Chapter 6 - Special Grade

Shinso, after everything that had happened today, turned toward Gojo and stared at the man in his blindfolded eyes. “You're a terrible teacher. I'll get slaughtered if I go and fight in there.”

“Oh,” Gojo clutched at his heart in an overly dramatic manner. “My heart. Due to my student’s insults, I've suffered such a powerful emotional blow that I can no longer fight. I need to sit down. It's all on you now, Shinso!”

What an asshole!

Despite everything, Shinso swallowed the lump in his throat, unsheathed his sword, and looked around. There was nothing dangerous in the room visible to the eye, not even one of those weaker cursed spirits. But he could still sense the danger from the cinema screen.

He turned toward his teacher, who was leaning back in the cinema chair, seemingly relaxed. However, when he saw Shinso looking at him, Gojo grabbed at his chest. “Ow, my heart still hurts. No need to keep looking at me.”

Despite his silliness, Shinso knew that Gojo wouldn't let him die... probably. With everything that had happened today, he was no longer that sure. No matter who he fought, Gojo wouldn’t let him die, right? Best not to think about that for now.

“Where the hell is the cursed spirit?” Shinso asked.

No, he wasn't going to approach that screen recklessly. That's how people in horror movies met their demise.

“Do you know about Imaginary Vengeful Cursed Spirits?” Gojo responded with his own question.

“Obviously not. This is only my second day as a Jujutsu Sorcerer,” Shinso replied with a bit of an edge in his words.

Gojo didn’t take the words to heart and only smiled. “Well, an imaginary cursed spirit is a cursed spirit manifested from the cumulative fear of the masses. When many people share an image of fear, such as famous yokai or ghost stories like the nine-tailed fox, an imaginary vengeful spirit can form.”

Shinso understood what Gojo was getting at, but just to be sure he wasn't assuming things, Shinso said, “By modern-day standards, very few people believe in things like ancient yokai. But things like urban legends or horror movies might cause enough fear to create an imaginary vengeful spirit in modern times.”

“Bingo!” Gojo gave him a thumbs up. “Wow, I really am the greatest teacher. I just gave you the information so you could figure out the answer on your own. My intelligence truly knows no bounds.”

Gojo was teasing him, there was no doubt about it. But Shinso didn’t let his anger get the better of him, no matter what the silver-haired fool said. Instead, he concentrated and wondered what he should do next.

He could just walk away. Gojo wasn’t the kind of guy who would actually force him to fight.

But would he ever be able to just run away? Yes, he could escape from this situation. But what about later? When monstrous curses and Sukuna come about, he can't run forever.

With Gojo by his side now, he had the best insurance he'd make it out alive, no matter what happened.

Even if his body, heart, soul, and every instinct in his body screamed to escape, he was going to stay!

He took it a step further and faced this horror with a smile.

Was his smile a mask to hide his fear? Probably. But if it could unsettle his opponent and cloud their judgment, it would be an advantage.

Shinso scanned the room and spotted a large switch, marked with a light bulb symbol. He walked up and turned it on, hoping to flood the room with light. In horror movies, darkness was a fear tactic, a means to conceal. A well-lit environment would be the worst place for a fight.

The lights flickered to life, and then there was a loud crack as the light bulbs shattered.

Shinso deduced that this had to be the cursed spirit. But if the spirit was based on a horror movie, he could try to find clues related to the movies being played.

It had to be a famous horror movie to form such a strong cursed spirit.

Shinso was about to investigate where the tapes were kept when a loud burst of static filled the room, followed by the sound of rushing water.

The scent of decaying carcasses filled the cinema as if they were in a swamp. Shinso turned towards the screen, which was no longer flickering and now displayed a clear image.

On the screen, there was a well surrounded by rotting green vegetation. Pale hands with long dark nails grasped the well's edges, and a sludge of black water spewed from the well, streaming towards the screen.

But it didn't stop there; the dark liquid oozed through the screen. That's when Shinso realized something horrifying. It wasn't just dark water, it was hair.

The hair moved like it had a mind of its own and flooded the whole cinema, rushing toward him.

"Whoa," Gojo put his feet on the seat before his so the hair didn't touch him.

Shinso leaped, narrowly avoiding the oncoming wave of dark hair. Thanks to imbuing his legs with cursed energy, he landed quite a distance away, perched at the head of one of the seats.

He gazed at the tendrils of hair, which seemed to move with a mind of their own, their only desire being to hunt their next prey. Shinso knew he was out of his league here. Clutching the sword in his hand, he realized that fleeing was no longer an option, and oddly, that brought him some comfort. He no longer had to contemplate escape.

"I'm scared, terrified, and I want to curl up and cry," Shinso admitted his true feelings out loud. However, his face displayed no trace of such emotions.

"That's pretty lame to admit," Gojo remarked.

"Shut up, you lousy teacher," Shinso retorted, took a deep breath, and felt a wave of calm wash over him.

