Business

The Six Eyes were the eyes of Sugawara Satoru, who had fought Uraume back then.

From the Heian Era to the present day, those eyes had appeared once every few hundred years. A little over a decade ago, the Six Eyes of this generation had been born into the Gojo Clan, which had emerged after the Sugawara clan dissolved.

Satoru Gojo's birth had completely upset the balance between jujutsu sorcerers, curse users, and cursed spirits.

Modern society was nothing like the golden age of jujutsu in the Heian Era. Even those who had developed a domain were few and far between. Unlike Kenjaku, Uraume had little interest in the Six Eyes, but he knew they could see through Nanika's presence. Thinking of the sort of people currently running Jujutsu Headquarters, even the curse user Uraume could not help frowning.

"Uraume, how about we go to Tokyo this weekend?"

Uraume was in the kitchen preparing baby food when Wasuke Itadori, dressed in casual clothes, walked over with his hands behind his back.

What Uraume had said that day had, after all, left its mark on Wasuke Itadori.

He had carefully observed his grandchildren.

Yuji was healthy and lively, while Alluka was quieter. Usually, everything was fine, except that she occasionally made simple requests for kisses or hugs. Once they agreed, Alluka's features turned black, and after they voiced a small, simple wish, she returned to normal.

Yuji said that was their little sister.

After hearing Yuji's childish explanation, Wasuke Itadori grew even more worried. He strongly suspected that Kaori had been carrying triplets, but because she had died and come back to life, that child had never been born. Instead, the child's soul had taken up residence inside Alluka.

Knowing nothing about Jujutsu Society, Wasuke Itadori attributed all these strange occurrences to gods and ghosts.

After turning it over in his mind, he decided he should take the children to a shrine or temple and have a religious master examine them.

The few temples in Sendai were not as famous or as well frequented as those in Tokyo. Wasuke Itadori wanted to resolve this while the children were still young.

"Why go to Tokyo?"

Uraume's hands paused as he peeled shrimp, and he quickly set down what he was holding.

Kenjaku had just warned them not to leave Sendai, and now this old man wanted to go to Tokyo. Jujutsu High, where Satoru Gojo was based, was there. Wouldn't going there be walking straight into a trap?

"The children are getting older. I'd like to pray for their well-being."

Wasuke Itadori sighed. Looking at Uraume's monk's robes, he swallowed the suggestion that they visit a shrine.

As far as he was concerned, Kaori's younger cousin Uraume was a strange person.

She was a woman, yet she had an Adam's apple, and every day she wore monk's robes of unknown origin, pretending to be a monk. Clearly, she had no respect for gods or buddhas. If he said he wanted to find a religious master to exorcise the children, Uraume would certainly object.

"We don't need to go that far just to pray for their well-being, do we? Any shrine in Sendai would do."

Uraume frowned slightly, rejecting Wasuke Itadori's suggestion.

"All right, then."

After some thought, Wasuke Itadori agreed for the time being.

They could try somewhere nearby first. If that did not solve the problem, they could still go to Tokyo afterward.

Seeing that he had talked Wasuke Itadori out of it, Uraume's eyes flickered, and he said nothing more.

When the weekend came, Uraume paid no heed to Wasuke Itadori's worries and picked the shrine closest to their home, somewhere they could reach in a little over ten minutes by car.

Uraume did not quite understand why modern Japan bothered with all these peculiar shrines. To him, worshipping Lord Sukuna would have been far more worthwhile. Still, most shrines these days had become heavily commercialized, so treating it as an ordinary outing was harmless enough.

The randomly chosen shrine occupied a tiny plot of land and had none of the bustle of tourist destinations like Sensō-ji in Tokyo.

After passing through the vermilion torii gate and beneath the snowy-white zigzag Shimenawa, Wasuke Itadori devoutly obtained two protective charms made from golden bells wrapped in gold, red, and blue embroidery thread. He tied the charms to the hem of Alluka's clothes.

The black-haired child played with them throughout the walk back. When the breeze stirred the bells, their clear chimes sounded lovely. In contrast, Uraume kept a wary eye on their surroundings.

"Little Ume, what's wrong?"

Alluka tilted her head, looking curiously at Uraume, whose arm muscles had gone taut.

Uraume was always relaxed at home. Alluka had never seen him look so tense.

"It's nothing, Alluka. Wait here with Yuji for a moment. I'll be right back."

Uraume bent down and gently stroked Alluka's head, then strode toward the subway station ahead under her puzzled gaze.

They were not taking the same route home as they had on the way there. Uraume had just sensed a fleeting fluctuation of cursed energy up ahead. He did not know whether it came from a cursed spirit or a jujutsu sorcerer, so he decided to investigate first, just to be safe.

"What did Auntie Little Ume go to do?"

Having had his fill of playing with the golden bells, Yuji Itadori tugged curiously at Alluka's sleeve.

"I don't know! Grandpa, can we go take a look?"

Alluka tipped her head back and asked somewhat hesitantly.

She was actually a little worried about Little Ume.

"Then let's go take a look."

Wasuke Itadori had kept Uraume's warning not to refuse Alluka firmly in mind. He did not know what would happen if he refused the child, but it surely had something to do with his granddaughter who had died before birth. He thought it would be a good thing if fulfilling her wishes allowed her to pass on peacefully.

The adult and two children descended the stairs. Unlike the bustling scene they had just seen aboveground, their surroundings rippled as they came down. The disturbance was so faint that anyone not paying close attention could easily have missed it.

Alluka glanced around in confusion, but when Yuji called to her, she forgot about that strange sensation.

The subway station was in a somewhat out-of-the-way location, and there were not many people inside.

Although the three of them had followed Uraume down almost immediately, his white-clad figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Work is so exhausting. It's nice to get out and enjoy the scenery on the weekend..."

"Yeah, the surroundings out here in the suburbs are lovely..."

Nearby passersby were discussing the beautiful scenery they had just seen. Alluka stood obediently by the ticket counter, while Yuji pointed at a vending machine and said he wanted one of the drinks inside.

Everything seemed perfectly normal. Just then, a tremendous explosion erupted not far ahead. Flames shot upward, painting the entire area scarlet.

"Ah! Hurry, put out the fire!"

"Help!"

A few passersby grabbed fire extinguishers and rushed over, while others turned and ran toward the station exit. Wasuke Itadori quickly gathered both children into his arms.

Two of the passersby intending to put out the fire stopped halfway and backed away.

Following their gazes, he could just make out a man lying at the center of the explosion, his condition unknown. Beside him, Uraume wiped his bleeding mouth and stood up.

A man in a black tank top and white cuffed trousers stood with the flames at his back.

"What's this? Someone trying to steal my business?"

With a blade strapped to his back, he took a few steps forward. As he raised his head, his half-lidded, deep-green eyes looked down toward Uraume.