Maki

"Do you know what your father's cursed technique is?"

Xuan suddenly emerged from the shadows behind Maki, who had just stepped off the train.

"I don't know, but he always carries a sword."

"Then let me guess. It should be Burning Brow Entanglement."

As Maki headed toward the Zenin Clan estate, she spoke—after passing through the Zenin Clan's "barrier," Maki and Xuan walked one behind the other through the small courtyard.

"What is that?"

"Oh, it's a cursed technique that condenses cursed energy onto a blade to form flames. It extends the attack's range and can't be blocked by ordinary cursed tools."

When Maki went to Juzo Kumiya's workshop, Xuan did not follow her. And the Dragon Bone she brought out from there could only be considered a secondary weapon.

After all... without Playful Cloud, Maki's strength had taken a major step backward.

The recovered Playful Cloud had been placed in the Zenin Clan's Cursed Repository for reheating and reforging, but it likely would not hold up much longer.

"Can't be blocked by ordinary cursed tools?"

"Yeah. You need cursed energy, or you need to dodge in advance. It only extends forward anyway, so it basically can't turn."

Of course, with enough cursed energy, it could turn. But currently, no one in the Zenin Clan had enough cursed energy for that.

After all, cursed energy was always the rule of the jujutsu world. If one truly had enough cursed energy, they could even turn Burning Brow Entanglement's Maximum Technique into Remnant Flame Blade.

"Little Maki, try thinking about this: if your father were to swing his sword at you, what would you do?"

"I'd probably dodge first, then block his sword, and cut off his blade if possible. That would stop his attack."

The bridge creaked, and the stream flowed slowly. The Zenin Clan estate within the bamboo grove was so tranquil that the topic Xuan and Maki were discussing seemed no more than unrelated everyday chatter.

"No. If your father wants to cut you with his sword, you should avoid his blade, then stab him in the abdomen. Better yet, twist it around a few times. That would damage the cursed energy core as much as possible."

Maki stood at the entrance to the bamboo grove, looking at the houses before her, most of which had nothing to do with her.

"Is it really okay to say that about someone else's father?"

"For a father from the Zenin Clan, of course it is."

"..."

Maki tightened her grip around the Dragon Bone wrapped in white cloth.

"Maybe you're right."

"The way you fight humans is different from the way you deal with cursed spirits."

Tap, tap.

Maki and Xuan's footsteps moved one after the other across the stone pavement.

"When fighting sorcerers, you need to target the waist and abdomen, the brain, the throat, and the heart. Do you know what each of those corresponds to?"

"...Jujutsu High doesn't teach that."

"No, that's common sense, isn't it?"

Patter, patter.

"The waist and abdomen are the core for gathering cursed energy. Like the dantian in Chinese martial arts novels, they store cursed energy, and they're also the area that any sorcerer with a brain focuses on protecting."

"Why specifically emphasize 'with a brain'?"

"There are always people who don't protect their waist and abdomen, right?"

The stone path was not long, but both of them had slowed their steps.

"The brain, throat, and heart—I don't need to explain those, do I?"

"As long as they're sorcerers without reverse cursed technique... they shouldn't be able to deal with wounds like that, right?"

"That's right~"

Tap—

"..."

"My guess is, with your family structure, they definitely won't recognize Megumi Fushiguro as the clan head. So even if you gain Megumi Fushiguro's approval, they still won't give you any cursed tools. In fact, they'd really like to get rid of Megumi Fushiguro—and since you're closely connected to him, you definitely won't escape either."

Maki's gaze froze slightly as her thoughts returned to several hours earlier.

"Jujutsu High has designated Satoru Gojo as an accomplice in the Shibuya Incident and permanently expelled him from the jujutsu world. Any attempt to unseal Satoru Gojo will be treated as the same crime."

When Yuta Okkotsu said those words, Itadori, Megumi, and Maki all revealed shocked expressions.

"Teacher Gojo has been labeled an accomplice?"

Itadori's reaction was the most intense. After all, he was a newcomer who had entered the jujutsu world less than three months ago and did not understand at all what Satoru Gojo represented.

Megumi and Maki understood, however, that this was merely self-deception by the rotten upper ranks of the jujutsu world. Satoru Gojo's existence was like a mountain pressing down on the upper ranks. As long as he remained, they could never fully seize power. This sealing was their "carnival," confirming that Satoru Gojo was gone.

"How pathetic. These petty people who place personal interests above the interests of all—Yuta Okkotsu, do you need me to help you clean house?"

"By clean house, you mean..."

Yuta raised his head—the cold glint in his eyes and the faint trace of reason showed that his thoughts aligned with Xuan's.

"After all, I'm a swimmer—being an ancient person, it's perfectly normal that I don't know the modern higher-ups, right? It's perfectly normal to fight you and beat you into Jujutsu High, right? And afterward, it'd be perfectly normal to accidentally pour cursed energy into the surroundings, cut down every old geezer hiding in every nook and cranny, and show off my strength, right?"

"...The jujutsu world still needs those people."

"Tch—how boring."

"When they're no longer needed, I'll handle them myself."

"You need to keep your cursed energy under control when your emotions get the better of you."

Xuan placed a hand on Okkotsu's shoulder. The flame-like cursed energy wildly lashing around her gradually drew back and wrapped itself around her body again. Then Xuan raised his hand and walked over to Fushiguro.

"Then, if I'm not mistaken, someone will definitely use this as an excuse to cause trouble. Are you prepared, Okkotsu?"

"...They wouldn't dare bring it down on my head."

"Maki, Fushiguro, Itadori, and what's-her-name—Maki's younger sister, right?"

"Mai."

"Not important. Your classmates, too—they could all become excuses for them to exploit, get arrested, or something else—"

"Principal Masamichi Yaga has already been classified as a special-grade sorcerer and imprisoned over the method for creating autonomous cursed corpses."

Okkotsu added at just the right moment.

"Principal Masamichi Yaga..."

Maki had indeed already learned that Panda and Masamichi Yaga had been detained by the higher-ups—but at this moment, there was nothing she could do besides worry.

She was pulled from her memories back into the reality before her.

Ever since this morning, her chest had been inexplicably restless—nothing particularly unusual was supposed to happen according to today's plans, and even if something did happen, there was nothing that could be called a mishap.

Yet her chest, her heart, and her mind all seemed to be warning her—

Warning her that something far from ordinary was about to happen.

"Are you thinking about Masamichi Yaga?"

—Xuan had been listening in at the time as well. While Fushiguro and Itadori, his two obedient disciples, surrounded Okkotsu with questions, he had heard enough to know that Yaga had been imprisoned and why—even more so, Xuan knew Masamichi Yaga's fate.

Naturally, he intended to save this "principal."

He had even saved Naobito; saving one more Masamichi Yaga would only be a matter of convenience.

"You came with me—did you foresee something?"

Maki suddenly asked Xuan out of the blue. Xuan merely looked indifferently at the large courtyard before them.

"Who knows? Maybe I just didn't want to miss a good show."

"What price would we have to pay for your help?"

"A lot."

"Such as?"

"Buy me McDonald's for a week."

"Heh... Fine. Help me save my principal."

"Saving someone costs two weeks' worth."