Chapter 7 is very long. But there is fighting, if that helps.
I tried writing half of the whole goodwill arc in 11k words.
The Butterfly Effect
Chapter 7
October 4th, 2018 : The Day of the Tokyo-Kyoto Goodwill Exchange Event.
The Day the world of sorcery was flipped on its head…
A blood curdling scream ripped through the trees, the scattered fighters engaged in battle halted their advances, all eyes drifting towards the direction the sound came from.
"Shit! they must've fallen behind us, we have to go back or they'll all die!"
"We don't even know why they are, we need to find Okkotsu. He'll be able to help us"
"No, Okkotsu is fighting that monster we saw earlier. I don't even know what he is but whatever it is it moves as fast as Sukuna did. If we try to interrupt them we will only get in his way."
"Are you for real!?"
"YES! WE NEED TO BREAK THIS BARRIER OR WE'RE ALL DEAD!"
This was not the reunion Yuuji Itadori had hoped for. This wasn't the day he pictured in his mind when he imagined returning to Tokyo Jujutsu Technical School, meeting faces of new and old.
Crimson and purple blood from curses and sorcerers draped all over the tree's, carnage decorated across the whole landscape.
It was Chaos.
It was like Hell on Earth.
'How did it all turn out like this?' Yuuji thought, mind clouded with adrenaline and intensity.
Of course that would be a stupid question though, He had seen it all right before his eyes.
2 Hours Earlier…
Horizon of the captivating Skandha…
"Oooooooh I'm so pumped! Aren't you pumped Jogo?" The Disaster curse squealed with glee inside the circular ear-holes of the Volcano head.
"Calm yourself Mahito, we still must wait for Geto to finish his work. Once the preparations have been set we shall proceed", the special grade curse Jogo exclaimed, annoyed with the antics of the younger curse.
"You're such a buzzkill, tell'em Hanami. Tell Jogo he is ruining the mood. He should be ready for battle like we are."
The other curse Mahito had referred to had no words on the matter, deciding to instead remain quiet, much to the annoyance of the Human curse. Dagon instead substituted in for the nature curses role, berating Jogo.
"Hmmmmm Jooooogoooo, what exactly is the plan again? I'm gonna decide if I will follow it or not."
"Fool! This is not a mere 'plan', by following this strict scheme laid out by Geto we will been guaranteed success-"
"Blah Blah Blah, Enough with the yapping, get to it already." Mahito Groaned rolling his eyes and using his technique to make a grotesque face that was meant to show boredom.
Jogo was getting angrier and angrier with each of Mahito, Magma was beginning to spill from his head, his top a bomb ready to blow at any moment. Before he could be set off though a cool and collected voice sliced through the tension effortlessly.
"The plan Mahito- '' the body of Suguru Geto started. Having now re-entered the Domain of the disaster curse Dagon.
"-Is quite simple. We will have two veils surrounding the forest the goodwill event will be held in this year. They will be stacked on top of each other. One to keep Satoru Gojo out, and one to keep every single sorcerer inside the veil from leaving. You all go in, you may kill anyone or do anything you please aside from finishing off Yuuji Itadori. Sukuna is vital to our cause."
"Ah…whatever, I can fight Itadori right?" Mojito asked in anticipation, a sinister glint in his eyes.
"No Mahito, you mustn't. We need Sukuna" Jogo hollered to no effect.
"Where will the seals for the veils be placed, Geto?" Hanami murmured, having finally made a sound.
"I'm glad one of you asked. The veil keeping Satoru Gojo out will be with you actually Mahito, your invulnerability to attacks that don't harm the soul will be useful, especially since you can morph your form around the seal to protect it."
"But what if I want to fight with some stakes?" The human curse asked mischievously.
"Well you may run that risk yourself. If Satoru Gojo is allowed in the barrier then you are all dead" The body hopper answered coolly, the choice made obvious to Mahito; playing around with the seal meant certain death, so it wasn't an option.
"And where will you be Geto?" Hanami asked semi-puzzled, clearly the curses had the impression that the strongest curse user among them would be joining inside the veil.
"I will be patiently waiting for the fireworks to go off. Once the teachers and faculty leave the building I will retrieve all the fingers of Sukuna that they are in possession of."
Jogo and Dagon nodded, Mahito gave no impression he had even heard the words. Leaving Hanami to dwell in further confusion.
"Are you sure about this Geto? And what about Okkotsu, he will be able to enter through the veil and you told us he is one of two sorcerers alive who can output positive energy. He could kill any one of us easily!"
Kenjaku stilled, a smirk sliding from ear to ear. He had planned for Okkotsu, he had planned ahead indeed.
"I have exactly what is needed in order to occupy Okkotsu's attention. You all will just have to put your faith in me."
"And the other seal for the second veil?"
"It will be safe I assure you that as well."
It seemed this was enough to satisfy any curiosity left on the beach. All figures nodded at each other. They all knew their roles and where they needed to be.
Dagon dispelled his domain. The figures separated and moved to scatter to their assigned location. All that was left to do was wait for Kenjaku's signal.
12:51 PM
Office of Tokyo Jujutsu High School
"Gojo you need to calm him down, he's practically bouncing off the walls" Nanami said lazily, clearly trying to soothe a growing headache by the 15 year old, who might as well be acting as if it's his birthday.
The manchild across from Nanami wasn't helping either
"Yuuji I'm telling you it's going to be awesome, Nobara and Megumi will be so excited they'll do backflips, give you hugs and even throw up out of sheer joy." Gojo exclaimed with extra flair.
"But how will I surprise them, sensei?" Yuuji questioned
"Oh don't you worry about that for a second, all you gotta do it follow my instructions and go with the flow" The grown adult white-haired man then started to wiggle his arms back and forth, after a second Itadori began to parrot the movements and move in sync with him
"Just go with the flow"
"Just go with the flow"
"Just go with the flow"
"Jus-"
Nanami couldn't tolerate it anymore, he just picked up his mug of tea and newspaper and moved to relocate himself to the spectators office. The event would begin in a bit anyhow and that moron of a teacher was behind schedule.
The kyoto students were likely already making their way to the meeting point; the two school faculty and students would shake hands, exchange formalities, and go over the rules. Then another 5 minutes will be given to the schools to talk things over one more time. Once both schools are ready the event would begin.
Meanwhile…
The Exchange Event Meeting Point
"Calm down guys, sensei will be here any second. I'm sure of it." Yuuta was trying and failing to settle down with his disgruntled classmates and underclassmen. Especially Maki who was openly voicing her displeasure and at being forced to wait for their 'idiot teacher'.
"No, he's not Yuuta. The bastard clearly has no issue with embarrassing us infront of Kyoto"
"Kelp"
"Toge, I texted him just 10 minutes ago and he said he was doing extra planning for something." Yuuta tried explaining but to no avail.
