A black blindfold is pulled down completely as inquisitive eyes stare up at the night sky. The bag of Momofuku hangs in one hand as Satoru Gojo watches, mouth slightly agape, at something happening that defies his understanding of the world that he lives in.

A few seconds ago, a massive surge of cursed technique seemingly rent the world itself, causing a sea of cursed energy to spill into the sky above Sendai, and then dissipate. In this, there was a light, something he couldn't quite make out from as far as he was and as fast as it was moving, and as surrounded as it was in strange powerful cursed energy.

It emerged from this tear and sped down to a specific place at such a high rate of speed that even if it had been visible to a normal human eye, it would have been impossible to perceive.

The most unnerving thing about this magnificent and mysterious display of unknown wonder is that whatever emerged from the breech flew down to the ground very close to the location where his precious student was working on a training mission.

In an instant, he closes the distance, landing on a second-floor walkway that connected two buildings at a Sendai high school.

There is an absolute fucking monster within striking distance of his student, and Gojo takes a position between Megumi and the other sorcerer.

But that didn't make any sense either.

Satoru had seen this kid while he was casually stalking Megumi earlier on this mission. The pink-haired teenager was easy to remember because he'd been doing some incredibly impressive stuff on the track field. His athleticism was at the level that would make a person who is a sorcerer take note of their physical prowess and see if there was anything up with them because he seemed unnaturally strong.

When Gojo looked at him with Six Eyes before, there was nothing. No cursed energy, no cursed technique, nothing. Now he's got cursed energy that's nearly off the charts, a dangerous technique, and just from his appearance to Gojo's senses, he'd assume this kid was special grade for sure.

Yet he was standing there, staring at his hands, confused by his own power.

That just wasn't how anything worked. People didn't instantly get a technique. Well, it wasn't impossible for that to happen actually, but when it did, it usually occurred under nefarious circumstances. Even if it did, it shouldn't happen like this.

Yuji Itadori doesn't have any idea what's happening, only that he was fighting a monster, and he was about to do something…was it an object they were fighting over? And suddenly this power surged within him, and he just knew how to reach out and make the monster vanish.

This moment feels so strange, like something that happened a long time ago, and he has all these feelings. Yuji's heart felt so happy when he saw the man with blue eyes and white hair, as if he is an old friend he hasn't seen in a very long time. There is a name on the tip of his tongue, like he wishes to call out to his old friend that he has never met before.

Megumi is simply flabbergasted, as his version of the events is even odder. One minute, he and Yuji, an uncharacteristically brave civilian, were…going to do something? He remembers that he was panicking, and then suddenly, the cursed spirit was dead, and Yuji had this aura about him.

Gojo definitely saw something come out of the riff in the sky; something had entered this situation from somewhere else.

Did some entity enter the area by unknown means and possess this other kid?

Gojo leans in on Yuji, trying to see if there's something in his body that's not supposed to be there, but Yuji is all Yuji and no one else. Yet, the soul seems fundamentally different than when Gojo saw it earlier, in more ways than just 'gained cursed energy.' To put it simply, he would assume just from Yuji's soul that he is older. Human souls tarnish and wear and tear as they move throughout life, and this one shouldn't be inside of a teenager.

Another blip appears—it appears, just appears, did not come from some other place, suddenly existing close in his field of vision.

The door behind Megumi opens, and a naked toddler steps out, like he just came from the other side of the door, but Gojo knew he didn't come from the hallway. It was like the first moment he was there was when he stepped out onto the walkway.

He's tiny and has messy pink hair and red eyes. Short of the eye color difference, this little child that just appeared out of thin air just looks like a shrunken version of the other teenager who suddenly gained special grade cursed energy.

The toddler immediately starts crying and runs straight past Megumi and Gojo.

"Yuuuuuuuji!"

Yuji has never seen this naked baby before in his life. He doesn't have any living family, so honestly, what the hell?

No one has any idea what's going on, a toddler appeared from the ether, a larger version of the toddler somehow became a special grade sorcerer in the past day, and none of that is even the thing that is ultimately most mysterious.

Megumi tries as hard as he can to remember what was happening before Yuji killed the cursed spirit.

"Gojo?" he asks.

Gojo is deep in thought as he tries to put everything together.

Yuji really doesn't know what to do, but he takes off his yellow hoodie and puts it on the crying toddler, who is holding his hands up for Yuji to pick him up, a request that is denied, because this situation is weird.

Everything is weird.

Gojo looks up when he realizes that Megumi has called his name and asks, "What is it?"

"Do you remember what the mission is?"

Satoru finds this question odd, and Megumi is bleeding from the head, so maybe that's the most important thing?

"We came to retrieve a famous cursed object...it was…"

Blank.

Gojo is sure that he knew all about whatever it was, and that they had a good reason for coming to get it. This was an important mission, but now he can't remember what the cursed object was in the first place, and he doesn't sense anything nearby.

The toddler continues to scream, a distraction to the otherwise quiet confusion as Yuji, Megumi, and Satoru all try to figure out what on earth has taken place.

"Is that your little brother or something?"

Yuji answers, "Of course not!"

"YUUUUUUUUUUUJI!"

Gojo asks, "Let me get this straight. This kid has pink hair, something very genetically rare, maybe one in a million in Japan. He looks just like you. He appeared right here where you are at. He even has the same cursed technique. But you have no idea who he is?"

