Chapter 221: I am the strongest, Immortal Technique: Goemon!

The shadows cast by the Dark Shadow Legion soldiers spread and crept across the ground beneath their feet.

Gojo Satoru watched it all with great interest.

As a sorcerer with the Six Eyes, he could see clearly the strange energy churning within the shadows.

Looking up at the students slowly sinking, one by one, into pure black, Gojo shook his head and voluntarily lowered the [Limitless] defense he kept perpetually active around himself.

As an absolute defensive technique that manipulated space itself, Limitless worked by controlling spatial distance, trapping anything approaching him — object or energy alike — in a Zeno's-paradox loop of endlessly closing the gap while never actually making contact.

To keep his basic eyesight functioning, he hadn't filtered out light itself, which was why shadows still fell beneath his feet.

But Limitless's passive effect let him achieve, on a conceptual level, the reality of "infinitely approaching the shadow without ever physically touching it."

Unless he deliberately lowered his own guard, the gate of the Kingdom of Shadows could never swallow him at all.

With a faint sense of weightlessness, his body slowly sank into the shadow.

When his vision cleared, Gojo Satoru looked around with mild curiosity.

He found that the students — Chris and Fūka Kiryūin among them — were all floating in midair as if gravity no longer applied to them.

There was no solid ground beneath their feet, and no visible ceiling overhead.

Everywhere he looked, roiling clouds of red and black churned in an eerie, unsettling mass.

"Bzzt..."

A crackling sound, like surging electricity, suddenly rang out.

Right after, dozens of shadow-serpents — shaped like electric eels but fitted with vicious, gnashing mouths — surged out from deep within the red clouds and swarmed toward the floating students in packs.

"Oho?" Gojo Satoru arched an eyebrow, just about to raise a hand and give these locals a small taste of "Blue."

But before he could act—

The menacing shadow-serpents, upon reaching Hiyori Shiina and Suzune Horikita — both wearing [Phantom Masks] — seemed to catch the scent of something far above their station.

They scrambled to swerve around the two girls and vanished back into the depths of the red-and-black clouds.

"The native life guarding this dark realm, huh? They're certainly carrying plenty of negative energy."

Gojo Satoru rubbed his chin, tossing off the remark idly.

"Though honestly, that look of theirs really isn't to my taste. A little too ugly."

Despite his easy joking, Hiyori Shiina — her face hidden behind the mask — didn't let her guard down for a second.

She turned and warned him, "Gojo-sensei, in here the Phantom Mask's corruption of our minds accelerates — doubles, even. We'd better get done what needs doing, and quickly."

Gojo Satoru nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the two groups of students led by Fūka Kiryūin and Honami Ichinose.

"Well then, since the environment's this suitable and the conditions are all in place, we don't need to worry about outside safety for now."

"Let's get started."

Gojo Satoru clapped his hands and called out clearly:

"Everyone who bought a [Cursed Energy Seed], follow the meditation method I taught you earlier and start trying to sense the cursed energy inside you!"

At his words, the students all closed their eyes and drifted into meditation, floating in midair.

For Gojo Satoru, honestly —

with the Six Eyes' monstrous insight into every flow of cursed energy, he didn't even need the students to try at all — a single glance was enough to tell him exactly who among them had a talent for techniques, and precisely what their awakened innate technique would look like.

But as a conscientious teacher, he had no intention whatsoever of doing the work for his students during this basic foundational stage.

After all, not everyone had a cheat like the Six Eyes, letting them perform atomic-level precision control almost by instinct.

Only by letting them sense it and stumble through it themselves could they truly make this power their own.

Soon, in the silent expanse of red cloud, the students' frustrated voices began drifting up one after another.

"Gojo-sensei... why can I feel a hot current inside me, but I can't sense any outlet to channel it through?"

"Same here! It feels like the power's completely blocked — I can't release it at all!"

Gojo Satoru looked at the impatient students and spread his hands helplessly.

"I already told you — cursed energy is like electricity, and an innate technique is like the appliance."

