The light in the training grounds had faded, leaving a slanted hole in the earth so deep its bottom could not be seen.
"Shoko, come with me!" Sakurada Niji scooped Shoko up and used Flash Step to reach the spot Satoru Gojo had attacked.
But they found no sign of Toji's body.
Huh?! Did he take a direct hit and get obliterated? Was it because we changed locations?!
Sakurada Niji searched all around, trying to find any trace Toji had left behind.
Just as Sakurada Niji began searching for pieces of Toji, clinging to a sliver of hope, a voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Kid, you win."
Standing behind Sakurada Niji was none other than Toji Fushiguro. The muscle along the side of his left chest was gone, along with part of his ribs, but he was still standing there. He had not lost any vital organs.
"Sir... you need treatment..." Shoko walked over.
"Go ahead," Toji replied.
Satoru Gojo descended from the air and walked toward Toji. His mental state seemed much more normal now.
"I didn't hold back, you know~" Satoru Gojo said.
"Then I don't need to thank you either, 'the strongest.'" Toji admitted that he was no match for Satoru Gojo and acknowledged him as the strongest of the modern age.
"...Of course." Satoru Gojo paused, surprised by Toji's candor.
Perhaps it was only today that Satoru Gojo truly grasped what it meant to be called the strongest.
That loneliness, that immense responsibility-from this moment on, bearing the title of the strongest, he could not afford to lose.
Inside a classroom at Jujutsu High.
Everyone sat below while Sakurada Niji stood at the lectern.
"You can tell us now, Niji," Masamichi Yaga said from his seat.
Sakurada Niji gathered his thoughts and told them the "lie" he had spent so long concocting.
"Ever since I was little, I've been able to see certain people's stories. Among them were Geto's and Satoru's. At first, I thought they were only dreams, until I entered Jujutsu High and saw the two of them arguing."
"At first, I couldn't be sure the stories were real, because I didn't exist in them, and nothing in them had happened in reality."
"Then Mr. Yaga received notice that he was being promoted to principal. That was part of Satoru's story."
"After that, during Utahime's promotion mission, I tried to change things. I suggested to Mr. Yaga that I take on the Assistant Supervisor's duties, and that Geto summon Rainbow Dragon to take us there."
"I didn't change much that time. I kept Satoru from being disciplined by our teacher, and caused Utahime to fail her promotion.
Suguru Geto suddenly spoke up. "So that's why you insisted we not bring an Assistant Supervisor on that mission and let you fill in instead, and kept asking me to take everyone there on Rainbow Dragon."
"Yes," Sakurada Niji said.
Satoru Gojo also asked, "What was Mr. Yaga originally going to discipline me for~?"
"Because you promised the Assistant Supervisor you'd lower a Curtain, then didn't."
Masamichi Yaga looked thoughtful, then asked,
"What did you change this time?"
"Riko's death and Toji's death. In the story, after Toji wounded Satoru, Geto took Riko and Kuroi straight to the Tombs of the Star Corridor. Then Toji severely wounded Kuroi and shot Riko dead. Geto was seriously injured because he misjudged the situation. Toji didn't kill him because he was afraid the cursed spirits inside Geto would run wild after his death."
Suguru Geto said, "Actually... I really did misjudge it. I thought I could directly absorb the cursed spirit on Fushiguro, but the absorption failed. If Niji hadn't immobilized Fushiguro with his cursed technique, I really would have been seriously injured."
Toji added, "Well~ I've never killed a jujutsu sorcerer with Cursed Spirit Manipulation. I did consider that a whole load of cursed spirits might come after me if he died."
"I only survived this time because I remembered the kid saying Satoru Gojo would kill me. According to my information, Satoru Gojo had no way to kill me instantly, so when I saw light shining in his hand, I ran immediately. Though I was still a little too late."
Everyone was deep in thought. Only Satoru Gojo looked curious.
"Then is there anything else that's going to happen in the future?" Satoru Gojo asked.
"I can't be sure of the timing, but the next thing should be the first-year, Yu Haibara, dying sometime soon because his mission's difficulty was misclassified. Kento Nanami will quit working as a jujutsu sorcerer because of Haibara's death, though in Satoru's story, he eventually returns to being one."
