Will

Masamichi Yaga set his teacup back on the low table. Porcelain met wood with a light, clear clink.

He folded his hands on his knees and leaned forward slightly, looking straight at Madara through the lenses of his sunglasses.

"So," Yaga asked, his voice low and steady, "have you thought about what you want to do next?"

Madara lifted his teacup and took a sip.

The tea was just the right temperature, its slight bitterness followed by a sweet aftertaste.

He did not answer immediately, looking out the window instead.

The principal's office overlooked part of the campus: old buildings, lush woods, and the outline of Tokyo in the distance.

"Who knows?" Madara set down his cup, his tone indifferent. "But the fact that I came along means I don't want to stay ordinary anymore."

He turned his head and met Yaga's gaze.

There was no confusion or unease in those black eyes, only an almost transparent frankness.

Yaga fell silent for a moment.

"Being a Jujutsu Sorcerer is no ordinary job," he said, each word carrying weight.

"We aren't heroes or champions of justice. We're executioners who face life and death every day. We could die at any moment, and there might not even be a body left to recover. Even so, do you still want to choose this path?"

The corner of Madara's mouth shifted, like a smile that never quite formed-or perhaps nothing at all.

"Maybe," he said. "I don't have anything left to lose, either. I want to... find meaning in my existence here."

He paused, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the rim of his teacup.

"I don't want to live a meaningless life."

He spoke very softly, but Yaga heard the weight behind those words.

It seemed this boy had already lost everything.

Yaga watched him for a long time, long enough for the sunlight outside the window to shift a little.

Then he reached for something on the shelf beside him and held it out to Madara.

It was a teddy bear about twenty centimeters tall, wearing red boxing gloves. It was finely made and even looked rather cute.

But Madara could sense the cursed energy flowing inside it.

This was no ordinary cursed corpse. It was the kind programmed to attack people, requiring its holder to supply fixed amounts of cursed energy at regular intervals to keep it stable.

"Hold this for now," Yaga said.

Madara accepted the teddy bear and held it in his hands.

Almost instinctively, the cursed energy inside him began to flow on its own, splitting off a small wisp that he fed into the doll.

The amount was exactly right, neither too much nor too little, keeping the doll stable without making it go berserk or leaving it unable to function from a lack of cursed energy.

The teddy bear lay quietly in his palm, its red boxing gloves hanging limply, looking perfectly harmless.

Yaga's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

"...If no one has ever taught you," he said slowly, "then you're very talented."

Sensing cursed energy, controlling it, and releasing precise amounts-even if these were only the basics, they were still skills that required prolonged training to master.

Yet the boy before him had accomplished them on instinct alone, without any guidance.

What Yaga did not know, however, was that to Madara, this was a basic application of chakra, with cursed energy substituted for it.

"Is that so?" Madara placed the teddy bear on his lap. "So...?"

"Wait until Gojo gets back." Yaga leaned back in his chair. "He's the one who brought you into this. Let him decide. Until then, familiarize yourself with the surroundings and adjust to life at Jujutsu High."

He paused, then suddenly raised his voice and called toward the door, "Panda!"

There was a rustle outside the door, along with stifled gasps and hurried footsteps.

A few seconds later, the door opened a crack, and a furry panda head poked inside, looking distinctly guilty.

"D-did you need something?" Panda's voice sounded a little unsteady.

Yaga's face was expressionless. "Show him around Jujutsu High."

"So that means...?"

"You'll be working together from now on." With that, Yaga picked up his needle, thread, and unfinished rabbit cursed corpse again, adopting a posture that said the conversation was over.

Panda froze for a moment, then pushed the door open and came in, squeezing his entire body into the room.

He scratched his head, looked at Madara, and gave him a friendly smile-or rather, he tried to look friendly, but it was simply a panda smiling.

"A new companion? Hello, hello. I'm Panda." He walked over and extended a furry paw for a handshake.

Madara looked at the paw, then at Panda's round body, and reached out to shake it.

"Yes, I can tell you're a panda," he said. "I'm Madara Uchiha."

"Oh, Madara Uchiha? That's a pretty strange name." Panda tilted his head. "But how did you know I'm Panda? This is our first time meeting, right?"

Madara looked Panda over-from his round ears to his dark eye patches, from his white belly to his black limbs-before returning his gaze to that furry face.

"It's hard not to know," he said matter-of-factly.

Yaga did not even look up. "Stop talking and take him out already!"

"Yes, sir!" Panda stood at attention, then beckoned to Madara. "Come on, newbie. Let's introduce you to everyone, then take a look around campus."

Madara stood, returned the teddy bear to Yaga, and gave him a slight nod before following Panda out of the principal's office.

The hallway was empty, but Madara could sense that others had been there a moment ago-those presences were now rapidly retreating, disappearing around the turn in the stairs.

Panda led Madara downstairs to the open space outside the classroom building.

The sunlight was lovely, warm against his skin.

Not far away, three figures stood beneath a tree, seemingly having a "natural" conversation.

"Hey!" Panda waved a paw. "Drop the act. The principal knows you were eavesdropping."

Yuta Okkotsu turned around with an awkward smile. Maki Zenin adjusted her glasses, pretending to admire the distant scenery.

The silver-haired boy beside Maki, wearing a Jujutsu High uniform with its collar pulled up high over the lower half of his face-Toge Inumaki-raised a hand and spoke quietly.

