In a family-style diner at noon, sunlight streamed through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the table covered with a checkered tablecloth in warm light. The air was filled with the aroma of freshly ground coffee, the scent of toasted bread, and the comforting mingling of various food smells. Soft jazz played in the background, accompanied by the indistinct chatter of customers.
Five people sat at a large table by the window.
Yuji Itadori was struggling with a muffin drenched in chocolate sauce, his cheeks puffed out. Megumi Fushiguro had a cup of iced coffee before him, barely touched, sitting upright with calm eyes. Nobara Kugisaki was impatiently stabbing at the salad on her plate with a fork, frowning. Eriri took small sips of her milk tea, her blue eyes full of thought. Utaha Kasumigaoka had a small notebook open in front of her, her fingers unconsciously scrolling across a screen, as if recording or searching for something.
"Ugh..." Kugisaki finally couldn't hold back. She threw her fork onto the plate with a clang, breaking the slightly heavy silence within their little circle. "This fall is so eventful! It's driving me crazy! How long has it been since Lord Genji awakened? I feel like all the demons, ghosts, snakes, and gods across the world can't hold themselves back anymore, queuing up one after another to make their presence known!"
She counted on her fingers: "First, there was that inexplicable deadly attack on the plane, then the 'half-cursed spirit' laboratory they found on that island, then the Naraku Sect, then that elusive 'Fujiwara'... And now the South China Sea has blown up! An island disappeared!"
The more she spoke, the angrier she got, her voice unconsciously rising, drawing sidelong glances from customers at nearby tables. Megumi Fushiguro quietly coughed, and she angrily lowered her voice.
"Although Genji said Naraku was 'annihilated to the point of not even a trace of ash left,'" Eriri set down her milk tea cup and took over the conversation, a slight worry in her voice. "But... he later said his intuition told him that woman named Naraku might still be alive."
"Intuition?" Utaha Kasumigaoka raised her crimson eyes, sharply catching the word. "In his case, his intuition is probably more credible than most women's."
"By the way…" Utaha looked at Megumi Fushiguro and asked a question that had been troubling her for a while. "Fushiguro-san, that woman who appeared suddenly and seemed to know Sukuna, named 'Fujiwara'... Are there any records of someone like that in the jujutsu world?"
Megumi Fushiguro shook his head again, this time with certainty. "No. At least, in the records of modern sorcerers and the intelligence networks of the Three Families that I have access to, there is no powerful sorcerer with the surname 'Fujiwara' matching the described characteristics."
He paused and added, "Moreover, judging by Sukuna's attitude towards her and the fact that she could produce nine of Sukuna's fingers as a 'gift'... I'm afraid she is not from this era. Either an ancient sorcerer who somehow survived from ancient times to the present, like Lord Zen'in Genji; or, more likely... a long-lived, extremely intelligent, humanoid special-grade cursed spirit that excels at disguising itself as human."
"Someone from the same era as Sukuna and Lord Zen'in Genji…" Yuji Itadori finally swallowed the last piece of his muffin, sighed contentedly, then wiped his mouth with a napkin and answered naturally. "That Sukuna guy, inside my 'inner domain,' reacted a bit strangely when Fujiwara appeared. Although his tone was still stinky and mocking, I could feel that he knew her. It wasn't that 'heard of' kind of knowing, but that he knows there is such a person. And he seemed very contemptuous of her style of hiding her head and tail, but also... a little concerned?"
Itadori struggled to describe this subtle perception, his vocabulary a bit limited, but the meaning was clearly expressed.
"A thousand-year-old monster knew another thousand-year-old monster, and gave Sukuna nine fingers…" Kugisaki hugged her arms and felt a slight chill. "This looks like the opening of a standard villain alliance, no matter how you look at it! What do they want to do? Destroy the world?"
"An unclear objective is what's most troublesome," Megumi Fushiguro said in a deep voice. "The Naraku Sect preaches 'immortality' and conducts half-cursed spirit experiments; Fujiwara collects Sukuna's fingers and secretly directs the situation; there's a high probability they are still connected, but not completely unified... This pond is much deeper than we think."
---
On the other side of the restaurant, in a relatively secluded booth. The sunlight here was cleverly blocked, the light slightly dimmer, creating an atmosphere more suitable for private conversation.
Satoru Gojo slumped into a soft chair without any posture, three parfaits of different flavors before him, being destroyed at an alarming rate. He still wore his signature black blindfold, but the pleasant curve of his lips showed he was enjoying himself to the fullest.
Opposite him sat Zen'in Genji, his posture always elegant. Before him was only a cup of clear tea and a small serving of exquisitely prepared matcha pudding. He ate slowly, as if savoring time itself.
"Plan for the worst," Genji carefully scooped up a small piece of pudding with a silver spoon and put it in his mouth, his voice calm and unwavering. "The Naraku Sect and the suddenly appearing 'Fujiwara' can be tentatively considered the same faction, or at least interested partners."
He put down the silver spoon and looked at Satoru Gojo with his deep indigo eyes. "Having so many of Sukuna's fingers right under the nose of the Technical College, this woman named Fujiwara is something."
"Don't worry~" Satoru Gojo swallowed a big mouthful of ice cream mixed with strawberries and chocolate, waving his hand casually, his voice as relaxed as if discussing where to have afternoon tea.
"No matter what tricks they want to play, counting you and me, no matter how many schemes and plots are on the other side, no matter how many cursed spirits or ancient monsters there are—the outcome will be the same—in vain."