"I don't know what a cursed whatever is, but I don't have any living relatives."

"YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUJI!"

Gojo asks, "Is your name Yuji by any chance?"

"Okay, it is, but I swear to god I've never seen this thing before in my life."

Megumi is distracted enough by the child's yelling that he goes over to the child and kneels. "It's okay. You don't need to cry. Everything is okay, right?"

"Gumi…" he stretches his arms up, and Megumi, however reluctantly, picks him up.

Gojo's hair stands on end, because no one has spoken Megumi's name. "Megumi, have you ever met this child before?"

"No. It's my first time seeing him."

Gojo points to himself and asks, "Do you know my name, as well?"

The toddler, feeling a little calmer as he wipes his nose on Megumi's jacket, says, "Goooooojoooo."

"And what's your name?"

"Ryo…Ryo?" he can't remember anything else, so he decides to cry about that too.

Gojo says, "How about your family name?"

Ryo shakes his head.

"Your parents?"

Another head shake.

"Your family?"

He points to Yuji, who says, "I don't know you!"

Ryo doesn't really have any memories of anything, just the vaguest concepts. He has no idea why he knows their names, because first and foremost, he is a toddler and doesn't understand much about anything. And secondly, his mind seems empty. He can't remember what he was doing before this, only that he saw Yuji and knew his name and that he was family. That's all the information he seems to have in the whole world.

Yuji has no memories or feelings or recollections of Ryo at all and is incredibly unnerved by the events of the evening, where he met an actual, living monster for the first time, it tried to kill his friends, he decided to fight it with this moody new kid he met, and then, something happened, and he somehow ripped it apart. Now his body feels strange and weirdly powerful, another person he feels like he knows but doesn't has appeared, and to make the situation even stranger, a little miniature version of himself appeared naked and alone and is insisting that they are family.

Gojo feels like something incredibly significant has taken place, even though there's not anything urgent about this situation. Perhaps it is very confusing, but usually when the gears turn in the sorcery world, there's doom, gloom, and imminent chaos. In this case, everyone is just standing around trying to figure out what the fuck was going on, and he suspects they're not going to find answers by staying paralyzed in this weird holding pattern.

"Let's go back to Tokyo. All of this warrants an investigation. But we need to get the little guy some clothes. Three men getting on the train with a baby who doesn't have his own clothes is very suspicious."

Megumi says, "Are you worried about running into the real authorities again?"

"That was a misunderstanding! And we are real authorities. Just secret ones."

Yuji asks, "Who are you people again?"

They talk for a while on the roof, and this does little to clear up any of the confusion.

Yuji understands that while he's not being restrained, he and Ryo are in the custody of the Jujutsu Society, and they are required to accompany Gojo and Megumi to Tokyo.

They go to a twenty-four hour department store to find clothes for Ryo, who seems to be normal according to the understanding that all of them have about toddlers, which is limited. None of them have children or younger siblings, so they're not totally sure what they need to be doing.

Ryo points to footed, hooded dragon pajamas as he walks, holding onto Yuji's hand. "I wanna be a dwagon!"

"How about some normal clothes?"

His bottom lip starts trembling, and Gojo says, "Dragon it is. A fine choice, sir."

Megumi, who has bandages wrapped around his forehead, follows along.

They dress him in a fitting room, and on the way to the front of the store to pay, Ryo stops and points. "Can I…Can I have a toy please?"

"Of course you can!" Gojo answers.

Ryo isn't greedy, and he doesn't ask for lots of toys, and after browsing for only one minute, chooses a big stuffed animal that's a fluffy orange cat.

"Do you like cats?" Gojo asks.

"Mhmm."

On the train, Ryo eats snacks, plays with his cat, and then lays down and sleeps, using it as a pillow.

Yuji says, "Someone is probably missing a kid."

Gojo answers, "For some reason, I doubt that. I'm not entirely sure what's going on here, but I actually do believe you when you say you don't know who this kid even though he knew your name, because he knew our names too, and can't tell us why. If you could look after him for now, that might be best. It doesn't appear he has any nefarious intentions."

Yuji finds all of this unsettling: the monster, the fact there are memories that have been wiped from his mind, the sudden appearance of this strange child, the power coursing through his body.

Megumi can tell Gojo is on his guard too because he hasn't put his blindfold back on even though under normal circumstances, he usually won't even remove it to fight curses. Even though he's projecting a sense of calm, he's very alert instead of being his rather ridiculous normal self.

Yuji's eyes are continually drawn to the bandages around Megumi's head, and about halfway through their trip, he reaches out and little sparks of red fly from his fingertips. He's not entirely sure how he knows how to do it. It mostly happens out of instinct.

No one else on the train can see the sparks, but under the bandage, the deep cut on Megumi's forehead is healed, completely, like it was never there, as Gojo watches like a hawk.

Reverse curse technique isn't something anyone can just do. It's not even something any sorcerer can just do. In fact, it's so rare that there are probably only eight people living on earth who are known to do it. Of those, two are like Shoko and aren't able to use regular cursed energy, and of the remaining six, only half can heal other people.

Yuji, who doesn't know what a cursed technique is, is apparently part of the 'RCT on others,' club, which now only has four known members in the entire world.

