Chapter 29

"I'm not listening," Satoru Gojo answered lazily. "I'm a little sleepy, so I'm going back to bed. Yuji, let Megumi and Nobara know and tell them to come back to Jujutsu High."

"Okay." Yuji Itadori watched them walk away, then began calling his two classmates.

Although Kamiki Yūhaku had told him to step back earlier, he really hadn't shown Yuji any hostility. A Jujutsu Sorcerer generally wouldn't be killed by a car, and wasn't it a little strange that, as a Cursed Spirit, he could only lead humans to kill through his words? Ordinary people couldn't see Cursed Spirits, either.

After getting through to his classmates and explaining the situation, Yuji Itadori caught up with Satoru Gojo.

Kamiki Yūhaku walked along as Gojo pulled his chain, like a child on a leash because his parent was afraid he'd get lost. As he walked, he looked around, his eyes full of curiosity.

He looked more and more like a child.

After they passed through the gloomy park, they saw assistant supervisor Kiyotaka Ijichi standing by the car and waving at them. Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki were also waiting nearby.

"Get in." Satoru Gojo opened the car door and then stuffed Kamiki Yūhaku inside.

Kamiki Yūhaku didn't resist. Once he'd been put in the car, he pressed himself against the window and watched the world outside. As Kiyotaka Ijichi drove, he couldn't help glancing at him again and again in the rearview mirror. After all, it was the first time an assistant supervisor like him had faced a Special Grade Cursed Spirit at such close range.

The whole car was excessively quiet. Only Satoru Gojo was still eating the dessert he'd bought earlier.

What's going on? Nobara Kugisaki asked Yuji Itadori with her eyes.

Yuji Itadori shook his head, then gestured, pointing repeatedly at the sky to indicate that this Special Grade Cursed Spirit has a really powerful move.

Unable to understand him, Nobara Kugisaki looked up at the car's ceiling.

What? This Cursed Spirit can fly?

Megumi Fushiguro, who had watched the whole exchange, turned his head away, a hint of disdain in his eyes.

The car traveled all the way back to Tokyo Jujutsu High in the early hours of the morning. There wasn't a single streetlight along the way, and only the headlights illuminated the dark road ahead. When they reached the school, Yuji Itadori and the others discovered that Jujutsu High was unexpectedly ablaze with lights. The teachers stood at the entrance, led by the principal, and everyone looked extremely cautious.

They even saw a few people they'd never met before.

"What a turnout."

Before any of them could express their surprise, Kamiki Yūhaku made that remark.

Everyone turned to look at Kamiki Yūhaku, pondering how this Special Grade Cursed Spirit's mind worked.

"It really wasn't necessary. This guy isn't even as dangerous as a grade 3 Cursed Spirit. All you have to do is not believe anything he says." Satoru Gojo opened the car door and got out. He pulled on the chain around Kamiki Yūhaku's wrist to bring him out, while Kamiki Yūhaku was still protesting Gojo's claim that he was less dangerous than a grade 3 Cursed Spirit.

And so, Satoru Gojo brought Kamiki Yūhaku to a room specially prepared by Jujutsu High, brushing off his protests along the way. Yuji Itadori was fairly familiar with the room.

Back when he'd swallowed Sukuna's Finger, he'd been locked up there. The room was covered in sealing talismans, and he'd also been told there that he'd been sentenced to death.

I see. Was this room originally meant for holding Cursed Spirits?

"So, is he really a Special Grade Cursed Spirit?" Nobara Kugisaki asked. "He's pretty different from the Cursed Spirits I've seen."

Before coming to Jujutsu High, Nobara Kugisaki had trained under her grandmother and exorcised Cursed Spirits. Most of the Cursed Spirits she'd seen were different from him. Besides, the higher a Cursed Spirit's assigned grade, the closer it was to a human, and the stronger and more threatening it was. Yet Satoru Gojo had said he was less threatening than a grade 3 Cursed Spirit.

"Of course he's a Special Grade Cursed Spirit. He's just a special case." Satoru Gojo yawned. "His Cursed Technique is unusual. It has no offensive power."

"Huh?"

"His Cursed Technique is Prophecy," Satoru Gojo said. "What it actually does is probably closer to foresight. He can see a person's future, and under certain circumstances, he can predict future disasters. It's a genuine bug-level ability, so even though he poses no threat, he's a special case among Special Grade Cursed Spirits."

Megumi Fushiguro thought for a moment. "A special type, like Inumaki-senpai?"

"That's right," Satoru Gojo said. "Normally, a Cursed Spirit like that should be exterminated as soon as it's discovered. A Cursed Spirit of that level would be terrifying if allowed to grow. Even if he poses no threat himself, his threat level would shoot up the moment he found powerful teammates. Unfortunately, that Cursed Technique is just too tempting. So tempting that those rotten higher-ups can't bear to kill him."

"But he can't hurt ordinary people as long as he's alone, right?" Yuji Itadori raised his hand. "Because ordinary people can't see him."

Satoru Gojo smiled. "So the only people he can hurt are Jujutsu Sorcerers, especially those old bastards at the top."