"In the story of Satoru's students, Tengen mentioned that the cursed energy system follows some kind of unseen law. Only a Heavenly Restriction with zero cursed energy can break that law and disrupt the course of the story."
"And this time, I saved the person with that Heavenly Restriction, so from now on, my stories will no longer be accurate."
Masamichi Yaga suddenly said, "Could we keep acting out the story, then see whether events match? What happens next?"
"Ah, next, Toji takes Riko's body back to the Time Vessel Association. They even pay him extra. Then there's a line that's very memorable."
"Toji's intermediary, Shiu Kong, asks the Time Vessel Association's representative director, 'Aren't you afraid that Tengen failing to merge will cause human society to collapse?' The representative director answers, 'If we fall alongside the star, so be it.' Then he leaves carrying Riko's body. Toji and Shiu Kong both think the representative director has lost his mind."
"After completing the job, Toji encounters Satoru outside the Time Vessel Association. Then Satoru kills Toji with Purple. Before dying, Toji says he sold his son to the Zenin Clan and tells Satoru to do whatever he wants about it."
"Huh?! Why should I look after his son?!" Satoru Gojo exclaimed in shock.
"My son is definitely incredibly gifted. Even that old man Naobito Zenin was eager to get him. You should appreciate what you're being offered," Toji said calmly.
"Next, Satoru finds Riko's body inside the Time Vessel Association and carries her past a crowd of their followers. They think Satoru is the hero who killed the 'impurity,' and their applause falls endlessly like rain. Geto arrives then too. Hearing that applause shatters his convictions, and afterward, whenever he hears rain, it reminds him of their clapping."
Suguru Geto said nothing, but his tightly furrowed brows made it clear that he had already imagined the scene.
Masamichi Yaga said, "It's getting late. Go act it out and continue the story. Let's see whether it happens the way Niji said. Niji, you'll play Riko's corpse."
"Okay... but that man also lifts Riko's hair to check the bullet hole. I can temporarily stop my breathing and heartbeat, but not for too long."
"He won't care about that. He only cares whether the 'impurity' is dead. No heartbeat or breathing will be enough," Toji said.
"Okay, just carry me. I don't want to be eaten by a cursed spirit," Sakurada Niji suggested.
All the actors left, leaving listening equipment on the desk. Masamichi Yaga and Shoko waited in the classroom.
About half an hour later, Masamichi Yaga and Shoko both heard the line, "If we fall alongside the star, so be it."
Another half hour later, the actors returned. Toji took it in stride and now believed everything completely.
Geto's expression, however, looked frightening. He could not imagine how he would face such twisted people if Riko really had died.
"So you were just going to watch Fushiguro kill me once, huh?!" Satoru began demanding an explanation.
"I'm sorry, Satoru. Even you, the strongest of the modern age, end up cut in half. I can't imagine how hopeless the world would become if you were missing from the story." Sakurada Niji revealed the ending of Satoru Gojo's story.
Everyone fell silent...
"What exactly happens?" Masamichi Yaga asked.
"I'll keep it brief and leave out the details."
"Kenjaku, a jujutsu sorcerer from a thousand years ago, has always wanted to create something beyond his own understanding. His cursed technique is unknown, but he can preserve his brain indefinitely and keep switching bodies. Kenjaku was one of the bodies he used. His bodies are distinguished by stitches across the forehead. One story mentions that those stitches are part of his binding vow and cannot be hidden."
"And the story revolves around Tengen, Kenjaku, Sukuna, and Satoru."
"Kenjaku has already taken control of the Jujutsu Association's higher-ups."
"Kenjaku influences Geto's mental state. Before long, because of Kenjaku's arrangements, Yu Haibara will die, and Geto will receive a mission. That mission turns Geto into a curse user who sees ordinary people as monkeys. In the end, Satoru kills Geto, and Kenjaku takes over his body."
"Because Tengen fails to merge, Tengen's body becomes a cursed spirit, and Kenjaku, controlling Geto's body, takes control of Tengen. All the barrier techniques across Japan fall under Kenjaku's control."
"Sukuna later awakens through incarnation and takes over Toji's son's body. He uses Mahoraga, the final summon of the Ten Shadows Technique, to fight Satoru. In the end, Sukuna kills Satoru after grasping the World-Cutting Slash. The story only goes that far."
Before you continue