What Gives You the Right?

"Why?" Principal Masamichi Yaga asked flatly. His expressionless face made him seem especially stern. "Incidents, accidents, illness—every day, people you don't know die. That is only natural. If they die because of curses, can't you simply stand by and do nothing?"

Yuji Itadori immediately replied, "That's what I heard in his last words. The details don't matter. I just want to save people."

"Last words?" Principal Masamichi Yaga said calmly. "So you're following someone else's instructions and fighting curses? Failed!"

As he spoke, Principal Masamichi Yaga stood up and raised one hand. The doll sitting below suddenly got to its feet, its expression turning fierce.

"Um... isn't that a doll?" Yuji Itadori curiously looked at the green doll beside Principal Masamichi Yaga.

"This is called a 'Cursed Corpse.' It is a doll, but I have placed a curse on it." With a wave of Principal Masamichi Yaga's hand, the round Cursed Corpse charged at Yuji Itadori.

Seeing this, Lin Ran immediately backed away. He had no intention of getting caught up in it. Though this Cursed Corpse was no formidable enemy to him, Lin Ran was still injured.

Yuji Itadori was not so fortunate. The Cursed Corpse was incredibly fast, arriving before him in an instant and simply throwing a punch at him.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Yuji Itadori panicked slightly. Although he blocked the Cursed Corpse's strike with his backpack, the force still sent him flying into the closed doors.

"Is that really a doll?" Yuji Itadori grimaced as he stood up. The doll before him felt just like a person, with fully humanlike expressions and movements.

After landing, the Cursed Corpse began to dance, waving its arms and legs as though mocking Yuji Itadori and showing off its strength.

"The more desperate the situation, the more human nature reveals itself. Until I hear the answer I want, the attacks will not stop." Principal Masamichi Yaga waited for Yuji Itadori to say what he wanted to hear.

"Also, they weren't 'other people'! Those were my family's last words!" Yuji Itadori suddenly rose and charged at the Cursed Corpse, smashing it in the face with a punch that sent it flying. It bounced from one wooden pillar to another like a pinball.

Yet the Cursed Corpse did not fall after bouncing around. Instead, it rebounded faster and faster off the pillars, until it became an afterimage and knocked out all the candles around them.

The hall instantly grew dim, while the Cursed Corpse continued darting around the room.

"Damn it, where is it?" Yuji Itadori could no longer see where the Cursed Corpse was and kept turning his head to look around.

Then the Cursed Corpse suddenly kicked Yuji Itadori from behind, sending him flying into the wall again.

"Family members are also 'other people,' aren't they?" Principal Masamichi Yaga calmly looked at Yuji Itadori, who lay on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Cursed Corpse kept taunting Yuji Itadori, even turning around and patting its butt at him in humiliation.

Yuji Itadori did not answer Principal Masamichi Yaga. Instead, he suddenly realized something. "Right... it's a doll. It doesn't feel pain or fear..."

"Jujutsu Sorcerers deal with death at all times. Not only their own deaths—they see people killed by curses, and they must kill curses with their own hands. It is an unpleasant job that requires a certain madness and tremendous drive. Can you really do it just because someone else said so?"

As Principal Masamichi Yaga relit the extinguished candles, he spoke. These words were not only for Yuji Itadori, but for Lin Ran as well.

Then his tone abruptly changed, and he shouted, "What a joke! I'd sooner accept it if you said you wanted to postpone your execution!"

"What the hell are you—"

"Then let me ask you this: when you are killed by a curse, will you also throw the responsibility onto your parents?" Principal Masamichi Yaga pointed down at Yuji Itadori.

Yuji Itadori froze for a moment, his expression turning strange. "You really have a way of saying things that gets under people's skin."

"Waking students up is education." Masamichi Yaga stroked his short beard.

Yuji Itadori lowered his head and said directly, "I won't—"

"Pwah!"

Before he could finish, the Cursed Corpse appeared before him and uppercut Yuji Itadori, spinning him three hundred and sixty-five degrees before he crashed face-first onto the floor.

"It is difficult to imagine one's state of mind at the moment of death. But one thing I can say for certain is that, as you are now, when that time comes, you will only curse your grandfather. Jujutsu Sorcerers do not die without regrets. I'll ask you once more: what do you intend to do at Jujutsu High?"

Masamichi Yaga's words lingered in Yuji Itadori's heart, while the Cursed Corpse closed in again and raised its fist, ready to smash it into Yuji Itadori's face.

Yuji Itadori suddenly lowered himself and lunged at the Cursed Corpse. Unable to change direction in midair, it could only be tackled to the ground by Yuji Itadori.

After the Cursed Corpse fell, Yuji Itadori wrapped his legs around its stomach and restrained its arms with both hands, binding it in place.

Only then did Yuji Itadori raise his head and look at Masamichi Yaga. "I'm the only one who can 'consume Sukuna.' Even if I can avoid execution, if I run away from this duty, then whenever I'm eating, bathing, or reading manga, the moment I let my mind wander, I'll remember that someone might still be dying because of Sukuna. And I'd have to lie to myself, telling myself it has nothing to do with me, that it isn't my fault. Wouldn't I?"

Yuji Itadori said firmly, "I don't want that. I don't know what I'll be like when I die, but I don't want to regret the way I lived."

After hearing Yuji Itadori's words, Principal Masamichi Yaga fell silent for a while. Then his gaze shifted to Lin Ran. "What about you?"

"Me?" Lin Ran stood off to the side, stunned. How had their conversation suddenly dragged him into it again? But since he had come here, he naturally had to give an answer. Otherwise, how could he join Jujutsu High?

Satoru Gojo glanced at Principal Masamichi Yaga. He knew Yuji Itadori had likely passed. As for Lin Ran, he had no idea how Lin Ran would answer.

"I don't have much to say. My experiences are different from Yuji Itadori's. But I am very willing to exorcise Cursed Spirits. I can grow stronger in the process, and I think that's enjoyable. Although I'm not very strong right now, I believe that in the near future, I can become one of the strongest fighters—perhaps even surpass Teacher Gojo!"

After Lin Ran finished speaking, the room fell silent.

After a while, Satoru Gojo looked at Lin Ran with an intrigued expression. "Interesting..."

Someone actually dared to boast in front of him and dreamed of surpassing him, the strongest.

"Isn't that joke a little too much? What strength do you have? What gives you the right to say that? If you think any braggart can just walk into Jujutsu High, then this place would have ceased to exist long ago!" Principal Masamichi Yaga suddenly felt that Yuji Itadori was more grounded, while Lin Ran was too boastful and impatient.

Just as Principal Masamichi Yaga was about to make Lin Ran leave, cursed energy suddenly surged from Lin Ran's body.

"Oh?" Satoru Gojo looked at Lin Ran with curiosity. He also wanted to know what Lin Ran was capable of, considering he had actually dared to provoke a Special Grade Cursed Spirit before.