The Gathering Storm

"Most of those people died on the spot. The few who made it to the hospital will probably be disabled for life. Although you didn't lay a hand on them yourself, based on the testimony of those survivors, the higher-ups are accusing you of deliberately causing their deaths and suspecting you of murder."

Shen Yuanyi watched Gojo Satoru speak with an unconcerned expression. Scratching his head, he said innocently, "How could that be? I clearly saved them, then handed them over to the police. Who knew they'd start fighting? That wasn't something I could control."

Leaning back against the sofa, Gojo Satoru changed the subject. "Yuanyi, you know I've had some conflicts with the jujutsu higher-ups, right? Those old fossils are stubborn and completely heartless. They're targeting you because of me. Once they catch hold of a weakness, they'll swarm in like flies drawn to carrion."

After a moment of silence, Shen Yuanyi spoke. "Aren't you going to ask why I did it?"

The corners of Gojo Satoru's lips curled up as he looked at him through his sunglasses. "I know what kind of person Yuanyi is. After all, I watched you grow up. Maybe you're not the type to risk your life for some grand cause, but when you see something ugly, you can't help but step in, can you?"

"I've already dealt with the higher-ups. Strictly speaking, all you did was drag those people down the stairs and cause a few injuries. It's just that your Grade 1 evaluation may be delayed for a while."

"Oh, right, Yuanyi."

Gojo Satoru, who had reached the door, suddenly stopped. "What do you think defines the strong and the weak? I mean between sorcerers and ordinary people."

Shen Yuanyi froze at that, then answered after some thought. "In terms of individual strength alone, Jujutsu Sorcerers are the strong ones. But I think it's like how ordinary people have their own differences in ability. They're both gaps that are hard to cross; it's just that the divide between ordinary people and Jujutsu Sorcerers is even harder to change."

"In other respects, Jujutsu Sorcerers and ordinary people should be the same. A sorcerer's descendants might fail to inherit a cursed technique and become ordinary people, while talented Jujutsu Sorcerers can occasionally be born among ordinary people. Besides, you can't simply divide people into strong and weak, can you? For example, from your perspective, Sensei, what difference is there between most sorcerers and ordinary people?"

Shen Yuanyi snapped his fingers. "I just remembered a saying: 'With great power comes great responsibility.' But I think it should be, 'With greater authority comes greater responsibility.' For instance, the jujutsu higher-ups have great authority, so they bear the main responsibility for exorcising curses within the country."

"An ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerer like me, who gets paid a salary, only needs to complete his missions, right? And isn't there another Special Grade Sorcerer like you? Tsukumo Yuki. She spends most of her time overseas and hardly exorcises Cursed Spirits. She chose not to take that authority, so she doesn't have to shoulder those heavy responsibilities."

Gojo Satoru said nothing. Then he suddenly looked toward the distant sky, as if he had noticed something, and said steadily, "Enough about that. Something's happened. An outsider has invaded Jujutsu High."

Shen Yuanyi's expression changed. Walking to the door, he looked out and indeed saw a birdlike silhouette approaching from the horizon. As if he had thought of something, Gojo Satoru vanished from the spot, leaving behind only one sentence: "Go to the school gate."

Activating his cursed technique, Shen Yuanyi swiftly arrived at the school gate. The moment he got there, he heard a black-haired man in robes standing on the stone path with an arm around Okkotsu Yuta, saying something to him. Maki, Panda, and Inumaki Toge were all nearby.

On the other side of the stone path stood a massive pelican with four wings, accompanied by several men and women. Shen Yuanyi only caught one sentence from the black-haired man: "Kill every non-sorcerer and build a world that belongs only to Jujutsu Sorcerers."

A lunatic.

Having silently reached that conclusion, Shen Yuanyi watched as Gojo Satoru, who had arrived before him, interrupted the man. "Stop filling my students' heads with your twisted ideas, Suguru."

So this is the Special Grade Curse User, Geto Suguru.

Geto Suguru turned to Gojo Satoru with a smile born of a long-awaited reunion. "It's been a long time, Gojo Satoru. I heard this year's students are all outstanding. So you're the one teaching them."

"Suguru, stay away from them."

Gojo Satoru spoke calmly. Behind him, Yaga Masamichi and the other Jujutsu Sorcerers from Jujutsu High had also arrived. Treating them as if they were invisible, Geto Suguru turned to Shen Yuanyi instead. "You must be Shen Yuanyi. I've heard about you as well. What do you think? You've seen the ugly faces of those monkeys, haven't you? Join us. Let's build this beautiful world together."

Shen Yuanyi smiled in reply. "Mister, I'm not interested in cults. Besides, my companions feel the same way. Could you stop pestering them?"

"Huh? You little brat, how dare you speak to Lord Geto like that!"

Glancing at the two girls and the bizarre bare-chested man beside them with two hearts on his chest, Shen Yuanyi casually asked Gojo Satoru, "Sensei, they're all Curse Users, right? Should we kill or subdue them all here?"

Geto Suguru's smile stiffened. Gojo Satoru, however, dismissed Shen Yuanyi's idea. "He's prepared. Whether we attack his companions or him first, the Cursed Spirits under his control will pour out and target everyone here. Some of them are rather troublesome."

