"You four! The Mission Department has assigned a new mission!"
Yaga Masamichi walked into the classroom solemnly, clutching the Commission from the Mission Department.
As soon as he entered, Masamichi Yaga froze.
He saw Gojo Ze and Suguru Geto holding Satoru Gojo down from both sides, while Shoko Ieiri was drawing little turtles on Satoru's face with a pen.
The three of them had Anya-style smiles on their faces, while Satoru Gojo looked completely despondent, like a bullied young bride.
"..."
Masamichi Yaga felt a headache coming on.
After several months of teaching, he had pretty much figured out the four of them.
Powerful, conceited, gifted, and... problem children!
Gojo Ze was the first to notice Masamichi Yaga standing at the door. "Huh? When did Yaga-Sensei get here?"
Hearing this, Suguru Geto and Shoko Ieiri quickly sat up straight, looking like good students.
Satoru Gojo picked up a wet towel and wiped his face. "Damn it! How could I lose seven games in a row? You guys must have cheated, right?"
"Satoru!"
"Yes!"
Satoru Gojo quickly stood up and came to attention.
Masamichi Yaga rubbed his forehead, took a deep breath, and weakly shook the Commission in his hand.
"A new mission: the Grade 1 Cursed Spirit, Slit-Mouthed Woman. Intelligence says her strength far exceeds that of a typical Grade 1 Cursed Spirit!"
Satoru Gojo took the Commission and said confidently, "Don't worry, Sensei, just leave it to us!"
"Don't worry?"
Masamichi Yaga pondered for a moment and spoke calmly, "The sewer explosion in Tokyo's Shinjuku district a year ago was your handiwork, wasn't it, Satoru?"
"Uh..."
Satoru Gojo was at a loss for words.
Masamichi Yaga shifted his gaze. "Ten months ago, the abandoned toy factory in Tokyo collapsed. Ze , that was you, wasn't it?"
Gojo Ze said sheepishly, "Uh... well, it was abandoned anyway, so I thought I'd help tear it down."
"Six months ago, the commotion you caused by releasing a Cursed Spirit was discovered by a passing police officer. Afterward, he insisted there were invisible ghosts and was treated as mentally ill."
Suguru Geto gave an awkward but polite smile.
Finally, Masamichi Yaga's gaze fell on Shoko Ieiri.
Shoko Ieiri raised her hands. "Sensei! I'm a non-combatant, so none of this has anything to do with me!"
"I know that."
Veins popped on Masamichi Yaga's forehead. "But, who stole the three bottles of wine I was saving?"
Shoko Ieiri froze, then scratched her head with a sheepish grin.
Masamichi Yaga took a long breath. "I can see it now, every one of you is exceptionally talented!"
Satoru Gojo looked at the ceiling, Suguru Geto looked at the floor, Gojo Ze looked out the window at the Sky at a forty-five-degree angle, and Shoko Ieiri stared blankly into space.
The four of them were playing dumb... "Sigh~"
Masamichi Yaga let out a helpless sigh, like a weary father.
"Complete the mission properly, and don't cause any more trouble for me!"
"Yes! Sensei!" x4
...In front of the apartment building, Ze , Satoru, and Geto were doing stretching exercises.
"It's just one Grade 1 Cursed Spirit. You three can handle it, so I won't bother going in!"
Shoko Ieiri lit a cigarette, looking a bit melancholy.
Her Cursed Technique is the rare "Reverse Cursed Technique," which has the ability to heal others, saving them even if they only have one breath left.
But the frustrating part was that her three partners were each stronger than the last.
After every mission, not only were they uninjured, but their clothes were barely even dirty.
If they happened to scrape their skin, it would probably heal on its own before she could even use her Reverse Cursed Technique.
Fortunately, she was happy to enjoy the leisure.
Shoko Ieiri pressed her fingers together. "Emerge from the darkness, blacker than black. Purify that which is impure!"
A substance like black mud rose from the ground, instantly transforming into a massive square box that enveloped the dormitory building.
"The Veil is set. The rest is up to you!"
"Let's go!"
Gojo Ze took the lead, walking into the dark dormitory building.
Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto followed close behind.
