Suguru Geto, the mission, and what came before

Jujutsu Headquarters.

"What do we do, Lord Kamo? That Ten Shadows user has already found out about Suguru Geto!"

At the head of the conference table in Jujutsu Headquarters sat a hunched figure with a line of stitches running across his entire forehead. He was the Kamo Clan's representative, Nobuyuki Kamo.

Nobuyuki Kamo-or rather, Kenjaku-remained unruffled amid everyone's panicked voices. He smiled faintly. "Don't panic. We haven't lost completely yet."

"The Ten Shadows user knows! Do you have some brilliant plan left?"

Fanning himself with a paper fan, Kenjaku calmly offered the explanation he had prepared long ago. "As far as I know, that Ten Shadows user from the Zenin Clan used to have such low standing that even servants could bully her at will. Now she's awakened her technique... do you really expect someone raised in that environment to be kindhearted?"

"She's far colder than the Six Eyes. She doesn't even care about Naobito Zenin."

The others hesitated. "You mean..."

Kenjaku snapped his fan shut, utterly certain. "Exactly. The Ten Shadows user is clearly just using Suguru Geto to pressure us into giving her something. She says she'll make us answer for what happened to him, but she doesn't actually care. Besides, they didn't even know each other before that mission."

Realization dawned on everyone, and they began whispering among themselves.

"I was wondering why the Ten Shadows user suddenly brought up Suguru Geto!"

"You really are fools. You let some little girl who hasn't even grown up scare you into apologizing!"

"She's a true Zenin, all right. So scheming at such a young age!"

...Scheming?

Kenjaku thought it was less a matter of scheming than of having a clear goal.

According to the informant he had planted in the Zenin Clan, this Ten Shadows user had never hidden the intent behind her actions-to leave the Zenin Clan.

She felt no sense of belonging to the Zenin Clan. In fact, she loathed it.

To leave, she could only keep getting stronger until no one dared stand in her way.

Kenjaku would have preferred her to leave right now. Then he wouldn't even have to act himself; the curse users on the black market would accomplish his goal for him.

Fortunately, leaving was the Ten Shadows user's only goal. She cared about nothing else.

For over a year, the Six Eyes had visited her from time to time, yet she had never once sought him out herself. She always stayed shut away in her own courtyard.

She seemed utterly sick of the world.

He really ought to thank the Zenin Clan for raising the Ten Shadows user to be like this.

After all, a Ten Shadows user like her wouldn't have much impact on his plans.

And Suguru Geto-the key figure in his plan-certainly couldn't be allowed to suffer any mishaps before the right moment arrived.

"Lord Kamo, then, according to what you've said, we can still continue the plan for Suguru Geto...?"

A middle-aged man asked cautiously.

"Of course."

They would create conflict, alienate Suguru Geto from the world of ordinary people, and finally, when no one understood him and he stood on the verge of collapse...

Jujutsu Headquarters would take an accepting stance and rescue Suguru Geto from the mire he had sunk into, turning him into their obedient Special Grade weapon once and for all.

After all, when people were at their loneliest and most desperate, they would cling even to a single straw.

How could Jujutsu Headquarters possibly not know about this child who had awakened Cursed Spirit Manipulation?

Tokyo wasn't far from Jujutsu High, and there was also Window. Wasn't it only natural that Suguru Geto would catch their attention?

Jujutsu Headquarters had staged numerous incidents of cursed spirits attacking people in front of Suguru Geto. They exploited his kindness to force him to reveal what made him different, then... let the terrified gazes of those he had saved cut him to pieces once their brief gratitude faded.

He was still a child, after all. His spirit was so easy to crush.

With just a little conflict, they could quickly turn the naturally kind Suguru Geto into what they wanted.

-[The terrifying monster that hurt me has been defeated, but the person who defeated it can command monsters like that!]

Who wouldn't think that way?

Jujutsu Headquarters congratulated themselves on Nobuyuki Kamo's brilliant plan.

Soon, they put the plan into action. Everything went smoothly.

But halfway through, Suguru Geto chose to transfer schools, rejoin ordinary society, and start his life over?

-That wouldn't do!

Jujutsu Headquarters immediately grew anxious.

As luck would have it, the Zenin Clan's Ten Shadows user would be coming to Jujutsu Headquarters in a few days to take on a high-level mission, so they came up with a plan.

Why couldn't they use the Ten Shadows user to achieve their goal?

They only needed to find a cursed spirit with a special domain-fortunately, such cursed spirits were rare, but they did exist.

Once they found the cursed spirit, a little trickery would make Suguru Geto see his classmates in danger. Given his personality, he would definitely choose to save them.

But at his current level, he certainly couldn't handle a cursed spirit approaching Special Grade, so they would have no choice but to struggle to hold out inside its domain.

And as time dragged on, would those ordinary children trapped inside be able to remain calm?

Or would they start blaming and berating this kind young jujutsu sorcerer for being too weak?

-Wasn't the answer obvious?

Once enough time had passed, they would tell the Ten Shadows user, "Three people have been missing for nearly a day since a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit appeared." Wouldn't she assume they were already dead?

As a result, the Ten Shadows user would surely not risk entering the cursed spirit's domain. She would simply use her powerful shikigami to shatter it from the outside.

Then the people from Jujutsu Headquarters would appear at just the right moment. With a little steering, getting the Cursed Spirit Manipulation user to hate the Ten Shadows user would be child's play.

After all, the Ten Shadows user had accepted a "rescue" mission from Jujutsu Headquarters, yet she had brutally shattered the domain, killing the ordinary children who were already weakened from being trapped inside for so long.

And given the relationship between the Six Eyes and the Ten Shadows user, Suguru Geto could never join either the Zenin faction or the Gojo faction. Instead, he could become a force to keep them in check. Wasn't that perfect?

Jujutsu Headquarters could also use the Ten Shadows user's killing of those children as leverage to pressure the Zenin Clan, which had been arrogant for so long.

It would achieve so many things in one stroke!

At the head of the table, Kenjaku kept his expression neutral while laughing to himself.

Jujutsu Headquarters had laid its filthy ambition so bare before him that he would have been doing himself a disservice if he hadn't exploited it. So Kenjaku had taken over the body of a man named Nobuyuki Kamo and, thanks to the plan he proposed, risen to the head of Jujutsu Headquarters with extraordinary speed.

And these fools were still congratulating themselves on the Cursed Spirit Manipulation they would soon acquire.