บท 67: Sparring

Days passed, and unconsciously a week had gone by.

The relationship between Eiji and his classmates was no longer as awkward as on the first day of school. At least, Maki no longer frowned when talking to him.

During this period, not much happened. Eiji's routine was only studying, studying, and studying.

In the first-year classroom.

After Principal Yaga finished teaching and left the room, Maki stood up and approached Eiji.

"Hey, Kamiki, let's spar."

"Hm? Why?"

Eiji didn't understand why the other party invited him to spar.

"No specific reason. I heard you have Heavenly Restriction, and I also have Heavenly Restriction. I want to see the difference in our Heavenly Restrictions."

Thinking that there was nothing else to do, he agreed to Maki's request.

"Alright."

They both headed to the field together.

"Come watch, Toge." Panda invited.

"Salmon." Toge nodded.

Thus, all first-year students went to the field.

On the field, Maki held a wooden spear and did light warm-ups. On the other side, Eiji stood still without doing anything.

"Kamiki, aren't you warming up? What if your muscles suddenly cramp?" Panda shouted from the sidelines.

"No need. This won't take long."

"You look confident."

"I'm just stating facts."

Seeing his indifferent expression, even though Eiji didn't mean to belittle her, Maki still felt irritated. Moreover, the man said he didn't need a weapon.

"Thanks for waiting. Are you ready?" Maki asked in a strange stance.

"Anytime."

After Eiji answered, Maki's figure ran forward at a speed difficult to see with the naked eye.

Unfortunately, no matter how fast she was, her movements were clearly visible to Six Eyes.

In less than two seconds, Maki had closed the distance between them, and the wooden spear in her hand was thrust with great force, creating a whistling sound.

*Whoosh*

Without moving from her standing position, Eiji tilted his head to the side, and the wooden spear flew close to his face.

In this sparring session, there was no need to activate Infinity to maintain fairness. Otherwise, Maki's attacks would never hit him.

*Whoosh*

The wooden spear moved horizontally.

Remaining calm, Eiji bent backward, avoiding the attack once again.

"Can you only dodge?"

After launching a series of attacks but none landing, Maki frowned because she was the only one attacking, feeling underestimated!

"..."

Eiji didn't give a reply and continued to defend against incoming attacks.

"Don't underestimate me!"

Maki's attacks became more intense, and her agility exceeded the limits of normal humans. However, not a single one of her attacks landed on Eiji.

Moreover, their physical strength was vastly different despite having the same type of Heavenly Restriction.

Since childhood, Eiji had received systematic training from various instructors to maximize his Heavenly Restriction. However, Maki was different. She trained independently without the support of the Zenin Family. So, her physical strength lagged far behind Eiji's.

The Zenin Family regarded Cursed Energy as everything. Maki, who almost had no Cursed Energy, was ostracized by her parents and family.

"Try to endure."

Finally, Eiji decided to take action.

He had only been defending because he wanted to see how far the difference in their physical strength was. After observing, he fulfilled the other party's wish.

"Ngh!"

Maki's pupils contracted, and she quickly tilted her head to the right. Even so, she didn't fully succeed in avoiding it.

*BAM*

Maki was hit by Eiji's punch slightly, and her body was thrown backward. While in the air, she planted the wooden spear into the ground to prevent herself from being thrown even farther.

"Ptui. You're quite ruthless aiming for a woman's face."

Spitting on the ground, Maki felt pain in her cheek.

"In a real fight, no one cares about your gender. Maki, do you not expect Cursed Spirits or evil Jujutsu Sorcerers to be gentle with you just because you're a woman? If you think like that, you better change your mindset."

As Maki didn't like being addressed by her last name, Eiji called her by her first name.

"You're unusually talkative, Kamiki. But, you're right. Good, I'm glad you're not being soft on me just because I'm a woman."

Maki wasn't angered by his sharp comments.

"Let's continue!"

After saying that, she threw the wooden spear in her hand as if throwing a javelin.

"Throwing away your weapon?"

It might be difficult for an ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerer to dodge an attack at that speed, but it didn't matter to Eiji.

Six Eyes gave him an extraordinary dynamic enhancement.

Instead of avoiding like before, he took a different approach.

Raising his right hand, he caught the end of the wooden spear.

Taking advantage of Maki's focus on the wooden spear, she was in front of him, swinging her fist toward his face.

(This woman... Is she holding a grudge because I hit her face? What the books say is true, women are vengeful creatures over the smallest complaints.) Eiji thought, knowing where the punch would land.

No longer concerned about this, he used the wooden spear in his hand to hit Maki's back, causing her to fall to the ground.

"You lose." Eiji said calmly.

"..."

"Maki, are you okay?"

Panda and Toge came and helped Maki up.

"It's just a minor injury. Not a big deal."

After the pain subsided a bit, Maki stood up without Panda and Toge's assistance.

"You're strong, Kamiki."

"I know."

"You don't even deny it. It's true; you and Gojo-sensei are alike. Not just in appearance but also in arrogance."

"I'm not arrogant."

Eiji refuted his statement. According to him, he was humble enough compared to his cousin, who considered others weak.

"It seems like you don't realize it. Forget it; let's do another sparring round."

Seeing him not appearing to lie, Maki didn't insist.

In the previous sparring session, she felt a sense of superiority from Eiji as if no one was worthy in his eyes. It's possible that the man himself wasn't aware, and it was a subconscious reaction.

"Panda, it's your turn next."

"Eh, me?"

"Of course! You're the best sparring candidate. Don't you want to?"

"Alright. I'll be your sparring partner."

Panda didn't mind sparring with Maki.

Eiji and Toge stood under a tree on the edge of the field, watching their sparring session.

(There are three cores inside Panda's body.)

With Six Eyes, Eiji could see the flow of Cursed Energy within Panda's body. He wasn't surprised to see it because he knew in advance thanks to Lin Fan's memories.

(Boring.)

After watching for a while, Eiji lost interest in watching longer. So, he took out his phone from his pocket and started browsing social media.