An Interlude

"Roar?"

The Mountain Devil scratched its head in confusion. The oppressive presence brought by its enormous body remained, but its targeted killing intent quickly dissipated.

"Mm... boring."

The Sky Devil folded its wings and circled once in the air. Its sharp eagle eyes swept across everyone on the ground, yet completely ignored Shiyue Shuo standing at the very center.

To these beings formed purely from rules and negative emotions, without a target, there was no desire to destroy. They were proud devils, disdaining to crush ants that posed no threat. But they had already been summoned; unless killed, they would not disappear.

"Whoosh—"

A fierce gust swept past.

The Wind Devil seemed to sense something. It transformed into a hurricane and flew straight toward the distant Pacific Ocean. There were storms there that it liked.

Immediately afterward, the Water Devil let out a shriek and transformed into towering waves that surged toward the bay.

One after another.

Having lost their targets, the seven great devils began following their instincts, scattering in search of territories suitable for them to inhabit.

The dark clouds in the sky began to disperse.

The eight enormous black vortices slowly started closing as the devils departed.

In the end, only the vortex at the center remained, still hanging quietly in the sky like a massive black hole. It neither vanished nor produced another devil. It merely watched the earth in silence, like an eye the world had left behind.

On the ground.

Satoru Gojo slowly descended from the air. He removed his blindfold, and his azure Six Eyes swept across the surroundings in confusion.

"Gojo, is it over?" Shoko Ieiri walked over, looking at the devastated Shinjuku with uncertainty in her voice. "Those monsters... why did they suddenly leave?"

"I don't know." Satoru Gojo shook his head, pressing a hand to his temple as a throbbing pain pulsed there. "I just feel like... I forgot something important."

"Where's Sukuna?" Yuji Itadori suddenly realized. "Weren't we fighting Sukuna just now?"

"Sukuna... was defeated by something just now. He turned into a cursed object, and then..." Megumi Fushiguro frowned, trying hard to remember. "And then..."

Everyone fell silent.

There was a break in their memories.

There was a flaw in their logic.

They remembered Sukuna being defeated. They remembered the devils appearing in the sky. But the most crucial thing—the link connecting it all—had been forcibly gouged out of their memories.

"Maybe it was some kind of self-destruct cursed technique Sukuna used that caused the confusion." Kusakabe sheathed his sword and came up with an explanation that sounded reasonably plausible. "Anyway, it's enough that we survived."

Everyone nodded. Though they still felt that something was off, the exhaustion of surviving the disaster left them no energy to investigate further.

And among them.

Shiyue Shuo stood there.

He watched Satoru Gojo walk past him, the hem of his clothes even brushing Shiyue Shuo's arm.

He watched Yuji Itadori shouting for everyone to gather less than a meter away from him.

He watched Yuta Okkotsu's gaze sweep over where he stood, without any focus at all, as though he were looking at a patch of empty air.

"So they really... can't see me anymore."

Shiyue Shuo raised his hand, wanting to touch Yuji's shoulder, but stopped just before making contact.

The Binding Vow had only just taken effect.

If he made physical contact now, it might disrupt the Binding Vow's stability and cause the world's karmic force to lock onto him again.

"This is fine too."

Shiyue Shuo withdrew his hand and slipped it into his pocket.

He looked at the companions he had once fought alongside. He looked at their faces, still full of hope despite being covered in wounds.

As long as they were alive, as long as this world had not been destroyed.

This was the best possible ending.

"Goodbye, everyone."

Shiyue Shuo said softly.

Naturally, no one answered. Even the wind seemed to deliberately avoid him.

He turned around, his back to the others and to the lively ruins, and walked alone into the depths of the shadows.

His silhouette beneath the setting sun looked incomparably lonely, yet incomparably free.

December 26, 2018.

Tokyo, the ruins of Shinjuku.

The setting sun dyed the ruined city blood-red. Assistant supervisors from the rescue teams moved through the wreckage like ants, carrying the injured on stretchers as survivors' sobs mixed with shouted orders.

Shiyue Shuo sat atop half a broken utility pole, swinging his legs.

A crow landed on the wire beside him and tilted its head. Its black bead-like eyes swept over where Shiyue Shuo was, yet failed to focus, as though there were nothing here but air.

"Even animals can't see me..."

Shiyue Shuo reached out to tease the crow, his fingers brushing its feathers. Suddenly, the crow flew off in alarm. Of course, it was not because it sensed him, but because of the faint disturbance in the airflow at that instant.

Below, Yuji Itadori worked like a tireless machine, lifting huge slabs of concrete with his bare hands to rescue trapped civilians.

