“It’s Gojo Satoru we’re talking about. On what grounds am I supposed to believe that?”
[Sorry, but I have nothing. If I had to point to anything, it’s just the fact that I’m here.]
Mechamaru, who had fled after his spy work was exposed.
Junpei had assumed he was somewhere out there living a normal life in a healthy body, eating well and doing just fine. Instead, for some reason, he was speaking to them through the mouth of a tiny puppet and offering his cooperation.
What’s he scheming?
He’d abandoned his comrades and run off. Why come crawling back now?
How did he even know that Teacher Gojo had been sealed?
No—more importantly, how the hell had that man been sealed in the first place?
As Junpei’s thoughts deepened into questions, Mechamaru began answering at speed.
This was nothing more than insurance he had left behind. Even the dead Mechamaru himself hadn’t expected much from it, so he didn’t have much time left.
That was why the only thing he could do was sort out the situation as quickly as possible.
[I was already killed on October 19 by a special-grade vengeful spirit named Mahito. What’s speaking to you now is nothing more than the “insurance” my living self left behind.
It’s a high-level technique, so I had no choice but to limit the activation condition to “after Gojo Satoru is sealed.” Without a binding vow that strong, this wouldn’t have worked.
To reduce the risk of failure, I also hid this puppet in exactly three places in advance.
And among the jujutsushi from Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School, Yoshino Junpei has the lowest chance of being a traitor. The same goes for Itadori Yuji, and I was certain you, Mei Mei, were completely innocent in this situation.]
“Why?”
[Because the human with the best talent for tracking enemies was dispatched to Meiji-Jingumae instead of lurking in Shibuya. Itadori had no connection to the jujutsu world until a few months ago, and Yoshino got involved even more recently.]
The grounds were there, but thin.
Mei Mei herself was confident she wasn’t a traitor, but there were holes in Mechamaru’s logic.
They needed to test whether he had really come here to cooperate, or whether he had some other goal.
“No, wait. Maybe this is just a roundabout way of refusing to cooperate. Besides, I’m the one who’s been stopping Itadori and Yoshino from heading straight to Shibuya this whole time.”
[Then why is it,]
that a curse user coming to take you out is headed this way?
At those words, the four jujutsushi turned toward the darkness across the tracks.
They couldn’t see it, but cursed energy was clearly being felt from beyond the dim platform.
Since they weren’t even trying to hide their presence, they had to be ready for a fight.
“One... two. Two of them...? Yoshino. Between these guys and the special grade curse you fought earlier, which is stronger?”
“Probably these ones. They’re stronger than that grasshopper from earlier, at least.”
The grasshopper Guy’s estimated grade was semi-grade 1 or higher. If these were stronger than that, then they were at least Grade 1 curse users.
They had expected there might still be curse users colluding with curses, but this was a force outside their estimates.
“So there are that many of them crawling around. What the hell have they been doing all this time, and where?”
They were strong, but not impossible to handle. Their own lineup was no joke either.
Two Grade 1 sorcerers, plus Itadori, who without a technique was already sitting near the upper end of Grade 1.
Add Ui Ui, their joker card, and victory was guaranteed.
“Forget the curse users. Let’s move forward. First we need to confirm Gojo’s safety.”
[No!]
Mechamaru stopped the group as they tried to push ahead recklessly.
He knew he still hadn’t earned their trust, but he had to say it.
He knew information they didn’t. He wasn’t done explaining yet.
[The situation in Shibuya has already changed. The other side’s barrier technique is several steps above ours. Right now there are four Curtains around Shibuya. A Curtain that traps ordinary people inside, a Curtain that keeps sorcerers from entering, then another Curtain that traps Gojo Satoru inside, and then yet another Curtain that traps ordinary people inside again. It’s a four-layer defense.]
“So the tracks ahead are also blocked by a Curtain that won’t let sorcerers in.”
[Exactly. The sorcerers who were already standing by are inside the Curtain, but you can’t use cell phones inside a Curtain.]
“It’s not just that. We can’t even contact the assistant managers outside the Curtain.”
