The descent into the Tombs of the Star Corridor was unnervingly silent.
Though they hadn't traveled far from the surface, the air had already shifted.
The city's cacophony had been severed somewhere above. All that remained was the tactile grit of stone beneath their feet and the intermittent brush of a cold draft.
The walls were ancient, and the shadows were thick. There was a peculiar sensation to the structures reinforced by jujutsu—not just a tunnel leading underground, but a heavy, stagnant silence found only in places that have long absorbed the presence and emotions of men.
Geto Suguru took the lead.
He paved the way at the front of the group, following the dimly lit corridors.
His pace wasn't fast, but he never hesitated. Like someone who already knew the internal layout of the Tombs of the Star Corridor by heart, he chose his direction at every fork without so much as a second glance.
Gojo Satoru, Amanai Riko, and Kuroi Misato followed behind him, while Itadori Yuji held the final, outermost position.
Despite the silence cutting them off layer by layer from the world above, Riko remained strangely vibrant.
"Thou art moving far too slowly!"
Riko spoke with her arms crossed, her dissatisfaction evident.
"Geto, thou art acting as if thou art attending a royal procession rather than escorting this maiden!"
"You're walking on your own two feet, aren't you?"
Gojo chimed in with a smirk from her side.
"Shouldn't that be enough?"
"Watch thy tongue! Dost thou truly think thou shalt remain unscathed after treating this maiden, the Star Plasma Vessel, with such lack of sincerity?"
"Lack of sincerity? Please. I even came here personally to see this through."
"That is only because it seemed amusing to thee!"
Gojo arched an eyebrow, looking feignly aggrieved.
"Wow... I can't even get a bit of trust for my sincerity these days."
Geto let out a short sigh.
"Satoru... you really are..."
"What? It's the truth."
"That's the problem. Your 'sincerity' is the least reliable thing about you."
Hearing that, Riko let out a snicker.
For a brief moment, that laughter wasn't staged.
Her use of 'Wara-wa' as a first-person pronoun and her affected princess-like speech remained, but the emotion bleeding through was that of a girl her own age.
A child pretending to be strong to hide her fear.
A child who knew her destiny was anything but ordinary, yet hadn't quite reached the level of resignation needed to accept it with total apathy.
Yuji watched her from the periphery.
The name he had only known as a casualty was far louder and more alive than he had imagined.
That fact kept snagging in the back of his mind.
She was just a name he'd heard a few times in someone else's past. A story of a summer that Gojo would occasionally, rarely, mention in passing. A young girl's name briefly woven into that narrative.
Amanai Riko.
Now, that name was right in front of him—grumbling, bickering with Gojo, and maintaining a facade of bravado while stealing glances at Kuroi.
People were far more complex than their names suggested.
He knew this, yet he often realized it far too late.
"Itadori."
Yuji looked up.
Riko was looking back at him.
"Thou hast been staring at the rear for some time now."
"I have to watch it."
"Dost thou mean the rear is more important than this maiden?"
Gojo let out a chuckle at her remark.
"Are you jealous right now?"
"Q-Quiet, Gojo Satoru!"
Riko immediately snapped back, causing Gojo to laugh even harder, clearly enjoying himself.
Geto shook his head, while Kuroi let out a small sigh, looking as though she were used to this.
Yuji looked at Riko for a moment before speaking.
"You're included in that watch, too."
Riko blinked once.
"Thy words are quite slick."
"Sounds pretty convincing, doesn't it?"
As Gojo chimed in again, Riko knit her brows.
"I was not asking thee!"
For a brief moment, that smile wasn't a mask.
Even in this brief bickering, Yuji could see everyone relaxing their guard slightly.
And that was what made him strangely uneasy.
It isn't always better for tension to be pulled tight. If you pull too hard, it snaps. But if it goes slack too quickly, that's its own problem. Carelessness usually chooses the most ordinary moments to creep in.
Yuji expanded his senses once more.
The barriers within the Tombs of the Star Corridor, the lingering traces of Cursed Energy steeped into the ancient stone walls, and the presences of Riko, Kuroi, Gojo, and Geto.
He could read it all. It was so clear it was almost bothersome.
And yet—there was something else.
The sensation of something that shouldn't be missing.
A void.
It was sharper than when he had first felt it on the outskirts of the city, and now, it was much closer. Logic suggested it should have been easier to hide once they descended into the Tombs, but instead, its presence had become more distinct.
Yuji knew exactly why.
This was a space of jujutsu.
A place forged by sorcery, where countess layers of barriers and lingering traces overlapped.
Because of that, an existence without Cursed Energy stood out as even more of an anomaly. It felt as if an entire wavelength that should have been there was simply... hollowed out. A total absence, like someone standing outside the world the sorcerers had built.
Yuji's pace slowed for a fraction of a second.
Gojo reacted instantly.
"Are they here?"
Yuji didn't answer. Geto, at the front, slowed his pace as well and looked back.
He tried to read Yuji's expression, but all he found was a certainty of a quieter sort than a mere look could convey.
"Itadori," Geto called out in a low voice.
"Where are they..."
"I can't see them."
"I heard that earlier."
"This time, they're closer."
With those few words, the air changed. Gojo's smile vanished. Geto immediately turned toward Riko and Kuroi.
"Stay close."
Without asking why, Kuroi immediately pulled Riko toward her.
Riko didn't talk back this time, either. Instead of a frightened expression, she simply bit her lip and set her jaw firmly.
Yuji stared into the darkness beyond the passage.
There was nothing to see.
No Cursed Energy, no footsteps, no precursors of murderous intent.
