Yuta Okkotsu

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In addition to martial arts and other training, Ren also trained his cursed technique every day.

Over the years, he had become quite familiar with the normal use of his technique. Under Gojo's guidance, he had also begun to understand Cursed Technique Reversal.

If Timewheel: Forward accelerated the time of an object, then its reversal, Timewheel: Reverse, naturally did the opposite.

It reversed time.

A jujutsu sorcerer's cursed energy came from negative emotion. If that cursed energy was treated as negative energy, then by multiplying cursed energy against cursed energy, like a negative multiplied by a negative becoming positive, one could produce positive energy.

That stable positive energy could be used to heal the human body. The specifics varied from person to person, and the ability was extremely rare. At present, the strongest user of Reverse Cursed Technique at Tokyo Jujutsu High was probably Miss Shoko Ieiri, the school's doctor.

If that positive energy was poured into a sorcerer's innate technique, the technique could be reversed. That was Cursed Technique Reversal.

Gojo could naturally do this as well, though his Reverse Cursed Technique could only heal himself.

Ren was very invested in the subject. As a veteran gamer, he understood far too well how important healing skills were.

He had successfully refined positive cursed energy, but perhaps because he was not yet skilled enough, he could not maintain it for long. He was still far from casually repairing severed arms or organs.

Even so, it was not useless.

It allowed Ren to take his first steps into Cursed Technique Reversal. Even if he could maintain it only briefly, that was enough to pour it into his technique.

He was still practicing and could not use it freely yet. The cursed energy consumed by his reversal varied depending on the degree of use. At its highest, it consumed far more than the forward application. With his current shallow use, however, he had managed to create a partial balance between his technique's forward and reverse applications.

In other words, when Ren accelerated himself with his technique and recreated something like the Flash, the presence of Reverse meant he did not have to worry as much about the possible damage to his body.

That state was called the Timeless State, meaning a speed so extreme that time itself had no meaning there.

Of course, Ren had to use his full power to barely reach it.

For the record, Gojo had named it. Ren had originally come up with a very long name, which Gojo loudly rejected.

With Gojo's cooperation, Ren had tested that state before. In an instant, he could land countless storm-like attacks on an enemy at the same time, or decide the fight with a single blow.

It was a godspeed strike beyond reaction.

As for why he had not used it during the previous mission, the reason was simple. That cursed spirit had been too weak. It could not even take two serious punches from him. What right did it have to eat his ultimate move?

For now, Ren's usual attack method was still Annihilation, with his cursed-energy arrows accelerated when he found an opening. Under Maki's training, he was also considering getting a bladed cursed tool for close combat.

Just imagine it.

If an enemy broke through his ranged attacks, a high-speed slash would be waiting up close. If the enemy was strong enough and the blade was lost too, Ren could switch to his fists and smash them apart with Black Flash.

"What are you laughing about?"

Ren, who had been grinning to himself, was slapped off-balance by Maki as she walked over.

Panda leaned in behind her with a mysterious air. "I heard a new first-year is going to enroll."

Ren's eyes lit up.

Panda had Principal Yaga, his "father," as a source, so this information was probably reliable. That meant they would soon have another classmate, bringing the number of first years to five.

The news was confirmed again when Gojo appeared.

"The day after tomorrow," Gojo said. "Everyone, get ready to welcome your new classmate."

Maki pointed at Gojo, expressionless. "Why is he more excited than we are?"

Ren leaned back in his chair and rocked slightly to keep his balance. His lightly curled hair moved with him. A few days earlier, he had changed hairstyles again and dyed it a grayish color. The first time Maki saw it, she mocked him by asking what kind of hairstyle that was. Ren talked back twice and ended up chased around by an embarrassed and angry Maki.

Hearing Maki now, Ren waved a hand. "Huh? You still are not used to it? Gojo-sensei is always like this."

One day later, the four of them walked to the classroom together, ready to meet their new classmate.

On the way, Panda, who had somehow picked up rumors, said, "I heard that before transferring here, the new student stuffed four classmates into lockers."

Maki asked from the side, "Did he kill them?"

Toge sounded curious too. "Tuna mayo?"

Panda shook his head. "No. Apparently, they were badly injured."

"Fine, then. If he is too arrogant, we can just beat him up," Maki said without looking back.

"Maki is so scary," Ren said.

Panda pinched his voice and joined in. "So scary."

Veins rose on Maki's forehead, and her face darkened. The three of them bickered their way to the classroom.

After they sat down, Gojo arrived before long. He entered almost spinning, using exaggerated movements, expressions, and tone.

"And now, introducing our transfer student! Everyone, get hyped!"

Silence greeted him.

Gojo froze, then said weakly, "Come on, give me a little more atmosphere."

Maki sat sideways beside her desk, legs crossed, her cursed tool leaning nearby. "I heard he's hard to deal with. Why would anyone hype things up for a guy like that?"

"Salmon," Toge agreed.

Panda agreed with Maki too.

As for Ren, he was half-asleep. He had stayed up too late watching anime and playing games the night before, and now he was running low on energy.

Still, he was thinking.

'Was there supposed to be another student in this year? I remember there were only Maki, Toge, and Panda... Wait. There was someone whose name got mentioned. Is that the transfer student?'

"Fine," Gojo said.

His attempt to raise the mood had failed, but he did not seem discouraged. He turned toward the door and called loudly, "Come in."

At the same time, outside the door, a black-haired boy in white stood there uneasily.

The atmosphere inside was so quiet it made him nervous.