"If you can't sense a pathway inside you for the current to flow through, that means... you simply don't have an innate technique carved into your body. In other words, no technique has awakened."

Hearing that, disappointment immediately showed on quite a few faces.

After all, they'd spent precious S Points on those seeds, and everyone had held some measure of hope.

"Still..."

Gojo Satoru drew the word out at just the right moment, offering some comfort. "Being able to sense and extract cursed energy in such a short time — even without an innate technique — already proves your talent is quite solid."

"Even if you'll never manage a big move like Domain Expansion, mastering cursed energy control alone lets you pour it into your body for a massive boost to your physical stats. And if you're sharp enough, you could even train up the Reverse Cursed Technique, letting you support the group from behind with long-range healing."

"Oh, right!"

Gojo Satoru suddenly laughed as if he'd remembered something amusing. "Once you get good at it, you can even use cursed energy as a medium for long-distance voice communication!"

"Not sure if those special phones of yours will still get signal once you're off in some other world... but if they don't, this trick will come in real handy~"

With these teasing words of comfort, the faces of the disappointed students finally brightened a little.

But not far from the floating crowd, silver-haired Fūka Kiryūin had furrowed her fine brows.

For some reason, she couldn't sense any trace of cursed energy at all!

By all rights, that shouldn't have been possible.

Both the [Spirit Crystal] she'd fused with and the [Darkness Devil flesh] Chris had given her earlier were top-tier items worth a fortune.

Her physical foundation was unquestionably among the best in the entire school — how could she fail to extract even a shred of cursed energy?

"Is your ability something unusual?"

Chris's gaze happened to sweep past her, and seeing her brow knit so tightly, he asked quietly, puzzled.

Fūka Kiryūin opened her eyes, confusion swimming in her wine-red irises, and answered honestly.

"It really is unusual. Because I can't sense any so-called cursed energy at all." "But I definitely bought and used the Cursed Energy Seed..."

Before Chris could think it over, Gojo Satoru cut in with a light laugh.

"Used the seed, and yet can't sense any cursed energy at all. There's only one explanation — you've awakened Heavenly Restriction, a one-in-ten-thousand rarity."

Gojo Satoru turned toward her behind his blindfold and raised a thumb.

"You trade having zero cursed energy in your body for an equally extreme peak in physical power."

"Much as I hate to admit it, being the strongest and all — back when I was young, I nearly died at the hands of a man with exactly that Heavenly Restriction."

Gojo Satoru grinned. "It's an incredibly rare constitution — in gacha-game terms, at least SSR-tier. Congratulations, Kiryūin!"

Fūka Kiryūin closed her eyes and carefully took stock of herself.

It was true — when she transformed into her elf form using the Spirit Crystal, she hadn't noticed any exaggerated boost.

But stripped of every piece of gear, going purely by her base body now...

if she had to put a number on it, her current physical strength — even without the Darkness Devil flesh and the Spirit Crystal — already matched what an ordinary person got from wearing a Combat Suit!

"Just like Gojo-sensei said, then..."

Not a bad trade — at least she'd broken even.

The corner of Kiryūin's mouth curled up slightly.

Then she turned to glance at Hiyori Shiina, Suzune Horikita, and the others still meditating with their eyes shut nearby, and asked softly:

"Gojo-sensei, what about those girls?"

"Have they awakened a technique and are just slowly getting a feel for it, or have they simply not gotten anywhere yet?"

Gojo Satoru rubbed his chin and answered offhandedly.

"Of the thirty-six who bought seeds just now, only three got an innate technique. The rest simply awakened cursed energy, nothing more."

"The three techniques are Blood Manipulation, the Ice Formation, and one unknown technique I can't quite put a name to yet — going by its cursed energy circuit, it's probably some special ability that works on the user themselves."

Gojo Satoru's voice wasn't especially loud, but in the silence of the Kingdom of Shadows, it carried easily enough for the students nearby to hear clearly.

