New Mission: Star Plasma Vessel

The TV was broadcasting news about a mansion in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, exploding due to a gas leak.

Masamichi Yaga listened to the news while eyeing the four students kneeling before him.

His fists clenched, fists clenched!

"One of you said you'd set up the Curtain yourself, then ran off and ditched the assistant supervisor, didn't you?"

"And in the end... you completely forgot about the whole thing! Admit it!"

Immediately, Gojo Sawa, Suguru Geto, and Ieiri Shoko all pointed at Gojo Satoru in unison.

Gojo Satoru wore an awkward expression, raising his hand and shouting, "Sensei! Can we not find the culprit?"

"Looks like it's you!"

Thump!!!

With one punch, a smoking lump rose on Gojo Satoru's head.

Inside the basketball gym, Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto were playing one-on-one.

Ieiri Shoko wore Gojo Satoru's sunglasses, trying to figure out what was so special about them.

Then she reached over and snatched the sunglasses off Gojo Sawa, who was sitting nearby eating dessert.

"Huh, nothing special after all! I thought they'd be like Cyclops's visor from the X-Men!"

Gojo Sawa took the sunglasses off Shoko and put them back on. "They're just regular sunglasses, used to limit vision. The Six Eyes' omni-directional perception floods the brain with useless information; it'll burn out your mind!"

Ieiri Shoko returned Gojo Satoru's sunglasses to him and sat back down beside Sawa.

"Burn out your mind? Then learn Reverse Cursed Technique from me! Even if it burns out, you can restore it!"

Gojo Sawa looked at her oddly. "Why do you think anyone can learn from your teaching style?"

Just then, Gojo Satoru on the court spoke up. "What confuses me more than Shoko's teaching is, why do we have to set up a Curtain at all?"

Suguru Geto caught the ball. "Because curses are born from ordinary people's cursed energy. To keep the number of curses in check, we need to maintain public stability!"

Gojo Satoru made a disgusted face. "Worrying about ordinary people is such a hassle!"

Suguru Geto retorted, "Satoru, the weak need their living space protected. That's what society should look like. The existence of sorcerers is to protect non-sorcerers!"

"Huh?"

Gojo Satoru snatched the ball from Suguru Geto's hands.

"Using so-called principles to limit power is itself the logic of the weak!"

Gojo Satoru mimed vomiting.

Suguru Geto's gaze turned cold. "Power without restraint only brings destruction."

As the atmosphere grew icy, both of them turned to look at Gojo Sawa.

"Sawa (bro), what do you think?"

Gojo Sawa, who was eating dessert, paused, then shrugged.

"I don't have an opinion. I live by one rule in this world."

"What?"

The two asked curiously.

Gojo Sawa grinned. "I don't eat beef."

"..."

The two clearly couldn't grasp the joke.

Gojo Sawa continued, "It's actually easy to understand. Follow your heart without overstepping boundaries!"

"As for your views—sorcerers should protect non-sorcerers, sorcerers don't need to protect non-sorcerers—in my eyes, both are pretty idiotic~"

"Huh?" ×2

Gojo Sawa's words instantly turned their hostility toward him.

Gojo Sawa set down his unfinished dessert. "You two brats, want to fight?"

Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto exchanged glances, smirking.

Sensing a major battle about to erupt, Shoko's legs turned into turbochargers as she zipped away.

Cursed Spirit Manipulation: Ghost Eye!

Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!

Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto cast dangerous looks, but Gojo Sawa only smiled faintly, spreading his arms.

A hair-trigger!

Whoosh—

The gym door suddenly slid open.

The three, who had been on the verge of clashing a second ago, were now leisurely doing calisthenics.

Masamichi Yaga stared at the bizarre scene, feeling something was off.

"What were you two just doing? Where's Shoko?"

"No idea!"

"Maybe she went to the bathroom!"

Masamichi Yaga pinched the bridge of his nose. "Forget it. This time, the higher-ups have assigned you three a new mission."

"Huh?"

The three of them turned away with identical looks of exasperation.

"What's with those faces? Is doing missions that boring?"

"Not at all~"

They denied it in unison.

Seeing their expressions, Masamichi Yaga didn't press further, only saying flatly, "Frankly, I didn't want you three to take this mission."

"But unfortunately, this mission was personally assigned by Lord Tengen, so I have no choice."

"There are two objectives. The Star Plasma Vessel—the body compatible with Lord Tengen. You need to protect her safety, and at a specific moment, kill her."

Gojo Satoru froze. "Protect her and kill her? That's insane!"

Gojo Sawa naturally knew what was going on, but didn't mind playing dumb. "I heard Yaga-sensei is up for promotion to principal. Guess he's too happy and lost his head."

Suguru Geto frowned. "So how do we treat it? Send him to the hospital?"

Gojo Sawa shook his head. "That only treats the symptoms, not the root cause."

Gojo Satoru had a sudden realization. "How about my brother and I use our family connections to cancel Yaga-sensei's principal promotion?"

Masamichi Yaga: "..."

"Next time you conspire, remember to hide from me. Also, keep your voices down."

Ignoring their banter, Masamichi Yaga continued, "This operation actually concerns Lord Tengen's initialization."

"As you all know, Lord Tengen's technique is the 'Immortal Technique,' but it's not ageless. When aging exceeds a certain threshold, the technique automatically forces the body to evolve into a higher-order existence."

"Isn't that a good thing? Evolution sounds cool—is it super evolution or armor evolution?"

"Wu, watch less Digimon!"

"Evolution sounds fine, but Lord Tengen's evolution direction is unknown. If it goes wrong, it could spawn the most terrifying cursed spirit in history."

Masamichi Yaga's tone turned serious. "So Lord Tengen needs to merge with the Star Plasma Vessel, restoring his body to youth. That delays the technique for five hundred years."

Gojo Sawa raised his hand. "And what about the Star Plasma Vessel after the merger?"

Masamichi Yaga paused. "Well... supposedly she fully assimilates with Lord Tengen, becoming indistinguishable, existing as another form of spirit."

"Teacher, do you believe that?"

"..."

At that point, the three clearly understood.

What they called assimilation was more accurately described as devouring.

Existing as another form?

With Tengen's millennia of memories, the Star Plasma Vessel's decade or so of memories was like a pebble thrown into the ocean.

Besides stirring a few ripples, nothing would remain.

Suguru Geto said expressionlessly, "That's murder, isn't it?"

Gojo Satoru's face twisted with disgust. "Assimilation? What a sanctimonious way to put it."

Masamichi Yaga sighed. "If you really don't want to participate, given your status, you could report it and possibly have the mission rejected."

"No."

Gojo Sawa slowly stood up and stretched. "Can the higher-ups rest easy leaving something this important to others? Besides..."

Gojo Sawa smiled.

"At least this is the Star Plasma Vessel's final journey. Rather than following a bunch of stiff old men, isn't it more fitting to be with three handsome, charming young men?"

Hearing this, Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto both lifted their chins, striking the same pose as Peter Ho.

"That's right! That's right!"