The plan! The higher-ups deliberate!

Mid-September.

In the underground council chamber of the Time Vessel Association.

A map lay spread across the long table, marked with a dozen or so red circles of varying sizes, each representing a place occupied by cursed spirits.

Suguru Geto sat at one end of the long table, his hands folded on its surface, his gaze resting on the markings on the map.

Miguel stood beside him, holding a cup of coffee that had mostly gone cold.

He took a sip, then set the cup down and turned to look at Suguru Geto.

"Geto."

"We've collected enough cursed spirits lately, haven't we?"

"We've captured plenty of special grade cursed spirits, too..."

He paused and pointed at the red circles on the map.

"Five this month alone. Are we still going to keep going?"

Suguru Geto did not answer immediately.

His gaze remained on the map, as though confirming something, and a long while passed before he spoke.

"Not enough."

He raised his head and looked at Miguel, his lips curving gently, though there was no smile in his eyes.

"It's still not enough."

"The power we have now is nowhere near enough to overturn this twisted world."

He leaned back in his chair, folded his hands over his knees, and continued in an even tone.

"That's why we need to wage a war."

"To seize the special grade vengeful cursed spirit in Yuta Okkotsu's possession."

"Only power on that level can serve as a true foundation."

Across the table, Larue had been sitting quietly. At those words, his brow furrowed slightly.

"Is that necessary? Besides..."

He paused, his gaze lingering on Suguru Geto's face for a moment.

"With those two monsters, Satoru Gojo and Wangchuan, around, that's practically... impossible."

"Geto."

At those words, the curve of Suguru Geto's lips remained unchanged, but his gaze lowered for a moment, as though he were considering something.

Then he raised his head again, his tone as steady as before.

But now it held an almost imperceptible layer of composure, as though he had already factored this step into his calculations.

"It is necessary."

"An ordinary special grade cursed spirit can't compare to the Rika Orimoto in Yuta Okkotsu's possession. We both know that."

"As for Gojo and Wangchuan... there will be a way."

"They don't know what our ultimate objective is."

"From their perspective, I'm just an obsessive former classmate collecting cursed spirits."

"They don't know where I'm headed."

After he finished speaking, the council chamber fell silent for a few seconds.

Then two voices rang out from the corner at once.

"Master Geto is right."

Nanako rose from a chair by the wall.

She planted her hands on her hips, her expression carrying the undisguised admiration and conviction unique to the young.

"Those jujutsu sorcerers and higher-ups are all so full of themselves."

"Master Geto will succeed."

Mimiko nodded beside her. Though she said nothing, her eyes conveyed exactly the same sentiment as Nanako's.

Suguru Geto glanced at them, the curve of his lips softening a little, and said nothing more.

Manami and Riku sat on the other side of the long table, exchanging a glance.

Manami's gaze swept over Nanako and Mimiko before returning to Suguru Geto. In the end, she said nothing.

Riku merely picked up the teacup before him in silence and took a sip, his expression showing neither opposition nor doubt.

They had seen Suguru Geto make many decisions that others could not understand, but each time, he had ultimately been proven right.

So this time, too, they chose silence.

The discussion in the council chamber came to a pause.

Suguru Geto leaned back in his chair and turned his head, his gaze falling on a calendar hanging by the wall.

A date in mid-September had been circled in red.

"September already?"

He looked at that date and fell silent for a few seconds.

Then the curve of his lips deepened a little, as though something amusing had tugged at it.

"The Kyoto-Tokyo Goodwill Event should be coming up in a few days."

He said it as though mentioning it in passing, then stood and walked to the window.

"I wonder which side will win this time."

There was an undercurrent of reminiscence in his voice.

"Back when Gojo and I were there, we never lost."

Miguel spoke up behind him. "Are you saying you'll go watch?"

Suguru Geto sat down and reclined sideways as he spoke.

"Not interested."

"Hmm..."

"But with Yuta Okkotsu and his special grade vengeful cursed spirit there, there shouldn't be any need to guess the outcome."

"And it's about time I went over to say hello."

In the council chamber of Jujutsu Headquarters.

Screens enclosed the room on all four sides.

A figure sat behind each screen, their faces obscured. Only their silhouettes and the edges of clothing that occasionally flickered into view in the candlelight revealed where each of them sat.

"Regarding those matters that have caused such an uproar in jujutsu society lately."

"What do you all think?"

A few seconds of silence followed.

Then a hoarse snort came from behind the third screen on the right, carrying unmistakable skepticism.

"Hmph."

"They can't possibly be true."

"How could something as absurd as magic exist in reality?"

"Those rumors are nothing more than ordinary people passing along distorted stories."

"Could distorted stories really become this convincing?" another voice responded from the opposite side, its tone carrying a note of scrutiny.

"If they're merely rumors, whoever invented all those details must have far too much time on their hands."

"Besides, what would their purpose be?"

"Perhaps that woman named Mei Mei spread them deliberately."

"She took that monster's money. There's nothing she wouldn't do."

"Did you see her take it yourself?"

"Did you see that so-called magic yourself?"

The two voices went back and forth, their tones growing increasingly heated.

The candle flame flickered between them, as though briefly disturbed by a current of air.

At that moment, a voice that had remained silent came from behind the innermost screen.

It was not loud, but it carried a weight that silenced everyone else at once.

"Have you forgotten... when Wangchuan first came to see us?"

The air in the council chamber grew heavy.

The voice continued, as though dredging up a memory from the depths to examine it anew.

"What happened to that sorcerer. You remember, don't you?"

No one answered.

But everyone remembered.

The higher-ups had heard that an extremely formidable bounty hunter had appeared.

Following standard practice, they had sent people to invite him and ascertain his grade and threat level.

According to the others who had been present.

Wangchuan had been utterly dismissive.

Then he had raised his hand and waved it as casually as if brushing a speck of dust off his shoulder.

A pale purple pattern of light had lit up in the air, forming a cursed technique structure they had never seen before.

And the sorcerer accompanying them had suddenly stopped.

His cursed technique had vanished.

The sorcerer had stood rooted to the spot, his mouth open as he stared at his hands, his expression as though something had been torn out by the roots from the deepest part of his body.

Someone there had heard Wangchuan's words.

"Looks like this combination of magic and jujutsu worked."