Yuta and Rika, An Accelerated Timeline

"Little Megumi, hello there!"

Gojo Satoru ruffled Megumi Fushiguro's spiky hair.

Beneath the Six Eyes, the surging cursed energy and immense talent within Megumi Fushiguro were laid bare without reservation before Gojo Satoru's gaze.

The Ten Shadows Technique—a technique said to rival the Limitless, the hereditary secret art the Sawanin Clan coveted beyond all else.

If those old fogies ever found out that the Ten Shadows they dreamed of had actually taken this Six Eyes user from the Gojo Clan as their master, he wondered just how priceless their expressions would be!

"Hehehe..."

Megumi Fushiguro looked up at the grinning fool Gojo Satoru, then turned his face away in disgust, fixing his gaze on Toji Fushiguro instead.

"So this is the teacher you pulled strings to get me? Just as unreliable as you, huh!"

"Figures—a jobless loser who got beaten black and blue and slunk home in disgrace. Probably didn't amount to much himself, and his connections are about as good."

"..."

Toji Fushiguro pressed his temple with some headache, already starting to regret handing Megumi over to Gojo Satoru.

The Six Eyes Twins from the Gojo Clan seemed to be one more unreliable than the other.

But his son was a genius who had awakened the Ten Shadows Technique, and Toji naturally wanted to find him the best teacher.

The remaining two special grade sorcerers?

One was Yuki Tsukumo, who frequently traveled between countries and had already taken on Riko Amanai.

The other was Suguru Geto, who had taken in two adopted daughters and one adopted son, practically turning into a super dad.

No choice left—it had to be Gojo Satoru.

At least compared to Gojo Sawa, Gojo Satoru was still relatively normal.

"Speaking of which, where's Taku? Haven't seen him much lately."

"My brother? He said something about finding a promising seedling and planning to take them as a disciple."

Gojo Satoru grinned foolishly as he messed up Megumi's hairstyle, turning the original spiky hedgehog head into a sea urchin one.

"Too bad—Megumi here has the Ten Shadows! No matter how hard my brother looks, he won't find anyone more talented. Sure, I can't beat him, but my disciple will definitely outshine his!"

"Megumi-chan, carry your teacher's hopes and trample my brother's disciple underfoot! Hehehe..."

Megumi Fushiguro was covered in black lines.

On a Tokyo street.

A shifty black-clad figure stealthily poked his head out, staring at two small figures not far away.

"Ah-choo~"

"Damn it! I bet it's Satoru badmouthing me again! I'll have to give him a good thrashing when I get back!"

Ignoring the stares of passersby who looked at him like he was crazy, Gojo Sawa secretly followed behind, like some stalker trailing a teenage idol.

And the pair of elementary school students walking side by side not far ahead—they were the targets of his trip.

Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto!

The two were childhood sweethearts, innocent and close. Though still young, they had already made a promise to marry when they grew up, and had even secured their wedding rings.

Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous!

Sure, it was pure love, but the speed of it, the efficiency—even across the entire anime world, that was still an explosive existence.

Watching the two hold hands and chat with smiles, Gojo Sawa felt like he'd just been force-fed a huge mouthful of dog food.

A man who, in both his past and present lives combined, had lived forty years without even holding a girl's hand—his face was now utterly twisted.

He recalled the original plot, and only then did he calm down a little.

Though Yuta and Rika were representatives of pure love, the original story's ending was absolutely tragic.

Whether it was JJXX's or just the Japanese people's unique perverse taste, they simply couldn't stand a pure love happy ending.

According to the plot, Rika would die on the spot in a car accident at age eleven.

And Yuta Okkotsu, who witnessed the whole thing, was so traumatized that he not only awakened his innate technique on the spot but also unconsciously cast a curse on Rika: "Don't go."

Yuta Okkotsu was originally a distant relative of the Gojo Clan, descended from the Michizane Sugawara line, possessing terrifying cursed technique potential.

Driven by his immense cursed energy, the curse Yuta cast imprisoned Rika's soul, eventually birthing the vengeful cursed spirit known as the "Queen of Curses."

And precisely because of the special grade cursed spirit Rika, Yuta Okkotsu entered school as a "Special Grade Sorcerer"!

But that's not to say Yuta relied entirely on Rika as a crutch—after releasing Rika's soul, he relied on his own excellent talent to reclaim special grade status in just three months.

In terms of talent, that guy was absolutely on par with the current "Strongest Trio."

"I wonder if acting early would mess with the timeline..."

Gojo Sawa hesitated, thinking about whether he should snatch Yuta Okkotsu away right now.

After all, there were still several years before Rika's car accident—he couldn't afford to wait that long.

But he didn't know—if he took precautions in advance, would it affect Rika's future?

For instance, pulling strings to transfer Rika to another school, so she wouldn't have to pass through that damned intersection.

But could that really guarantee no more accidents would happen?

What if that inexplicable fate was determined to have Rika hit by a car, no matter what?!

Then what had once been a predictable event years later might turn into a sudden, unforeseen disaster.

If that happened, Gojo Sawa's guilt would be immense.

Just as he was pondering this, the crowd suddenly erupted in screams.

"Aaaah..."

Gojo Sawa focused his gaze and froze completely.

A runaway cargo truck had smashed through the guardrail from the other side of the road, charging toward the crowd with the momentum of someone hell-bent on killing.

Unsurprisingly, Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto were right in the middle of the crowd.

Gojo Sawa could even see that Rika's position was directly in the truck's path.

And Yuta Okkotsu had been forcibly shoved out of the danger zone by the panicked crowd.

Good, good! Perfect, perfect!

This runaway truck really was precise and elegant!

Gojo Sawa understood that his arrival had likely altered the timeline, causing Rika's death to occur several years earlier.

But that was fine—at least he wouldn't have to wait any longer.

Squeal, squeal, squeal—

Tires screeched, kicking up smoke and leaving long skid marks on the road.

At that moment, the truck's front was mere inches from Rika.

With fear in her eyes, Rika looked toward Yuta in her final moment, while the latter, swept along by the crowd, desperately reached out in her direction.

Boom!

The entire front of the cargo truck slammed into a utility pole. Thick smoke billowed, and crackling sparks kept everyone at a distance.

In that instant, Yuta Okkotsu felt time stand still.

He stared blankly at the scene before him. An emotion called despair surged into his heart, and a bone-deep chill radiated from his body.

The immense cursed energy lurking within him burst forth like a runaway horse, uncontrollably spilling outward.

"Rika!!!"

Yuta Okkotsu let out a shout, shoved through the crowd, and charged madly toward the accident site.

Those he pushed aside were stunned by the boy's terrifying strength, but soon someone grabbed him.

"Don't go up there! It's dangerous!"

"Let me go! Rika!"

To the onlookers' shock, a tall man over 180 centimeters couldn't hold back this elementary schooler who barely reached 120!

Breaking free, Yuta Okkotsu was about to rush forward again when someone yanked him back.

"Let me go! Let me—"

"Hey, kid, is the Rika you're looking for this one?"

Yuta Okkotsu turned around, his face full of shock.

There stood Gojo Sawa, smiling at him, holding Rika in his hand—her face dazed from fright.

Gojo Sawa looked up. Despite the massive accident, the few pedestrians caught in it were only injured.

Even the driver had been saved by the airbag.

Clearly, this crash was aimed solely at Rika.