While I was chanting a curse, the system said I was Xiao Yan?

Medical clinic at the vocational college.

The afternoon sun slanted in through the window, casting a warm, golden band of light across the floor. The air was filled with the mixed scents of disinfectant and herbs, mingled with the faint chirping of cicadas outside, creating a drowsy, languid atmosphere throughout the room.

Shoko Ieiri sat behind her desk, a comic book in her hand, her legs crossed, and an unlit cigarette dangling from her mouth, completely absorbed in the book.

Her short, brown hair shimmered softly in the sunlight, and the collar of her white coat was slightly open, making her look as if she might fall asleep at any moment.

Then, the door was pushed open.

"Bang!"

The sound wasn't loud, but it carried a sense of impatient urgency, as if someone had bumped into it with their shoulder.

Shoko didn't even lift her eyelids, turned a page of the manga, and said in a flat tone, "Satoru, if the door breaks again, you'll have to fix it yourself."

"Glass!"

Gojo Satoru strode in, sunglasses perched on his nose, his white spiky hair gleaming in the sunlight. He looked less flamboyant and more eager than usual.

He walked to the desk, placed his hands on the surface, and leaned forward: "Teach me the inversion technique!"

Shoko finally raised her eyelids and glanced at him, then lowered her head again to continue reading her comics.

"I won't teach."

Why?

"I taught you, but you still can't learn it. It's a waste of my time."

Gojo Satoru's lips twitched, but he didn't give up. Instead, he went around behind the desk, squatted down, looked up at her with an expression that said, "Look how sincere I am."

"This time is different! This time I'm serious! I really want to learn!"

Shoko turned a page of the manga: "You said the same thing last time."

"That was because you didn't teach me properly last time!"

"How could I not teach you properly? I clearly told you all the steps."

"You call that 'telling'?!" Gojo Satoru's voice rose a notch.

Shoko finally put down her manga, a cigarette dangling from her lips, tilted her head and looked at him with an expression of 'Why don't you understand?'

"I've said it several times already."

She held out her hand and gestured: "It's like 'whoosh'ing the spell power."

"Then, 'smack!'"

"Got it?"

Gojo Satoru looked at her and remained silent.

Then he suddenly stood up, grabbing his hair with both hands, his expression like that of a mathematician driven mad by an unsolvable equation: "You understand?! How could I understand?! You're just using onomatopoeia! Who teaches spells using onomatopoeia?!"

Shoko blinked, then said matter-of-factly, "That's how I learned it."

"You were born that way! You were born that way, you understand? You don't need to learn to be born that way!"

Satoru Gojo paced back and forth in the infirmary: "What I need is a method! A method that is reproducible, teachable, and understandable to a normal person! Not a stream-of-consciousness or talent-based teaching method!"

"There must be a way!" Gojo Satoru gritted his teeth, his deep blue eyes flashing with an almost obsessive light.

"I must learn! Jay has become stronger, and he's even mastered a method to break through my limitless techniques. If I don't become stronger, I won't be able to catch him!"

"Shoko, think of something! Anything is fine!"

Seeing his stubborn and impatient demeanor, Shoko felt that this wouldn't lead to a good outcome.

He was silent for a moment, then sighed, closed the comic book and placed it on the table. He crossed his arms, tilted his head, and seemed to be thinking about something.

Seeing Gojo Satoru like this made her feel a pang of heartache. His usual carefree and cheerful self suited him better. Since that's the case...

Shoko's gaze fell on the corner of the table, where a small glass bottle sat.

It is very delicate, about the size of a thumb, and pure white. It has a warm luster in the sunlight. The bottle contains a pink liquid, which is as thick as syrup and is gently swaying in the bottle.

That was a "byproduct" that Tianyan Jun separated when he was refining medicine.

The corners of her mouth slowly curved into a smile.

The smile was subtle; it wasn't the excitement of having come up with a solution, but rather carried a hint of cunning, like a cat's...pleasure when it sees a ball of yarn.

Since that's the case... it's always good to smile.

"Glass?"

Gojo Satoru looked up at the smile on her lips, his brow furrowing slightly. "What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing."

Shoko withdrew her gaze, looked at him again, and her expression returned to its languid state. She walked to the corner of the table, picked up the glass bottle, weighed it in her hand, and then walked over to Gojo Satoru.

