"Hey, Megumi!"
Gojo Satoru ruffled Megumi Fushiguro's spiky hair.
Under the Six Eyes, the surging Cursed Energy within Megumi and his immense talent were laid bare before Gojo Satoru.
The Ten Shadows Technique, a technique said to rival Limitless—the Zenin Clan's coveted hereditary secret.
If those old geezers found out that the Ten Shadows Technique they've been dreaming of has become the student of the Six Eyes from the Gojo Clan, I wonder how priceless their expressions would be!
"Heh heh heh..."
Megumi looked up at Gojo Satoru's goofy grin, then turned away in disgust to look at Toji Fushiguro.
"This is the teacher you pulled strings to find for me? He really is as unreliable as you!"
"Then again, someone who got beaten until his face was black and blue and came crawling home, unemployed, probably wasn't doing too well to begin with. So I guess his connections are just as bad."
"..."
Toji Fushiguro pressed his fingers to his temples, feeling a headache coming on. He was 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'd awakened the Ten Shadows Technique, so of course Toji wanted to find him the best teacher.
There were two other Special Grade Sorcerers.
One was Yuki Tsukumo, who often traveled between Japan and overseas and had already taken Riko Amanai as her student.
The other was Suguru Geto, who'd taken in two adoptive daughters and an adoptive son. He was practically a super dad by now.
There was no choice. Gojo Satoru was the only option.
At least compared to Gojo Sawa, Gojo Satoru was relatively normal.
"By the way, where's Sawa? I haven't seen him much lately."
"Big Brother? I think he said he'd found a promising student and was going to take them on."
Gojo Satoru messed up Megumi's hair with a goofy grin, turning his spiky hair into something that looked like sea urchin spines.
"Too bad. Megumi's got the Ten Shadows Technique, so no matter how hard Big Brother looks, he won't find anyone more talented. I may not be as good as him, but my student's definitely going to be better than his!"
"Megumi-chan, you're carrying your teacher's hopes. Put Big Brother's student under your heel! Heh heh heh..."
Megumi was at a loss for words.
A street in Tokyo.
A sleazy-looking man in black peeked out furtively, watching two small figures not far away.
"Achoo!"
"Damn it! Satoru must be badmouthing me again! I'll give him a good beating when I get back!"
Then, ignoring the passersby who stared at him as if he were a lunatic, Gojo Sawa secretly followed the pair, looking just like a creep tailing a teenage idol.
The two elementary schoolers walking side by side in the distance were the targets of his trip.
Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto!
They were childhood friends who'd been inseparable since they were little. Though they were still young, they'd already promised to get married when they grew up—and had even picked out their wedding rings.
Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous!
It was pure love, sure, but the speed and efficiency of it were astonishing. Even across the entire world of anime and manga, it was something else.
Watching them walk hand in hand, chatting and laughing, Gojo Sawa felt as if someone had just force-fed him a huge mouthful of lovey-dovey sweetness.
After forty years combined across two lifetimes, he still hadn't even held a girl's hand. By now, he was beyond recognition.
He went over the original story in his mind, and finally managed to calm down a little.
Yuta and Rika might have been the poster children for pure love, but the original story had ended in tragedy.
Whether it was some uniquely twisted kink of jjxx's—or of the Japanese in general—who knew? Either way, they just couldn't stand to let pure love have a happy ending.
According to the story, Rika would die in a car accident at the age of eleven.
Witnessing the whole thing traumatized Yuta Okkotsu. He awakened his innate Cursed Technique on the spot and, without meaning to, cursed Rika with the words, "Don't go."
Yuta Okkotsu was a distant relative of the Gojo Clan, descended from Sugawara no Michizane, and possessed terrifying potential for Jujutsu.
Fueled by the immense Cursed Energy within Yuta, the curse he placed on Rika bound her soul and eventually gave rise to the Vengeful Spirit known as the "Queen of Curses."
And it was precisely because of Rika, a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, that Yuta Okkotsu enrolled as a "Special Grade Sorcerer"!
That didn't mean Yuta relied entirely on Rika as a cheat code. After releasing her soul, he used his own impressive talent to regain Special Grade status in just three months.
In terms of talent, this guy was absolutely on par with the current "Strongest Trio."
I wonder if stepping in early will affect the timeline...
Gojo Sawa hesitated, wondering if he should whisk Yuta Okkotsu away right now.
After all, Rika's car accident was still years away. He couldn't afford to wait.
But he didn't know whether intervening ahead of time would affect Rika's future.
For example, he could use his connections to get Rika transferred to another school, so she wouldn't have to cross that damn intersection.
But would that guarantee there wouldn't be another accident?
Maybe that unfathomable thing called fate wouldn't be satisfied until Rika got hit by a car!
Then an event that had been predictable years in advance could become an accident that struck without warning.
If that really happened, Gojo Sawa would be guilty as hell.
As he pondered, the crowd suddenly erupted in screams.
"Ahhh..."
Gojo Sawa looked over and froze.
A runaway semi-truck had smashed through the guardrail on the other side of the road and charged toward the crowd with the unmistakable intent of not stopping until it hit someone.
Unsurprisingly, Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto were among the people.
Gojo Sawa could even see that Rika was standing directly in the truck's path.
Yuta Okkotsu, meanwhile, had been shoved out of the danger zone by the panicked crowd.
Great! Just great!
That runaway truck was astonishingly precise and graceful!
Gojo Sawa realized that his arrival had probably affected the timeline, bringing forward Rika's death by several years.
But that was fine, too. At least he didn't have to keep waiting.
Screeeee—
The tires scraped against the road, sending up smoke and leaving long skid marks behind.
At that moment, the truck's front was only inches from Rika.
In her final moment, Rika looked toward Yuta in fear. As the crowd carried him away, he desperately stretched out a hand toward her.
Boom!
The truck's cab slammed into a utility pole. Thick smoke billowed as sparks crackled, keeping everyone at a distance.
In an instant, Yuta Okkotsu felt as if time had stopped.
He stared blankly at what was happening before him. Despair welled up inside him, and a bone-deep chill spread through his body.
The immense Cursed Energy hidden within him surged like a wild horse breaking free, pouring out of him uncontrollably.
"Rika!!!"
Yuta Okkotsu shouted, shoved the crowd aside, and charged toward the accident scene like a madman.
The people he shoved were stunned by the boy's terrifying strength, but someone immediately stepped forward and grabbed him.
"Don't go any closer! It's dangerous!"
"Let go of me! Rika!"
To the shock of the bystanders, a six-foot-tall man couldn't hold back this four-foot-tall elementary schooler!
After breaking free, Yuta Okkotsu was about to rush forward when someone yanked him back again.
"Let go of me! Let..."
"Hey, kid, is this the Rika you're looking for?"
Yuta Okkotsu turned around, his face full of shock.
Gojo Sawa looked at him with a cheerful smile, holding Rika, whose face was frozen in shock.
Gojo Sawa glanced around. Despite the scale of the accident, the few bystanders caught in it had only been injured.
Even the driver had been saved by the airbag.
Clearly, the truck had been aiming straight for Rika.
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