His absolute confidence in himself and Zen'in Genji was almost arrogant, but inexplicably convincing.
Genji glanced at him, didn't deny this confidence, but added lightly:
"In my calculations, I also counted Sukuna on the opposing side."
Satoru Gojo's hand holding the silver spoon paused slightly, then continued digging into the next layer of ice cream, as if nothing had happened, but the lightness in his voice was slightly restrained.
"Oh? So you're not that optimistic about your 'old friend'? He's eaten so many fingers, now he should want to fight you, right?"
"An enemy of my enemy is my friend?"
"Sukuna will only stand on the opposite side of 'strong men,' or those who interest him," Genji interrupted, his tone firm. "Fujiwara offering the fingers was to guide him onto the path of 'confronting me.' And Sukuna, in order to fight with all his might, will be happy to walk that path."
"Until he gathers all twenty fingers and regains his complete form, he might cooperate with Fujiwara and the others to a limited extent, or at least not actively sabotage their plans, because those plans are likely to create 'trouble' that I will have to take seriously."
He took a sip of tea and continued, "So, in the worst-case scenario, we need to face a Sukuna who has returned to his prime and only wants to duel me, combined with the 'Fujiwara-Naraku' allied forces, who are hiding deeper, have unknown goals, and possess unknown ancient techniques and resources. There might also be 'people within' the jujutsu world ready to act."
Satoru Gojo finally put down his fork, leaned forward slightly, his black blindfold seeming to "look" at Genji, his tone becoming more formal.
"Speaking of 'people within,' the higher-ups have been under a lot of pressure lately, and they've also given an 'explanation.'"
"Oh?"
"About Itadori and Sukuna's fingers," Satoru Gojo's voice lowered slightly, and despite the barrier, he instinctively became cautious. "Itadori has now gathered several fingers. The 'old beings' at the top seem to have been frightened after the South China Sea incident, or in other words, they've found the 'perfect' excuse. They mean that now is the time to execute Yuji Itadori."
He paused and observed Genji's reaction. Genji remained completely unchanged, just listening quietly.
"The reason is very 'valid,'" Satoru Gojo's tone was frankly mocking. "Sukuna within Itadori's body is rapidly recovering his power, and the threat level is sharply increasing. Itadori's stability as a 'vessel' is unknown; if he loses control, the consequences would be unthinkable. To prevent Sukuna's return to his prime and causing irreparable disasters, the 'correct' and 'humane' (for society) choice is to eliminate this 'hidden danger' before the situation spirals out of control."
"The explosion in the South China Sea became the best evidence for them to support the 'Sukuna threat theory' and 'early risk elimination'."
Genji listened quietly, gently stroking the rim of his teacup with his fingers. After a few seconds, he slowly nodded.
"Standing from the higher-ups' perspective, from the position of 'weighing the overall situation' and 'avoiding the greatest risk,' logically, this approach can't be wrong," his voice remained calm. "Sacrificing an 'uncertain person' who could bring great disaster in exchange for the 'certain safety' of more people—this is an option that countless rulers throughout history have prioritized when facing similar dilemmas. It's not about right or wrong; it's about choice."
Satoru Gojo raised his eyebrows slightly, as if not expecting Genji to evaluate the old men's decision so "objectively."
"However," Genji said, a cold sharpness flickering in his deep indigo eyes. "Unfortunately, their information needs updating."
"The reason Sukuna's twenty fingers are twenty is not an arbitrary division. There is a certain 'connection' between them. This connection transcends physical distance and even, to a certain extent, transcends the concept of 'death.'"
He looked at Satoru Gojo and explained clearly:
"Killing Itadori and destroying the Sukuna fingers inside his body might weaken Sukuna and prevent him from returning to his prime? This idea is flawed."
"Even if you manage to kill Itadori and destroy the vessels containing those fingers inside him, the core 'curse' and 'soul weight' contained in those fingers will not disappear."
"They will be automatically transferred."
Genji's voice was particularly clear in the quiet booth:
"Transferred to the remaining, undestroyed Sukuna fingers. Sukuna's total power will not be lost, but the 'vessel' containing it will be reduced, and the concentration of curses contained in the remaining fingers, and Sukuna's consciousness, will increase accordingly."
"Killing Itadori would simply redirect the scattered risks onto fewer, and possibly more deeply hidden, 'fingers.' It would have no significant impact on the final outcome—Sukuna's restoration to a complete twenty-fingered form. Instead, it might trigger an earlier, more unpredictable surge of emotions, stimulating Sukuna's remaining consciousness or allowing the fingers to fall into the hands of more uncontrollable people or cursed spirits."
Hearing this, Satoru Gojo was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed, a smile full of playfulness and a kind of "of course" understanding.
"I see... So, from the very beginning, the so-called 'execution of Itadori to prevent future problems' has been a false premise. Those old men are just using this as a pretext to eliminate the 'unstable factors' in their eyes and, by the way, test our reactions." He picked up his fork again and poked at the melted ice cream. "So, what are you going to do next? There's still Sukuna's side…"
Genji raised his teacup, his eyes seeming to see through the steam to the distant side.
"The Itadori side, with you here, they can't act for now. As for Sukuna's fingers... there's no harm in continuing to collect them."
"As for Sukuna himself…"
He took a sip of tea, his tone calm, but with an undeniable will:
"If he wants to fight—then fight."
"I'll let him have his peace."
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