Entering the field

The preparation room at the Kyoto venue was in the building's west wing.

Outside the windows, layers of cedar branches filtered the light into a grayish green. It fell across the tatami like a layer of mildew that could never be scrubbed away.

"Kill Sukuna's vessel, Yuji Itadori!" Gakuganji's voice rang through the room.

Miwa, who stood closest to him, looked briefly uncomfortable at his words.

But before anyone could speak, suddenly-

Bang!

Without warning, someone kicked the door beside them to pieces. The frame crashed into the corridor with a heavy thud.

"If you want to pull this boring crap, do it yourselves!"

Hands in his pockets, Todo strode outside with a vicious look on his face.

"Todo, come back!" Kamo called out to stop him, his voice rather flat.

Todo stopped and turned his head. His narrowed eyes radiated an almost tangible killing intent.

"The show's about to start, and Miss Sanada is appearing as a guest. Are you trying to stop me?"

Kamo remained unruffled. "You can just record the show."

At that, Todo's voice abruptly rose. "I'm watching both the premiere and the recording! Are you looking down on me?"

As he spoke, he stepped forward, his burly frame exuding a suffocating pressure.

"Hey, hey, isn't that beside the point?" Mai piped up weakly from the side.

"Hmph!" Todo looked away. "Listen up. Do whatever you want, but if you try ordering me around, I'll kill every last one of you!"

With that, Todo left the room without looking back.

Gakuganji soon left as well, leaving only the Kyoto second-years in the room.

After Todo and Gakuganji were gone, only the Kyoto second-years remained in the room.

"Are we... really going to kill him?" Miwa's voice broke the silence.

"The principal gave the order himself. You think he was joking?" Mai leaned against the window, her tone unreadable.

Miwa opened her mouth, but no words came.

"Isn't this fine?" Nishimiya crouched in the corner, hugging her broom. "Todo will stir things up on his own anyway. We just need to focus on the competition."

"Todo probably won't actually kill him, right? Though he doesn't exactly look the type..." Mai added thoughtfully.

"That's enough." Mechamaru's voice came from the corner, tinged with a synthesized quality.

"Todo refusing to kill him doesn't mean we won't. We just need to hold the other Tokyo students back, then find a way to deal with the rest."

Kamo spread the Tokyo Jujutsu High student roster across the table and slowly ran his finger down from the first line.

"Yuji Itadori." He tapped the first name. "Todo will go after him himself. We don't need to worry about that."

Leaning against the window, Mai twirled her revolver in one hand, briefly sweeping its muzzle toward the ceiling. "Even if we assigned Todo a different target, he wouldn't listen."

"So leave him alone." Without any change in tone, Kamo continued, "Megumi Fushiguro, inheritor of the Ten Shadows Technique. I'll handle him."

Mechamaru took half a step forward from the corner, his metal joints making a faint scraping sound. "Leave Panda to me."

Mai paused mid-twirl and glanced at him. "You certainly know how to pick your opponent."

Mechamaru said nothing.

Kamo nodded without commenting further on the assignment.

"Mai, Maki is yours. You may be sisters, but don't hold back."

"I don't need you to remind me," Mai replied.

Kamo turned his gaze toward Nishimiya, who was hugging her broom in the corner.

"Nishimiya, you'll handle Nobara Kugisaki. Her Straw Doll Technique requires a medium. Keep her pinned down from the air, and don't give her a chance to get close. Once Mai deals with Maki, she'll support you."

"Right." Nishimiya nodded.

"The last one." Kamo's gaze settled at the bottom of the roster, on a name printed in slightly fainter ink than the others.

"Rihito Sato. A new student who enrolled this year."

Miwa leaned over to look at the roster and blinked.

"This guy... I've never even heard of him."

"There's very little information, either," Mechamaru's synthesized voice picked up where she left off. "Neither the name nor the effects of his Cursed Technique have been publicly recorded. All we know is that Satoru Gojo recruited him personally."

A trace of uncertainty crossed Miwa's face. "Satoru Gojo recruited him personally?"

