First acquaintance

Suguru Geto had been Satoru Gojo's classmate and closest friend in the original story, as well as one of the four future Special Grade Sorcerers.

His convictions had once led him to believe that protecting the weak was the duty and responsibility of the strong, but as one incident after another unfolded, those convictions gradually fell apart.

The people he had once believed he should protect became the objects of his disgust. After a period of confusion, he ultimately embarked on the irreversible path of exterminating all non-sorcerers to create a world inhabited only by jujutsu sorcerers.

Looking at Chinatsu, who had frozen before him, Suguru Geto wore a puzzled expression. A few seconds later, realization suddenly dawned on him.

"Oh, right, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Suguru Geto. In a few months, I'll be attending Jujutsu High in Tokyo. Actually, I only learned what a 'jujutsu sorcerer' was recently."

Suguru Geto spoke very gently. As Chinatsu looked at him, however, Satoru Gojo came to mind, and she compared the two.

"Tsk!"

Chinatsu couldn't help clicking her tongue. Three enormous question marks practically popped up over Suguru Geto's head as he wondered whether he had done something wrong.

Chinatsu awkwardly waved a hand to tell him not to mind it. Then she lowered her head slightly, deliberately tilting her solid-black sunglasses down to reveal her azure eyes.

"You said you're going to Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu High School in a few months? Then we'll be classmates. I'm Chinatsu, and I'm probably a little older than you. You can call me Big Sis Chinatsu," she said casually, smiling.

Suguru Geto had been born into an ordinary family. He was one of the rare people who had awakened a talent for jujutsu despite neither parent being a jujutsu sorcerer.

He was actually a year or two younger than Chinatsu and Satoru Gojo. He had only gained admission to Jujutsu High because someone from Jujutsu Society had recently discovered his talent and recruited him.

Suguru Geto's face twitched slightly at the prospect of calling the youthful-looking girl before him "Big Sis," but he didn't refuse.

They reached out and shook hands, and their temporary jujutsu team was formed.

They turned to look at the idol agency beside them. Under normal circumstances, there would certainly have been people in the building at this hour, but the recent string of abnormal incidents had left it deserted.

"Can you use a Curtain?"

With both hands in her pockets, Chinatsu turned to Suguru Geto and asked casually. He gave an awkward shrug and spread his hands.

A Curtain was a type of barrier technique derived from jujutsu. A standard Curtain prevented ordinary people outside it from noticing the jujutsu activity within, and mastering it was a basic requirement for every formally trained jujutsu sorcerer.

Chinatsu sighed helplessly. If Suguru Geto couldn't do it, she would have to set it up herself. She spread both hands and formed a special gesture. Before long, a Curtain invisible to ordinary people covered the building.

"Let's go in."

"Okay."

The two approached the building. When Chinatsu saw the lock on the entrance, she instinctively raised a hand, ready to resort to "brute-force enforcement" again, but this time, Suguru Geto reached out and stopped her.

"Uh... leave this to me."

Suguru Geto opened his hand as he spoke. A small black vortex formed above his palm, and a tiny cursed spirit emerged from it. Under his direction, it effortlessly undid the chain in a few quick moves.

This was his innate cursed technique, Cursed Spirit Manipulation.

The wielder of this cursed technique could bring cursed spirits under their control through a subjugation ritual. If the difference in strength was great enough, they could even skip the ritual and capture one simply by touching it with their palm.

The number of cursed spirits it could hold... had no upper limit!

"We can just put the lock back when we're finished."

After removing the lock, Suguru Geto recalled the tiny cursed spirit and pushed the entrance open. The instant they stepped inside, both sensed a dangerous surge of cursed energy.

The cursed spirit was making a show of force!

Perhaps it had also realized that Chinatsu and Suguru Geto weren't ordinary jujutsu sorcerers, so it was releasing its cursed energy at full strength from a distance, trying to scare them off. Unfortunately, the more it did so, the more excited Chinatsu became.

"High-end Grade 1 at the very least. I wonder if it's reached special grade..." Chinatsu murmured, an interested smile spreading across her face.

Suguru Geto, meanwhile, couldn't quite process the sudden smile on her face.

It couldn't be helped. To Chinatsu, cursed spirits below special grade were no fun at all. Only special grade ones were somewhat interesting.

Of course, she meant those at the very bottom of special grade.

In truth, the range of strength within special grade was enormous. A thousand years ago, there had been a King of Curses named Ryomen Sukuna, who possessed two faces and four arms.

After his death, he had housed his soul and power within his twenty fingers. A cursed spirit could become a special grade cursed spirit simply by swallowing one of them.

As a result, "fingers" had become a classic unit for measuring combat strength in Jujutsu Kaisen.

Chinatsu and Suguru Geto continued deeper into the building. With every step, the cursed energy permeating the air grew denser.

"Here it comes."

Chinatsu suddenly stopped. Although Suguru Geto didn't know what was happening, he immediately went on guard.

The next second, a hideous cursed spirit with a female body, wreathed in scarlet cursed energy, charged straight at them. It held a red blade in its hand.

As it rapidly closed in, shrill laughter spilled from its mouth.

"Watch out!!!"

Suguru Geto reacted and hurriedly shouted a warning to Chinatsu. He could tell that the cursed spirit's first target wasn't him, but the girl beside him.

Just as he opened a black vortex to release several of his cursed spirits into the fight, Chinatsu calmly extended a palm straight ahead.

"Limitless Defense: Expansion."

The layer of "Limitless: Stillness" surrounding her body suddenly expanded, catching the cursed spirit while it was still about a meter away and bringing it to a halt.

Chinatsu quietly studied the cursed spirit before her with her Six Eyes. A few seconds later, disappointment crossed her face, and she sighed.

"A top-end Grade 1 cursed spirit. You don't even reach the bottom of special grade. You really are such a disappointment."

Although the cursed spirit couldn't understand human speech, the sight of Chinatsu and the obvious shift in her emotions suddenly made it feel offended...