For a full half month, Satoru Gojo had disappeared for a full half month.
Although Sherlock was already at Jujutsu High, studying himself into a stupor under the guidance and influence of Shoko, who was preparing for her medical licensing exam, there was no denying that this was the quietest stretch of time he had experienced since meeting Satoru Gojo, bar none.
But while things were quiet for Sherlock, those Old Orange-Peels at Jujutsu Headquarters had not enjoyed a single peaceful day.
The reason was simple. They had no idea what madness had possessed Satoru Gojo. Every few days, he submitted another outrageous proposal: turning Jujutsu High into a junior college, establishing undergraduate Jujutsu programs, introducing Jujutsu master's and doctoral programs, and so on.
To those Old Orange-Peels, Jujutsu Sorcerers were nothing more than expendables. A vocational high school education was enough. Was there any need for junior colleges or undergraduate degrees?
But faced with Satoru Gojo, they could not openly state their intentions, so they had no choice but to grit their teeth and humor his nonsense.
Of course, Masamichi Yaga suffered too. Almost every time Satoru Gojo submitted an outrageous proposal, Jujutsu Headquarters summoned him for a meeting, and those Old Orange-Peels kept trying to get him to tell Satoru Gojo to rein it in.
Masamichi Yaga naturally understood what those Old Orange-Peels in the upper ranks were thinking, but he chose to play dumb.
The reason was simple. As the principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High, did they really think he could not see their petty schemes against Satoru Gojo after he became a teacher?
How could he not?
Masamichi Yaga understood it perfectly!
More than half the reason Tokyo Jujutsu High was so short on talent now came down to those higher-ups hiding in Jujutsu Headquarters. Since they could use such methods to make Satoru Gojo miserable, it was only reasonable for him to retaliate in kind.
Besides, every one of Satoru Gojo's proposals was reasonable, legal, and compliant with regulations. He never once used his status as "the strongest" to pressure them, so Masamichi Yaga was happy to indulge his antics.
It was just that when Masamichi Yaga learned those outrageous proposals had come from the sole student Satoru Gojo had coaxed back with him, his heart did ache a little.
Still, seeing the smile that meeting that student had brought to Satoru Gojo's face, even as Jujutsu Headquarters squeezed his former student dry, Masamichi Yaga thought it over and said nothing more.
Sherlock knew none of this.
Over that half month, Sherlock became utterly absorbed in Jujutsu High's official textbooks, and the conclusion he reached was simple.
Those Old Orange-Peels really were all shit!
The reason he said that was simple. Apart from useful material such as high school subjects and some knowledge about cursed energy and cursed spirits, most of the textbooks consisted of moral platitudes.
Sherlock, whose worldview had long since matured, had nothing but scorn for the so-called righteous principle that "Jujutsu Sorcerers fight cursed spirits to protect ordinary people."
There was even information about Jujutsu Society in the books that Sherlock could not accept at all, and he had discussed this with Shoko.
The most classic example was the conclusion that "Satoru Gojo's birth caused a massive increase in cursed spirits."
After learning Satoru Gojo's age from Shoko, it was easy to work out that he had been born in late 1989. As coincidence would have it, his birthday was December 7.
Between 1990 and 1991, the years immediately afterward, the economic bubble behind the claim that selling Tokyo could buy the entire United States burst, plunging Japan's economy into its lost thirty years.
Countless companies and individuals went bankrupt at the time. The stock market nosedived, and some people lost all their assets overnight. Even getting onto a rooftop meant waiting in line!
Going by the theory that cursed spirits were born from ordinary people's negative emotions, it was not Satoru Gojo's birth that had caused their numbers to explode. It should have been the bursting of the economic bubble that sent their numbers soaring.
That economic crisis had not even fully abated by the present year of 2010, and it had even given rise to the so-called Heisei generation.
Yet the textbooks simply attributed the explosion in cursed spirit numbers to Satoru Gojo's birth alone. Wasn't that complete fucking bullshit?
Even if there really was a balance in fighting strength between cursed spirits and Jujutsu Sorcerers, and Satoru Gojo's birth had upset that balance, the simplest solution would have been to add one or more high-level combatants to the cursed spirits' side to even things out.
It was like the weights on either side of a balance scale. With a heavy weight like Satoru Gojo placed on the Jujutsu Sorcerers' side, which would be more reliable: adding a pile of tiny weights that could be exorcised at any moment, or adding a few heavy, stable ones?
Clearly, the latter was the correct answer. Sherlock even suspected that the so-called Four Disaster Curses he had seen in memes back then were the cursed spirits born because of Satoru Gojo.
Simply blaming an explosive increase in cursed spirits on one person's birth was nothing but shameless blame-shifting!
Shoko was momentarily taken aback when she heard Sherlock's theory, and Sherlock even mocked her, telling her to read more.
But after threatening Sherlock and sending him out on errands to make amends for offending the healer, Shoko used her phone to send Satoru Gojo the conclusion Sherlock had just reached.
Honestly, this was the first time Satoru Gojo had seen a theory like this. Regardless of whether Sherlock's theory was actually true, as Satoru Gojo himself, he was genuinely delighted to read it.
At the same time, Satoru Gojo grew wary. After all, if Sherlock's explanation really held true, that meant there was definitely one or more undiscovered cursed spirits roaming the world that could absolutely qualify as Special Grade.
But Satoru Gojo clearly had no intention of telling anyone about these things.
Thanks to Sherlock's theory and its flawless chain of logic, Satoru Gojo was in an excellent mood. So, when he returned to Jujutsu High after working overtime for half a month straight and clearing out cursed spirits-
Satoru Gojo stood at the lectern with an utterly obnoxious grin and generously exempted Sherlock from the theory exam.
What? You wanted to know about Sherlock?
After studying like mad for half a month, Sherlock nearly ground his back teeth to pieces!
Fuck, he might not even have worked this hard for his college entrance exams in his previous life! And now that damned white-haired bastard had canceled his exam with a few casual words?
Seriously, Sherlock exploded the instant he heard the news. Without the slightest hesitation, he swung his fist straight at Satoru Gojo's outrageously handsome face.
Unfortunately, Satoru Gojo did not have Sherlock's mark on him this time, so, unsurprisingly, Limitless blocked Sherlock's fist. It stopped firmly about fifteen centimeters in front of Satoru Gojo's face and could advance no farther.
Seeing Sherlock so worked up only made Satoru Gojo's smile widen.
"Good! That's the spirit!
"I never imagined Xia-chan would miss his teacher Satoru-chan so much after just half a month apart~ In that case, let Satoru-chan lead Xia-chan into the next stage and start his physical training!"
Sherlock: !!!(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