Chapter 105: Shengzai's Entrance Examination Target

Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Netherworld Arts School, Netherworld Arts Training Ground.

When the others watching saw the panda, about two meters tall, standing face-to-face with Seiya, they all looked curious.

Zenin Maki, an intellectual beauty with long black hair tied in a high ponytail and wearing black-rimmed glasses, gazed at Gojo Satoru and Principal Yaga Masamichi in the distance and asked her companion, Fushiguro Megumi: “Who is this new student?”

I’ve never heard that the entrance exam for a new student at the Netherworld Arts Academy is carried out by second-year students.

Boiled salmon!

Inuazumi Kyōjirō, with his short white hair and high collar covering his mouth, also voiced his agreement beside Maki.

Compared to Fushiguro Megumi, the only first-year student before, the second-year students at Tokyo Advanced Netherworld Arts School are quite an unusual group.

There’s no need to mention Oguro Yuta—he’s a second-year student, yet one of only four “Special-Rank Netherworld Arts Masters” in the entire netherworld arts community today.

The remaining members are Zenin Maki, Inuazumi Kyōjirō, and Panda.

Zenin Maki is the black-haired woman who just spoke; from her surname alone, it’s obvious she comes from the Zenin family, one of the three great netherworld arts clans.

Unfortunately, despite being born into the Zenin family, she was born without any netherworld energy or technique, yet still chose to become a netherworld arts master out of her own ideals.

The glasses she wears aren’t for nearsightedness—they’re special glasses required to see netherworld spirits, since she lacks netherworld energy.

Can a human without netherworld energy fight netherworld spirits?

The answer is yes—as long as they use netherworld tools.

Unlike netherworld artifacts, netherworld tools aren’t entirely risk-free, but most carry lower risk because they’re unconscious and non-living.

Since netherworld tools themselves are curses, they possess the ability to kill netherworld spirits.

Thus, Zenin Maki constantly trains her martial arts and physical abilities, fighting netherworld spirits using netherworld tools.

Inuazumi Kyōjirō is a netherworld wordsmith; his technique, in simple terms, is that his words become reality.

Because of his word magic, Inuazumi usually substitutes food for speech.

Word magic is powerful, but a double-edged sword—the stronger its effect, the greater the backlash suffered by Inuazumi.

Finally, there’s Panda—it’s an autonomous netherworld construct with the appearance of a panda.

Yes, Panda is also an autonomous netherworld construct created by Yaga Masamichi, but unlike other autonomous constructs, Panda is Yaga’s greatest masterpiece.

As the highest-grade netherworld construct, though it looks like a panda, it possesses human-like speech, cognition, personality, and even potential for self-growth.

For this reason, Panda is less like a construct and more like a human netherworld arts master; as a second-year student at Tokyo Advanced Netherworld Arts School, Panda and his peers possess combat strength comparable to some quasi-Grade One netherworld arts masters.

Fushiguro Megumi is a genius who was rated a Grade Two netherworld arts master upon enrollment, yet even he wasn’t subjected to such harsh treatment during his entrance exam.

Now, Seiya’s entrance exam requires him to fight against these second-year students, which naturally makes Maki and the others curious about just who he is.

“In short, Seiya is indeed a brand-new student preparing to enroll, and he has never received any systematic training or guidance before.

You could think of him as a self-taught wild netherworld arts master, but how should I put it… he cannot be measured by ordinary human standards.

I even once suspected he might have Zenin family blood—or blood from some other netherworld arts clan.”

Fushiguro’s vague words left Maki and Inuazumi confused, but soon the battle on the field captured their attention.

Since Yaga Masamichi had signaled beforehand that no holding back was necessary, Panda immediately put on blue gloves at the start of the fight and entered his “Golden Gorilla” state.

Ordinary netherworld constructs have only one core, but Panda, as Yaga’s highest-grade anomalous construct, possesses three cores.

This means Panda not only has three lives but can also assume up to three distinct forms.

Aside from his usual form, he has his “Gorilla” form, which he calls his brother, and his “Triceratops” form, which he calls his sister.

“Boom——————!”

In Gorilla form, Panda’s strength is astonishing—he leapt instantly to Seiya’s side with a single bound.

Even standing upright, Panda was nearly two meters tall; now, in “Golden Gorilla” form, he sprouted fangs and grew to over three meters tall.

His powerful arm, wrapped in netherworld energy, delivered a punch that made the surrounding ground tremble slightly and kicked up a cloud of dust.

As close companions, Maki and Inuazumi naturally knew Panda had multiple cores and alternate forms.

Yet what surprised them was that, against a brand-new student, Panda had taken the fight seriously from the very beginning, immediately using his “Gorilla” form—normally reserved only for when he’s backed into a corner.

And this was not what shocked them the most; what truly astonished Maki and Inumaki was that as the dust stirred up by the attack settled, Shengzai’s figure reappeared before them.

Even more unbelievable was that Seiya, at the same moment, maintained his punching stance and caught Panda’s heavy blow dead-on with a fist far smaller than Panda’s!

“That’s a manly punch! Then I won’t hold back either!”

After blocking Panda’s punch with his own fist, Seiya extended his other hand and delivered a counter-punch straight to Panda’s belly.

Seeing this, Panda didn’t raise his arm to block or dodge like Seiya had—he instead clenched his fist and swung it straight at Seiya’s head.

Although Panda is a fully autonomous netherworld construct, his fundamental nature hasn’t changed: his body is reinforced with netherworld energy, but inside he’s still just cotton stuffing.

Seiya’s ability to block his punch head-on proves Seiya possesses immense physical strength.

And since Panda isn’t flesh and blood, he has no fear of trading blows with Seiya—in fact, such a trade is precisely what Panda hopes for.

“Ninryū Martial Arts—Shattered Wound!”

Yet just as Panda’s fist made solid contact with Seiya’s face, Seiya’s netherworld-infused punch, delivered as an uppercut, struck Panda squarely in the belly.

Seiya’s fist, wrapped in blue netherworld energy, visibly sank into Panda’s belly upon impact, as if punching into a pile of cotton.

Panda, who had intended to demonstrate that physical attacks were useless against his construct body, suddenly felt a sharp, searing pain in his abdomen!

(End of Chapter)