To be or not to be, that is the question!

"Looks like you're having fun."

Kenjaku strolled over in a floral shirt and slippers, his gaze falling on Mahito playing with sand on the ground. "Did you kill all the Higher-Ups at Jujutsu Headquarters?"

Before leaving, Kenjaku had told Jiahao and Mahito to leave a few of the Higher-Ups alive to keep things running.

It wasn't that Kenjaku had suddenly grown a conscience. He was just worried his plans might be affected.

If all the Higher-Ups at Jujutsu Headquarters were wiped out, the non-sorcerer authorities and the Jujutsu Sorcerers would go to war.

That kind of chaos wasn't what Kenjaku wanted to see right now.

Once all the preparations were complete and he summoned an unprecedented, colossal Cursed Spirit, things would be different.

At that point, Kenjaku wouldn't care whether humanity went extinct or the planet was destroyed.

"Nope."

Sculpting the Grim Reaper statue from his earlier transformation out of sand, Mahito answered without looking up, "Didn't kill them. Bro Hao's got them all locked up."

Kenjaku raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze toward Jiahao, who was engrossed in a book.

Reclining on a beach chair with a French Fry between his lips, Jiahao solemnly leafed through the book in his hands.

Shakespeare: Collected Quotations.

Could you stop pretending, man? Can you even understand that stuff?

Back when he'd spent an entire night admiring the moon with Detective Kehao, Kenjaku had witnessed a certain Hao's earth-shattering literary talent.

He'd racked his brains all night and still failed to squeeze out a single decent line of poetry.

Only after the sun had fully risen did Jiahao finally utter a line... "Goose, goose, goose."

That was when Kenjaku had realized this fellow's education rivaled that of a fourth grader at his absolute peak.

"Watching my every move with such burning eyes, Geto... don't tell me you've fallen in love with me too?"

"Splash!"

Mahito smashed his head straight through the nearly finished statue, while Melancholy Jogo plunged headfirst into the sea a short distance away.

"Although I'm not some shallow person who only cares about looks, I'm sorry... I still can't accept your love."

Without looking up, Jiahao casually turned a page and suddenly recited, "You say you love rain, but when it rains, you open your umbrella."

"You say you love sunshine, but when the sun shines, you hide in the shade."

"You say you love the wind, but when a gentle breeze brushes your face, you close the window."

"I'm afraid you'll treat me the same way, because..."

"Your eyes tell me you love me." He finished in a vocal fry.

Kenjaku: "..."

On the verge of losing it, Kenjaku clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh.

Hold it together!!

After taking a deep breath and regaining his composure, Kenjaku was just about to ask a question when the Sound System half-buried in the sand suddenly started playing.

"Oh→ oh↗"

"I have no reason~"

"I can't accept it~"

"And now you say-you still love me~"

"Mmm↘ mmm→ mmm↗~~~"

"Haha, hahahaha!"

Mahito had already lost it and was pounding the sand in wild laughter.

Glowing red bubbles rose intermittently near the shore, as though Jogo was laughing.

The octopus surfaced, covering his eyes while bubbles spilled from his mouth.

Hold it together!!!

With his composure more than halfway gone, Kenjaku dug his toes into the sand and took a deep, deep, deep breath.

"Jiahao, where are the people from Jujutsu Headquarters?"

Kenjaku asked casually, pretending none of it had happened.

"Relax. I didn't kill a single one."

Shakespearhao casually waved a hand, and a jagged rift in space opened without a sound.

"Heehee, heeheeheehee!"

A naked, five-meter-tall giant ran out of the rift, wildly swinging his limbs with a bizarre grin on his face.

One after another, nine naked giants ran freely beneath the setting sun.

Despite the drastic changes in their height and build, their facial features still retained their original appearance.

Kenjaku barely recognized one giant with half his skull caved in: Heavenly Guard Extra, the Heavenly Guard Corps leader from Jujutsu Headquarters.

Jiahao really had found some creative uses for Mahito's soul transfiguration.

