As Long As You Leave Satoru Gojo, I Guarantee You Riches and Honor, Gold Notes...

"This isn't even a big deal?"

Maki Zenin, ever quick with a comeback, instinctively shot back, then immediately caught herself.

"Yeah, I guess it really isn't a big deal."

"Why isn't it a big deal? Isn't getting promoted something to be happy about?" Yuta Okkotsu, the least experienced among them, asked in confusion.

"It's only Grade 3. You're a Special Grade—act like one." Maki gave Yuta a hard slap on the back, nearly knocking him over.

"Actually—"

After Panda explained it, Yuta finally understood the ins and outs of it.

Akesato's strength was obvious to everyone. Forget being promoted from Grade 4 to Grade 3—he could have been bumped straight up to Grade 1 without any issue. Only Special Grade would require discussion.

Besides, among the first-years, there was already one Special Grade and one Grade 2. Grade 3... aside from Akemi, who had stalled at Grade 3, probably wouldn't attract anyone's attention.

"Strange."

As he spoke, Panda's face scrunched up. He scooped up Playful Panda, who was frolicking all over the floor, with one hand and scratched his chin thoughtfully with the other.

"Although I don't know the exact details of the mission, classified missions are never low-grade. Ari also landed a Black Flash, and with his past achievements added in, he shouldn't only be Grade 3. Even if Grade 2 needs deliberation, Semi-Grade 2 should've been no problem."

As Principal Masamichi Yaga's literal son, Panda had been born at Jujutsu High and raised at Jujutsu High. He knew all its inner workings like the back of his paw, and his information network was exceptionally well-connected.

"Gojo, did something go wrong?"

At that, Satoru Gojo's gaze instantly turned cold, and an amused smile appeared on his face.

"Those brain-dead old guys dragged out rules that should've been thrown in the trash ages ago. They said a Grade 4 Jujutsu Sorcerer shouldn't participate in classified missions, so they didn't count this mission toward Ari's record. Pretty excessive, right?"

In other words, Akesato's promotion this time had relied on the hard-earned points from clearing Maps and grinding Cursed Spirits before this. The biggest contribution from this mission hadn't been counted at all.

"What? So it was your mistake." Maki looked at him disdainfully. "Figure out the situation before assigning missions."

"No, it might not have been a mistake. The higher-ups may have done it deliberately, because I'm Teacher Gojo's student, and Teacher Gojo was the one who sent me."

When it came to scheming, even all the first-years combined couldn't compare to Akesato. Panda had only seen the second layer; Akesato had started at the third.

"As expected of my most capable student." Satoru Gojo flashed two rows of gleaming white teeth under the sun. "The more beautifully this incident was resolved, the more certain people upstairs would lose face. Too bad it was long-distance communication. Otherwise, I could've watched them want to kill me but be unable to do anything about it. Still, those old guys didn't go too far—they didn't dock a single cent from the mission reward. Otherwise, I really would've gone to have a nice little chat with them."

"That's more like it—my ass." Akesato suddenly caught on. "That isn't them not going too far. It's a strategy of retreating in order to advance, killing multiple birds with one stone."

"What do you mean?" Satoru Gojo was too used to being invincible to understand all the twists and turns of the workplace.

"Teacher, did you report all of my achievements, along with my performance in this mission? And the reason was... to give the higher-ups a scare?"

"How about you stop calling yourself Akesato and change your name to Satoru Sora instead? We'll tell everyone we're brothers from different fathers and mothers, then debut as the 'Wukong' duo." Satoru Gojo's answer was as good as an admission.

"Convince my mom first, then we'll talk." Only Satoru Gojo could say something that absurd. "Second question: me taking part in the mission was a violation in itself, so it would've been understandable if they hadn't paid me. Even though you said you'd go talk to them, you'd at least have to go there to talk, right? If I were one of the higher-ups, I definitely wouldn't back down. I'd sit around waiting for you to come make trouble—preferably injure someone and make a big enough mess. That way, they could seize the moral high ground and shit all over everyone else."

Put simply, the higher-ups were banking on two things: Satoru Gojo wouldn't actually slaughter them, and rotten rules were still rules.

"Good thing you're not one of the higher-ups." Even someone as carefree as Satoru Gojo grimaced a little.

