Staring at Itadori Yuji's result on the stopwatch, the teacher blinked blankly, then even reached out and slapped himself across the face.
As a crisp "Slap!" echoed, the surrounding students were bewildered by the sight, and a deeply red mark was left on the teacher's face.
If that were all, the students would have only been momentarily startled, but shortly after the crisp slap, the teacher's face immediately contorted into a rather spectacular expression.
"Five... five seconds... R-really?!"
After a brief period of shock, the teacher's gaze once again focused on Itadori Yuji, his eyes so fervent they seemed to be shooting lasers, wanting to burn a hole through Itadori Yuji.
"Student! Student! Come here for a moment!"
Although the teacher told Itadori to come over, his own legs were not idle; he quickly rushed toward Itadori Yuji.
Seeing this scene, the students in the class all showed expressions of "I knew it." Itadori Yuji was currently a third-year middle school student, and this P.E. teacher had just transferred from out of town, completely unaware of how famous Itadori Yuji was in their school and even the entire region.
[tiger of west middle]
This was the title people in the area had given Itadori Yuji. Before this P.E. teacher transferred in to take over the class, the previous P.E. teachers were also constantly pestering Itadori Yuji in the exact same manner.
"Student! A talent like you should enter the sports world! I have connections in the athletic association that can help you quickly climb the ranks. The stage for a talent like you should be the world!"
Stars seemed to twinkle in the P.E. teacher's eyes. He placed both hands on Itadori Yuji's shoulders, speaking words similar to those of the previous teacher.
In response, Itadori Yuji simply shook his head gently, declining the P.E. teacher's suggestion. The P.E. teacher believed his persuasive skills were superior to those of the language arts teachers, yet he couldn't sense even a sliver of hope that he could convince Itadori Yuji.
After Itadori Yuji managed to escape the P.E. teacher's persistence, some students even walked over to him, then cheerfully turned around and started comforting the teacher.
"That's just Itadori's personality. The previous teacher tried convincing him for two years without success, so you don't need to take this too seriously, Sensei. We actually suggest you stop focusing so much on Itadori; it really is futile."
Listening to the students' words, the P.E. teacher remained silent for a long moment before opening his mouth and letting out a deep sigh.
He had transferred from out of town. At the school he previously taught at, there was also a "superhuman" just like Itadori Yuji.
If Itadori Yuji was called the "tiger of west middle," then that other boy could be called the "Dragon of Higashichu." After witnessing that boy's abilities, he naturally extended a tempting invitation to him as well.
The result, however, was exactly the same as now: the person refused him without the slightest interest. He had participated in the inter-school transfer process almost as an escape to change his mood, arriving at this school... The P.E. teacher frustratingly raised a hand and pressed it against his forehead. If this weren't a school and if he weren't a teacher here, he would definitely pull out a cigarette and light it to properly alleviate his sorrow.
After school.
On this day, Itadori Yuji did not immediately go home, because a soccer club was playing a match after school and was short on players. As a good-natured person, Itadori Yuji naturally became the perfect substitute member.
Knowing nothing about soccer, he relied purely on brute force to achieve miracles. In the end, Itadori Yuji's team achieved an overwhelming victory.
After the match ended, Itadori Yuji realized his schoolbag seemed to still be in the classroom. He hoped that the student on duty that day had put his bag outside before locking up, as his house key was inside the bag.
It was now five o'clock in the afternoon, twilight. The school hallways, which usually emptied out around 3 PM, were completely deserted. Forget passing students; he didn't even see a single teacher.
Itadori Yuji sprinted through the school building's hallways, taking shortcuts almost like parkour.
Just as he was about to quickly turn a corner in the hallway as usual, his rapidly moving body suddenly trembled slightly. A strange sense of discomfort enveloped him, causing him to instinctively stop short.
It was precisely this sudden stop that prevented him from colliding head-on with a massive entity.
However, this was not a moment that allowed Itadori Yuji to sigh in relief and count his blessings, because the massive entity in front of him was not human at all.
"Found him."
Sounds that were not human language, but resembled garbled code, emerged from Hanami's mouth.
Before this, Itadori Yuji had never encountered a Cursed Spirit, because although he was an "artificial vessel," he still belonged to the category of non-awakened ordinary people.
But even ordinary people sometimes have the chance to see Cursed Spirits under special circumstances, such as on nights with particularly heavy negative energy, or when they are near death or experiencing extreme fear.
And now, staring at the monster that had suddenly appeared before him, Itadori Yuji was clearly stimulated; beads of sweat formed and streamed down his cheeks.
[Run]!
In that instant, this single word flashed through Itadori Yuji's mind, and he immediately took action.
He was currently on the third floor. An average person falling from this height would suffer severe injuries, resulting in broken bones or disability, but how could Itadori be an average person?
He reacted quickly, leaping directly from the third-floor hallway down toward the area behind the school building.
Despite the height, Itadori Yuji didn't even roll to dissipate the force, simply bending his knees slightly.
Just as he landed and prepared to bolt, thick vines shot out from the ground beneath his feet, wrapping around Itadori's arms and legs in a Binding Vow.
Itadori Yuji looked down in shock at the vines restraining him. At the same time, Hanami, which had summoned the vines, gracefully descended from above and walked step by step toward Itadori Yuji.
Hanami prepared to strike Itadori Yuji with a hand chop to knock him unconscious, then bind him up like a rice dumpling with the vines and drag him away.
It extended its palm toward Itadori Yuji. Just as its goal was about to be achieved, a crow circling in the distance suddenly flashed red eyes, spun 360 degrees on the spot, and slammed into Hanami's arm like a cannonball.
Bang!!!
A small hole was pierced through Hanami's tough arm. Seeing this, it immediately clutched its wounded arm, took a large step back, and entered a state of alert.
Suddenly, a silver-haired woman wielding a long-handled battle-axe appeared beside Itadori Yuji, who was bound by the vines, and quickly sliced the vines restraining Itadori Yuji into pieces...
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