The Exchange Begins, a Tense Atmosphere

And Hanami wasn't alone. Civilian curse users working with Brain had also infiltrated the Jujutsu High.

But they were all merely bait. Brain's true objective was to have Mahito infiltrate the Jujutsu High and steal Sukuna's Fingers!

In the original story, Mahito had successfully stolen the six Sukuna's Fingers stored at the Jujutsu High, along with Cursed Womb: Death Paintings One through Three.

Lin Mu had no intention of meeting his old friend Mahito or stopping him from stealing the fingers. Hanami was far more appealing to him.

As a natural cursed spirit born from humanity's fear of forests, Hanami's strength spoke for itself. Fighting it would greatly advance Lin Mu's inheritance progress.

This would also become Lin Mu's primary goal going forward.

Having unlocked a brand-new ability, Lin Mu no longer felt sleepy. After refining chakra through the night, morning arrived before he knew it.

His days of training with Nanami were about to come to an end. Satoru Gojo had returned from his business trip, and the exchange event was about to begin.

After visiting his unharmed mother at the hospital, Junpei finally let go of his last concern and returned to Tokyo Jujutsu High with Lin Mu and the others!

At the Jujutsu High, Satoru Gojo stared at Junpei as though he had discovered a new species, barely able to suppress his excitement.

This left the newly arrived Junpei at a loss, standing stiffly in place with a bashful expression.

"Um... I'm Junpei Yoshino. Please take care of me!"

His standard forty-five-degree bow nearly crashed into Gojo, who was examining him from every angle.

Itadori helplessly pushed him aside. "Sensei, you're going to scare Junpei like this."

"Ah, sorry, sorry. I got a little too excited." Satoru Gojo laughed. "I didn't expect a surprise waiting for me when I got back from my trip. First year is getting livelier and livelier."

"I'll take him to see the principal and handle his enrollment first. Itadori, make sure you stay hidden. Don't let Fushiguro and the others find you—we agreed to give them a surprise." Gojo grinned mischievously as he led Junpei away.

At the mention of Fushiguro, Lin Mu could not help wondering just how strong he had become by now.

At this point in the original story, Fushiguro had been Grade 2, perhaps even on the verge of reaching Semi-Grade 1.

But because of Lin Mu's appearance, Fushiguro had developed an even greater desire to become stronger. Perhaps he was already a Semi-Grade 1 sorcerer.

Lin Mu wondered how Fushiguro's match against Todo would turn out this time. He vaguely remembered that, in the original story, Fushiguro had been completely unable to fight back.

As the only Grade 1 sorcerer among the participants of this exchange event, Todo was the strongest sorcerer present aside from Lin Mu.

Before Lin Mu had transmigrated here—just last year—Todo, as a Grade 1 sorcerer, had exorcised five Grade 1 cursed spirits and one special-grade cursed spirit during Suguru Geto's largest-scale jujutsu terrorist attack in history!

Exorcising a special-grade cursed spirit above one's rank was practically as difficult as reaching the heavens. Todo had managed it thanks to his outrageously powerful cursed technique, Boogie Woogie.

It could be activated with a simple clap, and its effect was to freely swap the positions of any two objects.

It was precisely this powerful technique, coupled with his terrifying physical abilities, that had earned him such an astonishing record.

"Boogie Woogie... instant position swapping?"

A thought flashed through Lin Mu's mind, and he recalled the Flying Thunder God Technique from Naruto. In some ways, the two were extremely similar.

"I just don't know if I'll ever get the chance to use it."

Lin Mu had entered the God Tree Space many times, and he increasingly felt that the Madara Uchiha before him differed from the one in Naruto.

Perhaps he did not come from the Naruto Lin Mu knew, but was instead a Madara Uchiha who had defeated Naruto and Sasuke, seen through Black Zetsu's plan, and ruled alone as king!

Having ruled the ninja world, it was perfectly reasonable for him to have a few more ninjutsu scrolls, right? Nothing strange about collecting a few more divine artifacts either, right?

Perhaps once Lin Mu's inheritance progress reached a certain level, he would have the chance to unlock ninjutsu and ninja tools beyond Madara himself!

"Knock, knock, knock—"

Lin Mu's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Satoru Gojo and Junpei had returned.

