Without two Grade One recommendations, no matter how strong you were, you could not reach Grade One. Once you had two recommendations, no matter how unwilling the higher-ups were, they had to begin the review process.

  There were also additional clauses.

  The first was that the recommended person could not team up with the recommenders, to prevent favoritism. The second was that teachers could not recommend their own students, and this applied to all ranks, not just Grade One, which meant Satoru Gojo and Masamichi Yaga could only watch from the sidelines.

  As for Toge Inumaki, with his family backing him, his promotion path would not face much resistance.

  “Me, can I really do it?” Among them, Yuta Okkotsu had the weakest sense of his own Jujutsu Sorcerer level.

  “Right now, you still lack a bit of persuasion.” Satoru Gojo patted his shoulder. “So keep working hard, Yuta. When you grow strong enough to match me, those old guys will have no choice but to shut up.”

  “That still sounds way too exaggerated.” Even if Rika Orimoto obeyed him completely, Yuta Okkotsu lacked confidence.

  Unfortunately, Tokyo Jujutsu High had long been influenced by Satoru Gojo in this regard.

  “We are counting on you, Yuta.” Panda slapped him once.

  “We are counting on you, Bone Guy.” Akira slapped him once.

  “We are counting on you, Boss Yuta.” Maki Zenin slapped him once.

  “Wan.” Pancham joined in as well.

  Each hit was harder than the last, especially from the heavy-handed Pancham, whose slap sent the skinny Boy flying.

  And then—

  “Do not bully Yuta!!!”

  A former Special Grade curse, Rika Orimoto, appeared.

  “There was no bullying, really.”

  Yuta Okkotsu hurried to stop her. He looked a bit messy, but his way of calming Rika Orimoto was clearly much more practiced than before. His hand rested lightly as he spoke, keeping his voice steady.

  “They were just messing around with me. Akira is back too, and Miss Gardevoir is here.”

  “Oh, Little Sha is back. Welcome back.”

  With her best friend returned, Rika Orimoto quickly forgot the discomfort from earlier. She waved happily at Gardevoir, who was following behind Akira.

  “Sha sha.” Gardevoir floated over as well, leaning in close to Rika Orimoto in an affectionate way.

  This had already become part of daily life at Tokyo Jujutsu High. It was as ordinary as Panda and his brothers roughhousing, or Akira and Yuta Okkotsu letting their Familiar clash in friendly matches. Everyone was used to it.

  Yet this familiar scene made Darkrai’s body tremble slightly. It had stayed silent before, like a shadow watching without interfering.

  “What is it?”

  As the master, Akira noticed at once. Darkrai let out a low sound, and Akira frowned without realizing it.

  It still could not communicate as freely as Gardevoir, but Darkrai had been hatched by Akira himself as a Pokémon. He could sense its attitude clearly through their bond.

  Rika Orimoto was drawing Darkrai’s attention. Darkrai was interested in her.

  If it were any other Cursed Spirit, he would have just caught it and let Darkrai use it as a toy. But Rika Orimoto was different, not to mention that even catching her was unrealistic, and more importantly, she was Yuta Okkotsu’s girlfriend.

  As a devoted believer in pure love, Akira would not do NTR, and he certainly would not do that to the girlfriend of the Champion of Pure Love.

  Then another thought crossed his mind. Darkrai was drawn to nightmares, so could it be that—

  “Did you smell the scent of nightmares on her?”

  “Mm!”

  Darkrai shook its head and then nodded, its pitch-black arms gesturing up and down. The meaning felt conflicted.

  “It is nightmares, but not just nightmares. Something more than that.”

  Akira’s thoughts raced. He recalled Darkrai’s traits and Rika Orimoto’s origin, then the idea of memes and the System Hint tied to them.

  Pancham was born from Panda’s meme, so the Nightmare God should be born from the meme of nightmares. To gather enough meme power at once for a Nightmare God to form, Rika Orimoto’s purity could not be lower than Panda’s.

  There was only one answer.

  “Rika Orimoto no, Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit itself is a nightmare. Rika Orimoto is a nightmare made real.”

  From a human perspective, even a Cursed Spirit could be seen as humanity’s nightmare. By that logic, Rika Orimoto was undoubtedly the God of Nightmares.

  Satoru Gojo let out a short laugh and pushed down his Sunglasses. His sky-like eyes peered through the gap, one eye locking onto them.

  “That idea is interesting. Your new Pokemon is very similar to Rika Orimoto. The same goes for Pancham and Panda. You create corresponding Pokemon through curses, am I right?”

  “More or less.”

  That was the explanation that fit reality best. It was not scientific, but this was Jujutsu.

  “Jujutsu uses curses, yet you go the opposite way. What kind of condition creates such a strange ability?”

  “Do you really have the right to say that? Your ‘Six Eyes’ are already the strangest ability there is. We are even.”

  “You are right. I am the least qualified to say that.” Satoru Gojo adjusted his glasses.

  Satoru Gojo’s unique talent, the “Six Eyes,” was not a Jujutsu technique. It was an extreme enhancement of perception itself.

  On a micro level, he could see atomic motion and structure. On a macro level, his vision worked like a telescope magnified dozens or hundreds of times, and on a mystical level, he could see the flow of curses and the essence of souls. Compared to that, microscopes and high-powered telescopes were nothing.

  Its only flaw was that it could not be freely turned on and off like other eye techniques. Prolonged use flooded his brain with information, causing fatigue, which was why he wore a blindfold or nearly opaque Sunglasses to reduce incoming signals and prevent mental overload.

  “Even if you might not need it, I should still remind you that abilities that are too unusual attract attention. People will want to use them, transplant them, or study them. My Six Eyes are the same. If I had not been born into the Gojo Clan, I would likely have been taken away before I grew up, or worse, had my eyes removed.”

  “Thank you. I will grow stronger as fast as I can.”

  Akira nodded. The moment Ralts had been seen by Akemi Aki, he had already considered this risk, which only strengthened his resolve.

  Potential enemies were not limited to the Kamo Clan. They included anyone who coveted the existence of Pokémon.

  That was why a place like Tokyo Jujutsu High, which treated people with genuine sincerity and where everyone was decent, was so rare. This was also why Akira was willing to work as an assistant instructor and spend so much effort guiding his classmates.

  “Until I, no, until we truly grow up, please shelter us from the storm.”

  “Leave it to me. You and your mother already handle most of the teaching work, so I have time to play with those old fossils up top. They think I will not go to Kyoto, but do those so-called Grade Ones and special Grade Ones really matter?”

  At this moment, Satoru Gojo showed none of his usual playful side. What remained was cold calm and confidence built on absolute strength.