On the playground of Renchoku Girls' Junior High, even the wind seemed to have stilled.
Riko Amanai slumped on the ground, her face buried in her hands as she sobbed uncontrollably. Years of suppressed emotions finally broke free in that moment.
Kuroi knelt beside her, pulling her into a tight embrace as the two cried together.
Near the ruins not far away, Gojo—whose Limitless defense had just been breached—had already shaken off his earlier defeat.
He pushed his small round sunglasses back up the bridge of his nose, hiding those Six Eyes that now gleamed with an almost frightening intensity of excitement.
"Hey, I've got to say."
With his hands in his pockets, Gojo showed no embarrassment or anger from being overpowered. Instead, like a child who had discovered a new world, he swaggered toward Rin.
"You're ridiculously strong. That move just now, completely bypassing my Limitless to touch me, was insane. Even those special grade cursed tools the old men brag about can't pull that off."
Gojo leaned in closer, his handsome face—arrogant even behind the sunglasses—almost touching Rin's.
"But I'm curious."
He pointed at the still-sobbing Riko Amanai.
"Someone as strong as you could flip the entire jujutsu world upside down if you felt like it. You're not related to her, and you probably didn't even know her before today, right?"
"If you're not one of those lunatics from the Star Religious Group trying to kill her, and you're not a bodyguard like us working on a mission… then what exactly do you want?"
He tilted his head slightly, a hint of mockery in his tone.
"Don't tell me you're some reclusive swordsman who heard a little girl crying and decided to come out and play hero?"
Behind the casual tone, Gojo's gaze remained sharp, searching Rin's slightest expressions for any sign of deceit.
At the side, Suguru Geto also lowered his guard, watching Rin with a complicated expression.
It was the same question on his mind.
In a world like theirs, filled with curses and transactions, there was no such thing as kindness without a price.
A mysterious powerhouse appearing out of nowhere to protect the Star Plasma Vessel—without some deeper motive, no one would believe it.
Hearing the question, Rin glanced at Gojo and took half a step back, putting some distance between them, a trace of distaste crossing his face. No sense of personal space..
"Playing hero? Have you been reading too much manga?"
He pulled a peppermint from his pocket and slowly unwrapped it.
"People die every day in this world. Innocent people are devoured by Cursed Spirits every day. If I tried to save them all, I'd have collapsed from exhaustion long ago."
He tossed the mint into his mouth and bit down on it with a crisp crunch. His dark eyes locked onto Satoru Gojo, a trace of unrestrained wildness and indifference flashing within them.
"As for why I saved her? It's simple... Because I'm bored."
"Huh?" Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto were both taken aback.
"This world is too dull."
Rin slipped his hands back into his pockets, his tone calm and flat.
"Those rotting 'old oranges' among your higher-ups have created a set of self-righteous, supposedly clever rules. They shove a clueless girl into a barrier to act as a battery, then sit back and enjoy the so-called 'peace' it provides."
"That kind of blatant hypocrisy is honestly nauseating."
Rin glanced at Riko Amanai, a faintly wicked smile forming on his lips.
"So I figured I'd toss a rock into their perfect plan. Flip over the chessboard they've so carefully arranged, and watch those old fossils fume while being completely powerless to stop me."
"That's all. Heh~ Just killing time and having a bit of fun."
Silence fell.
Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto stared at the man before them, stunned.
Not for some noble cause, nor out of any grand ambition to change the world.
Simply because he "didn't like it," because he was "bored," he was willing to stand against the will of the entire jujutsu world. "Just killing time and having a bit of fun"..?
What arrogance. What madness.
And yet, those words struck a chord with Gojo Satoru.
"Hahahahaha!"
He suddenly doubled over, clutching his stomach as he burst into unrestrained laughter. Tears nearly formed in his eyes as he repeatedly slapped Geto Suguru on the shoulder.
"Suguru! Did you hear that? He said those old men's rules are worse than garbage! That's exactly my kind of thinking! I've been fed up with those higher-ups for ages! Using little Riko as a human battery? I thought that was disgusting from the start!"
Geto let out a helpless sigh and brushed Satoru's hand off his shoulder.
He had always held firmly to his belief in protecting non-sorcerers. But after hearing Riko Amanai's heart-wrenching cries, a crack had finally formed in that conviction.
If it was truly for the sake of protecting the weak, then defying the higher-ups' decision… might not be impossible.
"Hey, old man."
Satoru Gojo finished laughing and straightened up. The arrogance on his face faded slightly, replaced by an unusually serious expression.
"Since you're here to have some fun too, then we'll protect this Star Plasma Vessel as well."
He pointed at himself, then at Suguru Geto.