When he heard Gojo's call, he held the door handle for a moment. Then he took a deep breath, opened the door, and walked in with his head slightly lowered.

The instant the new student appeared, Ren snapped fully awake.

That curse aura was intense.

Maki's previously cold expression changed. Panda and Toge both stiffened in alarm. Every step the boy in white took seemed to press against their hearts.

The dense curse aura almost took physical shape. In the deep darkness behind him, some horrifying presence seemed to lurk, bringing pressure heavy enough to make breathing difficult.

Maki reached out and grabbed the naginata beside her. Panda put on his gloves. Toge pulled down his collar, ready to use Cursed Speech at any moment.

The poor boy in white had just reached the lectern and lifted his head when a sharp blade passed beside his face and sank deep into the blackboard behind him.

"My name is Okkotsu..."

The terrified new classmate looked at the "four villains" in front of him and could not get the rest of his words out.

Maki gripped the handle of her blade, eyes filled with appraisal. "You... are cursed. Someone like you can become a student here? What the hell is going on?"

Panda put on a deliberately fierce expression.

Ren, standing slightly farther back, felt that something was wrong. The curse on this boy was far too immense. The stronger one's perception, the more clearly one could sense that deadly threat.

"This is bad..."

Ren quietly retreated a few steps.

Only then did Gojo, standing near the door, leisurely begin explaining. "Every year in Japan, more than ten thousand people die or go missing for unknown reasons. Many of those cases are caused by curses born from human negative emotions."

"Some are caused by curse users too. And only curses can deal with curses. This is Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School, where students learn about curses in order to exorcise them."

The boy in white looked miserable. "Why did no one explain that to me beforehand?"

Everyone turned back to stare wordlessly at Gojo. Their understanding of his unreliability rose to an entirely new level.

Gojo offered an apology with no sincerity at all. Then, as if remembering something, he added, "You should probably stay away from him."

At that moment, it felt as if a beast were breathing behind them. The hair on their bodies stood on end, and a thin layer of cold sweat crawled up their backs.

The four turned around.

The blackboard behind the new student had been stained ink-black. Then it rippled like the surface of water.

Two pale, vicious arms, clearly far too large to be human, reached out one after the other. One hand easily grabbed Maki's naginata, shocking her enough that she immediately abandoned the weapon and retreated with the other three.

A strange voice sounded, but it resembled a little girl's voice.

"Do not..."

Panic appeared on the new student's face, not because he feared the thing, but because he feared it would hurt someone.

He raised a hand, trying to stop the owner of those arms. "Rika... do not!"

Before his words finished, that little-girl voice erupted and completed its sentence.

"...hurt Yuta."

The other hand swept toward them.

Maki felt the pressure rushing at her so strongly she could barely move. Gritting her teeth, she said to the side, "Ren, you go first..."

When her peripheral vision shifted, she suddenly realized Ren, who had been standing beside her, was already gone.

The words died in her throat.

She raised her eyes again and saw Ren standing at the doorway with a smile that looked far too pleased with itself.

The moment those arms had appeared, Ren's nerves had gone tight. He had decisively chosen the ancient strategy of getting out of there.

Was this a joke?

The feeling that thing gave him made the Grade 2 cursed spirit from the hospital seem like a baby.

So Ren chose to run.

Gojo-sensei was often unreliable, but surely he would not be careless about something like this. If that cursed spirit launched a lethal attack, he would act. Besides, that sweeping hand did not feel like it carried much killing force. Was the boy restraining it?

Things developed exactly that way.

Maki, Panda, and Toge were only knocked around. The terrifying presence, still unseen in full, vanished behind the boy again.

Gojo finally stepped forward and introduced the new classmate properly.

In short, Yuta Okkotsu had a childhood friend named Rika, the girl he had promised to marry when they grew up. She died in a traffic accident in front of him, then became a vengeful cursed spirit and cursed him.

"And that is the story! This is Yuta Okkotsu, cursed by Rika, the girl who loves him most!"

After finishing his flashy introduction of the new classmate, Gojo added, "If you attack Yuta, Rika's curse might activate. Or it might not. Either way, everyone should be careful."

The three who had already been knocked around could not help complaining.

"Could you not have said that sooner?"

Yuta had now experienced Gojo's style for the first time.

Then Gojo introduced everyone one by one.

"This is Maki Zen'in, a cursed tool user. She specializes in using special weapons to exorcise curses."

"This is Toge Inumaki, a descendant of Cursed Speech users. He usually speaks only in words for rice-ball fillings, so do your best to communicate with him."

Toge, who had a bump on his head, greeted him. "Kelp."

'He seems kind of strange,' Yuta thought.

Gojo then pointed to the gray-haired boy who had run early enough to avoid being touched by Rika. Under Ren's warm smile, Gojo said, "This is Ren Kamishiro."

He paused, apparently unsure what else to say, and then turned to the next person.

Ren's smile disappeared.

"Gojo-sensei, why did you skip me? Say a few more words!"

Gojo ignored him completely and pointed at the most obvious member of the group.

"This is Panda."

Panda added, "I am Panda. Nice to meet you."

Gojo rubbed his chin. "That is about it."

Poor Yuta could only complain silently.

'That is a panda. A walking, talking panda. Why did he skip the person I actually wanted explained?'

Gojo clapped his hands. "Good. The first-year class has five students now. How lively. I will split you into groups for this afternoon's practical jujutsu training."

"Toge and Panda will be one group. Maki and Yuta will be the other."

Ren raised his hand. "Gojo-sensei, what about me?"

Gojo smiled brilliantly.

"You have a solo mission."

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