Chapter 26

A week later…

"The report has come in, those who went to investigate originally were never found, there are no bodies to be recovered let alone anything else to explain the cause of their disappearances. I hate to stay this, but we are declaring these members dead." Yaga looked to the room. "We are also dealing with increased reports of missing people, this has happened suddenly in the past three weeks. Cases have gone up 75% in such a short time…"

The room was somber to the news, but this was no ordinary meeting either. Principal Yaga took it upon himself to call the students of both Kyoto and Tokyo to a meeting, no teachers, no elders either. It was at the request of Suiryu of all people!

"So what do we do?" Yuuji asked.

"We have been told that there is active movement in a remote region of Japan. Oddly enough it is out of the way of various villages and cities, but, if we fail to stop this activity, it will spread quite fast and on a large scale. According to Suiryu, he has been doing some investigating for us, this land due north of us in the remote region, no doubt it was chose for this to spread their legions fast. The problem is, we don't know what we are up against."

"At least 500,000" Yuuji said meekly.

The room was silent. "Wait, what?" demanded Nobara. "How would you know?"

"Suiryu told me, the decayed finger he found a while back, it was five years old according to him, he has assumed whoever is making these fingers is still alive and has been doing such a thing for at least five years. A sorcerer can rearrange their energy so they don't need sleep, if this person did such a thing for that long, it's at least a legion of 500,000 strong."

There was silence in the room, Yaga himself couldn't utter any words. "So what's the plan then? We cannot let this go, but we also don't have the numbers," said Fushiguro.

"I can handle them," Yuuji stated. "It's no issue, but at the same time, Suiryu is suggesting we get the others involved in the fight, and everyone here as well."

"What?" Yaga demanded. "Despite the fact you could solo this yourself… you want to drag everyone with you into battle?!"

He nodded his head. "Principal Yaga, remember how difficult the Shibuya incident was for everyone?" he asked gently. The room nodded, so did he. "Suiryu wants everyone here to at least try and take out as many of these legions as possible without relying on us to do it. He wants everyone to see how much they have improved. Also how can anyone improve on their skills if I do everything for them? As cruel as this sounds…"

"Like hell you are getting all the credit," Nobara decreed.

"Brother is right," Todo stated. "We cannot keep depending on those stronger than us to bail our sorry asses out of trouble! Besides, I won't allow my brother here to remain stronger than me!"

"I will help when it is needed, I will take out a good chunk of the legions before anyone goes into battle," Yuuji announced. "But Principal…"

His hand went up. "I understand your notion, Itadori, Suiryu spoke to me earlier about it as well. It would also be a slap in the face to those around you who have trained hard with your brother and not being able to show their efforts and new strength." Yaga announced. "I will be calling in the three families to see if they can spare some of their legions. I want everyone to pack up supplies, we are going north!"

The students nodded as they left the room, Yuuji however remained. "Something wrong Itadori?"

He sighed aloud. "Despite becoming this… I couldn't help," he muttered. "When I heard about that village that got erased… I couldn't do anything to stop it? I mean, if I am this powerful… why couldn't I have stopped it?" he asked.

Yaga began to understand where he was getting frustrated. "Power isn't everything, nor will it solve every problem in this world that we face. Itadori, you need to strength your resolve and heart. You have to come to terms with the fact that no matter how formidable you are, you won't save everyone."

"Still…" he said meekly.

Yaga however knew what he had to say. "Why didn't Suiryu stop it?" he asked. Yuuji froze as he peered up at Yaga once more. "He didn't, he's in the same boat you're in isn't he?"

Itadori froze for a moment. "He was just as surprised as I was…"

Yaga nodded. "Despite everything that has happened, the trouble we have all gone through, the trials and errors we made ourselves, I admit, I am glad I was wrong about you after Yua saved your life."

The boy was stunned to say the least. "Sensei…"

"I never believed in her, no one did considering she was the last of her family. Many believed that she merely lost what grasp she had on reality. But the truth is, she understood it better than any of us."

"You didn't believe her family protected a dragon?"

"Not in the least bit," Yaga stated. "We have seen dragon like curses, but she kept insisting this one was different than the others. Not even the elders believed her words, until the day she proved it… and then you revealed it before our eyes." He sighed aloud. "Makes me look back at it all, realizing how much of a fool we have been. If we listened to Yua, then perhaps things could have gone differently. She would have made a great teacher."

He nodded in agreement. "Sensei, what else has Suiryu told you?" he asked curiously.

This caught him off guard a little. "What else? Nothing, why? Is there something I should know?"

Yuuji was about to speak until the door suddenly kicked open!

Suiryu wondered in with this big grin on his face. "What up bitches!"

Yaga instantly froze. "Suiryu?"

But as he turned to Itadori, he was trying to contain his laughter for some reason!