Ambush

Akari Nitta picked up Megumi Fushiguro outside the hospital and drove off to collect Chiyo Shin and the others.

"Brother, are we just going to wait here?" Kechizu asked Eso, lying in the grass beside the road.

Eso pushed his younger brother's head a little lower into the grass. "This road is the only way out of Yasohachi Bridge. If they leave, they have to pass through here."

On Yasohachi Bridge.

"Megumi, listen to this." As soon as Chiyo Shin got into the car, he played the recorded "thank you" for Megumi Fushiguro.

Megumi Fushiguro turned his head away. "Childish."

The others laughed too.

Nitta Akari drove along the winding mountain road, the car filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Chiyo Shin had just fallen asleep and accidentally drooled on Kugisaki's skirt.

"Chiyo!" Kugisaki pressed Chiyo Shin's head against the car window and rubbed it back and forth.

Chiyo Shin hurriedly apologized. "I was wrong! I was wrong! I won't do it again!"

"Don't let him off," Megumi Fushiguro chimed in from the side.

As the car rounded a bend, the momentum let Chiyo Shin break free. "Angry women are terrifying."

In the grass beside the road, Eso explained their battle plan to his younger brother. "When they come around this bend, we'll jump straight down and take their assistant supervisor hostage. Then we'll make them hand over Sukuna's Finger. Understand?"

"Got it, Brother. But I think their car just went past." Kechizu nodded and pointed at the vehicle that had just passed them.

"What?" Eso sprang to his feet. "After them!"

Eso and Kechizu sprinted at full speed, taking a shortcut to close in on the car.

After behaving himself in the car for a while, Chiyo Shin sighed. "This is so boring."

He leaned toward the front seat. "Itadori, grab me one of the boxed lunches under your seat."

"Okay." Yuji Itadori bent down to get one.

Akari Nitta freed one hand and hauled Itadori's head out from under the seat. "No eating in the car..."

Bang! Everyone in the car saw an exhibitionist standing on the hood.

Eso had finally caught up. Unfurling Wing King, he dropped from the sky and slammed straight onto the hood.

Before Akari Nitta could finish speaking, an exhibitionist landed on the hood. Shocked, she jerked the steering wheel hard.

Eso used Wing King to steady himself, then took advantage of the swerving car to smash through the windshield and drag Nitta Akari out before retreating swiftly.

With its driver gone, the car veered out of control and crashed into the guardrail.

"Great, we did it, Brother!" Kechizu arrived along the road and cheered at the sight of the hostage in his brother's grasp.

Eso kept his eyes fixed on the car beside the guardrail. "No. Be thorough, little brother. We're only halfway there."

A flash of white light dismantled the car. When the light faded, Chiyo Shin and the others stood revealed.

Eso held one wing of Wing King against Akari Nitta's neck while the other slashed across the ground. The surface instantly hissed as it corroded. "If you don't want her corroded too, give me Sukuna's Finger."

Chiyo Shin took out Sukuna's Finger. "Sure. Let Nitta go first, and I'll give it to you."

Eso could clearly sense the violent energy beneath Chiyo Shin's calm exterior. He swallowed. "What do you think? Throw the finger over. Now."

Eso lightly nicked Akari Nitta's neck with Wing King. A rose-like pattern instantly spread across her face.

"Every second you hesitate means more pain for her."

Chiyo Shin immediately threw Sukuna's Finger over.

"You have the finger. Now keep your word."

"Fine. Little brother." Eso sent Kechizu to pick up the finger. Just as both their gazes were drawn to it-

Chiyo Shin swiftly pressed his palms together and murmured.

"Domain Expansion: Stillness of Yin and Yang!"

The open domain he had grasped after being possessed by the Soul Offering instantly enveloped everything around them.

Pure white covered everything in the area.

Eso and Kechizu felt an overwhelming danger descend upon them. Before they could threaten Akari Nitta, both had been dismantled, stripped of their limbs.

Chiyo Shin appeared beside Akari Nitta in an instant, supporting her as he treated her with Golden Repair.

The rose-like poison was swiftly removed.

"Thank you." Akari Nitta felt the pain disappear.

Chiyo Shin looked apologetic. "I'm the one who should apologize. If I hadn't hesitated, you wouldn't have been poisoned."

The domain dissolved.

Megumi Fushiguro walked over to Chiyo Shin and asked, "What should we do with these two?"

Chiyo Shin looked at the two writhing in pain on the ground. "Take them both back for questioning."

After a phone call explaining the situation, Jujutsu High quickly sent a vehicle to pick everyone up.

Choso picked up a chess piece, but before he could place it, he suddenly crushed it.

Mahito protested loudly. "Hey, don't break the pieces!"

"My younger brothers are in mortal danger," Choso explained flatly.

"You can sense that?" Kenjaku looked at his old creation in surprise.

"I don't believe my brothers would lose to a single finger," Choso said firmly, leaning back against the couch.

Kenjaku smiled at that and took out his phone. "Hold on, the report's here. Your brothers were captured by Yuji Itadori and the other first-years from Jujutsu High."

Choso rose without a word. "My brothers will definitely come back." With that, he turned and left.

Mahito picked up the chess piece Choso had crushed. "Geto, the test almost broke them. Just like this piece."

Kenjaku looked at Mahito and the piece in his hand with a smile. "Relax. The pieces are all under control."

Tokyo Jujutsu High.

Satoru Gojo's office.

Satoru Gojo was reviewing surveillance recordings, footage the higher-up investigators had retrieved one by one from street cameras.

Satoru Gojo spotted that familiar figure in the footage, but something always felt off.

He went through the recordings one after another. Almost all of them showed only a profile or a view from behind.

After watching for a while, Satoru Gojo shut off the footage, leaned back against the couch, and closed his eyes in thought.

Who is he? He definitely isn't Geto. A possession or transformation cursed technique couldn't last this long or produce such a perfect likeness.

As he pondered, a somewhat familiar yet unfamiliar female voice interrupted him. "Satoru, long time no see. Can you tell me what kind of woman you like now?"

Satoru Gojo looked toward the voice, a little surprised. "You actually came back?"

Yuki Tsukumo wore her usual outfit. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? What's happened lately? The higher-ups actually asked me to execute your student, Chiyo Shin."

"Shin's situation has already been resolved. The higher-ups have gone senile." Satoru Gojo crossed his legs.

Yuki Tsukumo sat down beside him. "Then I came all this way for nothing."

"Geto might still be alive." After a moment of silence, Satoru Gojo finally said it.

Yuki Tsukumo froze too. "Is this a joke?"

Satoru Gojo stood and took out all the files. "See for yourself."

Yuki Tsukumo took the files and began reading.

Even after finishing the last page, Yuki Tsukumo still couldn't believe it. "Have you spoken to Tengen?"

If Suguru Geto were alive, there was no way Tengen wouldn't have noticed, given the Emptiness Barrier spread across Japan.

Unless Tengen had deliberately allowed it.