The first years paid no attention to the bickering second years. Nobara's whole mood had been crushed when she heard that the event was taking place in Tokyo and not Kyoto, leaving her with a packed suitcase with no purpose. One assassination attempt on Yuuta's life later she was moping on the floor. Megumi attempted to console her, in reality he was just teasing her and reminding her that her clothes will get dirty on the muddy stone pathway.
All the chatter got interrupted when approaching footsteps and cursed energies signaled the arrival of their rival school. 6 of them in total.
"Would ya' look at that, all of them are here" Mai Zen'in, the first of the Kyoto students to speak.
"Not all of them, Mai. Their teacher is missing." A voice spoke, coming from a robotic looking figure, with an equally robotic voice to match. The puppet controlling sorcerer Mechamaru.
"Oh I see Okkotsu is here to stay. I can't wait for our rematch" Aoi Todo boomed loudly, excitement etched into his face
"Calm yourself Todo, didn't you hear Okkotsu won't be participating this year." A serious deep voice sounded, a voice belonging to Kyoto's Noritoshi Kamo.
"Kamo's right Todo. And that's for the best anyways." The short blonde Momo Nishimiya squeaked, a little fear creeping into her voice at the sight of Okkotsu, the one who had single handedly dominated their team last year.
"Haha, I agree the last person I'd want to face again is that guy" a bluenette fitted in a suit, katana sheathed in a scabbard to her hip. Miwa Kasumi, was ready to prove herself and a chance at a higher grade with a better salary, but not if It meant having to face that monster over there.
Now the two schools stood opposite to each other, the eyes of each student meeting fiercely. All students except Yuuta of course, who was already trying to discourage Nobara from antagonizing Mai.
"Children, calm yourself. You'll have plenty of time to compete,bicker, and argue later. Now, where's that dumbass?" The soft voice of Kyoto's teacher, the semi-grade 1 sorceress Utahime Iori.
"He's going to be a bit late Ms. Iori, sorry" Yuuta apologized, however it seemed right at that moment he would eat his words.
"HERE I AM" Satoru Gojo hollered, running full of joy while pushing a cart of some kind. On top of the cart there was something else, it was…
'Oh no. NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo' Yuuta screamed in his mind, this was the worst day of his life, he was going to die. This was it, he was finished.
While in Kenya Miguel had Yuuta take up multiple hobbies to keep his brain active. A copy technique user always needed a sharp mind and just like a muscle; the less you use it, the more you lose it. Yuuta learned how to cook all sort of recipes from his travels, how to create beautiful works of origami, and he finally learned how to whistle. But the skill he spent the most time practicing….was knitting.
Yes Yuuta knew how to knit, and he was damn good at it. It wasn't his favorite thing to do or even something he went out of his way to do, but when he was bored and in need of a task to help zone in his focus he would knit. Yuuta wasn't really embarrassed to admit that he had done some knitting during his foreign training but it was what he had knitted that had his heart beating wildly; little tiny soft toys, almost like plushies. They weren't for him, he would knit them and just leave them sitting where he left them, if a kid wanted to have them they were all theirs.
Well that was the case for all of them except for a select 3. One day Yuuta had felt particularly lonely, looking back on it made him cringe hard. He knit 3 little soft figures in the shape of a Panda, a snake, and a cat; the names Panda, Toge, and Maki later etched onto their forms.
But not only did Gojo have those 3 but he also had enough of his creations to give to the other students from Kyoto and the first years.
'How could Miguel betray me and give those to sensei so thoughtlessly!' Yuuta groaned internally.
Utahime Iori and Miwa Kasumi remarked in reaction to the appearance of the strongest. The two of them could not have reacted more differently
"Great news for all you wonderful students. I brought gifts, ready to wish you all the best in your competition against each other. These gifts come courtesy of our own lovable young prodigy, Yuuta Okkotsu!" Gojo said, waving his arms around in the air towards his student whose face was burning up in embarrassment.
"Wait, you made those Okkotsu?" Nobara looked at him with wide eyes and a gobsmacked expression.
"Well uh…y-yeah. I know how to knit." Yuuta mumbled quietly.
"Wow, how very masculine of you Yuuta." Maki teased with a smirk observing Yuuta fix his own gaze at his feet. Too cute.
"Alright, everyone from Kyoto gets one of them as well." Gojo explained as he began passing them out to students of the sister school. Almost instantly the students lost interest in the little toys as soon as they were given to them.
"And for our school we have a two for one special. Our amazing second years got a little extra effort put into gifts" As their teacher then handed out the knitted figures to everyone else.
"Awww Yuuta, that's so sweet. You made me a Panda with my name on it"
"Mustard Leaf." Toge complimented Yuuta on his handiwork and moved to place the snake into his pocket.
"...", Maki was too shocked to say anything as she simply inspected the cat. It was so adorable, but she wouldn't let her infatuation with the cutesy toy be shown. She still had a reputation to uphold.
"I um, I got lonely one day." Yuuta answered. He wanted to be anywhere else right this moment.
"Okkotsu don't take this the wrong way but you can go from being the most silent, creepiest person in the room to the cutest, puppy dog ever. It kinda off putting." Nobara couldn't help but comment. It wasn't like she was wrong, Yuuta's natural face was complete apathy or sadness similar to Megumi's implicit frown he always wore. It didn't help that Okkotsu always looked tired, it gave off an unapproachable image.
"Like seriously, making little animals for your friends is like the most adorable thing I have ever heard of an almost grown man doing." Kugisaki jested further.
Yuuta scrunched his face up tight, closing his eyes while one palm covered his face. Visibly cringing hard at the situation he was in. It helped that his friends seemed to appreciate the gesture but he didn't think any level of praise would cure him of this mortification.
Finally opening his eyes the first person he looked to was Gojo, sending him his most vicious glare. Gojo just smiled at him and gave two thumbs up.
'Why can't I be intimidating when I want to be!' Okkotsu thought bitterly. The only time people were afraid of him was when Rika was around him or when he got angry. He didn't get angry often though and it's not like he can just get mad.
"I'm glad my exceptional students are enjoying the lovely gifts from our always amazing Yuuta. What do our sister school attendants have to say about them though?"
'Oh yeah' Yuuta remembered, turning at once to judge their reaction to his handiwork.
'At least Ms. Iori seems to like them.'
"Now I have one more surprise for you all, specifically my spectacular first years!" The blindfolded man squealed with excitement holding his hands high in the air. He looked absolutely ridiculous but it had gotten the attention of Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki.
Both first years turned to each other first, quizzically eyeing the other to deduce if their counterpart knew the esoteric details of the gift. Once it became clear that neither of them knew they moved their attention to the seniors to identify any recognition on their part as well. Unfortunately they found no luck in that regard either.
They were both stumped.
After a couple more twirls from their moronic teacher he motioned his hands over to the box, directing the attention of all that were present towards the object.
