Curse Return: Demon Void Girl Doesn't Want to Be a Weakling

Mashiro's brow furrowed slightly as she watched Itajiro secretly wiping away sweat.

"Are you hiding something from me?"

"No, no, no."

Huzhang put his hand down from wiping his sweat and wiped it on his pants twice.

The East Hall had already gone far away, leaving only scorch marks on the rubble and a few wisps of gray residue left after the remains of the Flower Palace were washed away by the water on the riverbank.

Mashiro glanced at him but didn't ask any further questions.

She pulled Cong Yu back into her body and turned to look towards the forest.

A sweep of senses revealed that Fuhei's curse power had stabilized, and while Goujuan's curse power was low, it was no longer declining.

They must have sensed that the battle was over, because they were all heading this way.

"Let's go pick them up," Mashiro said.

Huzhang nodded and followed behind her.

The two walked out of the riverbank and through the bushes.

Mashiro walked ahead at a slow pace, but the distance between each step was the same.

Watching her retreating figure from behind, Itachi recalled how she had emerged from the crevice and purged Hanako with a single strike.

The knife was so fast that he couldn't even see the trajectory of the blade while standing next to it.

"Mashiro-nee".

"Um?"

"Was that clone you created very strong?"

"So-so," Mashiro said. "He can't use any spells on me, he can only transform himself and tough it out. He's trying to stall for time, but it's no use in the end."

"Then the original body must be even stronger."

"It might be a little troublesome for you, but you'll eventually be able to beat him."

"Really? Mashiro-nee, you're not just trying to comfort me, are you?" Itadori said with a smile.

Mashiro shook her head. "We'll win."

Soon, the sound of branches being parted came from ahead.

The panda's head peeked out from the bushes, and Fuhei lay on its back.

Maki followed beside her, holding a cloud in her hand.

It seems that they had already met Dongtang once before.

Kamo helped Inu-man walk at the very back, with dark red scabs of blood forming on Inu-man's throat.

When he saw Mashiro, he raised his hand and waved, and Mashiro nodded to him.

Fuhei looked up from the panda's back and glanced at Huzhang. Huzhang raised his slightly red and swollen hand and waved it at him.

Fu Hei's lips curled up slightly, but he didn't say anything and closed his eyes again.

"How is Fuhei's injury?" Huzhang asked.

"Fragments of the cursed artifact remained in her body, but they were already inactive," Maki said with a shrug. "Hana-mi died, and Mei died with her."

"That's good."

As Huzhang passed by the panda, he reached out and patted Fuhei on the back very lightly before continuing on his way.

Kamo slowed down at the back of the line.

His lips had not yet regained their color, and his steps were unsteady.

As Mashiro passed by him, she glanced at the bandage on his wrist.

"Can you still walk?"

"Yes." Kamo took a deep breath. "The Kamo family members aren't so weak that they can't walk."

Dog Roll exhaled through its nose, as if trying to suppress a laugh but unable to make a sound.

Kamo turned his head away expressionlessly.

Just as the group was about to leave the woods and head to the college's medical room.

Gojo Satoru has arrived.

Everyone heard the sound first before they sensed the curse power.

The crunching sound of his shoes on the riverbank pebbles came from the direction of the forest, followed by his voice, as if he were on the phone with someone.

"...No need, I've arrived. Could you please check the security department's shift schedule from last week and send it to my email?"

He emerged from behind the tree trunk, his phone to his ear, his other hand in his pocket.

The jacket was draped over his shoulders, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows.

He hung up the phone, put it back in his pocket, and waved two fingers at everyone.

"Yo."

He was clearly dealing with an emergency with a flustered expression, but he acted all nonchalant in front of the students.

Mashiro smiled slightly, but Gojo Satoru noticed and glared at her.

He took two steps forward, the first step landing on the gravel, the second step wading into the shallow water.

He stopped, his smile vanished, and he looked down at his wet shoes.

There was a two-second silence.

"Water." Itadori couldn't help but chuckle. "Gojo-sensei, you stepped in the water."

"I know." He pulled his wet shoes out of the water and shook them a few times.

"These are brand new shoes. I specifically picked them out today. I dealt with over a dozen clones outside without getting them dusty, but here I stepped right into water."

He sighed, looked up, and scanned everyone around him.

The blindfold covered their eyes, but everyone could still feel their gaze.

"Dog Roll's throat is useless, Kamo's face looks like he just donated blood, Fushiguro has some cursed substance residue in his body but it's already inactive and will metabolize on its own, Itadori has a minor finger fracture and needs to be iced, Maki's consumption is negligible, Panda has several cuts on his body and we'll have to find Glass to suture them, and the cut on Mashiro's face is almost healed."

He went through them one by one, speaking very quickly.

"Hmm, my eyesight hasn't deteriorated yet."

Gojou Satoru nodded smugly, then looked at Mashiro and asked, "Was that a clone you attacked?"

"You were also held back by the real person's clone?" Mashiro asked.

"Yes, a whole bunch." Gojo Satoru raised his hands and then flipped them over, making a doubling gesture.

"At least a dozen or so, they came in a line. You take one down and another one pops up, you take one down and another one pops up."

"When I tried to track down the original body after the attack, all traces had been cleaned up."

He put his hands back in his pockets and kicked the gravel at his feet.

"It must have been a pre-planned retreat route. They might not have even entered the academy; they were probably waiting outside to meet them."

When Gojo Satoru said these words, his tone was very relaxed, almost as relaxed as when he complained about his wet shoes earlier.

"As a result, by the time you went out to look for it after the accounts were completely settled, even the remnants of the curse power had been dealt with."

Mashiro nodded, looking at him thoughtfully.

Itadori asked with some doubt, "Then is the real person's true form...?"

"Yes, he got away. We won't be able to catch him today." Gojo Satoru tilted his head and looked at him.

"However, you won the battle, exorcised a top-tier cursed spirit, and had zero student deaths. That's a good result."

He clapped his hands twice.

"Alright, although today's ranking battle didn't result in any rankings or actual matches, everyone survived. Survival is a victory, and after victory, we should—"

He deliberately stopped, piquing everyone's curiosity.

After waiting a moment, Itadori couldn't hold back any longer and fell into Gojo Satoru's trap: "What should it be?"

"Good question, Hisahito." Gojo Satoru pointed at Itadori, then stroked his chin and said hesitantly, "I was going to say we'd eat yakiniku (grilled meat)."

"But Dog Roll's throat can't handle hot food, and Kamo is anemic and can't drink alcohol. Oh no, minors can't drink alcohol anyway."

Kamo closed his eyes briefly: "Could you please get straight to the conclusion?"

"The conclusion is to go back to the medical room to find the glass first, and postpone the barbecue until next week." Gojo Satoru wagged his finger. "It's on me."

"Ms. Gojo, you always focus on the barbecue." Maki shook her head and sighed.