"Hey! Fushiguro! There's someone over here!" Yuji shouted, his face covered in dust and sweat.

Megumi Fushiguro directed "Nue" to carry the injured away. His expression remained calm, but an indelible gloom lay between his brows. Because Shiyue Shuo had destroyed the Shadow World during his battle with Sukuna, Megumi could no longer summon new shikigami. He could only use those he had summoned and tamed before, and once they died, they could never be revived.

"I just feel like... something's missing." Megumi Fushiguro murmured.

"Maybe you're hungry." Though still recovering, Nobara Kugisaki had also arrived at the scene. Leaning on her hammer, she stubbornly said, "Let's go eat sushi after this. Ginza doesn't seem to have collapsed yet."

Shiyue Shuo looked at them, a faint smile curling his lips.

"Sushi... I want to go eat with everyone too."

He still preferred livelier places. It was just that now, no matter what he did, no one could observe him. The only thing that could be considered good news was that he no longer had to pay.

Just then, several black sedans stopped outside the cordon.

Several arrogant-looking middle-aged men in black suits stepped out. They were envoys sent by Jujutsu Headquarters—the mouthpieces of the so-called Rotten Oranges.

The leader adjusted his glasses, ignoring the disastrous rescue scene around him as he walked straight up to Satoru Gojo.

"Satoru Gojo, this is Jujutsu Headquarters' highest directive."

The man handed over a letter sealed with wax, an air of blustering authority in his voice. "In light of the catastrophic consequences caused by the 'Special Grade Cursed Spirit Rampage Incident,' as well as the risk of Ryomen Sukuna's Incarnated Body, Yuji Itadori, losing control, the higher-ups have made the following ruling after an emergency deliberation."

Satoru Gojo did not take the letter. With both hands in his pockets, he merely looked down at the man standing a head shorter than him.

"Read it."

Just one word, yet the temperature around them instantly dropped to freezing.

The envoy swallowed and tremblingly opened the envelope.

"First, Satoru Gojo is deemed primarily responsible for this disaster. Though his seal has been lifted, he is to be confined indefinitely within Jujutsu High's Forbidden Vault and may not leave without authorization."

"Second, the pursuit of Suguru Geto is to be revoked. He is to be classified as a calamity-level observation target, and no action is to be taken that might provoke him."

"Third..." The envoy's voice paused. "The execution of Ryomen Sukuna's vessel, Yuji Itadori, is to be carried out immediately once again. Special Grade sorcerers Yuta Okkotsu and Satoru Gojo will jointly perform the execution."

"Fourth, due to instability in the Tengen Barrier, Jujutsu Society is entering a state of emergency lockdown. All Grade 1 sorcerers and above must unconditionally obey Jujutsu Headquarters' deployment."

After finishing, the envoy closed the document and forced himself to look calmly at Satoru Gojo.

"This is for the stability of Jujutsu Society, Mr. Gojo. Please—"

"Pfft."

A soft laugh interrupted him.

Satoru Gojo lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly. Then his laughter grew louder, filled with mockery and madness.

"Hahahaha! Stability? You call this stability?"

Satoru Gojo suddenly raised his head. A storm that made hearts tremble churned within his azure Six Eyes.

"Sukuna's cursed objects have vanished, and seven Special Grade cursed spirit devils have disappeared without a trace, yet you old fossils are still thinking about how to preserve your power and status?"

"This is the higher-ups' decision!" the envoy shouted sharply.

"The higher-ups?"

Satoru Gojo took a step forward. The terrifying pressure of his cursed energy made the envoy's legs give out, and he collapsed to the ground.

"From today onward, there are no higher-ups."

Satoru Gojo turned to look at the students behind him. Yuji, Megumi, Yuta, Maki, Panda, Toge... every one of them was looking at him. There was no fear in their eyes, only the resolve of a consensus reached long ago.

"Sensei, we should've done this a long time ago." Maki Zenin rested her longsword on her shoulder, her gaze icy.

"Violence isn't good, but if it's for the greater good..." Yuta Okkotsu lightly ran his fingers over his sword.

"Salmon." Toge Inumaki pulled down his collar, revealing the cursed markings.

Satoru Gojo looked at these students. He felt as though a puzzle piece was missing from his memories, as though someone who should have been part of this group had vanished. That feeling of absence irritated him and filled him with an unprecedented disgust for these rule-bound Rotten Oranges before him.

He raised his hand and pointed toward the black sedans, as well as the Tokyo Jujutsu Headquarters building that could still be vaguely seen amid the ruins.

"Today, we're doing some spring cleaning."

"Target: Jujutsu Headquarters."

"Everyone, move out."

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