Chapter 8

Being called a Special Grade 1 Sorcerer sounds pretty cool, but the moment you hear something like Special Grade 4 Sorcerer, it suddenly sounds ridiculously lame. Makes you wonder why that is, right? Anyway—I'm Naoya Zenin, Special Grade 1 Sorcerer and head of the "Hei" unit.

Maki and Mai both enrolled in Jujutsu High, and I figured nothing major would happen for a while—until the news broke about Sukuna’s incarnation.

But there was one event I had completely forgotten about.

December 24.
The large-scale curse invasion of Shinjuku and Kyoto.

You know—the one where Suguru Geto attacks Yuta Okkotsu.

"Hyakki Yagyō is fine and all, but sending me? Isn’t that a pretty bad choice?"

I mean, it makes sense that the Zenin family would be called in if the entire jujutsu world is mobilizing. I even heard they contacted the Ainu side too. In the original story they were only mentioned in passing, but what kind of organization are they anyway? The Ainu Federation, I mean.

The Gojo family has Satoru participating. The Kamo family has Noritoshi participating as well. The current head and the next head, respectively. In that sense, it’s not strange status-wise that either my old man or I would be sent from the Zenin side, but still…

"We’re dealing with Curse Spirit Manipulation, right? Jinichi would definitely be better suited for that. He’s the only one in the family who can wipe out groups over a wide area. …Though I guess that senile old geezer can do it too?"

"The scale and power are certainly sufficient… but do you think something like that can be fired in the middle of a city?"

"Ah… yeah, fair point."

That ugly meteor attack of his could flatten the entire training grounds area. Even if civilians are evacuated, you can’t exactly level half the city.

"Then why don’t you go, old man? If you don’t move your body once in a while, you’ll start going senile."

"Sorry, but I’ve already started drinking."

"That’s the kind of excuse people give when they’re trying to dodge work on their day off."

It doesn’t matter whether you drank today or not. Besides, this guy even headed out during the Shibuya Incident while drunk. Has alcohol already fried his brain?

"If you go, I’ll give you a book that explains how to handle the Ten Shadows Technique. Though you’ll have to make a binding vow not to show it to Satoru Gojo."

"I’ll show you your daughter’s shining moment, old man! I’ll make them call me the girl who’s second only to Satoru!"

"Shouldn’t you at least say you’ll surpass Satoru Gojo, even if it’s a lie…?"

"I’ve already lost to him, after all…"

And that wasn’t recent. It happened back in our student days, before Satoru could even use Domain Expansion.

I had expected him to counter my Domain with a Simple Domain. But what the hell was that technique? He modified Falling Blossom Emotion so that every cell in his body moved according to a program running at intervals of 1/24th of a second. When you’re dealing with a monster who manipulates cursed energy at the atomic level, targeting cells with a technique just isn’t enough.

Nowadays, I define the very act of using cursed energy while reversing my technique as “movement,” creating a guaranteed-hit, guaranteed-kill Domain that would even work on Satoru…

But Unlimited Void is just plain cheating. It’s harmless because it only gives information, yet somehow that makes it stronger in Domain clashes? That logic makes no sense. Do I seriously have to crush it from the outside with an open-barrier Domain?

Anyway.

The Ten Shadows Technique instruction manual is genuinely useful. Divine Dogs are one thing, but when it comes to subjugating the other shikigami, knowing the countermeasures makes a huge difference.

And so, December 24 arrived.

Naturally, I was deployed to Kyoto. Turns out the Jujutsu High students were there too. Maybe I should go greet Mai? …Yeah, there’s no time for that.

People say quality over quantity, but when you have both quality and quantity, that’s just cheating. Even Grade 1 curses shouldn’t be appearing this frequently. Are they concentrating the stronger ones here because anything sent to Tokyo would just get exorcised by Satoru?

"Megumi. Now that you’re actually here, what do you think? …You’ve fought curses before, right?"

"I’ve gone along with Gojo-sensei before. They were low-grade curses, though."

"Satoru’s the type who makes people learn through real combat… but I really don’t think you should make someone fight before they’ve even become a proper sorcerer."

"It’s what I wanted."

Megumi’s older sister—was it around the beginning of this year? Apparently she fell into a coma after being afflicted by a curse.

If Satoru couldn’t resolve it even while being there, then it probably wasn’t a simple technique. Maybe she swallowed a cursed object… though in that case she’d likely have died from rejection, or at best become a vessel for it. So probably not.

Then what was it?

Anyway, because of that incident, Megumi has become very motivated about becoming a sorcerer.

"I don’t want to be a hero. I just want to save the people I want to save."

What a cool kid.

"Alright then. We’re about to go exorcise that swarm of curses… they said around a thousand of them, right? But before that, a promise."

"What is it?"