"And now I reveal to you the greatest gift of all-"
The top of the box shot up into the air, flying a couple feet away, as an entirely new figure emerged from the wooden cube. The new face turned out to be a familiar one. The easily recognizable face of…
"-YOUR LONG DEAD FRIEND AND CLASSMATE YUUJI ITADORI"
"HEYYYYY"
.
.
.
.
.
'WHAAAAAAA'
'NOBODY LOOKS HAPPY?!' Yuuji's mind exclaimed as his brain imploded.
This was not a part of the plan. No one was doing any backflips, no one was vomiting out of happiness, NO ONE WAS CRYING TEARS OF JOY!?
Yuuji Itadori was frozen solid in his pose, stiff as a plank of wood. He analyzed the scene closely hoping to find a crumb of a smile on anyone's face.
'Fushiguro and Kugisaki look like they just saw a car crash. The short one with the half their face covered, the animal, and lady with the glasses looked like they don't care at all, and then the guy with the white coat just blinked twice and then turned towards everyone else'
"Now everyone who is unfamiliar with him I'd like to introduce you to Itadori Yuuji, Sukuna's vessel" The white haired sorcerer exposited for the sister school.
'Ok I'm sure they'll at least have some reaction' Yuuji reassured his own mind, moving his eyes to the visitors from the other school.
'THEY'RE ALL JUST LOOKING AT THEIR ANIMALS!'
This was a nightmare.
A couple meters away the softs footsteps of the school principals ricocheted off the ground, accompanied by the clanking of a walking cane.
Principals Gakuganji and Yaga observed the scene in mild shock, clearly blindsided by the appearance and healthy status of one Yuuji Itadori. The principal from Kyoto was especially perplexed.
"Sukuna's vessel lives?! What is the meaning of this outrage?!"
This caused Jujutsu's most powerful individuals to rotate his six eyes to meet the ones of the old wrinkled man. Quickly walking over to the elder in full stride.
"Oooh, principal Gakuganji. It's good to see you in good shape, I was worried that once you saw my students in such good health you would just fall right over and pass away."
The arrogant snarky comment and equally content look on the face of Satoru Gojo only infuriated the Jujutsu higher up that much more. It was preposterous to think that such a ploy had been made to save the vessel of that monster without the knowledge of any members up the chain of command. This was a blatant attempt at a mutiny. If anyone else beside Satoru Gojo himself had orchestrated such an act they would immediately be put to death.
"Wellll anyways now that we have everyone here I think we can begin going over the rules." Everyone then cast a look over to Principal Yaga, waiting for the instruction to finally begin.
Well, almost everyone.
Yuuji Still stood frozen in place, rooted to the floor of the box he had waited inside of. He would eventually move from his statue-like stance when Nobara violently kicked on the block, which issued a flinch from Itadori.
"You got something to say to us?" She muttered to him, displeasure evident in her tone and body language. Yuuji didn't even need to see the tears she was holding back to know she was absolutely serious. Megumi himself looked concerned for Kugisaki and equally serious himself about the whole ordeal.
"I-Um…I'm sorry for..not telling you guys im….alive..Hehe"
"Um excuse me, Yuuji Itadori was it?" The older boy in the white coat questioned as he arrived in front of Yuuji.
"Yeah that's me"
"Hello, I'm Yuuta Okkotsu. I was interested in meeting the person responsible for caging Sukuna. You're doing a remarkable thing."
"Ha, Thanks. Sensei told me about you, he said that I could learn a lot from someone as strong and talented as you are." Itadori responded back eagerly.
"Heh, I don't think I would be a very good teacher." Yuuta responded with a chuckle. He already wasn't a very talkative person, the idea of trying to teach how to swing and sheath a sword was like a different language to him. He might have to cut Gojo some slack if teaching was as hard as it seems.
"Alright Students, I need your attention up here immediately!" Principal Yaga bellowed, all gazes directed at him now.
5 minutes later all the rules were explained. They seemed fairly straightforward to all the participating students; both teams will attempt to exorcize the highest number of curses possible, whichever team has the highest total wins. Of course the most important detail to the whole occasion was the rule stipulating all acts of violence and fighting are allowed with the exception of lethal blows.
"Now that you all are familiar with the rules of this event you may each separate into groups and discuss your plan in private." Masamichi Yaga finished, ending his explanation of the competition.
"Alright you all, let's get outta here. We're gonna need a new plan, with our new teammate a new strategy is kinda required." the large cursed corpse suggested.
"We can talk in one of the tool sheds around the corner, it's right by our entrance to the forest anyway." Maki recommended, she was very familiar with the cursed tool and weapon inventories all across the school.
As the second and first year students were about to stride over to the named planning area they were halted by the loud yell from their teacher. "Yuuta, Remember you get to sit with the big kids today. You'll be in the spectators room."
"O-Oh yeah, I'll be right over." Yuuta called back across
He quickly bid his friends, old and new alike, goodbye before joining up with the adults. After jogging over to the adolescent group, who were walking towards the alleged spectators room, he joined the rest of them in stride, placed between Gojo and Mei Mei.
Yuuta knew very little of the light-gray haired sorceress. As far as he knew, information about her was very private and kept under wraps. Mei Mei defineity gave off an enigmatic vibe, impossible to tell what she is really thinking, unnerving for sure.
"Yuuta It really is nice to see you again. Look how much you've grown and you've even organized your hair a little." Utahime commented, they had encountered each other briefly a number of times. Utahime couldn't help herself from noting Yuuta's growth and more matured form, she was proud to see the shy kid come out of his shell.
"Thank you Ms. Iori, I really haven't grown that much taller."
"Nonsense, look at you. Once you drop those eyebags and get some sleep all the ladies will be swooning over you."
"Ehhhhh" Yuuta couldn't help the embarrassment and shock
"Utahime, my dear cousin is a taken man twice over. I know his womanizing reputation precedes him but how many mistresses does he need?"
"Leave him alone Gojo. The last thing this poor boy needs is your horrid influence." The Kyoto teacher hissed.
"Both of you leave the poor kid alone, talking about mistresses when he probably hasn't even seen a woman naked in person before." Shoko muttered.
Yuuta Okkotsu absolutely felt out of place right now. In terms of strength he was always first or second in the room, but right now he was simply a 17 year old trying to fit in with a crowd of almost 30 year olds.
"Shoko keep it a little more kid friendly" Utahime whined, unhappy at shoko's more lewd comment.
"Utahime, He's seventeen. He can handle a little talk about sex. I'm sure he thinks about naked women all the time, half of all boy's thoughts are about sex at this age." The medical sorcerer said as she took a long intake of breath, a cigarette in her mouth. Gojo tried and failed to withhold his laughter at the conversation.
"SHOKO!" The purple haired sorceress scolded with a yell.
"Y'know guys…I don't think this is quite necessary." Yuuji said in a shy hushed tone, as he held the picture frame up and around his head.
"Shut it, you get what you deserve." Nobara bluntly responded.
