Chapter 105: Infinite Black Flash
But before Mei Mei could show any sign of relief, the surrounding space suddenly began repairing itself at an even faster rate.
Can this really work?
She looked at the boy relentlessly punching the void, unease stirring within her chest.
Creating space was the curse's innate technique.
By contrast, Ren's Black Flash was merely an extraordinarily powerful strike. Its ability to damage space was only a side effect, not its primary purpose.
When it came to manipulating space itself, the efficiency of the two abilities wasn't even in the same league.
Furthermore, according to the intelligence she had gathered, Ren's so-called Infinite Black Flash relied on his miraculous innate technique—the Limitless Probability Technique, an ability capable of influencing probability.
This technique consumed an enormous amount of cursed energy.
Even if Ren possessed twelve times the cursed energy reserves of an ordinary sorcerer, could he really sustain that level of output long enough to overcome the curse's constant repairs and create an opening large enough for escape?
Mei Mei found herself deeply doubtful.
Yet the moment that doubt surfaced—
"No problem."
Ren answered immediately.
Even while speaking, his fists continued unleashing Black Flashes without pause.
Crackling black lightning exploded around him again and again.
Far from showing any signs of exhaustion, his expression was radiant with confidence.
"Your intelligence is slightly outdated, Miss Mei Mei," he said in an unusually spirited tone while continuing his relentless assault.
"First of all, it's not just my cursed energy reserves."
"My cursed energy precision is also twelve times that of a normal person."
"So..." Mei Mei stared at him in astonishment.
"Does that mean you can actually use... four hundred and thirty-two Black Flashes in a single day?"
Ren glanced at her, visibly surprised.
No wonder Jujutsu High had hired her to oversee the Exchange Event.
Complaints aside, her intelligence-gathering abilities really were exceptional.
She even knew the foundational secret that an ordinary person could only activate the Infinity Technique three times per day.
As far as Ren remembered, he had only ever mentioned that information once—to a handful of companions back at Kyoto Jujutsu High.
And yet Mei Mei had somehow dug it up.
That alone spoke volumes about her capabilities.
Ren grinned.
"Mathematically speaking, that's correct."
Then he tilted his head slightly.
"No offense, Miss Mei Mei, but you've never landed a Black Flash before, have you?"
Mei Mei raised an eyebrow.
"Black Flash isn't merely a strike that distorts space."
"When a sorcerer successfully performs one, they enter a transcendent state and recover their condition."
"And every time I land a Black Flash, the restored condition is more than enough for me to activate the Probability Technique again and unleash another Black Flash."
"More than enough, in fact."
He smiled.
"So the actual number of Black Flashes I can perform isn't four hundred and thirty-two."
"It's literally... infinite."
"What?!" Mei Mei's lips parted in shock.
Then Ren paused deliberately, clearly enjoying the rare sound of genuine astonishment coming from the usually elegant and composed woman.
"And finally..."
"Right now, I'm not even using the my technique."
"What?!" Mei Mei exclaimed again, eyes widening.
"That... that's impossible."
Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!
Amid the endless storm of Black Flashes, Ren continued calmly.
"The reason is simple."
"Because I can perform Black Flash infinitely."
"Ever since I mastered it, I've forced myself to land at least a thousand Black Flashes every single day."
"Day after day."
"Hundreds of thousands of Black Flashes later, both Black Flash itself and the transcendent state that comes from touching the true core of cursed energy..."
He spread his hands.
"...have become my normal state."
"Which means that now, even without the Limitless Probability Technique, I can naturally perform Black Flash whenever I want."
Mei Mei stared with her eyes wide open.
The boy's fists moved like a hurricane.
Black lightning erupted again and again, tearing at the fabric of space.
The more Ren fought, the more exhilarated he became.
The more Black Flashes he unleashed, the more natural they felt.
It was as effortless as breathing.
As easy as a fish moving through water.
The endless stream of Black Flashes placed no burden on him whatsoever.
Instead, they filled him with an ever-growing sense of freedom and exhilaration.
To Ren, it felt like the greatest pleasure imaginable.
As one Black Flash followed another, that pleasure continued to accumulate.
His lips parted slightly.
An involuntary sigh of satisfaction escaped him.
Mei Mei, with all her experience, immediately noticed the change.
What... exactly am I looking at?
She blinked.
Her expression became increasingly strange as she watched the flushed-faced, overly excited boy.
I've heard of people getting addicted to all sorts of things...
But addicted to throwing Black Flashes?
That's a new one.
Just what does this guy think the essence of jujutsu is?
Though she couldn't help internally mocking him, another thought simultaneously emerged.
The boy's figure seemed to grow taller and taller in her eyes.
Like a mountain rising from the earth.
He truly wasn't on the same level as ordinary sorcerers.
Or even other exceptional sorcerers.
Perhaps not even the same level as humanity itself.
His strength.
His talent.
They surpassed imagination.
Given enough time...
Perhaps even Satoru Gojo himself—
Mei Mei bit her lip lightly.
Her deep eyes shimmered with countless thoughts as she watched the exhilarated young sorcerer.
Then she forced herself to focus.
Following the path of Ren's fists, she looked toward the area where the black lightning continued to explode.
There, despite the curse's constant repairs, the crack in space continued to expand.
In this short period alone, it had already widened to roughly half the width of a person.
At this rate, with perhaps only twice as much time—
They would create an opening large enough to escape through.
Just as hope began to rise—
Whoosh!
The half-person-wide breach vanished completely.
Everything returned to normal.
The wooden wall panels.
The white-painted walls.
No distortions.
No misalignment.
No sign that anything had ever been there.
Ren lowered his fists.
The excitement instantly vanished from his face.
His expression darkened.
"W-What's going on?" Mei Mei asked in disbelief.
"The crack in space?"
"The huge opening you just made?"
Ren pressed his lips together and stared at the seemingly ordinary corridor before them.
Then he spoke slowly.
"It's playing with us."
"What?"
"The thing's specialty is creating space."
"Breaking space is merely a side effect of Black Flash's destructive power."
"Our efficiency isn't remotely comparable."
Mei Mei's earlier concerns had become reality.
Ren's conclusion was almost identical to the one she had feared.
"You mentioned earlier," he continued, "that the curse you and Utahime-sensei encountered could generate new space on the fly as you moved."
"Thinking about it now, the efficiency of that ability far exceeds the efficiency of Black Flash's spatial destruction."
"They aren't even in the same league."
"And this curse is clearly stronger than the one from sixteen years ago."
"Then... what happened just now?"
Ren's gaze remained fixed on the corridor.
"That's why I said it was toying with us."
"My guess is that it deliberately slowed its repair speed."
"To make me believe I was succeeding."
"To lure me into attacking over and over."
"To drain my strength."
"To weaken me until I became easy prey."
He paused.
"Then it overheard me talking about Infinite Black Flash."
"And once it realized that plan wouldn't work..."
A grim smile appeared on his face.
"It gave up."
"Now it's gone back to its original strategy."
He looked around at the endless, silent corridor.
"Leaving us here."
"To slowly wait for death."
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