On the street, passersby saw three beautiful young men appear out of nowhere and wanted to ask for photos.
But they were immediately deterred by the trio's punchable walking styles.
Suguru Geto walked in front, hands in his pockets, hunching his back like he had a slipped disc.
Satoru Gojo followed, swaying his body while drinking a soda, looking like he had severe neck problems.
Souma Gojo brought up the rear, the weirdest of them all—hands behind his head, staring at the sky, walking backward.
"Speaking of which, I can understand why the curse user group 'Q' wants to assassinate the Star Plasma Vessel, but why does the Star Religious Group want to kill her too? Don't they worship Master Tengen?"
Satoru tossed his empty can into a trash bin with a perfect arc and asked, confused.
Geto sighed. "Those extremists worship a so-called 'pure' Master Tengen. To them, merging with a Star Plasma Vessel is contaminating their god with impurities."
"Ha? Tengen has merged with vessels before. That old granny is already impure, isn't she?"
"Souma, show some respect for Master Tengen!"
"Yeah, yeah~"
"I say we just wipe out these groups and be done with it."
"That's going too far, Satoru!"
Geto shook his head helplessly. "Many members of the Star Religious Group are non-sorcerers. Sorcerers massacring non-sorcerers without cause is a grave crime!"
Souma scoffed. "If they block my path, that's not 'without cause.'"
"Anyway, what's the girl's name... Riko Amanai?"
"Yeah. A middle schooler."
"Shouldering such a heavy fate at such a young age. Poor kid."
"Our orders are to satisfy all the target's requests before the merger."
"Tch!"
Souma and Satoru spat in unison.
"Those old geezers, and that old granny Tengen. They do something this shameless and then try to dress it up with these hypocritical formalities. It's disgusting."
For once, Geto didn't scold them for their language.
Talking as they walked, the three arrived at the designated location.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors!"
Geto held up 'Scissors' with a smile. "Looks like I'm going. With your terrible personalities, I'm probably the better choice anyway."
"Stop talking nonsense!"
"Right back at you!"
Geto headed for the target's floor, keeping Satoru on the phone line.
Just as Geto stepped out of the elevator and pushed open the door to the Star Plasma Vessel's apartment...
A blinding light flashed before his eyes.
BOOM—
Souma and Satoru watched the explosion erupt from the building behind them. They didn't need to guess to know it was Geto's floor.
"You alive?"
Satoru asked calmly into the phone.
Geto's voice was equally calm. "I'm alive. I haven't paid off the debt for Playful Cloud yet, after all."
"Where's the vessel?"
"There!"
Souma pointed. With the Six Eyes, he saw a girl falling from the high-rise window.
Geto summoned a large flying curse, smashing through the window and diving after her without hesitation.
Inside the smoke-filled room, a man in a white uniform walked out.
It was Kokun, a combatant from Q.
"Don't blame me. Blame Tengen!"
"Hm?"
As soon as he spoke, Kokun saw Geto sitting on a flying manta ray curse, holding the unconscious Star Plasma Vessel.
Looking at the wrecked apartment, Geto rubbed his temples.
"Please don't make a mess. I just got scolded this morning."
He looked down at the girl in his arms. So this is the Star Plasma Vessel?
So young. In the prime of her life, yet she has to sacrifice herself for the future of the jujutsu world.
This practice clearly contradicted Geto's ideals.
For a moment, he felt conflicted.
"Hey! Judging by your uniform, you're a Jujutsu High student, right? Hand over the brat, or I'll kill you!"
Kokun's threat interrupted Geto's thoughts.
Seeing Kokun's confident face, Geto couldn't help but smile mischievously.
"Sorry, I can't hear you very well. Can you come a little closer?"
Meanwhile, Souma and Satoru ran into trouble of their own.
Countless sharp throwing knives flew at their backs, aiming for their hearts.
Every single one stopped twenty centimeters away, frozen in mid-air.
Outside the fence, a masked man in a white uniform clapped his hands, eyes smiling with the confidence of a powerhouse.
It was Vayer, the strongest combatant of Q.
"So you are the rumored Six Eyes Twins of the Gojo family? Not bad. I heard you're strong. Let's see if it's true."
Souma tilted his head. "Who is he talking to?"
Vayer smiled confidently. "Doesn't matter. You two can come at me together!"
Souma and Satoru looked at each other.
"Has he always been this brave?"
"I don't know him. Don't ask me!"
...
On the other side, Geto finished his fight effortlessly.
He brewed a cup of coffee, added a sugar cube, and sat on the sofa in the ruined apartment, sipping it leisurely.
This elegant yet sassy display looked incredibly out of place in the wreckage.
He glanced to the side. The Star Plasma Vessel, Riko Amanai, and her maid, Misato Kuroi, were still unconscious.
"Give me a kiss~ Come on, give me a kiss~"
Geto's cursed spirit, a mushroom-like mass formed from grotesquely deformed heads
tightly wrapped around Kokun. The topmost head, with its thick, full lips, kept inching closer to Kokun's face.
Kokun was on the verge of a breakdown.
"Please! I beg you! Listen to me! I was wrong! I was really wrong!"
"I'll quit being a curse user! I'll leave Q! I'll go home and farm potatoes!"
"Hey! Don't pretend you can't hear me!"
Geto sipped his coffee, completely ignoring Kokun's pleas.
Kokun roared in humiliation and rage. "Damn brat! You better watch out! Mr. Vayer is already here! He's the strongest combatant in Q!"
Beep beep beep...
Geto held up his phone. "This Vayer... is it this guy?"
On the screen, two white-haired boys were grinning stupidly at the camera. Behind them, a man was lying unconscious in a heap on the ground.
"...Yeah. That's him."
Kokun's voice went flat. His face turned ashen.
...
In a building far away.
Watching the smoke rise from the Star Plasma Vessel's apartment, Shiu Kong spoke calmly. "Has it started?"
He looked at the muscular man beside him. "When do you plan to make your move?"
The man grinned, the scar at the corner of his mouth stretching into a fierce, predatory smile.
"Let the small fry wear down their energy first. With two pairs of Six Eyes there, they won't succeed anyway."
Shiu Kong asked suddenly, "Not even you?"
The man paused.
His mind flashed back to a snowy day years ago.
Those two pairs of eyes—blue as the edge of the sky—had spotted him instantly when he appeared behind them.
Toji Fushiguro smiled.
"Who knows..."