He had been holding the frame for the past 10 minutes, completely ignored from all discussion. It also wasn't a help that Yuuji's skillset was very common amongst the group; everyone knew how to throw punches and kicks. Apparently the woman with the dark green hair was a very strong combatant as well, Fushiguro had told him they both had abnormal superhuman traits. Whatever that meant.
"But I want to participate in the planning." Yuuji whimpered sadly.
"You are in the plan. You're the bait"
"What?"
Maki then cut in and asked the entire Tokyo team, "Alright so we all understand the plan and our roles right?"
An almost unanimous 'yes' bounced off the balls of the tool shed they were in. They were ready for the event and luckily for them it would start any minute now. Itadori just shrugged internally, if the group wanted him to be the bait, he guessed he was.
"Lets head back to our entrance, wouldn't want Kyoto getting a head start on us would we." The cursed tool user said to her teammates.
When all of them were lined up facing the trees to the forest they patiently waited for the teachers to announce the beginning of the event. It seemed though like it would take longer than expected.
"Is this supposed to take this long?" Yuuji asked openly.
"No idea, the only Tokyo students who participated in last year's event were the third years and Yuuta. This is entirely new to us." The big talking panda supplied.
A couple more minutes of boring silence were all that followed.
It took another 10 minutes before a voice finally made itself known through the speaker.
"Sorry for the delay students. Before we begin I'd like to pass the microphone over to our esteemed Yuuta Okkotsu" Satoru Gojo announced, of course a surprise yip was all that came out of Yuuta's when he suddenly passed the microphone.
"Uh Well Everyone erm, uh, have fun?"
Remarkably insightful.
The strongest sorcerer reached over to retrieve the device but Yuuta was muttering about having another shot, pleading with his teacher that he embarrassed himself. Of course he had no idea the device was blasting everything he was saying across the forest and outside of it. Once Gojo finally did get the microphone back he announced the beginning of the exchange event.
"Alright everyone, BEGIN."
Will the event now underway both teams dashed into the forest, each one with different plans and goals. Tokyo's own team is searching the forest for the cursed presences to exorcize, completely unaware that Kyoto's strongest student was heading straight for them, ready for a head on confrontation.
"Alright Toge you split off and go hunt down the isolated curses." Maki shouted at her classmate as they ran as a group. She knew she had to limit her speed in order to stay with the group but the new kid, Itadori, looked as if he was taking a leisurely stroll. Megumi said that if they all fought without cursed energy then Itadori would handily win. Did he have a restriction like her? Megumi said that his cursed energy levels were just slightly below average though, so that couldn't be it.
'He's built the entirely opposite way as Yuuta. Innate superhuman physicals and moderate to low cursed energy compared to relatively weak base strength and monstrous cursed energy'
Her thoughts were interrupted when she, as well as the rest of her students saw the massive form of Aoi Todo speeding straight towards them, clearly itching for a fight.
Flashback…
15 minutes ago…
"I don't care what you do to complete the task but under no circumstances can Yuuji Itadori be left alive after today." Gakugani finished with ferocity.
The kyoto students all looked to their principal with blank expressions, save for Miwa who was panicking greatly. She didn't like the idea of taking an innocent life, no matter the reason.
Aoi Todo sat away from the group on the steps, clearly off in his own world, much to the dissatisfaction of Noritoshi Kamo.
"So I can put a bullet between his eyes and no one will care?" Mai asked apathetically. Internally she didn't really want to do it either but what choice did she have if it was an order.
"Yes. The higher officials such as myself will see to it that the offending party will be fully pardoned so matter what way the death is inflicted." The aged man replied.
"We will complete the task you have laid out for us." Kamo said loyalty, giving his own word that the expectation will be met. Mechamaru and Nishimiya had nothing to say on the matter.
"Todo you were listening, correct? You will do everything to help us complete the mission right?" Kamo asked the larger man evenly, clearly disapproving of his uncaring attitude towards the principal's request.
"I don't really care about any of that. I'll fight him and I might kill him, I might not, I don't know. What I do know is that Takada is having another meet and greet in 3 hours and I AM NOT MISSING IT!" He bellowed.
Mai groaned loudly, "You know you can just record the thing, it will be on some TV station. You still get to see her either way."
This did not do anything to calm the older student. "What kind of amateur do you take me for? I will see her in person AND RECORD THE BROADCASTING!"
"You fool, we have direct orders to take Yuuji Itadori out. You should be wise to follow them." Kamo hissed threateningly, however it made no impact or dent in Todo whatsoever.
"I said I'll fight him one on one. Whatever happens happens. But none of you will interrupt me." With that Todo walked toward Kyoto's entrance to the forest full of curses waiting to be exorcized, away from the rest of the group and a baffled Gakuganji.
"Mai, go talk some sense into him." Nishimiya asked the taller deadeye sniper.
"What? What am I supposed to do? He doesn't listen to me at all!"
Kamo growled in annoyance. "Forget him, If he kills Itadori he Kills him. Regardless of the means, we will meet your expectations sir." He said respectfully toward the old principal.
However the majority of Kamo's attention was directed toward confronting Megumi Fushiguro. There was much about the happenings of the world that he needed to talk about with the younger student, especially given the two clans they belong to. Kamo wondered if Megumi had any idea what he was likely in for, it was common knowledge that he possessed the Zen'ins ultimate technique. Without a doubt Megumi would be groomed to become the next head of the Zen'in, regardless of whether he had any interest.
"All of you make your way to the entrance, The event will begin any time now." The principal requested with an air of finality. The students nodded and strode over to where their other classmate had stomped off to.
Present Time…
Itadori immediately shot ahead of the rest of the group.
'His speed is incredible!' the tokyo students all thought in their minds, shocked at what they were seeing'
As the two men were about to meet blows Todo quickly shifted his balance to narrowly avoid Itadori's hit, in the process the gained the positions required to land knee to his stomach which sent him hurling towards the tree with a loud thump. But when Itadori rose again from the splintered tree he looked completely unaffected.
The interaction was very quick and required intense attention to detail to fully compute the intense speed, unless you happened to be blessed with increased reaction speeds due to heavenly restriction like Maki.
"ITADORI!" They all shouted, stopping their pace to analyze the situation. Should they continue with their plan to hunt down the curses or engage in battle with Kyoto's strongest?
"You guys go ahead-" Yuuji said as he dusted himself off, briefly spitting out a bit of blood before getting into a fighting stance. "-I got this" He ended, his tone promising a win and success against the hardest opponent he would have had to face.
"We need to go, Itadori can handle himself and we can't waste our own energy on just one combatant." Megumi reasoned, already beginning to run in a different direction as the rest of the group followed.
"You're right, we should split up and pick off the curses one by one. It also won't draw as much attention to us." Maki agreed, the rest of them nodded. After they had gotten a fair distance away from the exchange between Yuuji and Todo the Tokyo students all scattered.
"I see your teammates have left you." The large Aoi Todo commented as Itadori and him circled each other.
"They got better stuff to do."