Gojo himself is not in this club due to a binding vow he was forced to make the first time that he used RCT. Essentially, his body was in such poor condition after Toji Fushiguro left him that even though he grasped the technique, the rate he could heal himself wasn't enough to save him from dying, so he made a binding vow that prevented him from using RCT on anyone else in exchange for accelerated healing to himself.

As a result, he could heal himself just about as fast as anyone could damage him, if they could manage to damage him. It was one of the things that made him 'the best,' but also limited him. He didn't really have a choice at the time, but he always wondered if he would someday have to pay an ugly price for this.

But that was beside the point; the point was that Yuji used RCT to heal Megumi's head, apparently without knowing what he was doing. Something in him simply told him that he could do it, and Yuji believed whatever that was even though to someone who doesn't know about RCT, the idea that he could work a healing miracle probably seemed pretty insane.

Satoru finds the strangest thing about this is that watching him with Six Eyes, the path of cursed energy in Yuji comes entirely from his gut. Nothing from his brain. When sorcerers use their abilities, they're always using their gut and brain together. Some people are very imbalanced, but he's never seen someone use cursed energy without any active involvement from the brain.

This strongly suggests that Yuji isn't lying when he says he doesn't know what he's doing. He really doesn't. His brain has no idea what is going on and is not participating in his use of cursed energy, even with something that should be mentally intensive.

So if Yuji's brain didn't tell him that that he could heal Megumi and how to do it, how did it happen? Where did the thought come from?

When they arrive in Tokyo, they stop at a café open all night so Gojo can feed all these kids. It's four in the morning, but as a teacher, he knows teenagers have to eat if they're awake. Megumi no longer needs medical care, and half of their party is going to be thoroughly investigated, which is exhausting.

They all collectively, as a group, learn that when a toddler says they 'need to go,' they are not late for an appointment and instead need to be rushed at warp speed to the nearest bathroom.

After an argument about handwashing during which Ryo disputes the belief that he needs to wash his hands after he goes to the bathroom with all three of them at one time, they manage to address his hygiene by force and then sit down to order their food.

When their food is served, Ryo looks down at a smiley-face pancake, with its bacon grin, and turns it into a frown.

Yuji asks, "Why'd you make him sad?"

"He should be sad," Ryo answers.

"Why should he be sad?"

"Cause I'm about to eat him."

Gojo nearly chokes on his overly sweetened coffee as he laughs.

He seems normal to Gojo, but also kind of bad. He steals food from Yuji's plate out of curiosity, but without asking. When Yuji freely offers him a bite of fruit, he snaps at it like a dog so hard he bites Yuji's fingers.

Yuji is not amused, as he tiredly asks, "And I am supposed to look after this thing?"

"It'll be fine. He obviously has something to do with you. He's like a little baby you. Is it possible he's your son? I saw a special on tv about twelve-year-old parents," Gojo casually asks.

Yuji says, "He's definitely not my son. I am an only child. My parents died not long after I was born. No siblings, no parents, no cousins, just my mean old grandpa who also just died."

"Mean old grandpas get it on sometimes. He could be your baby uncle. I've got an uncle who is the same age as me," Gojo answers.

"No way. My grandpa was poor. You don't have a baby at age seventy unless you're rich enough for young women to like."

After their meal, they finally reach the Jujutsu High campus, and after more brief explanations, the investigation begins in earnest, with Shoko examining both teenagers and the toddler for injuries or external signs of oddities.

Satoru definitely saw something come from somewhere and plunge to the earth right where the four of them met. Someone had been affected by something unnatural, and it seemed obvious that it probably wasn't Megumi.

At the same time, Gojo can tell no one in the party is possessed or corrupted by any sort of foreign curse.

Gojo makes a report at ten in the morning to the Jujutsu Society's elders, the old men in the room, where he explains everything that he knows so far, although this just spreads confusion about the matter.

The most concerning aspect of this situation is the unknown cursed energy anomaly that Gojo witnessed, as he was unable to confirm what it was or what caused it. He tells them he believes it would not be possible for a single sorcerer to 'tear' reality like that, and even if they could, why would someone want to do that? And what was on the other side of that breach?

What came to them from somewhere else? What was the thing, where did it come from, what purpose did it serve?

Yuji being able to use cursed energy without any active knowledge of it whatsoever is one of the most nonsensical things, but if that wouldn't be enough, they also had the Yuji-like baby that appeared literally the instant he opened that door, and no matter how they try to ask the question, he can't remember anything that happened in his life before then.

Gojo says, "This business is all very suspicious, but despite the questions, Ryo appears to be an ordinary toddler, and Yuji seems as in the dark about all of this as we are. I won't deny that something is going on here, but I believe that they are likely unwilling and unwitting characters in a larger narrative controlled created by someone else.

"They both have the same technique, and it appears to be quite powerful. They might be part of a new hereditary line, and as such, the Jujutsu Society has a responsibility to make sure they're not alienated from the sorcery community. In addition, Yuji appears to have incredible abilities, and it would be foolish not to try and recruit him to work as a sorcerer."

The Elders aren't sure what's going on, but they are sure that if there's a neutral special grade sorcerer in play that they don't want him anywhere near Satoru Gojo due to the fact that Gojo is purposefully causing internal factionalization within the Jujutsu Society.

