The curtain of rain weighed down the entire city. Cold rain streamed down the alley walls, spreading broad, dark water stains.
Clutching his bleeding left arm, Kiryū Ren staggered into the alley entrance and pressed his back hard against the cold wall, panting heavily.
The claws of the Skeletal Cursed Spirit outside the Time Vessel Association's base had grazed his ribs, tearing a deep gash.
Rotting poison was working its way through his blood vessels toward his organs. He had nearly lost his life there.
But the sharp pain of the wound came nowhere close to the shock surging in his heart.
He had seen clearly.
The man in the black kesa, standing amid layers of followers, had a face he had seen countless times at Jujutsu High. It was Suguru Geto.
The genius Jujutsu Sorcerer who had defected mere months ago, officially branded an "utterly evil deserter" by Jujutsu Society in black and white, was actually the secret leader behind the Time Vessel Association.
He had spent eight whole months investigating the Time Vessel Association, and it had never been merely for so-called justice.
Three years ago, his senior fellow student had investigated a case deeply entangled with the Time Vessel Association.
Yoko had ultimately died at an abandoned dock. The case had been hastily ruled a Cursed Spirit attack and left unresolved.
He had always been convinced that the cult had murdered him. Nursing that resentment, he had been determined to find the true culprit and avenge his senior.
After briefly treating his wound, he hurried all the way back to Tokyo Jujutsu High through the rain.
Soaked to the skin, he burst through the administrative office door, startling the clerk bent over a pile of documents.
"I found it!"
Kiryū Ren slammed his rain-soaked notebook onto the