Yuji Itadori

June 2018.

Madara was sensitive to this date.

Not because it held any special significance in his original world, but because, in this world of Jujutsu Kaisen, this was when the story truly began.

Megumi Fushiguro would head to Sendai to investigate the Special Grade Cursed Object, "Ryomen Sukuna's Finger," then meet Yuji Itadori, and then everything would begin to turn.

Like gears meshing, like the first domino being knocked over.

At that moment, he sat by the window of his dorm room at Jujutsu High, looking at the hydrangeas blooming in the courtyard outside.

June's rainy season left the air damp, the sky perpetually overcast, with only an occasional sliver of pale sunlight showing through.

Footsteps came down the hallway, drawing closer until they stopped outside his door.

"Madara-senpai, are you in?"

It was Megumi Fushiguro's voice.

Madara rose and opened the door.

Outside, Megumi Fushiguro was already dressed and ready, his casual clothes impeccably neat, a simple travel bag slung over his shoulder.

He looked no different than usual, but Madara could sense that subtle tension.

It was the focused state that came before an important mission.

"Megumi, heading out on a mission?" Madara asked, though he already knew the answer.

Megumi Fushiguro nodded. "Yeah, Madara-senpai. It's actually an incident involving a Special Grade Cursed Object getting loose. Window detected unusual cursed energy fluctuations in Sendai. They suspect an unregistered cursed object has appeared. Gojo-sensei asked me to investigate."

Madara fell silent for a few seconds.

He wanted to say, "Be careful," wanted to say, "If you meet Yuji Itadori, don't rush to attack," wanted to say, "Sukuna's Finger isn't something you can handle."

But he said nothing.

Because, as he was now, he "wasn't supposed to know" any of that.

"I see..." In the end, Madara merely nodded. "Well, everyone at Jujutsu High is busy. Thanks for your hard work."

That was the truth.

There were too few jujutsu sorcerers, so few that everyone had to take on far more missions than they could handle.

Okkotsu was overseas, Maki and Inumaki were in Kansai dealing with an incident involving a group of cursed spirits, Panda was holding down the fort at Jujutsu High, and Satoru Gojo... God knew where he was.

Megumi Fushiguro shook his head slightly. "No, it's what I should be doing. But you have a mission too, don't you, Madara-senpai?"

Madara glanced at the documents spread across his desk-a mission to exorcise a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit at an abandoned hospital on the outskirts of Tokyo.

It wasn't urgent, but it needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.

"Ah-it's fine." Madara smiled and pointed at the materials on his desk, which he had actually finished organizing long ago. "I'm sorting some things out. I'll go later."

Megumi Fushiguro glanced at the documents without asking further. "Is that so? I'll be off, then."

"Be careful out there."

"Yeah."

Megumi Fushiguro turned and left, his footsteps fading down the empty hallway.

Madara stood in the doorway until the footsteps had vanished completely, then gently closed the door.

The room fell quiet again.

Outside, the rain had started again, pattering against the glass, gathering into droplets that slid down.

Madara returned to the desk and looked at the mission documents.

A Grade 2 Cursed Spirit, an abandoned hospital-it would be easy for him, but he didn't want to go.

He had something more important to do.

Madara closed his eyes, and as his cursed energy flowed, a clone identical to him separated from his body.

Wood Clone.

The clone opened his eyes, his pupils the same black.

"Sorry for the trouble, then," Madara said.

The clone nodded without another word, picked up the mission documents from the desk, and turned to leave the room.

The door opened and closed.

Now, Madara was the only one left in the room.

He walked to the window and looked at the buildings of Jujutsu High, blurred behind the curtain of rain.

This wasn't his first time using Wood Clones.

In fact, over the past few months, he had already stationed a number of clones both inside and outside Jujutsu High.

Some were carrying out missions, some were gathering intelligence, and some were... keeping watch.

Watching those key locations, key people, and key moments.

Some had used the Transformation Technique to conceal themselves somewhere.