They were surprised when he signed up to become an instructor, but after only three years, they regret letting him do it because while he is surprisingly talented at raising students, the monsters he raises have unshakable loyalty to him.

Unbeatable in its power, the Gojo clan is a perennial pain in the ass to literally everyone, everywhere. In most eras, they're on par with the other two big clans, but once in a blue moon, they churn out some absolute freak of nature like Satoru Gojo and gain the right to do whatever the hell they want until that person finally kicks the bucket.

Since the clan has been living in the Kyoto area for over fifteen hundred years, before there was even a Kyoto, their influence on the Jujutsu Society has been very pronounced.

One of the benefits of opening the Tokyo campus and moving HQ there, in addition to meeting the needs of the changing population, was to establish a hub free of Gojo influence, and for many years, it served that purpose well. That is, until Satoru's grandfather, a source of mischief and an expert political player, sent his grandson to Tokyo.

Now the Tokyo campus is Satoru Gojo's personal stomping ground, and Kyoto is largely under the influence of his uncle, Kenji Gojo, who is Satoru's closest political ally and his accomplice in all the Gojo bullshittery that happens on a daily basis in Japan.

Normally when two powerful and influential sorcerers get into a competition for clan leadership, one of them dies or is forced out, but according to inside reports they were always on the same team.

If they move this potential new sorcerer to the Kyoto campus, he'll be within spitting distance of the Gojo clan estate, and the entire clan will embrace him. If they leave him in Tokyo, he'll be carefully cultivated directly by Gojo.

The clans more closely aligned with the Elders are, unfortunately, not gifted at the kind of games that the Gojos like to play. Naobito Zenin hasn't ever charmed anyone into anything in his life, so his allies are basically just the people in his territory and his clan that he can kill. He's a problem, and the only thing worse than him is the heir apparent.

Somehow even less skilled at playing politics is the Kamo clan. To the older generations, politics is a matter of wielding power and forcing people into submission.

Satoru Gojo's politics is deeply passionate, charismatic, and driven by his vision for the future. He doesn't have to force anyone into submission, although he could, at any moment, force everyone to submit to him about any matter at any time.

After the meeting, he takes a little nap and checks in on everyone.

Megumi's head has been perfectly healed, so he's fine outside of having no idea what the hell is going on, although he has thoroughly reviewed his memories and is certain that the cursed object none of them can remember disappeared right before Yuji killed the cursed spirit.

"Do you think the object possessed him?" Megumi asks as they walk down the hallway in the dorm together.

"I'd be able to see something like that very clearly. There's nothing in Yuji's body but Yuji. The weird thing is that I saw him before when I was checking up on you. He didn't have cursed energy or a technique. There are people whose techniques don't physically manifest until very late in very rare circumstances, but it's not like they just appear out of nowhere. An inactive technique is still present in the body."

Megumi asks, "Is it possible you just couldn't see it?"

"I can read the cursed technique of a baby before the mother figures out that she's pregnant. I didn't miss it. Itadori did not have a cursed technique two days ago, and today he's got a killer technique and can use reverse curse technique. Something stinks here, but I don't believe that either of those two are bad actors."

The teenager isn't sure what to think, but he knows that Yuji, unlike most people, jumped right into danger to save his school friends. Even if it meant facing an actual monster, he hadn't been afraid, only brave, willing to do anything to help those friends.

In a world that sucked, having a friend like that wouldn't be bad.

Megumi asks, "Will you do what you can to help?"

"Is this a personal favor from a precious student?"

"Yes, please do something."

"On it."

Satoru ruffles his hair and teases, "You really are just a big softie after all, aren't you? I just had the best idea. You're going to be so surprised!"

"I don't like surprises," Megumi huffs.

"Don't be like that! You're far too young to be so cranky all the time. You need to lighten up, go outside, think about how blue the sky is and what a nice day it is."

Megumi opens the door and reveals it's gray and has started raining.

"You know what I mean," Gojo says, offering him an umbrella, even though Megumi won't need one as long as he is walking beside his teacher.

It was an odd metaphor for what it was like being Satoru Gojo's student; there were things he never had to worry about because he was under the protection of the strongest sorcerer on earth. If Gojo wasn't there, his family probably would have made his life absolute hell already.

During their meal together, Gojo complains about how dreary the campus is, that the atmosphere is perpetually gloomy for some reason and Megumi points out that while rain makes most people wet, it makes Gojo whiny and momentarily depressed. The instant the sun comes out, he'll be happy again.

Was this doofus really the strongest?

The décor was a little miserable, a little too traditional. Too cold indoors in the winter, and not enough natural light, and a lot of places that felt bare.

The cafeteria had standard-height tables that were dotted with condiment stations and uncomfortable wooden chairs that made Megumi wish he had more of a butt to cushion himself, although that was a private desire and not a public one. He would never speak out loud with his own mouth that his ass was so small that some chairs hurt him.

"Is something on your mind? I can tell you're thinking really hard about something," Gojo says, pointing at him with a fork smeared in icing from the second slice of cake that he's working on.

Certainly, Megumi is not going to tell his teacher he's thinking about his own posterior. "Just thinking about Itadori's situation, that's all."

The mystery of what happened in Sendai grows even thicker when the staff discovers that Yuji, Megumi, and Satoru are not the only ones who forgot what the cursed artifact was.

