Junpei Yoshino

A month later, at a movie theater in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Junpei Yoshino had skipped school as usual. As luck would have it, the theater was showing Worm-Man 3 today.

After buying his ticket, Junpei Yoshino happily headed toward the screening room, wondering whether Worm-Man 3 would maintain the production quality of Worm-Man 2.

The movie had just started when he entered. He hurried to his seat and had barely sat down, not yet settling in to watch, when noisy voices drifted over from the lower right.

Junpei Yoshino looked down, and his expression darkened.

The three boys who had bullied him a few days ago were in the screening room too.

My luck really couldn't get any worse today.

The constant noise ruined Junpei Yoshino's viewing experience, but there was nothing he could do.

The scenes of his bullying a few days earlier flashed unbidden through his mind.

As Junpei Yoshino relived those painful memories, he suddenly saw someone walk up behind the three boys who had bullied him.

The three seemed completely oblivious.

"Please be considerate while watching, you three," Mahito said gently, touching their cheeks and activating Idle Transfiguration.

Once he was done, Mahito turned and left.

After that strangely dressed person had walked behind the three and said something Junpei couldn't make out,

the sounds of mangled flesh and shattered bones being crushed together, followed by splattering blood, reached Junpei Yoshino's ears.

As the strange man left, Junpei Yoshino cautiously made his way down.

What he saw when he drew close was almost impossible to believe.

"What is this?"

Did that man do this? Could a human really do something like this? Even if he could, would he really be human?

The questions in his mind drove Junpei Yoshino to chase after him.

He took the bait. Feeling the intense gaze behind him, Mahito leisurely led Junpei Yoshino into a narrow alley.

Mahito stopped and turned to look at Junpei Yoshino, who was panting slightly.

"You've been following me for a while. Did you need something?"

Junpei Yoshino looked at the strange man before him, his body covered in stitches. "Was that your doing back in the theater?"

Mahito was utterly unconcerned. "It was. Why? Was someone important to you in there?"

Mahito's words immediately stirred Junpei Yoshino's emotions, bringing back everything those four bullies had done to him.

His eyes slightly red, Junpei Yoshino looked at Mahito. "Could I do something like that too?"

Got him. Mahito finally felt the delight of getting his hands on a new toy.

"If you're not scared, come with me." With that, Mahito walked a short distance away, opened a manhole cover, and jumped down.

Seeing this, Junpei Yoshino followed him down without hesitation.

Tokyo Jujutsu High.

Yuji Itadori and Chiyo Shin arrived one after the other at their meeting place with Satoru Gojo.

Unsurprisingly, Satoru Gojo was late again.

Chiyo Shin looked at the "Be right there" message that popped up in his chat with Satoru Gojo. "This guy."

Yuji Itadori tried to smooth things over. "Haha, Gojo-sensei can be pretty reliable sometimes."

While the two were talking,

Satoru Gojo appeared before them with a whoosh. "Honestly, only two people answered me in the group chat. As your teacher, I'm heartbroken."

Chiyo Shin said irritably, "Itadori and I are the only ones with any free time right now.

"The second-years have been training like crazy after seeing Megumi open his domain.

"Kugisaki is reading the detailed domain notes I gave her. Megumi is taming his other shikigami.

"Even I had to quit my part-time job and rush all the way here."

"Right, right. Thanks for the effort, thanks for the effort. We'll head out right away."

Satoru Gojo led Yuji Itadori and Chiyo Shin down an underground corridor as he spoke. "I won't be able to accompany you on this mission, but I've found a very reliable junior colleague to go with you."

"Gojo-sensei, how much does this mission pay? You still haven't told me. I quit my part-time job to come do this, you know." With his wallet running low lately, Chiyo Shin was clearly more concerned about the money.

"Don't worry. The pay for this mission is quite substantial. You'll definitely make more than at your part-time job." Satoru Gojo patted Chiyo Shin on the shoulder.

"I hope so. That part-time job really taught me what a crooked businessman is." Remembering his unscrupulous boss made Chiyo Shin grit his teeth.

A little farther along, they came upon a half-open door.

Satoru Gojo pushed the door open, walked in, and threw an arm around a blond man wearing a white suit and strange green glasses.

"Allow me to introduce a very serious former office worker and Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, Kento Nanami."

"Don't introduce me like that." Kento Nanami pulled free of Satoru Gojo's embrace.

"First, let me greet you. It's a pleasure to meet you, Chiyo, Itadori." Kento Nanami stood where he was and gave Chiyo Shin and Yuji Itadori a proper bow.

Chiyo Shin and Yuji Itadori hurriedly bowed back. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Nanami-sensei."

"No, please don't call me your teacher. I'm only supervising this mission, not teaching you."

"Oh, all right."

Remembering Gojo-sensei's introduction of him as a former office worker, Yuji Itadori couldn't help asking curiously, "Um, Mr. Nanami, why did you take an office job instead of working as a jujutsu sorcerer?"

Kento Nanami adjusted his glasses and explained, "Well, I studied at Jujutsu High for a while and learned something: being a jujutsu sorcerer is shit."

"Huh?" Chiyo Shin and Yuji Itadori both froze, surprised by his answer.

"Then I left and worked at an ordinary company, where I learned something else: work is shit too."

Chiyo Shin couldn't help nodding at that. Exactly. Work is shit.

"Since both professions were shit, I chose the one that suited me best: being a jujutsu sorcerer."

"Also, Chiyo, Itadori, please don't assume I share Mr. Gojo's views.

"I have a great deal of trust in him."

Hearing himself praised, Satoru Gojo immediately struck a sparkling pose.

Chiyo Shin and Yuji Itadori turned away, disbelief written all over their faces.

"But I have no respect for him!"

"Huh?" Satoru Gojo's pose immediately fell apart.

"Pfft, hahaha! Gojo-sensei! Ahahaha!" Chiyo Shin laughed so hard he couldn't straighten up.

Kento Nanami smoothed his hair and continued, "Although I disagree with many of the higher-ups' views, I still choose to follow the rules. I've said a little too much."

"In short, Chiyo, Itadori, I don't consider either of you jujutsu sorcerers.

"Chiyo, you're very powerful, but you lack the principles of a jujutsu sorcerer. Itadori, you're too weak, and you carry the burden of Sukuna.

"So please do everything you can to prove your usefulness."

"Maybe I wouldn't be like this if we had different higher-ups." Chiyo Shin spread his hands at Kento Nanami.

Yuji Itadori, meanwhile, stared at Kento Nanami. "I know I'm weak, but I'll still work hard to get stronger.

"If I don't get stronger, I won't be able to save more people. I won't even get to decide how I die.

"I'll do it whether you tell me to or not. Then you'll acknowledge me."

Kento Nanami was ice-cold. "Telling me any of that is pointless. Tell the higher-ups."

"Oh, all right." Yuji Itadori's burning enthusiasm was thoroughly doused.

"Isn't this team leader way too gloomy? Can we get someone else?" Chiyo Shin whispered to Satoru Gojo.

"I think so too, but we can't switch." Satoru Gojo agreed with Chiyo Shin's assessment of Nanami's gloominess but refused to replace him.

"Sigh. Fine."

"Come with me. Ijichi has been waiting for a while," Kento Nanami said as he walked.

"All right," Chiyo Shin and Yuji Itadori answered.