"How heartwarming."
Watching Yuji and the Death Painting Womb brothers hugging each other so warmly, Suguru put Mahito away and showed the satisfied expression of a proud mother.
The jujutsu world, no, the whole world should have always been this peaceful and friendly.
"Fushiguro, Geto, was that cursed spirit absorbed some time ago?"
At that moment, Nanami walked past the others and quietly asked them.
"Now that you mention it, the appearance of those transfigured humans really is suspicious..."
The smile on Suguru's face vanished and was replaced by a frown.
Logically speaking, a technique that special should not appear twice in the same era. Like the Six Eyes, Cursed Spirit Manipulation, or even the ultimate Heavenly Restriction body (Mukuro was a special case). There had never been examples of two appearing at once.
Given how absurd Idle Transfiguration was, it should belong in the same category. But the transfigured humans spread throughout Shibuya could only have been created by Idle Transfiguration.
Were they preserved in advance?
That made no sense either. Changes made to ordinary humans by Idle Transfiguration could not last that long.
"This is probably Kenjaku's doing. But how exactly did he manage it..." Mukuro also fell into thought.
"It was some kind of possession ability, like a summoning ritual. He seemed able to attach cursed spirits or legendary shikigami onto parts of his own body."
After calming down, Choso noticed them talking. He immediately turned around and told everyone the details of the battle he and Yuji had below.
"That ability sounds strangely familiar. I feel like I've seen something like it before..." After hearing him, Mukuro sank into thought again.
"Since everything's settled, I'll head out first. Onshin and the others are waiting for me to go home for a late-night meal. You two coming?"
Once he checked his phone and realised how late it was, Toji prepared to leave. Before going, he thoughtfully looked at his two brats.
'Hm?!'
His older brother's words gave Mukuro the missing piece.
A tragedy involving some sorcerer family in Tokyo over twenty years ago flashed through his mind. He honestly could not remember their surname anymore.
'So it can be used like that too... Could that special grade ice cursed spirit back then have been a test subject?'
He already had a guess.
Not far away.
"Did Sukuna ask anything from you?"
After learning from Yuji that Sukuna had come out and stopped the enemy from killing Choso, Satoru suddenly felt something was wrong.
That guy would never come out just because Yuji said a few words.
"Eh? About that... I don't really remember anything."
Because of the binding vow, Yuji had already forgotten the conversation between him and Sukuna completely.
"I see... It's fine. As long as you're okay."
Satoru could more or less guess there was a vow involved that forced him to forget. Even though it bothered him, he would not place that worry onto his beloved students.
* * *
In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.
Although the higher-ups of the jujutsu world and the authorities kept trying to cover things up and suppress the news, rumors about the Shibuya Incident were spreading everywhere.
The survivors of the event, along with the people within the ten-kilometer area who had been evacuated earlier, had already shared everything they saw and heard.
The casualties, destroyed buildings, and many other effects in that area quickly drew widespread public attention and criticism.
On top of that, several barriers had suddenly appeared across Japan, along with certain people suddenly mutating.
For a time, panic spread everywhere.
* * *
At this time, inside an office at Tokyo Jujutsu High.
"A lot of people died in Shibuya this time. A huge area was destroyed too. It will be hard to settle this. The higher-ups are angry, and so are people high in the government."
With how massive the disturbance in Shibuya had been, countless eyes within the jujutsu world had naturally been watching.
The strength shown by Sukuna and "Megumi" had gone far beyond what those people understood. Of course, someone had reported it to the higher-ups, claiming the vessel had likely already consumed over half the fingers.
After all, Sukuna's name was terrifying enough among sorcerers to make children stop crying. Most would never agree to let him regain all his power.
So even without Gakuganji taking the lead, many conservatives who already disliked Satoru and Mukuro's way of doing things began using the incident as an excuse.
Some higher-ups even directly pinned the entire cause of the Shibuya Incident on Yuji.
"The message from their side is this. Since Itadori already has many fingers now, they want him executed as soon as possible before more trouble appears."
Masamichi glanced at the thick stack of opinions sent by the higher-ups and spoke to the three special grade sorcerers sitting before him. His gaze especially turned toward Satoru and Mukuro.
(Yuki had always disliked dealing with jujutsu higher-ups, so she had not even come to the school.)
As the principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High, Masamichi would not argue with those old men. That was not his style.
Sitting in that position, he could not bring too much personal feeling into negotiations with the higher-ups. The trolley problem had always given him headaches.
But he knew the two brats in front of him would definitely find a way to kick the trolley off the tracks.
And they had the power to do it.
Because they carried the title of the strongest.
"I'll say the same thing as always. If anyone wants to act against Yuji, they can wait until after he eats all the fingers."
Just as Masamichi expected, Satoru, leaning back on the sofa with crossed legs and wearing his blindfold as usual, refused outright.
In truth, he had never planned to kill his student at all.
To him, cruelly stealing a boy's bright youth was one of the most unforgivable things in the world.
Because of that, one of Sukuna's fingers had long ago been secretly hidden by him. His goal was to officially change Yuji's death sentence into a life sentence with no real end.
"Who proposed it?"
Mukuro did not answer as directly as Satoru. Instead, he calmly asked Masamichi in return.
"Hahahaha~ That's so like you, Mukuro~" Suguru burst out laughing beside them.
As an old friend, how could he not know what Mukuro meant by that question?
"Stop laughing. This isn't something to joke about. Itadori's matter should be handled by you people."
Masamichi scratched his head helplessly.
He was already used to Mukuro's words that sounded almost like threats toward the higher-ups. Calling them here today was mainly to inform them and let the special grades apply some pressure on that side.
After all, only they could fight Sukuna. Masamichi believed they should know where the line was and make the right judgment.
Probably... right?
"Yaga-sensei didn't call all of us here just for something this small, did he?"
That's right. As far as Satoru was concerned, anything involving Ryomen Sukuna was just a minor matter. As long as the three of them were here, he could not turn the sky upside down.
"Based on Choso's statement, let's call him Noritoshi Kamo for now."
Masamichi's expression turned serious.
"He has started a game called the Culling Game."
**
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