Toji stared blankly at Satoru Gojo behind Ze Zenin, unable to hide his shock.
"Yo, long time no see, Ze!"
Blood stained Satoru Gojo's white hair, and his face was a mess, but Ze Zenin had never seen him so excited.
"Congratulations. You figured out Reverse Cursed Technique, didn't you?"
Ze Zenin remained calm. Everything had gone as he expected.
"Ah... yeah."
Satoru Gojo seemed almost crazed. "Maybe!"
"When he stabbed through my throat, I focused all my thoughts on Reverse Cursed Technique.
I reversed the energy of my cursed energy, and the result was... I succeeded!"
"I've never felt this good before. I'm on top of the world right now!"
As he spoke, Satoru Gojo slowly floated into the air, seemingly defying the laws of physics, one hand pointing toward heaven and the other toward earth.
"Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one."
"Oh, give it a rest." Ze Zenin turned, standing between Satoru Gojo and Toji. "What are you planning to do next? Kill my teacher?"
Ze Zenin pointed at Toji, who was still standing there in a daze.
"Huh?" Satoru Gojo exclaimed. "This guy's your teacher?!"
"Who else do you think taught me Taijutsu in the first place?"
"Then who am I supposed to test my new move on?!"
Satoru Gojo instantly lost his excitement. He crouched on the ground and scratched his head. "I've been holding this in forever!
And he nearly killed me! I really want to beat him up!"
"Then you two can fight. Whoever gets hurt, I can heal them with Reverse Cursed Technique."
"Forget it, forget it. I'll just..."
"Hmm?"
Ze Zenin suddenly looked at Satoru Gojo with curiosity. "You're not going to fire Purple into the sky, are you?"
"You even know about that?" Satoru Gojo gave Ze Zenin a suspicious glance. How does Ze know about my ultimate move?
Even within the Gojo Clan, hardly anyone knew about this technique...
Without dwelling on it, Satoru Gojo began his chant:
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!"
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red!"
Two spheres of cursed energy, one red and one blue, appeared behind Satoru Gojo. He shouted at Toji:
"You're from the Zenin Clan, right?! This move was meant for you, but for Ze's sake, I'll let you off!"
Satoru Gojo magnanimously spared Toji. What was a little mortal wound compared to learning Reverse Cursed Technique?
Then Satoru Gojo pointed into the air and murmured, "The limits of lapse and reversal, pushed beyond their limits and brought into collision..."
"To generate an imaginary mass that can be launched."
"Hollow Purple."
As his words fell, purple light flashed in Satoru Gojo's hand. He looked up, aimed at the sky, and fired an immense surge of cursed energy high into the air.
Just then, Suguru Geto emerged from the Tombs of the Star Corridor with Riko Amanai and Kuroi. The moment he stepped outside, he saw Toji.
"You bastard!!" Suguru Geto immediately readied himself for battle, his subdued cursed spirits itching to move.
"Don't worry, Geto," Ze Zenin explained. "He's my teacher. You don't need to worry."
"..."
Suguru Geto fell silent. He still trusted Ze Zenin's words completely.
But looking at Satoru Gojo up in the sky, he realized he had never seen him in such a sorry state.
"What's he doing?" Suguru Geto asked.
"Getting ready to set off fireworks," Ze Zenin said, watching the fully charged Purple aimed into the sky.
"Fireworks?"
As Purple shot out, a tremendous explosion erupted high overhead.
The purple cursed energy seemed to fill the entire sky above Jujutsu High.
"Wow!"
Riko Amanai looked thrilled, completely ignoring the fact that Toji, who had just tried to kill her, was standing right beside her. "That scumbag's so romantic!"
"..."
Kuroi looked at her carefree young mistress, at a loss for words.
Of everyone there, only Toji watched the explosion in the sky with lingering dread. He recalled Satoru Gojo's words. That was meant for me?
He smiled bitterly, then looked at Ze Zenin. No wonder the kid told me not to take it head-on...
Now the Six Eyes has probably become the strongest, hasn't he?
No... perhaps not.
Toji sighed inwardly. If I fought the Six Eyes again, I'd probably lose because I didn't cut his head off, wouldn't I?
Not far from Jujutsu High, Kenjaku watched the explosion in the sky with a dark expression.
"Damn it!"
His feelings were complicated, to say the least.
Although the star plasma vessel hadn't died, she hadn't merged with Tengen either-
Kenjaku was very pleased with that. Without merging with the star plasma vessel, Tengen would evolve toward the level of a cursed spirit.
Then, as long as he obtained Cursed Spirit Manipulation, his plan would already be more than halfway to success!