"I think I get it now." At this point, Panda, the second strategist, had also caught up with Akesato's train of thought. "Not counting it toward his record is meant to suppress Gojo. Issuing the reward, meanwhile, declares that the rules are mine to decide. As long as you stop following Gojo and come over to our side, I'll guarantee you wealth and glory—big money, lots and lots of it."

"Keep dreaming!" Akesato blurted out.

"Don't get so worked up. I'm not even mad, so why are you?"

"..."

Could I say my DNA had stirred?

After thinking it over, Akesato explained, "If they hadn't interfered and had simply given me what I was owed, I might've thought a little better of them. I might've even thought Teacher was being too extreme. But now—only caring about their own authority while ignoring the development of the Jujutsu world. Teacher was right. They're just a bunch of useless old fossils squatting in their positions."

"By that logic, as long as you remain my students, this kind of thing will keep happening—are you scared? It's not too late to quit now."

It was obvious that Satoru Gojo had a real talent for showing off, but provoking people was definitely not his strong suit. Not a single one of them took the bait.

Maki Zenin: "What are you talking about, Idiot Teacher? Without you backing me up, I'd have even less chance to make something of myself. I've already prepared myself mentally to stay Grade 4 forever. A Grade 4 defeating a Grade 1 would only make certain people lose even more face."

Panda: "I'm a panda. Human rankings don't matter to me."

Yuta Okkotsu: "I—"

"You don't need to say anything, Special Grade." Maki cut him off mercilessly.

Born at the pinnacle, he was even more outrageous than Satoru Gojo. Satoru Gojo had at least climbed through the ranks one step at a time, only becoming Special Grade shortly before graduation.

"Tuna mayo." Inumaki's speech: Look at me.

He held a phone in his hand, with a line of text displayed on the screen. His rice-ball-filling verbal habit only allowed for brief communication; for longer sentences, he still had to type.

"I'll work hard to reach Grade 1, then recommend you all together with Yuta."

Under the Jujutsu Alliance's rules, Grade 1 was a massive dividing line from all the ranks below it.

There were three conditions for promotion to Grade 1:

Receive recommendations from two Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers at the same time.

Carry out several missions alongside an active Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, and be judged to have good aptitude during that process. Then one could be promoted to Semi-Grade 1 and receive a nomination to undertake a Grade 1 mission alone.

The result of that mission would determine whether the recommended candidate could be promoted to Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer.

This rule took absolute priority.

Without recommendations from two Grade 1 sorcerers, no matter how strong you were, you could never reach Grade 1.

However, once you received recommendations from two Grade 1 sorcerers, no matter how unwilling the higher-ups were, they had to begin the Grade 1 qualification review process.

That said, there were several additional clauses to this rule.

First, the nominee could not team up with their recommenders, to prevent cheating.

Second, teachers could not recommend their own students, also to prevent cheating. This rule was not limited to Grade 1, but applied to all Levels, so Satoru Gojo and Masamichi Yaga could only watch.

Since Toge Inumaki had his family backing him, his path to promotion would not be obstructed.

"C-Can I really do it?" Of everyone there, Yuta Okkotsu had the least sense of what a Jujutsu Sorcerer's rank meant.

"For now, you still lack a bit of convincing power. So keep working hard, Yuta. Once you grow strong enough to match me, those old guys won't be able to keep their mouths shut even if they want to."

As Satoru Gojo spoke, he patted Yuta Okkotsu on the shoulder as well.

"Isn't that still way too exaggerated?" Even if Rika obeyed him completely, Yuta Okkotsu had no confidence.

Unfortunately, everyone at Tokyo High School had been led astray by Satoru Gojo in this regard.

"We're counting on you, Yuta." Panda gave him a slap.

"We're counting on you, Brother Okkotsu." Akesato gave him a slap.

"We're counting on you, Boss Yuta." Maki gave him a slap.

"Prrr~" Playful Panda joined in on the fun too.

Each hit was harder than the last, especially Playful Panda, who had no sense of restraint. One slap sent the skinny boy flying.

And so—

"Don't bully Yuta!!!"

The Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit, Rika Orimoto, manifested!

PS: The triple combo, la la la la.

PS2: The second installment of the crazy one: Satoru Gojo.