"Enlightenment".

"Um?"

"I really don't know how to teach you."

Gojo Satoru's expression fell: "...Then why did you call me?"

"but!"

Shoko's voice trailed off: "I have something here that might be able to help you."

She held the glass bottle up to Gojo Satoru. Sunlight streamed through the bottle, making the pink liquid inside appear exceptionally vibrant, like a gemstone solidified in amber.

Gojo Satoru stared at the glass bottle, his brow furrowing even more deeply: "What is this?"

"Tianyan made some good stuff."

Shoko spoke casually, as if she were talking about something unimportant: "He made a kind of... um... medicinal liquid when he was refining medicine before, which can instantly expand the meridians and activate the body's potential."

She paused, then her smile widened even more: "Drink it, and who knows, you might be able to 'whoosh' it out."

Gojo Satoru stared at the glass bottle for a few seconds, then looked up at Shoko with suspicion: "...Are you sure it will work?"

"uncertain."

Shoko shrugged, her expression serious: "Whether you drink it or not is entirely up to you."

Knowing Gojo Satoru's personality well, she naturally knew how to say it to dispel his suspicions and arouse his curiosity. This was the experience she had accumulated from countless pranks!

In terms of wits and strategy!

Gojo Satoru took the glass bottle, turned it over in his hand, uncorked it, and brought it close to his nose to smell it.

A sweet, slightly ambiguous fragrance wafted from the bottle, like a mixture of honey and some unknown floral scent, so sweet it was almost cloying.

"It smells alright."

He commented, "It's like...some kind of high-end dessert?"

"Drink it."

Shoko's eyes held an encouraging 'drink up, drink up' quality: "Don't dawdle."

Gojo Satoru glanced at her, then at the glass bottle in his hand, before tilting his head back and gulping it down.

The moment the medicine entered his mouth, his brow furrowed slightly.

"Sweet."

He licked his lips, as if savoring something: "It's quite delicious. Is there any more?"

"That's all."

Glass remained unfazed: "This stuff is very complicated to make; there's only one bottle."

She paused, stood up, and dusted off her white coat: "Let's go to the training ground. I want to see how it goes."

Gojo Satoru strode confidently towards the door, his steps light and a bright smile spreading across his face: "Alright! I'll show you what true genius-level comprehension speed looks like!"

Shoko followed behind him, her hands in the pockets of her white coat, a slight smile playing on her lips, but that smile looked... a bit sinister.

Training Course.

The afternoon sun beat down directly overhead, baking the entire area like a slab of iron. Heat waves rose in the air, and distant buildings distorted slightly in the steam, as if viewed through water.

Tianyan stood in the center of the training ground, having just finished a set of sword-swinging exercises. He was switching the Xuanzhong Ruler from his right hand to his left hand and stretching his slightly sore shoulders.

Nanami Kento and Haibara Yu stood to the side, panting as they finished a round of sparring and wiping the sweat from their foreheads with towels.

The sunlight stretched the three people's shadows short, casting dark, solid outlines on the ground.

Then, Tianyan sensed it.

A massive, scorching surge of magical energy emanated from the direction of the main building.

He turned his head and saw Gojo Satoru striding towards the training ground, his pace faster than usual, as if he were in a hurry. He had that signature bright smile on his face, but Tenyan noticed that his face was a little red.

It wasn't the kind of red you get from sunburn, but a deeper flush that shone through from beneath the skin, spreading from the cheeks all the way to the base of the ears and even down to the neck.

"Yo! Tianyan!"

Gojo Satoru walked to the edge of the training field, put his hands in his pockets, tilted his head, and said in a voice a few decibels louder than usual, "Still training?"

Tianyan looked at him, his brows furrowing slightly: "Wutiao, why is your face so red?"

Gojo Satoru blinked and touched his face. "Red? Am I?"

"have."

Haibara Yuya leaned closer and looked him over carefully: "Gojo-senpai, your face is as red as a monkey's butt."

"A monkey's butt?!"

Gojo Satoru's voice rose a notch: "What kind of analogy is that?! Who said anything about monkey butts?!"

Nanami Kento stood aside and looked him up and down: "Moreover, the fluctuations of your magical energy are quite unstable... it's like it's burning."

Gojo Satoru opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but swallowed the words back.

