Although Yuji Itadori's return was completely unexpected, Shin was not overly concerned. As long as he snatched the cursed object the moment Sasaki pulled it out, the crisis would be averted.
Seeing Yuji enter the clubroom, Sasaki finally felt safe enough to relax. With trembling hands, she reached into her shirt and pulled out the Special Grade Cursed Object.
The moment the mummified finger saw the light of day, Megumi instinctively lunged forward to grab it. At that exact second, the eight-minute timer on their Splash Potions of Invisibility expired.
The two sorcerers materialized out of thin air, instantly crowding the small clubroom.
Startled by the boy suddenly appearing in front of his upperclassman, Yuji instinctively reacted. He reached out and locked his hand around Megumi's wrist. Yuji's grip was like an industrial vice; Megumi was completely paralyzed, unable to move a single inch.
"Who are you, and why are you here?" Yuji demanded.
Meanwhile, Shin casually stepped around the struggle and plucked the cursed object right out of Sasaki's terrified hands.
"Okay, mission accomplished," Shin announced cheerfully. "We can retreat now, Fushiguro."
Megumi's face flushed deep red with embarrassment and frustration.
"I can't break free," Megumi ground out.
Shin blinked. "...Really?"
He sighed and turned to Yuji.
"Alright then, my friend. Could you please let go of my friend first? We mean you absolutely no harm. We are just here to recover this highly dangerous item."
At that moment, Sasaki leaned close to Yuji's ear and frantically explained who the two boys in black were. Realizing it was a misunderstanding, Yuji immediately released Megumi's arm.
"Sorry about that," Yuji apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sasaki-senpai just told me what happened. Since this belongs to you guys, we will return it. I am really sorry for causing you so much trouble."
Yuji, Sasaki, and Iguchi all bowed their heads in a formal apology. Shin waved it off casually. He did not care about the apologies because Tokyo Jujutsu High would undoubtedly send cleanup crews to wipe their memories anyway.
Megumi, however, immediately dropped into a strict lecturing tone. He began aggressively scolding the three teenagers about the lethal danger of tampering with cursed items. Since their memories were going to be wiped anyway, Megumi felt entirely justified in venting his frustrations.
While Megumi was busy lecturing the trio, a massive, grotesque Cursed Spirit silently phased through the ceiling directly above them. Its cavernous jaw opened wide, preparing to bite Shin clean in half.
Shin had been waiting for this exact moment. This was the Grade 1 Cursed Spirit that had been lurking in the shadows of the school all night.
"Fushiguro, grab the civilians and get out of here!" Shin yelled. "Get somewhere safe! They are just in the way!"
Without hesitating, Shin summoned a solid block of Gold and hurled it with terrifying force directly at the descending monster's face.
"Boom!"
The sheer kinetic impact of the heavy metal smashed into the Cursed Spirit, sending it flying backward. The monster crashed through the exterior wall of the school building, leaving a massive, jagged hole before plummeting to the courtyard below. Shin immediately leaped through the rubble to pursue it.
Megumi quickly pulled out his phone and dialed the "Window" hotline, urgently requesting an Assistant Director to secure the perimeter. He then corralled the terrified students toward the school gate.
Sasaki and Iguchi were trembling so violently they could not even speak, stumbling blindly behind Megumi. Yuji brought up the rear, trying to comfort his panicked upperclassmen.
From a distance, the group could see Shin actively engaging the massive Grade 1 Cursed Spirit. He was wielding a strange, purplish-black broadsword.
The Netherite Sword in Shin's hands cleaved through the Cursed Spirit's limbs with ease. Conversely, the monster's desperate claws and fangs violently sparked against Shin's body, completely unable to pierce his full set of Netherite Armor.
However, Shin knew that Minecraft armor mechanics operated on proportional damage reduction. Regardless of how weak an attack was, some blunt-force trauma would always bleed through the armor's protection.
Still, Shin estimated he could execute the beast in just a few minutes.
Shin knew the true dividing line for cursed spirits was the Semi-Grade 1 classification. Anything below that rank relied on pure physical violence. Cursed Spirits ranked Semi-Grade 1 and above possessed actual Cursed Techniques.
He had defaulted to calling this monster a Grade 1 because, in the original canon, it had brutally overpowered Megumi, who was an established Grade 2 sorcerer.
"Ah... ugh... class... ends soon... class ends soon..." the Cursed Spirit gurgled, its voice wet and distorted.
Suddenly, the monster's massive, bloated body shrank down by a full size. The transformation was dramatic, like a fat pig rapidly deflating into a starved, muscular hound.
Its speed skyrocketed instantly. The creature became a blur, making it incredibly difficult for Shin to track its movements.
"Bang!"
The Cursed Spirit violently rammed into Shin's chest. The impact launched Shin backward. Even while wearing a full set of Netherite Armor—which weighed at least fifteen real-world tons—the sheer kinetic force still sent him flying over ten meters through the air.