"Bonito flakes."

"He says, 'We got caught,'" Panda translated with practiced ease, then patted Madara on the shoulder. "Come on, let's do the proper introductions."

He pointed to Okkotsu first. "This is Yuta Okkotsu. He's a first-year too. He might not look it, but he's actually pretty strong."

Madara looked at Okkotsu.

Indeed, even though the other boy was trying hard to suppress it, that bottomless cursed energy remained faintly perceptible, like an undercurrent beneath a calm sea.

"I can tell," Madara said. "That's an extraordinary amount of cursed energy."

Okkotsu scratched his cheek, looking a little embarrassed. "It's really not that... haha."

Panda pointed to Toge Inumaki next. "This is Toge Inumaki. He's a second-year too. He's a Cursed Speech User, so he can only speak in rice-ball fillings normally-that's a restriction of his family's inherited cursed technique, to keep him from accidentally cursing people."

Inumaki raised a hand. "Salmon."

Madara blinked. "Hm? Oh, what does that mean?"

"He says, 'Nice to meet you,'" Panda explained.

"Oh." Madara nodded to Inumaki. "Nice to meet you too. By the way, can you all understand him?"

Panda gave him a thumbs-up. "You naturally pick it up after spending enough time together. About eighty or ninety percent, anyway."

Finally, Panda pointed to Maki. "And this is Maki Zenin, the best student among us at using cursed tools. Her taijutsu is incredible too. On a related note, whatever you do, don't get on her bad side. She'll beat you up pretty badly."

A vein bulged at Maki's temple. "That last part was unnecessary!"

Madara gave her a slight nod. "All right, understood. Nice to meet you."

Maki looked at him for two seconds, then nodded as well, her tone softening slightly. "Yeah. Nice to meet you."

Panda patted his own chest. "And I'm Panda. As you can see, I'm a panda."

After saying that, he looked expectantly at Madara, apparently waiting for some kind of reaction.

Madara waited a few seconds.

"And?" he asked. "No other explanation?"

"Huh?" Panda froze.

"I mean..." Madara gestured. "The fact that you're a panda. There's no other explanation? Like why you're a panda, why you can talk, why you're here-that sort of thing."

Panda and Inumaki exchanged a look, while Okkotsu and Maki looked over as well.

"Well..." Panda scratched his head. "It's a long story. I'll tell you bit by bit later. Anyway, let's show you the dorms first!"

Inumaki agreed. "Salmon."

"What about the explanation?" Madara pressed. "Hm?"

But Panda had already turned and started toward the dormitory building, with Inumaki following him.

Madara looked at Okkotsu and Maki, who were still standing there.

Maki waved a hand. "The girls' dorms are on the other side. It wouldn't be convenient to take you there. Besides..."

She glanced at Okkotsu. "This guy was worried I'd be bored on my own and insisted on tagging along."

Okkotsu nodded with a smile. "Maki might get lost if she walked around campus alone."

"Who would get lost?!"

Madara watched them bicker, then turned and followed Panda and Inumaki.

The dormitory was an old Japanese-style building with a wooden structure, spacious corridors, sliding doors, and tatami rooms.

With so few students to begin with, there were plenty of empty rooms.

"This is the dorm area." Panda slid open the door to an empty room. "Since there are lots of vacant rooms, you can pick whichever one you like unless Gojo-sensei makes special arrangements. They all have basic furniture, and you can get bedding and daily necessities from the supply office."

The room was very clean, about eight tatami mats in size, with a closet, a low table, and a window.

The window offered a view of part of the campus.

Inumaki walked in and looked around. "Mayonnaise."

"He says, 'Not bad, right?'" Panda translated.

Madara placed the teddy bear on the low table and surveyed the room. "Yeah, it's pretty nice."

"Well, then-" Panda clapped his paws together. "Shall we leave it there for today? You can rest or take a walk around school. The cafeteria's over there, the training grounds are over there, and the library's that way... If you get lost, just ask someone. There aren't many people here anyway."

Inumaki nodded. "Salmon, salmon."

Madara looked at them and fell silent for two seconds.

"So," Madara said, "you still haven't explained why you're a panda."

Panda thought for a moment. "That sort of thing isn't important."

Inumaki nodded too.

Madara was rather speechless, though he also understood that it was only to stay in character.

"All right."

"Get some rest, then. If you need anything, come find us at the training grounds."

After hearing Maki and Yuta describe what had happened, the two thought Madara must be at least a little tired, so they left without bothering him any further.

Madara stood in the empty room, listening to their receding footsteps.

Outside the window, the sunlight was just right.

He walked to the window and pushed it open. A breeze drifted in, carrying the scent of grass and earth.

In the distance, Maki and Okkotsu were heading toward the training grounds, while Panda and Inumaki approached along another path.

Farther away, Tokyo's skyline shimmered in and out of sight in the afternoon haze.

Madara leaned against the window frame and closed his eyes.

The memories that had flooded in drifted through his mind-battle, slaughter, power, and the pride and loneliness that belonged to Madara Uchiha.

Then he opened his eyes and looked at his hands.

They were merely the hands of an ordinary fifteen-year-old boy.

What he had was this body, this identity, and this game whose ending remained unknown.

"Madara Uchiha, huh..." he murmured to himself.

The wind kept blowing, and the leaves rustled.

A new daily life had begun.