Megumi Fushiguro never expected to encounter the missing Kiyotaka Ijichi here, and most importantly, that Ijichi had actually turned into a Cursed Spirit.
At that moment, Megumi Fushiguro remembered what Satoru Gojo had once told him.
"If you fight a Curse User and the battle must end in their death, you must remember to use a Cursed Technique to finish them off."
At the time, Megumi Fushiguro didn't understand and asked Satoru Gojo.
"Why? Is it to root out evil entirely?"
Satoru Gojo shook his head and explained to the Megumi Fushiguro of that time, "Because if you don't, and a Jujutsu Sorcerer dies from non-Cursed Energy causes like blood loss or severe injury, they will transform into a Cursed Spirit after death."
The memory ended abruptly there. Megumi Fushiguro was extremely surprised. Although Senior Ijichi worked as an assistant officer, he wasn't essentially a Jujutsu Sorcerer. This rule shouldn't apply to him, right?
Could there be another way to turn a human into a Cursed Spirit?
It was because Megumi Fushiguro got distracted during the fight that the strike from Playful Cloud failed to directly eliminate Cursed Spirit Ijichi.
But while Megumi Fushiguro was dazed, Cursed Spirit Ijichi's mouth began chanting rapidly again. Megumi Fushiguro could only grit his teeth, use Cursed Energy to enhance his strength, and knock Cursed Spirit Ijichi's head off completely with one swing of the staff.
"Sorry..."
Because Kiyotaka Ijichi's talent was limited, even after becoming a Cursed Spirit, he didn't possess a strong self-awareness or gain a massive power boost like Naoya did in the original work.
He had merely transformed the Veil he was skilled at into his Cursed Technique, becoming a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit capable of using techniques.
Megumi Fushiguro looked at Ijichi's corpse with a complex expression; like those of other Cursed Spirits, it was gradually vanishing from this world.
This phenomenon was ironclad proof that Ijichi was no longer human.
At that moment, Megumi Fushiguro saw Nobara running quickly into the room.
"I'm finally in! When I first reached the door, I seemed to be blocked outside by something. Only you and the Divine Dog got in. I tried for a long time but couldn't break that invisible barrier. I felt several fluctuations of Cursed Energy during that time; I almost thought you were being Spirited Away too."
Nobara held her hammer in her right hand and three nails in her left, warily scanning the surroundings while telling Megumi Fushiguro what had just happened.
But Megumi Fushiguro had not yet pulled himself out of an indescribable state of heaviness, even though there were no longer any traces of the man known as Kiyotaka Ijichi remaining on the floor where he had looked.
In fact, Megumi Fushiguro had known Ijichi for a long time. Before joining Jujutsu High, when Satoru Gojo took him along on missions, he would often see Ijichi, who acted as their contact.
Ijichi's face from just now—twisted and covered in burn marks—overlapped with the image of the kind senior in Megumi Fushiguro's mind, and a sense of guilt and sin was born from the depths of his heart.
Ultimately, Megumi Fushiguro decided not to tell Akira Nitta and Nobara about Ijichi, not only because the matter was too heavy, but also because there was a lingering scent of conspiracy in it all.
Seeing Megumi Fushiguro ignore her, Nobara raised her voice in annoyance.
"Hey! Why aren't you saying anything? Your soul hasn't been snatched away by some 'Spirited Away' event, has it?"
"You're noisy. Don't shout like that during a mission; it's easy to cause unnecessary trouble," Megumi Fushiguro spoke up dissatisfiedly.
Hearing Megumi Fushiguro's lecture, Nobara thought the mission wasn't over yet and immediately became alert again.
While hoisting the still-unconscious hostage from the floor onto his shoulder, Megumi Fushiguro explained to Nobara.
"It's already over. The opponent was likely a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit that could release barriers. I've already dealt with it."
Nobara stomped her foot in frustration. "Damn it, I didn't even get a chance to show off."
...
Hearing this, Megumi Fushiguro recalled the matter with Ijichi and spoke with some displeasure.
"Do you think I wanted this kind of opportunity?"
This sentence left Nobara stunned. It was the first time she had heard Megumi Fushiguro speak in such a tone, and she couldn't help but wonder if she had said something wrong.
...Satoru Gojo walked out of the room where Yuji Itadori was being confined and spoke to Megumi Fushiguro, who had been waiting nearby for a long time.
"Let's go. We'll talk in my office."
"Yeah," Megumi Fushiguro replied, turning his head once more to look at the door covered in Talismans used to confine Yuji Itadori, and couldn't help but ask Satoru Gojo, "Is this okay? Locking Itadori in a place like that."
"Of course I don't agree with the methods of those old guys in the Higher-Ups, but given the current complex situation, it's indeed better for Itadori to'stay quiet' for a while."
As Satoru Gojo spoke, various recent events flashed quickly through his mind, his memory finally settling on Nanami's body, which could not be fully pieced together.
After the two entered Satoru Gojo's office and closed the door, Gojo took the initiative to ask Megumi Fushiguro.
"You didn't tell anyone else about this, right?"
Megumi Fushiguro shook his head in response.
"I didn't inform Akira Nitta or Nobara of the details; they only know that I handled a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit capable of using Barrier Techniques."
Satoru Gojo sat in his seat and took a deep breath while staring at the ceiling.
After going missing, Ijichi had now turned into a Cursed Spirit and was exorcised by Megumi Fushiguro?
The absurdity of this situation gave Satoru Gojo a bigger headache than finding Ijichi's corpse would have.
From Satoru Gojo's perspective, Ijichi's status as a non-sorcerer meant that the rule about a Jujutsu Sorcerer's death leading to a transformation into a Cursed Spirit could not be applied.
Having excluded that possibility, the only thing left was that there now exists some method to transform a human into a Cursed Spirit—whether it's a Cursed Technique or something else, the fact remains that it can be done.
The nature of this matter changed instantly; it was completely subversive to the balance of the world.
There was also the issue of their stance. Assuming such a transformation allowed them to maintain their original self-awareness, would their identity be that of a human or a Cursed Spirit?
...
The entire room fell into a minute of silence before Satoru Gojo finally sat up straight from his slumped position in the chair and asked Megumi Fushiguro seriously.
"I know I just asked this, and more than once, but I still need to confirm: are you certain that the Cursed Spirit you saw was Kiyotaka Ijichi, and not an illusion created under the influence of fatigue or a Cursed Technique?"
Even though there was a slight hint of leading in Satoru Gojo's question, Megumi Fushiguro still answered very seriously.
"Although I wish it wasn't Senior Ijichi, I still feel that I wouldn't mistake him. That was Senior Ijichi."
Satoru Gojo finally let out a sigh, and he said sternly to Megumi Fushiguro.
"I understand. Leave this matter to me to handle. As for the mission report, write it according to what you told Nobara and Akira Nitta."
"Understood." Megumi Fushiguro also saw Satoru Gojo's exhaustion, and after answering, he silently left the room.
Satoru Gojo remained silent for a long time, still feeling that he might not be able to find the answer to this matter alone, but it couldn't be spread too widely either, as it would cause unnecessary panic.
At this time, Satoru Gojo took out his phone and dialed someone's number.
...
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