He was, after all, meant to be setting an example for the students still fumbling their way through it, so he had no intention of lowering his voice.

Overhearing this, the majority of students — who'd still been clinging to the hope that they'd simply been going about it the wrong way — opened their eyes in unison, resigned at last to the reality that they had no technique.

Across the whole gathering—

only Suzune Horikita, wearing her Phantom Mask, along with Arisu Sakayanagi and Yotsuya Miko, still had their eyes shut, trying to invoke a technique.

Honami Ichinose took a deep breath.

Looking down at her own elaborate magical-girl outfit, she turned to Kiryūin and the others and sighed, a little wistfully.

"Looks like items that just change your outward form — like this Magical Girl set — really don't cut it."

"Is it only items like the Phantom Mask, that directly act on the mind, or the Demon Essence, which alters bloodline at the genetic level, that can trigger an innate technique?"

"Maybe... I should've borrowed a Phantom Mask to wear too..."

Fūka Kiryūin glanced at her and shook her head noncommittally.

"Not necessarily. Plenty of the people who bought the Cursed Energy Seed already had a vampire bloodline from the Stone Mask. Even some second- and third-years bought Phantom Masks."

"And none of them awakened a technique either, did they?"

"I'd guess whether or not an innate technique exists... comes down more to individual luck and the quality of one's soul."

Floating nearby, Chris summed it up thoughtfully:

"Not counting the ones who didn't buy a seed — out of the thirty-six here, three awakened a technique, and one got Heavenly Restriction... those odds are actually pretty solid."

The moment he finished speaking—

as if things had simply fallen into place — one channel opened, and all the rest followed smoothly.

Crack!

Arisu Sakayanagi's eyes snapped open. A light touch of her fingertip, and a cluster of glittering, crystal-clear ice bloomed into being in midair!

At the same moment, Suzune Horikita spread her palm open, forcing out a thread of blood that, shaped by cursed energy, rapidly hardened into a crimson dagger!

As for Yotsuya Miko... Yotsuya Miko scratched her cheek. Nothing happened.

Watching the three of them successfully manifest their techniques—

Gojo Satoru chose that moment to offer commentary.

"Blood Manipulation is a hereditary technique of the Kamo family from where I'm from — it lets you control your own blood in combat. The Ice Formation is an ancient special-grade technique, able to generate cold and freeze anything."

"As for Yotsuya's technique... I'd say it's really an extension of a power she already had — it boosts her Yin-Yang Eyes' sensory abilities, and even conceals her own presence."

"My presence?" Yotsuya Miko sounded surprised.

Gojo Satoru nodded. "Exactly. Your presence."

"Your cursed energy and the aura around your body just vanish the instant you use it. If I didn't have the Six Eyes — and if you weren't so unpracticed with it — I might not even remember you were a student of mine."

At that, Arisu Sakayanagi shot Miko a thoughtful glance.

If she really could hide her presence completely, that was a solid ability, useful for just about anything.

As for her own ability — "The Ice Formation, huh..." Arisu Sakayanagi shook her head.

"A decent name, I suppose. But in the end, it's really just a stepping stone toward fully fusing with the Demon Essence."

Her physical strength was still too weak right now — if she wanted to normally use the Romantic Cannon while also perfectly wielding the Demon Essence's Ice-type Imperial Arms power without simply dropping dead—

she'd probably need this Ice Formation as a buffer, to give her body more time to adapt to the strain of icy power.

Meanwhile, Suzune Horikita, having successfully awakened her technique—

instinctively met the eyes of Hiyori Shiina beside her, who wore the same kind of mask.

Some part of her was, in fact, genuinely thrilled to have awakened an innate technique.

But the Phantom Mask's corruption of the mind had been at work all along, right alongside the surge of cursed energy.

In the instant their eyes met, each of them saw clearly, in the depths of the other's gaze, an emotion neither could hide.

If they stayed even a little longer in this Kingdom of Shadows, so thick with negative emotion...

the madness and obsession suppressed deep in their hearts would truly spiral completely out of control.