But there were limits to what the clones could do.

They didn't have the original's full strength and couldn't use Domain Expansion. They were more like his eyes and ears, feelers extending outward.

Madara considered his next moves. He already had several possible plans, but how things would actually change was impossible to predict.

Because soon-perhaps in a few days, perhaps in a week-Megumi Fushiguro would return with Yuji Itadori.

Then Satoru Gojo would make his decision and keep Yuji Itadori alive.

Yuji Itadori would become Sukuna's vessel, and everything would begin to accelerate.

Madara's fingers tapped unconsciously against the window frame.

If only I could become Sukuna's vessel too...

The thought had surfaced in his mind more than once.

If he swallowed Sukuna's Finger, if he became the vessel, then many things would change.

He could control Sukuna's power, prevent Itadori's death that led to the signing of the pact, and intervene in the plot more directly.

But the risk was too great.

Yuji Itadori was special.

He was a "perfect vessel," one that appeared only once in a thousand years, capable of bearing Sukuna's soul without being consumed by it.

And Madara couldn't be certain that he was that "special existence."

Madara Uchiha's soul was powerful, and the Sharingan and Rinnegan might be able to suppress Sukuna, but what if?

What if the suppression failed, what if Sukuna turned the tables, what if Sukuna took over this body-

The consequences would be unimaginable.

At his peak, Sukuna had been the strongest cursed spirit of the golden age of jujutsu, a monster with four arms and two faces.

If he gained Madara Uchiha's body, gained the Sharingan, the Rinnegan, Susanoo... then an age of curses might truly arrive in an instant.

Satoru Gojo might be able to stop him, but it would come at a terrible price.

So Madara abandoned the idea.

Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.

He couldn't afford that risk.

"Looks like all I can do is wait," he said quietly, his voice especially clear in the silent room.

Wait for Megumi Fushiguro to bring back news.

Wait for Yuji Itadori to swallow the finger.

Wait for Satoru Gojo to make that decision.

Only then could he act.

As "Madara Uchiha," as a second-year student of Jujutsu High, as someone who knew the future.

The rain outside grew heavier.

The hydrangeas trembled in the rain, their deep-purple petals covered in droplets, drooping under the weight.

Madara stared at the flowers for a long time, then turned away from the window.

He walked to the bookshelf and pulled out a notebook-an ordinary diary with a lock.

He opened it and turned to the latest page.

Written on it, in a code only he could understand, was:

2018.6.7: Fushiguro headed to Sendai. Expected to make contact with Itadori within three days.

Sukuna's Finger ×1, sealed.

Note: Satoru Gojo's movements unknown.

Plan A: Allow events to follow the original plot. Observe from the shadows.

Plan B: Intervene if a deviation occurs.

Plan C: ...

The writing that followed had been blacked out.

Madara picked up his pen and added a line after "Plan C":

"Ensure Yuji Itadori survives."

He put down the pen, closed the diary, and locked it again.

The rain continued to fall.

Jujutsu High was quiet, so quiet he could hear the rain, the cawing of distant crows, and his own breathing.

Madara sat in his chair and closed his eyes.

Sensory information from the Wood Clone began pouring into his mind-the clone had reached the abandoned hospital and was searching for the cursed spirit's location.

A Grade 2 Cursed Spirit, an amalgamation of resentment in form, skilled at mental attacks, but ineffective against the Wood Clone.

Easy enough.

But Madara's thoughts weren't here.

He was thinking of Sendai, of Megumi Fushiguro, of that brightly smiling Yuji Itadori.

That boy who swallowed the finger and chose death to save others.

That boy who, in the original plot, endured far too much pain, yet still chose a "proper death."

Madara opened his eyes and looked at the overcast sky outside.

"Wait a little longer," he told himself.

"It's about to begin."

Amid the sound of rain, the clock tower at Jujutsu High struck three in the afternoon.

The lingering chimes passed through the curtain of rain, carrying far, far away.