Akira never expected an easy win. If Q could be wiped out that simply, the higher-ups of Jujutsu Society would be far too incompetent, and they would not have been able to oppose Satoru Gojo for ten years. As long as the enemies were drawn out and trapped, this round of fishing was a success.

  Clap, clap, clap. Bale applauded. “Impressive acting, impressive planning. Even we were fooled. Mr. Kento Nanami, student Akira, underestimating you was our mistake. But if you think this means you have won, you are very wrong.”

  “Even though we did not see through your act, we prepared for reinforcements. Our targets are two Grade One Jujutsu Sorcerer. Come forth, the combat unit directly under my command.”

  As Bale clapped and Kron called out, one Q Curse User Organization fighter after another walked out from the Hideout. They were the same people Akira had taken down earlier.

  Unlike before, their eyes were dull and empty, and their movements stiff and mechanical, like walking corpses. At the same time, something in Akira’s chest stirred again, a faint jolt like a kick from within. The mantis stalked the cicada, the oriole waited behind, the slingshot lay below, but who was the one holding the bow?

  “Body Manipulation Curse, and there are other Jujutsu Sorcerer?”

  Akira frowned slightly. That should not have been possible, because he had not sensed any unfamiliar Cursed Energy at all. The enemy did not give him time to focus, and after being played hard once, they no longer dared to underestimate their opponents.

  Kron waved a hand, and the combatants rushed in at once. Their movements were still stiff, but their speed was not slow at all. The pressure closed in from all sides.

  Akira snorted and tightened his grip on the sword, but Kento Nanami moved even faster. The man who embodied reliability stepped in with a one-handed slash, cutting into a combatant from the side. The blade entered the body, yet the sound was not metal meeting flesh, but a sharper, crisper ring.

  Kento Nanami exerted force and swept the man away, sending him flying, while his other hand tugged at his tie. “That clears it up.” “Indeed.”

  Akira understood as well. Using the special effect of Cursed Tools, he swung out a cutting arc. The sharp Cursed Energy sliced open the combatant’s clothes, revealing densely woven metal threads inside, like a fine net.

  “Your Jujutsu is not just weapon control. You can control metal itself. The intel was wrong.” Through the metal threads in their clothing, they were able to manipulate the human body, which explained why those beaten to the brink of death by Akira could still move, and move so strangely.

  “That’s right. My technique is ‘Metal Manipulation’!” Bale shouted. The intensity of the combatants’ assault rose again, and the number of floating weapons around them increased as well.

  This was the complete form of “Revealing One's Hand.” By leaking incomplete information or giving false guidance through words, this too was an application of “Revealing One's Hand. In the end, users of Jujutsu and “Revealing One's Hand” were still people, and whether they traded information for power or used information to catch the enemy off guard depended on the user.

  Believing whatever the enemy said was foolish, and this was the core of fighting another person. “Weapon Control” was already strong, and “metal manipulation” was an extremely high-level technique. Judging from Bale’s performance, he definitely had the level of a Grade One Jujutsu Sorcerer.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  If he could take one more step and complete “Domain Expansion,” he might even qualify to challenge a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer. The title of strongest combatant was well deserved. Even so, neither Akira nor Kento Nanami showed any panic.

  Akira’s small goal was to beat up the ceiling of Special Grade, Satoru Gojo. Kento Nanami himself was already Grade One, and among the very top of that tier. Their footing did not waver.

  “Leave it to me.” With a declaration steady enough to reassure anyone, Kento Nanami spun the short blade in his hand and charged alone at the entire combat unit.

  “Foolish,” Bale sneered. “The foolish ones are you. If close combat had grades, Mr. Nanami would definitely be Special Grade level.”

  As he spoke, Akira used his sword to block the combined fire of floating guns and cannons, sharing the pressure for Kento Nanami. Before his words even finished, severed limbs scattered across the ground.

  The blade was still a blunt knife wrapped in cursed cloth, yet under the pale blue Cursed Energy, it displayed power no less than any divine weapon. After clearing the first wave of combatants, Kento Nanami stood tall and calmly activated Jujutsu to further enhance the technique’s effect.

  “My technique divides a target’s length into equal parts and forcibly creates a weak point at the seven-to-three mark. As long as I hit that point, a critical hit is triggered. What can be divided is not just height or arm span, but also the head, arms, and torso, and it works on non-living things as well. Even against opponents stronger than me, it can still deal damage. Ten Ratio Technique.”

  Unlike Bale, who hid his cards, Kento Nanami laid everything out at once. He was not stupid, because his technique was that simple, and there was no need to conceal it. It was better to trade it for the greatest boost right away.

  With a single strike, shattered flesh and concrete flew together, and blood mixed with darkness. This was the true strength of the Grade One Jujutsu Sorcerer Kento Nanami Makoto.

  “Half.” The grown man twisted his neck, producing a chilling crack, and his presence pressed down heavily.

  At that moment, a cackling laugh rang out, harsh and unpleasant. Akira even wondered if this was a sound a human could make. But in the Jujutsu World, anything was possible.

  It was Kron. “It is half, that’s right, but it’s your half.”

  From the moment “Metal Manipulation” was fully activated, the man whose presence had dropped sharply raised both thumbs. Immediately after, high-intensity, high-density masses of Cursed Energy rose around Kento Nanami. It was Jujutsu, and it was Kron’s Jujutsu.

  “It’s not just the Jujutsu Sorcerer. Every combatant in the Curse User Organization has been planted with ‘Jujutsu’ by me. I can freely turn them into bombs, detonating part of them or all of them.” To silence someone, blowing out the heart was enough, but when needed, the human body could be used to the fullest as a human bomb.

  The one holding back was not only Bale, but also Kron. Even before the ability was fully understood, Kron’s thumbs had already pressed down, like hitting a detonator.

  The rumbling never stopped. The surging shockwaves made it impossible to approach, and even opening one’s eyes was difficult. At the instant the explosions went off, Kron and Bale both retreated, not even firing follow-up shots, which showed just how great the blast was.

  Within the chaotic smoke and dust, Bale and Kron resumed their front and rear pincer formation. Guns blocked the front, and human bomb combatants closed in from behind. “You’re the only one left,” Kron said confidently.

  Less than a second later, his smile vanished. It was because of Akira’s words, “Don’t declare people dead so casually. ‘Revealing One's Hand’ requires careful listening.” It was also because of a pale blue beam of light that pierced through the ground.

  That color belonged to Kento Nanami’s Cursed Energy, the manifestation of Jujutsu. “Ten Ratio Technique, Collapse!”

  The earth was cut open by the blunt blade, and the reliable adult man leaped out, returning to the surface. Because “Ten Ratio Technique” worked on non-living things, it could easily slice through metal suits and split the ground.

  In a metropolis like Tokyo, the underground was packed with pipelines and sewers. By diving into them, the threat of explosions was reduced to turbulent force, which was not a problem for Kento Nanami. With the double cover of earth and explosions, this surprise attack from below was far more effective.