Yaga Masamichi Has a Few Questions...

Yaga Masamichi watched him compose himself in an instant, a trace of appreciation flashing through his eyes. Then he asked his first question—the most important one.

"After bringing you back, we used our connections with police forces both domestically and abroad to search the entire world for any information related to you. But the results all came back empty. There isn't a single file or record that can prove your existence."

He paused.

"It's as if you appeared in this world out of thin air. So, who exactly are you?"

The question caught Toho Tetsu off guard.

The answer was quite simple. All he had to do was explain everything: that he had originally lived in the real world, that he had been a fan of the story unfolding in this world, and that during a chat, an online friend had sent him here.

But could he say that?

Setting aside whether the person before him would believe he was merely a character who existed in a story—

Even if such a thing truly existed, some mysterious entity was freely manipulating people's fates and throwing them into other stories just to see whether they could accomplish the things it imagined?

To any normal person, that would undoubtedly sound absurd.

If he said something like that, let alone Yaga Masamichi, even he himself would not believe it.

What's more, for people who truly lived in this world, talk of other worlds and transmigration was undoubtedly pure fantasy—the ravings of a madman.

After learning the truth, the man before him would probably only think something was wrong with his mind.

And then, what awaited him would likely be more than just investigation and handling. There might be harsher measures—dissection, or being turned into a lab rat...

In any case, he had never held any positive expectations toward the Jujutsu world's upper ranks, whose minds and ideals were both horribly twisted.

So at this moment, he had only one path to choose.

"I don't know. Other than some basic common sense and the language needed to communicate with people, I can barely remember anything.

"The only thing I know is that my name is Toho Tetsu."

Halfway through, he deliberately showed a somewhat lost and confused expression.

"As for who I am, where I belong... I don't have an answer to those questions either."

After saying that, he felt his heartbeat quicken slightly. Although he was doing this only to protect himself, it was still a lie.

Yaga Masamichi did not comment on his answer. He merely gave him a deep look before asking the second question.

"I understand. Then the next question: was the cursed spirit attack at the subway station yesterday... related to you?"

The answer to that question was simple—so simple that Toho Tetsu blurted it out without even thinking.

"No."

Of course it had nothing to do with him. He was just an unlucky guy who had happened to be thrown there by some mysterious online friend, then forced to fight a cursed spirit. Even if anyone was related to it, it would only be that online friend. How could it have anything to do with him?

"I just suddenly appeared there. I had no idea what was happening. If your people hadn't come to save me, I probably would've died there."

Yaga Masamichi still did not press him further. He merely tapped the tabletop lightly with his fingers, as if considering something. Only after a few seconds did he speak again.

"All right. Third question."

He adjusted his posture and leaned forward slightly. The movement made his already tall, imposing frame even more intimidating.

"According to my student, you were able to guide and control cursed energy after only a few simple words from her, and you used it to injure a cursed spirit.

"More importantly, you landed a Black Flash."

As if afraid Toho Tetsu would not understand, he explained what Black Flash meant.

"Black Flash—this phenomenon only occurs when the difference between the release of power and the moment of impact during an attack is no more than one ten-thousandth of a second.

"You can understand it this way: at that instant, the power inside your body and your attack achieve synchronization through some unimaginable means, then erupt with dozens or even hundreds of times your original power, depending on your own strength."

At that, he looked at Toho Tetsu again.

"And triggering it requires an extreme unity of mind and concentration beyond human limits. It may also depend heavily on luck. That is why countless Sorcerers struggle to land even one in their entire lives."

Toho Tetsu could only grumble inwardly at that explanation.

That's because you've never seen a high school student named Yuji Itadori. And you definitely haven't seen him use Black Flash like a normal attack while fighting Sukuna.

But it was only then that he realized what the black-and-red lightning he had seen before losing consciousness had actually been.

He had not expected that the first time he used cursed energy, he would directly land a Black Flash.

Could it be that I, too, have the makings of a legendary Black Flash King?

But that thought lasted only a second before he crushed it himself.

