It was a simple, classically furnished room.
The brazen grin on Araki Itsuki's face stood in stark contrast to Yoshinobu Gakuganji's gloomy expression.
Caught between them, the cheerful, honest, down-to-earth Miwa feared a clash might erupt. Suddenly, her phone rang.
"All right."
"Yes!"
She put down her phone.
"Araki, please wait a moment!"
She hurriedly picked up a brown document pouch from the tea table, pulled out a student ID, and handed it to Araki Itsuki.
"Please take a look!"
Araki Itsuki took the black-and-white student ID. His name was already printed on it.
To the right of "Tokyo Metropolitan Independent Jujutsu Technical School" were the words "Student ID," with a photo of a handsome boy underneath.
In the upper-left corner of his handsome photo was a large character denoting special grade.
Araki Itsuki gave Yoshinobu Gakuganji a satisfied smile. "Old man, why didn't you just bring this out earlier?
"Now things are all tense. If you threw out that rotten old back of yours and accidentally croaked, people might think I killed you."
Still, Araki Itsuki knew perfectly well that if he had shown himself to be easy to bully and control, those rotten higher-ups would never have granted him special grade status.
Doing so meant they would lose considerable resources and authority, while the jujutsu sorcerers beneath them would admire Araki Itsuki even more.
Satoru Gojo's untouchable standing made that clear enough.
"Thanks, Miwa."
Araki Itsuki thanked her, then turned to leave.
The moment he opened the door, he saw Satoru Gojo leaning against the wall, shamelessly eavesdropping.
Araki Itsuki spread his hands helplessly. "Fine, you didn't rush in to cheer me on, but did you have to enjoy listening so much?"
Satoru Gojo hurriedly put on a serious expression. "It was to give you some practice."
Araki Itsuki offered him a friendly hand gesture and left.
Satoru Gojo went inside and sprawled boldly on the sofa.
"You saw him. Araki couldn't care less what you old fossils think. Then there's third-year Hakari, second-year Yuta, and Fushiguro and the others. They're growing fast, too."
"A new era is already here."
He then told Yoshinobu Gakuganji about his encounter with a special grade cursed spirit.
The school dormitory.
Standing before the mirror, Araki Itsuki very discreetly pinned the student ID bearing the words "Special Grade" to his chest, then patted it twice to make sure it wouldn't fall off.
"There, that should do. After all, I'm not someone who likes showing off everywhere."
Beside him, Yuji Itadori's mouth twitched. You call that discreet?
But remembering Araki Itsuki's iron fists, he wisely chose to ignore it.
"Araki, there's something I need to tell you."
"What is it, Itadori?"
Yuji Itadori looked nervous and awkward. "Well, Ryomen Sukuna wants to make a deal with me. He'll give me some power, but in exchange, he wants control of my body for one minute sometime in the future."
Araki Itsuki immediately became interested. Back at the Juvenile Detention Center, his intervention had prevented Yuji Itadori from dying.
That also meant Ryomen Sukuna couldn't use resurrection as leverage to force Yuji Itadori into a binding vow, paving the way to seize Megumi Fushiguro's body later.
"Did you agree?"
Yuji Itadori hurriedly shook his head. "Of course not. I don't know what he's planning, but it's way too suspicious."
"Besides, I understand now. A curse is a curse. He's too evil. I'll never lend him my body again."
Araki Itsuki gave Yuji Itadori an approving look. "Good job. But why do you look so conflicted now?"
"Because I feel too weak. My fighting skills are good, but my cursed energy is terrible, and there's so much I don't understand."
Araki Itsuki stroked his chin. Yuji Itadori was supposedly the protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen, yet even by the time Satoru Gojo had been cut in half, he still hadn't learned much!
You call that a protagonist?!
Sending him to fight Ryomen Sukuna was like sending Iruka to solo Madara!!!
"If you want to get stronger quickly, Itadori, you could agree to Ryomen Sukuna's deal."
After all, Suguru Geto and his group had tried every possible way to set Yuji Itadori up in order to win Ryomen Sukuna over, hoping to establish a binding vow favorable to him.
In the original story, Mahito had transfigured Junpei into a twisted monster before Yuji Itadori's eyes precisely to exploit his desire to save Junpei, giving Ryomen Sukuna an opportunity to establish a favorable binding vow.
But Ryomen Sukuna had already established a binding vow when he resurrected Yuji Itadori. He no longer needed another, which was why he had instead mocked Yuji Itadori's weakness and helplessness so viciously.
If the vow was going to happen anyway, they might as well milk Ryomen Sukuna for some cursed energy and knowledge.