No one can remember what it was, all files about it on the computer system have been deleted, and copies of files on hard media that weren't even in a machine at the time are also missing any information about it.

In fact, a massive amount of data disappeared from Jujutsu servers, some files totally deleted, some altered so they became smaller.

No one remembers anything about it, but what they do know is that information about a collection of cursed objects has disappeared. The items in the Jujutsu Society's possession have in many cases been there for a very long time, and some of the 'mystery' artifacts are numbered very low, suggesting they were some of the earliest objects they catalogued.

On the old ledgers they used before computers, the ink has literally disappeared off the page.

There are history books with strange blank spaces in the middle of a sentence, or even paragraphs missing…

"During this period, (blank space)."

But at the end of the blank space, there was a lot of writing about mayhem and violence and a list of major sorcerers who were killed by whatever was described in the blank space, including his most famous ancestor, Michizane Sugawara.

Satoru is sure he knows how Sugawara died, but as soon as he tries to recall the thought, he can't. He knows Sugawara died in a battle but can no longer remember the name of the one who killed him.

He isn't surprised when he goes to check on the other items that are part of this mysterious collection of cursed items and finds every single one of them is missing.

The only clue he has is that strange phenomenon that he witnessed. It involved an amount of cursed energy that even he finds incomprehensible, and multiple types used simultaneously. There was some sort of massive 'cut' involved, which seems to tie directly to Yuji and Ryo, whose he can tell also have techniques that cut.

There was also some aftertaste the same as or perhaps similar to Limitless, but no one in his clan who has Limitless is capable of that sort of thing.

A third type of was present, something he didn't know how to read—something unfamiliar to his senses.

The ability of Six Eyes to read cursed techniques was relational and took many years to train. He built this ability by observing techniques and learning the information and then remembering that information when he saw elements of it in other techniques. Over time, he basically just had a library of this information.

Within that event was a piece of information that he has never seen before, a type of technique that he's never encountered in his life.

All of this in mind, he walks around in the rain for a bit, and then ventures to a place that carries perennial dread for Gojo: the Tombs of the Star.

Gojo isn't sure that Master Tengen will speak to him, but he believes she might have some insight into what happened. After all, nothing only happens one time. She is very old, and therefore, she might have some idea. Besides, she was a contemporary and close friend of Michizane Sugawara, and according to records from the Gojo clan, was present when he died. Therefore, she has eyewitness memories of his killer.

Despite the potential for progress, he still dreads the place. Too many bad memories, too much strife, too many reminders that sometimes relationships were incredibly complicated. There are parts of him that respect Tengen and parts of him that find her disgusting.

In the years since Riko Amanai died in this place, he's visited it three times.

The bloodstain on the floor is deeply insulting to him, as it's not like someone couldn't pull up the floor planks and put new ones down. It just doesn't bother anyone enough, since this place is out of the way, and even Tengen really spends most of her time zoned out doing what she does.

When he is permitted to step across the barrier, he knows that Tengen will see him.

He wanders to the huge tree spire at the heart of her peculiar domain, and finds her stretching as she awakens from her resting place among the roots.

The Tombs are unpleasant; they smell mossy and feel haunted. Tengen herself is rather odd, having progressed from being a person he and Geto jokingly called the hottest old lady ever to a golem-like creature with four eyes and a grossly-shaped head.

It's his fault that she evolved into this, but he's not sorry; it's Tengen's fault Geto isn't around to laugh with him anymore.

Tengen says, "Welcome. I know this is not a place you visit unless you feel like you do not have a choice."

"Did you see that…whatever that was?"

"I sensed it; obviously, my senses and yours are different, so we may have perceived different aspects of the phenomena."

Sitting on one of the big, sprawling roots, Gojo explains in detail what he witnessed with Six Eyes, and Tengen listens intently.

Then, she says, "At the time that the anomaly was taking place, the flow of cursed energy in a massive area around it began to move oddly. It slowed over the course of a few seconds, stopped, and then sped up again."

"Slowed? I didn't detect any change in my own cursed energy."

Tengen answers, "There is an extremely rare technique type that allows a person to bend or distort time. Only two sorcerers in Japan have ever been born with the ability. Since you have an ability that allows you to manipulate the laws of reality, it may make more sense for you when I say you would not have perceived your own time being distorted in that manner because you yourself experience reality incrementally. The human mind is not capable of perceiving if those increments change size or shape."

Possessing Limitless required an amount of academic rigor that Gojo often did not want to invest, but he did understand what Tengen was trying to explain. Essentially, she was saying that he was likely under the pull of some technique and simply didn't know it because human brains didn't evolve to understand those differences due to the fact that time was basically the same for all humans with variances that were not discernable or relevant under normal conditions.

While she isn't outright saying for sure this happened, she is suggesting that the strange technique he can't read might be a time distortion ability of some kind.

Tengen adds, "There is a person in Japan who used an ability of this nature earlier today. A fight between sorcerers. I was not familiar with their power. Foreigners, perhaps."

As a general rule, Tengen doesn't meddle when sorcerers fight, and she doesn't disclose information about sorcerers that could become dangerous to them. This neutrality, while often inconvenient, is incredibly important. In this case, she seems willing to make an exception due to the epic-level peculiarity of the situation they were investigating.

