"Switched back?"
Yamada looked at the boy who had turned back into a human. Although he had known the plot's direction, seeing an "ordinary" high school student forcibly suppress Sukuna's soul with his own eyes was still quite interesting.
Yuji looked up and saw Yamada, dressed in a black trench coat, standing before him.
His memory was still stuck at the moment he swallowed the finger and his body underwent an abnormal change.
Looking at the lobby of the teaching building, which looked like it had been hit by a missile, Yuji gulped and scratched his head in confusion.
"Um... Mister, did you save me? What happened to this building? It seems to have suddenly collapsed."
Yamada said flatly, "Not only did the building collapse, but I almost crushed your head just now."
"Eh?!"
Yuji was startled and subconsciously touched his face. "No wonder my whole body feels like it's falling apart. I'm sorry, if I turned into some kind of monster just now and caused you trouble."
As he spoke, he bent down and gave a deep, ninety-degree bow.
"Interesting kid."
Yamada kept his hands in his pockets and said nothing more.
Just then, a lighthearted whistle came from the night sky outside the building.
"Yo! Looks like I arrived just in time. Or rather... a step late?"
Accompanied by this highly recognizable voice, a tall figure descended lightly from the sky, landing on the edge of the ruins.
Striking white hair, a black blindfold covering most of his face, and wearing the high-collared black uniform of Jujutsu High. He was even carrying a dessert bag.
The strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer in modern era, Gojo Satoru.
"Megumi, what's with this miserable look? This doesn't seem like your usual self."
Satoru first glanced at Megumi, who was struggling to crawl out of the stairwell ruins nearby, and held up his phone, taking a photo with a "click."
"This is a rare piece of dark history, I have to take it back and show it to everyone in the second year."
"Gojo-sensei... what on earth are you doing?" Megumi's face was full of black lines as he endured the sharp pain from his internal injuries.
After taking the photo, Satoru turned around and cast his gaze toward Yamada and Yuji standing in the center of the lobby. Even through the blindfold, his Six Eyes had already seen everything here clearly.
The lingering Cursed Energy of Sukuna's awakening, the piercing destruction of the entire teaching building from the fourth floor to the first, and the terrifying King of Curses being firmly suppressed inside the pink-haired boy.
Of course, what made his heart palpitate the most was the black-haired young man standing opposite the boy. After not seeing him for a while, the aura on this man had become even more unfathomable than before.
"Yo, if it isn't Uncle Yamada."
Satoru, carrying the dessert bag, strode forward like a familiar old friend and stopped a few meters away.
"Haven't seen you in so long, and your temper hasn't changed a bit. Coming to the area my student is responsible for and tearing the school apart like this. If I'm not mistaken, Sukuna inside this kid came out just now, and then you gave him a beating?"
Satoru's tone carried a hint of teasing, but his gaze beneath the blindfold was locked tightly onto Yamada.
"Beat him? He's not worthy."
Yamada glanced at the bag in Satoru's hand. "At most, it was a stomp. Since you're here, I'll leave this mess for you to handle."
"Don't leave so fast."
Satoru suddenly reached out, blocking Yamada's path.
The smile on his face faded slightly, replaced by an arrogance and battle intent belonging to 'the strongest'.
"To be honest, I've always remembered that debt from twelve years ago in Okinawa. That time, I had just learned Reverse Cursed Technique and didn't perform well."
Satoru pointed to himself and then to Yamada. "Now that we've happened to run into each other, uncle, how about another fight? In these twelve years, I've become somewhat ridiculously strong."
Hearing Satoru's challenge, Megumi and Yuji, who were standing nearby, both widened their eyes.
In Megumi's understanding, Satoru was the undisputed strongest of the Jujutsu World.
He would actually take the initiative to challenge someone without Cursed Energy? And from his tone, Satoru had once suffered a loss at this man's hands twelve years ago?
Facing Satoru's provocation, Yamada stopped and turned his head. He looked at Satoru's confident expression, his lips curving into a meaningful arc.
"Fight me?"
Yamada suddenly laughed.
"Satoru, you have indeed become stronger. With twelve years of refinement, your Limitless has become more and more proficient. But..."
Yamada's figure suddenly flashed.
Swoosh!
Just as Satoru used his Six Eyes to catch the trajectory and prepared to activate Infinity at full power—
Yamada's fingers had already penetrated the layer of infinite space barrier around Satoru, which was enough to bring any attack to a standstill, without any obstruction. His index and middle fingers stopped steadily in front of Satoru's throat.
