Chapter 90 (Patreon)

Somewhere within Jujutsu High.

Yoshinobu Gakuganji sat in silence, as though waiting for someone.

“Principal Yaga still hasn’t arrived?”

His dry voice echoed faintly through the room.

“For an old man with so little time left, every minute is precious.”

A moment later, the door opened.

Satoru Gojo walked in without the slightest hint of restraint, then dropped himself into a chair as if he owned the place.

“No need to wait. Principal Yaga isn’t coming.”

Gakuganji’s eyes narrowed slightly behind his wrinkled lids.

“I appreciate your concern regarding the previous matter.”

“Oh?” Gakuganji replied, his expression unchanged. “And which matter would that be?”

Gojo tilted his head.

“Are you getting senile, old man? I’m talking about the little arrangement where Yuji Itadori and the others were sent after a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.”

“Baseless accusations are unbecoming, Gojo.”

Before Gakuganji could continue, Gojo cut him off.

“Come on. Besides you, the head of the conservative faction, who else could have pushed something like that through?”

Gakuganji let out a long, aged sigh.

“Young people these days really have no manners.”

“That’s because I never planned on respecting you in the first place,” Gojo said lightly. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

His voice remained playful, but the air in the room had already changed.

“You should be grateful I’m the one who came to see you, and not Ragnar.”

Gakuganji’s gaze sharpened.

“You know exactly what would happen if he showed up instead.”

Gojo leaned back lazily, smiling beneath his blindfold.

“After all, you must have heard how the previous head of the conservative faction died.”

The old principal’s expression darkened.

“Are you threatening me?”

“Relax,” Gojo said. “I’m not as ruthless or decisive as Ragnar. But that doesn’t mean I’m easy to deal with.”

At that moment, the door opened again.

Kasumi Miwa stepped inside.

“Um, excuse me. This kind of behavior is inappropriate. We may need to ask you to come with us and give a statement to the proper authorities.”

Her tone was dutiful.

Her heart, however, was anything but calm.

Satoru Gojo.

The Satoru Gojo was right in front of her.

Miwa desperately forced herself to maintain a proper expression, though the excitement in her eyes nearly betrayed her.

Gojo waved a hand casually.

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t planning to say much more anyway.”

Then his smile thinned.

“That said, you don’t seriously think you can keep clinging to empty titles and outdated traditions forever, do you?”

Gakuganji remained silent.

“The current jujutsu world isn’t the same as before. Those useless seats of authority won’t let you shake things up anymore. You know that better than anyone.”

Gakuganji opened one eye and stared at him.

“You speak far too carelessly.”

Gojo leaned closer.

His voice dropped.

“If you don’t want to die, don’t overstep.”

Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto had also returned to Tokyo Jujutsu High.

Click.

The door opened.

“You’re back.”

Both of them nodded.

Ragnar Kagenou looked at them and spoke calmly.

“At the moment, there are at least six Special Grade Cursed Spirits hiding somewhere in Tokyo.”

Yuta’s expression tightened.

“Six?”

Rika frowned.

“Six Special Grades in one city? That’s way too dangerous.”

Yuta lowered his gaze slightly.

“Any one Special Grade Cursed Spirit has the potential to devastate a city.”

If that was true, then Tokyo was already standing on the edge of disaster.

Ragnar continued.

“And that isn’t all. There’s also a Special Grade Curse User involved.”

Rika’s eyes widened.

“A Special Grade Curse User?”

Yuta’s face grew even more serious.

“A Special Grade Curse User possesses the same kind of threat level as a Special Grade Sorcerer. If someone like that joins hands with Special Grade Cursed Spirits, things could get ugly fast.”

“You’re right,” Ragnar said. “And as you guessed, that Curse User has already made contact with them.”

He raised a hand slightly, signaling for them not to get too tense.

“For now, they’ve only just begun working together. They shouldn’t make any major moves immediately.”

Then he paused.

“Their target is most likely Yuji Itadori.”

At that name, Ragnar looked between them.

“You know him?”

Rika answered first.

