Sounding Things Out and Analysis

After getting some of the information he wanted from Yongchuan, Xia Jie let him go.

Beating someone up was one thing; killing them was another.

If he rashly killed the man, he would inevitably provoke Jujutsu High's Higher-Ups, and even Gojo Satoru could not fully shield him.

But if he merely "taught him a lesson," those old fools in the Higher-Ups could only swallow their grievances.

Because they had no moral high ground.

Once such backtracking was exposed, Gojo Satoru would show the Higher-Ups no mercy, and it would deal no small blow to their authority.

Though Jujutsu High's Higher-Ups had practically had all their dignity beaten out of them by Gojo Satoru already, whatever face they could preserve was still worth preserving.

As for whether that Tenshu member would reveal Shadow Maru's true strength to Jujutsu High, Xia Jie did not care much.

He had chosen to conceal it before because he had been too weak. It would have been easy for others to forcibly break through Shadow Maru's Binding Vow and kill him.

But now, he possessed the strength of a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer. With Shadow Maru's cooperation, unless Gojo Satoru or Okkotsu personally intervened, it was practically impossible for any other Jujutsu Sorcerer to defeat him.

Since that was the case, there was no need for him to keep acting so timidly.

If Yongchuan reports this to the Higher-Ups, could I become Jujutsu High's fifth "Special Grade" when I return after spring break? Xia Jie wondered.

His Cursed Technique, Imaginary Becomes Real, already had the potential to make one man into an army. Now that Shadow Maru had exposed Special Grade-level strength, it would be hard to justify not raising him, its master, to Special Grade.

If he really became a Special Grade... that would not be bad.

Xia Jie thought to himself.

After all, he had always been wary of Jujutsu High's Higher-Ups and consequently held back in everything he did. If he became a Special Grade, he could intimidate some of them. At the very least, they would not casually send Tenshu members to test him again.

Thinking of Tenshu, Xia Jie felt somewhat wary.

Most of that organization's members were Semi-Grade 1 or higher Jujutsu Sorcerers who possessed Cursed Techniques. Who knew what strange techniques they might have?

If the person sent this time had been a sorcerer who wielded long-range Cursed Techniques, dealing with him might not have been so easy.

Fortunately, Yongchuan had been an idiot with a speed-based Cursed Technique. He had actually thought pure speed alone would let him ambush Xia Jie, only for Xia Jie to seize the initiative by catching him off guard and claim an effortless victory.

Had Okkotsu and Inumaki ever received invitations from Tenshu?

Xia Jie pondered silently.

Probably not Okkotsu. After becoming a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, he had quickly advanced to Special Grade.

Those Higher-Ups were extremely cautious toward Special Grades. Their power was simply too great, and great power was often difficult to control, making them prone to becoming independent figures.

So they probably did not dare casually recruit Okkotsu into Tenshu.

Inumaki, on the other hand, was less certain.

He was a natural Cursed Speech user, powerful and usually quiet. If Tenshu could recruit him, it would undoubtedly add a formidable trump card to their ranks.

For Tenshu, Inumaki should have been an ideal candidate.

But... even if Tenshu invited Inumaki, he might not join. Inumaki had a cheerful personality and might not like an organization that operated in the gutter.

Still, Xia Jie could ask Inumaki what he knew about Tenshu.

Xia Jie opened the chat app on his phone, found Toge Inumaki's profile picture, and casually sent him a message.

Xia Jie: "You there, Toge?"

Inumaki: "On the train."

Xia Jie: "..."

Inumaki: "(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧"

Xia Jie: "Fine. Let me ask you something. Have you heard of 'Tenshu'?"

Inumaki: "Did they come looking for you?"

Xia Jie: "Yeah! What do you think of them?"

Inumaki: "It was supposed to be confidential, but since you know about them too, I guess it's fine to tell you! Still, I don't know much about them. They all seem pretty scary!"

Xia Jie: "You fought them?"

Inumaki: "They said they wanted to test my strength. Weird people! ╮(╯＿╰)╭"

Xia Jie: "Who won?"

Inumaki: "Do you even need to ask? (＝.＝)"

Xia Jie: "Haha... Did you join them?"

Inumaki: "Of course not! What Toge Inumaki loves most is saying 'no' to people who think they're strong!"

Xia Jie: "..."

Inumaki: "Wasn't that cool?"

Xia Jie: "You're cool, you're cool, the coolest!"

Inumaki: "(ﾟ∀ﾟ)ﾉ♡"

Inumaki: "Those people are so annoying. I don't want to become an arrogant, conceited person like them!"

Xia Jie: "Me too! My dream is to become a free-spirited Jujutsu Sorcerer!"

Inumaki: "Me too! ⊙▽⊙"

Seeing the emoji Inumaki had sent, Xia Jie smiled faintly. They chatted for a few more moments before he stopped wasting time and hailed a cab to the airport.

Judging from the information he had received from Inumaki, Tenshu's existence was not exactly a secret, but its members were each more mysterious than the last.

Tenshu's stated purpose was to maintain stability in Jujutsu Society and eliminate every factor detrimental to it.

Viewed that way, Tenshu's existence seemed like a good thing.

But the problem was that Tenshu obeyed Jujutsu High's Higher-Ups completely. That meant Tenshu had likely long since strayed from the purpose it had been founded for.

Jujutsu High's Higher-Ups had been infiltrated by Brain like a sieve. Those not controlled by Brain were mostly inflexible old fossils.

If things went according to their ideas, Jujutsu Society in Japan truly would have no hope whatsoever.

Hakari Kinji was proof enough. Just because his Cursed Technique differed greatly from the old ways, the Conservative Faction among the Higher-Ups had expelled him from Jujutsu High. It could not have been more absurd.

The same went for Xia Jie, Okkotsu, and Masamichi Yaga. If not for Gojo Satoru, they would have long since been sentenced to death by Jujutsu High.

Xia Jie had not the slightest favorable impression of Jujutsu High's so-called Higher-Ups, and naturally felt no goodwill toward Tenshu under their command either.

That was why the Tenshu member named Yongchuan had put him on guard the moment he opened his mouth.

As for the Higher-Ups' order Yongchuan had mentioned, Xia Jie did not take it to heart at all.

Gojo Satoru had already secured permission from Jujutsu High for him to return home. If Yongchuan could scare him off with a few words, he would truly be an idiot.

Still, although Xia Jie did not care much about injuring a Tenshu member or exposing his own information, he worried that Jujutsu High might use the incident as an excuse to delay his return home.

So after obtaining some intelligence about Tenshu from Inumaki, Xia Jie immediately took a cab to the airport.

He had booked his flight home long ago.

Originally, he had intended to return home whether Jujutsu High agreed or not, even if he had to do it by less than aboveboard means.

But Gojo Satoru was Gojo Satoru. His influence at Jujutsu High was anything but ordinary, and he had helped Xia Jie solve a difficult problem.

After getting out of the cab, Xia Jie carried nothing with him as he headed straight for the airport's departure lounge.

It was not that he had brought nothing. Aside from his passport, Xia Jie's luggage, weapons, and his father's ashes were all hidden in Shadow Maru's Shadow Space.

Shadow Maru's Shadow Space was secure and concealed, making it exceptionally convenient for evading ordinary people's inspections.