The distance was less than a millimeter.
As long as Yamada wished, these fingers could once again pierce his trachea, just like twelve years ago.
Dead silence.
The smile on Satoru's face froze completely and a drop of cold sweat seeped from his forehead.
How was this possible?
In that moment just now, Yamada hadn't used any space-displacement ability at all. Why could he ignore the distance laws of Infinity and touch his physical form?
"Are you surprised?"
Yamada withdrew his fingers and put them back into his trench coat pockets.
"Your so-called Infinity is essentially the mathematical paradox of Achilles and the Tortoise. As long as speed doesn't exceed light, one can never reach you. This is a defense based on physical laws."
Yamada's voice echoed in the empty ruins. "But unfortunately, when the level of power transcends dimensions, the so-called physical laws are nothing more than a thin sheet of paper that can be torn at will."
"The 'strongest' you speak of will always be just a joke to me."
Leaving these words behind, Yamada ignored Satoru, who stood dazed on the spot.
The vortex in his right eye swirled and his figure instantly vanished in the distorted space.
Satoru stood there for a long time before letting out a long breath. He adjusted his blindfold and looked at the spot where Yamada had disappeared, his lips pulling into a helpless, bitter smile.
"He really doesn't give any face. What on earth did that uncle grow up eating? He's simply unreasonable."
He shook his head, turned around, and looked at Yuji, who was still looking bewildered.
"Forget it, never mind that monster."
Satoru walked up to Yuji and handed the dessert bag to Megumi. "Take this. It's Daifuku, I waited in line for ages to buy it."
Then, he looked at Yuji. "Kid, the fact that Sukuna inside you could come out just now means you've already swallowed that finger, right?"
Yuji nodded. "Yeah, to save others, I just ate it."
Satoru rubbed his chin. "To be able to maintain self-awareness after eating it, your body is truly rare."
According to the strict rules of the Jujutsu World, anyone who becomes Sukuna's vessel must be immediately and secretly executed.
But recalling Yamada's remarks about breaking laws just now, Satoru's mind became active.
Rules are meant to be broken.
"In that case, you'd better come with me."
Satoru patted Itadori's shoulder and grinned. "From today on, you are a first-year student at Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical College."
— — —
Tokyo in July is right in the middle of the plum rain season.
Continuous torrential rain washed over the land, and the sky was shrouded in heavy clouds.
Inside the living room of a luxury villa in Chiyoda Ward.
Toji walked in from outside, casually tossing a dripping black umbrella onto the floor mat at the entrance. He walked to the bar, pulled a can of cold beer from the fridge, popped the tab with one hand, and took a large gulp with his head tilted back.
"Boss. Those old geezers at Jujutsu Headquarters are up to their shady little tricks again."
Toji wiped the water from his chin and looked at Yamada, who was sitting on a leather sofa flipping through an ancient book.
"A Cursed Womb has appeared above the Eishu Juvenile Detention Center in West Tokyo City. Observations from 'Window' show a high probability that it will hatch into a Special Grade Cursed Spirit."
Toji sneered, his tone dripping with blatant mockery. "Guess what? Jujutsu Headquarters actually assigned this mess to three first-year students who've been enrolled for less than a month. One of them is my son and the other is Itadori Yuji, who has Ryomen Sukuna inside him."
Yamada closed a book and tossed it casually onto the coffee table.
"Killing with a borrowed knife."
Yamada leaned back against the sofa, tapping his fingers on the armrest. "Satoru isn't in Tokyo, right?"
Toji shrugged, "He's away on business. It's obvious the higher-ups are taking advantage of his absence to deliberately throw Sukuna's vessel into a death trap. As long as Itadori Yuji dies at the hands of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, they'll have a legitimate reason for eliminating a major threat."
As for my son and that other girl, in their eyes, they're just insignificant collateral damage."
Such underhanded tactics were practically commonplace in this corrupt Jujutsu World.
"A Special Grade Cursed Spirit and Sukuna's finger."
Yamada stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and watched the pouring rain outside.
A month had passed since their first meeting in Sendai City.
During this time, Yuji was brought back to Jujutsu High by Satoru and officially became a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Meanwhile, Kenjaku remained as quiet as if he didn't exist in this world.
After being idle for so long, it was time to go out and stretch his legs.
"Let's go, Toji." Yamada put on his signature black uniform. "Let's see what this so-called Special Grade Cursed Spirit is really made of."