"All right, here's the mission site: an ordinary elementary school where three students have gone missing."
Satoru Gojo brought Maki Zenin, Yuta Okkotsu, and Aikawa Kaze to a school and explained their mission.
"Your job is to exorcise the curses and rescue the children. If they're dead, bring back their bodies..."
"Dead?!"
"It is a school, after all. Places like schools and hospitals are more likely to linger in people's memories and accumulate negative emotions, which makes them more likely to produce curses."
As Satoru Gojo spoke, he raised a finger.
"Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify all that is impure."
A dark barrier immediately enveloped the entire school.
"The Curtain's barrier can draw out cursed spirits and keep your movements hidden from outsiders. Now, do your best! Make sure you don't die-"
Satoru Gojo was still speaking when his phone suddenly rang.
Looking entirely unsurprised, he answered the call.
"Uh-huh, got it... I'll head over as soon as I can."
When Satoru Gojo had mentioned three missing elementary school students, Aikawa Kaze had already felt a faint sense of foreboding. After all, he remembered only two children going missing on this mission in the movie.
And now Satoru Gojo, who should have stayed outside the barrier, had received a call and was about to leave...
Clearly, this was a change his presence had caused.
"Well, nothing for it. [Window] reported a new special grade cursed spirit, and they need me to deal with it~"
Satoru Gojo spoke casually. Dealing with a special grade cursed spirit clearly wasn't much of a challenge for him, but his expression grew serious, at odds with his light tone.
"So, don't die."
"...Is this really necessary?! Do they really have to go this far?!"
Aikawa Kaze finally lost his patience and pressed a hand to his forehead, his head aching.
"Leaving Okkotsu aside for now, given my value, shouldn't they start with threats and incentives to try to win me over and bring me under their control, then move on to imprisonment or execution only after that fails?!"
"Haha, that's why I said you're still too green, Kaze-chan."
Satoru Gojo laughed, a mocking smile tugging at his lips.
"To those cowardly old tangerine peels, everything is best when it follows the rules and sticks to [tradition]. Anything that might upset the current order is a threat to them."
Clearly, Aikawa Kaze had thought far too highly of Jujutsu Society's leadership. Those tangerine peels didn't care about the information he had brought at all.
To them, the threat of discovering a "new world" outweighed any potential benefits. They rejected change, so naturally, they wanted to eliminate the destabilizing factor that was Aikawa Kaze.
Aikawa Kaze opened his mouth, but no words came out.
He hadn't expected the Jujutsu Higher-Ups to be rotten to this extent. He simply didn't know what to say.
Without Satoru Gojo standing guard outside, even Aikawa Kaze, who had been fairly relaxed, began to feel nervous. Yet he couldn't stop Satoru Gojo from leaving. "Exorcising a special grade cursed spirit" was an excuse no one could refuse.
Damn it!
Aikawa Kaze pressed his lips together, guilt creeping into his eyes.
It seemed his presence had put his two teammates in greater danger, and he had no confidence that he could handle whatever unexpected threat awaited them.
"By the way, the three elementary school kids in that junior high are two boys and a girl."
Satoru Gojo turned and left the barrier. As he disappeared beyond it, only his final words drifted faintly back.
"The girl's name is Sakura Oogami."
"!!!"
Aikawa Kaze's pupils contracted sharply, and he clenched his fists.
Maki Zenin and Yuta Okkotsu were at least jujutsu sorcerers. Facing danger was inevitable for them, and they had some ability to protect themselves. But Sakura... she was just an ordinary elementary school girl!
"Bastards! One day, I'm going to bleep-bleep-bleep-bleep those old tangerine peels-"
"A-Aikawa?"
Yuta Okkotsu was stunned by the murderous intent that suddenly erupted from Aikawa Kaze. And what was with that string of censored words?!
"Calm down. The angrier you are, the more you need to keep a clear head."
Maki Zenin pushed up her glasses and reminded him.
She had guessed that someone Aikawa Kaze knew was among the elementary school children trapped here, and that something was wrong with the situation. His reaction was understandable, but losing his composure would be disastrous.
"If you want to save them, keep your head. Let's go!"
"Let's split up."
Aikawa Kaze glanced at the campus map by the entrance. Aside from places like the athletic field, the school's main buildings were the classroom building and another building for clubs and laboratories.
He remembered that Maki and Yuta Okkotsu had started searching the classroom building. Because of her family circumstances, Sakura had learned self-defense from an early age and joined the school's martial arts club.
Sakura was more likely to be in the club building than the classroom building.
Those two should be fine working together, given their abilities. As for him, he had to take responsibility for his own actions.
Maki Zenin frowned and spoke.
"Hey, what grade are you?"
"Grade 4."
"Tch, so you're a complete rookie?"
She gave Aikawa Kaze a disapproving look.
"Playing the hero will get you killed."
"I don't think I'll be dying just yet. Some things have to be done."
Maki Zenin looked hard at Aikawa Kaze, then nodded.
"If you insist... I've warned you. Don't blame me if you die."
"Thank you."
Understanding that this was Maki's awkward way of showing concern, Aikawa Kaze smiled faintly and nodded to Yuta Okkotsu.
"Good luck to you two, too."
With that, he ran toward the Internship Building on the other side without looking back.
He had barely taken a few steps when he heard fighting behind him. Five or six cursed spirits also appeared in front of him, their bloody maws gaping as they tried to devour him.
"Hmm, the weaker these things are, the more they tend to gather together. Perfect for a little experiment..."
Aikawa Kaze drew his Jewel Sword.
During that battle, he had taught himself how to reinforce his body with cursed energy. Although it was certainly useful, it was somewhat wasteful and didn't make optimal use of his cursed energy.
There were plenty of cursed spirits here, and they weren't particularly strong. It was the perfect opportunity to test his idea.
This time, instead of reinforcing his entire body at once, he chose to focus on specific areas.
For example, if he had 100 enhancement points to distribute, he had previously divided them equally among strength, speed, stamina, and defense, giving each a 25-point boost.
Now, he tried splitting those 100 points between strength and speed, giving each 50. If possible, he also wanted to try putting everything into either strength or speed to achieve a more extreme boost.
Swish, swish, swish-
After dividing the enhancement equally between strength and speed, he cut down the cursed spirits blocking his path as easily as chopping vegetables, all in the blink of an eye.
It was much easier than he had expected.
In the distance, Maki Zenin, who had likewise dispatched the small fry in her way in an instant, glanced over and nodded.
Aikawa Kaze seemed reasonably capable, and he wasn't too frightened to swing his sword. Even if he ran into danger, he should be able to hold out until they could support him. She didn't need to worry about him dying immediately.
By comparison...
Looking at the timid, bewildered Yuta Okkotsu, Maki Zenin was speechless.
This guy doesn't even come close!
No, look on the bright side. Maybe his cursed technique is really unusual and powerful?
After all, Yuta Okkotsu's uniform was white, marking him as a dangerous individual.
With that thought, Maki Zenin asked casually, "Hey, what grade are you?"
"Huh? What?"
"Tch, never mind. Give me your student ID!"
"Oh..."
Overawed by the confident, dashing Maki Zenin, Yuta Okkotsu handed over his student ID obediently and respectfully, like a lackey facing his boss.
Maki Zenin: !!!
Why the hell is this guy Special Grade?!!!!
Before you continue