CHAPTER 10: HOLLOW POINT

The gates of Jujutsu High creaked open as the trio stepped past the protective barriers. The clouds above rumbled faintly, though there was no thunder—just a pressure in the air that only trained sorcerers could feel.

Gojo stretched lazily, cracking his neck side to side. "Finally, back at school. I've had enough beach for one year."

Amanai grumbled, "You say that, but you still made a sand clone of yourself with abs bigger than Mount Fuji."

"You noticed!" Gojo beamed proudly, tapping the sunglasses resting on the bridge of his nose.

Geto snorted, walking a few paces ahead.

As they moved closer to the main courtyard, Gojo lazily dropped his Infinity.

"Guess I don't need this right now."

And that was his mistake.

FWIP!

A gleam. A flash. A searing pain.

A blade shot through the air like a ghost through silk—piercing Gojo's side. The cursed tool sunk clean into his ribs.

Gojo staggered back, blood quickly spreading across his white uniform.

"What the hell—" he gasped, clutching the wound.

A man stepped out from the shadows of the eaves—a lean figure in black, his eyes cold and calculating.

"I was wondering when you'd turn it off," the man said with a blank expression. "Name's not important. The job is."

Gojo's pupils narrowed as he took in the assassin's stance, the ease in his movement.

"...You're Toji," he hissed, recognizing the figure from reports and whispers.

Toji Fushiguro tilted his head. "Huh. I guess names are annoying."

Geto wasted no time. With a flare of cursed energy, a massive centipede-like shikigami burst from the ground beneath Toji, rising like a tidal wave of jaws and limbs.

Toji didn't blink.

He leapt once, blade spinning in his hand—and cleaved the beast in half with surgical precision. The cursed spirit fell apart with a hiss, dissolving into black mist.

"Tch... What is he?" Geto muttered.

Gojo, still gripping his wound but standing tall, barked out, "Geto! Take Amanai! Head underground!"

Geto hesitated. "What about you—?!"

Gojo turned, blood dripping down his side, and smiled through the pain.

"I'll take on this monkey myself."

Amanai's eyes widened. "You're hurt!"

"I've had worse on a date," Gojo quipped, already bracing himself again.

Geto clenched his jaw. "Fine... Don't die."

He grabbed Amanai's hand and retreated toward the underground catacombs, his protective shikigami trailing behind.

Now it was just the two of them.

Toji circled Gojo, twirling his blade idly. "Still standing after that? You're sturdier than expected."

Gojo took a slow breath, lifting his head.

"You're good. Fast. That blade isn't ordinary... it cut through my Infinity."

Toji smirked. "Of course it did. It's made to kill your kind."

Gojo grinned. His fingers flexed, blood flicking off.

"Well, guess it's gonna be interesting after all."

The wind picked up.

And then, without a signal—they clashed.

Steel met cursed energy in a brilliant eruption of power.

Toji, the sorcerer killer.

Gojo, the strongest of his era.

And so, the first true storm of the past began to break loose.