Also, Tengen is old, and in Japan, the general rule is that the older a person is, the less they appreciate the presence of outsiders. Since Tengen is one thousand years old and a hermit, he feels like she might have this specific bias as well.

She doesn't tell Gojo where this user is and says she couldn't even if she wanted to because she can only see the technique when it's used.

Tengen also confirms that what entered through the tear was a single human soul. It fell so fast she couldn't perceive information about it beyond that.

He wonders if the baby appeared because he fell through the tear? Maybe it took him a few minutes to reconstitute himself before he walked through that door?

Then again, he's a toddler and needed help unzipping himself to pee.

That doesn't answer how a naked soul would grow a body, since a disembodied soul should perish very quickly.

Tengen doesn't have any other information about the event, so Gojo goes on to his next question.

"Do you remember who killed Michizane Sugawara?"

"No, like everyone and everything else, certain pieces of information have been eliminated from my memories."

Gojo asks, "What kind of cursed technique could do that?"

Tengen shrugs. "No cursed technique. Those responsible are probably the Ones who imbue us with Heavenly Restrictions and Cursed Techniques before we are even conceived. There are powers beyond sorcery that we will never know or understand. If you encounter evidence of their work, it is best to accept it and not ask questions.

"If the gods want to erase information from our collective existence as humans, we must ask what happened in this world to prompt the very gods to take our knowledge from us? Perhaps someone did something so forbidden that all knowledge leading to that event has been removed from us so that we will not do it again."

After considering this, Gojo says, "That just makes me more curious!"

"…And that is why we probably cannot remember anything. If told 'don't ever do this act again,' humans will only be powerfully motivated to do it."

They talk for quite some time; it's been a while since Gojo met with Tengen, and he finds she's quite engaged. The other times they have spoken, she seemed incredibly distracted and conversing with her was like trying to talk with someone who was watching television.

Tengen asks him about the political situation, which is odd because she doesn't participate in the politics of the Jujutsu Society.

Yuji is meanwhile being subjected to an extensive battery of assessments ranging from a health exam and blood test, followed by a lie detector test to see if he was lying about not knowing about his cursed energy, and then from there they put him in a room with some tiny curses and he killed them by swiping at them with raw cursed energy.

They cut his arm to see him RCT.

He is forced to sit in an interrogation for two hours where they ask him questions about his family, about his body, about his experiences, about his knowledge of curses and the world of sorcery.

Yuji thinks it's kind of cool to be in a dark room with a bright light that blinks a little now and then, like on a true crime show. It seems like they're really pulling all the stops to get information out of him.

Since Yuji doesn't know anything about sorcery, he feels like two hours is about two hours longer than needed.

The door squeaks open when Yuji thinks he can't take it anymore, and Gojo pokes his head in.

"Oh, they put you in the room where we talk to criminals who we think are actually very stupid."

"…that's rude. Where do you put smart criminals?"

"In the pit. It's basically a giant hole filled with sealing papers and chains and stuff. Being put in the pit is a sign you're probably going to be executed, so this is actually a good sign," he answers, untying him, "But enough of that, let's talk about more important matters."

He gives Yuji the speech, about how extraordinary his power is and how he should use it to help others. That sounds like what his grandpa said, didn't it?

Yuji isn't entirely sure what it is about Gojo, but deep in his belly, he feels a deep sense of trust, like the best decision he can make is to trust this man that he has only known for one day.

"So is being a sorcerer like being a superhero?"

Gojo laughs. "Not at all. It's a lot darker. You'll see some messed up stuff. Probably do some messed up stuff. In the end, most of us find a dark end of some kind. Yet the work we do is critically important to the world. However you came upon your power, the fact is, fate has called you to join our world."

"I guess I can give it a try."

"Good. I knew you'd say yes. Anyway, if you said no, you'd still be able to see curses, and curse users—basically, evil sorcerers—would start harassing you will all kinds of silly shit."

Gojo gives him a tour, of the various buildings, walking around under an invisible bubble where no rain falls. This is not explained to Yuji, who assumes that Gojo's secret sorcery technique is 'can't be rained on.'

In the room that Yuji has been assigned, there's a futon made neatly on the floor by the bed.

Yuji enters and exclaims, "Neat, what a sweet room! Am I going to have a roommate?"

"Yeah, but it's fine. He doesn't take up much space."

Yuji is looking around at the desk and the bed, checking the view from the window, and even the little hot plate and minifridge. Truly, it is a wonderland for a fifteen-year-old boy. Excitement over his new room and his new life as a monster slayer almost distract him so much that he doesn't really pay Gojo's comment much attention.

A roommate? Totally fine! Yuji gets along with people. People are fun, and having a little noise at home is always nice.

…doesn't take up much space?

"Wait a minute! You're not talking about that brat, are you? I swear I don't know that kid."

Gojo says, "Well, I have a hunch that you and him are really important to each other somehow."

Yuji is not amused as he argues, "Your hunch is just based on the fact we look alike and he came through that door screaming my name."

"Trust me, at least for now. I'm sure we'll figure something else out at some point."

"What am I supposed to do with a kid?"

Satoru answers, "You're like a single teenage parent now. Except you didn't make that thing—at least, that's the working theory. We'll send him to daycare when you're in class. That's what other teenage parents do."