Shen Yuanyi said nothing more. He had only spoken because Geto Suguru was trying to deceive Okkotsu Yuta and the others, and clearly harbored ill intentions. From the looks of it, they probably would not fight after all, so he would watch for now.

Then, when Geto Suguru displayed hostility toward Maki—or rather, toward someone he did not consider a Jujutsu Sorcerer—Okkotsu Yuta firmly voiced his opposition.

Gojo Satoru flashed between the two of them. "Suguru, what exactly did you come here for?"

Looking over the people of Jujutsu High, Geto Suguru raised his voice with an unrestrained smile. "Everyone! Clean out your ears and listen carefully. I've come to declare war! On the coming December twenty-fourth, we will begin the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons at sunset!"

"The locations will be the crucible of curses—Shinjuku, Tokyo—and the sacred land of jujutsu—Kyoto! We will unleash over a thousand Cursed Spirits across the country, and their orders will naturally be to slaughter everyone!"

The smile on his face twisted further. "If you don't want hell to descend, then come stop us with everything you have. Let us... curse each other to our hearts' content!"

Geto Suguru had barely finished his excited proclamation when the two girls he had brought interrupted him. "Lord Geto, the shop's about to close!"

Returning to his usual composure, Geto Suguru smiled at Gojo Satoru. "Sorry, Gojo Satoru. They've been clamoring to eat crepes, so we'll be leaving first. I really don't know what's so appealing about a place full of monkeys..."

"Don't make any rash moves, Gojo Satoru. Your students are all within my attack range. I've improved over the years too."

Geto Suguru said this as he turned back. Then several terrifying figures emerged under his control, and more than one of them possessed the powerful aura of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.

"Goodbye, everyone."

Climbing onto the giant pelican's talons, Geto Suguru waved. The monstrous bird flapped its wings and took off, while the Cursed Spirits were recalled and departed with him.

"Are you all right?"

Shen Yuanyi walked over to Okkotsu Yuta and the others. Okkotsu smiled and said he was fine. Shen Yuanyi patted him on the shoulder. "Don't mind that guy. He... has probably gone mad."

Yes, in Shen Yuanyi's view, Geto Suguru had most likely gone mad. Only his hollow ideal still sustained him.

Kill all non-sorcerers and create a paradise inhabited only by Jujutsu Sorcerers—no matter how he thought about it, it was complete nonsense. There would always be Jujutsu Sorcerers whose relatives or friends were ordinary people. And what if Jujutsu Sorcerers had children without talent who became ordinary people?

How could those people possibly agree to have all their family and friends killed? Even setting that aside, there were far too few Jujutsu Sorcerers. If every ordinary person was removed, what could the remaining people even do? With the threat of curses gone, they would instead face the threat of extinction.

In short, it was a complete delusion. This was not a math problem, where the answer was fixed and there were no variables. Reality had far too many factors, especially the human heart and human nature.

"Geto Suguru, Special Grade Curse User. His cursed technique is Cursed Spirit Manipulation, which allows him to absorb naturally formed Cursed Spirits that are not bound by master-servant contracts. He uses the religious organization he established to collect Cursed Spirits."

"Combined with the Cursed Spirits he already possesses, his claim of having more than two thousand is likely not an empty threat."

Ijichi solemnly reported the situation to the core members of Jujutsu High gathered in the room. Yaga Masamichi continued, "Even so, according to our estimates, most of his Cursed Spirits are Grade 2 or below—mere fodder. And even with all his subordinates, he has no more than fifty sorcerers."

"That is enough to stir up trouble, but destroying two cities is nothing more than a pipe dream!"

Leaning off to the side, Gojo Satoru said quietly, "That makes it worse. He wouldn't willingly start a war he was certain to lose. He must have another trump card..."

"Damn it!"

Remembering Geto Suguru's personality and how well he understood him, Yaga Masamichi's expression darkened further.

"Notify previous graduates and the three great clans. Send a request for assistance to the Ainu Jujutsu Alliance as well. This will be an all-out war. This time, we must exorcise the curse known as Geto Suguru once and for all!"

At the same time.

Facing the gathered Curse Users, Geto Suguru smiled. "You're all prepared, correct? You only need to hold Gojo Satoru back. They probably still believe the lie from my student days. Once I kill Okkotsu Yuta and seize that Special Grade Vengeful Spirit, the scales of this war will tip in our favor!"

"A Special Grade Vengeful Spirit free of shackles and restrictions... combined with my cursed technique, I truly look forward to that sight. The world we seek is about to arrive!"

A burly dark-skinned man dressed in white robes and a white cap spoke from across the room. "Geto, since you found a way to revive that Special Grade Cursed Spirit, why not absorb it directly? I recall it being rather famous in your country's legends..."

Geto Suguru looked at Dojigiri resting on the table, though no one knew how it had appeared there. His gaze grew distant. "Miguel, this one is different. It isn't merely a curse, and a curse with such a strong sense of self has too many variables. It could easily do more harm than good."

"So I'll leave it to you to take it to the battlefield and revive it. It should make things easier for you. Bring those two blades as well. They were originally one."

Miguel stroked his chin. "Are we really going to use it to take that girl's life? The demon slain in legend needs the blood of its enemy's descendant to revive. Sounds like an interesting topic for research."

Geto Suguru spread his arms. "Everyone, let us advance toward the New World!"