He crouched down and punched at the hair on the ground. Despite making contact with the hair and his fists being enveloped in cursed energy, it felt as if he were punching a knife. Furthermore, his special ability didn't work, as the cursed energy flowing through the hair remained undiminished. The cursed spirit remained unweakened.

Did hair not count as a part of someone's body? It was perplexing and nonsensical, but Shinso didn't dwell on it for long. Tendrils of hair shot up as if they'd sensed his touch and tried to ensnare him.

Shinso leaped from seat to seat, eventually reaching the cinema screen. Despite not being particularly athletic, he somehow maintained his balance and made it to the first row of seats.

Crouching again, he tried to grab at the hair, but it felt like trying to lift a truck.

Did he need to enter the screen?

Shinso leaped right in front of the screen, positioning his feet on the hair. He concentrated his cursed energy on his legs, making it challenging for the hair to cut deeper than his skin. The hair coiled around his leg, causing such excruciating pain that he felt a bone snap. Surprisingly, the pain was short-lived, reduced to nothing more than a sting. His body surged with adrenaline, numbing the pain. With the pain now bearable, he placed his hands on the screen and seized the hair.

"Entering might lead me to the cursed spirit's true body, but that would be foolish, as the inside of the movie is likely its domain. It could even turn out to be a sort of domain," Shinso analyzed. Nonetheless, he could still touch the hair from within the screen, feeling as if he was grasping strands of razors, the sensation biting into his raw fingers.

"No! Don't think about the pain!"

"Fuck you!" he yelled out. With all the strength he could muster, he tightened his grip instead of letting go, and then he pulled.

A chilling feeling crawled up his spine as he felt the wet hair touching bone. Despite this eerie sensation, Shinso remained focused on something else. A pale-skinned woman wearing a muddy white dress came through the screen, almost face-to-face with Shinso. Instead of eyes, she had gaping black holes, and her mouth opened, maggots spilling out. Her mouth opened even further, and Shinso could swear he saw an eye at the back of her throat. He didn't have a chance to get a better look as a loud scream from the special grade cursed spirit stunned him.

The cursed spirit ran at him and slammed her leg into Shinso's gut. In an instant, he felt a couple of ribs break and blood pumping at the back of his throat. The next thing he felt was flying backward, his back slamming against a wall and something wet running down his face.

"W-What?" Shinso felt dizzy and touched the warm liquid running down his face—it was blood. He also realized that his hands were empty, and he no longer had a sword. He tried to stand up; the wall he had slammed into had a spider web-like crack at the point of impact.

"Grahhh!" The cursed spirit screamed at him.

Oh shit, the cursed spirit is already in front of him. How did she get here so fast? Did he black out? Was he concussed? Probably...

The woman extended her sharp-clawed hand, ready to rip his throat, but just before she could touch him, she stopped in her tracks. She screeched, but no matter how hard she tried, she was stuck and couldn't move an inch.

Shinso looked at Gojo, who was floating upside down and forming a one-handed hand seal.

Whether it was due to the impact on his head or his own growing frustration, Shinso didn't know. For some reason, he was pissed. "This is my fight. Don't intervene, or I will fucking kill you."

"Oh, scary~" Gojo smiled and released the cursed spirit.

However, instead of gazing at him, the cursed spirit turned toward Goho. She now knew who the real threat was here and seemed to no longer view Shinso as a threat.

"This..." Shinso clenched his teeth. Saying he was angry was an understatement. But he couldn't let anger take over; he had to concentrate like never before. He had to use the pain to sharpen his mind.

The special grade crossed her arms, her long dark nails digging into her chest.

"Oh, shit," Shinso cursed as he realized what was about to happen next.

Her voice was raspy and sounded as if she were gurgling something at the same time. "Domain Expansion: Dancing Ring of Horrors."

In an instant, they were transported to a lifeless swamp where the trees were made of dark shadows, the ground reeked of copper, and there were red puddles everywhere.

At the same time, Gojo pulled down his blindfold and displayed his Six Eyes. But then, he glanced at Shinso and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I won't do it."

When Gojo said that, Shinso realized that, whether he wanted it or not, he had to be helped. With all the pain, the loss, and how he had come to be here, his anger skyrocketed. But he still clenched his teeth and kept his nerves.

No, he had to maintain his composure. He needed to use the cursed energy and let it flow through his body like warm water.

Sharper, much sharper!

Shinso gathered all the cursed energy he could into his hand, and by then, the cursed spirit finally turned toward him. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but he wasn't going to listen.

Honestly, he was too tired and in way too much pain to think about what would happen after this.

All his attention, every cell in his body, was concentrated on that one punch. Which was rewarded when he felt the satisfying crunch when his fist made contact with the cursed spirit.

And then it happened—the space around his blow twisted and contorted, with tendrils of darkness escaping from where his fist made contact with the cursed spirit's face. Time itself felt like it was slowing down.

'Black Flash!'