the other end was stunned for a long while, seemingly not yet recovered from the shock of the Star Religious Group's destruction.
"Fushiguro, are you serious? That mysterious person who took down the Star Religious Group alone... recruited you?"
"Yeah, that's right. And he just beat the crap out of me and conveniently snatched my armory." Toji said it matter-of-factly, even with a bit of schadenfreude.
Kong Shiu was silent for a long time before finally sighing. "I understand. What information do you need me to check?"
Toji lowered his phone and looked at Yamada walking ahead. "Boss, what do we need to check?"
Yamada said without looking back, "Ask him where those two kids from Jujutsu High protecting the Star Plasma Vessel have taken her now."
Toji repeated it into the phone.
Soon, the sound of typing on a keyboard came from Kong Shiu's side.
"Found it. Because the bounty from the Star Religious Group was suddenly withdrawn, the assassins in the underground black market were all intimidated. No one dares to take the job anymore. The two Jujutsu High students seemed to sense the danger had passed. Instead of taking the Star Plasma Vessel back to school, they flew to Okinawa."
"Okinawa?"
Toji hung up and looked at Yamada. "Boss, those two kids took the target to Okinawa for a vacation. It seems they plan to let her enjoy the last few days of a normal person's life before the Star Plasma Vessel assimilation."
"A vacation, huh? That fits Gojo's style."
Yamada stopped and looked up at the night sky.
"Which way is Okinawa?"
Toji pointed south.
"Alright. Hold onto my clothes." Yamada turned his head.
"Huh?" Toji was stunned for a moment, not yet reacting.
Yamada didn't bother wasting words and grabbed Toji's broad shoulder. Within his right eye, the crimson hexagram spun rapidly.
The spatial vortex of Kamui burst open centered on the two of them, and the surrounding air was instantly pulled into a black hole.
"Holy crap!"
Amidst Toji's exclamation, the figures of the two men instantly distorted and vanished from the streets of Shibuya.