The beginning

October 31, Halloween, Shibuya.

The streets teemed with noisy crowds.

Atop Shibuya S Tower, an old man with a curled mustache punched the commissioned Curtain stake Kenjaku had given him into the roof.

Beside him, an elderly woman fingered her prayer beads and said, "Suguru Geto survived Satoru Gojo and stayed hidden for all this time. Quite impressive."

The old man pocketed the remaining two stakes and straightened up. "I don't care about any of that, as long as what Suguru Geto said is true.

Satoru Gojo can be dealt with today. For the sake of freedom, I'll follow his orders, but only for today."

"Freedom. I've longed for it for so long, too. Ever since Satoru Gojo was born,

the days of our youth, when we could freely prey on the weak, have been gone for good.

I hope it works this time." The old woman lifted her drooping eyelids, remembering the good times of her youth.

Mahito worked his way up from the bottom of the tower, turning every human inside into a monster that knew only slaughter.

Once he was finished, Mahito reached the roof and looked at the two curse users. "Hey, all the transfigured humans inside are in place. Just stay up here and watch the Curtain. Don't leave on your own until you hear news about Satoru Gojo."

The old man spat, his eyes full of contempt as he looked at Mahito. "We're not senile yet. We don't need a cursed spirit like you reminding us."

Mahito ignored them. His arms turned into wings, and he leaped off the roof. "What pathetic jujutsu sorcerers. This isn't a game of cat and mouse."

Atop the tower.

They watched Mahito leave.

The old woman had her grandson help her up and walked to the doorway leading downstairs. Roars echoed from within. She turned back and sat down again. "They're trying to cut off our escape route. Now it'll be difficult to leave even if we decide not to do this."

"Hmph. Push me too far and I'll jump straight down. This height is nowhere near my limit." The old man was still angry.

He had spent his whole life running wild, yet now, in his old age, he had to take orders from a cursed spirit. What a disgrace. It was all Satoru Gojo's fault!

That single backward glance in his younger days had shattered his life of freedom.

As he spent every day in dread, Satoru Gojo had slowly grown up. He knew his days of preying on the weak would never return.

The old man gritted his teeth and sat down cross-legged.

Mahito circled through the air for a while, then landed beside Kenjaku, who was posing for a photo with three young women.

Kenjaku smiled as he wrapped up their conversation, then turned to Mahito. "All done?"

"Of course. When are we locking these humans up?" Mahito looked around.

"Right now." Kenjaku headed toward the station platform.

The bustling crowds were enjoying their rare Christmas holiday.

Suddenly, widespread chaos erupted. A large crowd near the intersection was sucked into the station in an instant, leaving a vast stretch of the lively streets empty.

Those nearby who noticed what had happened froze in place.

Then a visible black veil descended from the sky, enclosing the area.

Just as some people in the crowd noticed something was wrong and began spreading the word, a voice rang out across the entire area.

"If Satoru Gojo doesn't come, none of you can leave. If Chiyo Shin comes, all of you will die."

Everyone stopped walking and listened to the announcement.

"Whose prank is this? It's pathetic," someone dressed as a clown said to his friend.

But his friend stared blankly into the distance. The pitch-black Curtain had blocked everyone's way home.

Some people near the Curtain reached out to touch the black veil, only to find they couldn't pass through. They all cried out, "That voice was telling the truth! We really can't get out!"

The news spread from person to person, and huge numbers of people came to the Curtain to see for themselves.

There was no lucky exception. It was true. Terror spread through the crowd, but there was nothing they could do.

The terrified crowds began cursing and shouting the names Satoru Gojo and Chiyo Shin.

"How ugly." Listening to the frightened cries in the distance, Mahito grabbed a nearby human and transfigured them.

At seven p.m., a Curtain with a radius of four hundred meters appeared, centered on the Tokyu Toyoko Store.

The Jujutsu Higher-Ups learned of it immediately.

Emergency orders were issued and put into effect at once.

Every active jujutsu sorcerer mobilized, except Chiyo Shin.

"Satoru, we had an agreement. We could overlook what Chiyo Shin did at the last Goodwill Event, but he must never go to densely populated areas on future missions.

And now the enemy has specifically called him out by name. That's all the more reason not to send him." This was the higher-ups' unanimous decision.

This time, Satoru Gojo didn't fight them. Uncharacteristically, he nodded in agreement. He couldn't gamble with tens of thousands of lives.

Tokyo Jujutsu High.

"Shin, don't worry. Gojo-sensei is coming on this mission with us. It'll be fine," Yuji Itadori said, trying to reassure Chiyo Shin, who sat fuming on the couch.

"Stay home and wait for news of our victory!" Nobara Kugisaki tightened her waist pouch and taunted Chiyo Shin.

"It's time. We need to go," Megumi Fushiguro urged from the doorway.

After Megumi Fushiguro and the others left, seven more sorcerers came in from outside. They were responsible for watching Chiyo Shin and keeping him from leaving.

Chiyo Shin ignored them and ranted in the room. "You actually believe what the enemy says? What do they mean, everyone will die if I go? Even tens of thousands of pigs would take..."

He couldn't understand the order. Why do I have to stay at Jujutsu High when something this big is happening?

Looking around the empty room, Chiyo Shin paced back and forth.

Shibuya? The Shibuya Incident? Wait.

Chiyo Shin suddenly remembered a video he had watched in his previous life. Gojo-sensei seemed to have been sealed during this incident.

Warn Gojo-sensei first. He pulled out his phone. No signal.

You old bastards at Jujutsu High, I ****.

Chiyo Shin turned his gaze toward the seven jujutsu sorcerers watching him.

Sorry about this.

Chiyo Shin slowly walked to a spot where Stillness could reach all seven of them, then activated it in an instant. Before the sorcerers could react, they were all frozen in place.

Chiyo Shin raised his fists, walked behind them, and knocked them out one by one.

Once all seven were unconscious, Chiyo Shin laid them on the couch.

He went outside. Still no signal.

Chiyo Shin unleashed Vibration at full power and used the recoil to launch himself into the air.

Eight p.m.

Everyone was in position, gathered around the perimeter of the Curtain.

Shoko Ieiri had just finished arranging the medical equipment she might need later when a loud crash sounded outside.

She went out to find Chiyo Shin embedded headfirst in the ground not far away.

Shoko Ieiri walked over and recognized him by his clothes. "Shin?"

Chiyo Shin exerted himself and pulled his upper body out of the ground.

"Where am I?" Chiyo Shin propped himself up and looked around. "Ieiri!"

"How did you get here?" Shoko Ieiri pulled Chiyo Shin up from the ground.

"Ieiri, has Gojo-sensei arrived?" Instead of answering, Chiyo Shin anxiously asked about Satoru Gojo's whereabouts.

"No. What's wrong?" Shoko Ieiri asked, puzzled.

Chiyo Shin stared into Shoko Ieiri's eyes and said solemnly, "What's happening in Shibuya is a trap for Gojo-sensei. We absolutely can't let him go inside."

"All right. Understood." Without doubting him, Shoko Ieiri took out her phone and called Satoru Gojo.