Because he truly felt it.

The medicinal power was exploding within his body, like someone pouring a bottle of scalding hot honey into his veins. Sweet, sticky, and hot, it gathered from his limbs and bones to his dantian, and then surged out of his limbs and bones again.

His heart was racing.

My breathing became rapid.

The temperature of my cheeks is rising.

He looked down at his hands; his palms were an unnatural pink, as if they had been soaked in hot water.

"Gojo-senpai, are you really alright?"

Haibara Yu's voice was filled with concern: "Your forehead is sweating!"

"fine!"

Gojo Satoru raised his voice a notch, but quickly lowered it, coughed, and resumed his nonchalant tone: "I just... thought the sun was too hot today."

Tianyan looked up at the sky.

The afternoon sun blazed down under a cloudless sky. The sun, like a hundred times magnified incandescent light bulb, hung in the center, relentlessly pouring down its light and heat.

"It is indeed quite hot."

Tianyan nodded and looked away: "But it's not as hot as it is for you."

Gojo Satoru's smile froze for a moment.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Ieiri Shoko standing at the edge of the training field.

She didn't know when she had arrived. She was leaning against the fence by the training field, her hands in the pockets of her white coat, a thin, unlit cigarette dangling from her mouth. Her expression was calm, but her shoulders were trembling slightly.

She was trying not to laugh.

Gojo Satoru's eyelid twitched.

Then he felt it.

The burning sensation was spreading from his chest throughout his body, from his chest to his abdomen, from his abdomen to his limbs, and from his limbs to his lower brain.

Images began to appear before his eyes.

It wasn't about curses, battles, or missions, but rather something more private, more secretive, something he would never normally think about.

"No!"

He shouted in his heart.

If he loses control in public under these circumstances and does something shameful in front of Tenyan, Nanami, and Haibara...

Then his lifelong reputation would be completely ruined!

"I...I suddenly remembered something!"

His voice was slightly shaky, but his tone was firm: "I'll go first!"

Before he finished speaking, his body had already left the ground.

Unlimited Technique, activated.

Gravity lifted him up, like an arrow shot from a powerful bow, shooting straight into the sky at such speed that he left only a white afterimage in the air, becoming a tiny dot in the blink of an eye.

Tianyan looked up at the increasingly smaller white figure, his brow furrowing slightly: "Where is he going?"

Haibara Yuya tilted his head back and covered his brow bone with his hand: "I don't know... but he seems to be in a hurry."

Nanami Kento was silent for a moment, then spoke: "His magical energy fluctuations just now... were a bit off."

Tenyan turned his gaze from the sky and landed on Iori Shoko at the edge of the training field.

Shoko was leaning against the fence, her shoulders still trembling slightly, and the corners of her mouth had already curved into a distinct arc.

"Glass."

Tianyan's voice was calm: "What did you give him to drink?"

Shoko's body stiffened for a moment.

She slowly turned her head to look at Tianyan, trying her best to keep her expression calm: "...What?"

"That medicine!"

Based on Gojo Satoru's behavior, Tenyan suddenly realized something. His eyes widened, and he gasped, "You gave him that potion!"

Shoko shook her head and held it in for three seconds, but then burst out laughing.

The laughter echoed across the quiet training ground, carrying an irrepressible sense of schadenfreude.

"He said he wanted to learn the reversal technique... I said, maybe if you drink that, you can 'whoosh' it out..."

She laughed and said haltingly, "Then he...and then he actually drank it...hahaha..."

Tianyan looked at her and silently took a small step back. So this was the reason why Nanami and Haibara were so respectful to her on weekdays?

Horror!

Nanami Kento was completely bewildered by their conversation; their reactions left him clueless as to what was going on: "Senior Tenyan, what are you talking about? What kind of medicinal liquid? Is it related to Senior Gojo?"

Haibara Yuya looked up, puzzled. "Could that be why Gojo-senpai flew away without a word?"

Tianyan: "...It's somewhat related, but mainly because he went to get some fresh air."

"...A breeze?"

"Yes, let the wind blow."

Tianyan wore a pained expression: "It's cooler up high."

He looked up at the black dot in the sky and began to seriously consider which direction he should choose to leave this bombing zone if Gojo Satoru started saying "I'll do whatever I want" and then Tenchō.