"Treatment"

After watching an entire skin-removal operation, Sakurada Niji... was a little too scared to undergo surgery himself.

"Your turn~ Niji~ Be good and lie down~ Just one little shot~ It'll all be over when you wake up~" Seeing how frightened Sakurada Niji was, Shoko couldn't help coaxing him in the tone she would use with a child.

A chill suddenly ran through Sakurada Niji. He remembered something: Shoko had been muttering earlier about wanting to cut away the "unnecessary" parts of Suguru Geto's body.

"I think... I'm fine like this... It's not that serious..." Sakurada Niji said haltingly, being thoroughly uncooperative.

"Patients can't judge their own condition~ Be good and listen to your doctor~" Shoko raised the anesthetic syringe in her hand. The gleam of its needle made Sakurada Niji shudder.

"No! No!" Sakurada Niji turned and ran, trying to escape the infirmary.

Sakurada Niji had a phobia of needles. The bloody surgery he had just witnessed, combined with Shoko's muttering, had frightened him so badly that he chose to flee.

"Satoru, hold him down," Shoko called coldly toward the door.

"(＾-＾)V Leave it to me~" Satoru Gojo rolled up his sleeves and grabbed Sakurada Niji just as he opened the door. Ignoring his flailing arms and legs, he deposited him on the operating table.

Seeing the anxiety on Sakurada Niji's face, Satoru Gojo took off his sunglasses and put them on him.

"It's pitch-black! I can't see anything! That's even scarier, okay?!" After making such a scene, Sakurada Niji felt so embarrassed that all he could do was grit his teeth and turn his head away from the needle.

Watching Sakurada Niji act like this gave Satoru Gojo a strange feeling. He believed that outcome had happened because he hadn't tried hard enough, and he had complete faith in what Sakurada Niji had called "the price of Heavenly Restriction."

He had always believed that Sakurada Niji had come to Jujutsu High and become a jujutsu sorcerer to change that tragic "story." As the strongest, he couldn't help shouldering everything once again.

"You're not planning to film my surgery too, are you?!! That's seriously twisted!" After the injection, Sakurada Niji began to feel groggy. Watching Satoru Gojo linger instead of leaving filled him with dread.

"Heh heh heh~" Satoru Gojo gave a sinister chuckle at Sakurada Niji, whose blinking eyes were already about to close.

"Get out. Don't stay here and upset him," Shoko told Satoru Gojo.

"Well~ I was planning to leave once Niji passed out anyway~" With his hands in his pockets, Satoru Gojo walked out of the infirmary.

Surgery-in-progress.

After an unknown amount of time, Sakurada Niji opened his eyes, only to close them again the very next instant. He used cursed energy to sense his surroundings, and only opened his eyes again after confirming that no one was there. He had truly had enough of Satoru Gojo's pranks.

"My clothes have been changed. Thank goodness they're not women's clothes..." Sakurada Niji felt the new Jujutsu High uniform he was wearing and slowly let out a sigh of relief.

"You're awake~? The surgery was a success~" Dressed in a white coat, Shoko addressed Sakurada Niji as he sat up in his hospital bed.

Nervously, Sakurada Niji checked his body, then exhaled.

"Could you please stop scaring me..." Sakurada Niji complained to the smiling Shoko before him.

"I'm not~ That's a perfectly normal thing for a doctor to say~ A doctor has to ask whether a patient waking up from surgery feels any discomfort, right?" Shoko explained earnestly to Sakurada Niji.

"Yes~ I was overthinking it~ I feel great~ The surgery really was a success~" Sakurada Niji got out of bed and put on his shoes.

"Geto's back. Let's go to the classroom and talk," Shoko told Sakurada Niji seriously.

"Okay," Sakurada Niji said gravely.

On-the-way-to-the-classroom.

Sakurada Niji and Shoko pushed open the door and entered the classroom. Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were already there, and Principal Yaga stood at the lectern.

"Niji, thanks for everything you went through. Are you recovering all right?" Suguru Geto asked with a hint of guilt. He believed Kenjaku had planned this incident because he wanted his body.

"It's all right, Geto. I'm doing great~ I even learned Reverse Cursed Technique~" Sakurada Niji smiled at Suguru Geto.

Suguru Geto said nothing more, merely smiling back at Sakurada Niji, but beneath the desk, his fingers were already digging into his thigh.

"Saku-chan~ Come sit with me~" Satoru Gojo waved at Sakurada Niji.

"No." Sakurada Niji crossed his arms in front of his chest to make an X.

"All right, everyone, take your seats," Masamichi Yaga said from the lectern.

"Kenjaku definitely planned this incident. His aim was to eliminate our strongest fighters so he could carry out his plans," Sakurada Niji said.

"Then his objective is clear: eliminate our strongest fighters to reduce the chance of anything unexpected disrupting his plans," Masamichi Yaga said.

"Geto, have any of your recent assignments been unusual... I think... it might be a series of assignments... meant to push you to your psychological limit..." Sakurada Niji felt that the assignment involving Nanako and Mimiko would probably come soon.

"...A lot of them lately... The assignments always end up near casinos, red-light districts, or gangs..." Suguru Geto was irritated. Every time he finished exorcising a cursed spirit and swallowed it, he would witness those revolting incidents.

Kidnapping, fighting, illegal transactions, drug dealing, and more-these incidents had given him a thorough look at humanity's darkness. If he hadn't learned beforehand that all of this was Kenjaku's scheme, he might already have begun questioning everything.

"Geto, we only need to protect the people we want to protect. If those awful people come crashing into us themselves, just consider it their own fault if they die," Sakurada Niji advised Suguru Geto.

Suguru Geto said nothing. He had long since begun constructing a grand plan in his mind. Of course, it wasn't anything as boring as destroying humanity.

"Because Niji survived, we learned that highly intelligent cursed spirits exist. They may not appear again for a while, but we still need to be doubly careful. Make sure you can stay in contact at all times while on assignments," Masamichi Yaga instructed everyone.

"Geto, I trust your judgment," Satoru Gojo told Suguru Geto.

"Who do you think I am?" Suguru Geto raised his head to look at Satoru Gojo. No longer lost in thought, he spoke with confidence.

"Geto, don't kill anyone. There are laws in the world of ordinary people. With our standing as jujutsu sorcerers, getting justice is a simple matter," Masamichi Yaga admonished Suguru Geto, looking at him earnestly.

"Sorry to trouble you with worrying about me, Principal Yaga!" Suguru Geto knew that this selfless teacher had covered for him many times.

"All right, dismissed. Stay alert, all of you!" Masamichi Yaga declared the meeting over.