After the juvenile detention center incident.
Itadori Yuji died. More precisely, it would be better to say that, after losing control of Sukuna and going berserk, he was executed at the hands of Zenin Daisuke and Megumi.
Megumi said he understood the necessity of killing Itadori, but perhaps he could not truly accept it deep down. Our relationship had become more awkward than before.
Nobara, who was receiving treatment for her injuries at the hospital, also reacted by asking whether we had really needed to go that far. Then she punched me once.
Jujutsu Headquarters also ordered Zenin Daisuke, who had successfully subdued and executed Itadori, Sukuna’s vessel, to be promoted to Grade 1, declaring that he was undoubtedly a sorcerer worthy of that rank.
At this rate, I was going to be treated entirely as a mouthpiece for the aristocratic faction.
And there was one more major ordeal I needed to deal with immediately.
"So. Why don’t you explain yourself, Zenin Daisuke, ‘Grade 1’?"
I had to placate Gojo Satoru, who wore the expression of someone who had just been dealt a spectacular blow to the back of the head.
His deliberate mention of the Grade 1 rank in this situation was surely his roundabout way of saying he had already figured out that I had acted at Jujutsu Headquarters’ behest.
He was clearly wearing a blindfold, yet none of his killing intent was concealed. It did not even look as though he had raised his cursed energy.
"That’s a pretty cold way to address me. Wasn’t I your student? And I’ve only been recommended for promotion—I’m not Grade 1 yet."
"You came back carrying the remains of the friend you killed yourself, so I assume you have some kind of excuse?"
"Has Ieiri Shoko not arrived yet?"
Rumble—
In an instant, a powerful gravity bore down on my entire body. No, was it attraction?
Unable to withstand the crushing force of Gojo Satoru’s Limitless, I became like a carpet sprawled across the floor.
Hey, why is this getting stronger and stronger? I’m really going to die like this, you know?
"An excuse... You told me to explain myself...! W-Wait. I’m dying, I’m dying! I’m seriously going to die at this rate!!!"
"Please wait, Mr. Gojo! At least hear him out!"
"It’s fine. I’m adjusting it so someone at Grade 1 can endure it. That is, if you really are Grade 1."
In other words, he was saying he would not acknowledge someone like me, who had climbed onto the Grade 1 evaluation stage through Jujutsu Headquarters’ backing!
Ijichi stepped in to stop him, but of course Gojo would not listen to another man no matter what.
Just as I was about to raise my cursed energy and resist, thinking that if I turned into dried squid before Ieiri arrived, nothing would come of this, a savior descended.
"Gojo. Why don’t you stop there? Are you trying to give us a string of funerals?"
"Ieiri-sensei!"
"It’ll be convenient to handle them all when the death anniversary comes around, won’t it?"
"Honestly. Are you planning to kill your cute student without even hearing his excuse?"
Only then was I freed from the pressure of Limitless.
Since there was no telling when Gojo Satoru’s mood might plummet again, I immediately pulled Itadori’s heart out of my shadow.
"Here. Both of you, look at this. It’s Itadori’s heart."
"Itadori’s...? It’s far too fresh for that. This is like..."
"It’s as though it was just cut out. A living heart, its muscles still throbbing."
Here, I would reveal my trump card—the one I had hidden not only from Jujutsu Headquarters, but from the Zenin clan and Jujutsu High as well—and earn their trust.
No, I had to earn it!
"I am a user of Reverse Cursed Technique."
"What!?"
"But unlike Ieiri-sensei, I can’t output it. However, the shadows of the Ten Shadows Technique are a part of me, and they also function as a pseudo-innate domain. So if I keep Itadori’s excised heart inside my shadow while maintaining Reverse Cursed Technique at full power, I can prevent it from decaying."
Ijichi could not hide his surprise at hearing that I could use Reverse Cursed Technique, but the other two remained utterly impassive.
That probably meant they either were not particularly interested up to this point, or had already noticed.
"And here’s the important part, Ieiri-sensei. It’s you."
I placed the throbbing heart into the gaping hole in Itadori’s chest and spoke.
"Even if you cannot restore missing limbs or organs, surely you can revive him if the heart is intact like this."
"Impossible. Medically speaking, Itadori is completely dead. I didn’t get a medical license for decoration, you know?"
"It only seems impossible because you think it is. Even though Itadori’s body was soaked by all that rain during the juvenile detention center incident, rolled through mud, and contaminated, there was no decay whatsoever. That means he is already undergoing cursed objectification due to Sukuna’s finger. And if his body has become half cursed object, it also means Itadori’s soul is still sleeping inside this vessel."
I did not know the precise theories of jujutsu either. But after I threw together every scrap of knowledge I had picked up from the original story into one desperate, slapdash theory, Ieiri-sensei’s eyes began to waver.
And unexpectedly, the one who moved after hearing that was Gojo Satoru.
He unwound the black blindfold covering his eyes and stared at Itadori’s corpse for a long time with the [Six Eyes], which shone with an exquisite light. Then, eventually—
"Wow, it’s true? I was wondering what you were talking about when you mentioned souls and all that, but they really are in here. Itadori’s and Sukuna’s souls!"
"Is that really true, Gojo?"
"They’re buried so deeply that you wouldn’t notice unless you concentrated and looked carefully. How did you even find something like this?"
"Does that mean you acknowledge my theory that Itadori can be revived?"
Gojo gave Itadori’s cold corpse a quick once-over, then promptly answered in a lively tone.
"It might be worth trying?"
"Sigh... Fine, I’ll give it a try. But if it fails, it’s not my responsibility, got it?"
Ieiri-sensei stood before Itadori’s corpse and began healing him.
Normally, no matter how much positive energy was poured into a corpse, it would have been useless. Ieiri Shoko herself surely considered it a meaningless act.
However, with my improvised theory and Gojo Satoru’s [Six Eyes] having confirmed the possibility, she pushed beyond the point where she ordinarily would have given up and released positive energy to her limit—
"Hm? Huh? Gojo-sensei? Mr. Ijichi, and Ieiri-sensei... Daisuke is here too?"
Itadori was successfully revived.
"Phew... Welcome back, Itadori."
"Hey!"
-
"—And that’s how we got to where we are now."
"So, in short, you were playing both sides between the higher-ups and us, weren’t you?"
"Well... I can’t say that’s wrong."
After that, in an atmosphere made far lighter by Itadori’s resurrection, my super apology-and-explanation show continued.
What was more, Itadori himself—the very person I had effectively killed—had shown me leniency.
"Still, I’m glad you stopped that guy before he could go on any further. Even if I had stayed dead, I wouldn’t have resented you for it."
That was what he said.
"So what are you going to do now? The higher-ups have already picked you out as a convenient pawn. Taking part in reviving Itadori is, from their perspective, betrayal. And if they find out, it won’t end with simply losing your head, you know?"
"I merely stand with the strong."
"If that’s why you sided with me, then I’ll say it was a nice call. But there’s something else important, isn’t there? Megumi and Nobara. They believe you killed Itadori. And Itadori’s life is in immediate danger, so we can’t exactly announce that he’s alive again."
I had an idea about that.
"A temporary misunderstanding is fine. Once Itadori’s resurrection is announced later, it will naturally be cleared up. For now, there is something I would like to ask of you instead."
"Ask?"
That’s right. Since things had come to this, I might as well freeload my way through the mission required for promotion to Semi-Grade 1!
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