Suzune Horikita forced down the frenzied whispers echoing in her skull and spoke, her voice ice-cold:

"Let's head back to reality first."

Gojo Satoru swept the Six Eyes over them and, of course, immediately picked up on the chaotic fluctuations of cursed energy roiling inside both girls.

He didn't say anything to stop them, though — just gave a small nod.

Seeing this, Chris casually switched off his phone screen, which had been lit up until then.

"I recorded everything that just happened."

"We can go over the details together once we've got some free time."

With the Dark Shadow Legion soldiers exerting their power, the group was quickly pulled free of the Kingdom of Shadows and safely returned to the teaching grounds of Advanced Nurturing High School.

But a problem followed right on its heels.

The Phantom Mask was one of the most cost-effective support items in the Black Sphere Space, prized for how versatile it was — back in the Time Chamber, Chris and the others had already run a background check on it using the Item Illustrated Guide.

The moment it was worn, the thing fused directly with the wearer's flesh and nerves, just like a Parasyte.

Removing it safely required brewing a specific magical solution as the release condition.

If someone tried to force it off without that solution...

it would be almost exactly like flaying the skin off living bone!

So the only way Hiyori Shiina and Suzune Horikita could get their normal faces back was to simply wait for the class to end.

Watching the two of them — still masked with those green-faced, fanged visages, their auras growing more dangerous by the moment—

Chris let a look of worry settle naturally onto his face.

"I knew it — we stayed in the Kingdom of Shadows too long just now. The mask's assimilation is getting worse."

"There's still a fair stretch of time left before this class period ends. During that gap—"

Before Chris could finish—

Suzune Horikita's head snapped up. She fixed her eyes on Chris, her voice hoarse.

"There's nothing to worry about."

"As soon as the time's up and we're back at school, we'll go back to normal anyway."

"The corruption the Phantom Mask brings really has amplified the desires buried in my heart. But that's nowhere near enough to make us lose our minds completely and turn into lunatics bent on destroying the world."

She stepped forward, nearly closing the distance to Chris.

"So right now, all we need to do is stay firm in our resolve and keep training seriously. You don't need to worry about anything else."

Beside her, Hiyori Shiina chimed in right away, her tone carrying a faint edge of obsession.

"Chris, with Gojo-sensei, Kiryuuin-senpai, and Ichinose here, I don't think we need to worry too much about anyone's safety."

"Besides, going dark doesn't mean losing all our wits, does it?"

"We know exactly what we're doing."

Listening to them, Chris nodded.

In truth, both girls' minds had already been affected by the Phantom Mask. Their little speech had sounded like a rational read on the situation, but in reality... it was pure unconscious self-defense, aimed entirely at stopping anyone from ripping the masks off them by force.

It was just that, so far, no one had deliberately tried to push them into triggering Ultimate Darkness.

And since they'd both already witnessed the exams' brutality firsthand, they had a clear sense of their own limits.

So the direction their mask-corruption had taken hadn't veered off into anything as unrealistic as destroying the planet.

Instead, with total sincerity, all that amplified darkness had poured itself into exactly two things: the urge to possess Chris exclusively, and the drive to grow stronger.

Just a moment ago — if not for the green-faced, fanged Phantom Masks still covering their faces, making them look somewhat menacing—

if you looked only at the eyes beneath those masks...

what you'd see was the utterly naked obsession and greed of a hunter sizing up a bounty.

And on top of that, a possessive, guard-the-kill mindset that allowed no one but herself to do the hunting — no one else was even permitted a glance.

Gojo Satoru, watching all of this unfold, was very much the type who loved a little chaos.

He rubbed his chin, studying the two increasingly yandere girls with great interest, and offered his commentary.

"Cursed energy, as energy converted from human negative emotion—"

"you two, wearing the Phantom Mask, with your negative emotions amplified without limit — comparatively speaking, you really are a good fit for the cursed energy system."