Todo smirked, "Yeah, so do we." And just like that he was in front of Yuuji preparing a hard right blow infused with cursed energy, completely overwhelming Yuuji's incredible durability. Yuuji was pushed back a couple meters, feet sliding in the ground as he tried to root his base again to regain his balance.
Itadori darted forward, quick and hard, thrusting his first towards Todo's face. It was blocked but the first year used the alternative focus of the older man to take advantage of his slower speeds, as Yuuji attempted to ram his fist into the other's gut.
Unfortunately he made the miscalculation of assuming his speeds trumped Todo's to such an extent that close quarters combat would lean in his favor.
After blocking Itadori's punch aimed at his head with one hand Todo moved over a step to step out of the incoming gut punch the first year had been attempting to land.
Now that Yuuji's balance was slightly offset Todo saw the opportunity to whirl around and land a brutal kick to Itadori's head, once again shooting him many meters away. Before the younger sorcerer could get up and ready to continue more Todo continued his onslaught.
He rushed over to where the pink haired sorcerer sat dazed for a half second, gripped the young boy's head in his hand and threw his back against the tree and proceeded to stomp viciously against his head.
Over and over again.
The boy's body stopped responding to the beating, falling slightly limp as his arms rested loosely against his sides. After another couple harsh stomps Todo pulled back his leg to see Itadori head slump forward, hiding his face, with blood covering the tree behind him. Todo took in the sight shamefully, he had briefly wondered if the boy would be a strong opponent after judging his early speed and raw power but unfortunately he lacked heavily in the skill and finesse needed to maximize his potential.
'Such a waste of talent' Todo thought sadly, rounding on his foot to begin searching for other students from Tokyo when he was hit hard in the back of the head by the a fierce kick from the opponent he thought he had surely beaten and finished off.
"I'm not even close to done." Itadori said, breathing heavily.
'His durability is insane, not only that but his strength and speed are great even with poor manipulation of his cursed energy. Maybe he was a worthy challenger after all' Todo thought, his excitement rising.
"I'm glad, you have proven yourself to be an interesting fighter so I am required to ask you an important question."
"Huh? Uh Alright go ahead" Itadori said, a little surprised.
Todo sucked in a breath, poured all his cursed energy into his tongue as tradition, before expressing his heartfelt question. If Itadori was as interesting as he seemed then he would most certainly provide a glorious answer that connected them both as great friends in the future.
"What kind of woman do you like?" He asked with a roar, trying to convey the significance of the question to the younger student.
For a second Yuuji stood there frozen, even more shocked at the question. But after enough time the sorcerer in training brought his hand up to his chin and looking up as he began to think carefully.
'What kinda woman is my type? Hmmm…I'm more of an ass guy than a tits guy…but a great chest is always nice…but a great ass is just too good to overlook….I don't mind a short girl at all.…but a taller girl with nice long legs sounds amazing...hmmm'
"Personally, I like a tall woman with a nice big ass like Jennifer Lawrence." He said while nodding his head, thinking he had given his honest answer. He looked back to older sorcerers to see tears and snot streaming down his face and he gazed up at the sky.
'A tall woman with a nice big ass? My goodness, I found him, he's him. How could I forget' Todo thought as he continued to silently sob his eyes out.
In that moment Todo regained full clarity of his past, ashamed at how he had forgotten his dear friend Yuuji Itadori. He remembers all the times during lunch they would talk about sports, women, and life. He remembered their sparring sessions where they would train viciously to grow stronger and surpass their limits as fighters. He remembered Yuuji encouraging him to pursue the love of his life Takada even when times were tough. How could he forget all these memories?
None of these memories ever happened.
"I apologize Yuuji, how could I be so foolish as to hold back on my close and dear friend."
"Im sorry What-", Yuuji was unable to fully respond before he quickly brought his hands up to block the incoming strike.
"Amazing, just what I'd expect from my best friend. NOW LET US BATTLE!"
'What is going on?!'
Yuuta had probably been slack jawed for the past 5 minutes. He had just witnessed Itadori get brutally beaten against a tree, get up like nothing happened. Then Todo started crying, after Itadori said he liked tall women with big asses, now he was calling Yuuji his best friend and yet still trying to kill him.
It was like he had front row seats to the wildest action comedy ever. The wildest part wasn't even the fight, it was the spectators room. No one gave any hint of a reaction when Yuuji started getting beat, did they just know that everything was going to be alright? He hadn't even mentioned all the arguing Utahime and Gojo had been doing, it was kind of one-sided though; Gojo would call Utahime weak and she would, understandably, get annoyed.
After about the 4th exchange of this kind Yuuta wondered if maybe he should've sat with Shoko in the back. He knew she enjoyed peace and quiet like him, but he also knew that when she was smoking -which was almost always- she had no filter and would say things like she had earlier.
He definitely wasn't going to sit next to Mei Mei.
Yuuta moved his eyes towards the combination of screens that displayed many different areas around the forest. In particular one exchange caught his eye.
Miwa Kasumi had been following along with the rest of her team, trying to locate Itadori but knowing Todo had headed straight to his location meant there was no point. Eventually the Kyoto team decided to split up and pick off each of the Tokyo students.
Miwa followed a trail of very faint cursed energy to this location nearby a river. Her suspicions of who the soft energy belonged to were confirmed when she saw the figure of Maki Zen'in standing against a tree, spear leaning against her body.
"Hi there." She was all she said to Miwa, a smirk on her face.
"Did you know I was coming?" Kasumi asked as she readied herself for battle, lowering her hand to grip her sword.
"Erm, Not really but I did hear you coming. Doesn't really matter." She informed as she moved herself away from the tree, spinning her spear around casually in her hand as she started walking closer to her opposition. Miwa knew that cursed tools like those were not heavy at all but they were not supposed to look light as a feather like this woman made it seem. Miwa gripped her sword tightly.
Flashback…
"Mai, your sister Maki, is she strong?" The bluenette asked her friend as they tied their shoes getting ready for an early morning jog.
"Huh? No. She is incredibly weak. She has almost no cursed energy."
"So, why is she a Jujutsu sorcerer?" Miwa couldn't help but to wonder why someone with little talent in sorcery put themselves in such a brutal field of work.
Her question made Mai pause, she didn't turn to meet Miwa who was looking at her waiting for her response. Eventually Mai just responded, "I have no clue. I really don't know."
Present Time…
Mai was a liar, a horrible liar.
Maki wasn't weak, she was the farthest thing from weak.
She was ridiculously strong and fast.
Every move Maki made wasn't at all wasteful, she moved gracefully and purposefully. Miwa and her had been exchanging blows for only a minute or two and already Miwa was starting to feel her stamina slip. The force she had to put into her strikes and slashes, in order to block Maki's own, was just enough to break even with the sorceress before she was at her throat again.