"I'm not a teenage parent. Where is the little guy right now anyway?"

"Shoko had to do an exam on him, so I left him there."

"How long ago?"

"Five hours ago?" Gojo says, checking his watch, "She has been sending me texts all day, but I haven't checked them. No idea what she wants. We should probably go see what Ryokun has been doing all day."

"He's Ryokun now?"

"He's too cute to just be Ryo."

"Then why don't you take him?"

Gojo says, "Because he's not my learning experience. I sent my personal shopper off to get whatever he needs. He'll be here soon. We also sent someone to your old place in Sendai to pack you up and move you. That stuff should also be here this evening."

"At least you're efficient?"

"We really just have that one thing going for us."

While they're walking to the infirmary together, again, out into the pouring rain that never hits them, Gojo checks his texts from Shoko finally.

I'm done with Ryo's exam.

Hey, I finished up with the kid.

Is someone supposed to come get him?

Should I take him to someone to be watched?

SATORU GOJO COME GET THIS CHILD!

If you don't come get him, I'm going to let him smoke.

I'm serious!

Next is a picture of Ryokun sitting on an examination table with a lit cigarette in his mouth and a very confused look on his face.

Gojo knows she didn't actually let him puff it, but it was still funny, and he laughs about it as he shows Yuji, who says, "You know what? Maybe he is better off with me than with you and your people."

When they arrive at the infirmary, Ryokun is sleeping on an exam table under a blanket, and Shoko glares at Gojo like her secret power is laser vision and she's going to stare a hole clean through his face.

She exclaims, "Satoru Gojo, this an Infirmary-Slash-Morgue. It's full of needles, things that are sharp, dangerous chemicals and drugs, injured people, and corpses. I don't have toys here. I don't have a playroom. I don't have anything that a toddler should touch, or anything I want a toddler to touch. Do you know what a bored toddler is like? And that one bites!"

Gojo says, "Of course he bites. You can tell just from looking into his eyes. Look how peacefully he's sleeping now though."

"I got tired of that little gremlin and gave him enough ketamine to put both of us in a good mood again."

Gojo gasps. "You gave the baby horse tranquilizer? I'm appalled by your mothering skills."

"Grow up. It was just a little bit. Besides, he hid in the freezer and jumped out to scare me."

"…which freezer? Like, the one where you keep your ice cream stash or…" Gojo asks.

Shoko answers, "If I heard something moving around in my ice cream freezer, that wouldn't really be scary, would it? If there is one place that a person should never jump out of and say 'boo…'"

Hearing Ryokun bit Shoko and got so bored he unknowingly hid in the corpse freezer and creeped her out is amusing for Gojo and not anyone else.

Yuji decides that definitely, Ryokun probably needs someone more mature than these people in their late twenties who definitely shouldn't ever be trusted with a small child.

As he picks Ryokun up from the table, the toddler wraps himself around Yuji, mumbling a happy, "Yuuuuuuuji," as he rested his head on the teenager's shoulder.

His gut tells him to trust these people, but they seem kind of insane.

Yuji carries Ryokun to the cafeteria after they discuss Shoko's findings, but there are no booster seats, so a somewhat drowsy Ryokun sits on his lap and they eat together.

He seems surprised that he's getting to eat again.

Souls don't hold memories like the mind, so most of the information is gone. Yuji did not bring a cache of forbidden data with dates and technical information back with him, and when Sukuna reincarnated into this form, he forgot the facts.

What souls do hold are deep connections to other souls, and imprints from the events that really left their mark: the worst moments, the best moments, the things that were scariest. It is different for the two of them, because Yuji feels the familiarity, but Ryokun can sometimes go as far as to recall names as his soul begins bouncing around with other souls that he knew.

Ryokun is very young, and there are feelings inside of him that he doesn't know how to express. He doesn't have memories of being hungry, but his soul remembers a kind of hunger that so deeply cut into his soul that no matter how much he ate, it would never be satisfied. He doesn't remember that the last time he was this young, he once got so hungry that he ate a nest of baby birds that fell out of a tree during a storm.

He just knows that Yuji is feeding him multiple times in the same day, and not making him beg or cry, and its good food, even meat.

The kid is careful and holds onto his toy like it's the most precious thing he has ever owned, and when they get back to the room, there are boxes from Yuji's old place and bags of new stuff for Ryokun.

Judging from the price tags Yuji cuts off the stuff, he decides Gojo might be one of those people who is so rich that he doesn't know how much anything costs, but Yuji grew up kind of poor. Even though there's not really enough space in the room for his stuff and Ryokun's assorted costume pajamas and clothes and toys, they do their best to unpack.

Since Yuji came from near poverty, he doesn't have a lot of stuff either, but when he puts out some more stuffed toys on the floor, Ryokun seems confused.

"For me?"

"That's right. All this stuff is from Gojo. You should tell him thank you when you see him."

"But I didn't earn it. And I got to eat lots today."

Yuji has no idea why this child even has a concept of 'earning' anything. According to Shoko's report, he is probably three years old, and he seems surprised that he gets to continually eat and he doesn't understand why he's being given a menial number of toys to play with.

Yuji bends down. "You don't have to earn food or toys. We're going to take good care of you, okay? We'll make sure you get lots and lots of food and that you have lots of fun, okay?"