"What's more, cursed energy catalyzed by that kind of extreme emotion naturally has a much higher capacity than what an ordinary vampire-bloodline user would produce."

Gojo Satoru spread his hands. "Whether that ends up causing some kind of deviation down the line, though — we'll just have to wait and see."

"For now, let me teach you all something everyone needs to learn regardless of whether you have an innate technique — Cursed Energy Control."

At that point, Fūka Kiryūin, who'd been left out of the conversation for a bit, suddenly spoke up.

"Gojo-sensei."

"Since Heavenly Restriction trades away all cursed energy entirely in exchange for physical strength—"

"does that mean I won't be able to learn whatever you're about to teach next?"

Gojo Satoru nodded easily.

"That's right. For someone with no cursed energy like you, the most you could get out of sticking around is some hand-to-hand combat and tactics from me."

"But this obviously isn't the time to be teaching combat basics. If you'd like, you could go check out Jiraiya's or Koro Sensei's classes instead — maybe you'll find a path suited to you there."

"I'll grant you permission to exit early~"

Fūka Kiryūin thought it over and made her decision quickly. "In that case, I won't stick around and get in the way of your training."

With that, Kiryūin turned, her wine-red eyes glinting as she shot Chris a look somewhere between a smile and not.

"So, little junior — are you planning to stay here and keep learning how to be a sorcerer from Gojo-sensei?"

"Or... come with me and check out Jiraiya-sensei's ninjutsu class?"

Chris raised an eyebrow, meeting her gaze head-on.

"I was actually wondering whether Gojo-sensei alone, once you left, could keep these two corrupted girls from causing trouble the whole time."

"But thinking it over, if Koro Sensei can go toe-to-toe with me at fifty-fifty odds, then Gojo-sensei, being roughly on the same level, probably won't fall too far short either."

"And with Sakayanagi and Ichinose keeping an eye on things too... safety shouldn't be much of a problem."

The moment he said this—

Gojo Satoru clutched his chest in exaggerated anguish, complaining with theatrical hurt.

"Hey, hey~ Chris!"

"Even if you managed to beat Koro Sensei, please, do not just carelessly assume his power level applies to me too!"

"I don't know exactly how much weight the other teachers from other worlds carry, but—"

Gojo Satoru confidently raised a finger, pointing it at himself. "When it comes to jujutsu, remember one thing, always—"

"It's fine. I'm the strongest, after all."

"So go on, don't worry. With me here, these two won't be able to stir up any real trouble."

Listening to that classic, flag-planting line—

Arisu Sakayanagi couldn't help shaking her head, exasperated.

Not having actually witnessed Gojo Satoru's strength firsthand, Sakayanagi reserved judgment on his so-called title of "the strongest."

Still, she understood the basic principle of respecting one's teacher.

Arisu Sakayanagi, together with Honami Ichinose, gave Chris their assurance.

"You can leave Shiina and Horikita to us — don't worry."

"We'll keep a close eye on them and make sure they don't cause any trouble!"

With everyone's confident assurances in hand—

Chris was more than happy to take the free time. He left the jujutsu training ground together with Fūka Kiryūin, heading toward the artificial lake where Jiraiya was.

On the way, Fūka Kiryūin called on the power of her Spirit Crystal directly.

Amid a howling gale, her outfit shifted into an ornate [Elohim Tzabaoth], woven entirely from elven power.

Her feet left the ground, and she shot through the air like a silver bird riding the wind.

Chris, meanwhile, didn't rely on any item at all.

Purely on the strength of the vast Ki within him, he used Bukujutsu to stay right at her side.

Though Fūka Kiryūin, holding back for Chris's sake, wasn't flying at full power—

as an elf embodying the very concept of "wind," even a casual cruising speed for her already far exceeded the limits of an ordinary helicopter!

That Chris could keep pace with her effortlessly, without so much as a flushed cheek or a labored breath—

that genuinely surprised Kiryūin.

And, honestly—

watching that handsome profile keeping pace right beside her like a shadow, Fūka Kiryūin actually felt a tiny pang of regret.

