Undercurrents

As Sakurada Niji activated his Domain Expansion, the surrounding space was enclosed, forming a complete domain.

Inside Sakurada Niji's domain was pure blackness. Niji himself and the targets within it were the only sources of color.

Sakurada Niji began accelerating the matter inside his domain. Everything around him slammed into Ubusunagami. As the matter tore through Ubusunagami's body, Niji ended his domain, and the black space it had formed slowly disappeared.

Ubusunagami's body collapsed into a mass of sludge, slowly dissolving into smoke and dust. Moments later, it vanished from the world.

Sakurada Niji frowned. He sensed something was wrong. The largest concentration of cursed energy inside Ubusunagami's body hadn't disappeared. Instead, it remained where Ubusunagami had just vanished.

Sakurada Niji slowly walked over to where Ubusunagami had disappeared and saw what lay on the ground. It was a shriveled finger with a sharp black nail, dark red all over and covered in a layer of corpse wax.

Ryomen Sukuna's Finger...! Sakurada Niji jolted in shock.

The Jujutsu Association's higher-ups used a special grade cursed object just to deal with two Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerers?! Or... was it Kenjaku? Has he found out that Riko and Toji are still alive?

Gojo and Toji's duel took place inside Jujutsu High. And judging by how Kenjaku needed to recruit Mechamaru-Kokichi Muta-to relay information in the story, he can't obtain information from inside Jujutsu High directly. He can only get it through the Jujutsu Association.

Afterward, Jujutsu High never handed over the bodies of the Star Plasma Vessel and Toji to the Jujutsu Association, either. Did that make Kenjaku suspect something?

Would such a small change really make Kenjaku this cautious?

Sakurada Niji and the others had been following the original path all along, yet the "story" had veered off course.

In the original story, Nanami mentioned that Yu Haibara died fighting the Grade 1 Cursed Spirit Ubusunagami. This time, though, Sukuna's Finger turned Ubusunagami into a special grade cursed spirit.

Sakurada Niji turned and used Flash Step to land on Rainbow Dragon. He handed Sukuna's Finger to Suguru Geto beside him.

Suguru Geto took the finger and examined it carefully. His brows furrowed as well.

"Sukuna's Finger... So our plans can't keep up with the changes...?" Suguru Geto said with a frown.

"Let's head back right now and see if Gojo found anything." Sakurada Niji's expression was grave. This was important. If Kenjaku had caught on early, things would head in an unpredictable direction.

"Yeah, understood." Suguru Geto controlled his cursed spirits to carry Yu Haibara and Kento Nanami onto Rainbow Dragon, then flew it back to Jujutsu High.

Inside Jujutsu High's infirmary.

"You're awake? The surgery was a success~" Shoko joked as Yu Haibara slowly opened his eyes on the operating table.

"Shoko! Sorry for the trouble!" Yu Haibara was back to full health and didn't catch the meaning behind her joke.

"How's Nanami doing?" Yu Haibara asked Shoko.

"He's fine. He's resting in bed in his dorm room, so don't disturb him~" After reminding Haibara, Shoko left the infirmary.

"Understood!" Yu Haibara replied loudly.

"Sorry for the wait." Shoko entered Jujutsu High's meeting room.

Satoru Gojo, Sakurada Niji, Suguru Geto, and Masamichi Yaga were already gathered inside.

Standing at the lectern, Masamichi Yaga was examining Sukuna's Finger in his hand.

"A special grade cursed object, and Sukuna's Finger at that. We can be almost certain Kenjaku was behind this." From the contents of the "story," Masamichi Yaga had already learned that Kenjaku liked to strengthen cursed spirits with Sukuna's Fingers.

"The old fossils assigned the mission directly to Nanami and Haibara by name. I didn't look into which one specifically, since I didn't want to tip them off." Satoru Gojo shared the results of his investigation at the Jujutsu Association.

"The 'story' has already begun to change. We can't keep rigidly following the original path. All we can do now is adapt." Suguru Geto rested both hands on the table, interlaced his fingers beneath his chin, and offered his thoughts.