[Please, just follow my instructions. This insurance of mine is going to disappear soon too. Please.....]
There was no reason for Mechamaru to lie in this situation. Maybe, in a situation where no answer could be seen, he could serve as a proper control tower.
Was it because of his desperate voice that their hearts wavered?
After some thought, Mei Mei decided to listen to the dead man’s opinion.
“Fine. Go on.”
[Itadori and Yoshino, go back to Meiji-Jingumae and head to Shibuya above ground. Then inform the sorcerers that Gojo has been sealed, and make Gojo’s retrieval your shared objective.]
“Got it.”
“Yeah.”
[Mei Mei, make an opening for those two to get out. And after you drive off the curse users, I want you to secure this track. But for now, I don’t know how the enemy will move.]
“So you’re saying to improvise. By the way, your account hasn’t been frozen yet, right?”
[What?]
Even in this situation, her instinct to ask for money left Mechamaru briefly dizzy.
She said it with a straight face, so he couldn’t tell whether she was joking or serious.
Still, setting that aside, Mechamaru once again reminded himself what his purpose was.
“Where should I side?”
“Do whatever you want.”
“Then I’m going with you, big sis!”
[If Gojo Satoru disappears, both the jujutsu world and human society will turn upside down. Sorry, but fight like your lives depend on it.]
“You don’t have to tell me twice.”
Junpei’s curt reply made Mechamaru feel a deep stab of conscience.
I thought I’d be fine with that, but... even I can tell I’m trash.
His dead self was dragging the living into a living hell.
There was no such thing as a death without regrets for a sorcerer, but he didn’t want to drag other people into death.
He regretted a little that his living self had kept going even while knowing this would happen.
In the middle of all that, Junpei, looking a little conflicted himself, asked him a question.
“Hey.”
[What is it?]
“Are you involved in the Satozakura High School incident too?”
[You mean your school? I investigated it, but I wasn’t directly involved. My role was focused entirely on acting as a mole inside Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School.]
“Nice brag, jerk.”
[........]
Seeing Mechamaru deflate a little, Junpei gave a weak laugh.
“Well, whatever. No point getting mad at someone who’s already dead. You paid some brutal price of your own, so I guess that’s why you ended up like this.”
He’d said Mahito killed him.
His end had surely been ugly. That bastard had terrible taste, after all.
Junpei had nearly been killed by Hanami, so Mechamaru still irritated him a little—but at the same time, he felt sorry for him too.
[...I know I’m an idiot too. That’s why I came here. To set things right, even a little.]
“We’re kind of alike.”
[What did you say?]
“Nothing.”
“Guys, they’re here.”
Mei Mei called out to the group as they were having their pointless little conversation.
The presence they had felt beyond the tracks was now fully close, within visual range.
What emerged from the darkness was a huge mastiff with human limbs attached to it, and a man who resembled a fish.
The curse user duo Kenjaku had dispatched to eliminate Mei Mei.
“Mei...
Mei...
right?”
Now it was truly time to split up and move.
“Move however you want. I’ll cover everything.”
“Yes!!”
“I’m counting on you for the back line, Mei. Be careful.”
“Go on already.”
Then let’s go.
Let’s go fix our mistakes, idiots that we are.
--------------------------------
21:26.
Tokyo Metro Shibuya Station, B5 floor, Fukutoshin Line platform.
After completing Gojo Satoru’s sealing, Kenjaku was waiting for the remaining special-grade curses to awaken from [Unlimited Void].
Mahito woke first, followed by Jogo, Dagon, and Choso, who gradually came to their senses one after another.
Kenjaku greeted the dazed-looking group with a friendly smile and took out the Prison Realm to move to the next step.
“Everyone’s awake, right? Now then, let’s—”
-Clatter, clatter
“?”
“What’s wrong?”
Something felt off from the Prison Realm in Kenjaku’s right hand.
The sealing was already complete. Opening and closing had both gone through without a problem.
No matter how you looked at it, even Gojo Satoru wouldn’t be able to get out of the Prison Realm on his own—
At that moment, Kenjaku felt the Prison Realm in his hand become unbearably heavy.