The Cursed Spirit shook its deformed head dizzily, clearly concussed from slamming into a literal wall of Netherite. Meanwhile, Shin immediately executed a flawless kip-up. Aside from a slight tightness in his chest, he was completely unharmed.
While the monster was still disoriented, Shin closed the distance and plunged the Netherite Sword directly into its skull.
The Cursed Spirit let out a final, unwilling roar before collapsing to the dirt and slowly dissolving into ash.
Exorcising the Grade 1 Cursed Spirit instantly granted Shin fifteen level-ups. With the new experience, he rapidly crafted the final derivatives of his newly unlocked blocks.
Finally, every single icon in his system encyclopedia lit up.
A sudden, refreshing breeze seemed to brush directly against Shin's soul. He raised his hand and pointed at a spot in the grass exactly sixty-four meters away. With a single thought, a Log Block instantly materialized at the target location.
His system had evolved. He no longer needed to summon items into his hands first. He could now freely place or utilize any item instantly within a sixty-four-meter spherical radius. Furthermore, the speed at which he could generate items had drastically increased.
With this massive power spike, Shin had definitively crossed the threshold into Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer territory.
"Phew. I guess a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit is not that tough after all," Shin muttered, dismissing his sword. "It died before I even had to try."
He unequipped his armor and jogged back toward Megumi and the civilians.
Suddenly, the wind picked up violently. Shin's vision blurred.
He reached up to rub his eyes, only to realize his hands were completely covered in dozens of deep, razor-thin lacerations. The moisture blurring his vision was his own blood dripping from his forehead.
A few yards away, Megumi's eyes widened in horror as Shin was abruptly covered in a web of deep gashes. Megumi abandoned the students and sprinted forward to help, but Shin held up a bloody hand to stop him.
"Do not worry about me," Shin ordered, his voice tight. "The cuts aren't deep, and I can't even feel the pain yet. Take the civilians and evacuate immediately. I will entertain our new guest by myself."
Megumi gritted his teeth and summoned Nue. The giant owl swooped down, grabbed Sasaki and Iguchi by their collars, and carried them into the sky toward the school gates.
"Hey, you follow the bird!" Megumi yelled at Yuji. "That is my Shikigami. It will lead you to a safe place!"
Without waiting for Yuji's response, Megumi aggressively typed an SOS text to Satoru Gojo. He then drew his weapon and sprinted back toward the bleeding Shin.
Yuji watched Nue fly away, but he did not follow it. Instead, he stared at Megumi running back into the danger zone. His grandfather's final words echoed heavily in his mind.
Yuji, you must die surrounded by people...
"Then I am going to choose to do what I believe is right," Yuji muttered to himself, clenching his fists. "Even if I die today, I will die doing the right thing!"
He immediately sprinted after Megumi.
By the time Megumi arrived, Shin had already located their new attacker. Standing in the shadows of the courtyard were three weasel-like creatures, each about half the size of a human. They were huddled tightly together.
The fresh blood dripping from the sickle-like claws of the center weasel confirmed it was responsible for Shin's sudden injuries.
"Shin! That Cursed Spirit..." Megumi warned, his voice tight with fear.
"Yeah, it is undoubtedly a Special Grade," Shin confirmed grimly. "It is most likely the Special Grade Imaginary Cursed Spirit, the Kamaitachi..."
Shin quickly materialized a vial of Instant Health Potion and downed it in one gulp. The dozens of lacerations across his body instantly stitched themselves shut.
"Fushiguro, grab that thick-headed idiot running up behind you and get out of here," Shin ordered, not taking his eyes off the weasels. "Once this fight really starts, I am not going to have the time or focus to protect you..."
Before Shin could even finish his sentence, the Kamaitachi vanished from plain sight.
Did it turn invisible? Shin panicked internally. No, it is just moving too fast!
Shin instantly re-equipped his Netherite Armor, completely shielding himself from the ensuing barrage of invisible blades.
However, Megumi and Yuji were completely unprotected.
Dozens of deep, bloody gashes bloomed across Megumi's body in a fraction of a second. He collapsed to his knees, completely overwhelmed.
Just as the invisible blades swarmed Yuji, the pink-haired teenager did the impossible. Relying purely on his monstrous reflexes, Yuji threw a blind, desperate punch. His fist collided directly with the three hyper-speed Kamaitachi, violently knocking the cluster of weasels backward into the dirt.
Are you kidding me? He could actually see them?! Both Shin and Megumi thought in absolute shock.
Unfortunately, even though Yuji managed to intercept the attack, his punch lacked any Cursed Energy. It was a purely physical blow that dealt zero actual damage to the Special Grade curses.
If Yuji had a gamer status panel hovering above his head, the combat log would have read:
Knockback applied. Damage: -0.