Chapter 200 – The Elder of the Gojo Clan
Ren clasped his hands together, his elbows resting on his knees, and muttered under his breath.
"Fucking hell, I need to somehow get better at sensing others! It's still one of the things I have no clue how to improve on… I can sense about all curses around 50 metres of me… But sensing an actual sorcerer is much harder since they control their cursed energy. If this were anyone else… last night if they tried to attack me, I would have been injured for sure… At worst I might have even died…
Anyway, that wasn't a threat — just a warning. It's like he pretty much said, 'Stop playing,' nothing else. But still…"
Ren leaned back slightly, exhaling in frustration.
"It's annoying that he can sneak around me and I don't even notice him. Thankfully I didn't do anything in my apartment back there. Also, thank God for my paranoia; I knew putting the curtain up was a smart choice last night! … If I had done any more testing or summoned Rika without summoning a curtain before… it would've been much harder to explain why Rika ate my own dead body… ha…"
Ren rubbed his temples, deep in thought.
"But overall, this isn't a bad situation. Gojo still trusts me — even if he might think I do things behind his back, it should be alright. Ah, I just need to be more careful from now on... And also… what did he mean about not using Rika in the upcoming Kyoto Goodwill Event? Why did he say that?"
"Hmm, there is no way he actually came here just to scold me… His actual motive must be just to tell me not to use Rika at the event. The whole scolding for sneaking out was just a side thing. For sure he wouldn't come all the way to my dorm just to yell at me; that's just not his style…
"Don't use Rika" in the upcoming Kyoto Goodwill Event?
But why? Why would Gojo not want me to use Rika in the upcoming event? It wasn't an order, not a request — the way he said it, it was just a statement."
"That means someone's going to be there at the Kyoto Goodwill Event for sure—someone Gojo wants to hide Rika from… No. He's not hiding Rika. He's trying to hide me."
His eyes narrowed.
"But now who the hell does Gojo want to hide me from…?"
Ren stood up abruptly, the chair creaking behind him as he walked straight to the bathroom and closed the door. He snapped his fingers, and a small black spot opened in the air — rippling like ink in water. A pale, familiar hand reached through it, holding a phone.
Rika's hand.
"Thanks," Ren muttered as he took it, dialling immediately. The line rang twice before Ogami's voice answered, low and polite.
The line clicked.
"Do you have any information about the upcoming Kyoto Goodwill Event?"
On the other side, Ogami went silent for a moment, clearly stunned. Then her calm, raspy voice replied, "My apologies, master. No, I don't have much information since I was missing from the council meeting. Others have grown wary of me… But it won't take long. With my persona, I can get all the information soon. Please give me some time."
Ren exhaled slowly through his nose, thinking for a second before replying.
"Okay. Just give me whatever information you have right now."
Ogami's tone sharpened immediately. "From what I know, this event was mainly kick-started by the elder of the Gojo clan. The core reason behind it is unknown, but it's mostly the jujutsu higher-ups trying to make sure the society doesn't go rogue since there have been so many activities in the jujutsu world lately – your activities in Congo, the info leak a few months ago, Geto's Night Parade of a Hundred Demons… Events like this normally don't even happen in a decade, but all of this happened just in one year..."
Ren blinked in genuine surprise, not by the fact that his own activities were making the jujutsu higher-ups do this but by the fact that for the first time in a long while,he had heard something he didn't recognise.
'Elder… of the Gojo Clan?'
He didn't speak for several seconds.
'Who the fuck is the elder of the Gojo clan?
Wait—what? There's a Gojo clan?! Out there other than just Gojo himself? What the hell?! There was nothing about Gojo's clan in the manga — even though they're one of the three big families! I just assumed Gojo was the only one left… Fuck no, that was a stupid assumption! If Gojo is the only one in his clan, then who the hell trained him to be who he is? Who raised him? There was nothing about this anywhere in the manga! … fuck…'
Ren finally spoke, his voice low but steady. "Get me everything. All information on this 'Elder' and the Gojo Clan. I want a full report before the Kyoto Goodwill Event starts. I need to refresh my memory."
"Understood," Ogami replied. "I'll try to report back before the Kyoto Goodwill Event begins."
The line went dead.
Ogami lowered the phone, her wrinkled expression tightening as she muttered under her breath.
"He spoke like he's expecting something big to happen at the upcoming event… Why? Honestly, I just thought it was another move by the higher-ups to keep the students sharp. And a report on the Gojo clan…? Ugh, that's going to be troublesome. They're extremely secretive…"
She began moving papers, her eyes glowing faintly with cursed energy as she started her work.
Meanwhile, back in his dorm, Ren sat on the bed with his head buried in his hands.
'Who the hell is this Elder? And why is Gojo hiding me from him?'
Outside, the night wind brushed against the windowpane. The room felt smaller, the air heavier.
'What the hell? There are people I don't know about! Well… it's kind of expected, but still! The Gojo clan is like a wild card now — a hole in my knowledge. Up till now, I've been fearless because I knew what would happen. But why the hell does it feel like my meta-knowledge is slowly becoming less and less useful?'
He clenched his fists.
'No, it's not like that. The Gojo clan was never shown or even mentioned, which means they must be either weak, irrelevant, or just not important enough to appear in the manga. Ugh… this sucks…
Not knowing my opponent sucks… Sutoku already was too much for me — but at least I knew who he was. This elder of the Gojo clan… I have no clue who that even is.'
'Still… why now? Why appear only now?'
Ren raised his head, eyes burning with both exhaustion and determination.
'Wait. Shouldn't Gojo be the head of his clan? Yes, that's obvious — but maybe there's some stupid political shit going on behind the scenes. That must be it. Still… I think I know why Gojo told me not to use Rika. He's hiding me from the head of the Gojo clan. Or maybe there's something deeper here. Who knows…'
He closed his eyes, his voice a whisper.
"Let's hope there isn't another Gojo out there."
He stared out of his window for a moment, then exhaled through gritted teeth.
"Fuck, I just need to complete improving my Red Stitch before the storm comes and get stronger before these loose ends catch up to me..."
Ren himself didn't realise how much his mind had pieced together and somewhat predicted what was going to happen… This was possible because of his higher innate 'understanding'.
…
But only if he had seen all the threads above him could he have pieced together everything…