-Koooom!
As if its weight had multiplied several times over, the Prison Realm slipped from his hand and crashed to the floor, making a huge crack.
The eyes around the sealed Prison Realm had also somehow awakened again.
The situation all that information pointed to was clear.
The sealing was not over yet.
“Tch!! What kind of monster is this!”
His cry rang out, carrying both anger and delight.
Meanwhile, Gojo inside the Prison Realm was also able to grasp the situation to some extent.
“Physical time doesn’t seem to be flowing.”
All around him, half-formed skulls kept trying to approach, and the darkness made him feel awful.
It was the perfect environment for someone inside to kill themselves.
Of course, there was no way he would ever do that.
“This is bad. Dangerous in a lot of ways.”
He had at least expected the special-grade curses present to be exorcised, but they’d been taken out beautifully.
With him sealed, the current balance between sorcerers and curses was... maybe tipping in the curses’ favor?
What was left was that rag, the octopus, the volcano head, the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings... and Geto? too...
Huh? Maybe I didn’t actually do that much after all?
He had exorcised that cockroach bastard, but judging by their reaction, it was clearly a disposable card.
He’d killed around a thousand transfigured humans, but that was something he could have done with a flick of a finger in the first place.
The enemy’s core members were still alive and strolling around Shibuya as if nothing had happened. In the end, he’d just been kicking at empty air and getting played exactly as planned.
Feeling a little awkward, he fiddled with his blindfold and gave a dry laugh.
“Still, whatever. It’ll work out somehow.”
He felt sorry for the kids, for his comrades, for dumping so much on them.
Still, he had no doubt things would go well.
He had taught them himself.
The kids are stronger than I thought.
Even without me, they’ll definitely manage.
“I’m counting on you, kids.”
Gojo Satoru.
Retired.
------------------------------
21:22.
Shibuya streets.
“As expected, the biggest concern is the Curtain that won’t let sorcerers in.”
“It’s been quite a while since Teacher Gojo arrived on the scene. Why is it happening now?”
“Whatever’s happening inside, there must have been a reason it had to be this timing. One thing I can say for sure is that that ragged curse isn’t the type to charge in without a plan. I’ll handle the enemy who’s using a Curtain, so the two of you protect the civilians.”
At the same time, three teams were making their entry.
And above the Curtain, on an overpass.
“Once you confirm the situation, Ms. Nitta, please come back outside the Curtain again. Since communications are blocked inside, someone has to stay outside at all times.”
Ijichi, speaking to Nitta Akari on the phone, was also busily sending messages with his other hand and contacting the sorcerers.
Now that they knew the Curtain was blocking communications in this incident, every assistant manager who could handle outside contact was precious.
He was busy placing people where they were needed and calling Ieiri Shoko’s camp to handle the injured, to the point his body felt like it was about to fall apart.
“I’m planning to assign that role to you. From here on, we need to establish a communications network using only the assistant managers. If we also use the password and part of the ‘window,’ it should be possible.”
The moment he thought he was lucky to have a reliable colleague—
“Ice Formation Technique, Frost Calm.”
-Crack!
His entire body froze solid.
“Ghk....”
Cold cursed energy wrapped itself around him, locking him up so tightly he couldn’t move an inch.
At a glance, it was obvious. This was an extremely high-level ice technique.
With Ijichi’s meager physical ability, he couldn’t break the ice or melt his way out.
I have to make the call.....
His hands and mouth were both frozen, unable to move.
As time passed, his vision grew blurrier and blurrier, as if his body heat was being stolen away.
The tips of his limbs were turning blue, inching toward death with every passing second.
“Annoying. If I leave him like that, he’ll die of hypothermia.”
A childish voice drifted from somewhere nearby.
Even if he wanted to check, he couldn’t even turn his head, and despair sank in.
“Not much time left, huh. Once this is over, I’ll have to go into the Curtain too.”
Before his eyes fully closed, Ijichi caught a glimpse of someone with white hair wearing traditional clothing.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register