What kind of joke is that? Who is Yuji Itadori? The person with the greatest potential in the entire series. Only his roughest few months got adapted into Jujutsu Kaisen. Sixty-eight years later, Emperor Yuji could fire off a dismantle that reached eight kilometers. What right do I have to compare myself to a cheat like him?

He had merely managed to land one Black Flash through luck at the brink of death. And after throwing that punch, he had immediately passed out. He could not remember the state he had been in or the feeling of that moment at all.

The difference between them... was probably like a small pond and the Pacific Ocean.

Still, according to the original setting, someone who had landed Black Flash once found it easier than other Sorcerers to enter that state. If he tried to familiarize himself with that feeling in the future and repeatedly recreated it, perhaps he could raise the chances of landing another Black Flash?

"So, how did you do it?"

The next second, Yaga Masamichi's words pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Someone who has never systematically studied or understood this knowledge was able to unleash an attack like that in his very first battle. Don't you think that's highly unreasonable?"

There was still no interrogative intent in his tone. If anything, it held more curiosity and desire to investigate. Toho Tetsu, in turn, honestly described his state at the time without holding anything back.

"I don't know either. There was no way out at that point, so I didn't think about anything. I just put everything I had into gathering that power in my right hand, then threw the punch with all my strength."

After hearing his answer, Yaga Masamichi looked at him for a long while before finally leaning back.

Though Toho Tetsu could not see his eyes or expression behind the sunglasses, he sensed that the man's posture had relaxed slightly.

"Then, the final question."

His tone suddenly softened. It was no longer the pressing line of questioning from before, but more like a conversation between friends.

"This is a school dedicated to training Sorcerers... in other words, teaching people how to use the power inside you. I don't know who you were before, but you undeniably possess outstanding talent."

The eyes hidden behind his sunglasses seemed to hold something beyond mere scrutiny.

"Since you don't remember anything, what do you plan to do next? What do you think of this place...? Do you want to leave, or do you want to stay?"

The instant he heard that question, Toho Tetsu thought of Utahime, Mei Mei, Shoko, and all the familiar yet unfamiliar people who would soon appear in this world.

He also thought of the stories that had happened to them—stories he had disliked while reading the original work, yet had been powerless to change.

And he remembered that nightmare, where Sukuna had brutally beaten him before cutting him in half at the waist.

Even in a dream, the pain brought by those unceasing slashes had terrified him so deeply that he could not forget it. Without power, he could change nothing and accomplish nothing.

The best outcome would only be for the upper ranks to casually throw him into some corner and imprison him.

He refused to accept that future.

So he answered without the slightest hesitation.

"Even though I don't know where I came from or where I'll go in the future, what happened before made me understand one thing: this world is dangerous. Without power, everything else is meaningless."

"So I want to stay. I want to learn how to become a... Sorcerer."

After hearing his answer, Yaga Masamichi looked at him. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking behind those sunglasses. Only after several seconds of silence did he stand.

"I understand."

His voice returned to its official seriousness and steadiness, but it seemed to have lost some of the sharpness and suspicion from when they had first met, replaced by an indescribable emotion.

"However, whether you stay or leave is not something I can decide alone. Next, you need to come with me somewhere."

Toho Tetsu froze.

He had thought the conversation was over and that all he needed to do was wait for the result. Yet this had only been an appetizer before the main course?

"Where?"

As he spoke, he followed Yaga Masamichi out of the office. Utahime Iori, who had been waiting outside, paused when she saw them. Just as she was about to say something, Yaga Masamichi cut her off.

"To meet a few old men who can decide your fate."

The girl froze at his words, then a complicated and worried expression appeared on her face.

She had thought the matter could be resolved at this point, but she had not expected that this unfamiliar boy would still have to face such a situation.

Hearing the seriousness in his voice and seeing Utahime's complicated expression, Toho Tetsu also realized that what he was about to witness was probably the dark side of the Jujutsu higher-ups.

That made sense... Even in the timeline when the original main story began, Yaga Masamichi, as the principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High, could not freely decide whether students stayed or left, much less now, more than a decade earlier.

He had already come this far. There was no turning back once the bow was drawn, so there was no point in overthinking it.

"Keep up."

Hearing the reminder from ahead, he took a deep breath and followed after him.