"White Zetsu, where did that fake-smile guy go?"
Gojo Satoru asked with a grin.
"He went back to that dump of a place—the Zenin clan," White Zetsu replied sluggishly.
"Said he hadn't been back for half a year and had some troublesome issues to deal with."
Gojo nodded and didn't ask further.
"Gojo-sensei, what are you going to teach us today?" Yuji asked excitedly, raising his hand.
After learning just how strong Gojo was, both Yuji and Kugisaki had become much more motivated.
"Hehe~"
"No time today. Just study on your own in the classroom."
Gojo flashed a completely unapologetic smile.
"I've got an urgent order from above—I'll be going overseas for a few days."
"So, for now, you'll be learning from White Zetsu."
"Whaaat?!"
"From White Zetsu?!"
Yuji and Kugisaki stared in shock.
"Hmph!"
White Zetsu snorted in apparent dissatisfaction, but the grin tugging at his lips was impossible to suppress.
Megumi sighed and explained,
"White Zetsu-senpai enrolled half a year ago and has already gone on missions with upperclassmen."
"When it comes to theoretical knowledge about sorcerers, he's definitely capable of teaching you."
"Exactly."
"That's the situation—so I'll be off now~"
Gojo waved with a smile and turned to leave the classroom.
Yuji and Kugisaki looked at each other, experiencing Gojo-style teaching for the first time.
"Megumi, is he always like this?" Kugisaki asked irritably.
Megumi nodded helplessly.
"He's not the kind of person who just stays at the school doing nothing."
"Special Grade curses occasionally appear overseas and cause large-scale disasters."
"He travels a lot for missions. Honestly, the fact that he even came to tell us beforehand is already unusual."
"Normally, he just leaves without a word and disappears for days."
Yuji pressed his forehead.
"That's seriously unreliable…"
"Ahem—"
"Ahem, ahem—"
White Zetsu, who had looked half-asleep just moments ago…
Now sat cross-legged, squinting smugly, his entire expression practically screaming four words:
Come ask your lord for guidance!
Zenin Clan — Cursed Storage, Basement Level 2
The sound of blood dripping into the bathing pit echoed through the dim corridor.
Standing on the steps, Mirai spoke coldly,
"Pull out all the corpses from the pool. The base also needs to be relocated."
"Infiltrating the Zenin clan isn't likely—but it's not impossible."
After Jogo's appearance yesterday, Mirai had roughly guessed Kenjaku's intentions.
While setting up a scheme against Gojo, he was also trying to probe Mirai's abilities.
White Zetsu had followed Mirai for years as a curse—this wasn't a secret in the jujutsu world.
Controlling White Zetsu would allow someone to steal Mirai's intelligence.
With Kenjaku possessing Curse Manipulation, there was no way he would ignore that.
Mirai had already considered this possibility long ago and wasn't worried about White Zetsu's safety.
What he hadn't expected… was that for someone as weak as White Zetsu, Kenjaku would actually lure Jogo into acting personally.
Excessively cautious.
Soon enough—
Nearly a hundred slightly bloated corpses were laid out in three rows.
Non-sorcerers. Grade 2 sorcerers. Grade 1 sorcerers.
Among them were former members of the Zenin clan's "Hei" unit, as well as curse users with special techniques.
While retrieving the bodies, Juzo Kumiya spotted a familiar face—
Haruta Shigemo, his golden ponytail now dyed a grotesque purple by cursed blood.
Juzo shuddered.
Even after half a year, he could still remember the twisted expression on Haruta's face before death.
Glancing at Juzo—whose limbs were all intact—Mirai felt a hint of admiration.
Half a year ago, after Juzo tried to escape, Mirai had ordered him to sever one of his limbs.
Since Juzo needed both hands to craft cursed tools, Mirai had intended for him to cut off one of his legs as punishment.
Yet unexpectedly… this man took a different route—
He cut off the "fifth limb" between his legs.
That bizarre decision…
It was hard to say whether it was clever or utterly foolish.
Mirai walked past the rows of corpses. Only pools of blood remained on the ground.
After storing White Zetsu's spare body into his space, he turned toward the thousands of suspended, mutilated curse corpses above the pool—his expression calm.
The Kamui-like space opened—
And in an instant, overwhelming cursed energy erupted!
Ten thick, blood-vessel-like tendrils shot out from the other dimension!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosive sounds rang out continuously.
Watching the blood-red afterimages fill the air, Juzo broke out in a cold sweat, not daring to move.
Afraid that even one wrong step would cause him to end up like those curses—
Blasted into a mist of blood.
After absorbing the last traces of residual cursed energy, Mirai said softly,
"Take Juzo upstairs and settle him in the estate."
"If he tries to run, kill him."
"Understood, Clan Head!"
Juzo, trembling with fear, hurriedly said,
"I will serve you with all my heart! I'll forge cursed tools for the Zenin clan for the rest of my life!"
Mirai waved him off indifferently.
"That's enough. You can all leave."
As for the other curse user—and the secrets of the third basement level—
Naobito didn't dare ask further and left with Juzo.
Half an Hour Later
After finishing matters in the cursed storage, Mirai sat in a pavilion outside, brewing tea.
A phone on the table showed it was dialing.
The call connected.
Pressing speaker, Mirai spoke softly:
"So?
Jogo's injuries… they're not too serious, right?"
Silence came from the other end.
After a long pause, a voice—absent for half a year—finally responded:
"How did you determine that?"
"For the past six months, I've barely appeared in front of non-sorcerers… I've hardly shown myself at all."
"Does it matter how I know?"
Mirai took a sip of tea and said calmly:
"Stop trying to probe my abilities. I'll warn you only this once."
"If there's a next time…"
"I'll personally take the heads of those four pieces of trash around you—and yours as well."
Picking up the phone, his tone turned gentle:
"Understood?"
Another long silence.
Then the call was abruptly disconnected.
Tokyo — A Remote Mountain Hot Spring
Leaning against a rock wall was Jogo.
Mahito swam leisurely in the hot spring.
Hanami stood upright by the edge.
Dagon soaked quietly, with only half his head above the water.
"Jogo, is that guy really as strong as you say?" Mahito asked with a smile, his stitched body relaxed.
"Yeah… he's incredibly strong."
Thinking of Mirai, Jogo—now missing half his body—spoke with lingering fear:
"I don't even know how I lost…"
Recalling yesterday's battle—
Jogo only remembered killing Mirai instantly after activating his Domain.
Then striding boldly into Jujutsu High, even personally killing the Gojo Satoru mentioned by Geto—
But when he came to his senses from the pain…
All that remained of him was half a body, rolling on the ground.
If Hanami hadn't rescued him in time, he would've turned to ash.
"Mahito, be careful. If you ever run into that guy, run as far away as possible."
Jogo warned seriously.
"Relax~ relax~"
Mahito rose naked from the hot spring, narrowing his long eyes with a bright smile.
"I'm not stupid enough to pick a fight I can't win."
"Better to act cunningly…"
"Like a curse—
and like a human."