Special Grade

Among jujutsu sorcerers, "Special Grade" denoted an existence beyond the norm. Rather than these exceptions, it was the Grade 1 sorcerers who formed the backbone that guided other jujutsu sorcerers, and even Jujutsu Society as a whole.

So "Special Grade Sorcerer" really was nothing more than a special title. Sorcerers without Special Grade strength could yearn for it but never obtain it, while those who possessed that strength had the title forced upon them by the Jujutsu Higher-Ups, whether they wanted it or not.

It was an honor, but also a restraint.

The Jujutsu Higher-Ups placed these immensely powerful individuals, who could even disregard the rules, on a pedestal where everyone could see them, creating an invisible form of restraint.

If any Special Grade Sorcerer attempted to ignore the rules they had laid down, the higher-ups could at least discover it relatively quickly and take countermeasures.

They might condemn them on moral grounds, for instance, or brand them with some fabricated accusation, then gather a large number of jujutsu sorcerers to hunt that individual down.

Of course, whether they could actually win was another matter.

At that moment, Chinatsu, who had received the title of Special Grade Sorcerer, was quietly eating her curry rice. Although becoming a Special Grade Sorcerer had been her goal since childhood, she did not feel particularly excited now that she had actually obtained the title.

Her goal had been "Special Grade strength," not "the Special Grade title." She had already experienced all that joy and excitement when she awakened after her battle with Toji Fushiguro.

She soon finished her curry rice and left the cafeteria. Although she had been named a Special Grade Sorcerer, she was not invincible yet, because she had not mastered a [Domain].

A Domain was the ultimate expression of jujutsu, and a vast gulf separated sorcerers who had mastered one from those who had not.

Even if someone overwhelmingly outclassed their opponent in ordinary combat without using a Domain, the outcome could still shift if their opponent activated one.

In the original work, the Domain Satoru Gojo awakened was called [Unlimited Void]. It was the most powerful finishing move in the realm of mental control, forcibly flooding an enemy's brain with enormous amounts of useless information until their mind crashed, leaving them standing there in a stupor.

The effect of this Domain seemed simple, but it was brutally overwhelming. Even Ryomen Sukuna, another of the story's strongest fighters, would suffer severe brain damage and cough up blood if he endured its effect for ten seconds.

Yet Chinatsu currently had no idea how to train toward such a powerful move. Besides, her goal was not Satoru Gojo's Unlimited Void. She wanted even more to master a Domain that belonged to her alone.

"I'll just have to keep pushing..."

Chinatsu sighed helplessly and buried herself in training again. Although there was still a long time before the original story's main plot began, she had a feeling that its unfolding might not go as smoothly as she imagined.

When the news that Chinatsu, Satoru Gojo, and Suguru Geto had become Special Grade Sorcerers spread through Jujutsu Society, it stirred up another wave of commotion.

The members of the Gojo Clan wore proud, triumphant expressions, while the Kamo Clan acted as though they had heard nothing. Not long ago, a son of their clan head named Noritoshi Kamo had awakened their clan's finest Cursed Technique, Blood Manipulation.

Although Noritoshi Kamo was not the clan head's legitimate eldest son, but a child born to a concubine, the clan publicly declared him the true legitimate heir because the legal wife had failed to bear a boy who inherited the technique.

The Gojo Clan had two wielders of the "Six Eyes and Limitless."

The Kamo Clan now had a wielder of "Blood Manipulation" as well.

Naobito Zenin, the current head of the Zenin Clan, lowered his head and drank morosely, his face taut. When the Gojo Clan had stood apart from the rest, he had at least had the Kamo Clan to share his misery. Now, his own clan was the odd one out.

"Ten Shadows Technique... Ten Shadows Technique... where on earth are you...?"

Precisely because Naobito Zenin was the strongest Grade 1 Sorcerer, he understood just how far an exceptional Cursed Technique could take a jujutsu sorcerer.

His Cursed Technique was Projection Sorcery, one of the Zenin Clan's inherited forms of jujutsu. Below the Ten Shadows Technique, it was considered one of the stronger ones.

Once this technique was activated, moving objects within the sorcerer's field of vision would slow down, their movement divided into twenty-four frames per second and traced into a set trajectory.

Anything Naobito touched with his palm could be frozen for one second if it failed to move along the predetermined trajectory.

Strong. Very strong.

It simply fell a little short of the Ten Shadows Technique.

Naobito Zenin let out a breath reeking of alcohol, then gloomily closed his eyes and dozed off.

Meanwhile, at the Fushiguro family home.

Toji Fushiguro reclined on the sofa with his legs crossed, remote in hand, pressing its buttons as he watched a channel broadcasting lottery results.

"Tch, missed again. I really need to kick this gambling habit, or I'll burn through all the money I've saved."

As Toji Fushiguro spoke, he flicked the lottery ticket held in one hand onto the floor. Young Megumi Fushiguro came out of his room just in time to hear his muttering.

"If you could quit, you would've done it ages ago. Ever since you came home, I've heard that so often I'm sick of it," Megumi Fushiguro said bluntly, shooting him down.

He headed straight from his bedroom door toward the kitchen, where the refrigerator was. He planned to get the remaining milk out of it to drink.

On his way, he casually glanced toward his father. That single glance made him freeze, and he stopped in his tracks.

To his eyes, Toji Fushiguro looked different today. Something black, resembling a large, fleshy worm, was wrapped around his body.

Toji Fushiguro, still reclining on the sofa, quickly noticed Megumi's unusual reaction. At first, he merely cast a puzzled glance at Megumi, who stood motionless.

He had been about to ask why Megumi was just standing there, but after following the direction of his gaze, he immediately understood why he had stopped.

A cursed spirit was wrapped around Toji Fushiguro's body. He had raised it since childhood and formed a master-servant pact with it. It had the ability to store things, and most of his cursed tools were kept inside its small body. Whenever he needed one, a mere thought would make the cursed spirit spit out the corresponding cursed tool.

Non-sorcerers could not see cursed spirits. Only jujutsu sorcerers who had awakened the Cursed Technique within them possessed that ability, and those with the potential generally awakened between the ages of four and six.

Megumi Fushiguro was now five, so it would have been perfectly normal and reasonable for him to awaken his Cursed Technique on any given day. Toji Fushiguro simply had not expected it to happen so suddenly.

Rather than immediately explain to Megumi what cursed spirits and jujutsu sorcerers were, he merely wore a faint smile and spoke.

"Megumi, congratulations. Welcome to the cesspit that is Jujutsu Society."