Chapter 106: The Jujutsu High Battlefield - An Ominous Pink Mushroom Cloud
By the broken wall of the Shinjuku battlefield, Rin's fingertips had just touched the cold body of the Teleportation Cursed Spirit when his body suddenly jolted, his movements freezing instantly.
The sharp pain in his brain was still surging, and his vision was blurred as if covered by a layer of blood mist, but the danger warning from his Sharingan was exceptionally clear.
He slowly turned his head, struggling to lift his eyes toward the top of the building behind him that had not yet completely collapsed.
A slender figure stood there at some point, her long white braids hanging down and covering most of her face. It was none other than the Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, Mei Mei, whom he had previously sent flying.
Several black-feathered crows perched beside her, their wings flapping occasionally with a faint sound that seemed particularly jarring in the empty battlefield.
Rin's brow furrowed.
He didn't know when Mei Mei had caught up, nor did he know when his whereabouts had been exposed.
With his brain severely damaged, even with the Sharingan active, he could only see the other party's general outline; he couldn't even distinguish her expression.
He was well aware of his situation.
Right now, let alone fighting a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, even if he encountered a stray dog, he would have to give his all just to protect himself.
And Mei Mei's Black Bird Manipulation: Bird Strike could launch a precise attack even from hundreds of meters away. Just now, if she had simply raised her hand to signal, those crows could have torn him to shreds in an instant.
But she didn't.
The two of them stared at each other through the smoke and dust for a few seconds. The only sound in the air was the whimpering of the wind blowing through the ruins.
Rin's breathing became increasingly rapid. Blood was still trickling from his ears, dripping onto the ground and spreading into a small dark patch.
In the end, it was Rin who moved first.
He turned his head away, no longer looking at Mei Mei, and locked his gaze back onto the Teleportation Cursed Spirit.
He was gambling that Mei Mei wouldn't act.
Just like when he had caught her last time—he clearly had the chance to kill her, but he had let her go in the end.
Someone who truly wanted to kill their opponent wouldn't wait until now, nor would they engage in such a silent confrontation.
Mei Mei's silence had already said everything.
The Teleportation Cursed Spirit seemed to sense his urgency and slowly opened its large, mucus-covered mouth. Inside was a distorted spatial tunnel emitting faint ripples of Cursed Energy.
Without the slightest hesitation, Rin dragged his scarred body and threw himself directly into it.
The moment his figure disappeared into the Cursed Spirit's mouth, the creature's body began to twist and contract violently, as if squeezed by an invisible force.
Finally, it turned into a mass of Cursed Energy, flowing into the spatial tunnel through its own mouth and completely vanishing from the ruins of the Shinjuku battlefield.
Atop the building, Mei Mei looked at the empty broken wall and slowly picked up her communicator.
Her voice was calm and flat, devoid of any emotion:
"Third district, no sign of Rin found.
Over."
After hanging up, she raised her hand to brush aside the long white braid covering her face, revealing an expression full of regret, her lips twitching slightly:
"What a loss... the bounty for capturing Rin would have been enough to cover a whole year of hard work."
Right after finishing her complaint, her expression suddenly changed. A relieved smile curled at the corners of her mouth as she gently shook her head:
"Forget it, let's call it repayment for not killing me last time.
This way, we're even."
As her voice fell, her figure flickered like a ghost and disappeared from the top of the building.
Several crows followed closely behind, flying toward the depths of the battlefield.
Most Jujutsu Sorcerers had evacuated by now, and the remaining Cursed Spirits were all 'walking cash.' No one was left to compete with her, so she had to hurry and make some more money... The Teleportation Cursed Spirit's mouth opened, and Rin was dumped onto the ground like trash, kicking up a cloud of dust.
His legs gave way as soon as they touched the ground, and he collapsed into the grass on the outskirts of Tokyo Jujutsu High. Blood dripped continuously from his cheeks and jaw, spreading into dark red stains on the ground.
His vision was as blurred as if looking through frosted glass.
Inside his brain, tearing pain and the itchy numbness of the pale gold Reverse Cursed Technique's repair alternated.
The two sensations intertwined, making his consciousness so chaotic it was on the verge of collapsing.
He could only grit his teeth and pour all his remaining Cursed Energy into the Reverse Cursed Technique and his Delayed Cursed Technique.