'How can she strike so hard with so much weight and yet be so agile?!' It didn't make sense to Miwa. Eventually Maki decided to stop aimlesses swinging her spear around and took advantage of Miwa focusing so heavily on blocking her weapon, she kicked hard against her hip as the two weapons clashed which sent the sword wielder tumbling to the side.
Miwa got up quickly, again preparing herself for combat as she breathed in hard. She was too anxious, she couldn't get comfortable at all when this woman had such power and control over the fight.
"How…How are you so strong?!" She blurted out.
"Huh?" Maki said in surprise, the focuses gaze that she had been wearing dropped into a puzzled look.
"Without cursed energy you and Todo almost kick as hard as each other. How is that possible? How are you so physically gifted in strength and speed?"
She might not even be half the size of Todo and yet she possessed all these traits with such little cursed energy. It wasn't even conceivable.
Maki looked down at her own hand for a second, remembering an important conversation she had a couple days ago.
Flashback…
October 1st, 12:02 PM
"Who is Toji Zen'in?" She asked as soon as she got into his office, knowing exactly when he would be eating lunch.
Gojo nearly choked on his food, this was the second time in a week he had been asked about that man. He could on one hand the number of times he had been asked about him in the past decade previously, and all of those questions were from one Yuki Tsukumo.
He knew Maki would come to talk to him after her awful family reunion, he was proud to see it didn't make her soul waver one bit. What he expected from her was a harsh grilling about using Yuuta in his "Schemes", not questions about the famed 'sorcerer killer'.
"Why are you asking?"
"Cus I have some questions I need answers to." The girl in front of him said with a harsher tone.
He pondered it for a bit. Maki deserved answers the same way Megumi did, it might also help her develop as a sorceress. The conversation had been long overdue anyway.
"Aright. Ask away but I'm just going to tell you right now I'm not an expert on this stuff."
"Got it. Now answer my first question."
One deep intake of air later Gojo answered with as much detail as he could.
"Toji Zen'in was a serial killer known to perform a large number of assassination jobs on different sorcerers for money. He was known in his time as the 'sorcerer killer', a sort of boogeyman to the people in our field of work. He was a heavenly restriction user gifted with incredible physical talent just like you."
Maki was stunned. A serial killer? She knew he trafficked his son to the Zen'in but this was entirely different. He was the man similar to her that Gojo had mentioned all those months ago?
"He was a sorcerer killer? How could he be so strong if he possessed a similar restriction to me?"
"You two have the same heavenly restriction but for some reason his restriction seems far more developed than yours. I don't know why. His raw power for a regular human is unimaginable, that is why he is referred to as a 'superhuman'."
Unimaginable? His restriction is more developed than hers. Why?
"How does the restriction work? Why is his more developed than mine?"
"I told you I'm not an expert. That type of stuff is more Tsukumo's expertise. From what I gather though both of your bodies seem to possess some innate vow, in exchange for the cursed energy you should be gifted with you are instead blessed with your human attributes being magnified; speed, strength, durability, reaction time."
"I don't really feel or look superhuman, I just look like an athletic teenager."
"Yes but the athleticism is magnified. Multiplied. Think about it, did you ever do something seemingly impossible as a child without meaning to?"
Yes she had. She remembered smashing one of her uncle's vase of flowers accidentally with her elbow when she was just 8. She was disciplined harshly for it, she had to scrub the floors of his room for the rest of the day.
"Well yes, but I still don't get how his could be so much more advanced than mine. What gave him that level of strength?"
Gojo wondered the same thing sometimes. Why was Maki Zen'in, who wasn't weak at all, so inferior to Toji? Even with the age gap the large canyon of a power difference couldn't be explained.
"You'll either have to ask Tsukumo if you ever see her or figure that part out yourself"
"Tch." She grunted, "I have one more question for you."
"Shoot."
"Who killed him?"
Gojo knew it wasn't a good idea to answer the question, the knowledge was supposed to be kept under wraps until he revealed it to Megumi. But he could tell just from the look in Maki's eyes that she already had an idea of who finished off the famed 'sorcerer killer'.
"I did."
"Hmm I Thought so. When will you tell Megumi?"
"When he wants to know more. You know as well as I do that he hates him."
Maki didn't give any acknowledgement that he was right but they both knew it. She felt like she had gotten enough information from him to feel satisfied.
'I guess it's up to me to figure out a way to realize my restriction like he had.'
As she made her way to the door she waved behind her, "Thanks I guess, I want to punch you in the jaw for messing with Yuuta but I'll save that for when I surpass the sorcerer killer", and with that she exited the room and let the door shut on it's own.
'If I talk about that bastard Toji any more in the next year it will still be too soon' Gojo thought, groaning inwardly.
Present Time…
"Well…It's kinda hard to explain, but all you really need to know is that I'm faster and stronger than most." Maki thought about explaining it but she didn't really understand it herself. The best answer she could probably give Miwa would be 'my body is special', which really wouldn't answer anything.
"Yeah, I can tell." Miwa responded, still breathing heavily.
"So you ready to continue?" The woman across from Miwa questioned, her eyes sharp and ready for battle.
'No.' Miwa thought with dread
"What an amazing fight" Yuuta said breathlessly.
"I agree, it isn't often you see fighters on an even level physically go head to head. The talent on display is remarkable" Utahume Agreed, Her eyes shining with pride in her student.
"I knew that the talent was always there but to see this level of growth amazes me." Gojo said with some pride in his voice as well.
"Maki is so amazing." Yuuta said aloud.
"..."
"...Um Yuuta. Me and Utahime were talking about Yuuji and Todo's fight."
"Oh, Haha. Yeah…Err…they are great too.
15 minutes later...
Toge walked slowly through the forest, He uncapped his medicine and took a harsh swig. He had only exorcized two curses and yet his throat was on fire and sore.
He rounded another tree and spotted the curse he had been trailing. the curses he had been exorcizing were unlike any he had seen before on any missions with Maki, Yuuta, or Panda. Imumaki could swear his technique was affecting him more than usual. Cursed speech always came with tremendous drawbacks but they were usually less significant when using it on a low level curse. The highest drawback was always when it was used on a high grade 1 or special grade curse or a human,
He approached the curse with stealth. As soon as he got close enough he chanted his cursed command.
"Die"
Immediately the creature imploded, however Toge was sent crumbling to his knee's wheezing. It shouldn't hurt this much. However mid cough he saw the small body parts of the exploded curse fall back down to ground with a splat.
Toge looked right at the remains to see an eye. An unmistakable brown human eye. The body of the curse had been purple but upon seeing its outermost layer all across the ground Inumaki could see red blood paint the soil.
These were not curses he was killing.
They were Humans, horrifically mutated and transfigured Humans.
Something was horribly horribly wrong.
Megumi walked through the halls of the abandoned building, looking for any more traces of curses to exorcize. The school faculty had moved everything out of the structure in advance for the event which meant that the students could get as destructive as they wanted.
