The next day, the news spread throughout Jujutsu Society.
The Zenin Clan had been massacred. Everyone had died a violent death. No cursed energy residue from any Jujutsu Sorcerer could be detected on the bodies.
There was nothing. It was as though the killer had been neither a sorcerer nor even a cursed spirit, but something more primal, more silent. During further autopsies, examiners discovered extremely faint traces of cursed energy residue from a cursed tool deep inside the wounds, finally confirming the nature of the murder weapon.
Upon hearing the news, the Gojo Clan and the Kamo Clan quickly reached an agreement and jointly proposed removing the Zenin Clan from the Three Great Families.
Jujutsu Headquarters shelved the proposal after receiving it. They neither approved nor rejected it, simply leaving it on a desk like a problem that did not need addressing just yet.
Inside the holding cell, the light was stark white. Masamichi Yaga sat behind the iron bars, his hands resting on his knees, his back perfectly straight. There was no anger on his face, no fear, only an exhaustion worn into him by repeated interrogation, like a stone washed by water for too long, its edges gone, leaving only its heavy weight.
"Yaga, tell me-" Yoshinobu Gakuganji stood outside the bars with his hands behind his back, his voice low and slow, as though he feared something might slip past him if he spoke too quickly.
"Why can that thing generate cursed energy on its own?"
Beside them, Panda lay in a baby basket.
Masamichi Yaga did not answer.
"The higher-ups already consider you a Special Grade Sorcerer." Gakuganji paused, a flicker of complicated emotion passing through his cloudy old eyes.
"You face indefinite imprisonment. If you created this deliberately, that means you could create