Deep inside the Lush Cave biome, the students and faculty built a crackling campfire. They sat around the flames, happily eating barbecue and fresh fruit.
Yuji took a massive bite out of a Watermelon Slice and frowned thoughtfully.
"Shin, why exactly are your apples completely square?" Yuji asked. "Actually, why is literally everything inside your Domain square? The scenery is incredible, but the geometry makes it feel a bit surreal."
Shin shrugged helplessly.
"That is just how my Cursed Technique fundamentally operates," Shin explained. "There is nothing I can do to change the geometry. It might be a bit lacking in visual realism, but my Cursed Technique is incredibly comprehensive."
To demonstrate, Shin instantly carved out a shallow puddle in the dirt and tossed a few Pink Axolotls into the water.
"See? I can even spawn artificial life," Shin smiled. "However, in the real world, if these axolotls move more than sixty-four meters away from me, they will instantly despawn. But inside this Domain, there doesn't seem to be any distance limit at all. Does anyone have a favorite animal? I can spawn some for us to play with."
While the Tokyo Jujutsu High crew enjoyed their subterranean picnic, Kenjaku arrived at a dilapidated apartment building on the other side of the city.
He walked into a humid, dimly lit room. Lounging casually on beach chairs were three highly evolved Cursed Spirits.
One had a single eye, a volcano for a head, and a terrible temper. Another was a towering, muscular humanoid with tree branches protruding from its eye sockets and its left arm wrapped in white cloth. The third was a chaotic, patchwork humanoid covered in surgical stitches.
Before them lay a vast, impossible expanse of azure ocean—a localized Domain. A red, octopus-like curse bobbed happily up and down in the water.
This was the core group of disaster curses: Jogo, Hanami, Mahito, Kenjaku, and Dagon.
Jogo took two fierce, aggressive drags from his smoking pipe and glared at the false monk.
"Hey, Kenjaku. Have you still not found that vessel of Ryomen Sukuna you mentioned?" Jogo growled. "I am getting sick of waiting. I want to crush all the human bugs on the surface so we, the true humans, can finally inherit the earth!"
"Oh my. Do not be so impatient, Jogo," Kenjaku smiled smoothly. "We have actually found the vessel. The problem is that he is currently enrolled at Tokyo Jujutsu High. As you can imagine, it is incredibly difficult to snatch the boy right from under Satoru Gojo's nose."
The active volcano on top of Jogo's head bubbled violently. The ambient temperature in the apartment spiked.
"I know that!" Jogo snapped. "But exactly how strong is this so-called Satoru Gojo? I think you are just making excuses because you are too cowardly to fight him!"
Kenjaku did not take the bait. He remained perfectly calm and simply pulled a small, cube-like object covered in dark, sealing talismans from his robes. He tossed it lightly in his hand.
"If we want to force Satoru Gojo off the board, we must use this," Kenjaku explained softly. "This is the strongest sealing artifact in recorded history: the Prison Realm. However, it is not yet time to deploy it."
"The Prison Realm?" Jogo demanded, his single eye widening. "You actually possess that legendary cursed object? Forget waiting! I am going to go kill Satoru Gojo right now! I want to add that artifact to my personal collection!"
In his excitement, Jogo accidentally incinerated his beach chair. He stood amidst the ashes, loudly declaring his intent to murder the strongest sorcerer alive.
Kenjaku simply smiled and said nothing.
Mahito, however, jumped up and enthusiastically clapped his stitched hands together, eager to pour gasoline on the fire.
"Hey, why don't we think this through a bit more?" Mahito giggled, his tone dripping with mock concern. "Maybe Satoru Gojo actually is really strong! Jogo, you absolutely must not be impulsive. If you go right now, he might just twist your head off and kick it around like a soccer ball! Hahahaha!"
Mahito's taunt worked perfectly. The volcano on Jogo's head violently erupted, spewing ash and fire into the ceiling. He whirled back to Kenjaku.
"Where is Satoru Gojo right now?!" Jogo roared.
"He is currently at Jujutsu High," Kenjaku advised smoothly. "Even for someone of your caliber, Jogo, charging blindly into the stronghold of Jujutsu society and fighting multiple sorcerers at once would be incredibly difficult. If you truly want to kill Satoru Gojo, let us wait for a better opportunity. I will notify you when he is isolated."
Later that evening, Gojo received a formal summons from the Jujutsu conservative higher-ups. They ordered him to bring Shin Kagura to an emergency evaluation meeting.
Word had already spread that a first-year student had successfully manifested a Domain Expansion. The elders had called the meeting to determine whether they should grant Shin the rank of Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer by exception.
In reality, being promoted by exception meant very little to Shin. While he currently lacked a senior sorcerer to formally recommend him for promotion (since teachers cannot recommend their own students), it was only a matter of time before he reached Grade 1 through standard channels anyway.
Kiyotaka Ijichi was currently driving Gojo and Shin to the classified meeting location. The bumpy, winding mountain roads were making Shin incredibly nauseous.
"Gojo-sensei," Shin groaned, clutching his stomach. "Why do the higher-ups always insist on holding these meetings deep in the mountains? Wouldn't it be easier to just rent a conference room in Tokyo?"
"Ah, that?" Gojo laughed. "It is entirely because those rotten old oranges are completely terrified of assassination. They change the location every single time they meet, and it is always somewhere incredibly remote. They are paranoid someone is going to plant a bomb under their chairs."
In the driver's seat, Ijichi began sweating profusely. Is this really a conversation I should be hearing? the Assistant Director panicked internally. I am just a low-level corporate wage slave! Please leave me out of this treason!
Suddenly, Gojo ordered Ijichi to stop the car. Without any warning, Gojo grabbed Shin by the collar and forcibly dragged him out of the vehicle and onto the desolate mountain highway.
"Alright, Ijichi, you go on ahead without us," Gojo commanded cheerfully. "Shin and I have some urgent business to take care of."
"Actually, Gojo-san, I really think I should stay..." Ijichi attempted to negotiate.
"Shut up and drive, or I will slap you."
Ijichi's face twisted into an expression of pure, unadulterated misery, as if he had just been forced to eat a live fly. Having absolutely no other choice, he put the car in drive and sped away alone.
Standing on the empty mountain road, Shin was completely confused. However, as he looked around at the desolate, winding highway, a terrible sense of familiarity washed over him.
Wait a minute, Shin realized in horror. Is this... Jogo's ambush?
"Yi-ha!"
"Boom!"
A short, one-eyed curse with a volcano for a head shrieked from the sky. Jogo crashed onto the asphalt, instantly launching a zero-frame pillar of superheated magma directly at the two sorcerers.
Gojo reacted instantly. He grabbed Shin and violently hurled the teenager backward out of the blast zone. A fraction of a second later, Gojo was completely swallowed by the roaring magma.
Watching the flames consume the strongest sorcerer, Jogo scoffed in absolute disdain.
"Even in the face of death, you prioritized saving someone else?" Jogo sneered. "How stupid."
Jogo turned his single eye toward where he had thrown the teenager, preparing to launch a second blast to finish the kid off.
However, as the smoke cleared, Jogo paused.
Shin was already fully clad in a massive set of pitch-black Netherite Armor. He stood perfectly still, calmly gnawing on a glowing golden apple that radiated a deep, mystical purple aura.
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