"So what?" Mai drew the revolver from her waist and casually pointed its muzzle toward Rihito's name on the roster.

"He's been enrolled for less than six months. How much could he have learned? Satoru Gojo has never recruited solely based on fighting ability. Wasn't Okkotsu considered dead weight when he first enrolled, too?"

"Exactly." Kamo lifted his eyes from the roster and swept his gaze over everyone present.

"A newcomer with no actual combat experience will struggle to contribute in a team battle, even with an unusual Cursed Technique. We don't need to waste too much effort on him."

His gaze finally settled on Miwa's face.

"Miwa, you keep him occupied."

Miwa froze for a moment, then straightened up.

"Me... all by myself?"

"That'll be enough."

"Your opponent is a newcomer who's been enrolled for less than six months. All you need to do is restrict his movements."

Miwa fell silent for two seconds, then took a deep breath and nodded firmly.

"Understood. I'll keep him occupied."

"There's also Inumaki." Nishimiya looked up from the corner. "The Cursed Speech user. Who's handling him?"

Kamo was silent for a moment.

"Inumaki's Cursed Speech can instantly suppress any of us, so assigning him a fixed opponent isn't ideal. Mechamaru, can you interfere with him?"

Mechamaru's synthesized voice paused for half a second, as though he were retrieving data.

"I can use ranged attacks from medium range to keep pressure on his position and prevent him from speaking. But if he closes the distance, I can't guarantee I'll be able to suppress him."

"That'll be enough." Kamo's gaze passed over each of their faces. "Toge Inumaki won't have a fixed opponent. Whoever is closest will be responsible for holding him back."

One after another, they nodded.

"Is everything clear?"

No one asked any more questions.

Kamo reached out and turned the roster facedown on the table, as though turning a page he had finished reading.

"Let's go!"

At ten in the morning, the Tokyo Jujutsu High students stood in front of a dense

forest.

Although the trees had shed most of their leaves in early winter, their trunks alone were dense enough to slice their view into countless narrow fragments.

Occasional birdcalls drifted from deep within the forest, sounding almost jarring in the quiet.

Satoru Gojo stood before them with his hands in his pockets and that ever-present curve to his lips.

"All right, while Kyoto's still dragging their feet, your teacher will go over the rules again. That way, you can't blame me for not explaining properly if you get lost."

Kugisaki folded her arms and frowned.

"That notice you sent last time-"

"Oh, come on. I'm explaining it out loud this time. There won't be any ambiguity." Satoru Gojo waved a hand, swiftly changing the subject.

"Listen up. The team battle will take place in this forest and the surrounding abandoned buildings. The barrier's boundary marks the limits of the combat area."

"Once the competition begins, you'll need to hunt the cursed spirits scattered throughout the area. The higher their grade, the more points they're worth."

"Each Grade 2 Cursed Spirit is worth two points, Semi-Grade 1 is worth four, and Grade 1 is worth eight. If a Special Grade appears, retreat immediately and notify a referee."

"At the same time, this is also a contest between the two schools." Satoru Gojo raised a second finger.

"Defeating an opposing team member lets you take all the points they've accumulated. So the strategy is simple: either focus on hunting cursed spirits to build a lead, or go straight for someone else's points."

After listening, Rihito had a clear outline of the rules.

Hunting cursed spirits was the basic way to score, but the risk was that once you had worked hard to accumulate a large number of points, a single defeat in battle would transfer all of them to your opponent.

That meant the team had to manage two things at once: the ability to hunt cursed spirits efficiently, and the fighting strength to protect their points.

"One last rule." Satoru Gojo raised a third finger.

"The team battle lasts until sunset. When time's up, whichever side has more points wins. Got it?"

Everyone nodded.

"Then off you go." Satoru Gojo stepped aside and tilted his head toward the forest. "Don't disappoint your teacher."

Itadori took the first step, with Kugisaki right behind him and Fushiguro following third.

Rihito brought up the rear. Before entering the forest, he looked up at the sky.

The sunlight was just right, clear and bright.

But his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Mahito should have already infiltrated the place by now.