Anime Crossover: Master is Not Here Today

Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled and nodded.

However, it didn't matter if they didn't greet each other; once they did, all eyes were instantly on them.

"You know Ritsuka?"

"Ritsuka, do you know him?"

"Could it be someone we know?"

"tuna?"

"Hey, what's going on?"

Feeling the gazes directed at him, Yoshino Junpei felt immense pressure and clenched his clothes tightly once more.

Ritsuka-san, is she really that popular?!

"I, that."

"Alright, alright, Yoshino is very shy, so please don't tease him too much."

Gojo Satoru put one hand on Yoshino Junpei's shoulder and laughed.

"By the way, Yoshino will also be attending tomorrow's exchange meeting, but he's still a rookie, so just treat him as someone who's there to experience the atmosphere and ignore him during the battle."

"But don't let him die."

"Eh?"

Yoshino Junpei was stunned on the spot.

It seems like they suddenly brought up a topic that's supposed to be very important, one that only I don't know about.

What kind of exchange meeting?

Will people die?

Why should I participate?

Why are you asking me to participate when everyone is ignoring me?

Public bullying?

While Yoshino Junpei was completely bewildered, no one present expressed any objection to Gojo Satoru's sudden arrangement.

"clear."

Although they agreed easily, it doesn't mean that Yoshino Junpei's joining is a trivial matter.

Based on the experience of previous years' exchange meetings, the entire exchange meeting will last for two days, consisting of team battles and individual battles.

Individual matches are alright; a rookie who joined temporarily only accounts for a negative one point, and there will be many opportunities to catch up later.

However, in team battles, one person who drags the team down could ultimately bring down the entire team!

The reason everyone agreed so readily was not because they didn't care about winning or losing the competition, but because they were already certain that they would be the winners of this exchange meeting, so they didn't mind having a minor, insignificant teammate join them at the last minute.

Seeing this, Gojo Satoru was somewhat surprised, and then laughed:

"It seems everyone is very confident about this exchange meeting, not bad, not bad."

"Because we have a secret weapon!"

Kugizaki Nobara casually put her arm around Fujimaru Ritsuka's shoulder, making a dramatic entrance sound effect—

"Qiang Qiang!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka is their secret weapon!

After this period of sparring, everyone had been repeatedly beaten by the weakened version of the shikigami called the Shadow of the Spirit Origin, and had personally experienced how terrifying Fujimaru Ritsuka's strength was and how abnormal her techniques were.

In a one-on-one situation, they would be completely overwhelmed by the Spirit Origin Shadow. Even in a two-on-one situation, they would struggle. Only in a three-on-one or even four-on-one situation would they have a chance to seize an opportunity to counterattack.

And yet, Fujimaru Ritsuka was able to summon three of these incredibly powerful Spirit Origin Shadows simultaneously!!!

If we include the fully-formed shikigami, known as Jeanne d'Arc Alter, who possesses self-awareness and does not require Fujimaru Ritsuka's control, the number increases to four.

That's not all. What's even more terrifying is that the Spirit Origin Shadows summoned by Fujimaru Ritsuka are not fixed, and each different Spirit Origin Shadow possesses different abilities.

In other words, fighting Fujimaru Ritsuka is equivalent to fighting against countless sorcerers with different styles and techniques at the same time.

???

That's ridiculously strong.

Fushiguro Megumi couldn't help but complain privately, wondering what was so great about inheriting this pathetic [Ten Shadow Techniques], which was incomparable to Fujimaru Ritsuka's techniques.

However, Gojo Satoru and Fujimaru Ritsuka told them that, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Jeanne Alter would not participate in the exchange meeting unless something unexpected happened.

Everyone expressed their understanding, after all, as the first shikigami in the world of sorcery to possess self-awareness, if it were discovered by the higher-ups, there would be trouble to come.

Furthermore, considering that Fujimaru Ritsuka hadn't kept even such an important matter from them, they knew they couldn't betray Fujimaru Ritsuka's trust.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Gojo Satoru smiled and reminded them:

"That's true, but don't rely on Ritsuka too much."

"Of course."

Everyone understood what Gojo Satoru meant, and they were by no means the kind of people who would become lazy or complacent because of this.