It had been more than 30 minutes, give or take, since the group had split up. Maki, Toge, and himself all went off by themselves to hunt curses. He had no idea where Kugisaki and Panda were but he guessed they had split off from each other as well.
He had found limited success in his expedition to find the curses though, It seemed like everywhere he looked they had been cleared out.
He was just about to turn the corner and head back downstairs towards the entrance of the building when-
ZIPPP
A sharp arrow sped right past his ear, just an inch away from taking a large piece of it off. Megumi whirled around to face the person who had shot the arrow.
It was the Kyoto student from the Kamo clan, Noritoshi Kamo. That name had quite the history, especially to the Kamo clan.
"Megumi Zen'in, it's nice to meet you." The older sorcerer greeted.
"Nice to meet you as well. but I go by Fushiguro. Don't lump me in with those people." Megumi harshly bit out. Bringing his hands together to summon his divine dogs.
"I'm simply calling you by your name, you shouldn't get worked up about it. It's just a name after all."
"Tch, Enough with the talking." Megumi said apathetically, telepathically signaling the toad summons to begin a diversion while sending one of the two divine dogs down the hallway to wrap around and catch Kamo by surprise.
"So eager to fight, Alright. Well after I restrain you I wish for us to have a conversation about the future of our clans."
Megumi halted his shikigami's movements. If Kamo knew something about the delayed vote then he was interested. "Hold on. If you want to talk about that stuff I'm all ears. There are no cameras in this building I've checked. You can speak freely."
"You are interested in the subject? I thought you didn't want to be lumped in with the Zen'in." Kamo said with a crooked smile.
"I have friends who are entangled in their mess and you and I both know this affects the entire world of sorcery, not just the Gojo or Zen'in"
Kamo nodded. The Gojo and Zen'in selfishly fought for dominance and to save their own skin and now the ideological balance of Jujutsu was in free fall. If the Gojo were removed from and their power transferred to the Zen'in there would start to be things changing in the world of sorcery.
"Indeed. Tell me Fushiguro, have you wondered what might happen should jujutsu sorcerers be turned into militaristic soldiers, ordered by a higher chain of command to seize power. It would be easy, one special grade sorcerer and the entire country is under the rule of sorcery. That is the new world we are heading to."
Megumi could sense that he still had more to say so he stayed quiet and let him elaborate further on his thoughts.
Kamo continued, I thought it would be right to pledge myself to the traditions of the 3 great clans, build myself into the perfect heir to the Kamo clan. And now my clan is under the boot of the Zen'in."
"What? What do you mean under their boot?" Megumi asked incredulously.
"I only reveal this information to you because you will learn it sooner or later. Like it or not Megumi Zen'in -or Fushiguro- you will become the next pillar of the Zen'in."
Megumi remained there stunned. Him the next head of the Zen'in it was an idea so absurd he might laugh out loud. However, it made perfect sense. He had the 10 shadows technique, which allowed him to summon the Divine General. The old man Naobito wouldn't hesitate to make him clan heir if it meant maintaining the power of the clan.
"How could you possibly know that?" Megumi questions aloud anxiously.
"That is information you will hear at a later point."
"I thought you didn't like your family being under the boot of the Zen'in. help me and I can help you." Megumi tried to argue.
"I told you I had believed in the will of the big 3 clans, and I still believe in their will for the sake of my clan. What I do not believe in is the world the Zen'in will create." Kamo exclaimed. That world was not a world his mother could live in happily.
Megumi didn't like the energy in the hallway anymore, he sent a signal to Divine Dogs for it to continue circling around behind his opponent.
"So what are you getting at? What is it you want?" The 10 shadows user asked calmly.
"I ask humbly that you swallow your pride and accept your role in the Zen'in. So that someone may create a world my mother may exist peacefully in"
Megumi's eyes widened a fraction, but only for a moment.
"Sorry but you've got me mixed up. My code is spontaneous, I save people when I think it's the right choice and I don't when I don't, it isn't fair but neither is life. Right now the only thing that I think is right is preventing the world those bastards wish to create, and I can tell you don't want a world like that either."
Kamo flinched, before opening his right eye. Distaste morphing across his face, "I was wrong to think we were the same. You clearly can't see the future that's right in front of us."
'FLOWING RED SCALE'
"DIVINE DOG NOW!" Megumi yelled, looking behind Kamo to see his shikigami move quickly around the corner leaping into the air to attack the archer. Megumi was surprised to see his opponent quickly leap out of the way and begin sprinting towards Megumi, all the while firing arrows that cut through the air at will moving any direction they pleased.
'Blood manipulation, of course' Megumi noted. He turned the corner bringing his hands together to summon a new shikigami.
When Kamo followed the route the first year sorcerer had moved in, arrows behind him ready to be fired remotely, he was floored to see Megumi waiting there with an enormous elephant.
'Max Elephant can be summoned from a short distance away from the user, its abilities remain close quarters centric but it also possesses the ability to spray water. The water will loosen the blood and require intense concentration in order for it to keep its form.'
In conjunction with his thoughts a torrent of water was sent in the direction of the blood manipulator.
The surge of water crashed through the walls, taking the battle outside. Kamo knew Megumi would use this opportunity to land a follow up attack. He needed to act quickly, he reached into his sorcerer coat and pulled out a packet of blood. He sharply used the spare blood to weave together a ball that would contain the elephant while he focused on removing himself from the water.
Kamo looked up to see Megumi flying on an eagle-like shikigami, observing him from above.
The two stood in a standoff.
That's when the two of them saw the color of sky change.
A couple minutes earlier
"I was skeptical to believe you could activate the technique from a distance Ogami. You have achieved new heights in the past few days. It's a pleasure to see." Kenjaku muttered ominously over the old woman's shoulder.
He looked over his own shoulder to Juzo, "Activate the barrier as soon as the ritual is done." he commanded. After all, the sorcerers would need more encouragement to save the students if they knew the monster they would be trapped inside with. He would have the whole school to roam around freely with the teachers in such a panic. It was always amazing when one of his master plans came together.
"Got it Geto, tell that old hag to work faster though. I'm itching to tear that Gojo guy apart."
"Hush Juzo. She is chanting now"
And indeed the old sorceress Ogami was, like her life depended. The body she was using was a grade 4 sorcerer that she forced a blind vow upon so that they must obey the commands of the old sorceress. Her technique allowed her to send telepathic commands to the soul occupying the body that had been summoned. This was due to the now linked cursed energies between the host and subject. The only step that was left to do was summon the code into the vessel.
Activating the seance technique from a great distance away was not something she had ever done previous to the past week, but it was a skill she needed if she hoped to make it out of this alive. It was stressful in an agonizing way, one mistake the summoning would fall apart and would need to be restarted.
She would succeed though, she would bring back the strongest, most durable body known across all of sorcery; the body of a heavenly restricted Toji Zen'in.
When she felt her work become complete she eagerly tested the connection between herself the host and the subject grade 4 sorcerer. Now that the body was supposedly summoned she had the ultimate soldier to use as a puppet.
