Chapter 3 - Gojo Satoru

Gojo smiled at all of them, but his gaze lingered on Shinso longer than the other students. His smile widened a bit.

'What was that about?' Shinso wondered.

"Normally, the first day of school would be for orientation and all that," Gojo shrugged as if it had nothing to do with him. "But that's boring, so we'll do some sparring instead."

"Anyway, come on, I know a nice grassy place where you can train. Throw each other around as much as you need to. Even if you lose limbs, we have a great healer who can reattach them, so you can easily go all out." Gojo gave them a thumbs-up and a friendly smile before opening the window and jumping off.

The class was frozen in place; this was the second floor of the building. But Gojo's head peeked through the window with a teasing smirk on his face. "Eh? Shouldn't you be screaming with worry and crying for your dear sensei? Oh well, see you at the training grounds."

He flew off, and Maki asked, "Did he even tell us where the training field was?"

Panda scratched his head. "He maybe forgot."

"Not maybe, he definitely forgot," Maki sighed.

"He said it was someplace with grass," Shinso added.

"That describes most of this place! We're in the middle of the mountains, surrounded by grass," Maki groaned and stood up. "Well, we have to search for that fool. I can't believe everyone considers him the strongest sorcerer."

...

It took about half an hour before they found Gojo standing on a chair in the middle of a grass field near a pond. He was floating as if sitting in an invisible flying chair.

"What took you guys so long?" Gojo asked with a disappointed look on his face. "You're all kind of slow."

"You didn't tell us where we had to be," Maki pointed out.

Gojo stood his ground. "Yeah, I did."

No, he didn't.

The strongest sorcerer continued, "Don't blame me just because you have a bad memory. Don't worry, as your teacher, I will help you with this. Maybe we can watch some YouTube videos about tricks that help people suffering from memory loss."

Maki clenched her teeth and looked like she was about to give Gojo a piece of her mind. But Panda put a hand on her shoulder, saying, "Come on, we're already here."

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and sighed. Then she calmed down and stared at Gojo. "Okay, what now?"

"Now, you spar against each other. Shinso against Panda, and Maki against Inumaki," Gojo directed. "First, it will be Shinso and Panda."

Shinso raised his hand, "Uh, I don't know how to use cursed energy to strengthen myself. I don't know how to consciously use cursed energy."

"Eh, just spread it around your body or concentrate the cursed energy into your fists for a stronger punch," Gojo explained.

What? That was a couple of steps ahead of what he could do.

Shinso couldn't even sense his cursed energy, much less do things like spreading it around his body.

He remembered from the original show that Yuji Itadori had Sukuna in him, and it still took him quite a while before he could consciously imbue his attacks with cursed energy. He even had that whole training arc with watching movies while keeping his emotions in check.

Shinso contemplated asking Gojo, but he doubted that Gojo had ever faced a problem like this. He turned to his classmates: Maki, who couldn't use cursed energy; Inumaki, who couldn't explain it; and Panda, who was a cursed corpse made of cursed energy. Since Panda was created using cursed energy, he probably didn't face the same issue.

Fuck it, he was going to try it by himself! This world didn't leave much room for caution.

Shinso focused on the deepest recesses of his being, trying to identify any foreign presence. After all, he had lived a life devoid of cursed energy.

There was... nothing. Shinso couldn't even sense a blip, and the only indication he even had cursed energy was his status page.

Wait, no, cursed energy wasn't something one could summon at will. How had Yuji managed to use it for the first time?

Shinso tried to recall how Yuji had done it. Yuji first used cursed energy when his cursed tool broke during the encounter with the special grade finger-bearer. He channeled his feelings of despair, fear, anxiety, shame, and everything else into a single punch.

He tried doing the same and concentrated on his fear of what the future held in place. Anxiety he would be able to survive this world. Would he end up in that same dark place after his death? Where he would slowly turn into nothing.

Terror crawled up his spine when he imagined Mahito touching him, and turning him into one of his fleshy puppets.

Then, in that split second, it felt like a dam had burst, and he experienced a rush of warm energy coursing through his body. He opened his eyes, and his body was enveloped in blue energy with hints of pitch black.

Holy shit! It was like having magical powers!

Even though this was a minor achievement, something that all jujutsu sorcerers could do, the sense of amazement still made Shinso feel like a kid who had just received his Hogwarts letter.

"Hmm, interesting," Gojo commented.

The moment was disrupted as Gojo peered closely at Shinso, his white hair almost touching Shinso's face, prompting Shinso to step back. "Personal space, please."

But Gojo seemed unfazed and chuckled as if he hadn't heard him. "Just as I suspected."

After some additional grumbling, Gojo smiled and said, "Alright, go and face off against Panda. Make sure both of you give it your all."

Panda nodded with determination. Meanwhile, Shinso continued to grapple with gathering cursed energy into his fists.

"Gojo-sensei, are you sure it's wise to send him into a fight with someone experienced in using cursed energy? Shinso can't even protect his body using cursed energy, one wrong hit and he could end up dead." Maki voiced her concerns.

"What a buzzkill," the self-proclaimed 'greatest teacher' turned toward Shinso, and nonchalantly asked, "Hey, do you want to forfeit?"

“No,” Shinso answered without a hint of hesitation. “I want to fight.”

