Akira could clearly see something like pale blue flames of Cursed Energy rising and burning around Kento Nanami’s hand.

  “If it were Black Flash, there wouldn’t be this kind of Cursed Energy residue on the hand. This is the result of not keeping up.”

  “Then how do you make it keep up?” Akira asked the key question.

  “By imagining. Cursed Energy is mental power, or imagination. Imagining a stronger future self is the fastest way for a Jujutsu Sorcerer to grow stronger. ‘Black Flash’, ‘Maximum Technique’, and ‘Domain Expansion’ are all the same. Growth for a Jujutsu Sorcerer is never linear. That may sound abstract, so I’ll use myself as an example.”

  The Cursed Energy infused into Kento Nanami’s hands spilled outward like drifting mist.

  “For me, Cursed Energy is not a liquid. It’s more like air, everywhere. So instead of making Cursed Energy follow the body’s movement, I make the body follow the movement of Cursed Energy, like throwing a punch that creates pressure.”

  Kento Nanami suddenly clenched his right hand and locked onto the next unlucky target.

  The man he stared at could not bear the pressure of waiting to die. He fired wildly while shouting, “Don’t come any closer!”

  This kind of panic meant nothing in the current situation. Because of his unstable emotions, every bullet missed, and Kento Nanami did not even dodge. He walked up and punched the man’s gun.

  The wrist snapped, the handgun flew out and embedded itself in a nearby sofa, but Kento Nanami was not satisfied.

  “Failed. It happens often. If I could activate Black Flash anytime, anywhere, I might be able to reach Special Grade.”

  “S-Special, Special Grade!!!”

  Someone finally reacted, but realizing it now was useless. It only made him the next target.

  The office-worker-dressed man walked over unhurriedly. Reflected in his dark Sunglasses were the terrified faces of the Q members and eyes suddenly filled with black and red.

  Cursed Energy?

  Jujutsu Sorcerer!

  Akira’s hand instantly went to the sword hilt on his back.

  Kento Nanami moved even faster.

  A punch, still a single punch. The Cursed Energy wrapped around it underwent a qualitative change, no longer liquid or gas, but compressed into a flash by the motion of the fist.

  A black flash.

  In that fleeting light, Akira truly saw distortion.

  The surrounding air, the point of impact, the Q member’s arm, and the barrier-like Jujutsu that had just formed.

  The man who took the punch stared blankly at his arm as it twisted, deformed, and finally completely collapsed under the impact of Cursed Energy. Only after a long moment did he scream.

  “Black, Black Flash!!!”

  Kento Nanami still wore that look of someone who only wanted a quiet life. He flexed his right hand and checked the feeling in his fingers. His posture stayed relaxed, as if the fight had been nothing special.

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  “The second try worked, looks like my luck is decent today,” he said. “Your luck, on the other hand, is not so good, a Curse User under Q.”

  Q was, after all, part of the Curse User Organization. In a city as large as Tokyo, a base with more than a dozen people was unlikely to lack a Curse User in charge. This was something Kento Nanami and Akira had been wary of from the very beginning.

  Unlike Cursed Spirit, a Jujutsu Sorcerer who did not actively use Cursed Energy was hard to identify. The deeper such a person hid, letting outer members be beaten into collapse, the more clearly their cunning showed. Reality matched that expectation exactly.

  That Curse User was extremely sly. Even his companions did not know his true identity and believed he was just like them, lying low in Tokyo while waiting for further orders from higher-ups. When Akira and Kento Nanami broke in, he was caught off guard, but he quickly steadied himself and formed a plan.

  First, use the outer members as cannon fodder. These people lacked the discipline of a Jujutsu Sorcerer and were easy to recruit with money, religion, or outright brainwashing, making them perfect for testing the enemy’s level. Once the opponents relaxed, he would use Jujutsu and end it in a single strike.

  The plan itself was correct, and Kento Nanami and Akira cooperated well. Seeing that neither of them used Jujutsu and relied only on close combat, he thought this was a chance granted by fate. His Jujutsu was called “Reflection”, which could Reflection enemy attacks to a certain extent and was especially effective against physical blows.

  Against someone like Kento Nanami, fighting this way was practically offering himself up. The ongoing teaching of “Black Flash” did worry him a little, since Reflection had its limits. Still, any Jujutsu Sorcerer knew that triggering “Black Flash” relied heavily on luck, and some sorcerers only managed it once in their entire lives.

  After Kento Nanami failed the first time, he felt the opportunity arrive. He never expected Kento Nanami to succeed on the second attempt, breaking through his Reflection technique in one blow and severely injuring him. The shock and gap were so great that he forgot the pain and stared at the man in front of him.

  “No, impossible,” he said. “‘Black Flash’ shouldn’t be this easy. You, who are you?”

  “Grade One Jujutsu Sorcerer, Kento Nanami,” Kento Nanami replied. “My luck with ‘Black Flash’ has always been pretty good.”

  The nameless Jujutsu Sorcerer turned ashen and finally accepted reality. Kento Nanami casually lifted him up and said to Akira, “Akira, you should try it too.”

  “Alright,” Akira said.

  He nodded and followed Kento Nanami’s instructions, spreading Cursed Energy around his fist. Instead of letting Cursed Energy follow his body, he let his body follow Cursed Energy. He inhaled, sank his stance, and threw a straight punch.

  Flowing Spring Gale burst out, and the impact alone knocked an enemy down. However, the scattered and uncollected Cursed Energy became the reason “Black Flash” failed this time. Kento Nanami spoke calmly, correcting him.

  “It’s not just spreading it out,” he said. “You have to make sure you can pull it back at any time. Focus more, keep body and mind highly unified, and blend Cursed Energy completely into your breathing.”

  Akira did as instructed. He focused, punched again, and still felt misalignment between Cursed Energy and his fist. He tried again, concentrating even more, forcing his mind into unity.

  Another punch, then another. It was still not enough, and it had to be even more condensed. Akira sank fully into his own world, throwing a fourth punch, a fifth, one after another.

  When he finally felt Cursed Energy lag behind his consumption, there was no one left standing in the base except Kento Nanami. The place, once carefully decorated like an upscale bar, had been smashed to pieces by his fists. He looked at his hands unwillingly and lowered them.

  “I failed,” he said.

  Kento Nanami had already fastened his suit buttons and straightened his tie. “That’s normal. If ‘Black Flash’ were that easy to learn, it wouldn’t be a dividing line for Jujutsu Sorcerer, and that person wouldn’t have sent you to find me.”

  “What am I still lacking?” Akira asked sincerely.

  “Two points,” Kento Nanami said. “First, what I told you is my experience, and it may not suit you. You need an image of Cursed Energy that fits you better. Second, training. Use that image to deepen coordination with Cursed Energy again and again. As long as you are improving, you are on the right path, until you touch the limit.”

  He paused, then continued. “Even then, don’t stop. Turn your fists and Cursed Energy into instinct. If you do that, one day you might break through the limit and land a ‘Black Flash’. Once you hit it the first time, using it again will be much easier.”

  “Understood,” Akira said.

  Those words carried the most weight coming from Kento Nanami. He was the holder of the world record for consecutive uses of “Black Flash”, having triggered it four times in a single day. The experience and ideas he passed on were exactly what Akira agreed with and had been practicing all along.