Opening his mouth wide, Kiniro bit down into the chunk of bleeding flesh in his hand and relished the taste of the cursed blood as it dribbled down the corners of his mouth, 'This is some quality stuff right here.'
With zeal, Kiniro gorged himself on the delicacy, only for his phone to ruin the moment as it started to ring. Frowning, Kiniro wiped his mouth with his sleeve as he pulled out his phone and answered, "Hey, Sensei, it's been a minute. What's up?"
"Where are you right now?" Satoru asked, his voice carrying an intensity that Kiniro wasn't used to, "How soon can you be in Shinjuku?"
"Shinjuku," Kiniro muttered as he thought for a second, "I mean, if I put a rush on it, tomorrow afternoon the earliest. But first, tell me what's going on."
"There's been a declaration of war," Satoru answered gravely, "On December 24, one thousand demons will be unleashed on Shinjuku with the sole order to kill any non-scorcerer. The same is happening in Kyoto. Headquarters is mobilizing all of its resources and calling on all sorcerers to defend the cities."
Kiniro let out a low appreciative whistle, "1000 curses, huh, so we're dealing with a pretty strong Cursed Spirit Manipulator with a bone to pick against the whole of Jujutsu society."
Satoru was silent for a moment before he responded, "The Curse user in question was my old classmate Suguru Geto. Before I mastered my limitless technique and reverse curse technique, we were considered tied for the title of strongest."
Kiniro's air of casualness disappeared, "That means he's a special grade, right?"
"Yes, and yesterday he showed his face on campus and declared war on Jujutsu Society, claiming that he aims to create a world free of curses by killing every single non-sorcerer."
"Hmmm," Kiniro hummed in thought, "Yeah, I don't know about that."
"What?" Satoru asked, clearly confused about what Kiniro was objecting to.
"I mean, killing all non-sorcerers won't get rid of curses, but we can save that discussion," Kiniro muttered as he started to ramble, "I'm talking about the fact that this whole 1000 demons thing doesn't make a bit of sense."
Satoru was quiet for a second before he spoke again, "What are you talking about?"
"I mean, if his only goal was to kill as many non-sorcerers as possible, why announce that he was going to attack and give you time to prepare?" Kiniro asked as he took another bite of the cursed meat, "All that does is minimize casualties and waste his curses."
"You think he's lying about the attack," Satoru asked.
"Oh no, the attack is going to happen," Kiniro corrected as he tore off the last chunk of meat from the bone, "I'm just saying that killing non-sorcerers is just a cherry on top, not the whole cake."
"I hate when you're like this, you know," Satoru complained, which only made Kiniro smirk, "The least you can do is entertain me, I'm about to save you a real big headache."
Satoru let out a long sigh before he continued, "Then if he isn't trying to kill non-sorcerers, what's the purpose of the attack?"
"You know I'm not surprised you haven't figured it out, but I'm shocked that not a single mind in Headquarters even considered anything else," Kiniro taunted as he shattered the bone and used one of the splinters to pick his teeth, "Suguru told you where, when, and how he was going to attack. He's basically saying look over here, look over here, and you're all falling for it."
"It's a distraction," Satoru inferred, "But why waste all those curses on a distraction? What could he possibly stand to gain?"
"Your ego and pride are getting in the way, Sensei," Kiniro lectured, "You believe that this war is about you and Suguru. You think that he's going to show up and fight you, man-to-man in Shinjuku, but you already know how that's going to turn out, and so does Suguru."
"Then if he knows he's going to lose, why fight?" Saturo asked with frustration clear in his voice.
"Before I tell you, let me ask, when he showed up on campus, were all the first years there? Did he know all of them by name?" Kiniro asked, making Saturo pause, "He did."
"Then Suguru has been watching, gathering information, but why does he need to know the names of some first years? How does that advance his goals?"
"Well, Yuta is-"
Saturo stopped dead in the middle of his sentence, and Kiniro could practically see the look of realization cross his face.
"Yes, Yuta, the Special grade Cursed Human, cursed by Rika, who possesses an infinite amount of cursed energy." Kiniro continued for his Sensei, "Now doesn't that sound like something a Cursed Spirit Manipulator might want to get his hands on?"
"He's going after Yuta?" Satoru clarified.
"It's what I would do," Kiniro replied as if it were the most obvious answer, "Anyone who wants to do anything regarding the fate of Jujutsu society has to have a contingency plan to deal with you. For Suguru, now that he's committed to an all-out attack and operating in the open, his only road to victory is to beat you in a fight. And the only way for him to close that power gap is Rika. He was probably hoping to use the parade to somehow isolate Yuta."
"I was going to have Yuta stay behind at the school," Satoru muttered as he realized how close he had come to walking directly into Suguru's trap, "Suguru seemed so focused on him I assumed that it would be best to keep them as far apart as possible."
"Well then, aren't you glad to have such an insightful student?" Kiniro said with a smirk.
"So now that we know what Suguru's intentions are, what do we do?" Satoru asked, "Do we mess up his plans from the very beginning or set a trap for him?"
"We can talk about this tomorrow, but there's no reason to rush," Kiniro replied calmly as he stood up, "I'll see you tomorrow. Keep me updated if anything new happens."
Hanging up the phone, Kiniro couldn't help but grin as he could practically taste the chaos that would about to unfold, "Finally something to get the blood moving, you certainly didn't cut it."
Kiniro sent a glare at the Curse he had been fighting, a massive fish-shaped spirit that had made a particularly muddy rice patch its domain and had made a habit of swallowing up farmers who wandered out at night. The first was currently bound up in serrated chains that dug into the thick scales covering its entire body.
The creature let out a defiant bellow, but Kiniro only rolled his eyes as he clenched his hand into a fist. In an instant, a loud crunch tore through the air as the Curse was cut into chunks, and the serrated chains bit through the spirit's entire form.
Opening his mouth, Kiniro inhales the little cursed energy that didn't immediately dissipate into the world, 'Hopefully I'll get a proper meal soon, worst case scenario I just help myself to the buffet in Shinjuku."