Yuji Itadori was surprised to hear Araki Itsuki tell him to agree. "But isn't Ryomen Sukuna really strong? What if he does something horrible, or even hurts everyone?"
Araki Itsuki smiled confidently. "This world is so small, with so little room to conquer, that there's only space for me to run wild!"
"If Ryomen Sukuna wants to challenge me when the time comes, I won't mind showing him the might of the Death Omen Star."
A mouth lined with sharp teeth appeared on Yuji Itadori's cheek, while an eye opened beneath his own.
"Big words, brat. Careful you don't choke on them!"
Araki Itsuki merely smiled, then turned and headed outside.
Yuji Itadori eagerly trotted after him. "What do you want to eat, Araki? My treat, my treat!!!"
But before they had taken more than a few steps, they heard the sound of blows striking flesh in the distance.
Bam!
Suddenly, a bloodied figure smashed through a wall, rolled across the ground, and landed in front of Araki Itsuki and Yuji Itadori.
It was Fushiguro, beaten dizzy.
A burly, heavily muscled man approached, bare-chested, with a prominent scar on his face.
"Boring."
Araki Itsuki said, "Well, damn. I walk in and find Chang Wei beating up Lai Fu!"
A few minutes earlier.
"Fushiguro, what kind of woman do you like?"
Fushiguro rubbed his shoulder helplessly. "Why would I discuss my type with someone I just met?"
Nobara Kugisaki chimed in. "Exactly! Isn't that asking a bit much of a closet pervert like him?"
"Shut up!"
Fushiguro hurriedly cut Kugisaki off. "This is already confusing enough. Don't make it worse."
"Aoi Todo. Kyoto, third year."
The broad, burly Todo stared intently at Megumi Fushiguro. "I've introduced myself. Now we're friends, so hurry up and answer. It's fine if your answer is a guy, too."
Todo was exceptionally talented. In third grade, he had beaten up a high school student who was rude to him, catching the eye of Yuki Tsukumo-sorry, she was 49.5 Yuki now-and becoming her disciple, joining the ranks of jujutsu sorcerers.
He believed a person's sexual preferences revealed everything about them. Anyone with no interest in women was inherently boring, and boring people were what he hated most.
"Answer me, Fushiguro. What kind of woman do you like?"
"The Goodwill Event makes my blood boil and lets my body cheer and dance to its heart's content. It's a stage for my soul alone.
"If you boring people ruin my last Goodwill Event, I don't know what I might do.
"For now, all you have to do is let me beat you half to death. Consider that my last act of kindness."
Fushiguro thought for a moment, and his sister's image appeared in his mind.
"I... don't really have a type. As long as that person has an unwavering moral character, I don't ask for anything else."
Kugisaki nodded approvingly. "Good answer!"
But Todo already looked thoroughly displeased. "Just as I thought... you're boring as hell, Fushiguro!"
He flashed in front of Fushiguro, slamming his terrifyingly muscular arm into the arms Fushiguro raised to block.
Unable to keep his footing, Fushiguro flew backward, smashed through the top of a wall, and fell into the rubble.
Todo's hulking figure followed him out. "The moment I first saw you, I knew. I understood that you were a very boring person.
"But you can't judge someone solely by their appearance, right?
"That's why I went out of my way to ask again. And you trampled all over my kindness."
Getting carried away by his emotions, Todo even sniffled twice.
Fushiguro felt as though he had run into a lunatic. "Is your head full of pineapples, too?"
He acted unconcerned, but his mind raced through everything he knew.
Was he that Todo?!
The Todo who single-handedly defeated five grade 1 cursed spirits and one special grade cursed spirit during last year's Night Parade of a Hundred Demons?!
"Still, a grade 1 sorcerer being able to defeat a special grade isn't that shocking. I heard you don't use your cursed technique?"
"Hm? That's just a rumor. I did use it against the special grade."
Sweat ran down Fushiguro's forehead as he inwardly screamed. He didn't use it against the grade 1s? What kind of monster is he?
But he refused to sound intimidated. "Then that's a relief!!"
The very next instant, Todo sent him flying with another punch, so fast he had no time to react.
After knocking Fushiguro away, Todo rolled his neck in boredom and asked Kugisaki, who had only just snapped out of her daze, "Who's the strongest fighter at your Tokyo school?"
Kugisaki didn't want the face she took such care of to get punched swollen, so she hurriedly said:
"Me, of course. Who else, Araki?"
"Hm?"
Todo turned his head, frightening Kugisaki into frantically waving her hands.
"No, no, no! Araki's the strongest, of course!"
Before you continue