Six months later

Although the failure of barriers across the country caused by Tengen's evolution had stirred up considerable unrest in Jujutsu Society, the efforts of countless people working overtime brought the situation completely under control within about six months.

On the training grounds at Jujutsu High, Suguru Geto was guiding his Junior Students, Yu Haibara and Kento Nanami, as their Senior Student.

What he was teaching them, however, was not ordinary jujutsu.

"Weapons that aren't cursed tools can't withstand a sudden infusion of enormous amounts of cursed energy. But if you gently build it up in stages, coating the weapon's surface with cursed energy rather than simply reinforcing the weapon itself, even an ordinary weapon can hold its own against a cursed tool for a short time."

Smiling, Suguru Geto held an unsharpened sword of the sort readily available on the market. He slowly fed his cursed energy onto its surface, making it sharp enough to slice through a falling leaf.

"Of course, if circumstances allow, I still recommend carrying one or two cursed tools, especially for beginners like you who aren't very proficient with your jujutsu yet."

As he spoke, Suguru Geto took out the Special Grade Cursed Tool Playful Cloud and demonstrated the difference between ordinary weapons and cursed tools to Yu Haibara and Kento Nanami.

Incidentally, Playful Cloud now truly belonged to Suguru Geto. Through tireless effort, he had saved up one billion yen and bought it from Chinatsu.

In the original work, Suguru Geto's cursed technique had been on par with Satoru Gojo's, but now that he had mastered and begun using Playful Cloud early, his pure cursed technique had firmly surpassed Satoru Gojo's.

Of course, Suguru Geto had not neglected his cursed technique, Cursed Spirit Manipulation, either. He simply no longer swallowed every cursed spirit he came across without restraint as he had in the original work. Now, the army of cursed spirits under his command was filled with elites.

Yu Haibara, the Junior Student receiving guidance from him, had eyes sparkling brightly. Brimming with enthusiasm, he raised both hands and clenched them into fists.

"I'll work hard so I can become a Jujutsu Sorcerer who can stand on his own as soon as possible!" Yu Haibara declared with an eager smile.

Beside him, Kento Nanami reached up and scratched the back of his head, clearly struggling to deal with his classmate Yu Haibara's enthusiasm.

"I'll work hard to complete my studies, too."

Seeing their reactions, Suguru Geto nodded at them appreciatively. He had intended to keep coaching them, but when he looked up at the sun and realized what time it was, he immediately changed tack.

"I'll leave these unsharpened swords here for now. You can practice applying cursed energy yourselves. I have something to take care of, so I'll be going."

Before leaving, he gently patted both of them on the shoulder. Yu Haibara trembled with emotion and clenched his fists, looking as though fierce flames had ignited all over his body.

"Senior Student Geto is so cool! I really want to become a Jujutsu Sorcerer like him as soon as possible!!!"

His fighting spirit soaring, Yu Haibara strode toward the unsharpened swords Suguru Geto had left stuck in the ground.

He quickly pulled one out and confidently poured his cursed energy into the sword in his hand.

Just as he was about to say, "I know I can do this!" the sword shattered, giving Yu Haibara quite a fright.

Watching this unfold, Kento Nanami helplessly covered his face with one hand and repeated what Suguru Geto had taught them earlier.

"Gently... you have to be gentle..."

Muttering the word "gently" under his breath, Yu Haibara tried again with all his might, only to fail once more.

Of course, Yu Haibara did not lose heart. Holding what had once been a sword, now reduced to its hilt, he still wore a radiant smile.

"I knew this wouldn't be easy to master. Senior Student Geto can use cursed tools so skillfully. He's seriously so cool!!!"

At that moment, Suguru Geto, whom Yu Haibara had declared "so cool," was in Jujutsu High's cafeteria, slurping down steaming soba noodles in great mouthfuls.

Beside him sat Shoko and Satoru Gojo, both digging into their food just as eagerly.

Chinatsu emerged from the kitchen carrying her own lunch. Looking at everyone busily devouring their meals, she could not help giving a wry smile.

At some point, whenever she was at Jujutsu High around lunchtime, everyone had automatically begun treating her as the cafeteria's head chef.

Shoko had a plate of delicious tempura, while Suguru Geto usually ate nothing but soba noodles. Those two were manageable enough.

It was that shameless Satoru Gojo who actually treated the place like a restaurant and started placing orders.

With a stony expression, Chinatsu sat down some distance away from them. Her lunch today was curry rice.

Just as she settled her irritation and gently pressed her palms together, before she could say, "Let's eat," the cafeteria doors were pushed open from outside.

Everyone turned toward the entrance, but upon seeing Masamichi Yaga, they lowered their heads and went back to eating as though nothing had happened.

Chinatsu's expression turned stony again as she told Masamichi Yaga, "I've already started eating. If you want to order something, you're too late."

Masamichi Yaga could not help looking embarrassed at her words. This was the only time he had missed out; on every previous occasion, he had arrived in time to join the ranks of enthusiastic diners.

This time, however, his main purpose was not to eat, but to find Chinatsu, Satoru Gojo, and Suguru Geto and tell them something.

Masamichi Yaga raised a clenched fist to his mouth and cleared his throat loudly, trying to draw everyone's attention.

Once he had succeeded, he told them with a serious expression, "Chinatsu, Satoru, Geto, the Jujutsu Higher-Ups have designated you as Special Grade Sorcerers!"

"Oh, that's certainly something to be happy about."

After that perfunctory response, Chinatsu lowered her head and continued eating her curry rice. Satoru Gojo had not even looked up the entire time. Only Suguru Geto showed Yaga any courtesy.

He stopped eating his noodles and turned toward Masamichi Yaga. After a brief moment of thought, he raised one finger and asked with a smile, "Does becoming Special Grade mean we get paid more for completing missions?"

"Uh... not much more than Grade 1."

"Oh."

Still smiling, Suguru Geto shifted his gaze from Masamichi Yaga back to the soba noodles in his hands and resumed slurping...