“We do. When we were overseas, Gojo-sensei came to see us and asked us to look after him.”

Yuta nodded.

“We returned to Japan on the same flight as Itadori today.”

“I see. That makes this easier.”

Ragnar tapped his finger lightly against the table.

“Itadori is back in Japan, but he hasn’t returned to Jujutsu High. Satoru must have taken him somewhere.”

After a brief silence, he dismissed the matter.

“If Satoru made the arrangements, there’s no need to worry too much about Itadori for now.”

His gaze returned to Yuta and Rika.

“From now on, the two of you will operate in Tokyo. If you encounter any Special Grade Cursed Spirits, exorcise them immediately. Don’t concern yourselves with anything else.”

Yuta nodded.

“Understood.”

Rika smiled faintly.

“Special Grade Cursed Spirits, huh… sounds fun.”

Not long before that, Satoru Gojo had gone to see Kento Nanami.

He wanted Nanami to look after Yuji Itadori for a while.

Gojo threw an arm around Nanami’s shoulder with his usual lack of restraint.

“This is Nanami. A former salaryman who quit his corporate job and returned to the glamorous world of jujutsu sorcery.”

Nanami adjusted his glasses.

“Please don’t introduce me like that.”

Gojo ignored him completely and turned to Itadori.

“There are plenty of weirdos among jujutsu sorcerers, but Nanami here is reliable. A proper salaryman sorcerer.”

“I doubt anyone appreciates being described by you,” Nanami said flatly.

“Alright, alright. Introductions first.”

Nanami faced Itadori.

“Nice to meet you, Itadori.”

“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you too!”

At Gojo’s request, Nanami eventually agreed to take responsibility for Itadori’s training and supervision.

Nanami looked down at Itadori through his glasses.

“Itadori, do not misunderstand. I am not the same type of person as Gojo-san.”

“Eh?”

“I believe in him. I trust him. But I do not respect him.”

A vein seemed to pop on Gojo’s forehead.

“Hey, what was that supposed to mean?”

Nanami continued as though he had not heard him.

“I dislike many of my superiors, but I do believe rules have value. People should follow proper procedure.”

He paused.

“No. That was unnecessary. I’m getting off topic.”

Itadori hesitated.

“What about Ragnar-sensei?”

Nanami’s expression did not change.

“Ragnar-san is even more lawless than Gojo-san.”

Itadori nodded immediately.

“Yeah… I kind of figured.”

Nanami returned to the main point.

“In any case, after saying all that, I should make one thing clear.”

His tone became sharper.

“I do not yet acknowledge you as a jujutsu sorcerer.”

Itadori stiffened.

“Please prove your worth through your actions.”

Nanami’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Even if you are carrying that bomb called Sukuna inside you.”

Their first meeting was hardly warm.

But it was not hostile either.

Soon after, they received a report from Kiyotaka Ijichi and accepted the case involving the deaths at the cinema.

Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Inside Kinema Cinema.

The screening room was nearly empty.

Junpei Yoshino had skipped school to watch the latest movie, Earthworm Man 3.

Unfortunately, three students from his school were also there.

The same three who had bullied him.

Their voices carried through the theater without restraint, ruining the movie with their pointless chatter.

Junpei sat several rows away, silently enduring it.

Then someone appeared behind them.

Mahito.

“You know…”

His voice was light, almost cheerful.

“When you’re in a movie theater, you’re supposed to follow the rules.”

The three students turned.

Before they could understand what was happening, Mahito touched them.

Idle Transfiguration twisted their bodies from the inside out.

Their heads warped, compressed, and deformed into grotesque shapes, no longer recognizably human.

The sight was horrifying.

Junpei froze.

The person who had just stood in front of him was not normal.

Not even close.

After Mahito left the screening room, Junpei followed him.

Eventually, he caught up in a narrow passageway.

His voice trembled slightly, but his eyes did not look away.

“That thing in the theater just now…”

Mahito stopped.

“Was that your doing?”

Mahito turned his head.

His smile was innocent, almost curious.

“Oh?”

He looked directly at Junpei.

“You can see me?”