November 7th, 2018.
By the time we arrived at the main administrative complex where the higher authorities of Jujutsu Headquarters operated, the atmosphere had already shifted into something far more rigid and suffocating than anything back at Tokyo Jujutsu High. The place reeked of politics and corruption to me.
I don't know why? I hardly had any interactions with politicians that I could remember, nor did I consider myself an excellent judge of character, but if there was one thing which I had, then it was instincts, and mine told me that the place had long lost its meaning for the purpose it was established.
We were not let in immediately. Of course we weren't. Even after being on time, we were asked to wait in a long, quiet hall, seated across from a set of closed doors that might as well have been a wall, because there was no sound, no movement, nothing to suggest what was happening on the other side, and it didn't take a genius to realize this was deliberate.
A power play.
'Might as well have bought one of those books, boring as they were, they were still a better read than today's newspaper.' My eyes darted toward the fresh newspaper lying a little further on the desk, and I sighed.
No doubt it would be filled with only two things, the recent chaos happening all over the country, and the media trying to cover the said chaos happening all over the country.
That was the last thing I wished to read about this early in the morning.
I leaned back slightly in my seat, letting out a slow breath as I glanced toward Masamichi Yaga, who remained as composed as ever, as if this was something he had dealt with more times than he cared to count.
He most likely had. You don't become a principal at Jujutsu Metropolitan High School without handling the whims of those old foggies sitting inside.
"…They always do this?" I asked quietly. Nothing better to do, might as well have some conversation going.
Oh, how I missed my phone.
I can't remember whether I had one in my last life, that part of me was still mostly foggy, as long as it was something personal, but I had memories of this body's previous owner, and just like any good Gen Z, he had an impressive screen time spent on social media and some questionable sites...
"Most of the time," he replied calmly.
I clicked my tongue softly. "Figures."
Silence settled again, though this time, my mind refused to stay quiet, because the longer we sat there, the more questions started to pile up, questions that had been lingering since Shibuya, questions I hadn't had the chance to ask properly until now.
I exhaled slowly before speaking again.
"Those barriers," I said. "The ones all over the country… what do we actually know about them?"
Yaga didn't answer immediately, his gaze steady as he considered how to respond.
"They are complex," he said finally. "Not just in construction, but in purpose, as they are tied to a large-scale ritual orchestrated by the one currently inhabiting Suguru Geto's body."
I frowned slightly. "Are we certain that he is not Suguru Geto himself but someone else?"
"Yes," he confirmed, and continued, "A forced participation ritual designed to awaken and pit sorcerers against each other."
My jaw tightened slightly at that. That was advanced stuff, so advanced that it wasn't even in the books I read.
Once again, I was reminded what kind of monsters I would be dealing with from now on.
"Then why hasn't anyone acted yet?" I asked. "If we know this, why not stop it before it gets worse?"
"Because it is not that simple," Yaga replied, his tone still even. "Besides the lack of manpower jujutsu tech is currently experiencing, we also lack any intel about those barriers, specifically what's going on inside of them.
We only know that to enter one of those barriers, one has to declare themselves as a participant in whatever sick game was going on inside. Once declared and entered, you can't leave. You're stuck.
We can't send jujutsu sorcerers inside in this case. We tried with cameras and drones, but just like most barriers, the signals are jammed. So once any one of us enters, the outside connection will break.
It's extremely dangerous in this case to enter those barriers, we would essentially be sending jujutsu sorcerers to their doom," Yaga explained patiently.
I didn't like that answer. And honestly, I had thought of those. I didn't have the technique details on hand like him, but I knew it would be dangerous. But still...
"But we're just… waiting?" I pressed.
"We are gathering information," he corrected. "And preparing."
I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to accept that. Can't argue with the man on that, let alone me, who had taken a personal oath to break every bone in my body, with the help of one sadistic teacher, of course, almost everyone has been hard at training.
I just hope that all this preparation would be enough for what is to come.
"…Fine... but that doesn't explain this situation here, what do you think? Why do they want me?" I asked after a moment. "The higher-ups." I pointed inside the door, the room where those foggies were most likely playing checkers, wasting our time.
This time, Yaga's expression shifted slightly.
"You are an unknown variable," he said. "You appeared suddenly, displayed power beyond what should be possible for someone in your position, and survived encounters that others did not."
"…So they're suspicious," I muttered.
"They are cautious," he corrected again.
Cautious that another Satoru Gojo doesn't get born while they are alive, that is... not that they have much to fear on my end. For all the flare I could muster, I was no Gojo or Sukuna.
"Same thing," I said under my breath, almost grumblingly.
There was a brief pause before I asked my final question.
"When are we going to act against him?" I said. "The one behind all this."
Yaga's gaze hardened slightly.
"We won't," he said simply.
That was not the answer I was expecting.
But probably the only one I was going to get.
But still, the man didn't leave me hanging...
"Our plan is to find a way to unseal Gojo Satoru. That's the highest priority for us," Yaga said, not even explaining why, not that it needed an explanation. I came to the same logical outcome as well.
Free Gojo and then let him do what he does. Things will be solved, as long as a lot of pissed-off, annoyed people and public property damage wasn't an issue.
Before I could say anything else, the doors in front of us finally opened.
A figure stepped out, gesturing for us to enter.
"You both have been called in," he said.
I exchanged one last glance with Yaga before standing.
And then, without another word, we walked in.
As the doors opened and I stepped inside alongside Principal Yaga, the first thing I noticed was that we weren't the only ones moving through this place.
Someone was walking out.
He passed by us without slowing, dressed in a white uniform that stood in stark contrast to the standard black worn by most sorcerers, and for a brief moment, our paths crossed just enough for me to catch a glimpse of his face, his posture, and more importantly, the overwhelming presence that seemed to surround him.
If I now didn't have better control over my nerves, I might have already been backing off, hands flying into domain signs. The overwhelming threat from this person, it felt almost like I was facing Sukuna again.
"…Okkotsu," Yaga muttered under his breath.
The name didn't register, mainly because I remembered most of the characters by given name in the anime and not their surname.
But there was no reason for me to think about it, for there was only one who boasted this level of cursed energy and pressure, to the point that even Satoru Gojo pales in comparison.
Yuta Okkotsu.
For a moment, I just stared.
Because the image I had in my mind of him, the one I remembered from the JJK Movie 0, didn't match what stood before me at all, as the boy I had expected to see, someone meek, unsure, maybe even fragile, not weak by any means but at least appearance-wise.
But that boy simply wasn't there anymore, and in his place stood someone entirely different.
He looked composed.
Focused and strong. Still not muscular, lean muscles if anything, but his posture was not like a child anymore. He was looking more like an adult now.
And the cursed energy… as stated, it was overwhelming.
It wasn't wild or uncontrolled, but dense, suffocating in a way that made it impossible to ignore, and honestly, it was the only reason I was certain it was him, because no one else could carry that kind of presence.
He didn't stop. Didn't greet Yaga either. Didn't even spare me a glance.
He simply walked past us and left.
I frowned slightly as I watched him go, a faint unease settling in my chest. The way the boy behaved was nothing I remembered of him from the anime.
And if the higher-ups had called someone like him here…
Then what exactly were they planning?
The thought lingered, unanswered, as I finally turned away and stepped further inside.
Whatever it was, I wasn't going to find out by standing around.
And that once again made me regret not reading the manga when I could have.
xXx
A/N : Sorry for the delay in this chpaters, been super busy lately. Of course if you're reading this in Webnovel then most likely you guys will get this chapter on time.
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