Inside the building, intense resentment and Cursed Energy seemed to manifest physically, clinging to the surrounding walls.
Countless low-level Cursed Spirits roamed the building.
The three of them searched floor by floor, but even when they reached the top, they found no trace of the "Slit-Mouthed Woman" mentioned in the intelligence.
Satoru Gojo looked puzzled. "Huh? What's going on? Could the Higher-Ups' intelligence be wrong?"
Suguru Geto shook his head. "The Slit-Mouthed Woman is a powerful Cursed Spirit far beyond ordinary Grade 1 Cursed Spirits. The Higher-Ups wouldn't get such important intelligence wrong. Is there anywhere else we haven't searched?"
Gojo Ze thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up. "Oh right, doesn't this dormitory building have a basement?"
The three of them exchanged glances, quickly descended from the top floor to the first floor, and found the basement door.
Creak—
Gojo Ze stepped forward and opened the door.
At that instant, a strong sense of wrongness filled their entire bodies.
The surrounding environment and even the air seemed to shift as if the world itself had been turned upside down.
The expressions of the three changed.
"It's a Domain!"
A Domain isn't necessarily a Domain Expansion.
Some powerful Cursed Spirits haven't reached the level of Domain Expansion but can still deploy an incomplete Domain.
For example, the Cursed Womb: Death Painting that Itadori Yuji and Fushiguro would encounter in the future at the juvenile detention center.
There are also slightly weaker ones that can use their own Cursed Energy to form a Simple Domain that boosts their Cursed Techniques.
Neither of these has the special skills or Sure-hit effects granted by a Domain Expansion.
For instance, right now, the entire basement was filled with Cursed Energy, having been transformed into a private Domain by the Cursed Spirit lurking within.
The moment Ze opened the door, the three of them had already entered the opponent's Domain.
"As long as it's not a Domain Expansion!"
Gojo Satoru breathed a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, the figure of the Slit-Mouthed Woman appeared before them.
Beneath her disheveled hair, her face was covered in a dense cluster of eyes.
In a bone-chilling voice, the Slit-Mouthed Woman spoke: "Am... I... beautiful?"
"You're ugly!"
Gojo Satoru retorted bluntly.
"Aaaaaah..."
The Slit-Mouthed Woman's resentment surged as she lunged at the three of them, brandishing a pair of scissors.
Even as a Cursed Spirit, the Slit-Mouthed Woman couldn't stand being called ugly.
The sharp blades flashed with a cold light as they swung.
However, the attack slowed to a halt in front of Gojo Ze and Satoru Gojo, unable to move an inch further.
Slice—
A gash appeared behind Suguru Geto's ear, and blood flowed down his neck.
"Tch~ The Limitless technique really is convenient!"
Suguru Geto looked at Ze and Gojo, who could defend against attacks without even moving, and felt a surge of envy.
"Rainbow Dragon!"
Seeing the Slit-Mouthed Woman about to attack again, Suguru Geto waved his hand, and the Rainbow Dragon roared forth, tightly binding her body.
Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!
Shinbu Style: Kotetsu Heart-Piercer!
The three began a righteous gang beatdown.
Shocking: Three men do this to a weak woman in a basement!
After a long time, the Slit-Mouthed Woman, ravaged by the three, lay weakly on the ground, looking completely broken.
Suguru Geto rubbed his chin. "The strength of this Cursed Spirit is decent; I can actually tame it!"
Cursed Spirit Manipulation!
A black vortex appeared in Suguru Geto's palm, and the Slit-Mouthed Woman's body was sucked into it, transforming into a physical small ball the size of an egg, shimmering with light amidst the blackness.
"Oh! So this is your Cursed Technique!"
Satoru Gojo leaned in like a curious child.
Although he had long known that Suguru Geto's Cursed Technique was Cursed Spirit Manipulation, Geto hadn't encountered any Cursed Spirits worth Taming lately.
So, this was the first time Satoru Gojo had seen Suguru Geto use this move.
Suguru Geto smiled. "It's just turning a Cursed Spirit into a ball and swallowing it."
Gojo Satoru suddenly spoke up. "How does it taste? Since it's a Cursed Spirit, it must taste terrible, right?"