"Alright, Junpei is officially a first-year student now. You all need to get along from now on."

Satoru Gojo clapped his hands. "Next comes surprise time. Itadori, get ready. Let's give Fushiguro and the others a huge surprise!"

Lin Mu helplessly shook his head. He already knew what would happen next, and just thinking about it filled him with embarrassment.

At the Jujutsu High entrance, all the students from Kyoto Jujutsu High and Tokyo Jujutsu High had gathered together. The atmosphere seemed somewhat delicate.

"Huh? This is all you have on the Tokyo side? Are you looking down on us?" Mai sneered. "Looks like you're planning to give up this time."

"Don't worry. We'll go easy on you when the time comes."

As soon as she finished speaking, a calm voice came from behind the Kyoto Jujutsu High group. At some point, Lin Mu had appeared behind Fushiguro.

"Sorry I'm late."

The tension in Fushiguro's heart finally eased when he saw Lin Mu. "You really haven't given us any news these past few days. But as long as you made it here on time, that's fine."

With Lin Mu joining them, both Fushiguro and Kugisaki breathed sighs of relief.

Lin Mu had been completely unreachable these past few days, like a dead man. They had thought he might not be able to participate in this exchange event.

Although Satoru Gojo had promised to bring Lin Mu back on time, he himself was a half-baked teacher who was late every day. The reliability of his words was questionable.

Fortunately, Lin Mu had made it. With him joining them, this exchange event should be in the bag!

Seeing the change in Fushiguro and the others' moods, Mai felt a wave of displeasure. "Tch, he's just a Grade 2 sorcerer. I don't know what you're so happy about."

"Don't tell me you think having one more person means you can beat us?"

"Have you forgotten how Todo beat you senseless?"

"Even if he's stronger than you, he's still just Todo's punching bag."

Fushiguro's expression darkened. Just as he was about to say something, Lin Mu stepped forward.

"Ugly girl, shut up."

The short sentence was devastatingly effective.

Mai froze, clearly not expecting the quiet-looking Lin Mu to have such a sharp tongue!

"You! You fucking..." Mai was about to fire back when—

"Hi, my adorable students! How are you all doing?" Satoru Gojo rode a cart into the middle of the group, with Junpei jogging behind him.

"Nice to meet you. Please take care of me." Seeing so many people, Junpei awkwardly bowed.

Looking at the unfamiliar face that had suddenly appeared, Fushiguro asked, "Sensei, who is he?"

Gojo made a welcoming gesture. "Ta-da! He's your new companion, Junpei Yoshino!"

"He'll also be taking part in this exchange event."

Fushiguro nodded without saying anything.

Kugisaki sighed. "Another type I don't like."

After Gojo neurotically handed out the souvenirs he had brought back from his trip, he pushed the cart into the middle of the group. A large black box sat on top of it.

"The surprises aren't over yet, everyone! Look over here!"

Gojo opened the box, and Itadori suddenly sprang to his feet from inside.

"Ta-da! Surprise! I'm not actually dead!"

"..."

"..."

The scene instantly fell silent. Fushiguro and Kugisaki did not look surprised in the slightest, while everyone else was busy fiddling with the souvenirs Gojo had given them.

No one was surprised by Itadori's appearance at all.

Lin Mu rubbed his forehead and turned away, unwilling to look at the awkward scene.

Before both sides headed to their respective starting points, Mai glared viciously at Lin Mu.

"Just you wait. I hope you can still act this arrogant later!"

"The only rule in the exchange event is that killing isn't allowed. I have plenty of ways to make you wish you were dead. Don't come begging at my heels then!"

The other Kyoto Jujutsu High students also looked at Lin Mu with malicious intent.

Although they had no interest in Mai's pre-match trash talk, they certainly could not just stand by after seeing their teammate get insulted.

After Kyoto Jujutsu High left and both sides entered the preparation phase, Fushiguro and Kugisaki surrounded Itadori with angry expressions.

Kugisaki clenched her fist, grabbed Itadori by the collar, and shook him violently. "If you weren't dead, then I'll beat you to death right now!!"

"Waaah, I'm sorry! I won't joke about something like that again." Itadori was shaken so hard that his soul was practically about to leave his body.

After letting out a sigh, Fushiguro patted Itadori on the shoulder. "Welcome back, Itadori!"