After all, if Chris hadn't yet fully mastered Ki's flight technique...

then, without using the Black Sphere Controller, the fastest way to find Jiraiya and the others—

would obviously have been for her, as the senior here, to scoop him up in a princess carry and fly him up into the sky herself — undeniably the most efficient option!

Just picturing that scene alone was more than a little entertaining.

"Ahh..." Fūka Kiryūin let out a soft, faintly regretful sigh.

Covered by the roaring wind noise at this altitude, that quiet sigh wasn't likely to reach anyone's ears, which meant it wouldn't dent the cool, dashing senpai image she'd always maintained.

But how could Chris possibly have missed it?

Still, he chose not to call her out on her little secret at a moment like this either.

He simply pretended to be focused on the flight, sticking close to Kiryūin, and before long they arrived above the spot Jiraiya had chosen for his lesson.

It was an ecological park somewhere on the Advanced Nurturing campus, right beside a massive artificial lake.

The lakeshore had once been planted with sweeping stretches of romantic cherry trees.

But now, in early summer, the blossoms had long since fallen, and the branches were packed instead with lush, dense green.

It was only thanks to their vantage point high up in the sky, looking down almost from a god's-eye view—

that otherwise, walking through the trees below, they never would have gotten a clear, unobstructed view of whatever was happening at the center of the lake.

Down below, at the lake's edge—

Jiraiya had just finished explaining the basic principles of Chakra and how to draw it out, to the students gathered along the shore.

He turned slowly and walked toward the center of the glittering artificial lake.

Under the astonished eyes of everyone watching, he stood steadily on the surface of the water as easily as if he were on solid ground.

Apparently sensing Chris and Fūka Kiryūin's arrival high above—

Jiraiya glanced up once, then gathered his Chakra beneath his feet, and his speed suddenly surged.

Carving two streaks of white spray across the water like a skater, he reached the very center of the lake in an instant.

He planted his stance and rapidly formed hand seals in front of his chest.

Poof! Poof! Poof!

A cloud of white smoke cleared.

Suddenly, three physical clones — identical to Jiraiya in every way — stood beside him!

The two toad sages perched on his shoulders, Fukasaku and Shima, remained solely on the original's shoulders, though — they hadn't been duplicated.

Right after, under Chris and Fūka Kiryūin's slightly puzzled gazes—

Jiraiya's three Shadow Clones darted off across the water's surface, each racing toward a different direction of the lake.

The original Jiraiya, meanwhile, together with the two toad sages on his shoulders, aimed at a dense, untouched stretch of forest in the distance and began puffing out his cheeks to build up power!

A moment later — "Sage Art: Goemon!!!"

With a roaring shout from Jiraiya—

Wind Release, Fire Release, and Toad Oil!

Three utterly different yet perfectly complementary elements erupted from their mouths all at once!

They collided violently in midair, mixing and intertwining—

and in an instant formed a searing sea of oil at thousands of degrees, blanketing the sky!

Like divine punishment raining down, it swept forward with unstoppable force, engulfing and incinerating every tree in its path!

High above, Fūka Kiryūin watched the scene and couldn't help raising an eyebrow.

She turned to ask Chris:

"That's a pretty wide attack radius, and the power looks decent too."

"But if we tried to actually quantify it against a Black Sphere exam... how do you think this move stacks up compared to the monsters we've run into before?"

Chris rubbed his chin, weighing it seriously.

"Judging purely by eye, from my own senses..."

"the coverage and burst damage here might edge out Jogo's Domain Expansion, Coffin of the Iron Mountain, by a hair."

"But exactly by how much, hard to say — they've never actually been tested head-to-head."

"Though..." Chris paused, his tone certain, "if you put it up against Godzilla's atomic breath, it's not even close. They're not on the same order of magnitude at all."

After hearing that blunt comparison of raw power—

Fūka Kiryūin, deeply in agreement, murmured, "That's true enough."