"First. If you think it’s dangerous, run immediately. You’re not even a rookie yet, Megumi. Your life comes before the mission."

Honestly, the bigger issue is that they shouldn’t be putting a sorcerer trainee on the front line in the first place. I can already picture Satoru saying, "Megumi will be fine~." The standards of people on that side really are beyond us.

"Second. No matter what situation we’re in, if I tell you to retreat, you retreat. If Megumi dies, it should be after I’m already dead. Seniority rules."

Well, there’s no guarantee he’ll always be close enough to hear my instructions, but just having the mindset makes a difference. After all, the word widow exists for a reason. If Megumi dies, I’d have to die too.

Young sorcerers are treasures.

If some no-name sorcerers die, it doesn’t really matter. Trash isn’t treasure.

"You don’t need to form a binding vow. Just a verbal promise between you and me… Basically, don’t push yourself too hard. Can you keep that?"

"—Yes!"

Good answer.

…Though the Ten Shadows Technique having a suicide move is a real problem. In an emergency, it could kill anyone except Satoru. Satoru probably already taught him about it. But why is something that’s supposed to be a secret trump card known by other families? The Zenin clan head from the Edo period must’ve been an idiot.

The low-grade curses are no obstacle.

Megumi’s little dog is pulling its weight, and even the trash sorcerers are trying in their own trashy way. Still, the fact that they’re weaker than Jujutsu High students is completely unacceptable. Did these guys even graduate properly?

Don’t tell me they just dragged in random freelance sorcerers from the wild.

At this point, the real problem is the higher-grade curses.

There are several that look stronger than Grade 1. Meanwhile on our side we’ve got Megumi, who’s still just a trainee, and these trash sorcerers. The Kyoto Jujutsu High students are decent, but facing Grade 1s would be too much for them.

At the very least, Mai definitely wouldn’t stand a chance.

Looks like my job is thinning out the strong ones.

Exorcise.
Exorcise.
Exorcise—

"Hm?"

"Oh?"

Mai’s upperclassman from Kyoto High… what was his name again?

"Miss Zenin, correct? I’ve heard about you from Mai."

"Oh right, I remember now. You’re Todo, aren’t you? The Grade 1 sorcerer."

He and Mai were supposed to be pretty close. I heard they even went to an idol handshake event together. Why I know something like that is a secret, though.

"Miss Zenin. I have one question I must ask. —What kind of man is your type? A woman is fine too."

"Someone who can pin me down and fuck me until I cry. The stronger they are, the better."

At that instant, nonexistent memories began overflowing within Aoi Todo—

"Zenin-senpai really still has that cool, lone-beauty vibe, doesn’t she?"

"And she’s got a great figure too… real eye candy, right? But I heard her personality is the worst."

What shallow gossip. These guys don’t understand senpai at all.

"Oh, Aoi-kun. Chasing girls again today?"

"I cannot lie to my own heart."

Solitary—or perhaps lonely. That’s how people around her describe Zenin-senpai. They call her a stubborn woman who keeps everyone at arm’s length.

But I know the truth.

It’s simply that no one around her can keep up.

"Senpai… you still haven’t made a lover… or even a friend?"

"If the choice is hanging around trash, I’d rather be alone. You’re the same, aren’t you, Aoi?"

"I…"

I couldn’t deny it. I also don’t want boring people around me.

I just happened to be lucky enough to encounter Takada-chan—my destined one.

"I wonder when someone worthy of senpai’s approval will appear."

"…There was one person, once. But that person never saw me that way."

That was news to me. So even this senpai once experienced first love.

Just what kind of man was he?

"Man, aren’t there any good men out there? Honestly, a girl would be fine too. …Aoi, do something interesting."

"Heh… then let me introduce you to One Hundred Great Things About Takada-chan."

"Well, hearing about someone else’s love life is decent entertainment when you’re not involved. I’ll listen while thinking about how to comfort you after you get rejected."

"Why are you assuming I’ll get rejected!?"

"Back then, I was just someone who admired you from afar… but that man no longer exists."

"Huh?"

"Miss Zenin. Watch from there as you witness how much I’ve grown."

"What?????"

"HAAH!"

The moment his fist, swung with full force, slammed into the curse, black sparks burst outward.

"You’ve got some moves. Makes me want the useless bastards back home to learn from you. The name of the Three Great Families is crying in shame, honestly."

The curse—seemingly equivalent to Grade 1—vanished instantly.

And then, a far more malicious presence appeared.

"…So the real target finally shows up?"

"I… LIKE… THE TASTE… OF IRON!!"

"Think you can handle it, Todo?"

"Of course."

Aoi is reliable.

Maybe that unimpressive uncle of mine and the crowd of useless eunuchs back home should take notes.

Though honestly…

This thing looks disgusting.

Did Suguru really swallow stuff like this?