Wanted Notice

November 1, 2018, 6:00 a.m.

Shibuya's sunlight was like a sheet of white cloth draped over the ravaged land.

"Bzz—bzz—"

A portable loudspeaker buried among the rubble suddenly emitted a piercing screech. It was an announcement issued by the Jujutsu Higher-Ups to the entire ruin through the assistant supervisors' network.

The voice was cold, aged, and arrogant as it pierced through the morning mist:

"Notice to all sorcerers and relevant personnel. The final ruling regarding the Shibuya Incident is as follows:"

Satoru Gojo has been identified as a co-conspirator in the incident and permanently banished from Jujutsu Society. Any act of unsealing him will be treated as complicity in the crime.

Suguru Geto has been confirmed alive and sentenced to death once again.

Masamichi Yaga, principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High, is sentenced to death for inciting Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto to cause the incident.

Yuji Itadori, Sukuna's vessel. The suspension of his death sentence is revoked. Execution is to proceed immediately. Special Grade sorcerer Yuta Okkotsu is appointed as the executioner.

First-year student Shiyue Shuo has been judged an accomplice in the Shibuya Incident and charged with falsifying information. He is to be placed on the wanted list. Dead or alive.

"Haha."

Shiyue Shuo leaned against a broken subway handrail, a bellows-like laugh rumbling from his throat. He wiped the dried blood from his chin, mockery glinting in his eyes.

"Those old bastards really are as reliably predictable as ever."

He looked down at his wrist. The mechanical watch that had always accompanied him had long since shattered into parts under the backlash from the domain. But that did not matter. He could feel the violent rhythm within him—Rabbit Hour.

Because the domain, Twelvefold Zodiac, had collapsed, the talismans' logic had been completely reversed. The time slot that had originally belonged to [Rabbit] now carried the power of [Rooster].

Then, he sensed an overwhelmingly suffocating presence rapidly approaching.

Yuta Okkotsu.

"So you finally came, champion of pure love," Shiyue Shuo muttered. Telekinesis formed a warped barrier around him, isolating the lingering cursed residue outside.

In his field of vision, Yuta Okkotsu's katana radiated a despairing chill. Yuji was desperately fleeing through the ruins, but before that Special Grade executioner, such resistance seemed utterly futile.

"Shuo, aren't you going to save him?"

Kokichi Muta's voice came through the communicator, heavily distorted by static due to the distance.

"No."

Shiyue Shuo answered indifferently, his gaze calm to the point of cruelty.

"Why? He saved you."

"It's fine. Trust him."

He knew what Yuta was thinking. This pursuit was all for those old bastards in the higher-ups to see. He would kill Yuji, but the instant Yuji died, he would revive him with the Reverse Cursed Technique.

Shiyue Shuo knew the original story's course well. Yuta Okkotsu had accepted the role of executioner for one reason only: to complete the logical loop of Yuji's death sentence through a "physical execution," thereby keeping Yuji alive before the eyes of those old fossils.

"Any unnecessary interference will only ruin Yuta's performance." Shiyue Shuo closed his eyes.

"My, my. What a pathetic sight."

A flippant, arrogant, and extraordinarily piercing voice suddenly sounded behind Shiyue Shuo's ear.

Too fast.

Shiyue Shuo did not hesitate. His telekinesis erupted behind him at full power.

"Bang—!"

The concrete rooftop of the office building instantly shattered. Shiyue Shuo used the recoil to slide dozens of meters to the side. Steadying himself in midair, he saw a lazy-looking young man with blond highlights in his hair.

Naoya Zenin, leader of the Zenin Clan's Hei.

"So this is the 'variable' that has the old men sitting on pins and needles?" Naoya tilted his head, hands in his pockets, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt. "You're ugly."

"Naoya Zenin." Shiyue Shuo landed on a steel beam across from him, his voice hoarse. "Why aren't you competing with Yuta for credit? What do you want with an 'accomplice' like me? And you're the one who's really ugly."

"Yuta? I have no interest in someone who walks around with a funeral face all day." Naoya's body flickered in place, leaving behind afterimages produced by Projection Sorcery at extreme frequency. "My target is that brat Megumi. But since I happened to pass by, killing you too would make for a decent bit of credit."

"The logic of twenty-four frames..." Shiyue Shuo narrowed his eyes.

"Oh? You actually know my technique?" Naoya revealed a cruel smile. "Then you should understand even better that, in my vision, your movements are as slow as a turtle's."

The battle erupted in an instant.

Naoya vanished.

A shrill sonic boom tore through the air. Shiyue Shuo felt the surrounding space split into twenty-four slices in that second. Naoya's fists leaped between those slices, every strike precisely avoiding Shiyue Shuo's visual blind spots.

"Smack! Smack! Smack!"

Shiyue Shuo's shoulder, ribs, and cheek were struck hard in an instant. Blood sprayed through the air. Without [Horse]'s instant healing, those wounds looked especially gruesome in the cold wind.

"What's wrong? Can you only stand there and take it like a punching bag?" Naoya's voice came from every direction.

I can't let him drag me into his rhythm.

Shiyue Shuo endured the searing pain in his brain.

"Simple Domain—Ripple!"

An extremely faint yet high-frequency wave of cursed energy burst outward from Shiyue Shuo.

Naoya's once-perfect twenty-four-frame trajectory stuttered for an instant when it collided with the directionless Ripple.

"What?" Naoya's figure was forced into view in midair.

"Got you."

The pink pupils in Shiyue Shuo's eyes suddenly contracted.

Hundreds of broken steel bars left in the surrounding ruins were drawn by telekinesis into a black iron curtain, sealing off every possible route of retreat for Naoya.

"Let's see how you run in such a cramped space!"

"Tch, what a nuisance." Naoya snorted coldly. His body twisted at an impossible angle as he forced his way through gaps in the steel bars. "Only lowlifes like you would use such cheap tricks."

Just as Shiyue Shuo was about to overdraw his mental strength for a large-scale explosion, both men turned their eyes toward a crater in the distance.

There, Yuta Okkotsu's sword had already pierced Yuji Itadori's heart.

Yuji's presence dropped to freezing point in an instant, then vanished.

"Tch. Yuta actually finished that quickly." Naoya halted his assault and dusted off his clothes with a hint of boredom.

He looked around, and a trace of impatience appeared in his originally icy eyes. His most important reason for coming to Shibuya was to use the chaos to eliminate Megumi Fushiguro, who might threaten his inheritance of the Zenin Clan's headship.

But according to his senses, Megumi Fushiguro was not here.

Naoya curled his lip and did not even spare Shiyue Shuo a glance.

"Since Megumi isn't here, wasting time with trash like you is really beneath me."

In his eyes, Yuji was already dead. Megumi Fushiguro was absent, and continuing to stay in these foul-smelling ruins was torture for a refined egoist like him.

"Hey, accomplice brat." Naoya turned around, his body becoming a blurred afterimage again. "Pray that you can still struggle like this next time we meet. Next time, I'll cut you into pieces and throw you into the sewers."

"Whoosh—!"

The sonic boom faded into the distance.

Naoya retreated.

At last, the sunlight on the horizon tore completely through the clouds.

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