Noon.
Sunlight streamed into the room through the window. Satoru Gojo, who had mistakenly believed he was awake and practicing Teleportation in his dream, groggily opened his eyes.
"What... was all of that a dream?"
Satoru Gojo blinked blearily up at the ceiling. A trace of pure, unadulterated stupidity actually shone in his azure eyes.
He raised a hand to his forehead, looking a little troubled.
"I knew it felt too unreal. Learning [Teleportation] just like that was one thing, but even my [Big Brother Plan] worked out so easily..."
Satoru Gojo let out a sigh. As frustrating as it was, he could only accept it. He got out of bed, straightened his clothes a little, and left his room.
But when he saw Chinatsu already practicing Teleportation, he felt as though his first step out of his room had taken him straight into hell...
A few days later, the official announcement of Chinatsu's and Satoru Gojo's grades was released. At just six years old, the two had become "Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerers," shocking the entire Jujutsu Society.
Children with a talent for jujutsu generally awakened their innate Cursed Techniques between the ages of four and six. Some children had only just awakened their techniques and reached the starting line, while Chinatsu and Satoru Gojo had already raced all the way to "Grade 2." How could anyone not be shocked?
To Chinatsu and Satoru Gojo, however, it had been a foregone conclusion, so neither felt particularly different.
While the outside world buzzed over the news, both of them were trying to master short-range Teleportation. This extension of their technique was clearly still a little too difficult for them at their current level, though.
Through countless attempts, Chinatsu's and Satoru Gojo's afterimages kept flickering back and forth through the Gojo Clan estate like ghosts.
Even though everyone in the estate knew the two were practicing Teleportation, they still inevitably frightened a few people who weren't paying attention.
Watching this, the Elder awkwardly took a cloth from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his temples.
"It looks like... I'll have to find something for them to do after all..." the Elder murmured.
Despite saying that, the Elder couldn't immediately think of enough things to keep them busy.
Jujutsu missions?
There really weren't that many missions.
Cursed spirits were born from humanity's negative emotions, so their emergence varied according to factors such as time, weather, season, and environment.
Simply put, even cursed spirits had an "off-season" and a "peak season," and right now was the off-season.
There weren't many outstanding jujutsu missions to begin with. As a major jujutsu clan, the Gojo Clan could hardly compete for them with ordinary jujutsu sorcerers who relied on mission earnings to support their families.
The Elder helplessly raised a hand and clutched his head.
He had seen far too many children refuse to practice tedious jujutsu and devote their attention to other pursuits instead, giving their parents no end of headaches.
He had truly never imagined the exact opposite would give him a headache, let alone leave him unable to think of a solution.
Fortunately, Chinatsu and Satoru Gojo didn't keep the commotion up for long. A few hours later, both were lying on the lawn within the estate, gasping for breath and feeling as though their brains were about to explode.
[Teleportation] wasn't a skill the two could casually master at their age. They both knew that perfectly well, but they hadn't expected actually putting it into practice to be so difficult.
A month? Half a year? A year?
I still hope we can master it sooner rather than later.
Lying on the lawn, Chinatsu lifted an arm and rested it across her forehead. Her azure eyes quietly gazed at the blue sky and white clouds as she sank into thought.
She pondered her future, wondering what she, a character who had never existed in the original story and had suddenly entered this world, could accomplish or change.
There were many tragedies in Jujutsu Kaisen. In fact, its main plot was formed by one tragedy after another, all linked together.
Could all of that... really be changed?
Chinatsu should have felt uncertain about that, yet unexpectedly, she felt not the slightest unease. Her eyes remained fixed on the blue sky and white clouds, and waves of warmth rose in her chest, though she wasn't sure whether she was imagining them.
[Confidence]
It was a subtle feeling, as though she had succeeded somewhere before. Chinatsu felt no uncertainty about her future and trusted that she would succeed.
If one "strongest" wasn't enough in the original story, then I'll add another. If even that isn't enough, then it'll be my defeat!
With that thought, Chinatsu let out a soft breath as she lay on the lawn. She slowly closed her eyes and quietly drifted off to sleep in the gentle breeze.
A few days later.
The school cafeteria where Chinatsu had carried out her jujutsu assignment underwent a major overhaul. A year earlier, the cafeteria had actually enjoyed a decent reputation. The school had adopted an outsourcing system, hiring a group of excellent cooks from outside to prepare meals for the students.
But that system hadn't lasted, largely because of corruption among the school's senior administrators. To cut costs as much as possible, they had terminated the original cooks' contracts and replaced them with a group of people who had questionable connections to the administration.
Now the cafeteria had come back to life. Students taking hearty mouthfuls of their meals declared, "My childhood is back!" The negative emotions generated in the cafeteria visibly dropped below the danger threshold.
"Mmm~ That's the taste~ It's absolutely amazing!"
"Now this is more like it. This is food fit for human beings! What even was that stuff they served before?"
"I'm so happy. So, so happy! All the stress from this morning just vanished. I feel like I can give it another shot and make it through afternoon classes!"
The students ate with happiness written all over their faces. In that warm atmosphere, their conversations wandered through all sorts of subjects, including Chinatsu, whom some of the girls had briefly met at the school gate. They discussed whether she might come to study at their school.
Of course, the answer was no.
If Chinatsu and Satoru Gojo attended school, they would only go to one of the Jujutsu Society's two schools.
Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu High School
And
Kyoto Prefectural Jujutsu High School
Known as Jujutsu High for short.
But at six years old, it was far too early for either of them to attend those schools. They would have to be at least fifteen. Until then, they would only receive tutoring to fill in their basic knowledge.
Time flew by, day after day. Without neglecting their jujutsu training, Chinatsu and Satoru Gojo also periodically endured the torment of increasingly advanced tutoring.
Through her efforts, Chinatsu successfully saw off three rounds of tutors with a professional smile. Through his own efforts, Satoru Gojo likewise managed to infuriate three rounds of tutors into leaving.
Before long, the two turned fourteen.
Before you continue