But his nemesis... the Six Eyes had become even stronger! He might even be the strongest in a thousand years!
That was also the worst possible outcome for him.
Suddenly, Ze Zenin looked toward a certain spot, his gaze sharpening as a cold smile curled at his lips.
He seemed to be mocking Kenjaku for hiding like a rat.
"!!"
A bead of cold sweat appeared on Kenjaku's face. He hastily pinched his last piece of talisman paper and fled.
"His presence disappeared. It really was Kenjaku." Ze Zenin watched that spot, then turned away.
Elsewhere, Kenjaku broke into a cold sweat. He actually spotted me?!
What are those red eyes?! Since when did the Zenin Clan have eyes like that?
Still shaken, Kenjaku clenched his fists. Even with an anomaly like Ze Zenin, he would never abandon his thousand-year undertaking.
But he had already thought of a way to seize Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
"Let our game begin, Ze Zenin..."
One year later, on a day in August 2007.
Ze Zenin and the others had entered their third year at Jujutsu High, and all three of them had become Special Grade Sorcerers.
"Ready? Here goes."
Shoko tossed the eraser and pencil in her hands at Satoru Gojo, but as expected, both were stopped before they reached him.
"How does that work?" Shoko asked curiously, looking at Satoru Gojo in his white T-shirt.
Satoru Gojo's jawline and neck were sharply defined, and he wore a brilliant smile.
"He realized his Limitless had a delay."
Wearing a black T-shirt, Ze Zenin leaned against a tree. He yawned and continued:
"He practiced for a year and managed to get his body to automatically screen approaching objects by quantity and mass.
That reduced his cursed energy consumption and let him keep Limitless active around the clock."
"In other words-he finally learned the automatic mode I told him about ten years ago."
"Won't that fry his brain?" Shoko asked, intrigued.
"He uses Reverse Cursed Technique to heal his brain."
"Ahem..." Satoru Gojo coughed, instantly abandoning any thought of explaining it himself. Then he said, "Ze, summon your Mahoraga too!"
"Let's have another match!"
"You sure?"
Ze Zenin formed hand seals with both hands and chanted an incantation. Mahoraga immediately appeared behind him.
An immense surge of cursed energy appeared on the training field. Suguru Geto and Shoko stared at Mahoraga in a daze.
It was their first time seeing Ze Zenin summon Mahoraga with the complete summoning ritual, and their first time observing this shikigami from so close.
"The strongest Ten Shadows shikigami..." Suguru Geto murmured.
"I don't want to fight you quite so soon." Ze Zenin smiled faintly. "At least wait until everything's settled, all right?"
"Everything's settled?" Satoru Gojo asked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing." Ze Zenin thought about what lay ahead. Although Sukuna didn't worry him, he couldn't shake a vague sense of foreboding.
Ze Zenin's words left Satoru Gojo baffled. He complained, "You've been talking in riddles ever since we were kids!"
Ignoring Satoru Gojo's complaints, Ze Zenin turned to Shoko, who stood quietly nearby. "Come on, Shoko. Haven't you always wanted to pet Mahoraga?"
"Can I really?"
Shoko swallowed. Looking at the ferocious, five-meter-tall shikigami, she was still frightened.
"Of course. I'm right here! This big guy's very obedient!"
Shoko felt uneasy, but as she looked at the handsome boy in black, she finally overcame her fear and rested her hand on Mahoraga's waist.
"Mahoraga, crouch down," Ze Zenin told him. "Go ahead and pet his head."
"Okay..."
Shoko stared at the crouching Mahoraga, still astonished, but soon grew accustomed to him. "This last shikigami doesn't seem as cute as the others, though!"
"Young lady, you can't just say things like that!"
Mahoraga actually spoke, giving Shoko an immediate fright.
"Mahoraga, you scared her. You'd better stay quiet."
Mahoraga felt deeply wronged. His master struck him with lightning, used him to flirt with girls, and now wouldn't even let him speak!
With heavy dark circles under his eyes, Geto stared blankly at his two closest friends' immense power: the awakened Limitless and the Ten Shadows technique that could adapt to anything-
Every bit of it chipped away at his confidence.
A trace of dejection inevitably flickered in his eyes.
Satoru Gojo looked at Suguru Geto and asked casually, "Geto, have you lost weight lately? You okay?"
Suppressing his disappointment, Suguru Geto forced a smile. "I'm fine. I'll be better soon."
Although the dejection in his eyes vanished in an instant, the perceptive Ze Zenin still caught it...
But at that moment, one sentence kept echoing in Suguru Geto's mind:
That summer, Ze and Gojo became the strongest...
Before you continue