What was there to contemplate? He was destined to engage in life-and-death battles, so it made sense to become accustomed to them in a secure environment.

“Fool,” Maki muttered under her breath.

“Thank you for your concern. Being a jujutsu sorcerer is a perilous occupation. Though I'm grateful to have comrades like you watching my back,” Shinso maintained his smile to show his appreciation.

Maki sighed, her gaze softening. “Sure, just be careful. That panda may be stupid, but he appears to be strong. He seems to rely solely on his fists, as his legs are too short for effective combat use.”

“Thank you for the advice,” he nodded.

“Tch, I didn’t do it for you. I despise when others treat people as if they're expendable, like mere playthings with no value in their lives,” she shot a glare in Gojo's direction.

She didn’t seem to have a favorable opinion of Gojo. Well, he hadn't exactly presented himself in a positive light, and today marked their first encounter. Maybe she would grow to see past Gojo's playful side.

Taking a deep breath, Shinso advanced toward Panda, channeling all his anxiety and fear into his cursed energy.

But before he reached the field, Gojo placed a hand on Shinso’s shoulder, bringing him to a halt. “Don't approach with an expression that shows you're ready to lose. Show some confidence and smile. Land a few hits on Panda and you might stand a chance at winning.”

Win with a few hits? That sounded a bit far-fetched.

However, the one who said that was the strongest living sorcerer, so Shinso nodded at him, and Gojo released his grip.

As he moved towards Panda, Shinso activated his cursed technique, allowing him to examine his stats. But he stopped walking as he got a better look at his status page.

Had his stats... improved? How?! Was it a result of him awakening his cursed energy and gaining a better understanding of it?

Name: Shinso Masou
Age: 15

Cursed Energy Reserves: 149/150 → 157 (Grade 4 Sorcerer)

Strength 7/100
Agility 9/100
Endurance 5/100
Perception 10 → 13/100
Cursed Energy Output 2 → 8/100

Skills:
Sorcery (F)
Cursed Energy Manipulation (F)

Innate Cursed Technique:
???

Though the increase wasn't significant, it was still better than nothing. Additionally, his F ranked skills no longer carried a minus sign in front of them. Despite their low rank, he could at least use his cursed energy to some extent.

"I will have to think about that later," Shinso muttered under his breath as he stood opposite Panda. All the distractions disappeared from his mind, it was only him and his opponent.

"Contestants! Are you ready?" Gojo yelled out in broken English. "Three, two, one. Fight!"

As soon as the fight started, Panda walked closer with his fists raised. Shinso, unsure of his next move, followed Gojo's advice and threw a punch.

However, despite his size, Panda swiftly evaded Shinso's strike and delivered a solid blow to Shinso's stomach. The wind was knocked out of him, and any notions of grandeur vanished.

'What the fuck? This feels like getting hit by a truck,' Shinso thought, on the verge of throwing up his guts.

It marked the first time he had ever been punched this hard in his life.

Shinso's initial impulse was to crumple and lose consciousness, but a voice in the back of his head reminded him of the harsh reality that awaited the weak in this world.

"I'm not going to die like this!" Shinso exclaimed as he grabbed Panda's arm, leaving the animal bewildered.

"Grabbing someone means you don't want them to escape or back off. But that's a bad idea since I'm good in fist fights," Panda warned.

But Shinso was barely listening, his ears were still ringing from that punch. He concentrated all his pain, anger, and fear into his next punch, landing it squarely in Panda's stomach.

His punch shouldn't have caused any harm since Panda didn't bother dodging and relied only on cursed energy to defend himself. Nevertheless, when Shinso's fist made contact, Panda's cursed energy wavered, and he frowned.

Panda attempted to retaliate, but Shinso barely managed to dodge, somehow though it still grazed his shoulder. Then he landed another punch on Panda's arm, which seemed to lack its previous power.

"What's going on?" Shinso wondered. Earlier, a single punch had nearly obliterated his guts without much effort, but now Panda's attacks seemed ineffectual.

Panda pushed Shinso away and took a step back, clutching his stomach with one hand. "What was that?"

"I have no idea," Shinso replied before charging at Panda once more.

Panda raised his arms to defend against Shinso's unrefined punches. With each blow, Panda's defenses weakened, and soon Shinso's fist broke through and connected with Panda's jaw.

Could it be that he was actually winning? Shinso couldn't believe his own eyes.

Meanwhile, Panda dropped to one knee, clutching his jaw. He attempted to gather cursed energy, but it proved to be hard. Shinso was determined not to let this opportunity slip away and moved in for another attack, but Panda leaped back.

In less than a dozen seconds since the first punch, Panda's cursed energy surged back, gathering in his fists once more. Shinso hesitated.

Before the fight could continue, Gojo called out, "Alright, that's enough. Panda, there's no need to transform; you could have easily defeated Shinso even in your base form if you had been a bit more cautious."

Panda, still puzzled, mumbled to himself, "Why did I feel so weak? Each hit made me feel slower. My power wasn't diminished since his punches didn't hurt more but for some reason... Anyway, does anyone have any snacks? Maybe sugar cane?"

"No sugarcane here, but I'll get you some later," Gojo chuckled. "I'll first explain what really happened..."