He really hadn't killed a single one. He'd just turned them into Abnormal Titans.

Watching the pack of Abnormal Titans charge toward him, Kenjaku let go and laughed.

The Abnormal Titans from Jujutsu Headquarters running beneath the sunset: "Heehee, heeheeheehee!"

Kenjaku, utterly losing it and finally letting go: "Haha, hahaha!"

Mahito, rolling in the sand with crazed laughter: "Haha, hahahaha!"

Dagon the octopus, his tentacles flailing as he laughed himself into convulsions: "Pfft, pfftpfftpfft!"

Jogo couldn't hold it in either, and the volcano atop his head erupted.

The sea level dropped, and layer upon layer of steam rolled onto the beach.

A gentle breeze stirred, spreading the white steam like a thick fog.

Filtered through the milky mist, the sunlight softened, and every outline seemed to melt into the shifting haze.

What should have been a fairy-tale landscape became something else entirely thanks to the running Abnormal Titans and the Cursed Spirits howling with laughter.

Heavenly Guard Extra, who still retained a fragment of his own will, screamed inwardly.

This place... is hell!

Seven days later, late at night.

Jujutsu High, indoor training room.

Drenched in sweat, Fushiguro lay flat on his back, panting heavily.

"Well, this is rare. The young king of keeping a straight face actually asked me to spar with him."

"Seeing Yuji and the others getting stronger has made you impatient?"

Fushiguro sat up and rolled his eyes. "You're still in the mood to joke? Have you dealt with all the trouble?"

"You mean Jujutsu Headquarters?"

With one hand in his pocket, Satoru Gojo paused, then waved dismissively. "That's not something a student needs to worry about."

With the Higher-Ups at Jujutsu Headquarters missing, the Gojo Clan had been forced to take charge.

At first, Satoru Gojo had braced himself for a mountain of work, only for things to turn out unexpectedly peaceful.

Or rather, suspiciously peaceful.

The Zenin Family, one of the Three Great Families, had made no move so far. That much was expected.

Those who weren't Zenin weren't sorcerers, and those who weren't sorcerers weren't human.

For that utterly heartless Gambler Family, calmly communicating with the non-sorcerer authorities would have been worse than death.

He'd expected the equally arrogant Kamo family to act the same way, but the opposite had happened.

They'd donated vast sums of money and enormous quantities of cursed resources without asking for anything in return, even taking the initiative to send people to communicate with the Cabinet.

And the Cabinet ministers, who normally regarded Jujutsu Sorcerers with extreme suspicion, had proved surprisingly accommodating.

All these abnormalities made Satoru Gojo realize that another invisible hand was working behind the scenes to maintain stability in Jujutsu Society.

Though he was curious about who was behind it, Satoru Gojo couldn't spare the time right now.

Besides helping Itadori, Fushiguro, and the other students train, Satoru Gojo was also intensifying his own training, driven by a sense of urgency he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Megumi."

Satoru Gojo looked at Fushiguro. "I think you're every bit Yuji's equal, both in strength and potential."

"The gap between you and Yuji lies in your mindset."

"You keep underestimating yourself and others. You can't imagine a stronger version of your future self."

"Maybe it's because of your trump card. You think that, at worst, you can die and take care of any enemy."

Satoru Gojo moved closer and crouched down to meet Fushiguro's eyes. "Winning by dying and risking death to win are two different things."

"Be a little greedier. Try your hardest to imagine a stronger future version of yourself."

"The Jujutsu Sorcerer growth curve isn't about steady improvement accumulated day after day. A solid foundation, a little talent, and some imagination can transform a person!"

"On that point alone, I hope you'll learn more from that lunatic Jiahao."

"Don't spend all your time thinking about sacrificing yourself for your friends. You can afford to be a little more selfish."

"After all, no matter how many friends you have around you, when you die, you die alone."

With that, Satoru Gojo lightly flicked Fushiguro's forehead.

"Smack!"

Shakespearhao closed the book in his hands and gazed toward the far side of the sea.

"To be or not to be, that is the question."