"Like I said, as long as you don't believe anything he says, he poses no threat himself. But people, especially greedy people, can be lured into believing him more and more, until he pushes them straight into hell. Those people never learned their lesson and let it happen more than once."

As a Cursed Spirit, Kamiki Yūhaku bore humans no particular ill will, but he had no particular affection for them, either. His attitude could largely be summed up as: none of his business.

But even someone who cared as little as he did wouldn't be happy to be kept locked up.

During the years he'd been under their control, Kamiki Yūhaku had been extremely compliant. Whenever those people asked him questions, he gave them accurate accounts of how the future would unfold, and they really did reap the benefits.

They came to trust Kamiki Yūhaku more and more, convinced his prophecies were true. Then, in that harmonious atmosphere, Kamiki Yūhaku gave them a false prophecy.

Those people brought a team to the mission site and followed Kamiki Yūhaku's advice to avoid the traps, only to discover they'd blundered into a Special Grade Cursed Spirit's lair. The higher-ups, certain the mission wasn't dangerous, had sent many young members of various families to gain experience. The mission turned out to be extremely dangerous, and everyone was wiped out on the spot.

Only after that incident was Kamiki Yūhaku's status as a Special Grade Cursed Spirit taken seriously.

After something like that, surely the higher-ups would kill the Cursed Spirit? But he was still alive and well.

Because there was no end to greedy people, and no shortage of those who wanted a shortcut to secure their positions. Kamiki Yūhaku's prophetic ability was that shortcut, and they wouldn't destroy it so easily.

"As long as they don't believe him, he poses no threat. But the whole reason they're keeping him is to believe his prophecies." Megumi Fushiguro frowned. "What a pain."

"Those rotten higher-ups have quite a talent for making trouble for themselves and everyone else," Satoru Gojo said. "It's getting late. Go back and get some rest. I expect the details will be available tomorrow."

The three first-years exchanged glances, then nodded, said goodbye to Satoru Gojo, and turned back toward the student dormitory.

Satoru Gojo remained where he was, standing in the darkness, his tone disdainful.

"Like I said, they're just too arrogant. Do they really think they can control a Special Grade Cursed Spirit?"

"Even if he doesn't have any offensive power."

Kamiki Yūhaku sat in a chair, leaning against its back as he examined the room.

The room was brightly lit and covered in talismans. Each talisman carried a Cursed Energy restraint and couldn't be destroyed no matter how much Cursed Energy was used. He wasn't in the mood to try.

Just then, a screen of light invisible to others appeared before him. He gazed at the familiar, empty screen.

"Host: Kamiki Yūhaku. [Nonhuman Jujutsu Sorcerer] binding in progress."

"Current Recognition: 52%"

"My identity was exposed even earlier this time, and the evidence wasn't concealed either, but my Recognition still isn't as high as last time?" Kamiki Yūhaku murmured. He closed his eyes and leaned back as if at a loss. "Even now, I still don't know what makes this thing go up."

As if playing, he wound the chain around his wrist again and again. In the light, the chain gleamed with a cold metallic sheen, and his pale pink hair was almost transparent.

The chain around his wrist was reflected in his dark green eyes.

At that moment, his nonhuman quality reached its peak.

The stronger a Cursed Spirit was, the more human it looked. But no matter what, a Special Grade Cursed Spirit bore some nonhuman feature. Even the Cursed Spirit formed from the negative emotion of human fear had stitches on his face that distinguished him from ordinary people, marking his identity as something other than human.

Kamiki Yūhaku looked almost indistinguishable from a human. The only thing that set him apart was the chain around his wrist.

The chain emerged from within his bones and hung down to the floor, marking him as different.

Chapter 29

There was no sense of time passing in this special room. At the very least, there was no way to tell day from night, and Kamiki Yūhaku didn't know how long he'd been sitting in the chair.

At last, the door creaked and someone entered from outside. Satoru Gojo closed the door, then sat down in front of Kamiki Yūhaku.

"Good morning, little Satoru." Kamiki Yūhaku greeted him energetically.

"Don't act like we're so close. We've only met twice, haven't we?" Satoru Gojo spread his hands. "We barely even exchanged a few words, either. I'm surprised you still remember my name."

Kamiki Yūhaku laughed. "Because there really aren't many people like you. One look was enough for me to remember you."

"Is that so?" Satoru Gojo propped up his chin with one hand.

Satoru Gojo had always known that this Special Grade Cursed Spirit existed. Or rather, it was no secret to any of the Three Great Families. All three had had some dealings with him.

When Satoru Gojo was very young, he met Kamiki Yūhaku for the first time. As the first bearer of the Six Eyes to appear in the Gojo Clan in four hundred years, he was brought before Kamiki Yūhaku by the previous clan head. They wanted to hear about Satoru Gojo's "future" from Kamiki Yūhaku.

Satoru Gojo had been young at the time and only remembered the clan head leaving in high spirits.

The Gojo Clan didn't like relying on external things to strengthen themselves, but even under those circumstances, they still wanted to confirm the future.

That was why Kamiki Yūhaku was able to lure people in.

Their second meeting came after Suguru Geto left and became a Curse User. Satoru Gojo went to Kamiki Yūhaku and asked whether Suguru Geto was still present in his future.