"No secret stays hidden forever. More and more people who are 'supposed' to die will appear as time goes on. We can't keep hiding the fact that they're alive." Masamichi Yaga raised a problem they couldn't ignore. As the story progressed and they saved people who should have died in the original story, those supposedly "dead" people couldn't keep going about their lives without leaving any traces.

"Besides, Ubusunagami reached special grade this time. Clearly, Kenjaku's goal was to kill both Nanami and Haibara," Suguru Geto analyzed.

"As we change the fates of those destined to die in the 'story,' the later events will become increasingly uncontrollable. We can no longer act according to the 'story.' Instead, we should adapt and force Kenjaku to revise his plans in response to our actions." Masamichi Yaga outlined their approach going forward, bringing the discussion of future developments to a close.

"Jujutsu sorcerer casualties have been increasing lately. The Jujutsu Association may promote the three of you to Special Grade Sorcerers soon and send you to support different regions." Shoko had treated many injured people lately, most of them Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerers. Clearly, Grade 1 Cursed Spirits were appearing far too frequently.

"The Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event is in a few days. The Jujutsu Association may promote the three of you after it ends," Masamichi Yaga said.

"The old fossils are really sweating now~ They're practically begging us to accept special grade." Satoru Gojo spoke with a look of contempt. Every time he visited the Jujutsu Association, he had to hold back the urge to kill those old fossils. Unfortunately, killing them wouldn't solve the problem.

Someone always had to occupy those positions. If they died, others would take their place. The current old fossils were terrified of Satoru Gojo, so there were no problems for the time being.

"With us around now, those old fossils don't dare try anything openly." Satoru Gojo had already seen right through them. Back when the pressure to exorcise cursed spirits hadn't been so great, those old fossils had constantly blocked promotions for jujutsu sorcerers who opposed them, occasionally using missions to underhandedly kill off those who wouldn't obey.

Now that vast numbers of cursed spirits had suddenly appeared, there weren't enough jujutsu sorcerers outside the clans to handle them. The major clans' sorcerers had taken on more missions. The higher-ups had no choice but to loosen their restrictions and promote a few people to special grade, allowing them to provide support wherever needed, share the clans' workload, and reduce casualties among their sorcerers.

"Mr. Yaga, do we still need to attend the Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event? There's not much point, is there?" Sakurada Niji asked Masamichi Yaga.

Utahime and Mei Mei had already graduated in 2006. Utahime was currently applying for a teaching position at the Kyoto Jujutsu Academy.

Mei Mei had become a freelance jujutsu sorcerer and started taking jobs to earn money. The Kyoto Jujutsu Academy's strongest fighter now was probably Naoya Zenin, Toji's little fanboy.

"You must go, and take Nanami and Haibara with you. Based on our deductions, the Kamo Clan is very likely already under Kenjaku's control. There may be people working for him among Kyoto's participants this time. You need to display your full strength. That will make him wary of acting and buy us some peace for a while." After considerable thought, Masamichi Yaga ultimately decided to use overwhelming strength to intimidate Kenjaku and the Jujutsu Association's higher-ups, forcing Kenjaku to put his plans on hold.

"Mr. Yaga~! Does that mean I can go all out? You won't lecture me afterward, right?!" Satoru Gojo raised his hand and asked.

"Go ahead and use your full strength. Of course, leave Geto and Niji a chance to show what they can do, too." With a wave of his hand, Masamichi Yaga gave Satoru Gojo free rein. After all, it wasn't their own school that would get wrecked.

"I've wanted to do this for ages. Those old fossils are scared to death, yet they still insist on throwing their weight around." Sakurada Niji held those old fossils in utter contempt. During the last Star Plasma Vessel mission, the Jujutsu Association's higher-ups had specifically arranged a special grade cursed spirit for him, hoping to eliminate him through its hands. If he hadn't spent so long honing his strength, he might have been done for.

"Then let's really open their eyes," Suguru Geto said earnestly. He despised those corrupt Association higher-ups from the bottom of his heart.

"Do I have to go too~?" Shoko pointed an index finger at herself. She didn't seem particularly eager to go, since she would soon be taking her medical licensing exam.

"Of course~ You have to! Let's make those old fossils green with envy~!" Satoru Gojo stood up and cheerfully patted Shoko on the shoulder.