"But don't forget, this is just one of Jiraiya-sensei's many techniques."

"Even granting that he used this specific powerful ninjutsu just to show off his strength, this one move alone is probably enough to put him in the same league as Koro Sensei from your duel on the field last time — a high-danger monster worth well over a hundred points."

Chris nodded, though his gaze never left the battlefield below.

He spoke up:

"The raw power's only part of it. What's really got my attention is the clone technique Jiraiya-sensei just showed off."

"If those clones aren't just illusions meant to confuse enemies, but have real physical destructive power, and can even relay information and memories back to the original once dispelled..."

"then for us, that ninjutsu is basically a godsend."

Fūka Kiryūin nodded slightly and turned her gaze back down below.

As if to confirm Chris's guess—

just as the terrifying sea of scorching oil was about to spread toward the students watching from the sidelines—

the three Jiraiya Shadow Clones that had scattered earlier all formed hand seals at the same moment and slammed their palms onto the water's surface!

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" A deep rumble followed.

Three thick, towering walls of earth burst up instantly from the lakebed.

They locked the oil sea's spreading direction down with perfect precision, holding it firmly at a safe distance.

As for the original Jiraiya — facing the scorching waves of oil surging back after slamming into the earthen walls, he simply stood in place, expressionless, making no move to dodge.

He let the boiling toad oil swallow him completely. Poof! A wisp of smoke rose.

Where Jiraiya had been standing, there was no longer any trace of a person.

Only a charred, blackened log remained, submerged in the boiling lake!

"What's the trick behind that?"

Fūka Kiryūin tilted her head with interest, scanning the lake's surface quickly.

Soon enough, she spotted Jiraiya on a safe patch of high ground behind the Earth-Flow Wall.

He was already forming hand seals again with both hands, drawing in a deep breath. "Wind Release!"

A fierce gale blasted from his mouth, and the two toad sages on his shoulders spat out a special cooling toad oil right alongside it.

The three forces mixed with and countered the still-burning sea of oil on the lake's surface, quickly cooling it down and snuffing the fire out completely.

That kept the demonstration from turning into a campus-burning disaster.

Having finished all this, Jiraiya finally turned around, looking pleased with himself.

He explained to the students behind him, all of them stunned speechless by his display of power:

"See that? That's Sage Art: Goemon! The strongest Fire Release compound ninjutsu I've got!"

"So, what do you think? Pretty impressive, right? Ahahahaha!"

At the very front of the crowd, Kushida Kikyo — long a master of the "sweet-talking flatterer" art — pressed forward at once, eyes sparkling, showering him with praise.

"Impressive doesn't even begin to cover it! No wonder you're one of the legendary Three Sannin, Lord Jiraiya!"

"Even among the terrifying enemies we've faced before, hardly any could compare to that world-ending blow you just unleashed~"

"You're so cool, sensei!"

Praised like that by a beautiful high school girl, Jiraiya was instantly delighted, practically floating.

He scratched his mop of white hair with zero regard for his image, threw his head back, and laughed heartily, his whole face soaking up the compliment.

"Oh, come on, come on! Keep it modest, modest!"

"Compared to Koro Sensei teaching assassination next door, and Gojo-sensei over there, these old bones of mine still have a long way to go."

"When I first got summoned to this school, I didn't know the first thing about the rules here — I really owe those two seniors for clearing things up for me."

Kushida Kikyo hid a giggle behind her hand — she was, of course, perfectly at ease handling this kind of modest small talk.

Still, she hadn't forgotten the real purpose of her visit.

Shifting the topic, she asked the question that Chris and Kiryūin, up in the sky, were most curious about, on their behalf.

"Jiraiya-sensei, you're too modest."

"But what I'm more curious about is... that ninjutsu you used just now at the center of the lake, conjuring up three identical copies of yourself all at once..."

"is that something we could learn too?"

Jiraiya reined in his laughter and rubbed his chin as he explained.

