Chapter 153 (Patreon)

“Toji Fushiguro.”

Hajime Kashimo searched his memory, but the name meant nothing to him. He turned toward the small Kogane floating beside him.

“Kogane.”

“Present.”

“Is that man a player?”

Kogane carefully examined Toji before answering.

“No.”

Kashimo immediately lost interest.

“What a disappointment. Why is an ordinary man with no cursed energy wandering around here?”

There was no point thinking about it. Kashimo had never cared about people who possessed no cursed energy.

“Hey, kid.” Toji looked him over. “You’re a jujutsu sorcerer, aren’t you?”

“Hm? Do ordinary people these days know about jujutsu sorcerers?” Kashimo asked. “And if I am—?!”

Before Kashimo could finish, Toji appeared directly in front of him.

What was that?

Kashimo had not seen him move.

I couldn’t follow him at all... Is he really an ordinary man?

Countless thoughts raced through Kashimo’s mind as he hastily raised his staff across his body.

Boom!

Toji’s fist crashed into the weapon.

“What absurd physical strength!”

Every muscle in Kashimo’s body tensed. The impact traveled through the staff and into his arms, leaving him with the distinct feeling that his bones were about to snap.

“You really don’t have any cursed energy?”

Kashimo immediately created some distance between them, watching Toji’s every movement with newfound caution.

“I like that weapon,” Toji said. “Hand it over, and I’ll make your death quick.”

Kashimo broke into a fearless grin.

“Looks like I’m being underestimated.”

Crackle!

A faint electrical charge spread through the air.

Kashimo lunged forward and swung his staff. Toji leaned back just enough to avoid the blow, then caught the weapon with one hand. Their free fists collided an instant later.

“That one hurt,” Kashimo admitted, his grin widening. “Toji Fushiguro, was it? You’re strong. Fine, then. I’ll answer you with everything Hajime Kashimo has!”

Toji’s eyes remained cold.

“Sorcerer or not, you’re dying by my hand.”

He attacked again without warning.

“Not bad.”

Kashimo blocked the incoming fist before twisting his staff around Toji’s arm and locking it in place.

“But you let your guard down!”

“You’re the naïve one.”

Toji grabbed Kashimo by his clothes with his free hand, lifted him from the ground, and hurled him into the nearby shipping containers.

Crash!

“Guh!”

Kashimo coughed up blood. Lightning instantly gathered around his clenched fist.

“I’ll cave your skull in!”

“Go ahead and try.”

Toji tilted his head, allowing Kashimo’s fist to pass beside his face. His own fist drove deep into Kashimo’s abdomen, and in that same motion, he tore the staff from Kashimo’s grasp.

“Not bad.” Toji spun the staff once before testing its weight with a few quick swings. “It’ll do.”

“Bastard.”

The electrical charge around Kashimo erupted.

Lightning arced through the air and struck Toji directly.

“Ghk!”

Toji’s body briefly stiffened as the current forced his muscles into violent spasms.

“Your body might be strong, but flesh is still flesh,” Kashimo said. “Against lightning, you’ll only last a little longer than an ordinary man.”

Kashimo attacked without hesitation, intending to finish him while the electricity still held him in place.

“What?!”

Despite the convulsions running through his muscles, a savage grin spread across Toji’s face.

He kicked Kashimo away.

“Not enough voltage.”

Bang!

Before Kashimo could recover, Toji vanished from sight. He reappeared behind him and brought the metal staff down against the back of his skull.

“Reverse...”

Kashimo tried to activate Reverse Cursed Technique, but Toji did not give him the chance. He thrust the staff forward, driving it straight through Kashimo’s chest.

“Haaaaagh!”

Kashimo seized his own weapon with both hands.

Electricity surged through the staff and poured directly into Toji’s body.

“You’re loud.”

Toji backhanded him across the face and sent him tumbling away.

Kashimo nearly coughed up blood again from sheer anger.

What was that supposed to mean? Was he not even allowed to shout during a fight?

His irritation caused even more electricity to erupt from his body, spreading in every direction. Toji’s single remark had practically transformed him into Pikachu, with layer after layer of lightning pouring off him.

Still, their brief exchange had bought Kashimo enough time to activate Reverse Cursed Technique and repair the damage to his body.

Toji immediately noticed.

“Healed already?” he asked. “Then I’ll make sure the next strike hits somewhere you can’t recover from.”

“It’s already too late.” Kashimo rose to his feet. “I won’t give you another chance.”

Crackle!

Blue arcs of electricity erupted from Kashimo’s body. They formed a ring around him as his feet slowly lifted from the ground.

“I may not have found Sukuna yet, but you’re no weakling.”

Blue lightning flowed across the surface of the iron staff. The excess current was drawn toward the surrounding metal, spreading across the nearby containers and every metallic object in the area.

Boom!

Metal ruptured beneath the overwhelming current. Several shipping containers burst open, including one filled with bladed weapons.

“I am Hajime Kashimo!” he declared. “The jujutsu sorcerer hailed as the God of Lightning—the strongest of four hundred years ago!”

“The strongest?”

Toji stared at the figure wreathed in lightning.

“Come to think of it, I’ve killed someone called the strongest before.”

He launched himself forward, snatching up one of the fallen weapons as he charged straight toward Kashimo.

“What...?”

The blade stopped just before reaching Kashimo. An invisible resistance surrounded his body, preventing the metal weapon from striking him directly.

“From here on, this battlefield belongs to me.”

A deafening thunderclap shook the area.

Kashimo swung his electrified staff into Toji, sending him flying through the air and into a collapsed shipping container.

As Toji started to rise, he noticed that the container held a cache of cursed tools that the Three Great Clans had been transporting overseas.

“Perfect. I needed something better.”

Whoosh!

A short blade flew toward Kashimo.

Kashimo extended one hand. His electromagnetic force seized the weapon and dragged it away from its original path.

“A cursed tool?”

“Where are you looking?”

Toji’s voice came from behind him.

He had already appeared at Kashimo’s back with a cleaver raised overhead.

The blade came crashing down.

Boom!

Kashimo was sent flying, smashing through several shipping containers. He planted both feet against the final container and kicked off, his body becoming a streak of blue lightning.

“Die!”

The electrified iron staff shot from his hand.

Toji raised his newly acquired cursed tool to block it.

Crack!

The cursed tool shattered.

The staff pierced Toji’s shoulder and carried him backward before pinning him among the wreckage.

“Not bad,” Kashimo said as he slowly approached. “You were a worthy opponent, but this ends here.”

He reached down to pull the staff from Toji’s shoulder.

Snap!

Toji’s hand clamped around Kashimo’s arm.

“The one finished here... is you.”

“What?!”

Kashimo’s eyes widened.

“Your entire body is being flooded with high-voltage current! How are you still conscious?!”

For the first time, Kashimo was genuinely caught off guard. Anyone would have been. Only a body perfected by Heavenly Restriction could endure that much electricity without losing consciousness.

Toji tightened his grip, swung Kashimo through the air, and hurled him into the sea.

Boom!

Kashimo struck the water with such force that he immediately lost consciousness.

Toji pulled the staff from his shoulder and examined his prize.

“I’ll be taking your cursed tool, strongest sorcerer of four hundred years ago.”

“Hmph.”