The former repaired his constantly damaged brain tissue, while the latter firmly suppressed the information impact of the delayed eruption of 'Unlimited Void.' If he slackened even slightly, he would immediately become a brain-dead vegetable.
Just as he wanted to take a breath and slightly alleviate his near-death exhaustion, a deafening roar suddenly erupted from inside Tokyo Jujutsu High!
"Boom!"
Rin jerked his head up, his clouded vision struggling to focus.
A massive pink mushroom cloud soared into the sky, carrying violent Cursed Energy that instantly dyed half the sky red.
Then, a powerful blast of wind swept through like a tsunami, blowing his hair into a mess and pinning his tattered clothes against his body. Even though he was hundreds of meters away, he was knocked over by this force and slammed heavily onto the ground.
"Cough!"
A mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips, splattering onto the ground.
Ignoring the pain in his body, he forced his Sharingan to operate, capturing the ripples of Cursed Energy in the wind.
Within that pink Cursed Energy, Geto Suguru's Cursed Energy was clearly mixed in, yet it seemed exceptionally weak, as if it had been completely suppressed.
"Not good!" Rin's heart suddenly constricted as a terrifying thought surged into his mind:
"Did Suguru Geto lose?"
There was no time for second-guessing. The anomaly at Tokyo Jujutsu High made him completely abandon any thought of resting.
He propped himself up with his arms, his body trembling as he tried to stand, and simultaneously made a sudden, frantic decision.
He paused the Delayed Cursed Technique that was controlling his injuries!
The Reverse Cursed Technique was still barely functioning, but without the suppression of the Delayed Cursed Technique, one-tenth of the information impact from 'Unlimited Void' instantly erupted!
Rin felt as if his brain had been struck by a heavy sledgehammer. His vision went black, a strong metallic taste of blood surged in his throat, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.
But he forced himself to stay conscious. Black-red Cursed Energy exploded in the air, and several crows appeared around him, flapping their wings and flying straight toward the direction where the pink mushroom cloud had risen.
Meanwhile, Rin crashed heavily back onto the ground, his body curled into a ball, every muscle twitching uncontrollably.
A mere one-second interruption of the Delayed Cursed Technique had almost killed him.
Lying on the ground, his Crimson Sharingan flickered with a faint red light. Through the shared vision of the crows, he began to observe the situation on the Tokyo Jujutsu High battlefield.
The crows flew closer and closer, and the dust after the explosion became clearer.
When they reached the center of the battlefield, the scene Rin saw through their vision made his blood run cold.
Okkotsu's body lay in Rika's arms, his eyes tightly closed, already in a deep coma. The Cursed Energy around him was so weak it was almost undetectable.
Rika held him, her pale pink Cursed Energy forming a barrier around them, her face filled with worry.
But Suguru Geto's figure was nowhere to be found.
Where is Suguru Geto?!
Rin roared in his mind, his teeth grinding together as blood continued to seep from the corners of his mouth.
The flying crows immediately scattered, their black feathers weaving through the dust as they carefully searched every corner, but they still couldn't find that familiar figure in the black cassock.
Rin gritted his teeth, used all his strength to prop up his body, and staggered toward the interior of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Every step felt like treading on knife points. The pain in his brain made his vision go black in waves, but he didn't dare stop.
How could this happen?
He clearly remembered that for this duel, Suguru Geto had prepared a thousand more Cursed Spirits than in the original story, plus the support of three Special Grade Cursed Spirits. Even if he couldn't beat Okkotsu, he should have at least been able to reach a draw and retreat safely.
But now, Okkotsu was only unconscious, while Suguru Geto had disappeared?
A strong sense of foreboding, like vines, wrapped around his heart and tightened.
Rin wasn't afraid of Suguru Geto losing.
Even if Suguru Geto was heavily injured like in the original story, he was absolutely certain he could preserve the man's life.
Inside the White Snake Cursed Spirit, dozens of Jujutsu Sorcerers from Kyoto Jujutsu High were still imprisoned, even including the Kyoto Principal. These were his bargaining chips, enough to make Tokyo Jujutsu High hesitate.
But "disappearance" was far more terrifying than being "injured."
An even worse suspicion took root in his mind, making his whole body go cold.
"Damn it..." Rin staggered and bumped into a lamppost, his voice as raspy as a broken gong.