Yet the very fact that there was 'nothing' was beginning to take a concrete shape. It was as if something would disappear the moment you turned your head, only to be standing right beside you when you looked back.
Toji Fushiguro.
The name surfacing in his mind was less an act of deduction and more one of pure instinct.
A human who existed outside the perception of sorcerers. He didn't hide his Cursed Technique; rather, he was a being fundamentally misaligned with the very plane of existence that techniques inhabited.
And yet, he was a man whose physical body far exceeded the peak of human capability.
Strangely, Yuji felt a growing calm within himself.
Fear was absent.
He was wary, and he was tense, but it was different from terror.
Instead, faced with a legitimate threat for the first time in a long while, his senses felt coldly organized.
Gojo let out a quiet laugh.
There was no playfulness in this laughter.
"Interesting."
Geto cut him off curtly.
"It doesn't make me feel any better when you say that."
"You're always so serious."
"Now is the time to be serious."
Riko looked between the two of them and then asked Yuji.
"The one targeting this maiden... is he strong?"
Yuji replied without taking his eyes off the darkness.
"Just calling him 'strong' isn't quite enough."
Riko narrowed her eyes.
"What makes him different?"
Yuji thought for a moment before answering.
"He's familiar with the way people are killed."
The words were quiet, but they lingered with a strange chill.
There are many strong enemies.
There are Cursed Spirits, curse users, Special Grades, and humans who can level buildings with a single technique. But separate from all that, there are those optimized for the act of killing itself from the very start.
Their bodies know the way instinctively; their sense of distance is different, and they find the moments of their opponent's carelessness with terrifying naturalness.
Toji was a being specialized in that regard.
Riko didn't ask further.
She had a habit of lifting her chin whenever she didn't want anyone to see her frightened face. Yuji had only just noticed it.
"This maiden shall not die," Riko said.
Her tone was ambiguous, as if she were unsure who she was addressing. It sounded like a vow to herself, or perhaps a confirmation she wanted from everyone in front of her.
Gojo answered immediately.
"Of course not."
Geto followed suit shortly.
"You won't."
Finally, Riko's gaze fell on Yuji. He nodded very slowly.
"I won't let you."
It was less of a promise and more an assertion of fact. Riko blinked for a moment before turning her head away sharply.
"...Strange fellow."
Gojo laughed.
"Can't argue with that."
Geto added with an indifferent expression,
"It's a bit late for that realization, isn't it?"
The moment that brief conversation ended, a minuscule sound echoed from the front of the corridor.
Tap.
The sound of a light footstep on stone.
It was an incredibly faint sound.
A normal person would never have heard it, and even a sorcerer might have dismissed it as an auditory trick.
But Itadori Yuji heard it perfectly. Gojo and Geto reacted almost simultaneously. All three sets of eyes converged in one direction.
At the end of the passage.
Standing in the middle of the path leading to the main hall of the Tombs of the Star Corridor was a man.
A black short-sleeved shirt. A loose posture. Messy, wild hair.
Even though he stood in the shadows, his outline was unnervingly sharp. It was as if the space around him had been crudely cut out, making his presence flare with clarity.
Toji Fushiguro.
Even now, appearing in person, not a shred of Cursed Energy could be felt from him. And yet, the pressure was undeniable.
It wasn't the pressure of a human lacking Cursed Energy, but that of a human who could transform this entire space into his own battlefield without needing it at all.
Toji slowly scanned the group.
First Gojo, then Geto, Riko, Kuroi, and finally Yuji.
The moment their eyes met, the corners of Toji's mouth twitched ever so slightly.
"You really did exist."
His voice was low and dry. There was no sign of surprise or admiration. It was just a tone of simple confirmation.
Gojo took his hands out of his pockets and spoke.
"I should be the one saying that."
Toji ignored him, looking only at Yuji.
"So you're that Special Grade."
Instead of answering, Yuji stared back. Toji leisurely cracked his neck.
"You've got an annoying face."
Gojo let out an incredulous laugh.
"Wow. Isn't that a bit much for a first meeting?"
"I wasn't talking to you."
Toji spat the words out as if they were a nuisance and took a single step forward.
He was slow.
And yet, it felt as if the distance between them had suddenly shortened. It wasn't a technique. It was a simple stride, but it was executed in a way that disrupted his opponent's field of vision and breathing. This kind of sensation only belongs to those who have killed thousands with their own hands.
Beside Geto, Riko sucked in a breath. Kuroi's hand tightened around her arm.
Toji still didn't take his eyes off Yuji.
"Usually, when there's that much Cursed Energy, it leaves a trail."
His voice was plain.
"But you're just too bizarre."
Yuji replied shortly.
"You too."
A brief silence followed.
Then, for the first time, Toji smiled. It wasn't a sneer, nor was it out of joy. It was the smile of a man who had confirmed something to himself.
"Good."
He loosened his shoulders lightly as he spoke.
"Now I know who needs to die first."
The moment those words fell, the air in the Tombs of the Star Corridor froze.
Gojo stepped forward, his mouth curling into a smirk. Geto pushed Riko and Kuroi further back into the shadows.
And inside Yuji, his Blood Manipulation, Shrine, Black Flash, and Soul Perception aligned themselves into cold, perfect order in an instant.
The first blade would be aimed at him. That certainty was unnervingly clear.
Toji's eyes said exactly that.
Before touching the Star Plasma Vessel, he would kill the one who bothered him most.
In the darkness at the end of the corridor, the Tyrant of the Heavenly Restriction bared his blade for the first time.