"Suguru and I are the strongest. Our original mission was to escort her to the Tombs of the Star Corridor for assimilation. But we already talked it over—if she doesn't want to go, we'll take her away, even if it means going against Master Tengen."
Geto pushed his bangs back, determination shining in his narrow eyes.
"Satoru's right. We are bodyguards, and we are sorcerers. But above all, we're human. Since Riko-chan wants to live, then we'll return her to the world of ordinary people, safe and sound."
Hearing the firm declarations from the two high schoolers, Rin raised an eyebrow.
As expected of the so-called strongest duo, still at a point where they retained their passion and idealism.
Even knowing they would be opposing the will of the world, they could make that decision without hesitation.
It was a pity that in the original course of events, that purity would eventually be shattered by Toji Fushiguro and the cruelty of reality, leading to a tragic outcome.
But now, the script was bound to change.
"The strongest? A guy who couldn't even take one hit from me just now dares to call himself that?"
Rin's blunt remark struck directly at Gojo Satoru's pride, making him bristle.
"That was because you cheated! I haven't even used my full strength yet!"
"Yeah, whatever."
Rin cut him off without interest, glancing at the shattered wall left behind by the Rainbow Dragon.
"Since our goals align, take her and head back to Jujutsu High."
"The Star Plasma Vessel cult has placed a bounty of thirty million on her head. What you saw today was just a test. The real trouble hasn't even begun."
He turned away, his black trench coat tracing a sharp arc in the breeze.
"You're responsible for getting this girl to a safe place."
"As for those assassins and curse users who come sniffing around…"
A bloodthirsty glint flashed in Rin's eyes. "Leave them to me. I just happen to need a few punching bags to work up a bit of a sweat."
Hearing such an overbearing arrangement, Gojo curled his lip.
"Hey, hey, you're taking all the fun for yourself. Doesn't that make us glorified babysitters?"
"You're free to stay," Rin said without turning around. "I don't mind showing you what true spatial destruction looks like again."
Gojo Satoru instantly shut his mouth.
The memory of his Limitless being effortlessly bypassed was still fresh. He had no intention of experiencing that again.
More importantly, he could clearly sense that Rin genuinely didn't take those assassins seriously at all.
"Riko-chan, Ms. Kuroi, let's go."
Geto walked over and extended his hand gently. "Leave this to him. We'll take you somewhere safe."
Riko Amanai wiped her tears and looked at Rin's tall, straight back.
In her once despairing heart, a sense of security she had never felt before quietly took root.
It was as if, as long as this man was there, even if the sky collapsed, she wouldn't need to be afraid.
"Thank you… uncle," she said softly.
Rin stumbled slightly, a vein twitching on his forehead.
"I'm only twenty this year," he corrected through clenched teeth.
The only response he got was Gojo Satoru's unrestrained, gleeful laughter.
Under the cover of the Rainbow Dragon, Geto Suguru and Gojo Satoru quickly evacuated with Riko Amanai and Misato Kuroi, leaving Renchoku Girls' Junior High and heading toward Jujutsu High.
Only after their presence had completely disappeared from his perception…
…did Rin slowly turn around, his gaze lifting toward the rooftop of a high-rise building hundreds of meters away, beyond the playground.
Within the heightened perception of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan—
An extremely muscular man crouched at the edge of a distant rooftop, wearing a tight black short-sleeved shirt. A prominent scar marked the corner of his mouth as he calmly observed through a pair of binoculars.
Coiled around his shoulder was a grotesque Cursed Spirit exuding a nauseating aura. Inside its gaping mouth, the handles of spears, firearms, and various weapons could be seen.
The Heavenly Restriction monster… Toji Fushiguro.
Rin's gaze locked onto the man who possessed no cursed energy, yet radiated an overwhelming sense of danger. A cold, sharp smile curved across his lips.
He raised his hand and made an unmistakably provocative gesture toward the rooftop.
Then, the vortex in his right eye spun violently.
Rin vanished from the playground in an instant.
…
On the rooftop of the high-rise.
Seeing the gesture through his binoculars, Toji Fushiguro lowered them slowly. A dangerous glint flickered in his eyes, as cold and lazy as a lone wolf's.
"Vanished? A spatial technique…"
He touched the scar at the corner of his mouth, then stood up and rolled his neck with a series of cracks.
"Looks like the Star Plasma Vessel job won't be easy this time. Not just the Six Eyes brat and the Cursed Spirit Manipulator… there's also that unreasonable monster."
He patted the grotesque Cursed Spirit on his shoulder—his living arsenal—and let out a cruel smile.
"But that just makes it more interesting. It's been a while since I've run into prey… that's worth warming up for."
The hunt had officially begun.
___
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