"Jogo~"
From the other side of the steaming haze, Suguru Geto, his forehead marked with stitched scars, slowly emerged.
"Damn you, Geto!"
Seeing the ever-smiling face, Jogo's single eye widened in fury as he roared,
"Did you already calculate that guy would suddenly show up?!"
Geto narrowed his eyes slightly, his smile gentle.
"No, I didn't expect Zen'in Mirai to arrive that quickly either."
"You didn't expect it?"
Jogo looked unconvinced.
"You sent me—a mere Grade 4-level target—and made me deal with it personally!"
"And you still say you didn't expect this?!"
Cursed energy surged through half his body as Jogo looked ready to erupt at any moment.
For some reason, seeing Geto's fake smile made Jogo instinctively recall that infuriating guy from last night.
Fake Geto raised both hands in surrender.
"Spare me. I'm not exactly a sorcerer suited for combat."
"Yeah, Jogo. The fact that you made it back alive is already good enough."
Mahito stood by the shore, draped in a black coat with a grid pattern, speaking casually.
"Alive?!"
Jogo pointed at the empty lower half of his body, grinding his teeth.
"Where the hell do you see 'fine'?!"
"Jogo," Fake Geto narrowed his eyes slightly and asked softly,
"During last night's fight… did you tell the enemy your name?"
Seeing Jogo shake his head, Geto's heart sank.
A strange technique?
Or had that person seen them before?
Over the phone, the man had directly called out Jogo's real name and even accurately stated the number of special grades.
The source of such eerie intelligence made Geto even more wary.
It seemed that man's warning truly couldn't be ignored.
"Jogo, now you understand just how powerful Satoru Gojo is, right?"
Geto sat atop a protruding rock and reminded him quietly,
"Tokyo Jujutsu High's evaluation of Gojo far surpasses Zen'in Mirai's."
"So for now, our priority remains the plan to seal Gojo."
Tilting his head, Geto looked at Jogo with a smile.
"You're not thinking of testing him again, are you?"
"Bastard!"
Killing intent flared in Jogo's gaze as the volcano on his head showed signs of erupting.
Geto simply nodded faintly.
That was fine. Yesterday's battle had at least crushed Jogo's arrogance.
"October 31st. Shibuya."
"When the timing, location, and conditions all align—that will be the perfect moment to seal Satoru Gojo."
"Geto~"
Mahito raised a hand, curious.
"What about the sorcerer who injured Jogo? Aren't we going to deal with him?"
Geto tucked his hands into his sleeves and smiled.
"No need."
"That guy isn't our enemy… for now."
Night fell, stars scattered across the sky.
Inside a standalone dorm at Jujutsu High, White Zetsu lounged on the sofa, looking smug.
Thinking about how he'd taught Yuji earlier that day, he let out a chuckle.
A cursed spirit teaching a sorcerer how to exorcise curses…
Interesting. Thrilling.
"Oh right."
White Zetsu turned to Mirai.
"Why did you deliberately let that volcano-head go last night?"
"That was a special grade, you know!"
"Even from outside, I could feel the Divine Tree's craving—and you still held back?"
White Zetsu knew very well—
With those eyes, there were no blind spots.
No one—human or sorcerer—could sneak up on Mirai and rescue Jogo unnoticed.
Mirai just smiled, offering no reply.
To him, Jogo was… nothing more than insignificant trash.
He could eliminate him at any time.
He was only concerned that killing Jogo might delay Geto's plan.
A moment later, the dark phone on the table lit up.
Mirai glanced at the message, a cold smile curling on his lips.
"White Zetsu, leave the caterpillar and the cursed tools behind."
White Zetsu froze for a moment, then leaned closer and read the message aloud.
"A mission to exorcise a special grade… overseas?"
Jujutsu High — Conference Room
After hearing Ijichi's report, Principal Yaga frowned deeply.
"Do cursed spirits of that level form groups as well…?"
With arms crossed, he muttered in a low voice.
But that wasn't the only issue.
Glancing at the photos laid out on the table, Yaga's expression darkened further.
Ijichi cleared his throat and spoke cautiously.
"Principal…"
"White Zetsu… he may have noticed long ago."
The photos on the table were all candid shots—taken either at the school or during missions—capturing White Zetsu.
Even during the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons half a year ago,
Yaga had assigned an assistant supervisor to monitor White Zetsu from a distance.
The camera used to capture those images was a special cursed tool, custom-made at Yaga's request.
After hearing Ijichi's full report, one thing became clear—
The distress call White Zetsu made in the car last night was likely no coincidence.
Neither the students in the car nor Ijichi himself had sensed anything.
Yet White Zetsu—a mere Grade 4 cursed spirit—had detected the ambush in advance.
If so… had he already noticed all previous surveillance as well?
The more Yaga thought about it, the deeper his frown grew.
Troublesome.
July, 2018 — West Tokyo City
Eishu Juvenile Detention Center
The sky was overcast, as if a torrential downpour could begin at any moment.
Police officers had set up barricades around the facility, preventing civilians from entering.
Yuji Itadori.
Megumi Fushiguro.
Nobara Kugisaki.
And White Zetsu.
Looking at the three students and one spirit, Ijichi spoke with a serious expression:
"According to our analysis, an unknown special-grade cursed womb is stationed here."
"I don't need to explain how dangerous special grades are."
"Unfortunately, manpower shortages are the norm in this line of work. It's common to receive missions that are extremely difficult to complete."
"But the situation is urgent, and there are no available sorcerers—so this mission has been assigned to you first-years."
He pushed up his glasses and spoke solemnly:
"Listen carefully!"
"Your mission is to find an opportunity to rescue the civilians inside—not to fight the special grade."
"If you encounter it…"
"Run immediately!!"
"Do whatever it takes to escape!"
Ijichi paused briefly.
"If anyone wants to withdraw from this mission, now is the time."
"There's no shame in obeying your fear. This is your only chance to back out."
"If you regret it after entering… it will be too late."
A special grade like that volcano-head…?
Recalling the overwhelming presence Jogo had shown before, Yuji felt uneasy.
As Ijichi said, if they encountered one—escaping might not even be possible.
"Akari!"
Outside the barricade, a woman cried anxiously, her face streaked with tears.
Her son was trapped inside the detention center—his fate unknown.
Seeing this, the hesitation in Yuji's eyes vanished, replaced with resolve.
"Guys… let's go save them."