However, with Fujimaru Ritsuka as their backup, they don't need to worry too much during the exchange and can play more freely.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 27 Megumi Fushiguro's Speculation

After introducing Yoshino Junpei to a group of people, Gojo Satoru slipped away again.

However, this time it wasn't a mission, but rather because an exchange meeting was approaching, and he needed to go with Principal Yae Masamichi to discuss some procedures and content issues with relevant personnel from the other school.

"Um, Ritsuka-san, I'd like to ask you something."

Gojo Satoru's departure left Yoshino Junpei somewhat bewildered, but recalling their earlier conversation, he mustered his courage and prepared to ask Fujimaru Ritsuka what the exchange meeting was all about.

But before he could even ask, Kugizaki Nobara interrupted, asking him with great interest:

"How did you and Ritsuka meet? Were you acquaintances before?"

The panda and the dog, Curly Thorn, also looked over curiously. Yoshino Junpei, feeling a bit overwhelmed, quickly explained:

"Uh, no, I've only known Ritsuka for a short time."

He could only recount how he met Fujimaru Ritsuka and his own experiences, leaving everyone amazed.

It's already quite remarkable to survive encountering a high-level cursed spirit that can speak and has self-awareness, and learning cursed arts from a cursed spirit is simply astonishing.

After learning about Yoshino Junpei's experiences, Kugizaki Nobara, Panda, and Inu-maki Thorn immediately felt a deep respect for him.

This is a cruel person!

Fushiguro Megumi listened quietly from the side, his mind still replaying the words that Gojo Satoru had said to him and Kugizaki when Fujimaru Ritsuka summoned Jeanne d'Arc Alter.

After these days of reflection and observation, he has come to a not-so-good guess.

Whatever secrets Ritsuka may hold, she is indeed your comrade.

This sentence can actually be divided into two parts:

First, Fujimaru Ritsuka does indeed have a secret;

Second, Fujimaru Ritsuka is a trustworthy companion.

Regarding the first point, there is no doubt that Fujimaru Ritsuka has already shown many unusual traits during this period of time alone.

For example, her incredible summoning spells;

For example, when the spell was activated, the flow of magical energy within her body could not be sensed at all.

Furthermore, he recently took the time to privately investigate Fujimaru Ritsuka's experiences before entering the vocational high school, only to find that no such person existed.

So far, all he knows is that there is some unknown connection between her and Gojo Satoru.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance at Kugizaki Nobara again.

Despite Gojo Satoru giving them both instructions, that despicable woman Kugizaki completely disregarded the matter of investigating Fujimaru Ritsuka's true identity.

Not only was he indifferent, but seeing that Kugizaki and the other person got along very well, he wanted to ask her to help him get some information out of Fujimaru Ritsuka.

However, she wouldn't even agree to this request, saying things like, "Give up, I would never betray my best friend!"

Betray you my foot! We're not adversaries!

Ugh.

Fushiguro Megumi couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Back to the point.

Second point.

At first, he thought that Gojo Satoru's words focused on the first point, which was that he wanted them to uncover the secret of Fujimaru Ritsuka on their own. But now, he thinks the focus might be on the second point.

Or rather, it's another layer of meaning hidden within this sentence.

Fujimaru Ritsuka is a trustworthy companion; if we think about it the other way around, doesn't that mean—

Are there companions you can't trust?

This is not a baseless speculation.

Long before Fujimaru Ritsuka arrived at the high school, Gojo Satoru had told him and Kugizaki that two unregistered Special Grade Cursed Spirits had attacked him and seemed to be working with humans. He even drew them an abstract character sketch and warned them to be careful.

After that, Fujimaru Ritsuka was arranged by Gojo Satoru to enter the high school and was registered as a third-level sorcerer.

He found it hard not to think that the two things were unrelated.

Furthermore, everyone has witnessed the strength that Fujimaru Ritsuka has shown. If she is a level three sorcerer, then they are... insignificant.

In short, it was no spur-of-the-moment decision to disguise a powerful sorcerer as a level three sorcerer among them.

Considering the warnings Gojo Satoru had given them earlier, it means that these top-tier cursed spirits are not only allying with humans, but the humans they are allying with are most likely from the world of cursed arts—

Is he a high-ranking member of the sorcery world? Someone from the school? Or perhaps even just a student at the school?