'...'
She couldn't find any connection. There was no cursed energy emanating from the soul, but how could this be? She knew the heavenly restriction allowed no cursed energy to be emitted from the body but she had made the explicit choice to not bring back the soul of the Zen'in.
She knew without a doubt her technique had worked, she felt herself complete the summoning. Every sorcerer knows for sure when their technique is recharged and is used successfully, you can feel it in your own soul.
So why did she sense no connection when she could feel the impact the technique left on her own soul?
There was only one conclusion.
She had failed. She was going to die. If Geto learned of this it was all over.
Ogami's mind worked with all its might, everyone second counted and made a difference in her survival.
"Is it finished Ms. Ogami?" Kenjaku asked with a cheerful voice.
"Yes Geto it is done."
"Excellent. Juzo, in 2 minutes construct the barrier."
"What the hell is going on? Where the fuck am I?"
The spectators room was mostly quiet now. The fights between the two schools had been more vicious than anticipated.
Todo Vs Yuuji had turned into the most hilarious of interactions, the older of the two now helping to instruct Yuuji on how to channel his cursed energy.
Megumi and Kamo were all unaccounted for but everyone assumed they were simply deep in the forest. The rest of the students had all had battles of their own, some more personal than others. Thankfully no one had gotten seriously injured.
"It's kind of like a grace period." Yuuta voiced.
"Other than Yuuji and Todo I'd say the rest of them are content to simply hunt down curses." Gojo agreed. They were only 40 minutes into the event and the individual battles were already redundant. They had forgotten the whole mission and instead went to go fight each other.
The rest of the teachers had left for a moment, the audio kept breaking up and the quality of the cameras was only serviceable at best so they had checked to see what the issue was. Or whatever Mei Mei was doing at the moment, Yuuta doubted she really cared about the event in any way.
Utahime was the first one back, walking through the entrance and sitting herself down in the same spot she had been previously. Suddenly Gojo nudged him and whispered into his ear.
"Psst, Yuuta give me some alone time with Utahime for like 3 minutes alright."
Yuuta rolled his eyes and whispered back to his teacher, "Sensei please stop harassing Ms. Iori. She is really nice."
"Don't worry, I just want to talk to her about some school business."
Against Yuuta's better judgment he left them alone, exiting the room.
After the 3 minutes had passed Yuuta re-entered. It seemed like nothing had changed at all between the two. There was a cup on the floor though, with spilled tea trickling out of it. It was only natural to assume Gojo probably did tease her more.
"Oh welcome back Yuuta, you just in time Maki is about to kill another curse." His sensei said to him as he sat back down in his chair. He hoped no one noticed how he immediately paid extreme attention to the screen displaying it. He was so weak to her allure.
Gojo looked at his pupil restraining all the teases that his mind was coming up with. The kid couldn't be any more obvious, he was sure Yuuta hadn't even blinked since he started to look at the screen.
The strongest generalized his vision, looking over all the cameras to see if there was a visual that caught his interest.
Sadly the closest thing he got to seeing something interesting was seeing Megumi again. It was the first time since his Tokyo team split up that Gojo had seen him on the cameras. The weird difference was that he had taken off his sorcerer's coat, his upper body covered in a baggy blue shirt. He was still wearing the same bottoms that he wore at the beginning of the event and on all his missions. And his hair looked different.
'Did it get wet?' Gojo asked himself.
And then the figure turned around and looked right at the camera.
Instinctively Gojo yanked down his blindfold to use his six eyes to analyze the situation knowing his eyes couldn't deceive him, even though they wouldn't be much use through the screen of the TV. Clearly he wasn't the only one shocked to see the face either.
"G-Gojo, is that…isn't that…" Yaga started, his voice hardly above a whisper. He was very well versed in the history of one of the most famous killers in sorcerer history
"I didn't think I'd see the sorcerer killer today. Gojo, I thought you killed him?" Mei Mei muttered in a way that lacked her usual mischief, she was nervous as well.
"Sorcerer Killer? Sensei, what are they talking about? Who is that man? Why does he look like Fushiguro?" Yuuta asked in rapid succession, confusion gripping him tightly.
It was too much to process at once. That man was dead. Gojo knew he was dead, he had blown half of his body off when he saw him last. But there he was in the forest with his students.
His students.
He needed to-
The camera's cut off suddenly.
"What the fuck happened?!" He cursed aloud.
Suddenly Ijichi entered the room, out of breath. "Gojo, quickly there are 2 barriers surrounding the forest!"
He needed to get in there now. Forget everyone's questions. Gojo clapped his hands together and teleported outside of the building.
He was already too late. The barrier was closed around them. He moved quickly right up to the barrier and placed his hand against it. A disturbing shock pulsed through his fingers.
Yuuta quickly appeared behind him, attempting to catch up to the strongest. "Sensei what the hell is going on? Who is that guy?" Yuuta shouted.
"He's dangerous and that's all that matters, I don't know myself what is going on but I do know that he is a threat to everyone alive in there." Gojo grit his teeth together, cursing himself.
But, He wasn't alone this time.
"Yuuta, put your hand against the barrier."
Okkotsu didn't need to be told twice. He raised his palm and moved it towards the purple shell. It slipped through like nothing was there at all. After a couple moments Yuuta still had his hand firmly inside the barrier. He either was waiting for instruction or couldn't. Gojo got the feeling he wasn't going to be lucky today.
"Sensei, I can't pull my arm out." Yuuta stated, looking over to meet his teacher's eyes.
Was a barrier designed to keep everyone who entered in but keep Satoru Gojo out. The only way to construct that locked everyone inside is to have the seal to the barrier be kept somewhere inside of it.
"Yuuta. It's up to you. This barrier will allow everyone else inside of it except me. There is a seal inside of it, once destroyed people will be able to leave its confinement. Until then everyone inside is stuck there with a serial murderer. You must break the barrier, I have faith in you."
The words were so heartfelt and serious that Yuuta felt his soul shake. His mentor, the man who had offered him a way to find friends. He had entrusted him with the responsibility of his students.
Gojo Believed in him.
Yuuta met his sensei's eyes once more, determination painted across the prodigies face.
"I understand." and with another nod of his head Yuuta took a purposeful stride and entered the barrier locked from the inside.
Whoever was the one responsible for this scheme had made sure to plan only for Satoru Gojo, making sure that he alone would not be allowed inside the shell. Whoever was the one responsible for this barrier was confident that without the strongest sorcerer alive, victory was assured. Whoever was the one responsible for putting his friends in danger knew of his existence and proceeded anyway.
Yuuta Okkotsu would make sure these mistakes would be the downfall of the perpetrators behind this ploy.
How dare they forget that in the modern era of Jujutsu, he was second only to the very strongest himself.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Next Chapter: Yuuta and Toji. Other people also but whatever.
All comments and reviews are appreciated. I read every review.
Thank you for reading this story.