"Well, that one's called the Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Unlike ordinary illusion-clones, it's a physical clone made from your own Chakra. Not only can it use any ninjutsu the original knows, but once the clone's destroyed or dispelled on purpose, it even transmits whatever memories it made during that time back to the original's brain."

Hearing about that near-broken support effect, every student present sucked in a sharp breath.

But Jiraiya immediately shattered their fantasies:

"Don't get too excited."

"This is a B-rank ninjutsu — it demands very fine Chakra control."

"For you lot, who haven't even fully extracted your Chakra yet... it's way too early to try learning this."

Jiraiya held up three fingers, speaking with heavy sincerity.

"When training in ninjutsu, never bite off more than you can chew. For a while now, I'll start you off with the most basic Three Body Techniques."

"Clone Jutsu, Transformation Jutsu, and... the most practically useful life-saving trick in real combat — Substitution Jutsu!"

Just as Jiraiya was about to launch into a full explanation—

a light breeze swept through, and Chris and Fūka Kiryūin descended from the sky, landing steadily on the grass not far from him.

"That ninjutsu from a moment ago — where you turned into a log and vanished the instant the fire hit—"

Fūka Kiryūin stepped forward and asked quietly:

"is that the basic Substitution Jutsu you were just talking about, Jiraiya-sensei?"

Jiraiya turned around, looked at the two of them — clearly a cut above the other students in strength — and nodded slightly.

"That's right. It's one of the basic Three Body Techniques every ninja has to learn."

"Substitution Jutsu instantly swaps your position with a nearby object, letting the object take a fatal attack meant for you, while you're instantly displaced to confuse the enemy."

"On a battlefield that changes in the blink of an eye, this is a ninja's most essential lifesaving tool."

"As for the Earth-Flow Wall I used just now to block the oil sea, that's a B-rank ninjutsu with a real barrier to entry, same as the Shadow Clone."

"And as for that most powerful move, Sage Art: Goemon..."

Jiraiya crossed his arms, his expression proud. "That's a Sage technique, requiring you to blend with natural energy! Only once you've mastered the basic ninjutsu to its limit will you have any right to touch the realm of the sages."

After hearing the whole rundown, Chris rubbed his chin, a gleam flashing in his eyes. Just a basic technique, and yet...

"That means the entry barrier for this Substitution Jutsu is extremely low, and it wouldn't be hard to popularize it at all, right?"

Kushida Kikyo, standing nearby, immediately clapped her hands in agreement.

"Right! If everyone could learn this, it'd be the perfect combat support skill to spread throughout the Black Sphere exams!"

"Whether it's for slipping away with intel at a critical moment, or escaping to save your life when danger hits... it's basically like having an extra life as insurance!"

Chris nodded, thoroughly agreeing.

"True enough. Even I'm a little tempted."

"Even just spending 10 S Points purely to learn a Shadow Clone for scouting and a Substitution Jutsu for staying alive — that's a deal that definitely wouldn't be a loss."

At that point, Chris's expression suddenly turned serious.

"Before that, though, there's a question I'd like to ask you, Jiraiya-sensei."

Seeing how serious he'd gotten, Jiraiya dropped his playful manner and nodded.

"Go ahead. Anything I know about ninjutsu, I'll tell you straight, no holding back."

Chris took a deep breath and asked, on behalf of most of his classmates:

"In your eyes, Jiraiya-sensei — or rather, in that world of ninja you know—"

"just how far can the so-called 'strongest ninjutsu,' or the power standing at the very peak of what a ninja can achieve, actually go?"

This question mattered enormously to every student present.

It bore directly on how they'd later allocate their precious S Points within the presiding god's space.

If ninjutsu's ceiling was extremely high, it would obviously be worth pouring resources into investing accordingly.

But if this power's ceiling stopped at nothing more than unleashing a few wide-area Fire Release or Water Release attacks...

then honestly, just learning the simple Three Body Techniques would be more than enough.

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* Early Access: Can't wait?

🔥 New history: Re:Zero: Starting with a Confession to Pandora — posted on The_Mikudayo