"Why?"

"Because you deserve it."

Everything about what's going on is peculiar, but Yuji feels bad for this poor kid, whoever he is. It seems like some sad stuff probably already happened to him in his life, and he doesn't want to add to that.

They go down to the big bath together, and Yuji helps him clean up, get his teeth brushed, and puts him in dinosaur pajamas.

While Yuji is getting ready for bed, Ryokun holds up a picture book with animals from his treasure trove of new stuff, and Yuji very patiently sits with him on the bed, and they look at it together.

Yuji doesn't even know who he is or where he came from, but his grandpa told him to help as many people as he could, and this sad but also weirdly aggressive little kid is a person, right?

Ryokun goes right to sleep on the futon, and once the lights are out, Yuji feels the bed shifting around as Ryokun has awoken and climbs up, glow-in-the-dark red eyes alit as he gets under the covers with the teenager, who is half asleep.

Yuji decides to just roll with it if the kid will go to sleep.

Instead, Ryokun tosses, he turns, he mumbles inaudibly in his sleep, he steals the covers, then throws them to the floor, then wakes up Yuji to tell him he's cold, and when Yuji tells him he's cold because he threw the blankets on the floor, he lies and blames Yuji.

Sharing a bed with a toddler is just a whole experience, and Yuji is tired, so he puts the blanket on Ryokun and decides to sleep on the futon, having been run out of the bed by a big baby.

When he awakens the next morning, the blankets are on the floor again, and while he fell asleep on his belly, Ryokun is sleeping sprawled out across Yuji's back in his underwear, having taken off his dinosaur pajamas at some point in the night. The dinosaur pajamas are under the bed, indicating that the toddler was also under the bed at some point during the night, and the bed itself is empty, bereft of sleepers and blankets.

His eyes fly open when he hears the door creak open.

"Where are you going?"

"Potty."

"Do you need help?"

"No."

The bathroom is two doors over and has a different-colored door, so he wonders if it's okay to let him go.

Yuji decides to see what happens, and exactly four minutes later, the boy returns, still in his underwear, shaking his wet hands.

"Are your hands wet because you washed them or because you didn't wash them?"

"I washed!"

"Come here."

Yuji does something his grandpa used to do and smells the boy's hands to see if they smell like fresh soap. Either Ryokun was lying, or they had switched to pee-scented soap overnight.

"I saw a panda."

"Sure you did," he tiredly mumbles as he takes Ryokun back to the bathroom and tries to map out everything he might have touched in between. "Let's go wash our hands."

And so, Yuji simply resumes the tireless and endless task of shepherding the most lost soul of Ryomen Sukuna all over again, this time from scratch, with the barest, basest scars exposed.

XXX

Elsewhere, Kenjaku flips through notebooks, opens scrolls, and practically tears open the door to a safe. Something has happened; he thinks at first that his mind might be playing tricks on him, but it's definitely not. There is some massive element in his plan that has, in every sense, vanished.

His current hideout is a country cottage that was owned by a 'missing' member of Suguru Geto's old cult. It's quite relaxing and has nice views of rolling green hills the local ranchers used to raise cows.

Uraume has been staying here with him for some time.

This cottage has been his true base for quite some time, a calm and perfect place to carefully plan the greatest event in human history.

They don't bring the curses to this location because…well, they're curses. They'll only ally with Kenjaku as long as they think that he'll help them achieve their goals, but the only goal they're going to achieve is going to be helping Kenjaku control a certain difficult sorcerer.

The problem? His plan is inexplicably ruined, and he can't remember why.

In a sequential plan that would allow him to achieve his goals, many of the numbered items in that sequence simply no longer existed. Even the lines they were drawn on have been gone, like the ink was lifted from the page by some unknown force.

Kenjaku wonders if one of his subjects has managed to escape so fully from his grasp that even every trace of them has been erased? How would he find out who that subject was or the means by which they accomplished this feat? Perhaps it was several people or a group or an object?

It seemed like something incredibly significant had been taken away from him, because ignoring the question about how his own memory had been altered, his plan doesn't seem like anything that makes sense without the steps that have been removed.

And it's not just Kenjaku having an issue; Uraume can't remember why she decided to come to the modern era via incarnation. Kenjaku can't remember why he even offered in the first place?

What had happened?

By what means did it happen?

Kenjaku had no way of knowing that the sharpest weapon he had, Ryomen Sukuna, had been delivered from his grasp. He couldn't even remember what the weapon was, what it was called, how he obtained it…he only knew that it was critical to his plan and now it was not only gone, but even his memories about it were missing.

How could he undo it? Could he undo it?

Was there really someone who had a cursed technique that could erase memories?

Uraume is left with an existential crisis, because her motivation for existing has been taken from her for unknown reasons by an unknown party.

Kenjaku is left with a broken plan.

He wants to consult Tengen about this, but he can't get close to Tengen in his current body and leaving it behind isn't acceptable. It's also possible that Tengen won't give him the privilege of her neutrality if she sees whose skin he's wearing now.

If she told a certain someone, Kenjaku is certain Satoru Gojo would hunt him, and he doesn't want that. Having to abandon Suguru Geto's body would really ruin everything, but he can't get caught by Gojo under the wrong circumstances.

What will he do now?