The higher-ups in the office stared intently at the big screen.
Under the Six Eyes' perception, Sawa and the others quickly found the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit hiding in the competition grounds.
Then Gojo Satoru easily exorcised it with a single Blue, without breaking a sweat.
Yuki Tsukumo watched with interest. "That Cursed Technique is pretty fascinating. Is it an extension of Limitless?"
The Gojo Clan members looked pleased with themselves and eagerly began explaining how Blue worked.
It wasn't that they were showing off. Someone had asked, and they were simply following the fine tradition of sharing knowledge.
They really weren't showing off!
"Now that the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit has been exorcised, the winner is decided!"
Yoshinobu Gakuganji tapped his cane on the floor twice, and the whistle signaling the end of the competition immediately blared over the speakers.
The few remaining Kyoto Jujutsu High students were still struggling against the Grade 3 Cursed Spirits. At the sound, they all froze in surprise.
The Grade 2 Cursed Spirit had already been exorcised?
Had their classmates done it? Or those three from Tokyo Jujutsu High?
When they returned to the starting point, they were stunned to find more than twenty of their classmates being carried on stretchers into the infirmary.
"The winner is Tokyo Jujutsu High!"
Yoshinobu Gakuganji's aged voice sounded like a duck quacking.
But as soon as he finished speaking, he froze. "Where are Sawa and the others?"
The Kyoto Jujutsu High students exchanged looks. "We don't know. We haven't seen them at all!"
The Gojo Clan higher-ups immediately panicked. "Where did the two young masters go?"
"Did the cameras catch anything?"
"The last footage shows the three of them exorcising the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit!"
"Yuki!"
Yoshinobu Gakuganji looked at Yuki Tsukumo. She shrugged. "I'll look for them. With their abilities, they should be fine."
Beep, beep, beep...
Just then, Masamichi Yaga's phone rang.
Masamichi Yaga glanced at the message on his phone and let out a long sigh.
"Principal Gakuganji, the three of them have already returned to Tokyo Jujutsu High!"
He held up his phone for everyone to see. In the photo, the three had their arms around each other's shoulders and were grinning foolishly at the camera, with Tokyo Jujutsu High in the background.
"...Those three little brats really are rebellious!"
Yuki Tsukumo covered her face.
"That's not rebellion. It's a blatant disregard for the rules! A legitimate heir of the Gojo Clan..."
Zenin Ogi started lecturing everyone again.
Inside a strange, haunted house.
Utahime Iori, dressed in a shrine maiden's outfit, searched her surroundings with a flashlight, trembling all the while.
Suddenly, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.
"Ahhhhhhh..."
Utahime nearly jumped out of her skin.
When she turned around, she saw it was Mei Mei, who'd come with her.
Mei Mei hadn't yet adopted the twin braids she'd wear in the future. Her hair was simply tied in a ponytail, with two locks hanging down beside her forehead.
Her fitted top and black skirt accentuated her figure. Her white hair made it hard not to wonder if she was related to the Gojo Clan. She rested a purple-polished finger against her chin, deep in thought.
"Mei Mei, weren't you on the first floor?"
Mei Mei pointed to the discarded cans, chair, and shattered vase. "This is the first floor!"
Only then did Utahime notice the marks Mei Mei had made on the wall.
"We've been walking for nearly thirty minutes, but we still haven't made it out of this corridor. Could this be a Circular Barrier?"
"Doesn't seem like it," Mei Mei analyzed. "We can't even break through the walls. The Cursed Spirit occupying this mansion is probably rearranging the corridors based on our movements. Once we finish walking one section, the next one gets joined ahead of us, and it just keeps repeating."
Utahime had a sudden inspiration. "Then if we both run in opposite directions at the same time, the Cursed Spirit won't be able to rearrange both sides at once. One of us is bound to escape the barrier!"
"Whether we break the barrier from outside or go get help, this may be our best option."
"Let's do it!"
"Ready, set, go!"
They sprinted in opposite directions, running with all their might.
But then Utahime noticed the floor beneath her feet cracking apart. The entire corridor crumbled piece by piece, then shot into the sky as if gravity had reversed.
"Huh?"
Rumble—
With a deafening crash, sunlight streamed in. The old mansion had been reduced to rubble.
Utahime poked her head out from the debris and looked up, only to see that irritating face.
"Gojo Satoru!!!"
Gojo Satoru stood on a tree, took off his sunglasses, and flashed a smug grin. "I came to save you, Utahime. Are you crying?"
At that, Utahime completely lost it, bristling like an angry cat. "I'm not crying!"
Mei Mei smiled and stepped forward. "Thank you so much!"
Gojo Satoru waved it off. Besides, he figured that with Mei Mei's abilities, dealing with this mission was only a matter of time.
Even if she was dragging a deadweight along.
Noticing Gojo Satoru's disdainful expression, Utahime sprang to her feet and pointed furiously at him.
"You jerk, Gojo! I don't need you to save me!"
Boom!!!
Suddenly, a huge Cursed Spirit burst out of the ground behind Utahime.
But less than a second after it appeared, an enormous worm-like Cursed Spirit lunged forward and swallowed it whole.
Suguru Geto, controlling the Sandworm, emerged slowly from the shadows with a smile. "Satoru, picking on the weak isn't nice!"
Gojo Satoru looked entirely unapologetic. "What kind of idiot picks on someone stronger than him?"
"Not necessarily."
Sawa dropped from the sky, wearing the same sunglasses and sporting the same smug grin as Gojo Satoru. They really were brothers.
"Isn't Utahime-senpai a perfect example? She's Grade 2, yet she dared to take on a Grade 1 mission. Talk about overestimating herself!"
"Y-you Gojo Clan people are all jerks!"
Utahime ground her teeth in anger.
Nearby, Ieiri Shoko waved at them. "Utahime-senpai, are you all right?"
"Shoko~ Sho~ko~"
Utahime looked as if she'd found her savior. She hurried down the stairs and threw her arms around Ieiri Shoko.
"Shoko, promise me you'll never become a scumbag like those three!"
Ieiri Shoko smiled helplessly. "Don't worry. I won't become a scumbag like them!"
"Geto! The stairs will collapse wherever Utahime walks!"
"Shut up!"
Their whole demeanor had changed by then.
Sawa secretly moved his fingers, and the stairs instantly collapsed.
Suguru Geto sat on the Flying Manta Ray, his face dark. "Sawa, don't play dumb. I saw you!"
"Ehehe~"
"By the way, you've been out of contact on this mission for two days!"
"Two days?"
Sawa shrugged. "That's right. It's pretty obvious this Cursed Spirit's barrier distorts time. It's rare, but it happens now and then."
Mei Mei nodded. "That seems to be the case. In other words, I've actually worked for two days. I'll need to charge an appropriate additional fee!"
Utahime stared at her in disbelief. "That's extortion, isn't it? It has to be!"
Mei Mei smiled faintly. "Back to the point. Did you put up a Curtain?"
"Huh?"
They all froze as a sense of foreboding crept over them.
Before you continue